INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 128, No. 139
WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 2012 ! ITHACA, NEW YORK
Plans Emerge For Pledging Restructuring
News We the People
A Cornell Law School professor and his graduate students are revising the Somalian constitution. | Page 3
Opinion Bin Laden: One Year Later
Maggie Henry ’14 and Jacob Kose ’13 discussed the meaning of bin Laden’s death for the victims of 9/11 and the decadelong war that followed. | Page 7
By JEFF STEN Sun Managing Editor
and REBECCA HARRIS
Sun News Editor
Science
Collegetown and set off fireworks in celebration. One year later, students and professors said they have been able to view the death of bin Laden more objectively –– though still with the same strong emotional connection. Rob Fishman ’08, a former Sun columnist, was one of the many Cornell alumni in New York City that went to Ground Zero after bin Laden’s death. The scene at Ground Zero, Fishman said, reflected “a sort of frat-house mentality: lots of
If approved, a proposed overhaul of Cornell’s Greek system would aim to eradicate hazing by integrating members into Greek life before they join individual houses and by requiring advisors to live in “at-risk” fraternities, among other changes. Nine months ago, President David Skorton declared to Greek leaders that “pledging as we know it has to stop.” Now, Cornell’s fraternities and sororities face the first substantial response to Skorton’s decree. On Friday, representatives of Recruitment, Acceptance, Retention and Education — a committee composed of 24 national experts, administrators and Greek leaders, including 13 students — broadcast their preliminary recommendations for reforming pledging in a webinar with alumni. The changes will be brought before the Board of Trustees in May and could receive final approval in October, according to the presentation. After George Desdunes ’13 — a brother of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity — died in February 2011 allegedly as a result of pledging activities, Skorton tasked the Cornell Greek system with eliminating the “degrading, humil-
See OSAMA page 5
See PLEDGING page 4
Lost in the Light
If the perfect solar storm brews, it could shut down electricity and Global Positioning Systems. | Page 8
Arts From East Hill to The Hill
Scott Tucker, director of choral music, shares his fondest memories at Cornell, as well as his hopes for the Glee Club, as he prepares to leave Ithaca. | Page 10
SUN FILE PHOTO
End of an era | Cornellians celebrate the news of Osama bin Laden’s death in the streets of Collegetown on May 2, 2011.
Univ.Revisits Bin Laden’s Death
Sports
By DAN TEMEL
The First Rule of Fight Club
Sun Staff Writer
J.D. O’Kasick, originally from Brazil, gives readers a glimpse of the fight life in Ithaca — where fighters spar at gyms like Team Bombsquad. | Page 16
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One year after the death of Sept. 11 mastermind Osama bin Laden, Cornellians reflected on a turbulent period of revolutions, election campaigns and political warfare that followed the historic event. Bin Laden — who helped execute terrorist attacks in England, Spain and Africa — was killed by American forces in a raid in Pakistan. On May 2, 2011, bin Laden’s death prompted a crowd to storm the streets of
C.U. Waitlist Prospects Grim Since 2008, no students admitted to Univ. from waitlist By AKANE OTANI
tional students to reach our enrollment target,” Melvin said. Waitlisting, Melvin said, is a “valuable They apply in the thousands — boast- enrollment management tool and should ing among the highest GPAs and SAT be strategically designed to assure we can scores in the nation — but Big Red hope- achieve the institutional enrollment goal of fuls waitlisted by the University may have 3,182 first time students.” little reason to keep their fingers crossed Bev Taylor, founder of The Ivy Coach, for an acceptance. From 2009 through a New York-based college consulting com2011, not a single one of the 8,841 stu- pany, gave a different explanation. She said that with so few students –– if any — nabbing acceptances “[The waitlisted applicant] could be a off the waitlist, colleges and universities often strategically child of the family who donated $25 waitlist thousands of students million ... but wasn’t going to make it in.” who will not be accepted in an attempt to evade offending Bev Taylor applicants in the touchy admissions game. dents placed on the waitlist by the For instance, legacy students who are University was admitted off the waitlist. not academically qualified for admission 3,120 students applying for a spot in the or students from high schools the Class of 2016 were waitlisted this year, University has close ties with who did not according to Lee Melvin, associate vice make the cut are often put on a “courtesy provost for enrollment. If their prospects waitlist” — a conciliatory step above a flatmirror those of applicants in the three pre- out rejection, Taylor said. vious admissions cycles, they will not get in. “[The waitlisted applicant] could be a “It’s very difficult to predict if we will child of the family who donated $25 milaccept students off the waitlist right now, lion to the University but wasn’t going to but we’re waiting until all deposits from make it in. But you know, Cornell, in its the May 1 deadline have been confirmed See WAITLISTING page 5 before deciding if we need to admit addiSun News Editor
EMILY BURKE / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Pursuit of equality | Cornell students and Ithaca residents gather in the Commons on May Day — also known as International Workers’ Day — to discuss income inequality.
May Day Revives Occupy Protests By JOEY ANDERSON Sun Senior Writer
After a dormant winter, the Ithacabased Occupy movements returned with a day of marches to honor May Day, an international celebration of the labor movement. Occupy Cornell participants converged on the Commons with members of Occupy Ithaca after a march from Ho Plaza. They engaged in a series of conver-
sations about racial and wealth inequality, the uncomfortable marriage between Cornell and Ithaca and an array of other local and national issues. The day culminated in a protest against the minimum wage in Tompkins County and the occupation of Goldwin Smith Hall on campus.The racial tensions surrounding the murder of Shawn Greenwood — a black Ithaca resident who See OCCUPY page 4
2 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Today
DAYBOOK
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Weird News
Daybook
Umpteen speedy televisions perused two sheep, then umpteen tickets towed Jupiter, and Dan untangles five progressive orifices. Umpteen quixotic aardvarks annoyingly bought two Macintoshes. Umpteen bureaux tickled two extremely putrid botulisms. Paul sacrificed one lampstand, then Jupiter marries the very quixotic pawnbroker. Five purple poisons laughed, yet umpteen chrysanthemums kisses five aardvarks. Batman noisily untangles one Jabberwocky. Two Macintoshes laughed, then one extremely schizophrenic Jabberwocky drunkenly untangles two sheep, however Quark telephoned umpteen obese Jabberwockies. Five irascible botulisms slightly lamely auctioned off the subway, and five chrysanthemums easily untangles one mostly speedy Klingon. Five dogs drunkenly perused Minnesota, however the mats ran away cleverly, although one partly progressive subway quite comfortably sacrificed
of the Week
Today Challenges in Sustainability and The Role of Higher Education 1:25 - 2:55 p.m., 102 Mann Library The Sustainable Energy Dilemma: Powering the Future in a Finite World 4 - 5:30 p.m., 146 Morrison Hall The Bethe Lectures With Prof. Lisa Randall 7:30 - 9 p.m., Schwartz Auditorium, Rockefeller Hall Studio 342: Voice Students of Judith Kellock 8 p.m., Barnes Hall Auditorium
Tomorrow
Bouncy Houses Cushion Bear’s Fall From Tree
Tenn. Police Arrest Man For Paying With Real $50
CONWAY, Ark. (AP) — When a black bear climbed a tree in a central Arkansas city and refused to come down, authorities turned to unconventional rescue tools: bouncy houses. Officials shot the bear with tranquilizer darts late Monday, causing him to fall asleep. They inflated two bouncy houses beneath the tree. And then firefighters let loose with water from a fire hose, knocking the bear from his perch.
SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Police are apologizing after arresting a man for using a $50 bill they thought was fake but that turned out to be real. Police thought the bill was counterfeit after a convenience store clerk said a marker used to detect false money didn’t show the bill was real. But a police evidence technician told the arresting officer that some old bills don’t react to the markers. So police gave the money to two banks to check, and they said it was real but just very old.
MIT Students Destroy Piano To Mark a Key Moment
1958 Postcard Mailed CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Residents of an From Chicago Finally Arrives MIT dorm dropped an upright piano from their roof
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CHICAGO (AP) — A postcard mailed from Chicago in 1958 has finally reached its intended recipient, but not without a little help from Facebook. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that a postcard depicting Shedd Aquarium recently arrived at Scott McMurry’s Virginia home, more than five decades after his mom mailed it. The 71-year-old says he immediately recognized his mother’s handwriting. The postcard was addressed to Clairmont Lane in Decatur, Georgia, where McMurry grew up. But it recently arrived in Elizabeth Fulcher’s mailbox on Clairmont Lane in South Daytona, Florida.
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Thursday to celebrate the last day students can drop classes without having them appear on their college transcript. About 200 onlookers watched as the piano crashed into a second piano, a baby grand, positioned on the ground six stories below for a better smash. The tradition began in 1972 at the Baker House dormitory and has been observed sporadically until 2006, when it became an annual event, said Michael Plasmeier. “It was sort of not the official event. It was just some students who had a broken dorm piano that they threw off the roof.”
