10 02 17 entire issue hi res

By JOSH GIRSKY Sun Managing Editor

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In ve s t m e n t Of f i c e r Ke n n e t h Mi r a n d a Mi r a n d a t o o k ove r a t t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e f i s c a l ye a r, w h i c h we n t f ro m Ju l y 2 0 1 6 t o Ju n e 2 0 1 7 , a n d t h e o f f i c e

m ove d f ro m It h a c a t o Ne w Yo rk C i t y i n a n e f f o r t t o a t t r a c t m o re q u a l i f i e d c a n d i d a t e s C o r n e l l’s e n d ow m e n t h a s s t r u g g l e d i n re c e n t ye a r s , p o s t i n g a n e g a t i ve 3 3 p e rc e n t re t u r n i n f i s c a l ye a r 2 0 1 6 a n d p o s i t i ve 3 4 p e rc e n t t h e ye a r b e f o re T h o s e we re t h e l owe s t i n t h e Iv y L e a g u e t h o s e t w o ye a r s T h e Un i ve r s i t y i s t h e f o u r t h Iv y L e a g u e t o a n n o u n c e i t s re t u r n s t h i s ye a r, a f t e r Da r t m o u t h , Ha r va rd a n d

Pe n n Da r t m o u t h a n d Pe n n p o s t e d re t u r n s o f 1 4 6 a n d

1 4 3 p e rc e n t , re s p e c t i ve l y, w h i l

ENDOWMENT RETURNS

at House Dinner Stuns

Residence Hall

Following two high-profile incidents in which Cornell students reported being targeted physically or verbally because of their race, a West Campus house community is “shattered” following the use of a slur last week in response to an electronic poll

“There was dead silence for five minutes People were stunned. There were some students at my table who were literally in tears.”

p h e re p a c k e d w i t h n o i s e , l a u g h t e r a n d d e l i c i o u s a ro m a s f ro m s a vo r y t o s we e t “ It’s s u c h a g re a t f e s t i va l , a n d e ve r yb o d y ’ s h a v i n g f u n a n d i n s u c h a g re a t

m m o n s e ve r y f a l l T h o u s a n d s o f p e o p l e c o n ve r g e d o n t h e C o m m o n s t h i s we e k e n d f o

m o o d , ” s a i d Re e n i e Ba k e r - Sa n d s t e d o f Ba k e r ’ s Ac re s Ba k e r ’ s Ac re s s e l l s a va r i e t y o f a p p l e s a n d c i d e r a n d h a s b e e n a p a r t o f t h e a

Students at the Carl Becker House’s weekly house dinner on Wednesday night were answering questions by anonymously texting responses to questions like “What is your favorite place on campus?” Their answers appeared in bubbles on a projector, and soon people began submitting silly and somewhat i n a p p r o p r i a t e answers

Prof Thomas Fox

Then, in response to one prompt “Name your key strength” someone responded by submitting the Nword, which appeared prominently at the front of the room, projected onto a screen “The room went completely silent,” Prof Neema Kudva, the house professor and dean, said in an email to residents of the house the next day, adding that “ a sense

Daybook

d a y

Chemical Engineering Seminar: Julie Liu 9 a m , 165 Olin Hall

US and Them: American Embassies and the Architecture of Diplomacy 10 a m , Stepped Auditorium, Milstein Hall

The Absence of Hope: Underground Elements in Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” 12:15 - 1:45 p m , 404 Morrill Hall

Department of Physics Colloquium - Salpeter Lecture

4 - 5 p m , Schwartz Auditorium, Rockefeller Hall

“Early Islamic Internationalism: The Case of the Lost Caliphate” by Mona Hassan, CMSP Seminar 4:30 - 5:30 p m , 106 White Hall

Anne Berger: “Is Psychoanalysis a ‘Theory of Gender’?” 4:30 - 6 p m , Guerlac Room, A D White House

CCCI: Urbanization as Environmental Change: Planning and Dispossession in Contemporary China 4:30 - 6 p m , Kaufmann Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall

Cornell Minds Matter G-Body Workshop 4:30 - 5:30 p m , International Lounge, Willard Straight Hall

NY Times’ Nicholas Kristof: “A Path Appears: Promoting the Welfare of Children” 5 - 6 p m , Call Auditorium Kennedy Hall

Six Months to Salvation 5 - 7 p m , Willard Straight Theatre

Monday, October 2, 2017

| Prof Mona Hassan, religious studies, Duke University,

events in history using her book, Longing for the Lost Caliphate: A Transregional History, today

Baker Seminar Series: An Overview of Development and Reproductive Toxicology

Noon - 1 p m , Thaw Lecture Theatre Baker Institute for Animal Health

MAE Colloquium: Krishnaswamy Ravichandar, Ph D 4 p m , B11 Kimball Hall

“Outlawing Dissent: The Fight of Scholars to Europe” by Kader Konuk 4:30 p m , 142 Goldwin Smith Hall

A History of Religion in 5 1/2 Objects: Spirituality Meets Sensuality 4:30 - 5:30 p m , 106 White Hall

Stripped to the Bone: Sequencing Queerness 4:30 - 6 p m , 258 Goldwin Smith Hall

C o r n e l l t o R e c e i v e $ 9 4 M i n N I H G r a n t

C o r n e l l w i l l b e o n e o f t h re e i n s t i t u t i o n s i n t h e w o r l d t o r e c e i v e a g r a n t f r o m t h e Na t i o n a l In s t i t u t e s o f He a l t h t o s t u d y C h r o n i c Fa t i g u e Sy n d ro m e In a s p a n o f f i ve y e a r s , t h e C o r n e l l My a l g i c E n c e p h a l o m y e l i t i s / C h r o n i c Fa t i g u e S y n d r o m e C o l l a b o r a t i ve Re s e a rc h C e n t e r w i l l re c e i ve a p p rox i m a t e l y $ 9 4 m i l l i o n T h i s c e n t e r w i l l r u n t h r e e m a i n r e s e a r c h p r o j e c t s w i t h t h e f u n d i n g

‘ S u s p i c i o u s A c t i v i t y ’ o n I t h a c a ’ s E a s t H i l l

A f t e r m u l t i p l e r e p o r t s o f “ s u s p i c i o u s a c t i v i t y ” f ro m t h e

E a s t Hi l l n e i g h b o r h o o d , b o t h t h e It h a c a a n d C o r n e l l Un i ve r s i t y Po l i c e De p a r t m e n t s a re i n ve s t i g a t i n g T h e d i f f e re n t i n c i d e n c e s i n c l u d e “ m a

Students Flock to Midnight Dim Sum

Annual meal, hosted by Chinese Students Association, brings students

By PARIS GHAZI Sun Contributor

S u p r e m e C o u r t B e g i n s N e w T e r m T o d a y

T h e Su p r e m e C o u r t w i l l b e g i n h e a r i n g a n e w d o c k e t o f c a s e s b e g i n n i n g t o d a y a f t e r i t s re t u r n t o t h e b e n c h Du r i n g t h i s s e s s i o n , t h e Su p re m e C o u r t i s h e a r i n g c a s e s t h a t c ove r p o l i ti c a l g e r r y m a n d e r i n g , d i s c r i m in a t i o n , w o rk e r s ’ r i g h t s a n d p r iva c y T h e s e c a s e s c o u l d a f f e c t h ow d i s t r i c t s a re d r a w n , i f b u s in e s s e s c a n t u r n a w a y i n d i v i d ua l s a s a n e x p re s s i o n o f re l i g i o u s f re e d o m , i f e m p l oye r s c a n p reve n t w o rk e r s f ro m s u i n g t h e m

a n d p r i va c y c o n c e r n s re g a rd i n g

c e l l p h o n e t r a c k i n g

R a c i a l J u s t i c e M a r c h e s

C o n v e r g e i n D C

On Sept 30, the March for Racial Justice and the March for B l a c k Wo m e n c o n v e r g e d i n Washington, D C The two rallies were marching in front of t h e Ju s t i c e D e p a r t m e n t t o d e n o u n c e i n s t i t u t i o n a l i z e d racism According to its website, the March for Racial Justice was organized after the police officer who shot and killed Philando

C a s t i l e w a s a c q u i t t e d T h e March for Black Women was a d i s t i n c t m a r c h f r o m t h e Wo m e n ’ s M a r c h i n Ja n u a r y, which was criticized by some for focusing on white women

