Says death of Jones ’15 due to consensual violent foreplay
By ZOE FERGUSON Sun Senior Wr ter
Benjamin Cayea took the stand Tuesday in his trial for the murder of Shannon Jones ’15, telling jurors that her death was an accident resulting from a sexual encounter gone wrong Cayea is on trial on a charge of second degree murder of Jones, who he confessed to strangling in a December inter view with law enforcement However, during today’s trial Cayea testified that he had lied during the initial inter view with police at the sheriff ’ s office
During his testimonial, Cayea said that almost the entire story he initially told the police that he “just snapped” and intentionally killed Jones was false In the transcript of his initial interview, Cayea told police, “I lost my shit and I killed my girlfriend ” On the stand, Cayea said of that statement, “That’s false That’s what it says, but that is not true ”
Describing his turbulent relationship with Jones Tuesday, Cayea said that they fought often throughout the duration of their relationship from summer 2012 until her death last Thanksgiving As their arguments escalated, they often ended in sex, which Cayea said Jones often initiated
“As the fights became more intense, the only way she could transition to another emotional state was to become sexual,” Cayea testified Despite the arguments, Cayea said he made the decision in summer 2014 that he “ was going to be the best boyfriend I possibly could
See CAYEA page 4
By ALEXA ESKANAZI Sun Contributor
T h e Un i ve r s i t y ’ s s e x u a l a s s a u l t p o li c y i s f a c i n g m a n y p o s s i b l e c h a n g e s , a d m i n i s t r a t o r s s a i d i n a p re s e n t a t i o n t o t h e Un i ve r s i t y A s s e m b l y Tu e s d a y Ma n y o f t h e s e c h a n g e s , s o m e c o mp l e t e d a n d s o m e b e i n g d e l i b e r a t e d , i n c l u d e a n e w p ro p o s e d h e a r i n g b o a rd m o d e l a n d n e w d e f i n i t i o n s o f c e r t a i n
f f e n s e s T h e s e c h a n g e s f o l l o w t h e Of f i c e o f C i v i l R i g h t ’ s l a u n c h o f a Ma y Ti t l e I X i n ve s t i g a t i o n a g a i n s t
C o r n e l l a n d 1 1 5 o t h e r s c h o o l s
C o m p l e t e d P o l i c y C h a n g e s C h a n g e s m a d e t o Po l i c y 6 4 , l a s t r e v i s e d i n 2 0 1 2 , r e
Relations responding o claims against students According to Mittman, this allows the Office of the
By CHRISTOPHER BYRNS Sun Staff Writer
Prof Peter Wittich, physics, received recognition recently for his contributions to Prof Ar thur McDonald’s project team, which resulted in the discover y of neutrino oscillations and earned a Nobel prize in physics
T h e p r i z e , a w a rd e d t o McDonald of Queens University and Takaaki Kajita of University of Tokyo, recognizes the discover y of neutrino oscillation, a process s h ow s n e u t
y,
research lab over
a s s Neutrinos were previously considered to be massless, and consequently this new research helps to explore how the sun works The findings also verify Cornell physicist Hans Bethe’s explanation of the workings of the sun Wittich said he worked at the
mile underground in
while he was in grad uate school There he measured the firs one hundred days
neutrinos
Wittich said that the sun emits neutrinos, tiny par ticiples, as a result of nuclear fusion that t a k e s p l a c e a t t h e sun ’ s core, accordng to The Ithaca Journal
ions of them going through
right now and we don’t notice them and it doesn’t do anything to us, ” Wittich said
These neutrinos, according to Wittich, have the ability to pass through nearly ever y material
“Most par ticles when they hit a table, or a wall, they will stop, ” Wittich said “Neutrinos can go through light years of lead with-
PROF WITTICH
CAYEA
p
, Arts Quad Café Jennie 2nd Anniversar y Celebration 3 p m , Café Jennie, Cornell Store Cornell’s Financial Aid Policies: Unimaginable Outcomes? 4:30 - 6 p m , 700 Clark Hall Engineering Advising Workshop 5 - 6 p m ,
weather FORECAST
a m , Auditorium, Boyce Thompson Institute Thanksgiving Turkey Donation Drive 11:30 a m - 12:30 p m , Trillium, Kennedy Hall
Paying for the Party: How College Maintains Inequality 1:25 - 2:40 p m , G01 Uris Hall
Litigation
Moderator: Joseph Burns, Dean of the University Faculty Panelists: Ronald Ehrenberg, ILR; Economics
Santa Barbara police have detained a 22-year-old man they say crashed a wedding, then bit an officer and a police dog during a six-minute melee
Sgt Riley Har wood says police were called Saturday night after a stranger who may have been on drugs crashed the wedding at the Santa Barbara Carriage Museum
Har wood says guests evicted him But during a confrontation with two arriving officers, he punched one in the face and bit his shoulder, then bit a police dog on the leg The confused dog also bit an officer
Har wood says after he was handcuffed, the man attacked a third officer
Two officers were treated for various injuries
Har wood says the man was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries and will be arrested when he’s released
Book Returned to Library
52 Years Late
PORTLAND, Ore (AP)
Portland State University librarians in Oregon finally got their hands on two overdue books a half century after they were checked out
The Oregonian reports that someone put two books
checked out in 1963 into a book drop, accompanied by an anonymous, handwritten note
University librarian Joan Petit says the books are so old that staff members don’t know what to do with them In the time since they were borrowed for a high-school speech class, card catalogs have been digitized and classification methods have changed
But the librarians, who no longer charge late fees, say they are thankful that someone returned Basic Principles of Speech and Preface to Critical Reading
Church Tips $1,000
PICKERINGTON, Ohio (AP) An Ohio church congregation ordered a pizza from Domino’s during a service, then tipped the driver more than $1,000 that it had been collected for the offering
The driver brought the $5 99 pizza to Sycamore Creek Church in Pickerington in suburban Columbus on Oct 4
The Rev Steve Markle brought her onstage and asked her the biggest tip she’d ever received She said about $10
That’s when Markle told her the teaching at the church had been about generosity so the congregation had taken up an offering for the driver She broke into tears
The Columbus Dispatch reports that the congregation was wrapping up a sermon series on “I was Broke Now I'm Not ” The church draws about 500 to 600 people each week
Barbara Knuth, Sr. Vice Provost & Dean, Graduate School
Around the Ivies
Harvard Medical School
Raises $467 Million In Capital Campaign
Harvard Medical School has recieved over $467 million of donations toward its $705 million goal in the first year of the campaign’s public contribution phase, according to The Harvard Crimson The drive’s four campaign priorities are “Education,” “Discover y, ” “Ser vice” and “Leadership ” With the influx of funds, the school hopes to increasingly focus on global health and medical innovation Donors can contribute to any one of these four separate funds, and so far the “Discovery” section of the drive is closest to reaching its goal, while the “Education” sector has proved the least popular, The Crimson reports
Local
Tompkins County Citizen Arrested on Drug Charges Twice In One Week
Aljamal Bovia, 26, was arrested two times this week on druge charges that resulted from a five-month long police investigation, according to The Ithaca Voice A New York State Police release said the man, who is from Ulysses, was charged Monday will two counts of felony third-degree criminal posession of a controlled substance, felony first-degree criminal nuisance, misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child and misdemeanor seconddegree criminally using drug paraphenalia He was taken into custody in Ulysses Saturday after the police say they found 51 grams of heroine, a stun gun, two cell phones and about $3,000 in his home after they obstained a search warrant, The Voice reports
National
Paul Ryan Says He Would Take House Speaker Job If GOP Unites
Representative Paul Ryan (R-Wis ) said Tuesday that he would be willing to serve as speaker if all of the factions in the Republican party unite in supporting him, according to The New York Times Ryan also said would focus more on communicating the party message rather than almost exclusively fundraising He said the division and growth of factions within the conser vative party have become increasingly deterimental and said he would not concede to the demands of any “ one group, ” a warning to the Freedom Caucus which helped force Speaker John Boehner (ROhio) into retirement, The Times reports
Compiled
by
Phoebe Keller
Non-Pro t Solar Project Raises Over $17,000
Student organizers plan to install solar energy system, open museum exhibit
By YUN SOO KIM Sun Staff Writer
Just a week after its launch, Energizing Impact, a student non-profit solar energy organization, has raised nearly a third of the $60,000 it projects will be necessar y to install a 14 3 kW solar energy system and an exhibit in S c i e n c e n t e r, a n It h a c a museum K e v i n C e l l u c c i ’ 1 7 , project coordinator, said he was exposed to innovative energy options while working in the alternative energy industr y over the summer and said he discussed his idea to adovate sustainable energy in Ithaca with Rachel Geiger ’17
dents
According to Amy Gaulke, public and media relations manager at Sciencenter, the funds raised through this campaign will be used for “creating a new exhibition galler y that will empower guests to engage in sustainable practices in their daily lives ”
“We have already raised over $17,000 for the project but we still have a long way to go ”
He said the result, Energizing Impact, represents and effort to increase energy sustainability through a use of solar energy Geiger said on campus the project is operated by a marketing team of about 15 stu-
Gaulke said the exhibition will showcase the benefits of living sustainably using solar energy “It will illustrate how technology is able to harness energy from the sun and showcase a historical and real-time display from a v i e w a b l e p h o t ov o l t i c array on the Sciencenter’s roof,” Gaulke said Additionally, the solar energy will benefit the Sciencenter by lowering operating costs and in turn support and allow the Center to expand its “free access programs including free memberships for low-income families,” according to Gaulke
The Sciencenter frequently collaborates
with Ever ybody Solar, a solar energy nonprofit, and depends on the University for project resource, according to Cellucci “ The money will also be used to help design and build this exhibit which focuses on teaching youth about how alternative energy works and why it is important,” said Cellucci
According to Cellucci, the “seed funding” for the project comes from Societal Solutions Scholarship, a Cornell program that funds individuals efforts to improve society
While the capital campaign is the first pro-
Cellucci said his team would “love to continue expanding Energizing Impact” by providing sustainable energy to a variety of organizations
“ We have already raised over $17,000 for the project, but we still have a long way to go before reaching our target, ” Cellucci said
The campaign is due to end on Nov 15
Yun Soo Kim can be reached at yskim@cornellsun com
By JEANETTE SI Sun Staff Writer
“His teaching assistants credit him with being a kind man.”