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THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, May 2, 2012 3
NEWS
Students Revise Somalian Law By LUCY MEHRABYAN Sun Contributor
Cornell law students are making revisions to a new constitution for Somalia that will be drafted by the end of the summer –– changes that they say will help the country shift from a transitional government to a permanent one. Of all the nations in the world, Somalia has remained ungoverned for the longest amount of time in modern history. In February, however, the Somalian Civil War, a conflict dating back to the 1980’s, came to an end with an agreement reached by the United Nations, which, along with the Cornell law students, will help draft a new constitution for the country. Prof. Muna Ndulo, law, who is a consultant for United Nations Development Program, assigned his five graduate research students to work on revising Somalia’s constitution. Ndulo’s graduate students are currently analyzing the country’s existing constitution and offering their commentary on it before the end of the summer, when Somalia’s Constituent Assembly hopes to meet to adopt the constitution. Ian Brekke law, a member of Ndulo’s research team, is comparing the different strategies adopted by political parties to advance policies in a constitutional democracy. “While we take our political parties for granted, other countries regulate what political systems they will have,” Brekke said. “Some are enshrined, [while] some depend on legislation for Congress to pass laws to regulate political parties.” Brekke observed differences in the degree to which African governments turned to
their constitution for guidance and how much decision-making they left to legislators. By studying the culture, politics and history of African countries, Brekke hopes to make suggestions that will most greatly benefit Somalia in the development of its new constitution, he said. Brekke also noted that while it is rare for a government to include warlords and clan leaders as part of the political bargaining process, they must have a stake in revising Somalia’s political system for the process to proceed in a stable manner. “It is important that the constitution is culturally-oriented,” Brekke said. “Clans are a big deal there, and there needs to be a place for them politically in order to peacefully transition from a temporary to a legitimate Somalian democracy.” The report that Brekke and his fellow research students are preparing will be sent to the United Nations Development Program to guide future negotiations in the political reform process in Somalia, Brekke said. Brekke thanked Ndulo for giving him the opportunity, saying that working with Ndulo has opened his eyes to the many possibilities that exist in legal work. “You think about preparing to be a lawyer, but then you realize the scope of work you can do,” Brekke said. Genevieve Ballinger law, another student involved in research with Ndulo, also said that conducting research comparing different law systems was “really interesting by itself … the fact that our research memos were sent to the UN committee in charge of the constitution drafting process in Somalia was just surreal.” Many of Ndulo’s students noted his
TYLER HICKS / THE NEW YORK TIMES
Turbulent times | The army of Somaliland, a would-be nation that has struggled for years to be accepted outside its borders, marches in Hargeysa in northwest Somalia.
enthusiasm for getting students involved in the work that he does for the UN. For many of them, Ndulo has piqued an interest in careers in international law. “I was really honored to be able to work with ... Ndulo on this project,” Ballinger said. “Through working with him, I could see the wealth of experience and knowledge he has on international law generally, as well as specifically on constitution drafting processes. He really is Cornell Law’s rockstar on international law and the UN.” Gabriella Bensur ’12, a philosophy and government major who will be a first-year law student at Cornell Law School next year, said she was impressed by Ndulo’s work on constitutional law and his efforts to provide his students with a hands-on experience. “Obviously, Ndulo is the expert and had the ultimate control over the Somalian con-
stitution, but giving law students the chance to participate in international shows that he is willing to take fresh perspectives into consideration,” Bensur said. “I find that very admirable, and truly amazing that members of the Cornell community are able to affect lives in the global community.” Bensur said that Ndulo and his students’ work drafting the Somalian constitution shows how Cornellians can have a global impact with their research. “In America, the word ‘constitution’ brings to mind George Washington, minutemen and Paul Revere — not modernday struggles for independence and selfreliance. I would be honored to be a part of such an amazing formation opportunity,” Bensur said. Lucy Mehrabyan can be reached at lm592@cornell.edu.
Bucking Convention,Prof Sees Growth in Middle Class Incomes By CAROLYN KRUPSKI Sun Contributor
Research recently conducted by Prof. Richard Burkhauser, policy analysis and management, is changing national conversations about inequality and the growth of the middle class, Cornell professors said. Burkhauser’s research shows that between 1979 and 2007, the income of the American middle class increased by 36.7 percent — more than 10 times the widely accepted growth rate of 3.2 percent published by French economists Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez. Citing Piketty and Saez’s
study, economists and politicians have largely agreed that the income growth of middle class Americans stagnated during this period. However, Burkhauser, in collaboration with other researchers, showed that the median income of Americans has in fact grown significantly in the last 30 years in their study, which was published in the March issue of National Tax Journal. However, they also found that, despite this rise, income inequality has increased since 1979. “36.7 percent growth over a long period of time — almost 30 years — is not the kind of robust economic growth that we’ve had in
previous decades,” Burkhauser said. In his analysis, Burkhauser used data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics spanning 1979 to 2007. Burkhauser said he adjusted his data to account for the sizes of households, noting that a failure to account for this can lead to the conflation of “differences in the amount of income that people bring into the household with differences in the income available to people.” He also considered government assistance programs when measuring income to, he said, accurately measure income inequality.
Tony Hawk in the making?
LAUREN BIGALOW / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Participants compete in a longboarding competition, which was held on East Buffalo Street in Collegetown on Saturday.
“Suppose someone aged 62 could continue to work but decides to retire instead. In the Piketty and Saez world of market income, this increases income inequality since this retired worker now only receives Social Security benefits, which [Piketty and Saez] don’t count,” Burkhauser said. “But in the real world, Social Security income is a resource which should be counted, and when we do so in our analysis, it reduces inequality.” Burkhauser said that his research was spurred by public debates in the 1990s over the perceived disappearance of the middle class. He found that in the 1980s and 90s, many middle class families became wealthier, which widened the inequality gap between the upper and lower classes. “Income inequality increased from 1979 to 1992 … Beginning in 1993, income inequality continued to increase but at a lower rate,” he said. Although he reached a different conclusion than Piketty and Saez, Burkhauser said that his findings did not necessarily invalidate their research. In fact, Burkhauser and his colleagues were able to replicate Piketty and Saez’s results using data from the Census Bureau. “Piketty and Saez’s use [of] tax units is one way of thinking about what’s been happening. If you use the more traditional methods that I have, you find greater growth,” Burkhauser said, adding that the two studies produced different results because they ultimately asked two distinct questions. Prof. Alan Mathios, policy analysis and management, dean of the College of Human Ecology,
attributed the quality of Burkhauser’s work to his attention to detail. “He is a very careful, detailed, empirical researcher,” Mathios said. “He has a strong publication record [because his] work is quality: rooted in careful examination of national data sets.” Prof. Steve Kyle, applied economics and management, said that Burkhauser’s findings show that government assistance programs play an important role in reducing income inequality in a time when the middle class continues to shrink. “One of the take-away messages of this study is [that] even when you add in everything that can be done to make things equal, we’re still getting more unequal,” Kyle said. “If indeed it is the federal interventions that are making things more equal, we should worry about the political platform of some of the politicians who want to cut spending on all of those things. In the extreme case, if we were to eliminate all interventions, we would in fact be going back to the situation that Piketty and Saez are measuring.” The new perspective on income inequality Burkhauser helped bring forward has already begun to spark political discourse on economic policy. Burkhauser said he hopes that policymakers will take all available data into account when making decisions. “When numbers are used as evidence, it is critical to understand the assumptions that generated those numbers,” he said. Carolyn Krupski can be reached at cek92@cornell.edu.
4 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, May 2, 2012
NEWS
Plan:Advisors to Live In at-Risk Frats Protesters Occupy Goldwin Smith Hall PLEDGING
Continued from page 1
iating and dangerous” aspects of pledging. To meet Skorton’s demands, the RARE committee hopes to “eliminate hazing through the overhaul of what we currently call the pledge process redefining the process as it currently looks like,” according to Travis Apgar, associate dean of fraternity and sorority affairs, who led the webinar. To that end, the committee proposes a plethora of changes, big and small, that advance a mixture of educational and punitive measures. One recommendation put forth is for the University to hire a specialist to address hazing in all campus organizations. The committee also seeks to shorten the new member education period, which currently lasts up to eight weeks. Furthermore, the committee recommends that the Greek system “eliminate the words ‘pledge,’ ‘pledging’ and other derogatory terms meant to separate new and active members.” “[Pledge] definitely has a negative connotation … that’s hard to remove. So let’s start using some different language,” said Ken Babcock ’13, vice president for judicial affairs for the Interfraternity Council. Although Apgar acknowl-
edged that, “obviously, we’re not going to strike it from the English language,” he added that substituting words that better reflect “the kind of experience we find acceptable” can be effective in changing perceptions. Among the recommendations most likely to spark controversy is a proposal to require “atrisk” chapters — those deemed to have demonstrated poor decision-making in areas such as recruitment, alcohol use or financial stability — to host a live-in advisor for a minimum of four years. Apgar said that this advisor could provide “a more mature presence” to help chapters “make responsible decisions around things like new member education and alcohol.” The University’s overhaul of the Greek system — which predate the changes to pledging — has already elicited discontent from student leaders. In response to Desdunes’ death, the University handed down changes to the University’s recognition policy for fraternities and sororities in August. The IFC Executive Board denounced the decision, claiming the IFC had not been consulted by the administration in its plan to dramatically restrict recruitment. Restrictions included banning freshmen from attending open parties and disallowing interaction between freshmen
and Greek houses for the first half of the semester. Freshmen were only permitted to engage in activities to learn about individual chapters during the remainder of the semester. Another of RARE’s more substantial proposals is to bring students who intend to join houses into the larger Greek community prior to allowing them to commit to specific chapters. “We want to welcome new prospective members into Greek life first, before individuals join chapters,” said Corinna Romantic ’12, former president of the Panhellenic Council and a RARE co-chair. According to Apgar, this fundamental change to the new member intake process would likely manifest in a period of education and “bonding” that would occur prior to Rush Week — and would be required of those seeking eligibility to participate in formal recruitment. “It might include different sessions where people learn about what the fraternity and sorority experience will be like, educating them on things like hazing,” he said. “What’s been suggested by the group is bonding and social experience to create more Greek unity.”