C o m p i l e d by

An u Su b ra m a n i a m ’ 2 0

A m b e r Da n c e Tro u p e a n d E - Mo t i o n a l s o p e r f o r m e d a t t h e m e a l T h ro u g h o u t t h e n i g h t , a t t e n d e e s c o u l d s e t t l e d ow n i n a p e r f o rm a n c e a re a a n d e n j oy t h e i r f o o d w h i l e o b s e r v i n g t h e va r i o u s s h ow s “ We’re a l w a y s ve r y e xc i t e d t o g e t o u r s e l ve s m o re we l l - k n ow n

w i t h t h e C o r n e l l c o m m u n i t y o u

W

t h

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t h e e ve n t w a s , Joye e Mo k ’ 2 0 s a i d , “ It h a s t o b e a l l t h e n e w f r i e n d s I m a d e I t h i n k C S A i s g o i n g t o h a ve a ve r y l oy a l m e m b e r ”

“It’s really just a way to bring people together and teach about culture, and it’s a really interactive way to do so ” S h a r o n W u ’ 2 0

Because the event was open to everyone, many individuals who are not CSA members were also able to enjoy the food and atmosphere Vi c t o r Z h a n g , a s t u d e n t f ro m Au s t r a l i a a t C o r n e l l f o r t h e f a l l s e m e s t e r, s a i d h e i s c o n s i d e r i n g s p e n d i n g a s e m e s t e r i n C h i n a a n d e n j oye d t h e e ve n t “ I ’ m t h i n k i n

d

y t h ro u g h c u

t u re t h ro u g h o u t t h e ye a r, i t s m e m b e r s s a i d “ Ou r

i d - a u t u m n

i va l i s g o i n g t o b e s o o n , ” Sh a ro n Wu ’ 2 0 , t r a n s f e r l i a i s o n f o r t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n , s a i d “ It’s g o i n g t o b e o n e o f t h e b i g g e s t c u l t u r a l e ve n t s o n c a m p u s , a n d i t ’ s d e f i n i t e l y a g re a t w a y f o r s t u d e n t s t o m e e t s o we’l

First Peoples’ Festival Transforms Dewitt Park

By MARIN LANGLIEB Sun Staff Wr ter

Ithaca’s Dewitt Park, normally a placid area, was transformed on Sunday for the First Peoples’ Festival Bustling people toured tents of intricate artwork, listened to demonstrations of flute music and enjoyed the scent of herbs

The festival, which has been occurring annually for the past nine years, serves to “build awareness about the indigenous comm u n i t y m e m b e r s , ” s a i d Ph o u p h e t Souvorachak, the administrative coordinator of the Multicultural Resource Center which helped organize the festival

In addition to raising awareness, the festival is also a place where different indigenous vendors can showcase their work

Devastated lives

Ann Printup, a member of the Tuscarora Beaver Clan, located around Niagara Falls, has been attending the event for about five years Not only does she “love Ithaca,” but she said it also gives her a space to sell some her beadwork

The origins of beadworking is important for the Tuscarora Beaver Clan, she said, as it was, and still is, a source of income for some people

“I equate it to a farmer growing his produce and cultivating it and taking it to a market and selling it,” said Printup, who has been beading since she was 10

Other tents focused on the awareness a s p e c t o f t h e e ve n t Na t i ve A m e r i c a n

Students at Cornell highlighted the significance of Cornell recently changing what was previously known as Columbus Day to

Indigenous Peoples’ Day

“Indigenous Peoples’ day is changing that n a r r a t i ve w h e re t h e y c a n c e l e b r a t e t h e resiliency of their people,” Ana Bordallo ’18 said “A day, depending on what the name is, [causes] people to have different reactions ” Souvorachak agrees that the festival can help bring attention to a “ a culture that isn’t very much brought to the forefront of our schools and even festivals like the Ithaca Festival ”

“The indigenous people of this land are not just part of history, but are a history in the making still,” Souvorachak said “This is an opportunity to bring together folks to learn together ”

Marin Langlieb can be reached at mlanglieb@cornellsun com

Residence Hall ‘Stunned’

about as good as you could expect ”

of shock at the intent to violate and intimidate slammed into us ”

Prof Thomas Fox, biology, said he has been a member of the house since 2005 and had never heard a house dinner get that quiet

“I have never, ever heard it that silent there,” he said “ There was dead silence for five minutes People were stunned There were some students at my table who were literally in tears ”

In an email to members of all five houses in the west campus house system, the house professors and assistant deans said a bias incident repor t had been submitted

At t h e h o u s e d i n n e r, “d u r i n g a l i g h t - h e a r t e d c o m m u n i t y a c t i v i t y involving online polling, a racist epithet was submitted and sent a shockwave of sadness and outrage through the community,” the professors and assistant deans said “A bias incident re p o r t h

Ho u s e l e a d e r s h i p i s w o r k i n g w i t h campus par tners ”

Following the incident, many students and at least one professor began to cr y, a resident who witnessed the incident said The resident said that m o re t h a n 1 0 0 p e o p l e w e re t h e re when the N-word appeared on the screen, and that Kudva had urged the person who sent the message, whom she called a “coward,” to come forward

The resident spoke on the condition of anonymity because the incident is being handled internally John McKain, associate vice president for university relations, said, “it’s been an active conversation within the Becker House,” and University officials did not respond to requests for additional comment

Fox said he thought the response from attendees of the dinner “ was

“In other words, there was no horsing around at that time,” he said Ku d v a , h e s a i d , “ w a s o b v i o u s l y stunned, but her response I thought was ver y appropriate and effective ”

Kudva, in an email on Friday, said it had been “ a long couple of days” and declined to elaborate on the incident, saying she had been working with vari o u s s u p p o r t s y s t e m s w i t h i n t h e

University

In the email Kudva sent to residents of the house last week, she said she spoke immediately after the incident “from a place of sadness, and of furious anger at what had happened, in defense of ever yone whom the text targeted, against the cowardice and cyber-bullying that was on display ”

The use of the slur comes in the same month that a black student said he was assaulted and called the Nword by a group of white men in Collegetown Also in September, a resident of the Latino Living Center repor ting hearing a member of a nextdoor frat proposing that people “build a wall” around the residence

Po l i c e a r r e s t e d a s t u d e n t , Jo h n Greenwood ’20, in the Collegetown incident and charged him with two misdemeanors, assault and aggravated harassment A grand jur y will decide this week or next whether Greenwood will face hate crime charges

In the email from house professors and assistant deans, they said, “Racist and intimidating acts have no place here ”

“In light of the recent racist incidents on our campus, it is especially disappointing and hur tful to see that this has happened right here, where we get together to live as an inclusive and suppor tive community,” the professors and assistant deans said

Apples, Doughnuts and Cider Bring Community

Ma r l e y Sh o r t ’ 1 9 s a i d s h e w a s a t o u r g u i d e a n d a l w a y s t a l k e d a b o u t t h e f e s t iva l s i n It h a c a w h i l e o n t h e j o b “ It’s p a r t o f b e i n g a s t u d e n t h e re , ” s h e s a i d Ap p l e Fe s t , a s i t i s c o m m o n l y k n ow n , p r o v i d e s t h o u s a n d s o f c u s t o m e r s f o r v e n d o r s , a n d s t u d e n t s l i k e C a r t e r

Fo n t a i n e ’ 1 9 s a i d t h e y l o o k f o r w a rd t o i t e a c h y e a r

“ It’s a l w a y s s u p e r f u n , ” Fo n t a i n e s a i d T h i s ye a r, t h e f e s t i va l k i c k e d o f f o n l y

d a y s a f t e r a s i g n i f i c a n t d ro p i n t e m p e r at u re , a f a c t o r t h a t Ba k e r b e l i e ve d m i g h t h a ve a c t u a l l y b o o s t e d a t t e n d a n c e “ We l ove i t w h e n i t ' s c o o l e r b e c a u s e i t

re a l l y f e e l s l i k e f a l l , a n d e ve r y b o d y ' s re a l -

l y i n t h e m o o d , ” s h e s a i d “ It f e e l s ve r y b u s y t o d a y ” Ro b Pa rc e l l , o f t h e Ma p l e R i ve r Sy r u p

C o m p a n y, a g re e d “ T h i s h a s b e e n t h e b e s t e v e n t t h a t w e

g o t o t h r o u g h o u t a n y e v e n t i n t h e s t a t e i n t e r m s o f s a l e s a n d n u m b e r o f p e o p l e

w e c o m e i n c o n t a c t w i t h , ” Pa r c e l l s a i d “ It’s p r o b a b l y o u r b e s t e v e n t o f t h e

y e a r ” Pa rc e l l s a i d e ve n t s l i k e Ap p l e Fe s t a re

i m p o r t a n t f o r s m a l l ve n d o r s t o g e t e x p o -

s u re t o p e o p l e t h e y w o u l d n o t n o r m a l l y

re a c h , a s i d e o f t h e f a i r t h a t e ve n t - g o e r s

e n j oy a s we l l Je s s i e Ye e ’ 2 0 s a i d Ap p l e Fe s t a l l ow s p e o p l e “ t o s e e t h a t It h a c a a c t u a l l y h a s a