P r o f M a r k M c C a r t h y ’ 8 6
n e s s c o m p u t i n g , m o d e l i n g a n d p r o g r a m m i n g , a n d h e h a s a u t h o r e d m a n y e d u c a t i o n a l s o f t w a r e p r o g r a m s i n t h e s e f i e l d s Hi s s o f tw a r e h a s b e e n u t i l i z e d b y m a n y o t h e r u n i -
v e r s i t i e s a r o u n d t h e w o r l d Pr o f M a r k Mc C a r t h y ’ 8 6 M M H ’ 9 8 , o n e o f Ta l b e r t ’ s c o ll e a g u e s i n t h e h o t e l s c h o o l , s a i d Ta l b e r t w a s r e s p o n s i b l e f o r i n t r o d u c i n g v a l u a b l e j o b s k i l l s t o t h e c l a s s r o o m “ [ Ta l b e r t ] w a s t h e i n n o v a t i v e d e v e l o p e r a n d c r e a t o r o f t h e c e l eb r a t e d E x c e l b u s i n e s s c u r r i c u l u m a t t h e h o t e l s c h o o l , ” M c C a r t h y s a i d “ H i s c o u r s e s w e r e p o p u l a r w i t h s t ud e n t s a n d t h e r e c r u i t e r s w h o h i r e t h o s e s t u d e n t s f o r t h e p o w e r f u l t o o l s t h a t h i s c o u r s e s g a v e t h e m ” Mc C a r t h y a l s o s a i d Ta l b e r t w a s a p r of e s s o r w h o p r o f o u n d l y c a r e d a b o u t h i s s t ud e n t s a n d w a n t e d t h e b e s t f r o m t h e m
“ [ Ta l b e r t ] w a s r e s p o n s i v e t o s t u d e n t n e e d s , f i r m i n h i s m e t ho d s , b u t a l s o a l i t t l e q u i r k y, ” M c C a r t h y s a i d “ H i s t e a c h i n g a s s i s t a n t s c re d i t h i m w i t h b e i n g a k i n d m a n w h o w a s p r o t e c t i v e a n d l oy a l ” Pr o f E m e r i t u s R o b e r t C h a
TALBERT ’89 MPS ’92
CAYEA Continued from page 1
be ”
“We talked about marriage, we talked about having children, we talked about places she could get jobs in her field,” Cayea said
Throughout the summer and fall of 2014, the passionate and often physical arguments between the couple had “ebbed,” though they continued to engage in BDSM erotic practices often involving bondage and discipline, dominance and submission and sadomasochism during sex, Cayea said
The couple got into an argument at their shared apartment on Triphammer Road on the evening of Nov 27, 2014, or Thanksgiving Day, according to Cayea He testified that he “tried to walk away ” from Jones into different rooms of the apartment to dispel the fighting
Though he sometimes left the house during arguments, Cayea testified that he was confident the couple could resolve the argument
However, the argument turned physical When Jones walked into the bathroom, Cayea followed her “ to continue the discussion ” According to Cayea, Jones initiated sexual contact in the bathroom While they were kissing and groping one another, Cayea said that “[ Jones] told me that she wanted me to choke her ”
When Cayea did put his hands around her throat, he said that “she started telling me that I was a little bitch
and I couldn’t do it hard enough ”
Cayea then said he began to choke her with more force He could not say how long he was choking her before “all of a sudden, she started to buckle ”
“I let go of her, and she dropped down,” he said Cayea testified through tears that he did not notice Jones’ lips turning blue because the lights were off in the bathroom When he dragged her out into the bedroom, he said he saw that she was dead
Though he said he knew it was dangerous and potentially fatal to choke Jones with such force, which he had never used to that extent before, Cayea said he did it because he “just wanted her to be satisfied with [him] ”
“I was pretty sad for the way she was treating me, ” Cayea said “I wanted to make her happy ”
During the cross-examination, prosecutor Andrew Bonavia asked Cayea why he continued to choke Jones with his hand over her mouth when she had ceased talking or making noises
“She had told me to, ” Cayea replied “We had safewords and safe gestures I figured she would use one of those ”
Cayea said he never called 911 because he checked her pulse and already “knew” she was dead
“I don’t like dealing with the police Most people don’t,” he added
When he was interviewed by police at the sheriff ’ s office after Jones’ death, Cayea told police that he “pushed Shannon down, straddled her and choked her,” according to defense attorney Matthew Van Houten When Van
Houten asked Cayea why he told police such a different account of events at the time, he replied that he thought the couple’s sexual relationship should stay private
“I didn’t want other people to know the kind of things we were engaged in,” Cayea replied “I didn’t want [the interviewer] or any of the other investigators thinking of her in a sexual manner ”
Bonavia challenged Cayea’s professed motivation to protect Jones’ memory by pointing out that at other times in the interview, Cayea did tell police about Jones’ BDSM preferences
The transcript shows that Cayea said, “[Jones] liked to be tied up and beaten, and I never did any of that shit with her ”
When Bonavia asked Cayea why he lied in the initial interview, Cayea said he was in shock and “ not really thinking about it ” His memory of that interview, he said, is “quite hazy ”
“Considering how much you lied in that interview, why should we believe what you ’ re saying today?” Bonavia asked
“I want everyone to know what happened so that justice can be done properly,” Cayea said
In previous days of the trial, jurors saw testimony from many, including a forensic pathologist who testified that Jones’ death was a homicide The defense rested their case Tuesday, which marked the close of testimonials The trial will continue Wednesday morning
Zoe Ferguson can be reached at zferguson@cornellsun com
University Seeks to Clarify Title IX Violat i o n P r o
Plans include changing reporting system and remodeling
Continued from page 1
tions and other steps the process not pertaining to the direct investigation, Mittman said
Proposed Policy Changes
Among the proposed policy changes is a new model for hearing boards, which run the Title IX trial system Under the new model, a legally trained Cornell faculty or staff member would chair the hearing However, only the hearing panel would be able to ask questions to defendants and complainants, thus they never directly communicate with the hearing chair, according to Carol Grumbach, Associate Dean and Director New Student Programs
Another possible addition of the new hearing model is the ‘alternate resolution’ option, according to Grumbach This resolution presented by the hearing board, which is different entirely to the one initially discussed, would have to be approved by both parties and Cornell
Grumbach then detailed how the changes will progress if implemented, sighting an increase of ease and clarity in all steps of the trial and reporting process
“Under the proposed revisions, the investigator would stop short of making any findings,” Grumbach said “There would be a thorough investigation, there would be an assessment of general credibility, but no finding as to responsibility and no recommendations ”
According to Mittman, the previous sys-
tem of reporting Title IX offenses was labeled as confusing, counter-productive and over-informative The new system which differentiates three categories of violation: prohibited discrimination or protected-status harassment, sexual assault and dating or domestic violence should provide victims with a clearer direction on how to proceed with reporting
“Again, this is very much still under construction, but the idea is to have a few provisions of policy principles, and then move to the area of what do I do if I made a decision to move forward?” Mittman said
Reasons for Policy Change
Mittman added that multiple factors prompted the system overhaul The first factor, Mittman said, was that the University
hearing
board
felt it was time to review the policy change in place since 2012 that brought the Title IX cases involving students from under the Code Process to the Policy 6 4 Process
According to John Siliciano, senior vice provost for academic affairs, the most highly regarded reasons that prompted the revisit to the issues with Policy 6 4 were independent of federal legislation
“There is a growing nationwide concern about high incidents of sexual assault on university campus, ” Siliciano said “At the same time there’s rising national concern that the processes on many campuses are both ineffective and potentially unfair to respondents ”
Alexa Eskanazi can be reached at ame63@cornell edu
Prof Contributes Research That Won Nobel Prize
Assisted project team’s discovery of neutrino mass by exploring oscillations
NOBEL
Continued from page 1
out interacting at all ”
This ability of the neutrinos to permeate different substances offered the researches an opportunity to study the core of the sun
