08-28-12

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

Despite New Initiatives, Freshmen Party in C-Town

Fraternities hold events off-campus during O-Week

By HARRISON OKIN Sun Staff Writer

One year after the University ramped up efforts to prevent freshmen from attending fraternity events with alcohol, a predominant trend during Orientation Week remains: A large number of students, including freshmen, are flocking to parties held by Greek chapters at Collegetown apartments and annexes

“There were freshmen in Collegetown I’m not sure if some houses felt they could get away with it, or that we wouldn’t know about it,”

Interfraternity Council

President Chris Sanders ’13 said “But these chapters run the risk of being found in violation of University rules They know that if something happens, they will be held responsible ” Fraternities are prohibited from hosting unregistered events and from inviting freshmen to parties where drinking occurs Contact between freshmen and individual Greek chapters is supposed to be eliminated entirely during the first quarter of the Greek system ’ s new timeline, which splits the year into four periods governed by different policies

The first quarter includes Orientation Week

Though these rules were already in place for Orientation Week in the past, Sanders said there was an “increased expectation” that fraternity leadership would abide by these rules this year, following the sweeping new restrictions on Greek life handed down by the administration last summer

“Freshmen just aren ’ t supposed to be allowed,” he said

Despite the recent push to prevent violations of these rules, Travis Apgar, associate

News

Better Late Than Never After a six-month investigation by the IPD, a man was arrested in connection with a robbery on the Commons | Page 3

Funny Men

Tickets are currently on sale for John Oliver and Mike Lawrence’s stand-up comedy show | Page 3

Opinion

Conflicting Interests

Kirat Singh ’12 analyzes whose interests are at stake where interest rates are concerned

| Page 7

Love Sick

Clio Chang 14 commends the Hangar Theatre s production of the Tony Award-winning musical, next to normal | Page 9

Sports Up and Coming

Six women ’ s hockey players were selected to the Candian Under-22 Development Team

| Page 16

“I’m not sure if some houses felt they could get away with it, or that we wouldn’t know about it.” C h r i s S a n d e r s ’ 1 3 The U S Green Building Council has awarded Milstein Hall LEED Gold certification in recognition of its achievements in sustainability, design and efficient

Partly Cloudy HIGH: 81 LOW: 55

By JEFF STEIN Sun Managing Editor

A previous version of this article first appeared at cornellsun com on July 31

Upon hearing the news of her son ’ s death, Marie Lourdes Andre went into such a state of “hysteria and shock” that she was immediately hospitalized, forced to lay down and given sedatives, her friends testified in court papers filed earlier this month

Andre’s ordeal was just beginning Despite her condition, she was immediately called upon to drive five hours to upstate New York to identify the body of her son, George Desdunes ’13, who died after a fraternity hazing ritual on Feb 25, 2011

The nightmare continued through the weeks ahead Magalie Louis, a friend of Andre’s, moved in with Andre to help her in the few days leading up to Desdunes’ funeral Louis ended up staying another six months, fearful of “what might happen to [Andre] if she were left alone ”

Friendly Fire: Accusations Fly A s Suit Against IPD Unfolds

By JEFF STEIN Sun Managing Editor

This is part one and part two of a series on race and dissension in the Ithaca Police Department

The Ithaca Police officer suing the city for discrimination allegedly treated minority suspects maliciously, helped demolish the property of the homeless for fun, and, on one occasion, threw deer guts into the back of a fellow officer’s car, according to the sworn testimony of several IPD officers

Mother’s Grief to Play Central Role In SAE Civ il Suit Sustainability

Though three former pledges of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity were acquitted of criminal charges in June, a separate, civil lawsuit is just beginning Seeking at least $25 million in damages, Andre is suing the national SAE fraternity and at least 15 former brothers of the Cornell chapter

What may make Andre successful where the Tompkins County District Attorney previously

Claiming the prevalence of high-level corruption in the IPD, Officer Chris Miller named two police chiefs, one former mayor, two municipalities, one district attorney, one union president and at least five Ithaca

Police officers as defendants in his sprawling, $17-million federal discrimination lawsuit The resulting legal battle has ensnared Marlon Byrd a black IPD lieutenant in allegations that he aided drug dealers, and threatens to destroy the reputations and careers of many others

By BYRON KITTLE Sun Senior Writer

Opened in August 2011 as an expansion of the College of Architecture, Art and Planning, Milstein Hall received a score of 40 out of a total possible 69 LEED points LEED leadership in energy and environmental design is a benchmark system that scores buildings

announced on Aug 23

Today Daybook

Tuesday, August 28, 2012 Today

Next to Normal 2 p m , Hangar Theatre

Organic Research Field Day

4:30 p m , Long Island Horticultural Research & Extension Center

Foreign Policy Distinguished Speaker Series: Duvvuri Subbarao, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India

4:30 - 6 p m , Lewis Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall

Job Search Strategies: Full-Time Jobs

4:35 p m , Kaufmann Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall

Tomorrow

Beyond the Garden Wall: Wild Foods From Page to Plate

8 a m - 5 p m , Lobby, Mann Library

Cancer Biology Seminar Noon, Lecture Hall I, Vet Education Center

Seminar: Structure and Serpentinization of the Cocos Plate Offshore Nicaragua and Costa Rica

3:30 - 4:30 p m , 2146 Snee Hall

Next to Normal 7:30 p m , Hangar Theatre

FICTION

Swim Test, Senior Year | Farrell McKenna ’12

This week, The Sun launches a new Creative Writing section poetry and prose entirely written, as always, by Cornell students One piece will appear in print every Tuesday, but we'll publish multiple pieces online if the awesome work keeps pouring in Email your favorite piece or three to JKose@cornellsun com

They flew in a private coach for me; a guy from Potsdam, New York, to help turn my aquatic flailing into something more streamlined so that in an hour’s time I could complete the three laps I’ve been obligated to swim under supervision for four years now, more commonly known as the Cornell University Swim Test Requirement

I don’t know why I never did it I’ve been receiving an email every week or so from an individual named Kelli Rae Bucci for the past two years that usually reads:

According to our records you haven’t satisfied the swim test requirement needed to complete your graduate requirements This is a reminder that they have make-up swim tests scheduled the next three Fridays from 1:30-2:30PM in the Teagle Hall pool Bring a suit, towel and student ID card There is a $30 late swim test fee If you cannot make that time, please contact Fred DeBruyn at 255-2629 or FWD1@cornell edu to schedule a private swim test

Needless to say, I have missed “the next three Fridays” about five times, and the last Friday just whizzed past relatively unnoticed The last option, my only option, was to schedule a private swim test And due to a series of devastatingly bureaucratic and unfortunate events, bizarrely, there was no person within a 200 mile radius of Ithaca, New York that was qualified to evaluate my swimming ability Into the cavernous realms of Teagle Hall one fateful Friday I went The dank, tepid air assailed my cheeks and felt foreign Amidst the swaying genitals of tenured professors and the clumps of disrobed attire dotting the slick, tiled

floor, I searched for a towel There were none in sight that weren ’ t being used to floss the crotches of wet men, so I went to the front desk to ask for help

An older woman with grey caterpillars for eyebrows pumped them and looked in my direction

“Yes?”