Endowment Hits

va r i e t y o f p e o p l e ” “ I d o n ’ t n o r m a l l y t h i n k t o o m u c h a b o u t t h e l o c a l f a r m s b u t I g e t t o s e e t h e m a l l h e re , ” Ye e s a i d “ It’s a ve r y d i ve r s e c rowd a n d i t ’ s a l m o s t l i k e a ve r y i n t e r n a t i o n a l c rowd , ” Pa rc e l l s a i d “ Yo u a c t u a l l y m e e t p e o p l e f ro m n o t o n l y a l l ove r t h e c o u n t r y, b u t f ro m d i f f e re n t c o u n t r i e s a s we l l ” Pe o p l e s w a r m t h e d ow n t ow n s t re e t s f o r a w i d e va r i e t y o f f o o d , i n c l u d i n g t h e f e s t i va l’s s i g n a t u re a p p l e c i d e r d o u g h n u t , e ve n t h o u g h t h e l i n e f o r t h e c i d e r d o u g hn u t s s t re t c h e d h u n d re d s o f p e o p l e l o n g a t s o m e p o i n t s T h o u g h m u c h o f t h e f e s t i va l f o o d i s t o b e e n j oye d i m m e d i a t e l y, t h e re we re a l s o p l e n t y o f o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r a t t e n d e e s t o t a k e h o m e p ro d u c e , b a k e d g o o d s , c i d e r, s y r u p a n d m o re f o r t h e f a l l s e a s o n Jo s h Qu a n ’ 2 0 s a i d h e w a s e s p e c i a l l y e xc i t e d t o b u y f o o d a n d s t o re i t a t h o m e “ T h i s ye a r we c a n b u y p i e s a n d s t u f f, ” s a i d Qu a n , w h o m ove d o f f - c a m p u s t h i s ye a r “ It’s k i n d o f i n c

t e C o r n e l l’s e f f o r t s , i t s t i l l l a g s ove r 5 0 p e rc e n t o f i t s p e e r s Pr o f R o n a l d

Ever

E h r e n b e r g , i n d u s t r i a l a n d l a b o r re l a t i o n s , t o l d T h e Su n t h a t t h e e n d ow m e n t ’ s t ro u b l e s ove r t h e p a s t s e ve r a l ye a r s we re n o t d u e t o a n y o n e f a ct o r “ It’s s o r t o f a c o m b i n a t i o n o f n o t b e i n g c o m p l e t e l y i n t h e r i g h t a s s e t c l a s se s , a n d t h e n w i t h i n e a c h a s s e t c l a s s , n o t n e c e s s a r i l y h a v i n g t h e b e s t m a n a g e r s w h o a re m a n a g i n g t h e m o n e y, ” h e s a i d Eh re n b e r g a d d e d t h a t t h e e n d ow m e n t o f f i c e ’ s m o v e t o Ne w Yo rk C i t y w a s a n e f f o r t t o g i ve t h e f u n d a c c e s s t o p o t e n t i a l l y b e t t e r m a na g e r s , b u t t h a t o n e ye a r ’ s p e r f o r m a n c e i s n o t e n o u g h t o f o r m a n y c o nc l u s i o n s “ It’l l b e i n t e re s t i n g t o s e e w h a t h a p p e n s g o i n g f o r w a rd ”

“It’ll

T h e C o r n e ¬ D a i l y S u n

Independent Since 1880

135TH EDITORIAL BOARD

SOPHIA DENG ’19 Editor in Chief

DAHLIA WILSON 19

Business Manager

JACOB RUBASHKIN 19

Associate Editor

BRIAN LAPLACA ’18

Design Editor

LEV AKABAS 19 Blogs Editor

JOSHUA GIRSKY 19

LYDIA KIM 18

ZACHARY SILVER ’19

CAMERON POLLACK 18 Photography Editor

WORKING ON TODAY’S SUN

DESIGN DESKERS Megan Roche ’19

Cameron Ibrahim 20

Jamie Lai 20

NEWS DESKERS Girisha Arora ’20 Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs 19

ARTS DESKER Katie Sims 20

SPORTS DESKER Jack Kantor ’19

PHOTO DESKER Cameron Pollack 18

NIGHT DESKER Anu Subramaniam 20

AD LAYOUT DESKER Sophie Smith ’18

PRODUCTION DESKERS Brian LaPlaca 18 Emma Williams ’19

Dylan McDevitt | Guest Room

The Attacks on Greek Life Have Gone too Far

By way of disclaimer, if you think Greek life no longer has a place on this campus, you and I are not going to agree on much What happened two weeks ago is nothing short of tragic and abhorrent, so we can start with that, at least

I am a proud member of the Greek community, and I have many friends who would say the same, both in my chapter and in others I am not a white supremacist I do not know a single white supremacist I do not know anyone who engages in or would associate with anyone who engages white supremacist behavior What does this tell me? That while most of us are normal, productive members of the Cornell community, we are left answering for the behavior of a very small number of people who choose to engage in unacceptable behavior And that is okay I recognize

well-involved on campus We contribute to classes, clubs and pre-professional organizations alike Some of the dialogues that members of the Greek community generate truly do make this campus a much better place The same is true of countless other communities at Cornell athletic teams, service organizations, faith groups and mentorship programs are just a few examples of other types of organizations that add so much to this campus Members of the Greek community belong to these organizations, and their contributions are plenty

To repeat myself, this is not to say that Greek life doesn’t cause any problems Of course, sexual violence and coercive hazing are issues that are prevalent and rooted in systematic disrepair, and for many of us they are issues that we take personally But we are working to fix those things; we have

Hate is a brute expression of power

At its most transparent, a cross burns on the lawn of a black family and a sign is posted in a storefront signaling who need not apply Then, hate is motivated by a desire for power, a gruesome declaration of exactly who ought to belong White Americans are trained to spot this kind of power grab, shown black-and-white diagrams in textbooks outlining racism like it’s some strain of poison oak that we can sketch, memorize and hop over on our way to get where we ’ re going Yet when confronting bigotry that requires us to break stride, when an act of hate expresses a kind of social power from which we benefit, our response is often insufficient

Cornell’s most recent act of self-mutilation did not occur in isolation It was a statement of power, made by a group of wealthy white men, declaring that they owned the space and bodies around them In many ways, this is a power that our community has tacitly granted them Thus if our response to is to have any teeth, we have to be willing to accept real, personal responsibility More crucially, we are going to have to be willing to sacrifice

At Cornell, the first form that power takes is ownership By way of legacy admissions, certain students step on campus with a sense of generational propriety Those whose parents donate to the University experience this ownership even more fully Even students who pay full tuition can experience a subtle ownership over their college experience because it something they purchased Whether or not any of this is conscious, some students are simply more likely to approach campus life with a sense of entitlement than others

whether it’s calling my friend a gay slur or throwing plastic cups at strangers walking by

The third way that Cornell encodes power is prestige This is where nearly all of us are culpable

Many of Cornell’s largest and most popular student groups are closed to the public From professional and preprofessional fraternities, to consulting and finance clubs, so much of our premier student organizations guard their membership with a rigorously selective process Despite some commendable diversity, entrance to these groups is significantly skewed towards those with more cultural capital Even the first step of knowing what these groups are and why one would join is only intuitive if you come from a background where that knowledge is available Then you need formal attire, a well-written resume and the networking skills to excel in interviews To be clear, this is not just a problem for groups with formal applications Often subconsciously, groups ’ senior members seek out and more actively retain new members who they perceive to fit their type As a result, some of Cornell’s best funded organizations reproduce sameness across generations All of this gives a strong advantage to students from affluent, well-connected backgrounds, where these tools are provided

that Greek life and fraternities in particular have a long way to go before we are devoid of serious problems Most people in the community would likely agree

But let’s make sure we are clear about what happened here: a member of the Greek community was viciously attacked by a person who was unaffiliated Psi Upsilon is not a recognized fraternity, and they are not a recognized fraternity for a reason The Interfraternity Council is a self-governing body, and the decision to revoke that chapter’s recognition was not made without input from the leaders of our community Effectively, their previous conduct caused them to be deemed unworthy of inclusion in our community

To say that Greek life should not exist is not only incredibly unhelpful as far as meaningful conversations about reform are concerned, but it is a direct insult to the way of life of one-third of this student body I have found something special in my fraternity; my participation in it has done wonders to make me a better person You will hear quite literally hundreds, maybe thousands, of statements like that from other people Either all these people are lying in a malicious attempt to preserve the existence of their exclusive societies, or these are organizations that make a positive impact on a lot of students

We are a group of individuals largely

been for years To expect that such profound structural changes could take place overnight would be to doom these well planned efforts to failure