According to Wittich, the visible light from the sun that reaches Earth mostly comes from the outer portion of the sun, after spending nearly ten thousand years within the sun itself
“In that process you have lost a lot of information about that initial nuclear fusion reaction,” Wittich said “If you look at the sun, effectively what you are looking at is what’s hap-
pening on the outer one percent of the sun ”
However, according to Wittich, neutrinos are able to penetrate through these layers of the sun, and so they carry information about what takes places at the very core of the sun
“They basically move at the speed of light and come to us, and they are here in eight minutes, ” Wittich said
Still, he said the researchers found it challenging to observe neutrinos because their ability to pass through almost everything meant that they passed though most measuring devices
“The same thing that means they get out of the sun is they’re extremely hard to capture,
because they just go through everything,” Wittich said “They don’t even see your apparatus that you put in their way ”
Wittich said the researchers devised a way to measure neutrinos by creating an enormous glass sphere and filling it with water Surrounding this sphere, they placed thousands of devices to observe tiny flashes of light The neutrinos would make this flash when they interacted with a water molecule
“About 10 times a day they interact with a thousand tons of water You will see 10 neutrinos a day,” Wittich said “So of those trillions going through your body every second, imagine something that 1,000 tons of water, imagine how many are going through them and you only still detect 10 a day ”
The data gathered by the researchers proved that neutrinos change their form after leaving the sun called neutrino oscillation which in turn explained a previous gap in the amount of observed neutrinos, according to Wittich
Wittich expressed the difficulty of conducting these observations nearly a mile underground in an active mine In particular, he said, the lab had to be kept clean to prevent dust from giving false readings of neutrinos
“The lab had to be kept cleaner than an operating room, ” Wittich said “Imagine you have something cleaner than an operating room that you are keeping in a super dusty, active mine environment ”
Wittich also said that he found working in the mine to be a unique and bizarre experience
“If they hadn’t air conditioned the mine, it would be about 40° Celsius, so well over 100° Fahrenheit,” Wittich said “It’s such an otherworldly experience ”
JOSH HANER / THE NEW YORK T MES
Sen Jim Webb (D-Va ) speaks at the Democratic debate last week He announced Tuesday that he is dropping out of the presidential race after an unsuccessful campaign effort
Falling star
Chris Byrns can be reached at cbyrns@cornellsun com
Independent Since 1880
133RD EDITORIAL BOARD
’16
ALICEA
TYLER
Editor in Chief
EMMA LICHTENSTEIN 16 Business
SLOANE GRINSPOON 17 Associate
AMBER CHEN ’16
NATALIE TSAY ’18
JAYNE ZUREK ’16
MICHAELA BREW 18
GABRIELLA LEE 16
MIKE SOSNICK 16
EMILY JONES 18
MADELINE COHEN 18
PHOEBE KELLER ’18
Assistant
ADAM BRONFIN ’18
Assistant Sports Editor
SHANE LEWIS ’18
Assistant Sports Editor
ADDY PAI 16
ANNIE BUI 16 Managing Editor LOUIS LIU 18
Manager ANNA FASMAN ’16
“Amore
D o n’t H a t e O n
T h e O b e s e
accurate perception of the obesity epidemic is that people are responding to their environment, rather than lacking will power or self control ” Dr Deborah Cohen
In a time when the American political
B
n
’18
16
Emily Friedman 18
Editorial
T h e W r o n g I d e a
F o r E n d o w m e n t s
A BILL PROPOSED BY U S REP TOM REED (R-N Y ) that seeks to require universities and colleges across the country to contribute endowment returns to financial aid drew criticism from Cornell administrators earlier this month If turned into law, the bill would include institutions with endowments larger than $1 billion, threatening those that fail to contribute with penalties In an interview with Bloomberg, President Elizabeth Garrett described the bill, which is set to be filed this month, as “misconceived,” despite Reed’s “right instincts of access and affordability ”
We agree The idea of such an endowment bill mischaracterizes how endowments work and serves as an obstacle for universities making decisions on how to best manage returns on endowments in a logical manner for each institution’s individual needs
An endowment is the collection of a university’s (or more generally, any non-profit’s) invested capital, and cannot be called upon as a cash reserve throughout the year to pay for initiatives Rather, the revenue generated each year can be allocated for the purpose of serving Cornell, with 12 percent of the returns funding the Ithaca campus ’ $2.2 billion annual budget, according to a budget presentation conducted by President Emeritus David Skorton last March From what we have gathered on the bill proposed by Reed who represents the 23rd District, which includes Ithaca the issue is grossly simplified As noted by President Garrett, many of the gifts in the endowment are legally restricted and could not be contributed in the way Reed’s bill would propose Additionally, the endowment is established primarily to serve future generations of Cornellians, and this proposed law could reduce the opportunities available to those students
Universities with larger endowments also tend to have a greater number of resources available for financial aid measures For example, Stanford University’s endowment is currently valued at $22 2 billion, which they are able to leverage to provide most of the costs of tuition for those families making under $125,000 annually Relative to our peer institutions, Cornell consistently has maintained a small endowment by a margin of billions of dollars, despite being one of a select number of universities in the country with an endowment larger than $1 billion Yet despite Cornell’s smaller endowment size relative to its peers, Cornell still invests heavily in financial aid, even if more work ought to be done to lower the costs of higher education By requiring a university like Cornell to spend its returns on aid could negatively affect the endowment’s capability to grow, which, if implemented, would hinder Cornell’s ability to invest in providing greater financial accessibility in the long-term
If Congress wants to address the issue of skyrocketing costs of higher education, then it must do so in a manner that is comprehensive enough to confront the complex issues contributing to the increased costs Instead, Reed who has consistently voted against protecting Pell Grants, or loans provided by the government to students that do not need to be repaid is proposing a policy that underestimates how university endowments operate In response to Garrett, Reed said, “We understand exactly how endowments work ” Once the full draft of the bill is released, we will see whether Reed does understand how endowments operate
e Sanders’ resemblance to Larr y David, it’s easy to pinpoint some issues that haven’t gained much traction With persistently high healthcare costs and body image issues on both ends of the weight spectrum, the stigma of obesity and body weight is a neglected conversation in America’s movement towards a healthier, more physically active nation
Obesity is a complex social and health issue We live in a s
i e t y w h e re socially constructed ideas of beauty are
a c k e d against those who are fat and we collectively shake our heads, attributing a glaringly fatal medical condition to a l a c k o f s e l frestraint Being fat is looked upon as u n f a v o r a b l y a s smoking and drug addiction stemming from morally f l a w e d b e h a v i o r that not only affects o n e ’ s p e r s o n a l health, but impacts s o c i e t y t h r o u g h gargantuan medical costs and decreased workplace productivity
tainment, long work hours and neighborhood designs that discourage walking to name a few Yet, obesity inter ventions seem to be frustratingly simple to the medical community Why does a doctor need to tell a patient to get more exercise when their blood pressure is high? Isn’t it obvious? What isn’t obvious, though, is how that patient will change their work schedule, afford both a gym membership and a healthier diet and overcome the embarrassment of being an over weight person in a gym It’s no wonder that most current dietar y programs and medications can do no more than reduce weight by 10 percent
If I told you that obesity was a completely genetic condition, that the stock of America’s obese were at the mercy of an unfavorable set of genes, you would likely take a more empathetic stance toward the overweight.
