11 21 16 entire issue hi res

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

ILR Profs: CGSU Fight Mirrors National Union Trends

Say recruitment tactics, administrative disapproval adhere to historical patterns

By ANNA DELWICHE Sun Staff Writer

The turmoil of student and administrative support and resistance surrounding Cornell Graduate Students United follows general patterns of unionization in American history, according to Cornell experts Prof Alexander Colvin, industrial and labor relations, and Prof Ronald Ehrenberg, industrial and l a b o r re

“Through the collective bargaining process, [employers] may lose some freedom.”

P r o f R o n a l d E h r e n b e r g

p rov

expertise on unionization processes

a response that typically stems from a fear of losing control of workers is often a reflexive response from management, particularly in America, according to Colvin and Ehrenberg

“Why might employers not want unions?” Ehrenberg said “It’s because they, through the collective bargaining process, may lose some freedom on how they’re running their business ”

Thousands Urge C.U. to Become Sanctuary Campus

By STEPHANIE YAN Sun Assistant News Ed tor

As of Sunday afternoon, nearly 1,500 students, faculty and alumni have signed a letter publicized Friday at 4 p m demanding that the University’s administration make Cornell a “ s a n c t u a r y ” f o r u n d o c u m e n t e d students

fear ” The president-elect has repeatedly vowed to take action to deport millions of immigrants

“We ask that you honor Ithaca’s tradition of being a place of sanctuary.” “ M a k e C o r n e l l a S

Citing the University’s “ any person, any study” motto, the letter’s authors expressed concerns for students’ safety in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s election, saying Cornell has a responsibility to “maintain an environment in which all of our students can learn without

“ We ask that you honor Ithaca’s tradition of being a place of sanctuar y as well as Cornell’s historical roots in the abolition movement, by making an unequivocal statement of support for undocumented persons and their families,” the letter says The letter drafted by over 2 0 C o r n e

members with the support of many others was written after faculty expressed concerns about “disturbing develop-

SANCTUARY page 3

Scholarship

Cornell biology major Ahmed M Ahmed ’17 was named one of this year ’ s Rhodes Scholars, the Rhodes Trust announced Saturday Every year, 32 U S students are selected as Rhodes Scholars and can pursue degrees at the University of Oxford with full financial support from the Rhodes Trust Ahmed whose family came to the United States from a refugee camp in Kenya is a firstgeneration Somali immigrant, according to the announcement

International Students Fear Trump Presidency

By ADITYA BHARDWAJ Sun Contributor

International students were shocked by Donald Trump’s rise to power but even more than domestic students, they are concerned about their potentially volatile future in Trump’s America

“My family expressed more surprise than concern after the election results,” Aishwarya Sreenivas ’21 said “I don’t think an outsider like Trump could have ever bypassed the political establish-

Ahmed currently conducts research on producing polyolefins in the laboratory of Prof Geoff Coates, chemistry and chemical biology He also serves as biology student advisor, biochemistry teaching assistant and general and organic chemistry tutor at the Learning Strategies Center

As a member of Students Working Ambitiously to Graduate, Ahmed also mentors African American students at Cornell

Ahmed received an award for his work as a teaching assistant in 2015, according to his LinkedIn page The student also volunteered with Habitat for Humanity for two spring breaks and as an EMT on Cornell’s Emergency Management Services

At Oxford, Ahmed plans to work toward a master ’ s degree in research in organic and medical chemistry, the announcement said Afterward, he hopes to attend medical school and pursue a career in academic medicine, according to the Office of Undergraduate Biology website

Compiled by Stephanie Yan

Daybook

A L I S T I N G O F F R E E C A M P U S E V E N T S To d a y

Plant Solutions to Global Challenges

11 a m - noon, 401 Warren Hall

Social Justice Lunch Series: Healthcare Inequities

Noon - 1:30 p m , Founders Room, Anabel Taylor Hall

Madhesi and Adivasi-Janajati:

Movement Against the New Constitution of Nepal

12:15 p m , G08 Uris Hall

Sex Chromosomes and Speciation in Drosophila 12:20 - 1:20 p m , A106 Corson/Mudd Hall

Relationship Development and Social Media

1:30 - 2:45 p m , 102 Mann Library

Interethnic Relationships In Contemporary Communities

3:30 - 5 p m , 302 Uris Hall

Bonn Physics Show

3:30 - 5 p m , Schwartz Auditorium, Rockefeller Hall

Graduate and Professional Student Assembly Meeting

5:30 - 7 p m , Bache Auditorium, Malott Hall What Does Special Education Do?

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For the Marginal Student?

Noon - 1 p m , G87 Martha Van Rennselaer Hall

What Is in Your Blood? Small Fragments of Circulating DNA Inform About the Health of Organ Transplants 12:20 - 1:45 p m , 700 Clark Hall

LEPP Seminar: Searching for Supersymmetry at SHiP 1:30 p m , 401 Physical Sciences Building

ORIE Colloquium: How to Fix Big Data Disparate Impact 4:15 p m , 253 Frank H T Rhodes Hall

How Do Mafias Organize? 4:30 - 6 p m , 302 Uris Hall

C.U. Mentors Strive to Help Youth Reach Potential

By TREY AGUIRRE Sun Contributor

Cornell’s chapter of College Mentors For Kids a national m e n t o r i n g p r o g r a m b a s e d i n Indianapolis is celebrating its fourth consecutive year of operations, according to the David DellaPelle ’17, the organization’s president

Since its founding in 2013, the program has tripled in size and now ser ves over 100 elementar y school students from the It h a c a a re a , a c c o rd i n g t o DellaPelle The majority of students involved in the program are c o n s i d e re d “ a t - r i s k , ” m e a n i n g they come from single parent households, families where neither parent has attained a college degree, low-income brackets or other backgrounds that put the

children at risk of not pursuing their full potential at either a college or a trade school “ Whatever [students] want to do, we want to inspire them to achieve that,” DellaPelle said DellaPelle said there are 133 Cornell students 105 mentors and 28 student leaders and s e ve r a l f a c u l t y m e m b e r s a n d alumni, who oversee the administrative aspects of the organization D

C o l l e g e Me n t o r s Fo r K i d s i s unique, compared to other mentoring programs, due to its “highly structured” nature

“ [ T h e p r o g r a m ] a c t u a l l y brings the students to Cornell’s campus so they can envision a positive and successful future for themselves,” he said Each week, elementar y school students visit Cornell’s campus

from all over Ithaca to participate in a variety of enriching activities focused on “community ser vice, h

t y, ” De l l a Pe l l e s a i d He added that activities range from visiting Cornell’s ornithology lab to ROTC-themed relay races and teamwork-building exercises in Barton Hall This semester, mentors and their “little buddies” visited a petting zoo known as Ezra’s Farm, Cornell Orchards and the Cornell Dair y Bar

Each mentor is paired with a student who they directly work with for the rest of the year

t h r o u g h s t r u c t u re d a c t i v i t i e s designed to introduce students to t h e c o l l

n m e n t a n d “inspire them to reach their full potential,” DellaPelle said “ These kids live in Ithaca, but most of them wouldn’t ever

Letter Demands C.U. Protect Students

SANCTUARY

Continued from page 1

ments ” in rhetoric toward marginalized groups after the election, according to Prof María García, history and Latino/a studies, one of three media contact representatives for the letter

Faculty held a meeting last week to discuss “how we might respond as private citizens and as faculty,” García said “ The letter is an i m m e d i a t e r e s p o n s e to convey to our students and colleagues that we care and t h a t t h e y a r e n o t a l o n e , ” s h e s a i d “ O v e r t h e n e x t months and years we will have other m e e t i n g s t o d i s c u s s what we can do to protect the safety, privacy and intellectual freedom of our stud e n t s a n d c o lleagues ” The letter asks the

administration to release a statement denouncing violence and hate speech directed at immigrants, as well as provide legal and counseling services for Cornellians affected by new government policies

The document also requests that the University guarantee funding for undocumented and international students, raising concerns about Trump’s promise to eliminate executive actions like Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals a policy enacted by President Barack Obama that allows immigrants who came to the country as children to live and work in the United States

Finally, the letter asks the administration to make the campus a space safe from U S immigration officials and refrain from releasing “information that

can make students vulnerable ”

“We cannot evade our responsibility to the present and the future,” the letter continues “We ask you to stand on the right side of history ”

García said faculty were “ not surprised” at the overwhelming support the letter has received from Cornellians

“ We expect many more will sign in the days to come, ” she said “We are a caring community Cornellians disagree about a lot of things, but we value safety and respect intellectual freedom ”

Involved faculty will meet Monday to discuss when to deliver the letter to the administration, she added

The letter was inspired in part by the actions of several other universities including Yale University, Tufts University and the University of

California, Los Angeles which staged walkouts and published letters last week as part of the sanctuary campus movement, according to García

At Brown University, a similar movement was blocked when administrators responded to a request for the university to become a sanctuar y, saying that the college would not have the legal authority to protect undocumented students or defy federal mandates

“While we wish we could offer absolute protection to members of our community who are threatened by possible changes in policy, it would be irresponsible to promise protections that we cannot legally deliver,” the university’s president and provost wrote

Stephanie Yan can be reached at syan@cornellsun com

come to Cornell’s campus witho u t t h i s p r o g r a m , ” h e s a i d “ They’re learning about what college is and when they think, ‘My m e n t o r w e n t t o C o r n e l l a n d studied histor y I too can study histor y ’ it’s really remarkable ” D e l l a Pe l l e s a i d C o l l e g e

“Whatever [students] want to do, we want to inspire them to acieve that.”