The leaders of our community have been clear We are open about making changes, and input from the entire campus is welcome But this is not an invitation to attack our way of life How we choose to participate in our college experience should not be open to unmitigated attack We would never dream of doing the same to you

We are not so different than the rest of you We have prelims and campus commitments that keep us busy; we have issues at home that affect our well-being; we worry about our careers and about our futures We are not some secluded group of people that plot oppression and lude behavior behind the closed doors of our off-campus mansions And it might surprise you, but yes, we are just as appalled as you are that something so terrible and hateful could happen here We love Cornell and the people who make it special, and we desperately want Cornell to love us back

Dylan McDevitt is a junior in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations He is a columnist for The Sun’s sports department and can be reached at dmcdevitt@cornellsun com Guest Room appears periodically this semester

Ownership runs much deeper, though From the complexion of our predecessors, to the demographics of our faculty and administration, institutional ownership of the University carries a distinct lack of melanin While Cornell has undoubtedly made strides to diversify its leadership, it is an uphill battle that is certainly not finished Moreover, our sense of cultural history is dominated by a wealthy white male memory From paintings to class photos to the names on buildings, our campus carries the legacy of a time when only one type of person attended This, again, breeds the real, if subconscious, sense that some own the University more than others

Cornell’s second form of power is exclusion Greek life is by no means the sole perpetrator, but it has made the process quite efficient We ask 18-year-olds to, in a week, self-select into the group of people that they want to spend all their time with Those groups then pick their new friends based on snap judgements about who would fit the house best The final step is to label those groups, structure members’ social lives around their letters, and rank each house from best to worst Even under the best of circumstances, that process would be almost certain to result in groups that are largely homogenous along race and class lines This does not make fraternities racist, but people, and especially 18-year-olds, looking for similarity and friendship tend to seek out people who look and sound like them

Importantly, even if these problems are universal, Greek life has formalized the process of self-segregation and lends tremendous social power to its members on the basis of that exclusive process They stand as literal gatekeepers to the first parties that freshmen attend, and play a major role in structuring the social lives of nearly every student This kind of power-through-exclusion is exactly what makes certain people feel like they can act with total impunity,

We set up all of these barriers because exclusivity breeds prestige in a way we like Most of us have been taught to value stature and reputation, and we also are often inclined to believe that a low acceptance rate is the best way to achieve it While these groups provide tremendous value, it is often disproportionately distributed to folks who simply need less help, and the friendships and connections formed between members lends greater social influence to those make the cut This is by no means the primary cause of imbalanced social power at Cornell, but rather an example of how even the best intentions can also cause us to formalize existing power structures, as we cordon ourselves off into smaller and smaller social groups

The sum of all these processes is that certain, very predictable groups of students are granted social power and privilege on campus We at Cornell have a tendency to codify and structure existing power dynamics in a way that makes them much more than simply the latent effects of broader social inequality The result is that certain students feel they own the University, and the community within it, much more than others These are the preconditions in which hate can flourish

The pressing conclusion, particularly for white students on campus, is that the things we need to do will require actual sacrifice

Regardless of your thoughts on a campus hate-speech ban, it asks very little of the white students advocating for it The real test is whether we are willing to actually have less power ourselves Perhaps it means more accessible student and social clubs, even at the cost of perceived prestige and tradition Certainly it means policies that more actively seek out and admit a student body, and University leadership that look much less like me Read and re-read BSU’s demands for a real blueprint for how this can happen Fundamentally, it means we have to stop compartmentalizing racism as if it stands separate and apart from our daily lives This stuff feels small, and it’s easy to recoil in defensive outrage, but as beneficiaries of privilege we must lean into discomfort Really, tangibly, we all contribute, and if we profess to care then our actions need to reflect that fact Anything less is simply not enough

Rubin Danberg Biggs is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences He may be reached at red243@cornell edu The Common Table appears alternate Mondays this semester

Arielle Hazi | Guest Room

On Intersectionality, #TakeAKnee And

Call-and-Response

Chants

On Wednesday afternoon, hundreds of students and staff gathered on the Arts Quad to take a knee in protest of racism and white supremacy on Cornell’s campus and throughout the United States The event, organized by the Cornell Coalition for Inclusive Democracy, was a great display of solidarity and resistance, but there was a brief moment that made me rather uncomfortable

During his speech, Prof Russell Rickford, histor y, passionately denounced the recent events on campus, and

lege three years ago That being said, I also grew up hearing stories of the horrible racism my father experienced as

Yemenite; from harassment and slurs to flat-out being told he wouldn’t succeed because of his skin color All this to say that while I do have rather strong implicit biases from my upbringing, I am actively tr ying to acknowledge and respond to them I also realize that because of this upbringing, I approached the protest, and this issue, with a perspective that is different from most

But isn’t that the whole point of intersectionality?

Identifying the varying and complex identities that people in a group have and knowing that because a group shares one identity doesn’t make them a monolithic entity.

ended his time by leading the group in chanting “Free Palestine ” I understand how hypocritical it would be for me to tell Prof Rickford that he can ’ t use his time to say whatever he would like After all, that would make me more similar to the people attempting to silence protestors around the countr y than to those protesting in the first place That being said, I was nonetheless frustrated with his decision to initiate a chant of “Free Palestine ”

A quick note in the interest of full disclosure: my father is Israeli, his parents moved to Israel shortly after its independence while fleeing persecution in Yemen I grew up ver y sheltered in terms of discussion of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the struggle for Palestinian statehood My childhood summer trips to Israel to visit family rarely, if ever, brought me into contact with Palestinian people or neighborhoods, and I didn’t start truly questioning what I was taught until coming to col-

But isn’t that the whole point of intersectionality?

because a group shares one

them a monolithic entity This, I believe, is the crux of why I felt so alienated

Rickford assumed that because we were here to protest racism on Cornell’s campus, we all shared an opinion and belief on a separate issue And because the chanting immediately preceded the kneeling, it felt like a litmus test to the protest as a whole Was I allowed to kneel to protest, even if I didn’t fully agree with what had just happened? Did that make me a bad ally to students of color on the Cornell campus? Was I even welcome in these spaces?

Throughout all the speeches at the protest, there were no mentions of foreign issues aside from those by Prof Rickford, and the mentioning of issues of the IsraeliPalestinian conflict lasted a total of less than two minutes and consisted almost entirely of a two-word chant What frustrates me is that we afford a substantial amount of nuance and discussion time for articulating the histor y of racism and white supremacy in this countr y, but we don’t

Lorenzo Benitez | Not a Cop

Tdo the same for conflicts overseas By ignoring the (ver y messy) histor y of the region, and calling on the struggle for Palestinian statehood in the way he did, we run the risk of drawing a false equivalency between two issues that deser ve more than that

One could argue that on the surface, these issues appear to be ver y similar: discrimination, militarization, and displacement of people from their homes However, there are also many differences, most notably that the conflict overseas involves historically oppressed groups on both sides of the aisle As Cornellians, we ’ re taught not to rely on surface arguments It makes for shallow theses and flimsy defenses, and the whole point of being intellectuals is to delve into the deep, nitty-gritty of an issue

Additionally, I (and I assume many others) originally attended this protest under the presumption that it would be focusing on issues in the United States The inclusion of this brief chant threw me off and made me question the core purpose of the protest I ended up rereading the event description on Facebook after wards to see if there was a mention of this, but the event specifically talked about our own community, which makes me wonder why Prof Rickford chose to include the chant

Now, is my frustration and discomfort due in part to the fact that my opinions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict don’t align with that of the leftist spaces I tend to occupy? Yes Am I dealing with some cognitive dissonance between what I’ve grown up learning and what I am exposed to now? Probably But I also am passionate about this issue, and I’m willing to bet that my end goals and core beliefs are more similar to Prof Rickford’s than they are different I hope in the future we can afford issues like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict the same nuance and time as we do for issues at home

And if you happen to be reading this, Prof Rickford, I would love to grab some coffee and chat about it

Arielle Hazi is a senior in the College of Human Ecolog y Guest Room appears periodically throughout the semester

Some Original Self-Help

his summer, I attempted to “ re-program ” some aspects of my thinking

In accordance with psychological literature promoting gratitude journaling, mindfulness and the like, I resolved to following proactive steps that would hopefully offer a sense of emotional groundedness In periodically following these steps whenever I’ve remembered them over the past few months, I have begun to see how some of the abstract theories I’ve been exposed to at Cornell may actually have an applied purpose The other day, on the commute home, I found myself ruminating on a view called “event-causal determinism ” To summarize, under this view, it’s inaccurate to claim that other people agents cause phenomena For instance, in the event that a car speeds over a puddle, splashing muddy water all over your beautiful outfit, h ow w o u l d yo u a n s we r t h e q u e s t i o n : “ W h a t c a u s e d yo u r o u t f i t t o b e c o m e dirty?” While most of us would instinctively claim it was the driver, under eventcausal determinisim, blame for ruining your outfit isn’t specific to the driver Instead, in accordance with contemporar y scientific accounts of physical phenomena, it was an event, rather than an agent, that caused your misfortune In that instant, you just so happened to be standing at a specific spot at a certain time, next to a puddle, over which a car happened to spatially coincide Hence, it is more accurate to say it was multiple intersecting circumstances that together caused your misfortune: an event, of which an agent, the driver, was a mere part