If I told you that obesity was a completely genetic condition, that the stock of America’s obese were at the mercy of an unfavorable set of genes, you would likely take a more empathetic stance toward the over weight Indeed, it has been shown that we have much more p i t y f o r i n d i v i d u a l s w i t h c
o n s s u c h a s Alzheimer’s, which destroys one ’ s mental functioning, than those who are obese Yet, recent studies that examined the genomes of thousands of individuals noticed a group of genes that were highly related to one ’ s body mass index While this is a promising discover y in our path towards a more understanding and constructive understanding of this disease, the fact of the matter is, external environmental factors still contribute significantly to obesity
The biggest flaw of popular perspectives on the obesity epidemic is that many equate environmental factors with individual decisions We easily forget about insidious social pressures that are outside personal control: the pricing and taste of food, sedentar y jobs and enter-
The ill will that the medical community has had towards obese individuals is a big part of the problem Obesity i s n o t a d i s e a s e that hides within someone ’ s cells; we can see it There is a difference then, between a patient with kidney failure and a patient who needs a wheelchair to enter the exam room because they c a n n o t w a l k o n their own two feet U n d e r s t a n d a b l y, d o c t o r s m a y f e e l frustrated and discouraged by such p a t i e n t s T h i s impacts both quality and quantity of i n t e r a c t i o n s Doctors have less respect for patients who are obese, and c o n s e q u e n t l y spend less time with them and offer less information That’s negative feedback if I’ve ever heard one
Because doctors, who are deemed moral actors within society, have such attitudes (conscious or subconscious) towards the obese, they are implicitly endorsing a societal shunning of a third o f t h e A m e r i c a n p o p u l a t i o n Stigmatization is not a form of treatment, and can only lead to adverse health outcomes and worse mental health states Although I am not obese, I can imagine the struggles of those dealing with weight issues In the progressive, accepting culture Americans live in today, demeaning attitudes towards obese individuals are not consistent with other accepting attitudes we now have towards other groups While obesity is undeniably a health problem that needs to be solved, an attack on the individual must be avoided for any constructive change to occur
Philip Susser is a senior in the College of Human Ecology He can be reached at pss226@cornell edu An Ithaca State of Mind appears on alternate Wednesdays this semester
We Don’t Need Your Saving
While many Americans pride themselves on being open minded and liberal, many of them (knowingly or not) still harbor many racist stereotypes of the Middle East Liberals who would never use words such as “backwards” or “uncivilized” to describe a population out of a sense of political correctness, still often envisage the Middle East as a place rampant with bigotry and conservative prejudice These stereotypes are, to an extent, not unfounded Sexism and homophobia, the two favorite buzzwords surrounding Arabs, definitely exist Racism within the Arab region is also a huge problem that affects not only daily interactions, but also economic issues such as labor abuse and income inequality, which are often tied to ethnicity, religion and nationality However, the problem isn’t that we, as Arabs either in America or at home, are not aware of these issues The problem is we don’t have the liberty of frankly approaching and trying to fix these issues without the discussion being manipulated and exploited to further a political agenda Because discussions of problems in Arab communities are often fueled by racist stereotypes, it is difficult for members of these communities to address such problems without having the conversation hijacked by racist narratives that are used to justify Western violence and domination
It is first important to recognize that the Middle East is not some sort of hive-mind singular entity The Arab world comprises over twenty countries with different views and concerns that vary with different economic, social and political structures, and its common characterization as a homogenous area of equal intolerance is not only racist, but also completely incorrect Yet, many justifications of drone strikes and attacks on Iraq and even places like Afghanistan, which isn’t even in the Middle East, imply that these countries are all the same and possess faults that somehow justify the mass murder of civilians Stereotypical generalizations about Middle Eastern cultures being, for example, “ woman hating” serve as justification for imperialistic invasions that take thousands of lives (and don’t help women, who are the most negatively impacted demographic in war zones) Of course these countries have problems that need addressing but what country doesn’t?
Social injustice is in no way particular to the Middle East or any specific region, but is present in every country around the world although in different ways America runs rife with its race, gender and class issues
However, for some reason, these issues don’t seem to define the USA, and, despite these problems, many people still view America as the land of freedom and liberty In the Middle East, we are not afforded this same leniency
One reason for this is that some Americans, and other Westerners, only look at conditions from their own perspectives It is easy to judge discrimination and inequality without taking into consideration that some countries’ situations are very different from that of America While Arab countries are not the war torn, violent death traps they are often generalized to be, the aforementioned issues, although important and significant, may not be priorities in the same way in some countries When, for example, some “liberal” Americans defend Israel’s violent occupation of Palestine and its numerous war crimes by bringing up trendy American social issues such as LGBT and women ’ s rights By doing this, they only prove how out of touch they are Homophobia, for example, is a prevalent problem in all countries around the world, Palestine included, but when a population is blockaded from food, medical care and water and lives in constant fear of death or displacement, marriage equality probably isn’t the number one priority on the list (although Palestinian LGBT groups such as Al-Qaws, founded by a queer Palestinian woman, exist and are active) The same can be said for priorities in Syria, where populations are attacked and slaughtered by terrorist forces from one side, and by their own government from the other Obviously, intolerance and bigotry cannot be justified in any way, but it is important to recognize the context in which these things occur and the reasons they are brought up
In this context of Western imperialism and neocolonialism, it is important to explore the reasoning behind problematization of the Middle East Although many justifications of attacks on Arab countries include liberation and protection of oppressed groups, these very groups often bear the brunt of conflicts which fuel increased traditionalism in face of Western attack That LGBT Arabs as well as Arab women also seem to be victims of bombings and attacks led by Western or Western backed regimes, and seen as nothing more than collateral damage, makes the legitimacy of Western “ concerns ” for these people (which are often one of the reasons used to justify violent intervention) questionable
The pressure of always being watched, judged and expected to screw up almost stops us from even trying to acknowledge or fix the problems we know we should Although many organizations exist throughout the countries of the Middle East that deal with the multitude of economic, social and political problems, it can still be hard to begin addressing these issues because we can ’ t afford to make mistakes without validating Western stereotypes
As Arabs, we are put in uncomfortable positions when these stereotypes arise While we know that prejudice should not be defended, it is hard not to push back against the racist undertones that color these accusations and demote Arabs to inferior and backwards people that need to be bombed into a new age of democracy and enlightenment The conversation about problems within our own communities is definitely one that needs to be had, but this needs to occur in a context dedicated to actual improvement, as opposed to being co-opted by racist narratives that justify Western Imperialism at any cost
Comm en t of the day
“I’ve heard that relative to our Ivy League peers, Cornell offers the least generous financial aid packages, with the greatest reliance on student loan debt, resulting in the highest average net cost of attendance ”
skeptic
Re: “Garrett: University Endowment Bill ‘Misconceived’,” News published October 19, 2015
Sarah Zumba | Zumba Works It Out
Black Bruins Matter
Tw o w e e k s a g o o n t h e University of CaliforniaLos Angeles campus, the Si g m a Ph i Ep s i l o n f r a t e r n i t y and the Alpha Phi sorority held a “ K a n y e We s t e r n ” t h e m e d p a r t y T h e Fa c e b o o k e v e n t described the party ’ s theme and s u g g e s t e d t h a t i n v i t e e s c o u l d participate by dressing up Soon e n o u g h , p i c t u re s s u r f a c e d o f students dressed in blackface, wearing “thuggish” clothes, having fake big lips, fake padded bottoms the racist list goes on When I heard about this sit-
u a t i o n , I c o u l d n ’ t a c t u a l l y believe it happened It sounds so unrealistic in 2015 There was even a movie about this p a r t i c u l a r i s s u e , 2 0 1 4 ’ s De a r White People it takes a certain kind of person with a large amount of privilege to think that this was a suitable idea for a party W h a t m a d e t h i s i n c i d e n t w o r s e a n d more personal for me was the fact that one
o f m y b e s t f r i e n d s f o r a l m o s t 1 0 years is a black
s t u d e n t a t UCL A I was
a l re a d y a n g r y w h e n I f i r s t h e a rd a b o u t what had occurred, but after speaking with my friend about it, I was not only furious, but deeply saddened After he told me all the details of what had h a p p e n e d , o n e o f t h e m o s t striking things he said to me multiple times was “I chose to come here I could have gone anywhere else, but I chose to come here ” For the past two weeks, those words have been playing over and over in my head because I don’t know what to do to help h i m A l l I c o u l d u t t e r i n response was “please stay safe,”
what effects it might have or how racist the acts truly were