“Hi I don’t usually come here and I most likely never will again but I have to take my swim test so that I can graduate and I just realized that I don’t have a towel and I’d really prefer not to air dry ”

She had the upper hand

“Well These towels here ” (there was a large fluffy stack of unfolded towels to her right that I hadn’t immediately noticed that her paw was now on top of, laid flat) “ are for those who have a towel card, which costs $40 dollars a year ”

“Yes, that makes sense The thing is I really have no use for a towel card seeing as this is my first time in this building and I am only coming because I need to take my swim test and you literally will never see me again in your entire life Could you, possibly, potentially, be just a smidge merciful and lend me one length of towel so that I can just complete my test and get it back to you in fifteen minutes?”

She stood now with arms akimbo and eyed me from across the desk

“What do you got for

Scan the QR code to the right or visit cornellsun com/section/fiction to continue reading Students can send poetr y and fiction submissions to jkose@cornellsun com

Augustin ’12 Dies in June; Student Was S cholar, Activist

By SYLVIA RUSNAK Sun Staff Writer

A previous version of this article first appeared at cornellsun com on July 5

Those who knew Michael Curtis Augustin ’12 –– a 33-year-old undergraduate who died June 3 –– said he was a prolific scholar influenced by his dedication to both learning and social justice

“One of the common things I heard [at Augustin’s funeral] was Michael’s passion for learning and his passion for people,” said Victor Younger, coordinator in diversity programs, one of Augustin’s mentors when he transferred in 2010 “He was an advocate for others ”

Augustin, who in 2010 transferred to Cornell from Essex County College in Newark, N J , was expected to receive a degree in earth and atmospheric sciences in December He died suddenly on June 3 at the Stanford University Hospital in Palo Alto, Calif

The University was not notified of the cause of Augustin’s death, according to Claudia Wheatley, deputy director of University communications

Mahindra Mohan ’12 –– a friend of Augustin who transferred with him from Essex County College –– said Augustin will be remembered for his “shoot for the moon ” philosophy

“He will most be remembered for inspiring people to push pass their limitations and reach for goals that they would have previously thought were unattainable,” Mohan said

Mohan added that Augustin frequently returned to Essex County College to talk to students about improving their career prospects

“In a city where high-school drop-out rates are among the highest in the country, he spent most of his time mentoring and tutoring other students who struggled,” Mohan said

Mohan described Augustin as a “firm believer in the power of education” and as an advocate of using the mind to “provoke action against many inequalities in the world ”

“I will always remember how he touched everyone he ever met in a profound way, ” he said “He saw many flaws in the world and demanded change for the betterment of all people, not just by words but through bold action ”

Prof Jonathan Payne, geological and environmental sciences, Stanford University –– with whom Augustin worked last summer ––described him as a researcher who was “bubbling over with ideas ”

“Together, we worked to channel his energy toward a study of the relationship between organism size and extinction risk using the fossil record of brachiopods,” a type of marine animal that resembles two shells melded together, Payne said in an email “He was especially interested in finding ways to use the fossil record to help conserve tropical marine diversity because he had grown up in the Caribbean ”

Augustin, who was an undergraduate biology research fellow at Cornell, said he was “always curious as to what made the living world tick,” in a short biography on the fellowship website

“Growing up in the small, coastal farming community of Black Bay on the island of Saint Lucia, I was surrounded by an amazing and diverse environment teeming with life,” he wrote “After a very eventful journey that culminated at Cornell, I realized that understanding the past is the key to unlocking the mysteries of the present and shaping our future ”

Augustin presented his research from last summer at a symposium at Stanford, as well as at the Geological Society of America’s annual meeting in Minneapolis, Payne said

When Augustin returned to Payne’s lab in May to conclude his study and prepare it for publication, Payne said it was “clear that he had matured as a student ”

“Michael combined natural intellectual ability with a true passion for learning and a strong drive to succeed,” Payne said

According to a University press release, The Michael Curtis Augustin Memorial Fund will “ support a minority student interested in geosciences ”

A memorial service for Augustin will take place on campus this fall, the press release also stated

Sylvia Rusnak can be reached at srusnak@cornellsun com

Man Arrested for Ar med Robber y After Six-Month Investigation

A six-month investigation by the Ithaca Police Department led to the arrest of a man in connection with an armed robbery of a small business at 128 East State Street in the Ithaca Commons on Feb 25

Michael Freelove, 51, was taken into custody without incident at the intersection of Seneca and Tioga Street on Friday

Freelove was arraigned in

the City of Ithaca court and remanded to the Tompkins County jail without bail, according to a statement from the IPD

Freelove is believed to be homeless, and has been reportedly living in various temporary locations since at least February, according to Jeffrey Huddle, Ithaca Police investigator, who lead the investigation of this case

“ We do not suspect

[Freelove] in any other similar type crimes since February,” Huddle said in an email Monday

The case will be prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Gar y Surdell Freelove’s next cour t date, where he will be tried for the robbery, is scheduled for Aug 29

Compiled by Danielle Sochaczevski

Daily Show’ s John Oliver Will Play Bailey Hall Show

By REBECCA HARRIS Sun News Editor

A previous version of this article first appeared at cornellsun com on Aug 14

British comedian John Oliver will perform a stand-up show Sept 8 at Bailey Hall Tickets, which went on sale Thursday, are still available for purchase online, according to the

Up Show, in 2010 “ He’s a

“[Oliver’s] a really solid stand-up comedian that’s his background ”

Ta j w a r M a z h a r ’ 1 3

Cornell University Planning Board

Ol

known for his political satire as a writer and correspondent on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart He also plays the recurring role of Professor Ian Duncan on NBC’s comedy series

Community

Oliver got his start in comedy

England before moving to New York in 2006 to join Jon Stewart He launched his own Comedy Central show, John Oliver’s New York Stand-

n d - u p comedian that’s his background,” said Tajwar Mazhar ’13, executive chair of CUPB and a Sun staff writer “We thought he would be a good way to start the year ” Special guest Mike Lawrence will also join Oliver on stage at Bailey Hall, Mazhar said Lawrence recently made a name for himself in comedy as a breakout star at the Mo n t re a l Ju s t f o r L a u g h s C o m e d y Festival in 2010 He has appeared on Late Night With Conan O’Brien and repeatedly on John Oliver’s New York Stand-Up Show on Comedy Central Mazhar said that of the roughly 1,290 tickets CUPB is selling for the show, a few hundred are still available online Technical problems on cornellconcerts com prevented some people from purchasing tickets this weekend, but the site is now working, according to Mazhar

Rebecca Harris can be reached at rharris@cornellsun com

i d

Search Continues for Man Presumed to Have Drowned Po l i c e a n d r e s c u e c r e w s re s u m e d t h e i r s e a rc h o f C a y u g a L a k e Mo n d a y m o r n i n g f o r 3 5y e a r - o l d D a n i e l D y m o c k o f Un i o n Sp r i n g s , N Y , w h o i s p r e s u m e d t o h a v e d r o w n e d w h i l e b o a t i n g w i t h h i s 9 - ye a ro l d s o n Su n d a y m o r n i n g , a c c o rd i n g t o T h e It h a c a Jo u r n a l Compiled by Danielle Sochaczevski

Andre Blames Pledges for Son’s Death

context largely absent from the criminal trial of the SAE pledges

Andre alleges in her lawsuit that Desdunes’ death was the “direct and proximate result of the defendants’ negligence ”

Desdunes was left unattended on a fraternity couch after a mock kidnapping in which he was blindfolded, bound with zip ties and forced to consume vodka and pixie stix, according to court documents He was found unresponsive on the couch that morning and subsequently died at Cayuga Medical Center

But the attorneys of the SAE pledges, who were found not guilty of first-degree hazing and first-degree unlawfully dealing with a child, have argued that Desdunes was complicit in the binge drinking that preceded his death