Applying these more accurate semantics to our ever yday lives, it’s inevitable that each of us has felt wronged in the past and will again feel wronged in our lives What’s even worse is that we’ll likely believe we have been wronged more times than we ’ ve actually been wronged Consequently, a lot of us shuffle through life carr ying the emotional baggage of what we perceive as past violations against us, whether we intend to or not

However, adopting this philosophical i n s i g h t o f e v e n t - c a u s a l d e t e r m i n i s m , regardless of whether you accept it as metaphysically true, can helpfully pivot our mindset toward a more forgiving, empathetic one Instead of saying that Bob directly caused you to spill coffee, why not re-orient your thinking so that it becomes second-nature to describe the antecedent physical forces, of which Bob as an agent is just one of many, combined into an event that caused your unfortunate spillage This isn’t just more accurate, at least to someone who accepts event-causal determinism, but also leads to a healthier mindset I find it easier to forgive Bob, because I remind myself it was an event, rather than Bob, that caused me to spill my coffee On a broader scale, I am also able better recognize how a lot of those who “ wrong ” don’t even mean to in the first place

It wasn ’ t until recently that I recognized the extent to which adopting this practice has calmed my mind I no longer seethe at the Bobs of my life, but rather recognize his past “violations” against me as, fundamentally, events, over which Bob himself didn’t have total control Bob, like me, is

an agent, with his own never-ending series of events, some of which coincide to create unfortunate outcomes for him too Similarly, instead of simply saying “I dislike Bob,” this semantic particularity can helpfully extend to other descriptions When describing other people I dislike, we should do away with such anachronistic, generalized statements and instead pinpoint that which bothers us about the person Rather, I might dislike being around

By describing our attitudes with less emotionally-charged language, we can better evaluate whether such emotions have any rational justification And, more often than not, our justifications are less rational than we once supposed After all, while agents persist through time, events are temporally-defined Bob may be standing in front of me right now, but the particular event of knocking my coffee is firmly in the past, likely instigated by multiple fac-

To summarize, under this view, it’s inaccurate to claim that other people agents cause phenomena.

Bob because his mannerisms are discomforting, or because he holds certain political views I find disagreeable By distancing ourselves from a mindset that considers others to be intrinsically dislikeable, disagreeable or wholly despicable, not only can we better identify the source of our discomfort or dislike, thereby making us overall better evaluators of character, but also appreciate their separate, redeeming qualities Indeed, I’ve been surprised by the number of arbitrar y characteristics that have defined my dislike for the Bobs of my life, and now realize that there are many more people I simply dislike being around who I still believe are intrinsically decent

tors beyond just the negligence or intent of a single agent Therefore, any time you feel your chest tighten with anger at another person, ask what specifically about that person bothers you Based on my own experience, this will aid in that grand project of unshackling ourselves from the past, improving our substantive sense of freedom or, at the ver y least, will make us less re l i a n t o n p e r i o d i c c o m m e n c e m e n t addresses or TED Talks to remind us our innate capacity for empathy

In Response To Your Inquiry

On How I’m Doing

Well, I just stress ate a good third of my friend’s leftover birthday cake I haven’t gone on my daily run in several days, and my period is a good four days early I’m not pregnant, but what if I wanted to be? Gah! I haven’t finished updating my resume from this summer For the past week I’ve woken up with intense back pain ever y morning I messaged my former crush from high school and still no response My housemate broke her wrist at our intramural soccer game, which isn’t really anything that affects me especially because I have done ver y little to help her out, even though I should damn I think I’m allergic to something in my house because my left eye gets red and swollen ever y night I forgot to take my prescribed vitamin D this week I ate a BLTease for lunch/dinner three times last week, despite only truly having enough money for a “cheese sandwich ” I can ’ t control the thermostat in my apartment so as a heat source I’ve been boiling water, putting it in a jar or mug and just holding it I made a fake list of complaints (e g “Anum smells,” “Pegah is too perfect”) on our refrigerator whiteboard and no one mentioned anything about it so now it just looks kind of stupid On top of it all, I’m behind on my pods!

On the other hand, I just did a somersault for the first time in a while I mean, if you compare the frequency of our somersaulting from back when we were, like, below the age of 10 to now, it’s actually kind of striking I also played hide and seek with my housemate with the broken wrist, and she couldn’t find me, even though our apartment is pretty small, so that was pretty funny, but also a little concerning Does the wrist connect to

the brain somehow? Nevermind I mentioned the whiteboard to her to see if she noticed and she was like, “yeah,” with no other commentar y, so I guess she didn’t think it was funny OK I mean, that’s fine

Sorr y for rambling Wait, no! I didn’t mean to apologize You know how women are socialized to be overly apologetic and stuff Anyways, I’m rambling It’s just that I haven’t really talked to anyone in a while, except for my roommate with the broken wrist She’s been watching a lot of Glee and I’m tr ying to decide whether I liked Glee ironically or genuinely Speaking of, there’s no way Rachel can commute from Jersey to the city for class ever y day I feel like the writers just wanted her to have a really big apartment and the only way they could justify it alongside rising rents was to put her in New Jersey I think my rural hometown is also being gentrified, actually They opened a mediterranean fast-casual D C -based chain nearby recently

I don’t know if you can tell, but my acne medication is making my face crumble You probably can ’ t I guess because I moisturized a lot, but it’s still itchy, you know? I’m tr ying to figure out how I can stop it but I can ’ t call my dermatologist because they have weird hours I mean not truly weird hours, more like they have normal hours and I’m too scared to have to talk to them on the phone, so in the meantime I’ve just been using my mini-humidifier to see if that does anything My friend and I jokingly made a SMART goal to find me a husband or something by the end of this semester, but I guess that’s not gonna work out with this crumbling-face situation I think it’s because it’s much dr yer here than it is back home, but apparently my hair didn’t get the memo! I need a haircut, honestly, especially because I tried cutting bangs for myself a while ago and I messed up my hair even more so now I can ’ t put it back without looking slightly like a cockatiel I’m sure you ’ ve seen the r e c e n t Mo n k e y H a i r c u t c o n t e n t ? I c a n ’ t w a i t u n t i l w e

Milkshake Duck the Monkey Haircut Actually, I definitely saw something about how the monkey in the video is probably not being cared for properly A Vice article, maybe? There’s some really interesting research being done on internet virality and animal welfare

So that’s how I’m doing, more or less Thanks for asking You?

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Please include graduating year if applicable All opinions welcome.

In the fall of my freshman year, I thought it would be a sane idea to write about gun control for The Sun As an 18-yearold barely moved into my firstyear dorm, I looked at a topic that has caused intense political conflict for decades and thought, yup, t i m e t o t a k e a s t a b a t t h a t Needless to say I got absolutely flamed in the comments section At the time, each one felt so personal Reading through the comments now, some have a bit more meat to them than I had originally thought

One commenter by the name of “jim smith” responded with more than 1,000 words over the course of five comments Which was a lot And, as you can probably guess, he wasn ’ t totally conv i n c e d by m y a r g u m e n t “ j i m smith’s” manifesto included, there were 16 comments on that one column It was more than usual, but I’ve seen other columnists get u p w a rd s o f 6 0 w h e n t a c k l i n g issues of social justice or racial politics Some comments on my column were condescending, others were harsh But after weeding through the strands of typos and monologues from my anonymous counterparts, it would be unfair to say that none of the comments were productive or compelling

A few people pushed back on d a t a t h a t I re f e re n c e d Ot h e r s challenged me to go further with my points “ What would a policy solution actually look like?” Good question, and definitely one that should have been answered in my column

But of course, for ever y good question, you have three people just using the forum as an opportunity to incite hate The notion that the comments section isn’t the gold-standard for commentar y is by no means a “hot take ” Many forums, including but not limited to The Sun, have been coo p t e d by t ro l l s W h e n w r i t e r s have to attach their full names to their opinions, and commenters do not, I think it’s valid to quest i o n i f t h a t c o n v e r s a t i o n b e t w e

n t , writer and reader should even exist

In 2016, NPR opted to get rid of their comments sections entirel y, j o i n i n g o t h e r s i t e s s u c h a s Reuters and Popular Science On the other hand, you have publications like The New York Times,

aqueline Groskaufmanis | The Dissent

In Defense of Commentary

which goes so far as to feature their best online comments in the paper and on social media We’re in an era where the comments section, as a “medium of discourse,” is both on the verge of eradication in some spaces and in its height in others