We can tr y to pretend that this is an isolated incident, and that just because these chapters*of Sigma Phi Epsilon and Alpha Phi are racist does not m e a n e v e r y c h a p t e r o r t h e entirety of the Greek system is racist; but that would take a lot of imagination This is only one incident on one campus that involves Greek life; there are so many other controversies relating to different chapters and campuses The significance of this party is that it helps highlight just one of the issues that t h e Gr e e k s y s t e m h a s It’s important to recognize that this incident isn’t isolated and that frats and sororities continuously partake in controversial activities all over the countr y, including on this campus
Overall, the Greek system is problematic on multiple levels
Greek system must be looked at holistically is because, like many other systems, it is rooted in
sororities are often associated with the “elite ” There are mult i p l
emphasize this point; such as t
frats and sororities One of the incentives for their founding
On Cornell’s campus in particular, it is evident to me that the two systems have different experiences A specific example is
We can try to pretend that this is an isolate incident, and that just because these chapters of Sigma Phi Epsilon and Alpha Ph are racist does not mean every chapter or the entirety of the Greek system is racist; but that would take a lot of imagination
s o m e t h i n g t h a t h a s m u l t i p l e meanings for students of color
It’s hard to imagine what it’s like to feel so degraded and undermined on your own campus, a place where we ’ re supposed to feel at home I’m sure that when planning this party and as they got dressed, the people who participated didn’t even consider
much like other systems in place in the United States It’s racist, sexist, classist, etc Greek life is often a place for the “elite,” especially in already elite institutions like Cornell We’ve had issues with our own Greek system A few years ago a student, Ge o r g e De s d u n e s , d i e d a s a result of a fraternity’s hazing That frat has since been kicked off campus, but punished only that chapter instead of holding the entirety of campus Greek life accountable Sure, there are certain programs in place to prevent these kinds of issues, but their effectiveness is proving questionable For instance, just this past year a fraternity was temporarily suspended for supposed hazing p r a c t i c e s , b u t t h e Un i ve r s i t y couldn’t confirm the allegations Clearly it’s a continuing issue on this campus and other campuses across the nation
Part of the reason that the
u l t u r a l f r a t s a n d sororities on this campus don’t have their own houses If they w a n t t o h o l d s o m e k i n d o f event, they have to rent out some Cornell space, sometimes meaning renting non-multicultural fraternity houses Even so, at least this campus includes multi-cultural frats and sororities unlike UCL A, which has almost no affiliated multi-cult u r a
s , a n d n o
f f i l i a t e d Black fraternity or sorority I have only scratched the surface of why I’m tired of the Greek system, especially since I didn’t even directly address the b l a t a n t m i s o g y n y w i t h i n i t That lies outside the scope of what I’m tr ying to say I believe that we need to hold this system, like any other prejudiced s y s t e m , a c c o u n t a b l e f o r i t s actions as it has continuously demonstrated underlying issues I also wrote this article in order to demonstrate my solidarity with Black Br uins, including my dear friend
Sarah Zumba is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences She can be reached at sez29@cornell edu Zumba Works it Out appears alternate Wednesdays this semester
SCIENCE
By MARY NATTAKOM Sun Contributor
Researchers at the University’s Boyce Thompson Institute have recently uncovered that aspirin might not be working the way most doctors think it does Prof Daniel Klessig, plant science at BTI, has been studying aspirin and its metabolite salicylic acid (S A ) for the last 25 years His most recent findings, published in Molecular Medicine earlier this year, offer an alternate explanation for how aspirin works, focusing on the interaction between S A and the body These findings help account for some of aspirin’s unexplainable benefits, like how it reduces the risk of a variety of cancers
Aspirin is one of the world’s most utilized drugs, with over 80 million tablets being consumed daily by Americans alone Although normally taken to treat pain, swelling and fever, it also serves as a blood thinner
Many doctors recommend daily lowdose of aspirin to prevent reoccurrence of heart attack, stroke or heart disease in elderly patients Recent studies suggest that long-term use of aspirin may also reduce risk of colorectal cancer
“The consensus of the biomedical community is that the primary, if not exclusive, mode of action of aspirin is inhibition of cyclooxygenases [COX] enzymes that synthesize compounds called prostaglandins, which induce inflammation, swelling, pain and fever,” Klessig said When COX is inhibited by aspirin, it can no longer produce these compounds, according to Klessig But research done at
be reached at mtn36@cornell edu B o y c e T h o m p s o n R e s e a r c h e r s D i s c o v e r A s p i r i n Wo r k s D i
the BTI indicates that it is aspirin’s metabolite salicylic acid, that is causing the majority of the beneficial effects of aspirin Previously, it was agreed that aspirin itself was directly acting on COX before it was
other hormones in plants and animals, would act by binding to one or a few receptors We struggled for the better part of 25 years trying to identify its receptor, ” he said “But rather than a single one, we uncovered dozens of different proteins
phosphate-dehydrogenase or GAPDH
metabolized, or broken down, in the body
“There are two things that don’t fit this current consensus of how aspirin works
The first is that aspirin gets metabolized, or broken down, into salicylic acid in the body very quickly,” Klessig said “Second, unlike aspirin, S A is a very weak inhibitor of COX activity, yet S A and aspirin have nearly the same beneficial pharmacological effects Thus, we reasoned there must be additional targets through which aspirin/SA exerts its many effects ”
According to Klessig, researchers have previously discovered that S A is produced and used by plants to regulate their immune systems
“We anticipated that S A , like most
through which S A modulates many plant processes, including immunity ”
Using high-through put screens developed to identify plant proteins to which S A binds, several proteins from human cells were identified
The first is High Mobility Group Box 1 or HMGB1 Because of its role in promoting inflammation when outside the cell, HMGB1 is involved in many diseases such as hear t disease, rheumatoid ar thritis, lupus, sepsis, stroke and a variety of cancers
“We found that S A at very low levels inhibits these pro-inflammatory activities of HMGB1,” Klessig said
Since this low level is reached in the bloodstream of people taking a baby aspirin, the resulting inhibition of HMGB1’s pro-inflammator y activities may be responsible for the protective effect against certain cancers, such as colorectal cancer, of low-dose aspirin usage
Another target is glyceraldehyde 3-
“GAPDH is a key suspect in a variety of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s,” Klessig said “In a model system, SA suppresses the neurodegenerative activity or the celldeath inducing activity that is associated with GAPDH This work is still preliminar y but has ver y exciting potential ” Research on S A will also provide insight into some of the side effects of Aspirin, Klessig said Negative side effects include potential stomach and intestinal ulcers, as well as an increased risk of bleeding from its blood-thinning effects
“As we identify more and more of the targets of S A , we will have a much better understanding, at the biochemical and molecular levels, of the basis of some of the negative side effects of aspirin,” he said
In addition, BTI researchers have synthesized SA derivatives and located natural derivatives in licorice These derivatives are 50-1000 times more potent than S A in aspirin, according to Klessig
“We are convinced that with the knowledge we have acquired and the experimental tools we have, it will be possible to make a better aspirins, if you will,” Klessig said “Certainly an aspirin that will do the job better, whatever that job may be, and perhaps with fewer negative side effects ”
Nattakom can
By SARAH CROWE Sun Contributor
What makes a recipe appear healthy?
According to a recent Cornell study for Health Communication, social media users can be influenced by a thin versus heavy weight bias to roughly the same extent as by nutritional information when making judgments about a meal’s healthiness
“Prejudice and the Plate: Effects of Weight Bias in Nutrition Judgments,” published by Prof Jonathon Schuldt, Prof Geri Gay and postdoctoral associate Jamie Guillory, all of the communication department, found that the weight of a social media user who posts food images has an effect on the perceived healthiness of that food
Schuldt, the first author of the study, says health information on social media sites or blogs is becoming increasingly popular, but it is rarely objective from a scientific perspective
“Because these things have a social element, it’s often not just content about the food itself that content is often associated with a person, ” Schuldt said
This social aspect of health information led the research team to question whether weight bias might change viewers’ evaluation of food images or recipes, according to Schuldt
“Our question was simply this might the body weight of a person who the food is associated with influence how the food itself is perceived?” he said
To find out, the research team showed over 200 participants 10 images of food that appeared to be posted to a social media site by a specific user The thumbnail photo the participants were shown was a real photo of a woman either before or after she had lost weight
The participants were randomly assigned to view the food images as posted
by the “ over weight” woman or the woman of “normal” weight They were then asked to rate how healthy each food image was on a scale from one to seven
“What we found was not surprising that, on average, the same set of meals are perceived as less healthy when they are posted by the heavier-appearing woman, ” Schuldt said
These results showed that weight bias has a significant correlation with perceived healthiness when nutritional information is not given The research team then decided to take their investigation one step further
“In the second study, we wanted to see whether we would still get this effect if we actually gave people nutritional information which is much more relevant to whether this food is healthy than the person associated with it,” Schuldt said