They noted that Desdunes was known as a heavy drinker and that he had been seen drinking the night of his death, prior to the hazing ritual According to them, the ruling of Judge Judith Rossiter J D ’86 put to rest the claim that the pledges were responsible for Desdunes’ death

"The court determined, without reservation or equivocation, that these young men are innocent They did not haze George Desdunes or cause his death,” Ray Schlather J D ’76, the attorney for defendant Max Haskin ’14, told The Sun in June

Still, the upcoming trial is likely to be different on several fronts For one, the defendants are accused of negligence resulting in death not hazing, as they were in the criminal trial

The burden of proof has also changed Whereas the district attorney had to prove the defendants’ guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt,” the plaintiff in the civil suit will only have to show that the pledges were negligent based on a “preponderance of the evidence,” according to William Friedlander, Andre’s lawyer

Then there are the stories of Andre and her friends, though whether they will ever be heard in a court of law remains to be seen

Over the last few months, lawyers have sparred over where the trial will be held SAE has requested that the case be moved to Ithaca, but Andre’s lawyers say this would prevent witnesses from providing crucial insight into the emotional toll of Desdunes’ death

One such witness is Louis, the woman who stayed with Andre for six months and is herself a mother of three Louis met Andre 22 years ago, when Desdunes was a baby George Desdunes’ father, Bernard Desdunes, had just died of lung cancer

“I saw George grow up from a toddler to a wonderful young man I witnessed his relationship with his mother, and their mutual reliance and dependence on each other,” Louis says in her affidavit “She remains devastated by George’s death ”

Another potential witness who says she could not testify in Ithaca is Christine Hooker, who called EMS for Andre when they learned of Desdunes’ death Hooker, like other witnesses, says it would be an undue burden for her to travel to Ithaca to testify

“I have observed the effects George’s death has had on [Andre’s] ability to continue working She often needs days off because she is still suffering,” Hooker states in her affidavit

The defense, meanwhile, holds that witnesses like Louis and Hooker are “completely irrelevant to either liability or damage issues ” They note that a janitor who saw Desdunes’ body that February morning would not be able to make the trip to New York City if the case were moved there, and say his testimony is more central to the case than that of Andre’s supporters

The fight over the trial’s location may be particularly important because this case, unlike the last, will be decided by a jury The criminal trial was decided by a single judge, who may have been less prone to be swayed by more emotional appeals

Following that ruling, one defendant appeared to declare victory “#WEWON,” Ben Mann ’14 posted on Twitter a few hours after the pledges were acquitted

But Friendlander said he remains confident Andre will win the civil trial and that it will be clear, after months of public controversy and seemingly endless legal wrangling, who is responsible for Marie Lourdes Andre’s grief

“It’s uncontroverted that [the pledges] did things that led to Desdunes’ unfortunate death,” Friedlander said “This is hopefully going to send a message to the fraternity and the members of the fraternity system that this conduct is unacceptable You can ’ t act like this You have to be held accountable ”

Jeff Stein can be reached at managing-editor@cornellsun com

Univ. Str ives for Platinum Rating

MILSTEIN Continued from page 1

on a number of factors related to energy efficiency, innovative design and reduction of carbon emissions, according to the building council

According to Kyu-Jung Whang, vice president of Cornell Facility Services, Milstein Hall was not always expected to earn such a high

requires all major construction projects to achieve at least LEED Silver certification the third highest rank, behind gold and platinum these expectations are relatively new “When the project started way back in 2004, 2005, 2006, [LEED certification] was never a requirement,” Whang said “Our design standards are such that for us to get LEED Silver on any project is sort of a no brainer That’s why we strive for something greater than LEED Silver; we try to go for LEED Gold and hopefully LEED Platinum someday ” Cornell has about a dozen LEED Gold certified buildings, but none that are Platinum certified Whang said that the architects for CornellNYC Tech, currently under construction on Roosevelt Island in New York City, are aiming to have at least one Platinum-certified building on the new campus

Tailoring a building to meet LEED certification generally makes the building more e x p e n s i ve t o b u i l d , W h a n g s a i d

Administrators estimated that Millstein Hall cost about $41 million, according to several University press releases

See MILSTEIN page 5

IPD Of cers Berate Miller’s Character

IPD

Continued from page 1

one officer, of wanting to “burn [the IPD] to the ground ”

The relevance of Miller’s past to the plausibility of his claims will ultimately be decided by presiding Judge Thomas McAvoy As McAvoy prepares to assess Miller’s allegations in court this September, he may be persuaded by the defendants’ characterization of Miller who is white as a racist, sexist loose-cannon entirely lacking credibility

But Miller is not alone in his fight And many of his claims particularly in regard to his superiors’ alleged transgressions appear grounded in the reams of documents he has submitted to the court

Several other officers and civilians have testified in support of his varied allegations, and one, Sgt Douglas Wright, has filed a $10 5-million discrimination lawsuit of his own Miller, in fact, is just one of four municipal employees currently suing the city for discrimination

But while these lawsuits generally focus on discrimination, the scope of Miller’s is broader He claims that there is widespread acceptance of criminal behavior at the top levels of the IPD that the police force spending more than $11 million a year in taxpayer money, or 18 percent of the city’s budget, is rife with wrongdoing

His stories form a searing indictment of the IPD that depending on one ’ s interpretation read either like one man ’ s moral crusade or the airing of personal vendettas

Take, for instance, Miller’s testimony about Andrew Navarro, a Latino IPD officer who has since joined Cornell Police

One day, Miller and Navarro were assigned to drive around Collegetown in plain clothes to gather “intel” on the neighborhood but for the first hour and fifteen minutes, Navarro did nothing but read the paper and get coffee, Miller testified

“I was like, ‘What am I doing? We’re not doing anything,’” Miller recalled in his testimony “[Navarro’s] words were: ‘We don’t have to do shit We’ll just drive around all night and get paid for it ’”

Miller testified that he knows “firsthand what a piece of shit [Navarro] was Everybody on the SWAT team that I know in the county and IPD despised him ” Navarro, for instance, regularly talked at work about having sex with his wife, Miller said

When questioned by Miller’s lawyer, Navarro did more than deny the accusation He attacked

“No, I would never talk about having sex with my wife in the workplace,” Navarro said in his sworn deposition “And, in fact, the most egregious example of someone talking about someone ’ s wife in our workplace

is when Chris Miller called Doug Wright’s wife a whore to Doug Wright’s face ”

This example fits within a broader narrative of Miller’s purported misconduct that, according to the defendants in the case and other officers’ testimony, long predates Miller’s time in Ithaca

Part II – ‘I Am a Dick’ – Miller’s Time as an Officer in Vinton, Va

“Marijuana burned in barrels and flushed down toilets Stolen weapons recovered but not returned to their owners ”

“Bikes for needy children given to the police department ’ s families and friends ”

“Slush funds Unlawful arrests Intimidation of witnesses ”

Replete with allegations of negligence and corruption at the highest levels of the police department, the passage reads like a section of Chris Miller’s lawsuit against the IPD

But it comes instead from the lead story of The Roanoke Times on Feb 19, 2000 The Virginia newspaper obtained a grand jury’s report on Chief Rick Foutz and Lt Bill Brown, the former number one and two ranking officers in the police department of the Town of Vinton, Va The grand jury’s findings said that Brown ruled the department with “fear, intimidation and retribution,” while Foutz “willfully chose to ignore these grave problems,” according to The Roanoke Times