Mentors For Kids has achieved great success nationally, with 80 percent of mentees graduating high school and 76 percent of mentees attaining a two or fouryear college degree

De l l a Pe l l e a l s o s t re s s e d t h e importance of “allowing Cornell students to get outside their bubble ” “It’s easy at Cornell to stay on campus and not branch out into the community, and [this p ro g r a m ] a l l ow s [ C o r n e l l s t udents] to see what the Ithaca community is really like,” he said

DellaPelle said Cornell’s chapter of College Mentors For Kids’ a i m s t o i n c re a s e i t s m e n t o rmentee pairs from 105 to 120 in the spring and to expand further into Cayuga Heights specifically the West Village housing c o m m u n i t y, w h i c h c o n t a i n s many at-risk children

David Golding ’18, the organization’s vice president of programming, said he is especially excited for this expansion

“ Working with the children from West Village housing community has allowed us to fully carr y out the College Mentors for Kids mission and really confirms the positive influence a mentorship program like ours can have, not only for the Cornell community, but also the greater Ithaca area, ” he said

DellaPelle said the most important aspect of the program is to “bridge the divide between Cornell and the Ithaca community ”

“I think that that’s kind of an overlooked benefit that this organ

o t h Cornell and Ithaca,” he said

ILR Profs Call Reactions to Unionization Textbook

that contact information ”

Beneficiaries

The same is true for a university’s administration which, much like a business, “would like to have as much freedom as it can in running the university,” Ehrenberg said

“If a union vote passes, they are obligated to bargain with it They would like to be able to do things that make sense just for them,” he said “Not necessarily to do things that make sense from the graduate student's’ perspective ”

Solicitations and Subpoenas

CGSU’s frequent solicitations of students, as the body attempts to spread information and gain the number of members it needs to put unionization to vote, have caused some concerns among the graduate community After acquiring a subpoena that allowed the union access to graduate student contact information, union representatives have frequently visited potential members at their offices, and even homes

These types of solicitations are “ one of the biggest challenges in union-organizing drives,” according to Colvin

Because union members do not have the same workplace access as management, they are compelled to take more persistent measures

“[The administration] would like to have as much freedom as it can in running the university ”

“Unions somehow have to contact the workers So how do they do it?” Colvin said “ They’ll often try and do things like home visits They’ll go to bars where workers hang out other settings like that ”

P r o f R o n a l d E h r e n b e r g

Requesting the release of workplace information, as in the subpoena, ensures a fair election under American labor laws, he added

“Management has all that information and can directly contact all the workers,” he said “For fairness, if there’s going to be a fair election, union members should have all

Colvin also noted that union communications and organization are often “built around feelings of being treated unfairly ”

“[Unions] tend to succeed more where there is that sort of justice issue,” he said å

Union campaigns tend to focus around three central arguments: economic, voice and justice, according to Colvin

Generally, economic arguments are more tenuous, because there is no guarantee that management will increase wages during collective bargaining Voice and justice arguments which say the union can more powerfully communicate grievances than individual students are stronger because they are “ not dependent on management, ” he said

Even though unions insist on their desire to give a voice to the voiceless, they often face questions about ulterior motives, especially because of the dues unions require, according to Colvin Ehrenberg agreed that there is an economic incentive for unions to gain members, as the union strengthens and collects more dues the larger it grows

The divides between graduate students can also dampen the effect of a union’s arguments, according to Ehrenberg

Recalling Cornell graduate students’ failed attempt at unionization in 2002, Ehrenberg said choosing to include research assistants in the bargaining unit the portion of graduate students employed directly by the University reduced the probability that the union would succeed

Research assistants add more students from STEM fields to the bargaining unit, and these students “ see pots of gold for themselves as soon as they leave, because the job opportunities for the STEM fields are particularly good,” he said Their future job prospects typically differ from the students who comprise the teaching assistants within the bargaining unit, Ehrenberg said

“The graduate students who were often the most forceful advocates of the union are the people in the humanities and the non-quantitative social sciences, who may not see a great future ahead of them,” he said “So their work conditions, while they’re [at Cornell], are very important ”

Int’ l Students Anticipate Trump’s America

Many concerned about education, job search after graduation

INTERNATIONAL

Continued from page 1

ment and still get elected in India ”

A k h i l e s h Is s u r ’ 1 7 , St u d e n t

Assembly international student liaison at large, said has spoken with many international students who are concerned for their futures

“I’ve been contacted by several international students regarding the election results in the past few days,” he said “There have been incidents of sexism and racism on campus We’ve encouraged people to report these events using the Cornell bias reporting system and look out for each other ”

Sa h i r C h o u d h a r y ’ 2 0 said he fears Trump’s election will inspire racist incidents targeting minorities and international students

dents at Cornell While the Trump administration’s specific policies on i n t e r n a t i o n a l s t u d e n t s re m a i n ambiguous, Issur said he worries Trump’s controversial anti-immigration stance may cause fe wer international students to apply to American universities

“ The Cornell administration’s biggest fear is the possible drop in international applications,” Issur said “Even though New York itself re m a i n s a l a r g e l y l i b e r a l s t a t e , America’s overall image of inclusiveness and diversity has been damaged ”

Sreenivas added that her parents are worried about her brother’s job prospects after his graduation from Stanford University

“ T h e Tr u m p a d m i n i s t r a t i o n ’ s constant flip-flops on immigration policies certainly don’t help,” she said

Despite the general air of pessimism, Issur argued that Cornell’s attempts to reassure international students, with events like Breaking Bread and Vice President Ryan Lombardi’s message to the Cornell community, have had a positive impact

“[ My parents ] are seriously re-considering whether they should send my sister to the U.S. for her undergraduate degree.”

“As a Muslim, I was particularly affected by Trump’s bigotry and divisive rhetoric,” he said “I’m even more scared, though, by the fact that many people now view Trump as an enabler for their sexist and racist behavior ”

Back home in India, Choudhary said his parents are keeping a keen eye on the events unfolding in the United States

“Although I’ve told them that things are better than they seem, [my parents] are seriously re-considering whether they should send my sister to the United States for h e r u n d e r g r a d u a t e d e g re e n e x t year, ” he said Choudhary’s concerns have been echoed by many international stu-

S a h i r C h o u d h a r y ’ 2 0

Had the election results been announced before he was admitted, Choudhary said he certainly would not have applied to Cornell

“I’d be looking at universities in the U K and Canada,” he said “Although the actual student visa process in those countries is probably more difficult, there is a far m o re p o s i t i ve a t t i t u d e t ow a rd s international students and their job prospects ”

Future job prospects are also a major concern for international stu-

d e n t s i n t h e Un i t e d St a t e s

Although he has been looking at summer internships in Florida and Texas, Choudhary said he has since dismissed those possibilities

Students also said they have faith in the checks and balances that the U S cons t i t u t i o n a l s t r u c t u re p rovides against arbitrary policies

“ I d o n ’ t b e l i e ve t h e Republican Congress will necessarily be looking to pass anti-immigration laws,” Issur said “ We should give the new administration a chance to execute their policies before passing judgement ”

Issur also remarked that the support provided to international students from other minority groups within Cornell has been immense

“The entire Cornell community has really come together over the past few days, and the best way to move forward is to stand in solidarity with all those individuals who feel marginalized by the new political scenario,” he said

Aditya Bhardwaj can be reached at avb42@cornell edu

A Letter from Management

Colvin explained that to suppress unionization drives, management will often issue statements that follow the lines of “standard management arguments ”

This argument includes doubts about the economic benefits a union may promise, cites past fair treatment as evidence to combat the need for unionization and points to the union as the outsider, according to Colvin

All of these concerns were raised in Interim President

“Employer-established bodies are more limited in effectiveness because you don’t have the ability to structure your own voice.”