The Sun’s news department can be reached at news@cornellsun.com.
OCCUPY
Continued from page 1
was shot and killed by a white Ithaca Police officer in February 2010 — was an issue that community members revisited throughout the day. In one breakout seminar, attended by Greenwood’s family and friends, participants reenacted the two conflicting accounts of Greenwood’s murder: the police report and eyewitness testimonies of the shooting. In the two years since the incident, members of the Ithaca community close to Greenwood have contested the verdict granted to Sgt. Bryan Bangs — a member of the Ithaca Police Department — and called for more accountability from the IPD. Claire Grady, a seminar facilitator, said that race played a critical role in the community’s conflicting interpretations of Greenwood’s death. “Depending on what your skin color was and where you live, there were two different stories about what happened on that day,” Grady said. “They were so strikingly different, and, for me, as a white person, I feel like my work is to educate fellow white people how hurtful, damaging and violent it is when we refuse to ask the questions and be open to the conversation.” The ensuing discussion of Greenwood’s murder led Occupy participants to suggest solutions — such as alternative policing methods — to persistent community issues. Participants also said that the seminar marked the first time the public openly discussed Greenwood’s death. “That conversation today is the first time it has been in a public space, in a wide circle just like that, with the real human beings involved: Shawn’s mother, Shawn’s brother, Shawn’s nephew, Shawn’s friends [and] Shawn’s community,” Grady
said. Occupy participants also proposed increasing the minimum wage in Tompkins County to a “living wage,” or the lowest wage necessary to support basic needs. Participants marched to the Tompkins County Courthouse with members of the Ithaca Worker’s Center to advocate raising the minimum wage in New York State from $7.25 an hour to $12.78 per hour. Dissent among the Occupy participants became more pronounced during the General Assembly Meeting in the evening, when members of Occupy Cornell proposed a “direct action” to march up the Hill to occupy Goldwin Smith Hall for the night. The two Occupy groups agreed to proceed with the action after openly debating a number of issues –– including the risk and reward of an occupation, the significance of the stance and the differing rights of Cornell students and Ithaca residents to remain in the building overnight. The concern of police officers’ reaction to the movement stayed in participants’ minds throughout the day. Two legal advisors from the National Lawyers Guild — a public interest association — hovered around the movement to provide legal advice to participants, should they find themselves placed under arrest. Despite the imminent possibility of arrest, the May Day events ended in a peaceful irony. Police told the Occupiers –– who played drums, chanted and conversed in the foyer of Goldwin Smith –– to quiet down. They could, police said, be distracting a lecture on Marxist revolutionary Leon Trotsky in the auditorium down the hall. Check cornellsun.com for the full story. Joey Anderson can be reached at janderson@cornellsun.com.
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THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, May 2, 2012 5
NEWS
One Year Later, Cornell Since 2008, No Students Admitted Off C.U.Waitlist Reflects on Bin Laden Death WAITLIST
Continued from page 1
OSAMA
Continued from page 1
20- and 30-something males who had come from all of the boroughs and even other states.” “The mood was celebratory, at times disconcertingly so — patriotism verging on jingoism and even xenophobia,” Fishman said of the atmosphere during bin Laden’s death. “There was also a feeling of catharsis and of community.” Despite these more positive feelings –– especially after the Arab Spring revolution that escalated after bin Laden’s death –– Prof. Ross Brann, Near Eastern studies, said that the geopolitical structure under which bin Laden thrived has not changed. “Bin Laden is gone, but the conditions in Muslim ... countries [where] he was able to manipulate to al-Qaeda’s advantage are still present: a political economy in which the people have had virtually no say while a small minority and outsiders benefit,” Brann said. “These same grievances are now manifest in the various uprisings in the region.” Bin Laden’s death will remain relevant as the U.S. presidential election moves forward, students said. Some said bin Laden’s death would help fortify President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign. “The killing of bin Laden highlights Obama’s executive leadership skills and his ability to deliver on promises he made during his 2008 campaign,” said Jessie Palmer ’13, president of the Cornell Democrats. She said bin Laden’s death will likely be a talking point in Obama’s campaign. “When we begin campaigning for Obama’s reelection, the Cornell Democrats will point to Bin Laden's death as an example of Obama's strength in office,” she said. However, Prof. Theodore Lowi, government, said bin Laden’s death –– and its one-year anniversary — highlighted a different side of the president: his intention to remain engaged in wars in the Middle East. “What bothered me was Obama using this anniversary to let us know that we’ll be in this war for another 10 years,” Lowi said. Bin Laden’s death also highlighted the need to remember and pay tribute to the efforts of Americans who helped safeguard the country, students said. “Americans should never forget to thank everyone — including President Obama, national security officials and especially the Navy SEALs –– who helped bring Osama bin Laden to justice,” said Raj Kannappan ’13, chair of the Cornell Republicans. “We are forever indebted to those who have sacrificed so much to help protect America and the world from another 9/11 … We must always be vigilant, as it is crystal clear that global terrorism will continue to plague us for a long, long time.” Many Cornellians who grew up near New York City reaffirmed their relief that the man who had left an indelible impact on their childhoods was finally killed. “It was a huge celebration because he was one of the most hated men in American history, and we were able to celebrate that he is no longer a threat,” said Kolben Pritchard ’13, a student from
Kinnelon, N.J. — a suburb of New York City. Erika Paley ’14, a student from Short Hills, N.J. –– a town from which many commute to jobs in Lower Manhattan –– said bin Laden’s death provided solace to the families of 9/11 victims. “I felt that on this day, families who lost fathers and mothers in my hometown have finally gotten closure and [that] justice has been served,” Paley said. The feelings of closure and safety that Pritchard and Paley described echo comments Prof. David Patel, government, made to The Sun the night bin Laden died. “Your generation came to consciousness with 9/11 … The vast majority of people who will read this story basically had Osama bin Laden as their bogeyman,” Patel said. “They always had to wonder if he’ll rear his ugly head again.” Dan Temelcan be reached at dtemel@cornellsun.com.
wisdom, says, ‘You know what, we know they donated money, but that doesn’t mean we’ll have to accept them,’” she said. Cornell may also turn to waitlisting to boost its rankings, Taylor said. “By putting more kids on the waitlist, Cornell — as well as other colleges — can manipulate its yield, and in turn, really manipulate its admit ratio … which, of course, is a factor in rankings,” Taylor said. When asked about courtesy waitlists, however, Melvin reiterated that “Cornell uses the waitlist to manage enrollment toward our overall enrollment goals.” “I am not at liberty to comment on the opinions of a paid admissions consulting coach,” he added. Applicants’ proposed program of study in some schools may tip the scale in their favor,
depending on the size of the major and the number of students slated to enroll in the program. But with each college autonomously making “independent admissions decisions on whom to admit from the waitlist,” Melvin said that “until enrollment [is] finalized, we cannot predict the impact a waitlisted student’s major will have on his or her chances of being selected for admissions.” With so many applications to the University, Melvin said, it is difficult for the admissions office to decide who will join the next class of Cornellians. “We are fortunate to have a deep pool of well-qualified applicants, and selecting from this group is a continuous challenge for our admissions committees,” he said. That challenge has likely grown over the years, as Cornell — similar to other Ivy League universities — has seen a surge in impressive applications from students across the world. Competition is fierce: breaking another record, just
6,123 of the 37,812 who applied to the University this year secured places in the Class of 2016. One year before, 36,392 applied; the year before that, 36,337. But for waitlisted students, these numbers are not likely to be of much comfort. Elizabeth Kuzmenko, a high school senior who applied to Cornell’s College of Architecture, Art and Planning, said that “being on the waitlist is very stressful.” “It’s a rough situation because knowing the odds are against you … [You] desire to have hope that makes it bearable,” Kuzmenko said. If the odds are not in Kuzmenko’s favor, the wait — as for thousands of applicants before her — may be futile. “I’m basically on the edge of my seat,” Kuzmenko said. “But [my] fingers are crossed.” Akane Otani can be reached at aotani@cornellsun.com.