Quesa-dilemma | In a study conducted by Cornell researchers, the above image was judged as more unhealthy when it was presented alongside a picture of an an overweight woman as opposed to a woman of “normal weight ”
be just as strong as the effect of the caloric and fat increase
The researchers showed participants the same food and thumbnail images as they had in the first experiment, but they added fake nutritional information underneath each food image Half of the participants were shown “healthy” nutritional information, while the other half were shown caloric and fat values that were much higher Once again, the participants were asked to rate the healthiness of the food
As expected, the participants who viewed the food images as being higher in calories and fat rated them as less healthy
The surprise was that the effect of weight bias on perceived healthiness was found to
C o r n u c o p i a i s a b i we e k l y p o d c a s t t h a t c ov e r s re s e a rc h s t o r i e s u n f o l d i n g a c ro s s c a m p u s Jo i n h o s t s
Ad d i s o n Hu n e yc u t t ’ 1 8 a n d Al i Je n k i n s ’ 1 8 a s t h e y d i g
i n t o t h e j u i c i e s t d i s c ove r i e s t h e y c a n f i n d In e a c h
e p i s o d e , yo u ’ l l m e e t a re s e a rc h e r, c h a t w i t h Ad d i s o n a n d
Al i a n d h e a r s o m e c o r n y j o k e s C h e c k o u t t h e s c i e n c e
s e c t i o n o f T h e C o r n e l l Da i l y Su n f o r b i we e k l y u p d a t e s
“It’s not surprising that we found these effects, [but] it’s surprising how strong these effects are, ” Schuldt said
Many people do not fully understand how to interpret nutritional information, Schuldt added Because turning to online sources for simple, easily accessible food information has become so common, the combination of an uninformed public and factors like weight bias could influence the population’s nutritional decisions
“We think that there are direct, practical implications of this work, really for all of us that use the Internet,” he said Schuldt said he hopes that this study will highlight the difficulties of choosing
food that is truly healthy Many people have health goals they actively try to meet, but it becomes harder to do so when nutritional judgments are not made correctly
This study has implications even outside of the context of food blogging and health, according to Schuldt Weight bias is only one factor that influences decisions but that few people give much thought to
“It’s a reminder that there are social biases that pervade society, and that our judgments are less objective than we think they are, ” Schuldt said
Sarah Crowe can be reached at soc22@cornell edu
“There was a team developing a mobile bike generator as you’re riding around campus, you’re charging a battery and the battery can provide you whatever power you need.” M a r k H e n r y ’ 1 6
a n a t C o r n e l l b u t h a s s p re a d n a t i o n a l l y : “ It w a s a c t u a l l y f o u n d e d a t C o r n e l
c h a p t e r s n
t i o n a l l y [ ] i t ’ s a c o o l o r g a n iz a t i o n w i t h l a r g e s c o p e , ” He n r y s a i d T h e S S R D p ro j e c t t e a m o r i g i n a l l y
C a m p u s
p owe re d a u t
T h e y h o p e t o c o n t i n u e t o e x p l o re s o l a r t e c h n o l o g y w i t h f u t u re p ro j e c t s W i t h i n t h e Hu m a n Po w e r e d E l e c t r i c i t y Ge n e r a t i o n t e a m , s t u d e n t s a re w o rk i n g t o u s e e xe rc i s e e q u i p m e n t t o g e n e r a t e e l e c t r i c i t y He n r y e x p l a i n e d t h a t t h e y e n v i s i o n u s i n g row i n g m a c h i n e s t o g e n e r a t e e l e c t r i c i t y t o c h a r g e s m a l l d e v i c e s He a l s o s e e s t h e p o s s ib i l i t y o f l i n k i n g s e ve r a l e xe rc i s e m a c h i n e s i n s e r i e s i n o rd e r t o c o l l e c t a l a r g e r p o o l o f e l e ct r i c i t y T h e b i o f u e l s t e a m i s re v i s i t i n g a p re v i o u s p ro j e c t p ro p o s a l t h a t re vo l ve s a ro u n d a g r ic u l t u re w a s t e , a c c o rd i n g t o Ad d i s o n , w h o i s a l s o a m e m b e r “ Ot h e r c a m p u s e s b e n e f i t f ro m a g r i c u l t u re b u t t h e y d o n ’ t h a ve i t o n c a m p u s s o t h e y c a n ’ t u s e t h e w a s t e i n a p rod u c t i ve w a y l i k e C o r n e l l h a s t h e o p p o r t u n it y t o , ” s h e e x p l a i n e d “ We h a ve a l l t h i s a g r ic u l t u r a l w a s t e o n c a m p u s W h y n o t t a k e a l l t h a t a n d b u i l d a re a l l y c o o l c e n t e r s o t h a t we ’ re u s i n g i t f o r re s e a rc h ? A n d w h y n o t u s e s o m e o f i t t o p owe r t h e s c h o o l ? ” I f y o u a r e ov e r w h e l m e d b y t h e n u m b e r o f a c ro n
i n g s o l a r ove n m o d e l s f o r u s e i n d e ve l o p i n g n a t i o n s Ho p i n g t o e x p a n d a n d c re a t e a s u s t a i n a b l e p ro j e c t m o d e l , t h e y h a ve s i n c e s h i f t e d f o c u s T h e t e a m i s n ow c re a t i n g p h o t ovo l t a i c p a n e l s , f o o d d r i e r s a n d s
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
On Documentaries and Life: A Chat With Marshall Curry
BY TAMAR LAW Sun Staff Writer
This week Cornell Cinema is hosting the two-time academy award nominated film director, Marshall Curry He is presenting two of his more socially focused documentaries; Street Fight screened on Tuesday and If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front will play on Wednesday While different in their subject matter, each film addresses current political and social themes in the United States The screening of If a Tree Falls is at 7:15 p m and is free of charge In preparation for his time on campus, The Sun was able to ask a few background questions about the path Curry has taken as a filmmaker and some of his future plans
THE SUN: How did you get into film directing? You studied comparative religion in your undergraduate years at Swarthmore College, how did this play into your career path?
MARS HALL CURRY: I took a pretty zig-zaggy career path, teaching high schoolers in Washington, D C , working at a public radio station in Philadelphia, and producing websites at a New York design company for a number of years I loved documentaries, though, and when I turned 30 I realized I didn’t want to look back on my life as an old man and regret never having even tried to make one So I took a leave of absence from the Internet company and shot and edited my first film, Street Fight, about a rough and tumble, racially charged election in Newark, New Jersey It went on to be nominated for an Oscar and an Emmy, and I’ve been lucky enough to make films ever since Majoring in comparative religion was actually pretty good preparation for making documentaries, because studying religion is all about trying to understand why people do what they do and why they believe what they believe It also prepares you to hold contradictory ideas in your head at the same time without feeling a need to perfectly resolve them, which I think comes in handy when making films about complex people, issues and situations
SUN: Why are you drawn to documentary as a medium?
M C : I like to be able to poke around into worlds that I don’t understand and to try to get some insight into the lives of other people We are an extremely interesting species and making documentaries gives me a license to indulge my curiosity I also love the process of turning hundreds of hours or raw footage into what feels like a movie, with drama, excitement, emotion and
humor
S UN: Which directors have had a significant influence on your work?
M C : I love and steal from a lot of directors The most influential ones were probably the Maysles brothers, D A Pennebaker/Chris Hegedus and Ross McElwee But I have a big tent view on documentaries I love all different styles: observational docs, polemical docs, impressionistic docs, journalistic docs Duke Ellington said of music, “If it sounds good, it is good,” and I think I have a similar feeling about documentaries
S UN: How do you see yourself as a storyteller? How do you make the ultimate decisions on how to frame the story?
M C : I guess I try to make the films that I would like to see, so I want stories that are complex but not confusing, and are dramatic but not melodramatic My mom grew up on a farm in South Carolina and is an amazing storyteller I grew up hearing her tell these stories about her life, and also about things that she noticed or people who she met every day, and I try to model my films on that
S UN: Your films are quite varied in their subject matter, how do you decide a film idea is worth pursuing? What inspires you to make a film?
M C : It's hard to describe what attracts me, but usually I just find a story or a situation that interests me I generally make films not because I have something I want to say, but because I have something I want to find out about I know it is going to take a long time to make a film often two or three years so it has to be a pretty rich vein and a complex story to hold my attention that long I look for stories with compelling characters, which does not mean that they are all “likable” just provocative And if possible I look for stories with a built in narrative arc a beginning, middle and an end for example an election or a trial or a racing series I want the audience to constantly ask, “What is going to happen next?” I find that's a lot easier when you have a narrative arc that you are following
S UN: Your films are also quite varied in their tone, from the more light hearted animated short to the more grave film on ecoterrorism How do you adjust your methods to adapt for the different styles?
M C : I think humor is an important part of filmmaking, so even If a Tree Falls, my film about environmental arsonists, has moments that get audible laughs from the audience Finding the right tone is a matter of editing, of music and of visual style My
short film on the debt and the deficit was extremely light hearted in an effort to get over the inherent boringness that people associate with the topic I figured the only way to get someone to watch something as dry as that was by using funny animation
SUN: Is there a story that you wish you could have developed into a film but never did?
M C : I have dozens of film ideas that I’d love to make, but each one takes such a long time, so I can ’ t do them all I've been thinking recently about doing one on factory farms trying to come at that from a slightly different angle than other documentaries have
SUN: What do you see for the future of documentary? As viewers are getting more engaged and playing a larger role through social media, how do you see the practice developing or shifting?