P

Hunter Rawlings’ Oct 27 statement denouncing the unionization initiative

To establish the union as the outsider, management will often say groups established by management itself are a more effective voice for employees, according to Colvin For graduate student unionization, this is the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, which Rawlings said in his statement has a “has a demonstrated record” of solving student-administration disputes

Although groups like these have the ability to represent a larger group of employees, “employer-established bodies are more limited in effectiveness because you don’t have the ability to structure your own voice the way you want to, ” Colvin said

Management also typically claims that a union “interferes with the relationship between the workers and the managers, which is a close relationship,” according to Colvin Rawlings claimed something similar in his statement, raising concerns about how interactions with CGSU would change the interaction between individual students and their faculty advisors

Distinct Nature of Union Contracts

Colvin said this worry stems from a common misunderstanding of union procedures: the assumption that “all union contracts look the same which they don’t,” he said

In reality, union contracts follow different structures and push for different benefits The contract negotiated during collective bargaining can be catered to the workplace, according to Colvin While an industrial contract may ensure equal pay procedures for all workers, a contract for the NFL or Hollywood actors allows for individual bargaining

Colvin said if he were a university president, he would negotiate a contract similar to that of the NFL, which would “ set up certain rules and structures to govern that individual negotiation, but individuals still get to negotiate their own contract ”

The presence of a union may be very important in these individual relationships because “if the faculty member behaves badly in that type of relationship, then it could have tremendous adverse effects on the student,” according to Ehrenberg

For example, faculty might attempt to keep students at Cornell “longer than what is educationally necessary, ” Ehrenberg said

“If there currently is not protection for graduate students in that situation, then hopefully one of the things that a union would do would be to try to negotiate some arrangements that do provide that protection,” he said

University Limits Faculty Perspectives

Colvin refrained from speaking specifically about CGSU and the unionization effort at Cornell, citing personal beliefs about the role management which includes faculty members in this situation should have in the process

“Generally I don’t think I should or any other person in a management position should have a role in the worker’s decision,” he said “Any management shouldn’t be in a position of being able to communicate during organizing campaigns ”

Following these guidelines, the University’s Senior Vice Provost and Dean of Faculty sent a notice to faculty on Aug 25, cautioning faculty members about speaking with students on CGSU

“You can listen to graduate students if they voluntarily express their personal views or other information, and you may share your personal views, in a non-threatening, noncoercive manner, ” the notice reads

Several professors, when contacted by The Sun for their perspectives on unionization, declined to be interviewed for this reason

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Man W i t h aMov i e Ca m e ra

BY LORENZO BENITEZ Sun Staff Writer

W h e n a s k e d t o a n a l o g i z e

R u s s i a n d o c u m e n t a r i a n D z i g a

Ver tov, who died in 1954, to a more contemporar y ar tist, I have difficulty locating an answer For a lot of other filmmakers, this

i s n ’ t s o T h e w o r k o f A k i r a Kurosawa, cinema’s most refined master of breathtaking spectacle and intelligent kineticism, can be

a e s t h e t i c a l l y p a r a l l e l e d t o t h e m a x i m a l i s t r e c o r d s o f K a n y e

We s t , w h o s e s y m p h o n i c My

Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy remains among the most rousing and epic of this centur y ’ s popular music The philosophical films

o f d i r e c t o r Te r r e n c e M a l i c k , which follow characters ambling

a i m l e s s l y t h ro u g h e x i s t e n c e i n search of ear thly salvation, parallel the music of Sufjan Stevens: t h e m a t i c a l l y i n t h e i r s h a r e d Christianity, aesthetically in how their subdued emotional intensi-

t y i s c o n j u r e d b y s p o r a d i c acknowledgements of quiet wonder Dziga Ver tov, on the other hand, defies easy categorization

In Man With a Movie Camera, which screened at the Cornell Cinema earlier this semester, we

w i t n e s s c i n e m a t i c i n n o v a t i o n that barely registers because of our familiarity with the filmic

t e c h n i q u e s i t i n t r o d u c e s B u t that does not blemish the merits of what is still, to this day, considered by a respected many to be among the greatest films ever m a d e I n d e e d , i t s r e l e n t l e s s l y a v a n t - g a r d e f o r m l i t e r a l l y d e m o n s t r a t e s t h e h y p o t h e s i ze d limitlessness of cinema This is not only because of its Mar xist

a t t e n t i v

graphic rendering of the mun-

d a n e n e c e s s i t i e s a l o n g s i d e t h e sincere pleasures of daily life, but because its meta-textuality that makes the medium into the subject turns the ar t form in on itself Nothing can escape the

cinema itself

tions prompted by Man With a Mo

d together purely through aesthetic association instead of narrative chronology, question the efficacy a n d p u r p o s e o f t h e m e d i u m without losing any of the complexity of their other questioning In representing the world so c a n d i d l y, Ve r t o v d e t a c h e d

invites us to consider both the relationship of the medium to the world, and the world itself

To be swept up by the eclectic, but refined, curiosity of the film is to allow your thoughts to wander while under the elegant guidance of a filmmaker intent on provoking philosophical inquir y The images of urban Soviet life may prompt one to contemplate sociologically the idiosyncrasies of organized society, or ponder

tiotemporal str ucturalism of the p

they conjure And all the while,

Ver tov reminds us that we are watching a film, and all that that entails To what degree does film mediate the phenomenal world?

Ver tov asks us to consider the difficult balance between obfuscating and clarifying that underlie the most effective aestheticizations of the world

It therefore shouldn’t surprise one to learn that much of the editorial techniques that we today take for granted were pioneered in Vertov’s cutting room The slow

m o t i o n , j u m p c u t s a n d s p l i t screens are among the many techniques that make their debut in Man With a Movie Camera Isn’t it fascinating that something like a filmic technique could have once not existed? A technique, a nonphysical entity, is a concept Are they “invented,” or “discovered?”

The formal innovations of Man With a Movie Camera don’t sit as

histor y of cinema, the possi-

authorship and countless other

f artistic expression are all a consequence of form Make no

,

h i s film is among art

s most for-

It probably blew open the minds of many inter-war Soviet cinemagoers for whom its visual distinctiveness would have signaled an aesthetic awakening

Ultimately, as a film constantly heralded for its contributions to the development of cinema, Man with a Movie Camera demonstrates the potent co-existence of stylistic innovation and substantive rumination It deeply rewards

through its breadth of focus while preoccupying us with the specificities of the medium

Lorenzo Benite z is a sophomore in the College of Ar ts and Sciences He can be reached at lbenite z@cornellsun com

BY KATIE SIMS Sun Staff Writer

C i t y l ove t r i a n g l e Sa r a ( A n a C a r p e n t e r ’ 1 9 ) i s s t u c k b e t we e n t h e re s p e c t a b l e

t h e n re a l i z i n g t h a t j u s t b e i n g a w i f e a n d

a m o t h e r i s n o t e n o u g h

Mu s i c a l l y, Mu rd e r Ba l l a d i s j u s t a s s p l i t a s Sa r a It’s a ro c k m u s i c a l a n d a p o p m u s i c a l , d e p e n d i n g o n w h o m Sa r a i s l e a n i n g t ow a rd s i n t h a t s c e n e W h e n

Sa r a i s w i t h To m , t h e m u s i c i s c h a r g e d

a n d e xc i t i n g ; l a t e n i g h t s , l e a t h e r j a c k e t s a n d p a s s i o n W h e n s h e ’ s w i t h Mi c h a e l , t h e m u s i c i s a s c a l m , c a r i n g a n d a s p o e ti c a s h e i s T h e t w o t h e m e s a re s m a r t a n d h e l p f u l T h e y d o a g re a t j o b o f k e e p i n g t h e m u s i c f r o m b e c o m i n g m o n o t o n o u s , a s c a n h a p p e n w h e n m u s i c a l s d o n ’ t h a ve e n o u g h va r i e t y T h e

q u a r t e t s i n g we l l t o g e t h e r a n d p l a y o f f o f e a c h o t h e r A n a C a r p e n t e r ’ s vo i c e s t o o d o u t i n p a r t i c u l a r T h e e n t i re p l a y i s n a r r a t e d by Ju d e l l e W h i t e ’ 1 7 Sh e k e p t t h e s t o r y o n t r a c k a n d g a v

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Ad m i t t e d l y, d u r i n g t i m e s o f i n t e n s e

c r i s i s o r p a n i c , m o s t p e o p l e a re n ’ t

r u n n i n g a ro u n d a s k i n g w h a t t h e

p o e t s t h i n k My ow n i n t e r p re t a t i o n o f

t h i s f a c t i s n o t t h a t p e o p l e d o n ’ t c a re

w h a t p o e t s h a ve t o s a y It’s r a t h e r t h a t t h e y d o n ’ t b e l i e ve i n a n y re a s o n f o r l i s -

t e n i n g t o t h e m ( a f a u l t y j u d g e m e n t t h a t I s u p p o s e a m o u n t s t o t h e s a m e re s u l t ) If

we e x p e r i e n c e s o c i a l u p h e a va l , f o r e x a m -

p l e , w h a t g o o d w o u l d r e a d i n g Wo rd s w o r t h d o ? If we e n c o u n t e r h i s t o r y i n p a l p a b l e m a n i f e s t a t i o n s , w h y re a d a p o e t t o u n d e r s t a n d t h a t h i s t o r y ? It

w o u l d s e e m a b i t s t r a n g e t o s e e k o u t a n a r t f o r m k n ow n w i d e l y f o r i t s i n h e re n t l a c k o f p o l i t i c a l va l u e t o u n d e r s t a n d o u r c o m m o n d a i l y l i ve s , p e r m e a t e d by p o l i -

t i c s a s t h e y a re A f t e r a l l , i t ’ s a n e s t a bl i s h e d f a c t t h a t p o e t r y i s u s e l e s s