OPINION
Semester’s End:
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Independent Since 1880 130TH EDITORIAL BOARD JUAN FORRER ’13 Editor in Chief
HELENE BEAUCHEMIN ’13
JEFF STEIN ’13
Business Manager
Managing Editor
RUBY PERLMUTTER ’13
JAMES CRITELLI ’13
JOSEPH STAEHLE ’13
LAUREN A. RITTER ’13
PETER A. JACOBS ’13
ANN NEWCOMB ’13
ESTHER HOFFMAN ’13
BRYAN CHAN ’15
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EVAN RICH ’13
ELIZA LaJOIE ’13
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DAVEEN KOH ’14
ZACHARY ZAHOS ’15
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ELIZABETH CAMUTI ’14
KATHARINE CLOSE ’14
AKANE OTANI ’14
REBECCA HARRIS ’14
City Editor
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ELIZABETH PROEHL ’13
DANIELLE B. ABADA ’14
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SCOTT CHIUSANO ’15
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AMANDA STEFANIK ’13
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JAMES RAINIS ’14
A Thank-You, A Reminder and a Wish A
s classes draw to a close, I am reflecting on another year of interacting with and learning from Cornell students. The distance between students and a university president is not an easy one to bridge. We’re all busy and our schedules often don’t match (many of you are just getting going just when I’m going to sleep). Nonetheless I appreciate the opportunities we have had to share information and exchange ideas. I’ve met some of you during office hours, which I host periodically with Vice President Susan Murphy, and also during regular meetings with student leaders. We’ve had conversations at Student Assembly and Graduate and Professional Student Assembly meetings and chatted at 400 Club breakfasts, which recognize our intercollegiate athletes who maintain an average of 4.0 or better while playing a
PATRICIO MARTÍNEZ ’13
Senior Editor
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David J. Skorton
DANIEL ROBBINS ’13 Senior Editor
WORKING ON TODAY ’S SUN DESIGN DESKER PHOTO NIGHT EDITOR NEWS DESKERS SPORTS DESKER ARTS DESKER SCIENCE EDITOR NEWS NIGHT EDITORS
Editorial
tions in the greater Ithaca area. Local community leaders testify eloquently — and often — about the impact you have had. Students Against Sweatshops, the Cornell Organization for Labor Action and other student organizations have been active in bringing the concerns of organized labor and oppressed workers to the attention of the campus. While we have not always agreed on every issue, I’ve valued these organizations’ tough-mindedness and passion in their advocacy for workers’ rights. I also value the leadership that many of you have shown in helping make our campus safer, greener and more supportive of all members of our community. A graduate student and an undergraduate serve on the President’s Sustainable Campus Committee, along with members of the faculty and staff.
Joonsuk Lee ’12 Hannah McGough ’15 Shailee Shah ’14 Emily Burke ’12 Akane Otani ’14 Kerry Close ’14 Lauren A. Ritter ’13 Zachary Zahos ’15 Nicholas St. Fleur ’13 Caroline Flax ’15 Sylvia Rusnak ’15
Ending Hazing Practices
LAST WEEK, THE RECRUITMENT, ACCEPTANCE, Retention and Education committee — which President David Skorton charged with transforming pledging in the Greek system — released a set of recommendations that will be discussed and voted on in the coming months. There is little doubt that the recommendations put forward by the committee would completely alter not only the pledging process, but also the Greek system as we know it. The recommendations would no doubt make the Greek system safer. They add an enormous amount of oversight and many of the recommendations put forward by the committee would prevent problems before they happen, not simply punish chapters for mistakes that have already occurred. Specifically, the changes recommended by the committee include adding live-in advisors for fraternities that are defined as “at-risk;” creating a minimum GPA requirement and a suspension process for chapters or members below the minimum; involving chapter alumni in risk auditing; and advisory groups for each chapter and further shortening the new member education period. With more oversight, perhaps Cornell can prevent the widespread hazing practices that currently occur on campus. According to President Skorton, over 60 percent of fraternities at Cornell have hazed their members in the last decade. While some members of fraternities argue that the process creates a sense of unity and respect for the organization, we feel that the negative aspects of hazing outweigh any of the benefits and that hazing should have no place at Cornell. Extreme cases of hazing have been known to lead to serious injury and death, but even minor forms can have serious consequences, including depression, stress-related illness and decreased academic performance. Skorton’s charge and the deliberations that have gone into this plan are necessary for maintaining the overall health and wellbeing of the Cornell community. However, the committee should consider revising the policies to have reforms come from the chapters themselves to a greater extent. Skorton has said that his charge to change pledging as we know it would be executed by the members of the Greek system themselves. However, under this plan, it is not the chapters that are changing their behavior; instead, this process is largely controlled and driven by external actors, including live-in advisors and chapter alumni. If reforms come from within, there will be more support from the individual chapters which will give the policies legitimacy and make them more successful. The recommendations put forward by the committee are an important step toward fixing the problems that have been prevalent within the Greek system. We hope that the Greek system will be able to accept the challenge to eliminate hazing, and that Cornell will not have to rely as much on strict external oversight to compel chapters to change their behavior.
From David
sport, and in connection with Cornell’s efforts to create the New York City tech campus on Roosevelt Island, for which Cornell students were such strong and successful advocates. I also appreciate the comments from students that I’ve received in response to these columns in The Cornell Daily Sun. I am so proud of the academic and other accomplishments of Cornell students this year. A remarkable number of undergraduates competed successfully for major national and international scholarships — including Churchill, Udall, Goldwater, Beineke, Truman, Gates Cambridge, Keasbey, Beineke and Kaufman. In addition, our teams earned several Ivy titles — in women’s cross country, wrestling, men’s ice hockey and women’s ice hockey — and many of our spring teams are having outstanding seasons. Time and again, in spite of all the other activities that fill your time, you’ve found ways to be of service — here on campus, in Ithaca or around the world. We estimate that more than 7,600 Cornell students devote more than 400,000 hours to public service activities each year through the Cornell Public Service Center, the Cornell Commitment programs, in individual organizations and on athletic teams. Law students working with Professor Muna Ndulo, for example, did research and written presentations that supported the development of an agreement to end fighting in Somalia and move toward a federal parliamentary system of government, under the auspices of the United Nations Political Office for Somalia. More than a thousand of you gave your time to help the nearby community of Owego recover from devastating flooding last fall. And, of course, you provide a wide range of services to help others closer to home — from mentoring local school children to volunteering with many community service organiza-
The committee oversees all aspects of sustainability in our campus operations and facilities — including energy, climate, water, food, waste, buildings, people, land, purchasing and transportation. The committee compiled the information that led to Cornell’s gold ranking on the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System — including data on our climate action plan, the innovative, multidisciplinary projects in our David R. Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future and the more than 30 student organizations that work on sustainability-related issues. Students, faculty and staff also serve together on a Gorge Safety Committee that is working to make our gorges safer to enjoy. In addition, the Student Assembly is creating a gorge safety video aimed at incoming students and has supported the Cayuga’s Watchers, an initiative to train students to recognize and respond to high-risk drinking among their peers. As you take a well-deserved break Friday to enjoy the music of Taio Cruz and Neon Trees on Libe Slope, I hope you’ll look back with pride on the past year. Look out for your friends — and for yourself — on Friday. If you are of legal drinking age and choose to drink alcohol, do so responsibly, for your own safety and the enjoyment of those around you. For those of you who are leaving Cornell at the end of the semester for new opportunities, I hope that you’ll stay in touch. For those who will return to campus next fall, have an enjoyable and productive summer, and I will look forward to having you back next fall. Thank you for another terrific year.
David J. Skorton is president of Cornell University. He may be reached at david.skorton@cornell.edu. From David appears bi-monthly this semester.
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, May 2, 2012 7
OPINION
Commemorating the One-Year Anniversary of Osama Bin Laden’s Death B
oth New Yorkers and Cornellians, Jacob and I were struck by the campus euphoria that followed Osama bin Laden’s death after a decade of build-up following 9/11. We sat down this weekend at The Sun’s office and considered how to address the gargantuan event of a year ago today and the parade-like reaction in a sincere way. Few Sun writers have written on bin Laden in the past year, and it’s a topic that is often excessively intellectualized or emotionalized. Our opinions during our conversation change at points and reveal some confusion about how we feel — a far cry from our normal columns, but perhaps reflective of a moral grey area that confronts not just us but also Sun readers. In this ever-hectic last week of classes, we hope each of you can take a moment for a meaningful thought or conversation about May 2, 2011.