Last year, one columnist for T h e Su n w ro t e a p i e c e a b o u t racial identity and was met with a slew of particularly heinous comm e n t s O n e a n o n r e f e r r e d t o

A s i a n m a l e s a s “ w h i n y h i g hpitched yellow men ” If you think this kind of comment is an e x a m p l e o f c o n s t r u c t i v e “d i scourse, ” we can agree to disagree I understand that the value of speech doesn’t necessarily depend on whether or not it’s productive, accurate, or even decent That being said, the fact that someone

names on what they write But websites don’t currently operate this way, and even if there was an attempt to change, vetting commenters wouldn’t necessarily be as s i m p l e a s “ l i n k i n g t o t h e i r Facebook profile ” So the named w r i t

dynamic will continue

The thing is, I don’t think anybody is entitled to be an anonym o u s j e r k o n l i n e T h e Fi r s t

Amendment guarantees you freedom of expression, but it doesn’t guarantee you the right to masquerade as “Big Guy Class of ’81” in the comments section of your alma mater ’ s college daily It doesn ’ t give you the right to use this par ticular website to make sexist comments towards young female writers, or to say racist things w i t h a c o m f o r t a b l e v e i l o f

The First Amendment guarantees you freedom of expression, but it doesn’t guarantee you the right to masquerade as “Big Guy Class of ’81” in the comments section of your alma mater’s college daily.

was able to use The Sun as a platform to anonymously post such blatantly derogator y crap online gave me pause

I n t e r e s t i n g l y, t h e c o l u m n i s t w h o r e c e i v e d t h e s e c o m m e n t s chose to leave them up in lieu of having them removed, because he said he doesn’t believe in censorship, but also because he said they o n l y h e l p e d t o e m p h a s i z e t h e point he was tr ying to make And that’s valid The commentar y on that column did corroborate the assertion that such racist sentiment exists

But I think for ever y author who is able to wade through the waters of gross, prejudiced and even sometimes threatening comments, there are authors who are deterred from writing about hard, p e r s o n a l , i m p o r t a n t t o p i c s because they don’t want to be called an [insert racist or misogynistic slur] underneath a column with their name on it

In a perfect world, I’d prefer a platform in which commenters have to put as much skin in the game as we do, and include their

anonymity The Sun could do away with the comments section at any moment and I think it would be completely justified maybe even for the better But I also think it would also be a bit a of a mistake

For ever y decent reader looking to give their 2 cents on a piece, there seems to be three trolls, looking to co-opt a forum and attach their ugly comments like barnacles to the original column As conversations continue to shift onto the internet, we ’ re constantly creating new spheres in which they can occur, and extending the invitation to participate I don’t think we should tr y to act as c e n s o r s , c l a i m i n g a u t h o r i t y i n deciding what is and what is not “valid discourse” whatever that means But if three negative and insubstantial comments are coupled with one thoughtful one, I guess I’ll take them all

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

BY

I’d like to invite you to take a moment and really reflect on what you think of when you first hear the words “Miley Cyrus ”

I’ll tell you what comes to my mind of course Hannah Montana is up there, along with twerking, smoking pot, Liam Hemsworth and a collection of iconic hits And really ever yone knows what songs I’m talking about They range as far back to her Disney days, all the way up to the more recent “ Wrecking Ball ”

But as I was sitting in the TCAT yesterday getting ready to stream her new

album, Younger Now, I realized something about our beloved ex-role model

Miley Cyrus doesn’t have a sound

She’s no riffing goddess like Ariana Grande, and she’s not the queen of candypop like Katy Perr y; Cyrus just lacks musical identity, which is an amazing feat considering that throughout her career she has never NOT been associated with music She has managed to skyrocket to fame and remain in the public eye without presenting any unifying factor in her music, post-Disney

After Hannah Montana, we were introduced to the Banger z “Bad Girl” and then to the Dead Petz “Stoner Wild-Child ” Her brand has been inconsistent, and at times riddled with allegations of cultural appropriation and other offenses After listening to Younger Now, I am of the opinion that this issue was a major consideration for Cyrus and all involved with her new album Here we see Cyrus tr ying to undo some of her previous personas in a similar manner to Lady Gaga’s attempt earlier this year

So I guess this is the good news: Miley’s

s t r a p p e d i n a d r a m a t i c l o v e t r i a n g l e T h e c o m p a n y, a l r e a d y e m b r a c e d a n d we l l l ove d by t h e It h a c a c o m m u n i t y, i s e n t e r i n g i t s f o u r t h s e a s o n T h o u g h It h a c a Op e r a h a s f i ni s h e d i t s f i n a l p e r f o r m a n c e o f Pa g l i a c c i , t h e c o m p a n y h a s f i ve re m a i n i n g s h ow s l i n e d u p f o r t h e i r 2 0 1 7 / 1 8 s e a s o n i n c l u d i n g T h e My s t e r y o f t h e Ma g i c Fl u t e , Gi l b e r t a n d Su l l i va n ’ s Pi ra t e s o f Pe n z a n c e , a n d Ca r m e n Pa r t o f t h e p ro d u c t i o n w a s w a t c h i n g t w o s t a f f m e m -

b e r s re a r r a n g i n g s e a t i n g a s i f a d j u s t i n g c h o re o g r a p h y i n re h e a r s a l a s t h e y t r i e d t o m a k e ro o m f o r h o p e f u l a u d ie n c e m e m b e r s w h o w o u l d i n e v i t a b l y b e t u r n e d a w a y T h e c o m p a n y i n g r a t i a t e d i t s a u d i e n c e , a t t r a c t i n g p e o p l e o f a l l a g e s T h e a t m o s p h e re c re a t e d a n a c c e s s i b l e s p a c e , i n v i t i n g a n i n t e r p re t a t i o n o f f o r m a l i t y a s s o m e c a m e d re s s e d u p a n d o t h e r s s a t o n t h e f l o o r i n s n e a k e r s T h e c o n c e p t o f t h e i n v i s i b l e w a l l w a s c a s u a l l y t o s s e d a s i d e , a s t w o p e r f o r m i n g a r t i s t s o n e s t a n d i n g u p o n t h e s h o u l d e r s o f t h e o t h e r p a c e d i n f ro n t o f t h e m a k e s h i f t c u r t a i n w i t h i n d i f f e re n c e a s p e o p l e f i l e d i n T h e i n f o r m a l i t y a n d i n t i m a t e c h a r m o f t h e a t m o sp h e re w a s a l l t h e m o re a d m i re d a s j u x t a p o s e d t o a m a gn i f i c e n t o p e r a t i c p e r f o r m a n c e T h e p ro d u c t i o n m a d e c re a t i ve u s e o f e ve r y c o r n e r i n t h e i r m o d e s t a n d u n t r a d it i o n a l s t a g e , ye t t h e vo c a l a p t i t u d e a n d e x p e r t i s e f o u n d w i t h i n t h e f i r s t It a l i a n p h r a s e s c re a t e d a n a s t o n i s h i n g e l e m e n t o f s u r p r i s e T h e p owe r a n d g r a c e e n ve l o p e d i

over it! She’s over all of the drugs, unicorn dicks, and twerking! I can hear soccer moms praising the Good Lord Jesus for having their prayers answered finally they can bring their girls to Cyrus concert without having to cover their eyes as the singer gyrates on a giant inflatable hotdog

But on a more serious note, Younger Now is actually one of two things It’s either a young pop star ’ s return to her countr y roots Or, this is all really just a white backtrack a return to heartland Americana audiences after unsuccessfully and, most importantly, unapologetically tr ying to use black culture to advance her career And honestly, I think the latter of the two options is more on the mark

The album makes no attempt to hide its intentions to rebrand Younger Now opens with a mellow guitar riff underlining her sentimental lyrics: “Feels like I just woke up / like all this time, I’ve been asleep ” She continues the ver y HannahMontana-like trend of singing about not really being the person ever yone thinks she is, and frankly it got old really fast

The album has a few hits, most notably

the single “Malibu” that was released earlier in the year While the song features generic fail-proof pop tricks and a catchy beat, it’s difficult to get past the song ’ s bland and unexciting tone Following that is the singer’s collaboration with her godmother, Dolly Parton, on the twang-y “Rainbowland ” The song itself is messily put together, with Parton’s riffs playing around insignificantly in the background Honestly the most enjoyable part of the song is Parton’s dulcet voice speaking both at the beginning and the end of the song the personal touch almost makes the rest of the song forgivable