But if there’s one growing sentiment among poets and readers today, it’s at least the opposite of Auden’s famous a x i o m , “ p o e t r y d o e s n o t h i n g ” I ’ v e heard many people disagree with this notion, and I would say that nowadays many of us could be willing to accept that poetr y, in all of its forms, does “something ” Now, what it might do is up for debate

B u t I b e l i e v e w e ’ re s e e i n g a growth of reade r s a n d p o e t s w h o re c o g n i z e that poetr y can become, at its

c o r e , p r ofoundly political and historical This also means poets can begin to take on different cultural and social

t h o u g h t h e y ’ re o l d e r, m a r r i e d a n d h a ve a

c h i l d W h a t I f i n d p a r t i c u l a r l y a m a z i n g

a b o u t t h e p l a y i s h ow i n t e re s t i n g i t w a s d e s p i t e o f t e n b e i n g ve r y t o p i c a l De s p i t e

t h e f a c t t h a t m a n y p a r t s o f t h e m u s i c a l

b o i l e d d ow n t o a rc h e t y p e s a n d c l i c h é s , i t

w a s f re s h a n d e xc i t i n g T h e m o m e n t s t h a t we

roles other than the stereotype of an apolitical romanticist Perhaps the older conception of the poet as a troublemaker whom Plato would not want in his ideal Republic might be all the more relevant in the coming years of difficulty and turmoil we ’ re about to experience Cer tainly, it’s easy to see that there could be usefulness in someone using language to understand and reflect on the emotional experiences of

up one of the many online and literar y replies published in the days that followed On November 9, poet Dane z Smith released the piece, “ You’re Dead, America,” a work driven at first by anger and disgust, then marked by a s

, Smith recognizes the American project as a political failure not only grounded in pain and hate, but also caught up

now /how I tr y to taste you in the air instead of blood ” The piece ar ticulates a sensation of smoothness, memor y, pain and nostalgia Its power is channeled first through physical imager y, until the speaker commands the reader to “make a border around any place you are loved & call it yours ”

our present moment

“It’s like the election wasn ’ t just an election but the por tal to a horrifying alternate realit y, ” w r o t e poet Kathleen

comment represents only one emotional response to this month’s election results, it makes

in a failure to address that violence: “ you ’ re dead, America//& where you died/gre w something worse ” I also find it interesting that Smith’s poem was published through Buzzfeed who, for tunately, has been a frequent publisher of pieces which address current political situations In contrast, Hannif WillisAbdurraqib’s work, “ The Day After the E l e c t i o n I D i d No t G o O u t s i d e , ” addresses the more hear tbreaking experience of this moment in histor y, a feeling captured vividly in the lament, “oh countr y, my ne w and brief countr y how I walk from you/ full & into the wrecka g e h o w I w i s h y o u e v e r y w h e r e

He r e , w e m i g h t e v e n s e e h o w Abdurraqib is addressing a simple but salient question many of us felt after the election: what do we do now? How can we confront the future? In instances like these, encounters with poetr y and poets demand that we must change not only our societies and cultures but also ourselves Perhaps this might amount to the first step in a broader series of c h a n g e s w h o s e i m p o r t a n c e e v e r y o n e believes is so paramount in a post-election world For me at least, poetr y has helped stir this realization: if we are to continue into Tr ump ’ s divided, violent America, we must be able to understand each other Not in a broader, bi-par tisan sense Don’t tr y to understand racists or the hateful But for those of us who h a v

backdrop of the Tr ump campaign, we must learn to live in radically different ways In this dead America, which will eventually waste away under both systemic and interpersonal violence, we must “make a border” around ourselves and the communities that protect us We should, as Abdurraqib says, “build what/ you must to keep the devils out ”

Stephen Meisel is a junior in the College of Ar ts and Sciences He can be reached at smeisel@cornellsun com Appearances appears alternate Mondays this semester

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Letter to the Editor

Justice for Marsha Jean-Charles

To the Editor:

On September 21, at 4 p m , Marsha Jean-Charles walked out of Caldwell Hall into the afternoon sun, surrounded by friends and greeted by supporters She’d just finished presenting her case clearly and calmly to her appointed Graduate Grievance Review Board, after nearly four months of navigating Cornell’s grievance process A hearing with a GGRB, composed of a board chair plus two anonymous faculty members and two anonymous grads, is the fourth and final step of this process One way or another, Marsha felt ready for a decision for closure

Six weeks later, Marsha was still in limbo Incomprehensibly (and as the policy listed on the Graduate School website fails to make clear), a grievant is not entitled to access the recommendation of the GGRB This document is sent directly to the Provost, who is singly responsible for the final decision There is no prescribed timeline for the Provost’s decision At six weeks, Marsha had heard nothing about her future here at Cornell: not from the Provost, and not from the Graduate School, even in response to her inquiries

At a subsequent Union-Management Committee meeting, Maggie Gustafson, CGSU’s Grievance Chair, pushed Barbara Knuth, the Dean of the Graduate School, for any information on the decision Dean Knuth replied that she had nothing to do with the Provost’s decision and refused to give an update The next morning, Marsha, with no explanation for the delay or sudden break in silence, received a copy of her GGRB recommendation and a projected timeline from the Provost’s office She would learn the outcome of her case by November 18 On November 18, having heard nothing, Marsha reached out to the Provost’s office and was informed that she would instead hear the decision after Thanksgiving once more, with no explanation She’s been left waiting again, powerless According to University policy, there is no further action she can take

In the six long months since Marsha filed her grievance, she has been given little reason to think the University’s grievance procedure is fairly administered or designed for her benefit In several rounds of phone calls and emails, she was discouraged by Graduate School officials from pursuing the grievance Arbitrary deadlines were set for meetings or phone calls, even though those setting the deadlines knew that Marsha was out of the country and would be unreachable When it came time to hold a GGRB hearing, the members of the board were chosen secretly, and unilaterally, by the Graduate School Every step of the way, Marsha has been treated as the villain, rather than the victim, by administrators she felt like she was on trial

That Marsha has put herself through all of this is itself an achievement, of sorts No grad has made it all the way through the process in nineteen years a fact that speaks less to the lack of grievances among Cornell grads and more to the incredible hardship the process itself entails for a solitary grad Grads are expected to put their heads down, do their work and avoid disrupting business as usual by doing something as audacious as filing a grievance against their employer If they do, they can expect a war of attrition

This case is unique in its publicity, but not in what it reveals about the reality of the power dynamic and the oppressive culture of bureaucracy here at Cornell Among other things, departmental politics may have contributed to the extreme unfairness of Marsha’s case That provides an even better argument that we need real change in the policies that dictate the terms of justice for grads

There will always be departmental politics in academia But we can level the balance of power through improving the advocacy and processes which are supposedly here to help grads In Marsha’s case, her chair and her special committee were not consulted, or even notified, before she was defunded Even they could not protect her from the unfair treatment she has received The current system only works when nothing goes wrong The minute there is an issue, it leaves grads vulnerable to the whims of individual faculty and administrators who would prefer not to disturb the status quo The interpersonal relationships, personalities and egos of faculty or administrators should not make or break a graduate student’s success, happiness and future at this University

If Marsha were in a union at a grad local elsewhere, she would have access to a collectively bargained grievance procedure (See, for example, the contracts from the Graduate Assistants United at University of Florida, Article 22, the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation at the University of Oregon, Articles 13 and 15, and the Coalition of Graduate Employees at Oregon State University, Article 18 ) There would be a clear, binding timeline for advancing the grievance process She could have a union representative with her at every step The administration would submit its proposed resolution in writing at every stage, which Marsha could appeal And most importantly, she could call on a third-party, neutral arbitrator to make the final decision In short, if Marsha had a union, she would already know the fate of her graduate career More importantly, that fate would have been decided by a fair, transparent and timely process in which she had a voice

In the meantime, Marsha waits We call on the Provost to reinstate Marsha’s funding and to guarantee that her progress toward degree be judged only by her chair and her special committee, as it should be We call on the Graduate School to stop bullying and silencing grads who come to them for help And we call on Cornell grads everywhere to join us, as we fight for our voice and our rights Become a member of Cornell Graduate Students United Sign CGSU’s Statement of Solidarity, and talk to your colleagues about what needs to change and how we can accomplish it Vote “ yes ” to be recognized by Cornell in the coming election Then work to help craft a contract that benefits us all and build a culture of advocacy at Cornell that ensures justice for those who need it, when they need it