It was here that Chris Miller got his first introduction to the world of small-town police At 24, the young officer moved to Virginia in 1995 one year after he received his degree in criminal justice from Long Island University

In their report to IPD, Miller’s bosses in Vinton noted that he was frequently cited for minor violations

He failed to have his shoes shined properly He carried a dirty firearm He did not have the proper registration on his car, the Vinton officers say in their report

And then, having already been placed on probation for “his failure to follow departmental procedures,” Miller scratched “I Am a Dick” into the shooting glasses of Paul Hickerson, his fellow officer in Vinton, the court documents say

As Miller told it, he and a group of other officers were “fooling around” in the locker room and playing a prank on Hickerson One officer threw a bucket of cold water on Hickerson, another messed with his shoes and Miller defaced his glasses

According to then-Chief Foutz, Miller participated in “the destruction of another officer[’s] personal property because he did not like the officer ” Miller was then terminated

The City of Ithaca holds that Miller was fired in part because he did not disclose, in his job application to IPD, that he had worked in Vinton

They believe that this omission is of crucial importance for two reasons: One, it shows Chris Miller lied to the IPD, which justifies their decision to fire him, and two, they say, it shows that Miller has a history of insubordination

But the city’s argument does not acknowledge the reports of widespread corruption at Vinton alleged by Miller and supported by the grand jury’s testimony of unlawful arrests and widespread corruption and its implications for the credibility of those who disciplined Miller

For Miller, as he says in his arbitration hearing, the malfeasance of his superiors is inseparable from the punishment they meted out His testimony on the matter shines with righteous indignation

“If people are going to sell drugs and steal guns and lie on reports and things like that, how are they going to judge someone else? I don’t think it’s appropriate for that individual to make, [to] pass judgment on someone else,” Miller said of the Vinton police “It was similar to but not as bad as here in Ithaca ”

Jeff Stein can be reached at managing-editor@cornellsun com

Univ. Sets Hig h Energ y Ef

buildings to use at least 30 percent less energy than non-LEED certified ones

However, Whang said that over the lifetime of a LEED-certified building, savings accrue from lower energy costs related to some of Cornell’s sustainable building practices, which include Lake Source Cooling a system that uses cold water from Cayuga Lake to reduce the need for temperature control and the use of natural lighting from skylights and windows

“If you look at the building through its entire life cycle, it’s much less costly,” Whang said

According to University archit e c t Gi l b e r t De l g a d o , t h e University also requires its LEED

“We’re continuing our efforts in sustainability in all the new buildings that we ’ re doing,” Delgado said He added that in moving forward with CornellNYC Tech, the University will aggressively pursue t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f “ n e t ze ro ” buildings that will “produce as much energy as [they] use ”

“ We a re ve r y c o m m i t t e d t o these ideas, and our future projects will show that,” Delgado said Whang said that LEED-certified buildings are especially important in promoting efforts to combat climate change and reduce carbon emissions

Frats Are Choosing To ‘Play With Fire’

COLLEGETOWN

Continued from page 1

dean of fraternity and sorority affairs, said Monday that he has heard of several instances during Orientation Week in which fraternities used Facebook to send out invitations to annex parties Apgar said that it is often difficult to determine whether a Collegetown house is affiliated with a fraternity chapter

In the event that an incident should occur, Apgar said, the University would investigate who hosted the event, what guests were invited and whether the event served a recruitment purpose “It’s our hope that the fraternities aren ’ t trying to find loopholes and put themselves and their guests in risky situations,” he said “Just because the event is happening outside of their house doesn’t mean it isn’t a violation ”

Sanders said that although the IFC has not yet met to discuss whether any infractions occurred during Orientation Week, he cautioned that fraternities are not above the rules

“They are choosing to play with fire,” Sanders said of chapters who held open parties with alcohol last week “If it’s reported that they served alcohol and hosted freshmen, they need to understand that the IFC will act on it ”

Ken Babcock ’13, IFC vice president for judicial affairs, said that, at this point, he is not aware of any specific incident in which freshmen were reported drinking in a fraternity annex He also said he could not determine whether fraternities were primarily responsible for the high level of drinking in Collegetown

“If an event is contained within someone ’ s house, which might not even be a fraternity, police are not going to enter a private household with the assumption that it’s a frat breaking the rules,” Babcock said “The primary concern is safety If an event was visibly out of control, it was broken up ”

Avoiding run-ins with police is the best way for a fraternity to protect itself while hosting freshmen at parties with alcohol during Orientation Week, said one fraternity president who wished to remain anonymous in order to detail, without fear of recourse, how his chapter skirts IFC rules and regulations

“There’s a lot of freshmen coming through, and you don’t know the risk that all of them pose to your party, your fraternity, ” he said “But if you do a good job of managing the risk, it’ll work out ”

He added that “the police are pretty upfront about their rules,” which he said include avoiding open containers of alcohol, keeping people off the porch and “ not making a scene ” outside

“If you keep people off front porches and keep outside noise to a minimum, then you’ll have fewer problems,” he said “Make sure to station guys at the door who are responsible enough to manage the front of the house but menacing enough to scare away drunk clowns from turning your private party into an uncontrollable disaster ”

Babcock said that he did not know of any “public” Facebook invitations to parties during Orientation Week Rather, he emphasized that fraternities are allowed to use the social medium as a channel for event invitations, as long as the Facebook event is “private” and no freshmen are invited

Babcock added that he believes the new rules enacted over the last few years have made fraternities more aware of the need to find a balance between organizing alcohol-fueled events and meeting new freshmen in an alcohol-free setting

“Cornell students are smart enough,” he said “Even if the chapters decide to invite freshmen, they understand where the rules stand They’re less likely to take higher risks and promote unsafe behavior, especially if freshmen are there ”

According to Cornell Police Chief Kathy Zoner, it is not CUPD’s duty to ensure fraternities are following the rules Instead, she said their focus is to reduce risky behavior linked to alcohol consumption

“You build a building that consumes less fossil fuel and energy and it helps the environment and there’s a cost to that,” he said, referring to the higher initial price tag for LEED-certified buildings

But Whang added that reducing carbon emissions is such an important goal that price should not matter

“The fact that we are putting greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, there’s no way to put a price tag on that We know that it harms the environment and, ultimately, it’s going to kill us eventually,” he said

Byron Kittle can be reached at bkittle@cornellsun com

“We’re working on an effort to make Collegetown a place where students and permanent residents can coexist peacefully,” Zoner said “Aside from the alcohol-related crimes that were committed last week, the biggest disappointment was how Collegetown residences were left after parties It is very insulting to have to wade through an ocean of red solo cups on your way to work ”

Zoner and David Honan, deputy chief of operations, said that CUPD is working this year to foster a stronger partnership with the Ithaca Police Department which has more legal jurisdiction over the privately-owned homes in Collegetown an effort they hope will allow them to better reduce risky behaviors within the community

“We patrol the streets early in the night,” said Honan, who described the pre-party phase of alerting students they see walking in Collegetown to stay safe and stay off of the streets “There were numerous incidences of alcohol over-consumption and hospitalization If we catch anyone doing something illegal, we will report it ”