Following these first few songs is a long period of non-memorable songs “Miss You So Much” does explore Miley’s talent for passionate performances, as does “I Would Die for You ” However, the songs fail to showcase Cyrus’s range and their lackluster melodies made me want to simply move on to the next thing “ Thinkin” is a throwback to her time experimenting with R&B and is a nice change from the swinging countr y sound that backs almost ever y other song on the album

Miley’s choice to infuse the album with a countr y styling was ver y offsetting it reminded me of a reverse Taylor Swift and I wasn ’ t really sure how effective it was Perhaps with more music in the upcoming years this question of “is she pop or countr y?” will be resolved and then people will be able to put more attention to her actual music hopefully when that happens, she’ll have the chance to organize her music more and figure out what her strengths are

26 A PARTMENT FOR R ENT

26 A PARTMENT FOR R ENT

Cornell Announces Quartet of Captains For Upcoming Season

after a breakout junior season

Already deep into preparation for a bounceback 2018 season, Cornell men ’ s lacrosse has selected seniors Jake Pulver, Jordan Dowiak, Christian Knight and junior Clarke Petterson to serve as captains for the upcoming year

L e d by re t u r n i n g c a p t a i n s Pulver and Petterson, along with a new coach in Peter Milliman, these four will attempt to lead the team back to the NCAA tournament and to reclaim the Ivy League Championship for the first time since 2015

A back-to-back All-Ivy seco n d - t e a m d e f e n s e m e n , Ja k e Pulver gets a chance to serve as captain for the second straight year Playing a significant role since his freshman year, Pulver will continue to be one of the Ivy League’s best defenders, assigned with the task of locking down the opponent ’ s top scorer night in and night out Petterson will also serve as a captain for the second straight season after becoming the first s o p h o m o re i n t h e h i s t o r y o f Cornell lacrosse to serve in the post The midfielder raked up honorable mention All-Ivy last season after posting 32 points on 17 assists and 15 goals all career highs

Dowiak, a midfielder from New Jersey, was selected captain

Last year, he was third on the team in goals with 20 and fourth in points with 28 while appearing in all 13 games as an offensive midfielder A consistent offensive threat, Dowiak had at least one point in all but two games last season, including a career-high five goals in a single game against Virginia Christian Knight will ser ve his first season as a captain after being granted a fifth-year of elig i b i l i t y i n Au g u s t T h e Iv y League Rookie of the Year in 2014, Knight will get a chance for his fourth season in the net after an injur y forced him to m i s s a l l o f 2 0 1 6 E i g h t h i n Cornell histor y in saves with 441 and wins with 22, Knight provides experience and, should his numbers remain consistent in 2018, is on pace for a record breaking career Honorable mention All-Ivy in 2014, 2015 and 2017, Knight was 12th in the nation in saves per game last season with 11 92

After a disappointing 2017 season, which secured the program ’ s first consecutive losing seasons in nearly two decades, these four men will do their best to lead Cornell back to a record above 500 and reclaim its tradition of excellence

Tim Morales can be reached at tim8@cornell edu

Cornell Records Draw In 1st Ivy Match of Year

MEN’S SOCCER

Continued from page 14

thing we knew we were capable of doing ”

Bayne agreed that his team succeeded at keeping its head up

“The upperclassmen did well to stay positive and urge our guys on and battle through the frustration of the first half,” he said “The young guys did well too, continuing to push the team as a whole never gave up That’s why in the second half we started playing more like ourselves and grabbing a hold of the game ”

The Red’s persistence finally paid off in the 76th minute when freshman midfielder Caleb McAuslan found the back of the net to put Cornell on the scoreboard Despite aggressive offensive efforts from the Red, which forced Penn’s goalkeeper to make six saves, both teams ’ scoring attempts were thwarted and the match ended in a draw after two overtime periods

“We were pushing all through the second half and overtime, playing much of the game in Penn’s half of the field,” Bayne said “It’s unfortunate that we weren ’ t able to put more of our chances away We generated quite a few quality ones ”

The game proved to be a valuable lesson for the young team

“Next time we are really going to try and start games better; we were slow in the first half and we paid for that,” Nuss said “We need to play smarter and play with more intensity right from the opening whistle and continue that work rate throughout the entire game ”

The Red finds itself back in Ancient Eight action on Oct 7 at 4:30 p m when it hosts Harvard (2-5-1, 1-0-0) at Berman Field

“Many guys got their first taste of what it’s like to play in an Ivy game, where there’s an extra edge to the play,” Bayne said “[It’s] good to get that out of the way Also coming back from a goal down, on the road, to get at least a point in your Ivy opener it’s a good lesson for us ”

Smita Nalluri can be reached at snalluri@cornellsun com

Band Takes a Knee Prior To Football Home Opener

BAND

Continued from page 16

Cornell faculty and student body came together on the Arts Quad for a collective “kneel’’ Among students and faculty, members of the football team took part as well Head coach David Archer ’05 was also present

Kaepernick initially knelt duri n g t h e n a t i o n a l a n t h e m t o protest the racial injustice he felt was plaguing the nation The controversial action has spread throughout the NFL, particularly this past Sunday, after President Donald Trump called for the firing of any player who knelt during the national anthem

Butler and other bandmates still wanted to show their solidarity and promote the message of the ongoing demonstrations

“It’s about the systemic racism in the country and police brutality against the black and brown community and how it’s handled in the justice system, ” Butler said of the protests “So we ’ re taking a knee to protest that and using the anthem as a vehicle to get the message out ”

“Obviously this is a really big thing that’s going on right now, ” Won added, “and it’s important to take a stand ”

Charles Cotton can be reached at ccotton@cornellsun com

Booters Claw Back to Extend

Undefeated Streak to 4 Games

By SMITA NALLURI Sun Staff Writer

The Cornell men ’ s soccer team is no stranger to maintaining its composure under duress The Red kept cool once again, as the team was able to come from behind to equalize the score against Penn on

Sa t u rd a y i n i t s Iv y League opener

Playing on a cool

Sa t u rd a y n i g h t a t Rhodes Field, the Red ( 4 - 3 - 2 , 0 - 0 - 1 Iv y ) refused to relent to the host Quakers (1-6-1, 0-0-1) ending the 90

m i n u t e p l a y p e r i o d and both overtime periods with a 1-1 final score

The draw extends the Red’s undefeated streak to four games the longest since the team ’ s four game winning streak in 2014

Despite a rocky start, which Penn capitalized on to score a goal in the 19th minute, Cornell

remained resilient to keep the Quakers scoreless for the remainder of the game

“We did not start the game well,” said junior captain defender Ryan Bayne “ We essentially invited Penn to get comfortable and play their game As a result, we found ourselves down a goal at the half ”

Undeterred by the deficit, Cornell relied on poise from upperclassmen and underclassmen alike to persevere

“I think we have a group of guys this year that is more confident in our ability to score goals and put pressure on opposing teams, ” said senior captain defender Eric Nuss “We have been in situations this year where we have been down a goal and have had to come back so it was some-

Kennedy Leads Red

To Draw Against Penn

Cornell claims 2nd consecutive shutout

By MARY BARGER Sun Staff Writer

Ju

Kennedy led Cornell women ’ s soccer to a 0-0 shutout against Penn on the road this weekend

T h e Re d re c o rd e d i t s s e c o n d consecutive shutout, after a 0-0

d r a w a g a i n s t Fa i r l e i g h

D i c k i n s o n Un i v e r s i t y l a s

career-high 10 saves to keep the Quakers at bay four of which were made during double overtime periods Friday’s game marked the s e c o n d c o n s e c u t i v e d r a w between the Red (2-4-2, 0-1-1 Ivy) and the Quakers (2-5-3, 10 - 1 ) o n Pe n n ’ s h o m e - t u r f a t

R h o d e s Fi e l d Ho w e v e r, t h e most recent match between the two teams almost a year to the day from Friday’s game was a ver y different stor y Penn cr ushed the Red, 5-0, o n t h e R e d ’ s h o m e t u r f a t Berman Field when they faced off in 2016 Last year ’ s defeat was a major blow to the Red’s early-season record, and came as its second consecutive conference loss

This season seems to be headed in a different direction, in par t due to Cornell’s iron-clad defensive line After dropping its l e a g u e - o p e n e r a g a i n s t Columbia, 2-0, the Red held

Heading into Friday’s competition, the Quakers were riding a h i g h f r o m a b i g u p s e t a t Har vard, where they took down

Crimson’s home tur f Although fully aware of the

“We all knew that we could definitely beat Penn, as long as we stayed tight on defense.”

impressive upset, the Red was confident in its ability to match the Quakers, and its confidence was not misplaced “ We all kne w that we could definitely beat Penn, as long as we stayed tight on defense and battled in the middle,” Kennedy said “ We kne w before the game that they play ver y compact and strong in the middle ”