Dan iel Rosenberg Daneri grad

Vera Khovanskaya grad

Anil Akturk grad Rose A gger grad

Eric Schulman | Schulman’s Schtick

Quantum Computers Are Game Changing

It ’ s okay if you don’t know the difference between quantum computer and a flux capacitor Even if quantum computing seems complicated, its implications are easy to understand Although they sound like something out of a sci-fi novel, these things are going to change the world Quantum computers are going to revolutionize our ability to predict complicated phenomena

e

Quantum computers are good at mod-

exploit quantum uncertainty, the principle that an electron can be in two states at once Simply put, they are good at multitasking compared to normal computers because normal computers calculate one thing at a time For example, if I add one and one on a normal computer I get two

On a quantum computer I can add one and one and g

w o because I can add any combination of zero and one together at the same time

Predicting sports highl

No

Of course, this is just an example People aren ’ t building quantum computers to predict football People talk about cr yptography and optimization (which require keeping track of many interacting states), but the area quantum predictions stand to change the most is predicting the e

advances in computing would predict economic indicators like inflation, stock returns and unemployment with accuracy

Obviously, this hasn’t been working out In 2008, we had a financial crisis No one realized we had spread risk per vasively around our financial system because normal computers that compute sequentially are not suited to make economic predictions As you can imagine, economic decis

I’m optimistic smart peo will work out this out beca there is so much potentia quantum computing

great at predicting baseball If you ’ ve seen Moneyball, you know what I mean In 2002, the Oakland Athletics made the playoffs by building

Although the movie didn’t bring it up, I imagine computers made that strategy possible by crunching the numbers Computers are well suited to making baseball predictions because baseball is mostly sequential The pitcher throws a pitch, the batter swings, the fielders make a play and repeat Obviously, certain things happen simultaneously A runner can steal a base, during an at bat for example But, it’s ver y different from a sport like American football, where things happen simultaneously all the time In football, there are 11 players on each team Players interact and make at least two or three individual decisions Keeping track of all these things to make predictions across a few plays would over whelm a normal computer Quantum computers are game

between players and their decisions

People make decisions simultaneously and those decisions interact Quantum computers have a better chance at predicting economic indicators because they account for all these states by superimposing them

Of course, quantum computing still has some bugs Untangling results from a quantum computations is tricky because we can only obser ve an electron in one state So, if I want to add one and one, I can get zero, one or two, but may not always obser ve right answer I will only obser ve two with a certain probability

That being said, I’m optimistic smart people will work out this out because there is so much potential for quantum computing Predicting sports is fun, but predicting the stock market and unemployment is world changing That’s my schtick and I’m sticking to it! This is my last column this semester, so stay tuned until the spring for more

Eric Schulman is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences He may be reached at eschulman@cornellsun com Schulman’s Schtick appears alternate Mondays this semester

Continue the conversation by sending a letter to the editor or guest column to

Letters should be in response to any recent Sun news article, column, arts piece or editorial

In Sickness

And in Health

i b e d a s a “ m a n b u n ” I a m p h y s -

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

p a j a m a s W h e n m y n o s e i s r u n n y, I h a v e t o c a r r y a r o u n d a n

e n t i r e b o x o f K l e e n e x a n d a p l a s t i c b a g I r e c e n t l y r a n o u t o f t i ss u e s , s o I ’ v e b e e n c a r r y i n g a r o u n d a r o l l o f t o i l e t p a p e r e v e r yw h e r e W h e n m y n o s e i s s t u f f y, I ’ m i n c a p a b l e o f e a t i n g o r d r i n ki n g w i t h o u t p a u s i n g e v e r y f i v e s e c o n d s t o t a k e a b r e a t h It ’ s a

h a r s h r e m i n d e r o f m y o w n b o d y a n d a l l o f i t s p r o c e s s e s , a l l o f i t s

y u c k y p a i n f u l p r o c e s s e s I n a w e i r d w a y, t h o u g h , I k i n d a l i k e g e t t i n g c o l d s D o n ’ t g e t

m e w r o n g , I d o n ’ t l o v e n o t b e i n g a b l e t o b r e a t h e t h r o u g h m y

a l r e a d y m e s s e d - u p n o s e ( T h a n k s , d e v i a t e d s e p t u m ! ) o r w a k i n g

u p t o p e e t h r e e t i m e s i n o n e n i g h t I d o n ’ t l o v e s i c k n e s s , I j u s t s o r t a l i k e b e i n g s i c k

Whenever I’m sniffling and coughing and using my Mucus Touch, I’m reminded of how it takes some sort of external justification (other people knowing I’m sick, and them knowing that my grossness is because of being ill) for me to accept my disgustingness in public I wonder if I should care less about how I’m being perceived in public spaces. Maybe I care too much, or too little, or maybe I care a healthy amount.

H e a r m e o u t : I t h i n k t h e r e ’ s a n u n a b a s h e d n e s s t o h a v i n g a

c o l d A s i n , t h e r e ’ s s o m e t h i n g l i b e r a t i n g t o b e i n g e x p l i c i t l y g r o s s a n d d o i n g s o i n p u b l i c I s t a n d b y t h e b e l i e f t h a t m o s t p e o p l e a r e p r e t t y d i s g u s t i n g i n g e n e r a l , a n d t h a t w e ’ r e s o c i a l -

i z e d t o h i d e a l l t h e d i s g u s t i n g s t u f f w e d o ( h e n c e w h y t h a t s t u f f d i s g u s t s u s i n t h e f i r s t p l a c e ) B u t w h e n y o u ’ r e s i c k , a l l

t h o s e s o c i a l n o r m s s e e m t o g o o u t t h e w i n d o w S o w h a t i f y o u ’ r e i n L i b e C a f e a n d y o u h a v e t o d o u b l e - f i s t o r a n g e j u i c e

a f t e r u s i n g a r o l l o f t o i l e t p a p e r t o w i p e y o u r l e a k y - f a u c e t

n o s e ? Yo u ’ r e s i c k Yo u , t h e g r o s s , d i s g u s t i n g , b e a u t i f u l h u m a n

b e i n g , a r e j u s t i f i e d i n b e i n g t h a t w a y Yo u ’ r e s i c k , a n d v i s i -

b l y s o Yo u g e t a f r e e p a s s

I d o n ’ t l i k e t o t h i n k o f m y s e l f a s p a r t i c u l a r l y s e l f - c o n s c i o u s

I o n c e w a l k e d a r o u n d m y h i g h s c h o o l f o r a n e n t i r e d a y d r e s s e d

a s S a m u e l L Ja c k s o n i n Pu l p F i c t i o n , m u s t a c h e a n d a l l St i l l , I

t h i n k e v e r y o n e e v e n t h o s e w h o s e e m t h e m o s t u n a p o l o g e t i c i n t h e i r o w n p r e s e n c e a r e d e e p l y i n s e c u r e It ’ s i m p o s s i b l e n o t t o b e , e s p e c i a l l y w h e n w e ’ r e c o n s t a n t l y u n d e r s c r u t i n y, t h a n k s t o b o t h t h e p u b l i c n a t u r e o f l i v i n g a t a c o l l e g e a n d t h e u b i q u i t y o f s o c i a l m e d i a A d m i t t i n g y o u ’ r e i n s e c u r e i s h a r d ; i t ’ s e s s e n t i a l l y a d m i t t i n g y o u d o n ’ t f u l l y a n d w h o l l y l o v e e v e r yt h i n g a b o u t y o u r s e l f , e v e n i f y o u r e a l l y t r y t o A n d w e d o r e a l l y t r y t o , d o n ’ t w e ? A l l t h e s e D o v e - L o v e - Yo u r s e l f - O r - E l s e c a mp a i g n s p a r a d o x i c a l l y m a k e i t m o r e d i f f i c u l t t o a d m i t t h a t , d e s p i t e a l l y o u r e f f o r t s t o a c c e p t y o u r s e l f , s o m e t i m e s i t ’ s s t i l l t o u g h W h e n e v e r I ’ m s n i f f l i n g a n d c o u g h i n g a n d u s i n g m y Mu c u s To u c h , I ’ m r e m i n d e d o f h o w i t t a k e s s o m e s o r t o f e x t e r n a l j u st i f i c a t i o n ( o t h e r p e o p l e k n o w i n g I ’ m s i c k , a n d t h e m k n o w i n g t h a t m y g r o s s n e s s i s b e c a u s e o f b e i n g i l l ) f o r m e t o a c c e p t m y d i s g u s t i n g n e s s i n p u b l i c I w o n d e r i f I s h o u l d c a r e l e s s a b o u t h o w I ’ m b e i n g p e r c e i v e d i n p u b l i c s p a c e s M a y b e I c a r e t o o m u c h , o r t o o l i t t l e , o r m a y b e I c a r e a h e a l t h y a m o u n t O r m a y b e n o n e o f