JACOB KOSE: Frankly, I was disturbed by how happy and celebratory we were here at Cornell following bin Laden’s death. I don’t question the fact that every American faced with the overly simplistic question, “Did you or did you not like Osama bin Laden,” would look at the inquirer with deranged crazy eyes. I also don’t question that bin Laden’s death holds special significance for those of us who grew up in the post 9/11 world. I question how many of us celebrated; paraded in the libraries, ran around the streets in American flags while screaming “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!” at the top Get Over Yourself of their lungs. It freaked me out — a parade over someone’s death? Clearly his death was going to be met with relief, but I was totally unprepared for the euphoric craze that overtook this campus. We snuffed out a life without the least thought of due process. Bin Laden was a mass murderer, but so were SS officers in World War II, and at least they were afforded due process during the Nuremberg Trials. That there were tons of them and only one Osama is no excuse whatsoever. MAGGIE HENRY: Clearly people hated bin Laden, or at the very least disliked him as a public figure. Our reaction, however, might speak to something more than each individual’s feelings about him. Did we react euphorically because the events of 9/11 impacted our national psyche so intensely, or because the war that ensued has created the symbolic “bogeyman” of our generation? Our generation has known two bin Ladens. One is Osama bin Laden, a terrible person who committed terrible deeds. The other is the bin Laden of May 2, 2011, who represented an ideological battlefield 10 years wide. This second bin Laden was the spark to the fire that ultimately engulfed not only victims of 9/11, but also nearly 3,000 coalition soldiers in Afghanistan. The bin Laden who died a year ago was a symbol created by a war and a fire that spread from New York City to Afghanistan, not just the individual who did terrible things. J.K.: Absolutely. I wonder whether, on this date last year, our generation celebrated on behalf of ourselves, our country and everything bin Laden’s death symbolized in our post-9/11 national catharsis, or the actual victims of 9/11. (To be clear, I don’t necessarily think we celebrated for anyone outside this country — whether or not Americans even believe an international community truly exists with respect to terrorism is its own issue. Terrorism is certainly global, but when your country is attacked, it becomes personal; ask anyone in the Middle East and they’d agree.) But I find the question poignant because I’d argue that we’re still confused about whether we were celebrating for our victims or ourselves, and I think our inability to break down why we celebrated still impacts why we’re just not talking about the man’s death a year after it happened.
M.H.: I think we can say with confidence that each and every American was affected by 9/11 — whether it was personal or national. Something that’s really special here is our method of governance and our democratic values that allow us, as political citizens, to feel losses along with others who are affected more personally. At Cornell, we were flying the American flag both in remembrance and out of hope. For America, bin Laden’s death was the long-promised fresh start. Clearly, a terrorist can always be replaced and one terrorist’s obliteration doesn’t mean much tangibly. Beyond that, cheering a death puts me off — it certainly felt morbid and bizarre. But bin Laden had ceased to be the individual and had become the symbol of the 10 years following 9/11, as I said above. While our campus’ reaction might have been tasteless or insensitive to the violent nature of his death, it was certainly appropriate. We suffered an incredible loss 10 years ago. It was 3,000 precious lives, our sense of safety and our national identity. As an American community, we had the right to be happy, even if a more judicial process would have brought a more familiar sense of justice. More than trying to justify our reaction, maybe we should be asking if we have to justify our reaction, given the circumstances.
Maggie Henry
blatant display of criminality. Frankly, it’s really difficult to imagine a different outcome. He couldn’t have been tried in the United States, he couldn’t have been tried in Pakistan, he couldn’t necessarily have even been tried in Afghanistan. In many ways, the legality issue of his death, or even execution if we can call it that, isn’t relevant because there was only one option. J.K.: What we’re both getting at isn’t that there’s been no reckoning, it’s that our government hasn’t even addressed bin Laden’s death except to tout it. Even if there was only one option, it still should be justified. Lack of options doesn’t explain or justify action, no matter how pressed we were to take it. In this case, I don’t think our government necessarily has to answer to the international community, but it certainly has to answer to the American people. Or not necessarily answer, since we elect our government to check and balance our debauchery, but shouldn’t the government have to at least address, if not justify, how we went about finding and killing Osama bin Laden? We’re conditioned to expect due process — habeas corpus is our highest ideal. It didn’t come into play a year ago, and if not now, when? At the end of this seemingly endless war on terror? M.H.: I wouldn’t necessarily blame just the government. They are unlikely to be forthcoming unless we press them to be so. J.K.: So why hasn’t Scrambled Eggs anyone asked? This gets back to the crux of the issue that we addressed earlier — we were thrilled, euphoric to see bin Laden dead. We don’t want to ask. So, should the government just never address it, like a special “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (but just for Osama)? We might be at fault as much as the government, but if that’s so, maybe we should be hunting for answers. M.H.: I think it’s the confluence of our ideological expectation of due process and the reality of what it took to get rid of bin Laden that prevents us from asking questions. For the last year, we’ve just swallowed what happened because it achieved the end we all sought after 9/11’s incredible emotional toll upon this country. The end couldn’t really justify the means, and it’s uncomfortable to confront the disparity between the means that should have been used and the means that were used. Even we, thinking about a year ago, can’t get our opinions straight. It’s because the gap between what we’re taught to value and what happens is too wide. J.K.: Sure, nothing could have prepared us for this situation. And obviously the last time America was attacked on this scale was during an international war, in Hawaii not New York City, and a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor doesn’t exactly compare to terrorists hijacking airplanes and flying them into the biggest buildings in New York City. Maybe we should just be grateful that our government didn’t drop an atomic bomb this time. After all, we may be more against the war in Afghanistan now than at any point since 2001, but, as we’ve both realized throughout this discussion, our support for having killed Osama hasn’t waned one bit in the last year.
Jacob Kose
J.K.: We absolutely had the right to be happy given the magnitude of our loss. Psychologically, we needed to feel as redeemed as possible the instant we heard our military killed the man primarily responsible for those 3,000 deaths. Still, we absolutely have to ask whether or not our actions were justifiable — how can you not re-examine the license we and our soldiers took in giving ourselves the agency to execute a man at any cost? Many people take issue with legally adjudicated execution sentences, and we’re talking about an initiative whose sole purpose was to find and kill a man with no questions asked. Before, I brought up the example of the Nuremberg trials of SS officers in World War II, the most applicable in modern world history. I understand why those trials don’t come to mind for today’s American government and people — 60 years ago is 60 years ago. But now that our government has had a year of distance, should it not address the American people saying “There was a precedent for international due process of this magnitude and we fucked up?” M.H.: Bin Laden acted with respect to ideological borders, not political borders. Nuremberg proved to the world that individuals couldn’t always hide behind governments to legitimize their choices — sometimes, when the government’s really, really bad, we have to accept that individuals colluded with the government’s atrocious choices. Bin Laden, however, wasn’t an agent of the government. The precedent that Nuremberg set isn’t relevant here; this is a whole other beast. Terrorism can be manifested non-politically, non-governmentally. What is due process when someone has absolved themselves of a relationship with any country that could provide it? How do we treat someone who avoids being treated at all, regardless of how horribly they treat other people? Bin Laden hid in Pakistan, was a Saudi citizen and committed crimes in Afghanistan and the United States. Even our overjoyed reaction to his death was a reflection of our ideological battle, not our national one. He wasn’t a legal animal, which he demonstrated pretty clearly with his
Maggie Henry is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. She may be reached at mhenry@cornellsun.com. Get Over Yourself appears alternate Wednesdays this semester. Jacob Kose is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. He may be reached at jkose@cornellsun.com. Scrambled Eggs appears alternate Wednesdays this semester.
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8 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, May 2, 2012
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, May 2, 2012 9
A&E
10 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun | Wednesday, May 2, 2012
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT LIZA SOBEL Sun Staff Writer
Scott Tucker is leaving Cornell after 17 years as Cornell’s beloved Priscilla Edwards Browning Director of Choral Music to serve as the Artistic Director for The Choral Arts Society of Washington, one of the most highly acclaimed choral organizations in the United States. At Cornell, Tucker conducts the Cornell University all-female Chorus, all-male Glee Club and World Music Choir. Both the Chorus and Glee Club choirs regularly tour nationally and internationally. He is also the American Choral Directors Association Eastern Division Repertoire and Standards Chair for Male Choirs. Tucker has one more competition before leaving Cornell. With the Glee Club, Tucker is competing this summer for the Llangollen International Music Eisteddfod in Wales. THE SUN: How did you first get interested in music? When did you know that you wanted to pursue music as a career? SCOTT TUCKER: I first got interested in music because I started playing the trumpet when I was nine years old. I heard a guy playing actually the cornet and I really wanted to play. I was the youngest in my family and my parents had had it with trying to get my siblings to play instruments. So they said no actually. They didn’t want to go through it. I had to beg for a couple of months before they buckled and let me take lessons. I really dove into it. I really loved it. SUN: When did you realize that choral conducting was what you wanted to do? S.T.: I was first a trumpet player but I got into conducting when I was 15, in the summer time in my hometown in Western Massachusetts, in a drama workshop, which was a big deal in the town. They put on musicals and things in the summers. There was a children’s musical and somebody said to me, “Would you like to conduct the children’s musical?” I desperately wanted to conduct and I wanted someone to ask me, but I never said anything to anyone. I was shy about it. It just dropped out of the blue for me. I started conducting musical theater, really starting when I was 15. I went on doing that for a long time. As I was a trumpet player, I was also conducting shows. Sometime later, after I graduated from the [New England] Conservatory as a trumpet player, after a little while, I started a choir of my own and that’s when I really got into choral music. It was in my mid-20s I started conducting this chorus and then I really wanted to learn all about choral music. SUN: What are some of your fondest memories during your time here at Cornell? S.T.: There are probably too numerous to mention. Most of my fondest memories have to do with the students. But of course I’ve made great friends here, great, great colleagues in the music department and they will also be my lifelong friends, both my former students and colleagues. Those are the best memories I have. Musically, one of the most exciting for me was when the tenor Peter Schreier came and he conducted and sang the Bach St. John Passion with our chorus behind him. He is an extraordinary musician. He brought so much out of the singers. That was one of my first years. It was just an extraordinary, extraordinary experience.