The cohesion of the Red’s defensive line helped shut out the Quakers on the same field where the reigning Ivy champs had failed the week prior

T h e d e f e n

c a m e f r o m Kennedy, who currently leads t h e Iv y L

game She earned All-Ivy honorable mention last season, after s t a

“We were all happy about getting the shutout but we were disappointed not to get the win

t o u g h a g a i n s t t h e Q u a k e r s ’ aggressive offensive line, which outshot the Red, 14-1, in the f i r s t h a l f a n d 2 8 - 1 0 b y t h e game ’ s end

“I think that our back line all per formed so well and so cohesively that Penn had a hard time finding holes to play through,”

K e n n e d y s a i d “ We a l s o h a d Shelby Wray shutting down one of their best players as a defensive midfielder, which stopped a lot of their offense ” Wray, a ne w face in the lineu p, i s a f re s h m a n m i d f i e l d e r already making an impact on the team ’ s scoring potential She was the force behind several of the Red’s near-misses against Penn

games with

852 save percentage B

the rest of the Red’s defensive

have

output in terms of shots-on-goal to get the points the team needs to win “ We

The Red will have homefield advantage next weekend when it faces the Crimson at

Around the Ivy League: Upsets Highlight Week 3

By RAPHY GENDLER Sun Contributor

As Cornell fell to 0-3 after a disappointing 21-7 loss to Colgate, the Red’s Ivy League foes continued their non-conference dominance on a weekend that featured two exciting Ivy League upsets

Dartmouth 16, Penn 13

In a nationally televised Friday night game, Dartmouth upset Penn on a last second touchdown in Philadelphia Down 13-10 late in the game, the Green’s offense orchestrated a 15-play, 80-yard drive to win the game and improve to 3-0 Trailing by three with seconds remaining, the Green went for the win on 4th and inches on the goal line Quarterback Jared Gerbino plunged into the endzone to give Dartmouth the surprise win over last year ’ s co-champion Quakers The Green held Penn’s powerful offense led by running back Karekin Brooks to just 85 rushing yards

Columbia 28, Princeton 24

Penn’s co-champion, Princeton, was also victim to a visiting league opponent thought to be one of the weaker Ivy teams Like Dartmouth, Columbia is a surprise 3-0 team after beating Princeton, 28-24, after a 63-yard touchdown pass from Anders Hill to Ronald Smith II with under two minutes remaining Hill threw for 400 yards and two touchdowns and Smith picked up 236 receiving yards and scored two touchdowns, including the game winner

Harvard 41, Georgetown 2

Though Cornell is 0-2 against nonconference opponents, Ivy League teams have found great success against teams outside their conference Har vard beat up on Georgetown, 41-2, after taking a 7-0 lead on a first quarter punt return for a touchdown and never looking back Running back Charlie Booker III ran for two touchdowns and the Crimson defense took advantage of five Georgetown turnovers in the first half Harvard travels to Ithaca next

week as the Red looks for its first win

Yale 41, Fordham 10 Yale beat Fordham, 41-10 Deshawn Salter, one of two backs who ran all over Cornell’s defense two weeks ago, scored three touchdowns in the Bulldogs’ victory A 21point first quarter powered Yale on the road as they improved to 3-0

Rhode Island 21, Brown 24

Facing a 14-3 halftime deficit, Brown came back to beat Rhode Island, 24-21, powered by a 21-point third quarter, including two touchdowns from running back Darius Daies Rhode Island quarterback Tyler Harris threw for 298 yards and two touchdowns in the loss

Raphy Gendler can be reached at rsg249@cornell edu

Raiders Overwhelm Red

FOOTBALL

Continued from page 16

that would not happen again

After Cornell scored a touchdown, eyeing its second straight upset, Colgate maintained its grip on the game, burning down minutes on the clock; in the fourth quarter, the Raiders held the ball for over 10 minutes of game time

“I think last year we made stops when we needed to, ” said junior linebacker Reis Seggebruch “We made a few stops in the second half this year but not the ones that counted We needed to have a zero-point second half and we didn ’ t do it ” This year ’ s 0-3 record differs

markedly from 2016’s undefeated start through three games Because the team knows it has the capability to win this year, these losses have been especially frustrating, according to Archer

“[There’s] a lot of frustration because they know they’re good,” Archer said “They know they can win, they know they can beat the teams we just played, all three of them They know they can beat the teams were about to play, so it’s a matter of putting that together and making sure that that’s the mindset to be able to get the solutions we need ”

Adam Bronfin can be reached at abronfin@cornellsun com

Cornell Loses 3rd Straight in Home Opener

By ADAM BRONFIN Sun Senior Editor

Up against Colgate’s up-tempo offense and penetrating defense, Cornell football limped to a 21-7 defeat at the hands of the Raiders, marking the Red’s third straight loss to begin the 2017 season

Unlike last year ’ s shocking 23-point comeback victory over the then-No 23 Raiders, the Red failed to escape out of its first half deficit With a porous offensive line that gave up nine sacks and an aerial attack that struggled to find its rhythm all game, Cornell falls to 0-3 on the season, a far cry from its fiery 3-0 start last year

Cornell stayed with Colgate in the first quarter, holding the Raiders scoreless in the first 15 minutes of action But the Red’s offense, gifted with five drives with short field position in the first half, failed to really threaten Colgate; Cornell ventured into the red zone just once in the first two quarters, never advancing past the 19-yard line

Thanks to two sloppy Raider punts and a Colgate turnover on downs, all of Cornell’s first three offensive drives started north of the Red’s 40-yard line But despite the short field position, Cornell squandered its opportunities, failing to come away with points in any of those first drives

“It only takes one broken assignment to let the play break down,” said senior running back and captain Jack Gellatly “Frankly, all 11 across [on offense], we need to do a better job We need to help our defense out and finish those drives and punch those points in ”

Gellatly, who finished with 41 yards on 12 carries, noted that, while the offense has orchestrated strong drives early in the game, those drives tend to stall out and fail to end up in points, putting pressure on the defense to keep the opponent scoreless through the rest of the game

“Certainly it was a focus and will continue to be a focus,” head coach David Archer ’05 said of the team ’ s early offensive woes “Because without it, it will be tough to win football games if you don’t finish in the red zone, especially when you get the short field ”

C o l g a t e ’ s d e f e n s e was particularly dominant in putting pressure on junior quart e r b a c k Da l t o n

Banks Aside from the nine sacks, the defense forced Banks to throw quickly and knocked him down on the plays in which he was able to get the ball off Despite the big hits and Banks’ four interceptions his third straight game

with multiple picks Gellatly stands by his quarterback

“Dalton Banks is a fighter,” Gellatly said “That guy will take hits all day long And he’ll stand up and he’ll put his body on the line for the team He’s going to get into the film and be critical and honest with himself and then he is going to help lead this offense keep going in the right direction ”

On the defensive side of the ball, Colgate sped up the game in the second quarter and forced Cornell to make substitutions on the fly, a task that proved too difficult Cornell had no answer for Colgate’s uptempo attack, and the Raiders scored twice on back-to-back drives in the second quarter to turn a tie game into a 14-point lead in just nine minutes of game time

“[The up-tempo offense] is something that they had shown at times but weren ’ t majoring in it so I think it was a good adjustment by them,” Archer said “There was the element of surprise there, and it took us a little to settle down, but ultimately we were able to stay in the game ”

After the pair of second quarter touchdowns, Cornell’s defense kept pace with the uptempo attack, holding the Raiders’ offense scoreless in the third quarter Despite the loss, Colgate’s 270 yards of offense was the fewest accumulated by

e l i n e t o s i t o u t a n d t a k e a k n e e Va r i o u s o t h e r a t t e n d e e s o f t h e g a m e , i n c l u d i n g a g ro u p o f f a n s

a Cornell opponent since the Red beat Bucknell in 2009

“I thought [the defense] played good enough to win,” Archer said “I thought they gave us a chance in the second half by getting good stops Really happy with the way they responded after halftime, we made that a point of emphasis after last week ”

In the third quarter, Cornell’s offense began to click Gellatly started to get into rhythm, helping Cornell plow into the red zone His downhill running style, opting to run through Raiders as opposed to around them, was instrumental on Cornell’s first scoring drive of the day That drive, a nine-play, 55-yard march down the field, culminated with a one-yard touchdown run from Banks, set up by Banks’ pass to senior tight-end Hayes Nolte Colgate responded immediately, however, capitalizing on a pair of kickoff penalties that gave the Raiders the ball at midfield to start the drive Colgate drove down the field and extended the lead back to 14 after quarterback Grant Breneman’s seven-yard strike to Malik Twyman

Last year, Cornell roared back from a 23-point deficit to stun Colgate at home This season, the Raiders made sure

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