M C : I think that with the advent of online streaming of video, it is a great time to make and share documentaries People watch more [documentaries] on Netflix and iTunes and Amazon than ever before, and I love that I think people are also starting to understand that documentaries don t have to be dry lectures, but instead can just be non-fiction movies, with all of the drama and power that draws us to fiction movies even more often
Tamar Law is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences She can be reached at tlaw@cornellsun com
The Dirty Business of Politics: Street Fight
BY JESSE WEISSMAN Sun Staff Writer
It doesn’t surprise anybody to say that politics is a dirty business and one that tends to ignore the substantive issues that the whole enterprise claims to be about Especially in today’s political climate, with the 2016 presidential race more resembling a reality show competition than an election for the most important public office in the country, this circus-show aspect to American politics is as clear as ever
So when I say that the 2005 documentary Street Fight, presented on Tuesday at Cornell Cinema and directed by Marshall Curry, revealed to me new ways that politics is ugly, it would be easy to dismiss my opinion as obvious However,
the film, which is about the 2002 mayoral race between Cory Booker (now a well-known New Jersey Senator) and the long-time incumbent Sharpe James, explores just how much dirtier local politics are then, and how they allow for tactics that would be unacceptable in their national counterparts
Since Booker is a now prominent national politician, it is a bit disorienting to see him as such an upstart, going through housing projects and corner stores canvassing for every last vote Booker and his campaign team repeatedly remark throughout the film that political races in Newark are not won in T V ads or mailers, but in “the streets ”
The corruption on hand in Newark, New Jersey is astounding, even to the most jaded of government critics James, Booker’s opponent, is the overt villain of the film Street Fight reveals him unleashing the police to enforce byzantine codes against anyone who has a sign for Booker hanging in their business window, and using his security to slam their hands against the lens of Curry’s camera anytime he tried to film a campaign event or capture footage of James But Booker, who prides himself on being a “clean” figure, undeniably has to play the game as well For example, it is customary for politicians running for office in Newark to provide mountains of free food and entertainment for the local senior citizens, who also expect that fancy Christmas cards be sent to them Booker initially resists from engaging in this genteel form of bribery, but he eventually says that he has no choice if he wants to keep up The city is not only corrupt in its bureaucracy and incentive struc-
tures; the election depicted in the documentary is also full of vicious personal attacks that register with uninformed voters
The James campaign openly accuses Booker of being a collaborator with and benefactor of mutually exclusive groups: the Republican Party, the KKK and Jews James proudly says in interviews that he is a “real black,” as opposed to the Rhodes Scholar, Booker, who is not from Newark originally but rather a “carpetbagger,” telling the people of Newark how to behave The ugly, racialized tactics used in national campaigns at least have to be disguised and claim that they are not about bigotry: Trump after all claims he loves Mexicans
Here, where the approval of the national media is not a factor, getting every last ignorant person ’ s vote is all that matters If you think that what I have written suggests that the film is a bit in the bag for the Booker campaign, you would be correct Curry says that the James campaign refuses to give him access, confirmed by the aforementioned banning of Curry from any James event Because we spend all of our time with the Booker campaign we naturally take his side And of course, since the majority of the documentary shows the dirty tactics of the James campaign, it is hard to not see Booker as the clean reformer and James as the corrupt incumbent who is running the modern New Jersey Tammany Hall Moreover, the film does not spend any time on the actual issues of the campaign Cutty has no interest in looking at the effectiveness of either contender This works in the film’s favor, however, because it allows the audience to devote its sole attention to the machinations of the campaign and how votes are personally won But as a result, we do not know if our rooting for Booker is justified, or if Booker’s personal brand of charm is simply less sleazy than James’ Perhaps for a documentary that is more about the predatory and corrupt nature of local elections than the political issues they’re built around, that is actually the perfect ambiguity for the film to have
Jesse Weissman is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences He can be reached at jweissman@cornellsun com
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Team Tries New Dives
SWIMMING
Continued from page 15
support them “It’s nice with close away meets because we are allowed to take everyone so even though they weren ’ t diving they were still at the meet alongside everyone cheering and showing their support, ” Sterling said
One of the main reasons this meet was so important to the team was it gave the divers an opportunity to try out many of their newer dives
“I believe it was a great gauge to give the divers confidence that they are learning and using the right dives early so that they can master them before the very important meets in our season, ” said coach RibotCanales “I am happy that they attempted their recently learned dives I think it was a very good opportunity for them ”
The men ’ s swimming team also competed this weekend, with many swimmers getting their first races of the season in Buffalo Senior Victor Luo earned first place in the 200m breaststroke and junior Dylan Sali got first in the 200-yard backstroke and 50-yard freestyle
One of the highlights of the meet was the 200-yard medley relay, where Dylan Sali, Victor Luo, junior Luke Reisch and senior Taylor Adams swam a blazing 1:31 74 to earn first place
“That was a great relay, and is the fastest we ’ ve been as a team this early in the season in a long time,” said head coach Wes Newman “It is exciting to think about what these guys can accomplish if they stay focused and push each other to become even better ”
Other high scorers for Red swimming included senior George Schnaars, who got first place in the men ’ s 200-yard freestyle, and freshman Johnny Kilduff, who earned third place honors in the 100-yard backstroke
The Red have their next meet, and home opener, Nov 6 at Teagle Pool against Binghamton University, and their first Ivy League matchup a week later on Nov 13 when Teagle will host both Dartmouth and Harvard While the meet in Buffalo was a good showing for the Red, Coach Newman wants his swimmers to keep working
“The team should look back at this weekend and feel good about where we are at, but also realize there is more to be done,” Newman said “They’ve been working hard and just need to maintain their focus through the next phase of our season ”
Jeff Asiedu can be reached at jasiedu@cornellsun com
Home Meet Next for Red
XC
Continued from page 15
Tedder leading the Red with a third place finish
“Yesterday’s meet wasn ' t the best, but it wasn ’ t bad Senior Ben Rainero was 11th as an individual, which is absolutely awesome! He beat several past Cross Country All-Americans Our next group is very strong, but needs to be further up in the field,” said captain Brian Eimstad
To secure a final push, Coach Zebulon Lang looks to ensure they are ready for the big stage
“This team is focused on the right things,” Lang said “We are relatively healthy, but that is a constant concern of mine at this time of the season I think of these guys as if they were my own sons and so
I'm on their cases all the time to eat well, sleep well, and do their best to keep from getting hurt or sick
”
The Red has a home meet next this weekend before they start their championship campaign With everything on the line, both teams are confident that all of the preparation beforehand will allow for an extended season
“We just need to control our own business and not worry about things we can ’ t control,” Lang said “If we execute our plan this year, we will run pretty well in the next month ” Fortunately for the Red, their final push is completely under their control
Brittany Biggs can be reached at bbiggs@cornellsun com
ROWING
Continued from page 16
“We turned as hard as we needed to, ” Kennett said “But the rudder on the Northeastern boat wasn ’ t as big so they couldn’t make the sharp turn ”
Overall, Kennett appreciated his team ’ s effort and added that they have a lot of things they can improve on
“We probably have some more power to gain,” Kennett said “Our technical base and movement together can definitely get a lot better ”
“It was a pretty decent race, ” said senior captain Greg Davis “A lot of the crews we lost to had home field advantage, which is
ver y beneficial in a head race where steering is a major factor ” All in all, the Head of the Charles Regatta was a thrilling experience for the Cornell rowers
Numerous amounts of spectators converged on the banks of the Charles River to watch the world’s most talented rowers duke it out for supremacy
“It’s really special any time you ’ re an athlete in an event like that,” Kennett said “Your adrenaline is on edge the whole time and it’s a mixture of fun and pressure
”
“ That’s an experience you’ll never forget,” Kennett said
Troy Bridson can be reached at tbridson@cornellsun com
Red Drub Tigers To Capture First Home Win of Year
By SHAN DHALIWAL Sun Staff Writer
Freshman quarterback Connor Ostrander replaced veteran junior quarterback Rob Pannullo with 2:25 left in the first quarter and proceeded to play his best college game of the year The Cornell sprint football team ’ s 52-18 victory against Princeton last Friday saw the emergence of some new talent Ostrander and freshman running back J D Donahey III both had impactful games
“It was a lot of fun, and the offensive line really did a great job opening the holes,” Ostrander said “It was just a good first experience to get out there and really get a feel for what it’s like in college and hopefully see what I can improve on in film and work toward getting better in the future ”
Ostrander finished with a total of 84 passing yards On the running side, Donahey rushed for 83 yards, including a 39-yard run for a touchdown to put the Red up 52-18 with 6:25 left in the fourth quarter
“It was a great experience, a lot of fun,” Donahey said “I couldn't have done it without the other guys on the field, especially the linemen ”
Pannullo and junior running back Kevin Nathanson also had big games Pannullo had three rushing touchdowns and finished with 82 rushing yards and Nathanson rushed for a touchdown and finished with 53 rushing yards
“They showed a lot of great stuff, they got things going, and they're going to continue to work to get better,” Nathonson said
“Offensively, we saw what [Ostrander] and [Donahey] can do and defensively our middle linebackers Nazzaro and McCarthy have a bright future ahead of them,” said sophomore wide receiver Ryman Seeley “They played well ”
Seeley finished with 57 receiving yards, which included a
and runningback J D Donahey playiing key roles in the game
47-yard pass from Ostrander late in the first quarter
The Red will look to maintain this positive momentum at Navy this Friday to achieve the goal of finishing off the season with two wins
“We’re gonna have our meetings, and we ’ re gonna talk about schemes that Navy will try to stop us offensively again, and what we ’ re gonna to do attack these and exploit them,” Ostrander said “We’ll be looking to see what we need to [improve] from the Princeton game and then how we ’ re gonna attack them, whether it be passing or running ”
The Red lost to Navy 42-30 last year and last defeated the Mids in 2006, the last season the Red finished as league champions