Staying In Tune KELLY YANG / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
tion they take them in will be exciting and the right direction. The stuff I hope remains is the strong tradition and connection that these groups have here. There’s a way in which the members of the Chorus and Glee Club particularly are so connected to the alumni who have come before them. They feel very devoted, not only to each other and to the music, but to the whole large picture of what these large organizations are. They come back and they sing with the students as alumni. It’s a very powerful experience for the students to be part of something that is so much bigger than themselves. I hope the level of music is the highest it can be because the students here are capable of excellent music making and they should be held to the highest possible standard. In terms of what repertoire they do or what the emphasis of the conductor is, that always changes. The things that should not change are high quality excellence, community and camaraderie. Those are the two most important things. Of course all the little traditions that happen, it would be nice if they would remain. SUN: What have been your priorities as conductor of the Glee Club and Chorus? S.T: My priorities with the Glee Club and Chorus were to get each singer to think like a conductor. Everything I had them do was so that each individual in the chorus took personal responsibility for the sound of the whole group. A lot of conductors will have people sing in sections, for example the tenors are here, the altos are here, the sopranos are here. It was important to me to take each individual and mix them into quartets. There would be a soprano, next to an alto, next to a tenor, next to a bass so that each place within the chorus, there is a mini-chorus. Each little mini-chorus was responsible for tuning, balancing, blending and singing expressively, just within their small group. Every person is making equal effort to make music, the whole picture of music. That’s been a big emphasis of mine. I think it’s really paid off a lot. The students who come here sing extremely musically and they think not just about their own part, but also about the entire presentation of the music.
SUN: What aspects of the Glee Club and Chorus do you hope will remain after you leave?
SUN: If you had the time to stop the clock before leaving, what would be the last piece you would conduct with the Chorus and Glee Club?
S.T.: I think the new director will have his or her own priorities. That is great and that has to happen. Whatever direc-
S.T.: One piece I always wanted to do was the War Requiem by Benjamin Britten. It’s a huge work with poetry by
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Wilfred Owen, a World War I poet. Britten is one of the great 20th century music masters. It’s an enormous work for orchestra, chamber orchestra, chorus, tenor, bass and soprano soloists, children’s choir and bells. It’s just a huge, enormous, cacophonous sometimes, but incredible work. It’s a piece I’ve always wanted to do. I hope to do it one day, maybe in Washington. That’s something that was on my list for a long time and I just was never able to do it. It’s hard to coordinate that many schedules. SUN: What inspired you to seek a new job? What made you say yes to the Choral Arts Society? S.T.: Through the years, sometimes people would contact me and say we would really like you to apply for this job. I have never seriously applied for a job before. Here, the stage I was at was I have been here for a while, and I am very happy here. I could certainly see myself playing out the rest of my career here. But I also knew when you get to a certain point of comfort level, sometimes that is not a good thing for a musician or artist. You want to always be challenging yourself, putting yourself in a situation where things are slightly uncomfortable so that you can grow and continue to develop as a person and as an artist. That spurred me on to start to look. The Choral Arts Society was actually the only place to which I applied. It was just the perfect situation because it’s a very, very choral city they have. It’s sort of like Minneapolis where choral singing is a huge thing. There are many fine choruses there. This one is kind of established, up to now, as the best chorus in the city. It’s certainly debatable because a lot of choruses are very fine, but it’s sort of the most established. They have a really strong organization, good financial situation, staff and it’s a really great situation. They sing with the National Symphony, which I really admire Christoph Eschenbach [conductor of National Symphony] and I am really excited to work with him. The [Choral Arts Society] conductor [Norman Scribner] is retiring after many, many years. He is kind of a legend. It’s a happy situation. Scribner is an incredible man and he is a real gentleman. He is kind of passing the baton. It’s a perfect situation. It seemed too good to pass up. SUN: How involved do you hope to stay with Cornell? S.T: I don’t want to interfere with the new person when they come. I will draw away for a while. I hope after they are established and things are good and successful, I will come back, as my predecessor has, as a member of the advisory council of the Chorus and Glee Club, which is made up of alumni and former members and help the organization with their touring and their budget. I would hope to be able to be involved that way if the new director wanted that. Again, when time has gone on, I would want to go back in five years or so and see former students and just hang out. The full interview is available on The Sun’s website at www.cornellsun.com. Liza Sobel is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at lsobel@cornellsun.com.
A&E
Wednesday, May 2, 2012 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun | 11
Down Memory Lane
HEATHER MCADAMS Sun Staff Writer
Memory and the the Photographic Image, on display at the Johnson Museum till September 9, is an unforgettable walk down memory lane. Curated by Nancy Green, the exhibit features a stunning range of images — from intimate images of cherished lockets and family photo albums to images explicitly created for public consumption such as models’ portfolios and magazines. These images, which run the gamut from the ordinary to the extraordinary, collectively serve as a meditation on the photographic image. There are many instantly recognizable images that are instantly recognizable. Photos from Ansel Adams and Margaret Bourke-White are among the most iconic. Most notable is Margaret BourkeWhite’s photo of Gandhi at his spinning wheel, Hope Began with Spinning — Gandhi Spinning... The smiling faces of Walt Whitman and Marilyn Monroe also peer out from among the images. The dichotomy between self-portraiture and the portrayal of public figures provides a fascinating dialogue about the public and private memory. Each of the exhibit’s partitions explores a different aspect of memory. The diversity of these themes suggests that memory is intertwined with both the near and the far, the public and the private, nature and urban spaces, loved ones and strangers, life and death. But all these things — even those that are seemingly distant such as current events in other countries — are experienced and remembered in a strikingly personal way. The exhibit weaves the lighter topics of self-image and public image into the heavier, more invasive images of warfare. The final section is subdivided into three parts on the aesthetics of wartime wreckage, death and dying and mourning the losses. The multi-layered portrayal demonstrates the complexity of the relationship between memory and photography. Photographs are snapshots, fixed in time, whereas memory
ebbs and flows. Nevertheless, both can be framed, skewed and misinterpreted. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a single photograph can’t always capture the whole story. The section on self-portraiture is extremely interesting, because self-portraiture is a highly controlled, regulated form of memory. As the wall panel notes, self-portraiture is “a conscious, calculated decision about how [one wishes] to be remembered.” Public image, on the other hand, is controlled
Her) portrays the movement of individuals within the urban landscape. Urban spaces are portrayed as scenes of evolution and movement in terms of human and non-human activity. The largest section in the exhibit, which examines the relationship between war and memory, is dominated by images of violence, suffering, death and mourning. Margaret BourkeWhite, a Cornell alumna and documentary photographer, was responsible for many of these images. She made history as the first female war correspondent sand the first female photographer for Life magazine. Her photo of the Fort Peck Dam was on the first-ever cover of Life in 1936. Bourke-White’s images provide an insight into the inner workings of wartime life; her images range from an artillery barrage to a dissection of a B-36 bomber. This section is not for the faint at heart. Many of the images are haunting photographs of unidentified bodies, shrouded in mystery. There are also several images of mourning. Bourke-White’s 1945 image entitled He, too, found his friend depicts a young man paralyzed with agony, as he bends over the emaciated skeletal remains of his friend. The process of putting together the exhibit was highly collaborative. Sponsored by Cornell’s Atkinson Forum in American Studies and supported by ANDY JOHNSON / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER the Cornell Council for the Arts, the exhibit was in part crafted based on by how the public wants to view prominent figures. Cindy research by Ph.D. candidate Franz Hofer. The wall labels for Sherman, however, overrides the boundary between the two; many of the workswere written by students from the she uses two photographs of herself one as — a lusty model Contemporary Photography class taught by postdoctoral feland the other as a pudgy rendition of Mrs. Kris Kringle — to low James Nisbet, History of Art. challenge the the portrayal of women in the media. Memory and the Photographic Image is a brilliant discourse The exhibit is also a meditation on transitional space as it on the forms, expectations and interpretations of both memtakes shape in both the natural and urban landscape. While ory and photography. Berenice Abbott’s Penn Station illustrates the changes within the city in terms of the form and structure of buildings, Leon Heather McAdams is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. Levinstein’s Untitled (Nun with Girl in Tutu Walking Behind She can be reached at hmcadams@cornellsun.com.