Re: “GUEST ROOM | Four Ridiculous Opinions About Trump,” Opinions November 18, 2016

Jacqueline Groskaufmanis | The Dissent

Finding a Voice in Other Places

If you ’ re here for an in-depth thinkpiece on what happened two weeks ago, you ’ re in the wrong place I don’t want to give you my hot take on how Hillary missed the rust belt Forgotten Man, or talk about Trump suppor ters who are boycotting Hamilton and writing “Trump” on their Starbucks cups By this point we ’ ve seen all of this time and time and time again on our Facebook newsfeeds Instead, I’m going to talk about the less sexy side of politics More specifically, the side that requires people like you and me to step off our Cornell campus and out from behind the comfort of a column, and into the world that we think and learn and write about everyday here There are millions of options here in Ithaca, and around the countr y that enable citizens to impact our

c o m m u n ities in ways that no vote could begin to do It’s time for disa p p o i n t e d D e m o c r a t s and excited Republicans to reconnect with those resources

issue, there are hundreds of organizations and non-profits or local government departments, that are one phone call (or a few blocks) away Don’t ignore those or excuse yourself from engaging in them just because you ’ re upset about the outcome of election

Are you worried about whether our constitution will be upheld objectively? Donate to something like the American Civil Liber ties Union Is it important to you that the United States be a hospitable place for refugees? Start here in Ithaca, and reach out to the organizations that are preparing for the arrival of 50 refugees in the coming months Concerned about reproductive rights for women?

Donate to Planned Parenthood, or follow the lead of many Ithacans and reach out to the Ithaca center directly Think

as important to the meaning of citizenry as turning up to vote on election day We need to care a little more about politics during the other 364 days of the year, especially if we weren ’ t feeling too hot on the morning of November 9 Yes, liberals need to figure out the rest of America The rest of America, in turn, needs to figure out liberals too The United States has a lot of healing to do Let’s start that healing by looking at some non-par tisan star ting places

For each issue, there are hundreds of organizations and non-profits or local government departments, that are one phone call (or a few blocks) away. Don’t ignore those or excuse yourself from engaging in them just because you’re upset about the outcome of election.

Thursday after the election, at 8:40 in the morning, my American political campaigns class was particularly packed One slide in lecture read, “There’s tons of research on voting and election day, but very little research on political engagement that does or does not happen the other 364 days of the year ” I’m not sure if it was even meant to make a point, but it did, because we now find ourselves moving into that sweet spot that doesn’t directly bookend the presidential election It’s more important now than ever that we don’t tune out We don’t need to wait four more years for another presidential election, or even two more years for the midterm, to have agency in our communities again

Whether you want to invest money or time in movements you care about, you have options Pick the thing that worries you or excites you most about a Trump presidency For each

Trump’s Twitter crusade on the New York Times foreshadows how he’ll treat journalists during his administration? Buy some local and national news subscriptions as holiday presents for your family Is climate change a major issue for you? Write a letter (or call) your representatives urging them not to appoint a climate change contrarian to head the EPA The list could go on, but the point stands: even if you ’ re doing something small in response to Trump, it’s better than nothing He is our president-elect and he will affect the national agenda in ways we can ’ t control, but don’t underestimate the impact you can have on your locality

Whether you ’ re in the “let’s try to work with Trump and see what happens” boat, the “I’m moving to Canada” boat or the “I voted for Trump and my candidate won ” boat, having a collection of movements to get behind is just

So find your issue, and find out how you can try to make whatever community you live in look a little more like an America that you ’ re proud of Or don’t do any of these things, but at least don’t forget that you can The electoral college decided that Trump is president, but it didn’t bar you from participating in the A m e r i c a he’ll be running for the next four years Will s m a l l actions like these solve all issues that a T r u m p p r e s i d e n c y presents to a progressive agenda? Of course not, not even in mass accumulation But if enough people are proactive, it will certainly provide a countercurrent to backwards movement There’s strength in that I didn’t intend to write a prescription for how people should act or feel in response to this, and if you had asked me two weeks ago, I wouldn’t have predicted an outcome in which I have to But I feel like the alternatives here are being naively optimistic, which would be a disservice to many people, or fatalistic, which would be a disservice to all of us For the next four years, complaining (or writing a column in The Sun) is not going to be enough for any of us; Republicans or Democrats

Four Ridiculous Opinions About Trump

In these ridiculous times, it’s tempting to take ridiculous positions; after all, we have a ridiculous President-elect From his golden hair to his stubby fingers, Tr ump is a caricature of

A m e r i c a n w e a l t h , p o w e r a n d s u p e r f i c i a l i t y O f c o u r s e h e ’ l l l e a d u s i n t o o u t l a n d i s h p o s itions

These are a fe w such positions Regardless of your political beliefs, don’t let yourself fall i n t o a n y o f t h e s e t r a p s , a n d you’ll be an island of sanity in t h e o c e a n o f w e i r d n e s s t h a t political debate has become D o n a l d Tr u m p s h o u l d b e

a s s a s s i n a t e d I s h o u l d n ’ t e v e n have to include this, but I’ve h e a rd m o re a s s a s s i n a t i o n t a l k bandied about by my friends on the left than I’d have guessed,

a n d # A s s a s s i n a t e Tr u m p e v e n trended on Twitter Even as a joke, language like this is dangerous and stupid, and to even

s o r t a h a l f w a y b e l i e ve i n i t i s

m o r a l l y b a n k r u p t V i o l e n c e shouldn’t be par t of the political process; that Tr ump himself has

v i o l a t e d t h a t n o r m d o e s n ’ t excuse anyone else doing it

Donald Tr ump is striking a blow against entrenched Washington interests. Not so far he’s not Tr ump has spent the first days of his presidency naming

prominent lobbyists and politic a l o p e r a t i v e s t o a l l s o r t s o f i m p o r t a n t r o l e s M a r c S h o r t , who until recently ran the bill i o n - d o l l a r Fr e e d o m Pa r t n e r s lobbying network, is now a close advisor to Mike Pence Michael Catanzaro, the head of Tr ump ’ s energy transition team, was a par tner at a lobbying firm whose clients included the petroleum giant Koch Industries Tr ump ’ s chief of staff is the former head

no real ideology or personal convictions They bet wisely, it seems that they could use his Saturn-sized ego and complete disinterest in policy to pass their program of tax cuts, reduced social spending, prolife legislation and opposition to gun control and environmental protection

Whatever his differences with Republican or thodoxy may be, Tr ump lacks the personal ideals

Cour t justices over turn Roe v Wade and you accidentally get pregnant in Texas, you’ll either star t shopping for strollers or make a trip east assuming you can afford to # No t My Pr e s i d e n t i s s e l fabsorbed, petty, entitled liberalism at its worst We’re one countr y with a system we ’ ve collectively agreed upon to choose our leaders According to that system, Tr ump won the election

of the RNC Barack Obama called Tr ump

a “ c o n m a n ” ; M a r c o R u b i o called him a “ con ar tist ” If politicians as far apar t as those two agree on something, it’s probably tr ue In fact, Tr ump is a con man and he’s always been one, an unwitting vehicle for e s t

l i s h m e n t c o n s e r v a t i s m who became a populist because he loves the roar of the crowd

Pa u l Ry a n a n d M i t c h

Mc C o n n e l l d o n ’ t e v e n t h i n k that Tr ump is a real conser vative, they just know that he has

and political savvy required to translate them into policy If you voted for Tr ump, you voted for e s t a b l i s h m e n t c o n s e r va t i s m If that’s what you suppor ted anyway, you made the right move If not, you got conned

Donald Tr ump is not my presi d e n t Ye s , h e i s I f D o n a l d Tr ump issues an executive order, it will apply to you If Donald Tr ump star ts a war and, with C o n g r e s s ’ h e l p , i n i t i a

t h e draft, you will be drafted and e i t h e r g o t o w a r o r j a i l I f Donald Tr ump ’ s ne w Supreme

fair and square Therefore, after he’s inaugurated, he will be your president

If you think that Tr ump is an unqualified fraud who fell assbackwards into a job he doesn’t even understand, then the best thing you can do is oppose him on principle, not abandon your civic responsibility and r un to Canada, or cover your eyes and pretend he’s not there Donald Tr ump can be suppor te d w i t h o u t , a t l e a s t i n d i re c t l y, s u p p o r t i n g r a c i s m Tr ump ’ s campaign was openly based on racial a n i m u s Hi s r e m

r k s a b o u t Hispanics, Muslims and blacks Paul Ryan himself called his attack on Judge Gonzalo Curiel “ t h e t e x t b

o k d e f i n i t

o f a racist comment ” have made him a hero to white nationalists across the countr y His political profile was built in the first place on baseless accusations that the first black President was an illegitimate, foreign-born Kenyan He’s named Steve Bannon, head of Breitbar t Ne ws, as his chief strategist; former Ku Klux Klan Grandmaster David Duke said Bannon is “basically creating the i d

we

re going ” Not all Donald Tr ump suppor ters are racists; in fact, implying that they are only strengthens him But racially charged language was an essential par t of Tr ump ’ s appeal So if you suppor ted him, you have, regardless of your personal feelings towards people of any color, indirectly suppor ted racism