“We’re working on being more intense in practice and just being quicker in everything that we do just to get ready for the pace that [Navy is] going to play at, ” senior linebacker Jino Park said “We’re also focusing on closing drives and finishing when we get into the red zone so hopefully that’ll transfer to the field come game day ”
Park finished with eight solo tackles in the Princeton game and will be a key part of the strong defensive effort the Red will have to make in order to come out victorious this weekend against Navy
Head coach Bart Guccia said he knows there is not much the Red can do differently to prepare for Navy
“They’re one of those teams like army that’s pretty straightforward [and] very consistent,” he said “There isn’t a lot of things that we can do differently at this point in the season that we haven’t done already ”
Park emphasized that the team ’ s goal is to finish the season 5-2 Navy is coming off a 18-16 upset loss to Franklin Pierce, who the Red defeated 36-15 in the second game of the season
“I’m very confident that we can, ” Park said “Navy’s gonna be a tough game this week but they’re just coming off a loss so they're vulnerable ”
The Red’s only shot at a league championship this year would be to win these last two games and for Army and Penn to lose their last two games However, finishing at 5-2 would be a satisfying end to the season no matter where the Red finish in the standings
“Our main goal is to play well and hopefully win two more, ” Guccia said
Shan Dhaliwal can be reached at sdhaliwal@cornellsun com
Cornell Takes 10 of 27 Events at Buffalo Meet Red Women Capture First in Buffalo
By JEFFREY ASIEDU Sun Staff Writer
This past Saturday, Cornell’s swimming and diving teams took a trip up to Buffalo to compete in their first meet, an out of conference scrimmage with Buffalo The Red swimmers and divers used the meet as on opportunity to finally get some time in the pool against a competitor, and came away from the meet winning a respectable 10 of 27 events
For the men ’ s diving team, sophomore Noah Sterling and junior Deyon Godbay were the only competitors; the rest of the men ’ s team has been plagued by multiple injuries that have left Sterling and Godbay as the only divers able to compete, but the two did their best to represent the Red
“I was quite pleased with my perfor-
mance at Buffalo,” Sterling said “It's nice to be able to have a meet under your belt a few weeks before the start of our competition season ” Godbay also competed, a fortunate occasion since he has only recently been cleared for practice Diving coach Veronica Ribot-Canales said of Godbay, “Deyon has only recently been cleared to practice, so with such limited time on the board [two practices] I am just happy that he got to compete at all Although Deyon missed a large amount of preseason practices, he looks strong and confident, and he is such a gifted athlete that it is very exciting to see how the season will unfold for him ” Although only Sterling and Godbay were able to compete, they had many of the injured divers on their team there to
Men nish in 14th in Lousiville and 3rd in Buffalo
By BRITTANY BIGGS Sun Staff Writer
In racing, there is always one thing you can always count on seeing: a final push This last burst of energy is all the athlete has left and hopefully is enough to receive the desired result This past weekend, the Red cross country teams began their final push that would hopefully propel them into championship season Both the men ’ s and women ’ s teams competed in two meets this weekend: the Pre National Invitational in Louisville, Kentucky and the Canisius Classic in Buffalo, New York
The 29th ranked women ’ s team was able to secure a 22nd place team finish in a field of 45 seeded teams Taylor Spillane was the highest finisher for the Red, coming in 40th place
In Buffalo, the team finished first overall, an occasion highlighted by a win from sophomore Jackie Katzman Coach Artie Smith is confident in the velocity of the team ’ s final push
“ We certainly have the pieces for a very successful season and they are lined up for a great championship run, ” Smith said “At the same time, all seasons present unexpected obstacles and
challenges and I'm ver y happy with how this group has responded to the unforeseen We've learned many important lessons at each meet and even if not every result has been precisely what each runner hoped for they've all taken valuable lessons from each experience and emerged better prepared for the next race ”
The athletes are also very confident in the team ' s ability to go the distance this season
“I would say that we definitely still have the fire that we had at the beginning of the season, ” Katzman said “It was evident at both of the meets our team competed in
this weekend We're a group that has so much fun together every single day, and I know that this positive energy and enthusiasm will help propel us to our goals in the next couple of weeks ” The men ’ s team also had a pretty successful weekend at both meets The team was able to secure a 14th place finish in a field of 42 competitors Senior Ben Rainerio was the highest scoring Cornellian, finishing in a solid 11th place At Buffalo, the team continued with their strong pace and was able to secure another team victor y, with Junior Mark
Sprinting ahead | Cornell was led by two freshman in their win over Princeton last Friday, with quarterback Connor Ostrander
First dip | Cornell swimming and diving won the 200m breaststroke and the 50m freestyle in their first competitive meet of the year
CONNOR ARCHARD / SUN FILE PHOTO
Spor ts
Red Defeats Yale 2-1 in Overtime
Booters pick up rst Ivy League win of the year in nail-biter
By JAMIL RAHMAN Sun Staff Writer
Throughout the season, head coach Jaro Zawislan has held the same message for his team: Keep focusing on the next play because the game isn’t over until the whistle blows As the Red (3-9-1, 1-2 Ivy) took on the Yale Bulldogs (1-10, 0-3 Ivy), his message was especially tested while the Red fought in overtime for their first Ivy League win and their first winning streak of the season
The Red had their chances in the first half to take the lead, outshooting the Bulldogs 7-3, but the game was still tied 0-0 at halftime Nevertheless, in the 58th minute, when the Yale goalkeeper attempted to clear a Red cross, the ball bounced off a Yale player for an own goal, putting the Red up 1-0 The pressure was now on the Bulldogs to equalize the game
Zawislan knew that his team would have to modify its game plan to account for Yale’s equalizing attempt
“When it is late in the game, the team that is losing will push forward, and they are going to take more numbers forward and take more chances,” Zawislan said “This led us to change our formation to adjust, especially in the later part of the second half ”
However, with eight seconds left in regulation, Yale player Dylan Snow-Onderdonk crossed the ball in to Nicky Downs, and the Bulldogs were able to capitalize and equalize the game to send it into overtime, the Red’s third overtime game of the season so far
Zawislan wanted to make sure that his team stayed focused going into overtime
“We went back to the locker room for the short break between regulation and overtime, and the mindset of the
team was to focus on the next play going into overtime,” Zawislan said “Whatever happened in the 90 minutes didn’t matter anymore, the game is tied now ”
Yale came into overtime strong, with the first three shots of overtime coming from the Bulldogs Cornell, however, was able to capitalize on their chance Junior defender Liam
Crotty had his shot blocked, but junior midfielder Zach Bialik was able to recover the ball on the left side of the field Bialik sent in a cross to sophomore defender Allen Capo, who was able to convert on the header, capping the Red’s first Ivy League win and a 2-game winning streak
Zawislan credits the last play of the game to his team ’ s preparation
“Giving up the goal late in regulation definitely tested our team, but our team responded very well,” Zawislan said “Our team put a lot of time and hard work when training for the set pieces, and the last play of the game was a result of that Credit to our team for responding and staying the course to get a win ”
Zawislan went on to talk about the difficulty of playing in the Ivy League and his appreciation for the team ’ s grit
“I am very proud of our players and very happy for them for responding to a difficult situation,” Zawislan said “Their hard work and improvements during the season showed with a positive result It was a typical Ivy League game where both teams were fighting hard and the momentum constantly shifted, but we stuck with it and got the win ”
The Red looks to continue their winning streak when the Brown Bears travel to Berman Field this Saturday at 4:30 p m
Jamil Rahman can be reached at jrahman@cornellsun com
Men’s Lightweight Rowing Cruises to Gold Medal at Head of the Charles
By TROY BRIDDSON Sun Contributor
The Cornell men ’ s rowing team arrived in Boston about 24 hours before the Head of the Charles Regatta With the added rest, the team let it rip on race day with no practice runs on the course It was a gutsy and confident performance, according to lightweight head coach Chris Kerber
The Cornell men ’ s lightweight rowing team secured the gold medal at the Head of the Charles Regatta in the 4+ championship The lightweight team also finished fifth in the 8+ championship The heavyweight team had a solid showing at the regatta as well, finishing ninth in the 8+ championship and 14th in the 4+ championship
Three seniors and one junior rowed in the 4+ boat that finished first at the Head of the Charles Seniors Ian Sigal, Conor Jones and Nigel Harriman, as well as junior Daniel O’Neill, all rowed exceptionally Junior coxswain Gabrielle Steini guided the team through tough conditions and turns on the Charles River Steini’s poise and leadership stood out
“Both boats did very well,” Kerber said “But 4+ had a really solid performance that resulted in a dominating win by over 35 seconds ”
Kerber believes that Cornell has one of the best rowing programs in the country The team focuses on developing young rowers to compete for national titles by the time they are upperclassmen
Training is very intensive and each member has a responsibility to keep improving week in and week out
“Our results are due to the commitment of each and every athlete on the team ” Kerber said “Only fourteen athletes were able to compete at the Head of the Charles, but the entire team is pushing each other and those who travelled to Boston ”
The rowing program has a lot of depth and an ability to develop rowers from the minute they arrive on campus
Kerber noted that even after a first place finish, the team is not satisfied
“There is significantly more athlete development on the horizon,” Kerber said
The men ’ s heavyweight team also had a successful weekend
“The team did a pretty good and it was a solid showing placing ninth in the 8+,” said heavyweight head coach Todd Kennett
The heavyweight 4+ team that finished fourteenth was unfortunately crashed into by the Northeastern boat on a windy turn on the Charles River
Head trauma, torn muscles, bruised tendons and broken bones- the bellicose lifestyle of an NFL player Nate Jackson, a former tight end for the Denver Broncos, knows the physical agony all too well “You never live pain-free in the National Football League, said Jackson
The hurting NFLer has two options He
can chose to not play- and risk giving up his spot in the most competitive football league in the world Or, he can turn to painkillers When one ’ s livelihood is at stake walking away is not an option especially if you have a non-guaranteed contract worth five million dollars
He gets a doctors note, wakes up every morning and takes a Percocet His 267pound friend and teammate countlessly tackles him during practice, but Jackson doesn’t feel a thing Sunday comes around- Jackson can ’ t get out of bed without his Percocet He can ’ t move his arms without his vicodin and orange juice morning mix The addiction cripples him He feels no pain, yet is constantly hurt And when you don’t feel the pain, well, then what is real?