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130TH EDITORIAL BOARD

JUAN FORRER ’13 Editor in Chief

HELENE BEAUCHEMIN ’13

Business Manager

RUBY PERLMUTTER ’13

Associate Editor

JOSEPH STAEHLE ’13

Web Editor

ESTHER HOFFMAN 13

Photography Editor

ELIZA LaJOIE 13

ZACHARY ZAHOS ’15

ELIZABETH CAMUTI 14

AKANE OTANI 14

ELIZABETH PROEHL 13

SCOTT CHIUSANO 15 Assistant Sports Editor

REBECCA COOMBES ’14 Assistant Design Editor

NICHOLAS ST FLEUR 13 Science Editor

JOSEPH VOKT ’14

Assistant Web Editor

SEOJIN LEE 14 Marketing Manager

ERIKA G WHITESTONE ’15

JESSICA YANG 14

DAVID MARTEN 14

JAMES RAINIS 14

None of the Above

happens first

CRITELLI ’13

A RITTER 13

NEWCOMB ’13

CHAN 15

KOH ’14

’14

HARRIS 14

B ABADA ’14

VELASCO 15

STEFANIK 13

RAMSDEN ’14

have this habit of fitting things into neat little boxes when we don’t know how to make sense of them Our academic experiences tell us there should be a right and wrong box to fill in for every question We even fit the “Cornell experience” to a package of checkboxes: a list of 161 things every Cornellian should do before graduating We get rubrics for how our stories should be written, whether or not we choose to adhere to them Four years ago, those lists sparked excitement for all the things we could and would do But looking back from our last days at Cornell, it’s hard to dodge a pang of nostalgia for what we ’ ve checked off and what we’ll miss out on There’s still time to make the "lasts" count, because that’s what we saved our bests for right?

You know, I don’t think it really matters if your last days at Cornell are your best or worst When years or months from now you scramble for a foothold that brings you back to them, you probably won ’ t remember the bad parts You’ll remember how the sky felt on the Arts Quad that Friday, after you completely bombed your final exam in what class was it?

KOSE ’13

Editor JEFF STEIN ’13

DANIEL ROBBINS ’13

It doesn’t really matter what we accomplish, or what we don’t It doesn’t really matter what we ’ re told we should do And it doesn’t really matter if we check everything off our lists What sticks with us is the experience of trying, and failing Or succeeding

What matters is how we collapse our little boxes and take control of our own stories What matters is how we choose to remember I’ve remembered, re-read and re-written a lot of stories Since March they’ve been my own stories for a change, as I’ve tried my best to live away from the Ivy-covered bricks, scribbled dry-erase boards and comforting smell of newsprint at 139 W State Street Now, after four years of skewed priorities in the name of The Sun, friends and family are quick to ask, “So why did you do it?”

Sometimes I laugh and shrug Sometimes I groan Often I half-sarcastically quote Kurt Vonnegut, that “I was happiest when I was all alone and it was very late at night, and I was walking up the Hill after having helped put The Sun to bed ”

And here it comes: Nostalgia Nostalgia, for a time and place, for memories and stories, creeps its way into our identities It unites us, because we know the rest of the Class of 2012 is writing a version of the same story But it divides us, because what we identify with is and always will be based on our own stories, written in original thoughts and experiences

We need those stories They help us know that as we leave the Hill and start new chapters, the choices we made here will somehow matter trite as it sounds, we will all be a part of Cornell, because our Cornell stories will be a part of us

In the end, our choices our words and actions are what matter They write our stories They are all we leave, all we have, all we ’ ve been and all we will be And, most of the time, they’re completely within our control

In the past four years, we ’ ve accumulated achievements and failures, memberships and leaderships, friends and acquaintances, and academic and nonacademic honors Which one of these would you choose to define your Cornell experience?

a c a C o m m o n C o u n c i l h a ve o p e n l y c o m p l a i n e d a b o u t a n d l a m e n t e d t h e s t a t u s o f t h e i r n e i g h b o r h o o d , f o r g o o d re a s o n T h e c u r re n t s i t u at i o n i s a d i re c t re s u l t o f Un i ve r s i t y p o l i c i e s t h a t l i m i t p a r t i e s o n c a m p u s A s t h i s i s t h e c a s e , t h e Un i ve r s i t y s h o u l d s t e p i n t o m i t i g a t e t h e i n c re a s i n g p ro b l e m T h e p r o b l e m s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h C o l l e g e t ow n p a r t i e s h a v e g r ow n s i n c e t h e Un i ve r s i t y i n c re a s e d re s t r i c t i o n s o n f r a t e r n i t y e ve n t s Pa r t i e s a re b e i n g h e l d i n C o l l e g e t ow n w i t h g re a t e r f re q u e n c y, a s f r a t e r n i t i e s a n d o t h e r l a r g e o r g a n i z a t i o n s m ove t h e i r p a r t i e s o f f c a m p u s At f r a t e r n i t y h o u s e s , t h e s e e ve n t s we re s u p e r v i s e d by s o b e r m o n i t o r s , d i d n o t i n t e r f e re w i t h It h a c a re s i d e n c e s Ad d i t i o n a l l y, f r a t e r n i t i e s we re h e l d a c c o u n t a b l e t o s t r i c t r u l e s t h a t p ro h i b i t e d t h e s e r v i n g o f h a rd a l c o h o l Eve n t h o u g h i t s d e c i s i o n t o b a n f re s h m e n f ro m p a r t i e s o n c a m p u s l e d t o t h e m i g r a t i o n o f p a r t i e s t o C o l l e g e t ow n , t h e Un i ve r s i t y h a s n o t t a k e n re s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r t h e w o r s e n e d s t a t e o f t h e n e i g h b o r h o o d We re c o g n i ze t h a t t h e p re v i o u s a r r a n g e m e n t c re a t e d l e g a l i s s u e s f o r t h e Un i ve r s i t y t h a t n e e d e d t o b e a d d re s s e d Howe ve r, i t s o u tr i g h t b a n o n f re s h m e n a t t e n d a n c e w a s n o t t h e r i g h t a p p ro a c h It h a s c re a t e d a va c uu m f o r we e k e n d s o c i a l l i f e C o l l e g e t ow n h a s f i l l e d t h e vo i d , b u t f o r w o r s e We b e l i e ve C o r n e l l s h o u l d re c o g n i ze t h e a d ve r s e i m p a c t o f i t s a c t i o n t o l i m i t i t s ow n l e g a l l i a b i l i t y W h i l e t h e Un i ve r s i t y d o e s n o t h a ve l e g a l a u t h o r i t y ove r w h a t h a pp e n s i n C o l l e g e t ow n , t h e Un i ve r s i t y s h o u l d s t i l l t a k e re s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r t h e s i t u a t i o n It s h o u l d a c t a s a n i n t e r m e d i a r y b e t we e n s t u d e n t s a n d o t h e r s t a k e h o l d e r s i n C o l l e g e t ow n a n d w o rk t o c h a n g e t h i s d e s t r u c t i ve c l i m a t e Howe ve r, t h i s i s n o t s o l e l y a n i s s u e o f t h e q u a l i t y o f t h e n e i g h b o r h o o d , b u t a l s o o f s t u d e n t s a f e t y W h i l e p ro t e c t i n g i t s e l f, t h e Un i ve r s i t y h a s f a i l e

But really, I think Vonnegut remembered it wrong If I was happiest then, it was the illogical, giddy kind of happiness that comes with caffeinated sleep deprivation and anticipation of the week’s all-nighters Rarely was I alone and usually it was very early in the morning, and I was driving all the way to North with a car full of night editors Head full of Quark commands and oxford commas, stomach full of Shortstop, ears still ringing from Schroeder’s screwball playlist of choice

Or maybe he remembered it right There was also the fiery, energized kind of happiness that comes with a hard-won scoop and anticipation of tomorrow ’ s front-page story