T h i s c o l u m n o r i g i n a l l y a ppeared online on November 18, 2016

Jack Kim is a junior in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Comments may be sent to associate-editor@cornellsun com Guest Room appears periodically this semester

The Rise of the Sticker Selfe

a s t Tu e s d a y, a l o n g w i t h j u s t o v e r

h a l f t h e c o u n t r y, I v o t e d ( O n l y

5 5 p e r c e n t o f v o t i n g a g e

k n o w t h a t w h o d o e s a n d d o e s n o t g e t a n “ I Vo t e d ” s t i c k e r d o e s n o t m a t t e r, t h a t y o u r v o t e i s c o u n t e d w i t h o r w i t h -

o u t t h e p r o o f f a s t e n e d t o y o u r s h i r t ,

t h a t a b s e n t e e v o t e s d o n ’ t g e t s t i c k e r s e i t h e r, I w a s s a d d e n e d I h a d w a n t e d t o d o w h a t m y f r i e n d s a n d f a m i l y h a d

A m e r i c a n s c a s t b a l l o t s C o m e o n , p e op l e ) I d r o v e t h e 4 8 m i l e s t o m y h o m et o w n , a r e g i o n p r o j e c t e d t o b e a d e e p s h a d e o f r e d It w a s n e a r l y a n h o u r i n t o e n e m y t e r r i t o r y, a l l t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n p e r s o n a n d f u l f i l l m y c i v i c d u t y My f a m i l y p i l e d i n t o t h e c a r a n d d r o v e t o a c h u r c h a f e w b l o c k s o v e r ; w e e v e n t o o k m y y o u n g e s t b r o t h e r a l o n g , d e s p i t e h i s n o t b e i n g a b l e t o v o t e u n t i l 2 0 2 0 A n d t h e r e , i n a r e c r o o m t u r n e d v o t i n g b o o t h , I c a s t m y b a l l o t W h e n I w e n t t o g e t m y “ I Vo t e d ” s t i c k e r, t h e k i n d l y g r a n d m a v o l u n t e e ri n g i n f o r m e d m e t h a t t h e y h a d r u n o u t o f t h e m I n i t s p l a c e , s h e o f f e r e d m e a v e r y s w e e t h o m e m a d e f l or a l b o o k m a r k l a mi n a t e d , n o l e s s No w, I v o t e b e c a u s e I b e l i e v e d e e p l y i n t h e d e m o c r a t i c p r o c e s s a n d t h e i d e a o f p a rt i c i p a t i n g i n y o u r g o v e r n m e n t , b u t I w a n t e d t h a t s t i c k e r I h a d e x p e n d e d c o n s i d e r a b l e e f f o r t t o v o t e i n m y d i st r i c t , i n p e r s o n , a n d I d e s e r v e d t h a t s t i c k e r I w a s n o t c o n t e n t w i t h t h e b o o k m a r k , h o w e v e r s w e e t i t w a s My f a m i l y g a v e m e a f a i r a b o u t o f g u f f ( i e , t h e y h a r a s s e d m e a l l t h e w a y h o m e ) , t e a s i n g m e f o r b e i n g s o d e j e c te d a b o u t n o t r e c e i v i n g a s t i c k e r T h e y m a y h a v e m a d e r e f e r e n c e s t o t h e w a y s m a l l c h i l d r e n a c t w h e n t o y s a r e t a k e n f r o m t h e m I n c i d e n t a l l y, t h e o n l y f a m il y m e m b e r w h o h a d g o t t e n a s t i c k e r w a s m y y o u n g e s t b r o t h e r, w h o h a d s c o r e d a Fu t u r e Vo t e r o n e A n d w h i l e I

b e e n d o i n g : p o s t i n g t h e i r s t i c k e r s e l f i e s a n d v o t i n g p h o t o s u p , b a c k a n d s i d ew a y s a c r o s s s o c i a l m e d i a , r e v e a l i n g t o t h e w o r l d t h a t t h e y, t o o , h a d b e e n t o t h e v o t i n g b o o t h t h a t d a y Ev e n t u a l l y, I h a d t o t a k e a s t e p b a c k a n d a s k m y s e l f w h y I w a s s o d o w nt r o d d e n a b o u t n o t g e t t i n g a s t i c k e r I m e a n , t h e r e a r e s e v e r a l c o u n t r i e s w h e r e c i t i z e n s c a n n o t v o t e , w h e r e w o m e n c a n n o t v o t e , a n d w h e r e n o o n e i s a f f o r d e d t h e c h a n c e t o v o t e f o r a w o m a n I w a n t e d t h a t s t i c k e r i n p a r t

b e c a u s e I w a n t e d t h e w o r l d t o k n o w t h a t I w a s a p r o u d v o t e r, t h a t I w a s n ’ t a s h a m e d o f t a k i n g p a r t i n t h e e l e c t i o n , t h a t I w a s e x e r c i s i n g a r i g h t t h a t h a d n ’ t a l w a y s b e e n p r e s e n t f o r m y d e m og r a p h i c B u t I a l s o w a n t e d t o s h o w m y

I n s t a g r a m f e e d

S h a r i n g v o t i n g u p d a t e s a c r o s s s o c i a l m e d i a i s c e r t a i n l y n o t u n i q u e t o t h i s e l e c t i o n , b u t t h e I n t e r n e t h a s g r o w n t r e m e n d o u s l y i n t h e l a s t f o u r y e a r s i t ’ s b e c o m e s o m e t h i n g u s e d w i t h f r eq u e n t l y b y a l l a g e s , n o t j u s t c o l l e g e s t ud e n t s t e s t i n g o u t n e w a p p s A n d i n t h a t t i m e , w e h a d b e c o m e m o r e c o m f o r t a b l e w i t h o n l i n e d i s c l o s u r e Ev e n c o n s i d e ri n g t h e p a r t i c u l a r l y p o l a r i z i n g t e n s i o n s o f t h i s y e a r ’ s e l e c t i o n , I w a s s u r p r i s e d a t h o w m a n y o f m y f r i e n d s a n d f a m i l y p o s t e d s o m e t h i n g o n E l e c t i o n D a y W h y t h e f r e n z y ? We l l , t h e m a i n v i r t u e o f s o c i a l m e d i a i s t h a t i t v a l i d a t e s u s i n o u r c h o i c e s , i n o u r i m a g e , a n d i n t h e t h i n g s w e s t a n d f o r a n d t h e p e o p l e w e a s s o c i a t e w i t h Pe o p l e p o s t e d t h e i r s t i c k e r s e l f i e s o n No v e m b e r 8 b e c a u s e n o t o n l y w e r e t h e y p r o u d t o h a v e v o t e d , a n d t h e y w a n t e d p e o p l e t o v a l id a t e t h a t T h i s e l e c t i o n w a s s o m u c h a b o u t s o c i a l m e d i a S o m u c h a b o u t a p p e a ra n c e s C e l e b r i t i e s t o o k s i d e s , p o l i t i c a l c o m m e n t a t o r s t u r n e d l i e s i n t o l a u g h t r a c k , a n d m a i n s t r e a m m e d i a b a t t l e d w i t h s o c i a l m e d i a o v e r w h o w a s s k e wi n g t h e t r u t h I n a w a y, i t f e l t r i g h t t h a t t h i s e l e c t i o n , f o u g h t s o m u c h o v e r Fa c e b o o k a n d Tw i t t e r, s h o u l d e n d t h e r e a s w e l l T h i n g s c o m e f u l l c i r c l e B u t w h i c h e v e r s i d e o f t h e a i s l e y o u s i t , s t i c k e r o r n o t , p o s t o r n o p o s t , a n y o n e w h o v o t e d w a s s t i l l a v o i c e i n t h i s d e m o c r a c y Fo r

Ruth Weissmann is a senior in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences She can be reached at raw287@cornell edu A Word to the Weiss appears alternate Fridays this semester

Seniors Say Goodbye to Red

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Penn’s drive had run out of time and Cornell jogged towards the locker room But the refs motioned for the team to come back, claiming that Penn head coach Ray Priore had called a timeout with six seconds left, giving the Quakers one more shot to add to their lead

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Solomon would go on to score his second touchdown of the day, dropping the Red into a 28-13 halftime deficit