From the Inside Out
A final glance at Cornell fashion
O
ver the last two years I have enjoyed using my column as a space to talk about style and the fashion industry beyond Cornell. By exploring big topics like tech and fashion or privacy and fashion, I stretched my own boundaries and I hope I’ve also broadened readers’ perspectives. But for my last column, I’d like to turn back to our campus and talk about the future of fashion that is incubating at Cornell. As a senior in the fashion department (formally known as the Department of Fiber Science and Apparel Design), I have spent the last several months preparing for my senior collection presentation at the Cornell Fashion Collective runway show. The show, held last Saturday at Barton Hall, was widely attended. It has historically been the largest student-run event on campus. But despite all the buzz surrounding the show, I find that the behind-thescenes process eludes many of my friends. What they do know is that I don’t sleep, I spend a lot of time checking out female strangers (who could be lanky models), and I am extremely appreciative of edible donations when I can’t escape studio. I’ll begin by clearing up the first fallacy. No, it’s not really like Project Runway! Project Runway is a televised competition in which each contestant creates a piece of clothing in very few hours. The contest favors expert sewers and the decisive. Few great designers these days are either of those things, and few Project Runway alums have truly ascended the scaly ranks of the industry. What Project Runway competitions make up for in dramatization, they lack in gestation.
And it is this lengthy period of gestation that defines our process. Most students begin thinking about their collections for the coming year over the summer. Senior designer Emily Parkinson ’12 based her collection off of a series of Gothic iron gates she photographed in Europe last June. This abstract thinking process of the summer months gives way to the increased rigor of the school year. In August, we begin a class entitled “Collections 2” in which we refine our thinking process and engage in research, be it making knitting samples that replicate human
Amelia Brown On and Off The Bias musculature in the case of Sara Yin ’12, or hanging out in the Cornell Costume Collection taking notes on the patternmaking techniques of historical Turkish and Chinese jackets, in my case. This interrogation of our inspiration helps us to make sense of our inclinations towards certain colors, techniques and fabrications and turn that into cohesive concepts. Prof. Van Dyk Lewis, fashion, is our leader in this aesthetic exploration. Under his guidance, we each produced a few garments or accessories in the fall, some of which were included in the final show. The true fear of the deadline begins to set-
tle upon us after winter break. This is the beginning of production, time to set down the pens and bring out the Ginghers (German sewing scissors). Don’t get caught in the studio without them; you’ll look like a nerd). This is when we take down all the models’ measurements and start cutting and sewing muslin prototypes to create the shapes and fit that we want. For every single garment you see on the runway, I promise you at least three and as many as seven garments were sewn in muslin as iterations until the desired fit and silhouette is achieved. Designers either begin with a piece of fabric that they drape over a mannequin to essentially sculpt a shape, or they “flat-pattern” starting with the basic top or pant sloper and slashing it directionally, guided by the geometric rules we learn, to make a 3D shape. Our patient models run over after volleyball practice or a chem exam and try on these muslins until the fit is perfected. After the final prototype is completed, the designers turn to fabric, finishing and embellishments. Some of the designers create their own fabric, by handdyeing untreated textiles, like both Yin and Parkinson did in their collections, or digitally printing them, like Maggie Dimmick ’12, who printed a photograph of a desert landscape onto fabric for pants in her collection. Next come sewing and finishing, which brings in the true craft of tailoring and construction. We usually turn to Prof. Susan Ashdown, fashion, for questions of ready-towear construction and Prof. Anita Racine, fashion, for questions of couture construction, depending on the materials and intended price-point of the garments we are mak-
ing. That’s essentially the whole process of what goes into the show. As for what comes out of it, that’s another story. The minute we finish our collections for the runway, we rush to polish the photos and technical drawings that go into our portfolios and websites, ready to be reviewed by interviewers as we apply for jobs. This is, as I mentioned, the process. It is the slow gestation, the careful ponderings, the late night in studio when you look out the window, realize it is now snowing, you don’t want to walk home, and you still don’t know how to re-draft that one sleeve. Our studio, I might add, in contrast to the cool calm of the floating Milstein, is a riot. There is usually vintage J. Lo blasting from the speakers, someone dancing with a mannequin, and accusations of Voldemort ruining people’s patterns when they weren’t looking. We keep each other laughing through the slog. We consult each other and wake each other up from 10 minute naps. What our process does have in common with Project Runway is the deadline. It is that moment when someone who doesn’t know anything about you comes to the fashion show and judges your work, that moment when you push your portfolio across the table to your dream boss and wait. In one sense the hundreds of hours we spend in preparation is all for that moment, and right then, every second feels worth it.
Amelia Brown is a senior in the College of Human Ecology. She can be reached at abrown@cornellsun.com. On and Off the Bias appears alternate Wednesdays this semester.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
12 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 Skiing need 5 Color Me __: 1990s R&B group 9 Wait for a light, perhaps 13 Debate choice 15 Hardly __: rarely 16 French company? 17 __ acid 18 Lamebrain 19 Behold, to 57Down 20 2002 DiCaprio/DayLewis historical drama 23 Ending with stamp 24 U.S.’s Ryder Cup foe 25 Letters from Greece 26 The past, in the past 28 1968 Davis/Lawford spy spoof 32 “Me __”: “My name is,” in Spain 33 Mrs. Gorbachev 34 Big Island city 37 Aquarium fish 40 Fed. crash site investigator 41 Assured way to solve a crossword puzzle 43 Moved, as a dinghy 45 1940 Grant/Russell comedy 49 First National Leaguer with eight consecutive 100-RBI seasons 50 Society page word 51 Pier gp. 52 Circle segment 55 1962 Rat Pack remake of “Gunga Din” ... or collectively, the ends of 20-, 28and 45-Across 59 Island goose 60 German crowd? 61 Word after dog or lop 62 1-Across vehicle 63 Memo words
64 Franklin heater 65 Frizzy do 66 General __ chicken 67 Members of the flock
30 __ this world: alien 31 Bamboo lover 34 Onetime Ritz competitor 35 Per se 36 SiriusXM Radio subscriber, say 38 Once-in-a-bluemoon events 39 Seed covers 42 High card 44 Online connections?
46 Change further, as text 47 Gets the lesson 48 Peter of Peter, Paul & Mary 53 Christopher who played Superman 54 Gives up 56 Take from the top 57 Fabled fiddler 58 Can’t stand 59 Secretive org.
DOWN 1 Put on 2 Wanderer 3 Adds one’s two cents 4 Chicken snack 5 A headboard is part of it ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: 6 Noted bell ringer 7 Rely 8 Drafted 9 Prefix with graphic or logical 10 Dilapidated 11 Like Vegas losers, so they say 12 Program file suffix 14 Sportscaster who wrote “I Never Played the Game” 21 Lash __: attack verbally 22 Belgian river 27 Not at all colorful 29 As a companion 05/02/12 xwordeditor@aol.com
COMICS AND PUZZLES
Sun Sudoku
Fill in the empty cells, one number in each, so that each column, row, and region contains the numbers 1-9 exactly once. Each number in the solution therefore occurs only once in each of the three “directions,” hence the “single numbers” implied by the puzzle’s name. (Rules from wikipedia.org/wiki /Sudoku)
Puzzle #0.5
4
6 1
Doonesbury
Mr. Gnu
Strings Attached
9
8
3
8 8
6 7 4
1
9
5
2
6
3
9 8
Circles and Stuff
By Steven L. Zisser (c)2012 Tribune Media Services, Inc.
9
2 7
1
3
6
C
by Robert Radigan grad
05/02/12
by Garry Trudeau
Travis Dandro
by Ali Solomon ’01
It’s up to us. reduce reuse conserve protect recycle
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, May 2, 2012 13
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TH E
CO RN E L L
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14 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, May 2, 2012
SPORTS
Nazare Goes From Streets To BJJ Mat O’KASICK
Continued from page 16
halfway across the country, so that her son could pursue his dream of becoming a jiu-jitsu champion. “We received support from my coach and my brother, who was a special solider in the Marines,” Nazare said. “When I say we had nothing, I really mean it. My gi was the most expensive thing I owned.” It did not take long for Nazare to soar in the dojo and in competition under the tutelage of Feijao and the famous Nova Uniao alliance of academies. He went on to win the most prestigious Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournament in the world, known as El Mundials, four times and at each of the major belt ranks — blue, purple, brown and black. He also scored a victory in his first MMA bout and became a BJJ instructor. After competing in California, Nazare decided to move to Massachusetts, which has a booming population of Brazilians. “I came to the United States with one gi, two pairs of shorts, two shirts, shoes and a jacket,” Nazare said. “That was about it.” From there, the man who would become known as the Brazilian Bomber became something of a wandering soul, barely making due as he toiled away in construction gigs, delivery services, and in fish markets cleanups. For two years, his training came to a standstill as he had to hustle just to scrape together enough for decent meals. After meeting UFC veteran heavyweight, Christian Morecraft, Nazare began to instruct jiu-jitsu again at a gym in Cape Cod and revamped his MMA career. Eventually, Ryan Ciotoli at Team Bombsquad came calling, being in need of a first-class BJJ instructor. “When Ryan offered me a position, I told him, ‘Let me think about it. Let me check my schedule,’” Nazare recalled. “I was just trying to be tough and hide my excitement. I didn’t have a schedule!” Ithaca has provided the first stable living and training environment of the Brazilian’s life. Quickly picking up a solid striking game, the lightweight prospect continued his undefeated streak in the cage and earned a contract from the nation’s second largest promotion company, the Bellator Fighting Championships. Expert coaching continues to improve the BJJ master’s game — he has won several fights by TKO and amassed a respectable 10-2 record. “I come from BJJ. You will lose in BJJ, and it is the same in MMA,” Nazare noted. “There are many ways to get caught and be humbled but the important thing is to learn from your mistakes, get better and charge ahead.” He also hopes to build a following of jiu-jitsu students in Ithaca and the surrounding area. “For the opportunities I have been given I thank God and so many people,” Nazare said. “My mom came and took me out of the streets. Now look where I am.” J.D. O’Kasick aspires to earn both a Ph.D. and a black belt one day — or die trying. He is currently a grad student at Cornell. He can be contacted at jds482@cornell.edu.