Sometimes I was alone and it was almost always very early in the morning, and maybe I was driving to the plantations to watch the sunrise after having helped put The Sun to bed Head full of half-thoughts and excitement, stomach still full of Shortstop, ears enjoying the silence until the paper is delivered or sleep is within reach whichever

My answer is none of the above Or maybe a little of all of the above I do know this: My Cornell experience isn’t the same as anyone else’s, but a few shared pages stand out I hope you know who you are, but to everyone who contributed anecdotes, inspired plot lines, edited my rough drafts and helped cure my writer’s block: My story would be dull without you

The moniker for this column, Collapse the Box, comes from the British street artist Banksy opposer of dullness, champion of originality, hater of boxes: “Don’t just think outside the box Collapse the box, and take a fucking sharp knife to it ”

I’ve strived to “think outside the box” since sixth grade, when I signed up for Odyssey of the Mind (my first extracurricular activity, and the beginning of my path to overachiever-dom) and someone told me that’s what my goal should be The “creative problem-solving” program also told me that if the rules don’t say you can ’ t do something, it means you can and probably should More creativity meant more points

That was all fine, until I realized that by trying to think outside of one box at a time, I was falling into a Matryoshka Doll of even bigger boxes

In the decade since I started thinking outside boxes, I’ve learned that unless I’m moving, or sending a package, I have little use for boxes altogether I discovered that even if the rules to a problem say you can ’ t do something, there’s usually a creative way around them And somewhere under The Sun between High Rise 5 and Collegetown, I learned how to deconstruct things like rules and boxes It’s pushed me to write a much more original story

So forget the Big Red boxes, and just make your Cornell story a good one

Dani Neuharth-Keusch ser ved as associate editor of The Sun from 2011 - 12, and she graduated in 2012 She may be reached at dneuharthkeusch@cornellsun com

CORRECTION

Due to an editing error, Monday’s opinion column, “Looking Forward to a New Year” omitted an introductory paragraph The column was meant to begin, “Welcome to the start of the 2012-13 academic year an exciting time for all of us, whether we have been at Cornell for many years or are new to the Hill The new academic year is a time to consider how we can make the most of the wonderful opportunities available to all of us here ” The Sun regrets this error

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

CLIO CHANG Sun Staff Writer

As musicals go, next to normal, as it is styled without capitals, is not exactly your standard fare Foregoing much of the sound and fury of its more lavish contemporaries, it opts instead to be an intricately crafted study of mental illness and its effects on the lives of an otherwise run-of-the-mill suburban family Wildly acclaimed during its Broadway run, having won three Tony awards and a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the musical is one of the highlights of the Hangar Theatre’s main summer lineups and its penultimate production for the season

The play deals with the worsening bipolar disorder of stay-at-home mother Diana Goodman (played by the acerbic Andrea Burns) and the destructive effects it has on her family, consisting of bespectacled lovingbut-boring husband Dan (Chris Hoch, of the chiseled jaw), emo and overachieving daughter Natalie (played to brattish perfection by Alison McCartan) and teenage son Gabe (Noah Plomgren) Diana initially appears fine, notwithstanding apparent sexual frustration with her husband, but when she’s caught making sandwiches on the floor, things take a turn for the very bad In an apparent indictment of the pill-popping zeitgeist of modern psychiatric treatment, Diana’s medications fail to restore her life’s balance and instead tip her into a zombie-like state of unfeeling Frustrated, she throws away her medication and switches to a new therapist, Dr Madden (played by a diabolically hairless Nehal Joshi), who talks her through her issues rather than dosing her with drugs She enjoys a short reprieve, but in a very clever, almost Fincher-esque plot twist, the hitherto unknown underlying cause of her condition is revealed, heralding a catastrophic mental breakdown that eventually leads to her

receiving electro-convulsive therapy (shock treatment for the uninitiated) and subsequently suffering memory loss

It’s not all about Diana, however Supportive husband Dan is shown suffering as he struggles to find a way to help his wife and to cope with the situation, and bit-by-bit the reasons for Natalie being such a brat are revealed, making her character gradually more sympathetic Her stoner boyfriend

ness that’s told through the admittedly unlikely medium of musical theatre Surprisingly, it works not despite, but rather because of how smartly written and full of subtext and complexity the lyrics are The musical numbers are evocative on a wide range of musical styles from the countryesque lament “I Miss the Mountains,” sung so pensively by Diana (Burns), to the teenage, comic book allusion-ridden

Henr y (Adam Fontana) provides (often dazed) emotional support to her maternal abandonment issues The central theme of this narrative is how this dysfunctional family struggles to come to an existence that is, if not normal, then next to normal Hence the title

Next to normal is a sensitive and importantly authentic study of mental ill-

The Sun talked on the phone with Josiah Wolf, drummer and multi-instrumentalist for indie-rock-hip-hop group, WHY?, on the benefits of solo work swearing and piracy

THE SUN: Josiah Wolf, thanks for speaking with us Your band, WHY?, just released a new EP, Sod in the Seed, and you just started touring for your upcoming album, Mumps, etc

JOSIAH WOLF: Yes, right now we ’ re in Columbia, Missouri Tonight’s the first show of the tour, so it’s all kicking off right now I’m just really excited about this band, I think it’s the best WHY? outfit yet We’ve got six of us on stage, with two drummers, and it’s just gonna be a lot of fun

SUN: So it’s been three years since WHY?’s most recent album, Eskimo Snow Has that been a period of hibernation, or have you guys been playing together and working on this record all that time?

J W : You know, we recorded this record over a year ago now I was also touring without WHY? just me and my wife Liz

SUN: You also recorded your solo album, Jet Lag, during that period How do you feel your solo work relates to your work with WHY? Is there a lot of shared creative energy between those two projects, or are they very separate musical worlds for you?

J W : It’s pretty separate Sometimes something I come up with could work for either one, but most of the WHY? stuff is written by Yoni [ WHY? frontman and Josiah’s younger

“Superboy and the Invisible Girl,” sung by Natalie and Gabe (McCar tan and Plomgren) The musicality of the play allows for thematic devices to be instituted in a way that can be difficult in a regular play For example, the parallels between Diana and Dan’s relationship and that of Natalie and Henry’s are wonderfully expressed in the number “A Promise,” in which both couples

harmonize a single tune with the same lyrics, reaffirming their continual support of each other in trying times The music and lyrics help transform the story into something akin to poetry, with its layered subtext, and adds emotional texture and complexity to the characters

However, despite being a production that exhibits the sheen of painstaking refinement, with its smart songs and a well-crafted narrative pulsing with emotional power, it’s hard not to notice that underneath it all, next to normal’ s story is not particularly original Being an archetypal study of mental illness, it approaches the subject courageously and authentically, but conventionally The barebones plot itself is almost a cliché in how it goes through the laundry list of required narrative hinges The unconventional presentation of subject matter belies what is at its heart almost a soap opera about the travails of a suburban family that has to grapple with the specter of mental illness As an archetypal ‘mental illness’ story, however, next to normal is perhaps difficult to fault for being so by the book about the blow-by-blow stages of progressive mental breakdown and recovery It’s a relief that the technical and writing chops of the production hold up the story such that the cliché rarely becomes trite

All in all, next to normal is an accomplished, authentic “play that people happen to sing,” as the show’s director Tracy Bridgen puts it Don’t let the presence of musical numbers mislead you this is one production that ventures to explore the power of the stage musical with a theme often spoken in hushed tones, if at all

Next to normal plays at The Hangar Theatre every day except Mondays through Sept 1

brother Yoni Wolf ] That stuff is all his I do have a base of different ideas that I’ve used with WHY?, but mostly use for my own stuff

SUN: Listening to WHY?, what often strikes me are the really vile lyrics Stuff like, “Sucking dick for drink tickets at the free bar at my cousin’s bat mitzvah,” etc On some level I really love it, but on some level it’s really aggressively grotesque Do you ever have any reservations about putting that sort of energy into the world?