Penn furthered its lead with some deception of its own in third quarter With the Quakers on the Cornell seven-yard line, Torgersen lateraled the ball to Nick Demes, a 6-foot-4, 280pound offensive linemen The senior thundered into the endzone for the score, giving Penn a 22-point lead

Cornell showed flashes of the team that orchestrated a stunning comeback against Colgate earlier in the season when the Red tried yet another trick play Backup quarterback Jake Jatis lateraled the ball to Rogers The receiver again waited patiently until Jatis and launched the ball to the quarterback who fought through two Quakers for a 23-yard gain

“Jatis made an unbelievable play,” Rogers said “ That was completly him on that one It was fun, you like to go out there and try to make something happen and luckily we were able to ” Banks’ ensuing touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Marshall Deutz shrank the Penn lead to 15 points

Cornell had a chance to further cut into the deficit when sophomore cornerback DJ Woullard made his first pick since his two-interception day against Bucknell in the season opener

But Penn’s defense made sure nothing came of the mistake and intercepted Banks on the very next play

The Quakers’ added one more touchdown and killed the clock, capturing the win and the conference title

Despite the loss, Rogers and senior captain and linebacker Jackson Weber mentioned that the work of the senior class has helped the program make strides towards winning conference titles

“You come into a place like Cornell and you want to win a lot of football games, you want to win Ivy League championships,” Weber said, “but over that, you want to leave the place better than you found it Like the classes that came before us, we ’ ve been laying the bricks, we ’ re continuing to build ”

While the loss is cer tainly stinging in the moment, Archer, with his eye perpetually on what is next, knows preparing for next season begins now

“We hit the recruiting trail,” Archer said “We have to recruit and develop players and keep pushing it in the right direction If you recruit guys like these [Rogers and Weber] and some of their buddies, it’ll keep us going in the right direction ”

Spor ts

After Loss to Bobcats, C.U. Bounces Back to Top Tigers

By TROY BRIDSON Sun Staff Writer

Nearing the end of the third period, sophomore forward Mitch Vanderlaan darted towards the goal crease as a defender pulled him to the ice A ricocheted shot sent the puck fluttering towards Vanderlaan, who tipped the puck in from his skate to give Cornell men ’ s hockey the go-ahead goal against Princeton

The officials gathered to review the play and determined that Vanderlaan did not intentionally kick the puck into the net, which would have waved off the score It was a gutsy play from Vanderlaan, who also gained a penalty on the play when the Princeton defender dragged him down

After trailing by two goals early in the game, Cornell (33-1, 3-2-1 ECAC) would go on to top Princeton (0-6-1, 05-1), 4-2 It was a much needed victory after losing at home to Quinnipiac (9-3-1, 5-1-0) on Friday night

On the go-ahead goal, Vanderlaan was not entirely sure who scored when his teammates started to celebrate

“I got [the puck] back to [freshman defenseman] Yanni [Kaldis] who threw it at the net and then I got taken down,” Vanderlaan said “I got up and everyone was celebrating and the guys told me it went in off of me ”

Vanderlaan added a second goal shortly thereafter off of a Princeton turnover to put the game out of reach and secure the victory for the Red

While Vanderlaan’s goals were crucial to the win, it was his play in the second period that really turned the tide for Cornell, who trailed after the first period, 2-0

“Mitch came out in the second period and had one of the best periods of hockey that I’ve seen from a kid in a while,” said head coach Mike Schafer ’86 “He was a workhorse and I think all of the guys fed off of him and got their feet going ”

Vanderlaan stepped up at the right time, as Cornell desperately needed a jumpstart at the start of the second period after a sluggish early going

“It was a slow start and not the start we wanted,” Schafer said

In the first period, Princeton capitalized off of sloppy play in both zones by Cornell and pestered senior goalie Mitch Gillam

“We made some huge mistakes behind [Mitch] tonight and turned pucks over, ” Schafer said “He bailed us out one time and couldn’t bail us out the second time ”

Princeton forward Eric Robinson put the Tigers up 1-0 on a power play goal Cornell responded with a stretch of pressure and generated a few scoring chance, but the team could not get the puck into the back of the net

Red Unable to Prevent Penn’s Championship

By ADAM BRONFIN Sun Sports Editor

Fueled by the promise of a conference championship, Penn football played like a team on a mission on Saturday, out-running, out-tackling, out-maneuvering and, overall, out-playing a Cornell squad hoping to derail the Quakers’ coronation ceremony

Piling up 527 yards of offense on Cornell, the Quakers bulldozed their way to a 42-20 victory in Ithaca on Cornell’s senior day With Princeton’s victor y over Dartmouth, Penn earns a share of the league title for the second straight year

“This game I really thought we were competitive up until the end,” said head coach David Archer ’05 “We just couldn’t overcome some of the things that you have to overcome to be able to beat a championship-caliber team ”

Cornell ends its season 4-6, the best finish in Archer’s four-year tenure as head

Junior forward Alex Rauter streaked down the left the side of the ice and connected with a shot that just deflected off of Tigers’ goalie Colton Phinney’s pad Phinney later denied a chance from sophomore forward Anthony Angello to preserve the tight lead

In what would continue for much of the night, both teams made several mistakes, which allowed for several scoring chances on the power play In the first period, Princeton capitalized on its power play, while Cornell could not

After Princeton killed a late power play opportunity for the Red, the Tigers counterattacked and scored another goal to break open a two-goal lead just as the first period wound down

In the locker room during the intermission, Schafer encouraged the team to play with more energy

“We weren ’ t working, we weren ’ t competing,” Schafer said “We came out [in the second period] and moved our feet in all zones, which was supposed to be one of our keys going into the game ”

Cornell generated consistent offensive pressure from the start of the second period to the end Princeton struggled to keep the puck out of its own zone

After Phinney denied several Cornell shots, junior for-

Magnificent Mitch | Sophomore Mitch Vanderlaan’s pair of goals in Saturday’s game against Princeton helped Cornell overcome a two-goal deficit

ward Jared Fiegl came through for the Red, ripping a shot into the top right corner of the net from the slot The goal was assisted by sophomore defensemen Alec McCrea and Brandon Smith on the power play

Cornell maintained the pressure for the remainder of the period and almost had a second goal off of a blistering shot from senior forward Jake Weidner The shot just clipped the post after Weidner broke free from the Princeton defense on another power play

Following the Fiegl goal, Cornell tied the game on a power play goal from junior forward Trevor Yates It was the first Red power play goal in 22 attempts

“This year with the amount of power plays that we are getting, to see one go in the net was huge for our confidence,” Weidner said

Vanderlaan’s pair of goals in the third period allowed the Red to complete the comeback and earn its first win at home this season

Cornell will look to carry the momentum of the win into action next weekend when the team takes on UNH (5-5-2) at Madison Square Garden

Troy Bridson can be reached at tbridson@cornellsun com

coach and a marked improvement from the Red’s one-win seasons from 2014 and 2015

Archer had tremendous praise for the senior class, whose leadership he’s praised consistently throughout the season

“These [seniors] have pushed us to where we ’ re a competitive a football team right now, ” Archer said “That’s not easy, you have to be a true believer and you have to put in so much extra work to go from noncompetitive to competitive ” In the seniors’ final game of their careers, Penn got on the board first when the league’s leading rusher Tre Solomon punched the

ball in from one yard out The junior gained 173 yards on ground in Saturday’s game

Cornell’s offense was sluggish on the first drive, but began to find a rhythm as the first quarter matured Last week, a fake punt was critical to the team ’ s win over Columbia Against Penn on Saturday, Cornell used a trio of trick plays to try to stay in the game

The first of the three was sophomore running back Chris Walker’s 35-yard pass that ignited Cornell’s first scoring drive of the day Two plays later, sophomore quarterback Dalton Banks lofted a pass to senior Collin Shaw for a touchdown

Cornell threatened again five minutes into the second quarter, but the team ’ s offensive momentum was derailed when Penn’s Mason Williams picked off Banks in the endzone It was the first of three interceptions on the day for Cornell

The Quakers got the ball back and marched down the field, eventually scoring on a five-yard run from quarterback Alek Torgersen

The Red used a little more trickery in the second half to close the Quakers’ lead to eight After the snap, Banks flipped the ball to Walker, who in turned tossed it to Rogers

The senior patiently waited behind the line of scrimmage and then launched the ball to Walker who danced past three Penn defenders for the score

“[Rogers] has been lobbying me [to throw the ball] for four years, ” Archer said “He was a high school quarterback and I got to personally recruit him Last game, let it rip ”

In his final game in a Cornell uniform, Rogers notched 84 receiving yards and and 81 passing yards He ends his career in the top-15 all time in program history in allpurpose yards

“Why not pull out all your tricks in the last game?” Rogers said “We’ve had that in our back pocket for a while It worked out that we were getting the coverage that we wanted ” Later in the half, the Red thought it had escaped to halftime, trailing by just eight