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, May 2, 2012 15
SPORTS
Hannah Balleza
Field Hockey
Stats: • Led the Red with eight goals, four assists and 18 points • Shared the honor of team MVP for 2011 with Brittany Thompson
Montez Blair Track & Field Stats: • Placed second in the Championship of America high jump at the Penn Relays with 7-3.25 on April 29, 2012
Chris Cruz
Baseball
Stats: • Hit 11 home runs to tie Cornell’s record for home runs in a single season • Hit two home runs against Columbia on April 15
Allyson DiMagno
Women’s Basketball
Stats: • Named to the Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District 1 firstteam and earned an Honorable Mention All-Ivy League
Kailey Eldredge
Women’s Polo
Stats: • Averaged at least 11 points per match, including a season-high 17 • Voted second for National All-Stars in the national tournament
Daniel Haber
Men’s Soccer
Stats: • Led the team in points (22), shots (58) and shots on goal (25) • Two time Ivy League Player of the Week for 2011 OLIVER KLIEWE / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Clutch player | Daniel Haber’s second Ivy League Player of the Week honor came after a last minute goal from 25 yards that sealed the Red’s home win against Colgate on Oct. 11, 2011.
Andy Iles
Men’s Ice Hockey
Stats: • Had six shutouts and a 2.12 GAA, ranking him 10th in the country • Named team MVP and earned the Joe DeLibero-Stan Tsapis Award
Brianne Jenner
Women’s Ice Hockey
Stats: • Named to ECAC Hockey First Team and Ivy League First Team • Earned 58 points in 33 games played with a plus-35 rating
Connor Kaufmann
Baseball
Stats: • Named Ivy League Pitcher of the Week three times in four weeks • Currently has 3-0 record, 0.66 earned-run average and 16 strikeouts in 4 starts
Kelly Marble Volleyball Stats: • Led the team in kills per game at 2.52 and in service aces (.026) • Named the Red’s most improved player for the 2011 season
Jeff Mathews Football TINA CHOU / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Hometown hero | Andy Iles played all 35 games in net, totaling 2179 minutes, and made
Stats: • Received the Bushnell Cup for Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year • Two-time Ivy League and National Player of the Week
870 saves and allowed only 77 goals in 19 wins, 9 losses and 7 shutouts.
Brendan Miller
Sprint Football
Mike Nevinger
Wrestling
Stats: • Threw for 13 touchdowns with a 55.3 passing completion percentage • Named to the Collegiate Sprint Football League’s Second-Team
Stats: • Named an NCAA All-American and an EIWA Finalist in 2012 • Placed seventh All-America at 141 pounds
Alyson Onyon
Phillip Truong
Softball
Stats: • Named Ivy League Pitcher of the Week for the week of April 30 • Pitched perfect 3-0 with a 0.45 ERA, throwing 31 innings in 3 games so far
Men’s Diving
Stats: • Highest finisher for the Red at the Ivy League Championships • Went 339.80 in 3-meter diving competition at Ivies, set new C.U. record
The Corne¬ Daily Sun
Sports
TRACK AND FIELD
Penn Relays Preps Red for Heps By JUAN CARLOS TOLEDO Sun Staff Writer
The last stepping stone before the much anticipated outdoor Heps meet was the historic Penn Relays, which saw Cornell athletes compete over the weekend against some of the most successful and storied track and field programs in the country. Men’s head coach Nathan Taylor was pleased with the performance of his team overall. “Some things were good,” he said. “We won the [Heps] section of the [4x400], the high jump guys were really good. In general, it was a pretty good meet with some very good times.” Sophomore Kinsley Ojukwu expressed his excitement for being at such a historically prestigious meet with his teammates. “We were so hyped up that first day going in,” the sprinter said. “It was awesome. All the best teams, they were all there. I thought it was an awesome experience.” The men’s team saw a multitude of strong performances, including 10 IC4A qualifiers and four changes to the all-time Top-10 lists. A highlight for the Red was a second-place finish in the championship section of the high jump by sophomore Montez Blair with a jump of 7-3.25, which was good enough for one of the Top-10 jumps in the NCAA this year. Sophomore Peter Roach was fourth in the college section of the pole vault clearing an IC4A qualifying height of 15-9. The men’s 4x400 quartet comprised of seniors Dan Thomas, Brian Freitas and Ken McClain and freshman Rutger Admirand ran 3:14.62 to win the Heps race and a Penn Relays wheel. The women’s team also performed well, with six Top-10 individual finishes, three Top-10 relay finishes and eight ECAC qualifiers. A highlight of the meet was sophomore Emily Shearer placing second in the 3000, with a time of 9:25.95 — breaking the 22-year-old school record previously held by hall of famer Stephanie Best ’91. In the 3000 steeplechase, sophomore Rachel Sorna placed fourth with a time of 10:22.31. In the field, junior Claire Dishong had a season best and ECAC
XIAOYUE GUO / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
World class | The Red raced against storied track and field programs over the weekend. qualifier in the discus with a throw of 142 feet for 13th place in the college section. According to Taylor, although the Red’s performance at Penn Relays was impressive, it was all an effort to better prepare for the Heps meet this weekend. “All of it is really in preparation for this week,” he said. “This week is when the money is really on the table.” Women’s head coach Rich Bowman said that he feels confident in the health of his team, and is looking forward to seeing them compete this weekend. “We’re healthy, and for the first time everybody’s really excited about getting in and getting after it,” he said. “I think the depth of our team is going to lead us to a
lot of success this weekend. They’re a veteran group. They know what to expect and how to do it.” Taylor said that he feels confident leading up to this weekend. “My job for preparing people to run is nearly done,” he said. “It’s up to [my team], and they’re as ready as they can possibly be from a training perspective, and a psychological perspective. As a coach, I’ll get people riled up before the meet, so it’ll be fun.” The men’s and women’s teams are seeking their first Heps outdoor titles since 2010, both matching up against Princeton. Juan Carlos Toledo can be reached at jtoledo@cornellsun.com.
One for the history books
WEDNESDAY MAY 2, 2012
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Saved by The Gentle Art: Rene Nazare W hen Rene Nazare-Azvedo was 10 years old, a pack of armed bandits ransacked his home and put a gun to his father’s head. Having captured Nazare’s papa just footsteps away from their home in Teresópolis, Brazil, the nighttime outlaws demanded that he open the locked door to where his wife and sons stood in trembling dread. A long-time student of capoeira, his father somehow knocked away the .38 pistol from his temple and fended off the others before fleeing inside. Nazare and the others had to then fight to prevent the faceless men from barging their way through the door. Eventually, they gave up and rescinded into the darkness. Today Nazare has become a rising MMA fighter with Team Bombsquad and head black belt martial arts instructor at Ultimate Athletics in the Ithaca Mall. “I can count at least three times when God truly saved me and my family,” he said. “That was the first. The second was when I found jiujitsu.” While Teresópolis is set in Brazil’s mountainous hinterlands, its residents have long fallen into a poverty trap that has led to an upsurge in crime and destitution. It had origi-
J.D. O’Kasick Fight Life in Ithaca nally been founded by runaway slaves and indigenous peoples who took refuge in the rainforests surrounded by magnificent towering peaks, such as Dedo de Deus, or “God’s Finger.” It has since grown to a city of more than 150,000. Nazare described his rough-and-tumble upbringing as being focused on the streets more than in the classrooms, while he hung out with the kind of crowd that produces the same type of hoodlums who had attempted to raid his home. Alarmed, Nazare’s mother marched into the streets one evening and put the 16-year-old delinquent into a corner. She made him a deal: get off the streets, learn martial arts, and she would support him and pay for everything she could. “That was the best deal of my life,” Nazare, who decided to take up Brazilian jiu-jitsu rather than his father’s capoeira, recalled. “This is why I train so hard and have fought for everything.” Jiu-Jitsu Journey
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While it started off only with the purchase of a gi, or jiu-jitsu uniform, the bargain came at a cost than more than any of them could imagine. When Nazare’s instructor, Rodrigo "Feijao" Garcia Da Silva, saw that the young man showed early promise, he asked Nazare’s family if Nazare would be willing to move to a Maringá, a city some 15 hours away by automobile. His father balked at the idea and said he would not allow it. So his wife divorced him. You read that correctly; Nazare’s mother left her long-time husband and moved to a oneroom ramshackle home in another rough hood See O’KASICK Page 14