J W : Gosh, Tom I don’t have reservations about putting that out there I don t think it s negative or harmful That s Yoni, and those are the songs he’s written, and that’s where he is I find generally people come up after the shows to talk to us, and they say they really relate, and that it’s helped them through hard times He’s not inciting violence or anything like that

SUN: How much of those lyrics are grounded in reality, and how much is fiction? Take “Probable Cause,” one of the tracks on your new EP, where Yoni talks about an encounter you and he had with a state trooper in Pennsylvania True story?

J W : Most of the stuff is partially true, and that would fit into that category, I guess Yoni writes all the lyrics, so when it comes to that stuff, he would be better to tell you For that particular song, though, I was actually there, and I’d say it’s partial truth I think it’s maybe more about how Yoni feels in other ways I think it relates to other things about me, about our relationships, and about other stuff, too I don’t want to analyze his lyrics too much, but yeah a lot of partial truths

SUN: How do you feel about music pirating? I, for example, may have pirated most of WHY?’s discography How guilty I should feel?

J.W.: I see the Internet as more helpful to us than hurtful, in terms of increasing access to music I’m not a hater about that stuff It definitely makes some things difficult, and makes trouble with the label, but the amount of people that have heard us that would never have heard us before makes up for it And, you know, we make our money playing shows, we don’t really make much money selling records

SUN: That s definitely an argument I hear a lot that musicians make their money touring anyways and they’re happy to get their music out there any way they can Does that ring true with you, or is that just some BS people use to justify stealing music?

J W : I think it’s true I don’t think there’s anything wrong with downloading stuff and checking stuff out for free I think if it’s something you like, you should go to the show and buy something Many people who are big fans of [ WHY?’s 2008 album] Alopecia and got it for free many years ago come to the shows now, and are like, this is my favorite record, I’m gonna buy the record But no, I’m not a hater about the whole thing

WHY? will play at The Haunt on Sept 11 Their new EP, Sod in the Seed was released on Aug 14 and their new album Mumps, etc , will be released on Oct 9

Let There Be Sparks

We all have an ideal romantic partner

Perhaps they bake Perhaps they recycle

Perhaps they bake and recycle Most of us reluctantly admit that no ideal can ever replace the real person when he or she finally comes along But what would happen if that figment of your imagination, that fulfillment of your every desire, became a reality? Ruby Sparks, directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris and starring Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan, explores this possibility, resulting in a film that is simultaneously disturbing and touching Calvin Weir-Fields (Dano) is a painfully reclusive novelist who is facing a rather nasty case of writer’s block Both his therapist Langdon (Steve Coogan) and his macho brother Harr y (Chris Messina) encourage him to meet new people in an attempt to jumpstart his new novel

Reaching out is easier said than done for the quiet, awkward Calvin, whose only friend seems to be his dog, Scotty

enthralled by Ruby’s quirkiness and wonderful cooking His brother insists that he take advantage of his power by molding Ruby into the person he wants her to be Calvin refuses until the relationship begins to sour

The consequences of his actions are what make the movie so powerful The first half of the film tries very hard to get laughs, but is unsuccessful, most likely because the audience has seen many of the gimmicks before: a clumsy man who has no idea how to relate to other people; a free-spirited girl who likes to paint; a New-Age mother who feels liberated by her husband’s death The mushy dialogue between Calvin and Ruby is overly sweet, and the first 45 minutes in general are about as intriguing as the blank white walls of Calvin’s house

Ruby Sparks

Directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris

Featuring Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan

Inspiration finally arrives when Langdon gives him a writing assignment: Thus, Ruby Sparks (Kazan) is born, literally; she arrives in his kitchen early one morning While he is frightened and confused at first, Calvin is soon

THowever, the film hits its stride when Ruby begins to transform from a zany character that likes watching vampire movies in a graveyard and takes off her panties at a party to a real person who wants to have other hobbies and meet other p e o p l e

besides Calvin While she enjoys her one night a week away from Calvin, he lies in bed miserably, holding Scotty for comfort When she further asserts her independence, Calvin takes to his typewriter again and

writes the fateful sentence, “Ruby was miserable without Calvin ” She returns to him, but is reduced to a weeping, clinging child who cannot go anywhere without him She breaks down when Calvin lets go of her hand to simply take a phone call When Calvin writes her sadness away, she becomes manic laughing and giggling at everything and nothing Calvin’s journey is rather disconcerting, but necessary When he realizes that he is thwarting Ruby’s ability to be herself, he tries to free her, only to find their relationship crumbling yet again His attachment to her is not one of love, but one of obsession In a way, it is difficult to condemn someone so lost and alone in the world As the narrative progresses, he treats her like his property rather than his girlfriend It is difficult for him to see Ruby as a person because in a way, she is part of him, part of his imagination that has somehow materialized in front of him His inability to accept her, with all her imperfections and varying emotions, is ironic, considering his constant complaint that no one can accept him for himself He falls prey to the same kind of idealization and fantasizing, not only with Ruby, but also with his previous girlfriend

(Deborah Ann Woll) It is only when Calvin realizes that he, as Ruby’s creator, is the only one who can set her free that either of them can find any sort of peace or happiness

Though Ruby Sparks starts off as a lighthearted romantic comedy, the film progresses into a warning against the dangers of objectifying and idealizing other people Calvin’s final act of the movie not only shows his growth as a person, but also as a writer A writer is, of course, obliged to imagine and develop characters, but if a character is to become a person, one cannot forget to set them free

Ruby Sparks is now playing at Cinemapolis

Lubabah Chowdhury is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences She can be reached at lchowdhury@cornellsun com

The Newsroom’s Context Problem

he Newsroom is not a truly bad show, but it is not a particularly good one, either More than anything, The Newsroom, which ended its first season Sunday night, is frustrating Vulture summed it up pretty perfectly this weekend with a “Frustration Almanac,” an alphabetic list of the show’s many specific flaws and issues It’s easy to pick out The Newsroom’ s failings, large and small, and imagine how the show might be better if something (or, more likely, some things) was different

I think much of this stems from the basic idea of The Newsroom, a unique mix of fact and fiction News Night, the fictional nightly news show on Newsroom, tackles the events of the recent past as they should have been reported, armed with the power of hindsight through the magic of television It’s a compelling premise, but one that never reaches its full potential

back was used on both Sports Night and The West Wing, as characters on each show helped frame a story by relaying it to a psychiatrist If only for the selfish reason of “ not this again,” I literally groaned while watching this Third time is not the charm it is repetitive and, regrettably, now boring

Likewise, people who have any knowledge at all of real life events better forget it, as all that matters on The Newsroom is the newsroom Death, destruction and disaster take a backseat to the team at News Night, and The Newsroom’ s audience is hurt by any knowledge of the real life events the show wraps in its own fiction

What makes The Newsroom distinct from other programs is that you are penalized for being an active viewer, an inescapable weakness of the show that was demonstrated again and again over the first season People familiar with Newsroom creator Aaron Sorkin’s television oeuvre (the consistently excellent Sports Night and The West Wing, and the often imperfect Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip), will note blatant rip-offs from his previous programs This gives The Newsroom an awkward recycled overtone and diminishes the impact of Sorkin’s often-unparalleled writing It makes it harder because we know his tricks We’ve seen them before and, perhaps because there was an element of freshness then, they were done better In one episode, News Night anchor Will McAvoy reveals he was once considered for a late night talk show, but turned it down to do “the news ” This packs a little less punch than it should, if only because the same exact conversation happened on television 14 years ago, when Sport Night’ s Casey McCall admitted he turned down Late Night to keep talking about sports However, it’s not just minor Easter eggs (to be nice) that make Newsroom hard to watch for Sorkin fans That same episode is structured as a flashback derived from a character’s session with a psychiatrist While a flashback episode is common enough on any T V series, this very specific type of flash-

God help the viewer who has the bad luck to fall under Sorkin’s wrath His is the only show I can think of that targets potential audience members, and intentionally isolates them Are you, heavens forbid, a consumer of gossip magazines or trashy television? Did you dare pay attention to the Casey Anthony trial when there were economics happening? Do you “troll” the Internet, or even just sometimes use it? Well then, as this season proved, you ’ re explicitly not welcome at News Night, much less The Newsroom

Critics of The Newsroom have been loud since its premiere There have been articles lambasting the show for everything from outrageously simplifying the reporting process to its, let’s say, complicated depiction of women

However, the criticism that stuck with me most, and which I think addresses an issue inherent to The Newsroom, is the show’s prioritization of the importance of its own fictional characters over real, actual flesh and blood people

This is, unfortunately, best highlighted in The Newsroom’ s, and thus the News Night team ’ s, coverage of the Gabrielle Giffords shooting As Will reports on a real life event that caused the deaths of actual people, his fictional news team is preoccupied with their own relationships If you’ll excuse my excessive moralization, The Newsroom privileges the seemingly minor problems of their fictional characters over the truly tragic events that affect the real world and real people And that makes for some uncomfortable television

I can just see the News Night team freaking out that their coverage of the Sikh temple shooting in Wisconsin might be hindered by Will’s bad hair day Or, more realistically, Will doesn’t give Barack Obama’s support for gay marriage enough attention because he’s having a “New York renaissance ” It’s either that, or Will going missing right when Todd Akin designates some rape as “legitmate,” and is discovered in a church questioning God for the sudden death of his long-time personal secretary after everyone found out he had been hiding multiple sclerosis Also, his father probably had an affair for over 20 years

Whatever it is, we ’ ve seen it all before, on the news or from Sorkin himself And while the truth might be stranger than fiction, mixing the two only diminishes both

Peter Jacobs is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences He can be reached at pjacobs@cornellsun com Big Talk appears alternate Tuesdays this semester

I Am Going to Be Small by Jeffrey Brown

Spor ts

C.U. Adds Hall of Famers

By LAUREN RITTER Sun Sports Editor

On Au g 2 4 , C o r n e l l At h l e t i c s announced that 11 new members have been selected for induction into the Cornell University Athletic Hall of Fame The 36th annual ceremonies will be held on Friday, Nov 2, when the 11 inductees, including seven All-Americans, will join the prestigious ranks of Cornellians before them

The All-Americans who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame are Max King ’02 (cross country and track and field), Tom Nuttle 51 (lacrosse), Olga Puidgemont-Sola ’02 (squash), Jaimee Reynolds ’02 (lacrosse and volley-

b a l l ) , Me l i s s a R i g g s ’ 0 2 (polo), Matt Underhill ’02

( i c e h o c k e y ) a n d Fr a n k Wydo ’50 (football)

night, but also at the halftime of the Cornell-Dartmouth football game the following afternoon

Feeney is a Presidential Councillor, member of the School of Hotel Administration’s Dean’s Advisory Board and lifetime member of Cornell University Council Known as one of the world’s greatest philanthropists, he founded The Atlantic Philanthropies and has made gifts of $6 billion over the past 30 years to support multiple groups of people

Of the 11 athletes that will be inducted into the Cornell University Athletic Hall of Fame in November, seven are All-Americans

Other members who have been selected to be inducted are Chuck Feeney ’56 (special category), Bill Lazor ’94 (football), Julie Platt ’97 (softball) and Roger Weiss ’61 (special category)

A l s o s e l e c t e d t o b e e n s h r i n e d i n

November are Chuck Feeney ’56, special category; Bill Lazor ’94, football; Julie Platt ’97, softball; and Roger Weiss ’61, special category The inductees will not only be honored at the special ceremony on Friday

Feeney made generous donations to the Cornell Department o

&

which have strengthened various athletics programs One of his biggest contributions to Cornell included a $10 million grant in 1999, which allowed the Athletics Department to pursue its Cornell Victories campaign His generous donation allowed Cornell to focus on infrastructure improvements and endowment

Feeney’s impact for Cornell Victories has helped the Red, as Cornell has won a total of 22 Ivy League championships in the 10years period beginning during the 1992-93 school year The following 10 years proved to be even more successful for the Red, as

Red Plays for Canada

By DANI ABADA

On Su n d a y, Au g 1 2 , Ho c k e y Canada announced the roster for its Under-22/Development team Six out o f t h e 2 2 s e l e c t e d a re Bi g Re d women ’ s hockey players The players selected came from a pool of 40 women that were being considered, which included sophomore forward Emily Fulton

The six Cornellians representing Team Canada are senior defenseman

Laura Fortino, junior forwards Jessica Campbell and Brianne Jenner and

d e f e n s e m a n Ha y l e i g h Cu d m o re , sophomore for ward Jillian Saulnier and incoming freshman defenseman

Cassandra Poudrier

“It’s always an honor to represent your country no matter what the level is and I think to have such a large

group represented from Cornell and to be a part of our national program is something really special,” Campbell said “It’s always such an honor to put on our country ’ s jersey, and I am really excited that I was fortunate enough to make the team ” Fo r t i n o a n d Je

we

l s o selected to be alternate captains for t h e Un d e r - 2 2 / De ve l o p m e n t t e a m

This is not their first time representing Canada, as they have played for the Canadian Senior National Team Back in April, they won gold at the I I H F Wo r l d C h a m p i o n s h i p i n Vermont

“Of course, whenever you get the opportunity to represent your country i t ’ s a g re a t h o n o r, ” Fo r t i n o s a i d “[And] especially at this stage, there are so many girl hockey players that

Etched into memory | Goaltender Matt Underhill ’02 is one of the seven All-Americans that will be inducted into the Cor nell University Athletic Hall of Fame in November

Cornell brought home 69 Ivy titles since the 2002-03 school year The Red experienced a 214 percent increase between the two periods Feeney has also contributed generous donations with Atlantic, which have supported Bartels Hall and athletic facilities on North Campus The mission was to ensure that all students at the University have access to the best facilities and programs possible Feeney and Atlantic were also behind a $350 million gift donated to support Cornell’s New York City tech campus King was an All-American and won titles

at both Heps and IC4As in the steeplechase He exhibited great athletic prowess on both the track and cross country trail King broke Cornell s steeplechase record by more than 10 seconds as a senior, finishing in 8:40 12 in his final campaign He won the steeplechase as both a junior and senior, and captained both the track and field and cross country teams during his final season with the Red King was a two-time first-team AllIvy honoree in cross country and finished

Women’s Ice Hockey Welcomes Eight New Faces to its Roster

C o r n e l l t e a m t h a t m a d e a n

The new class features a group of four strong forwards, a trio of defensemen and a goaltender.

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