11-28-12

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

City Board Approves Sweeping Renovation of the Commons

By JONATHAN DAWSON

Commons by improving lighting,

and increasing its aesthetic appeal was unanimously approved by the C

Development Board on Tuesday “ The Commons project is a big transformation for downtown and we hope that more students will

Associates, the lead designer of the project “ We’re really excited by

Critical Languages E xpand Through $1.2-Million Grant

By

The expansion of a partnership between Cornell, Columbia and Yale will allow students to learn Khmer and other “critical,” or less commonly taught, languages through video conference classes Some language instructors, however, said they have doubts that the courses will be able to replace traditional programs Cornell eliminated through budget cuts

“Mastering a language which is not own’s one gives one chances to learn about others ”

Under the existing partnership, instructors from the three universities teach nine critical languages to students through video conferences With a newly-awarded $1 2million grant from the Andrew W Mellon Foundation, from Fall 2013, the universities will also be able to teach Khmer, Sinhala, Polish and Vietnamese, according to Richard Feldman ’69, director of the Cornell Language Resource Center

the changes that are happening d

h

Commons as a critical step in the process of revitalizing downtown Ithaca ”

Sasaki Associates’ plan to reno-

Commons is centered around the goal of having the space reflect the geologic features of Ithaca’s environment The plan includes creating a “distinctive paving pattern ” for the ground and constr ucting a s

directly inspired by the cracking, splitting characteristics of the stone found in Ithaca’s gorges, ” according to Sasaki Associates’ website

Protesters Disrupt Goldman Sachs

Recruitment Event

By JEFF STEIN Sun Managing Editor

Several loud bursts of mocking laughter interrupted a Goldman Sachs recruiting event held on Cornell’s campus Tuesday night, the result of a planned demonstration aimed at deterring students from careers in investment banking

On several occasions, a group of students laughed hysterically at seemingly random instances, drawing the attention of many of the more than 100 people gathered in the Statler Hotel Ballroom, people at the networking event said

After laughing, one of the students then loudly banged on a table and shouted, “‘There’s so much greed in this room, let’s get out of here,’” according to Zach Solomon ’14, who attended the event The group of students who had been laughing then followed this student out of the ballroom with their arms raised

In an email Tuesday night, a group claiming to represent what it said was the 30 stu-

The project will cost approximately $8 5 million, according to Ross

The city hopes to begin constr uction in March 2013 and estimates that the project will be completed in June 2014, according to city documents

The project has stemmed out of a desire to make the Commons “ a more successful retail destination,” said John Schroeder ’74, a member of the planning board Ross said she hopes the changes will make the atmosphere of the Commons seem safer and more

In addition to increasing the number of less commonly taught languages that students are able to study, the Mellon grant may help bolster Cornell’s 11 critical language programs, which were decimated by federal budget cuts in 2011 With the languages in a financially precarious state, the Mellon grant “has the potential to ease a little bit of the pressure on the University and the [arts] college to take over those courses, ” Feldman said

But the video conferencing courses, despite their use of high-quality video and audio equipment, do not replace the value of the traditional, on-campus language courses that Cornell formerly offered, several instructors said

Only five Cornell students are learning Dutch, Greek and Turkish languages that suffered University budget cuts through video conferencing this year, according to Feldman

“As you can see from the numbers, it’s not the same

explained their intentions

“Despite an ongoing global recession rooted in the excessive power of finance capital, Cornell has not reconsidered its blind acceptance of banking institutions,” the statement said “Our actions intend to spur a dialogue

among students able to make real change students of Cornell University ” The group insisted on anonymity, and people at the event gave a wide range of estimates of the number of people involved

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Discussion

“Democracy, Separation of Powers and the Adjudication Of Social and Economic Rights” 12:15 - 1:15 p m , 276 Myron Taylor Hall

Tomorrow

Tashkovich 4:45 - 5:45 p m , 233 Plant Sciences Building

Professor Jefferson Cowie’s “Last Lecture”

5 - 6:15 p m , Call Auditorium, Kennedy Hall

“Can College Sports Be Saved? Should They Be Banned?” 5:30 p m , Alice Statler Auditorium, Statler Hall

China’s Party Paper Falls for Onion Joke About Kim

BEIJING (AP) The online version of China’s Communist Party newspaper has hailed a report by The Onion naming North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un as the “Sexiest Man Alive” not realizing it is satire

The People’s Daily on Tuesday ran a 55-page photo spread on its website in a tribute to the round-faced leader, under the headline “North Korea’s top leader named The Onion’s Sexiest Man Alive for 2012 ”

Quoting The Onion’s spoof report, the Chinese newspaper wrote, “With his devastatingly handsome, round face, his boyish charm, and his strong, sturdy frame, this Pyongyang-bred heartthrob is every woman ’ s dream come true ”

“Blessed with an air of power that masks an unmistakable cute, cuddly side, Kim made this newspaper ’ s editorial board swoon with his impeccable fashion sense, chic short hairstyle, and, of course, that famous smile,” the People’s Daily cited The Onion as saying

The photos the People’s Daily selected include Kim on horseback squinting into the light and Kim waving toward a military parade In other photos, he is wearing sunglasses and smiling, or touring a facility with his wife

People’s Daily could not immediately be reached for comment A man who answered the phone at the newspaper ’ s duty office said he did not know anything about the report and requested queries be directed to their newsroom on Wednesday morning

Ohio’s ‘Cleaning Fairy’ Gets 1 Year of Probation

CLEVELAND (AP) An Ohio woman dubbed the “cleaning fairy” after she broke into a home, cleaned it and left a $75 bill has been put on probation for one year

A judge sentenced 53-year-old Susan Warren of Elyria (eh-LEER’-ee-uh) on Monday in Cleveland on her guilty plea to attempted burglary She also must do 20 hours of community service

The woman told authorities she was driving by the Westlake house and “wanted something to do ” She broke in, washed some coffee cups, took out the trash, vacuumed and dusted inside the house Then she left a bill written on a napkin and included her phone number

Warren says she owns a cleaning business and sometimes enters homes, cleans them and leaves a bill

Two Tons of Pigeon Droppings In Swedish Church Tower

STOCKHOLM (AP) A hatch on a Swedish church tower inadvertently left open for some three decades resulted in 2 tons of pigeon droppings amassing in the tower

The church’s property manager says the layer of droppings was 12 inches deep when it was discovered during a May inspection of the Heliga Trefaldighets Kyrka in Gavle, 105 miles north of Stockholm

D.J. Bambaataa Lauds University ’ s Hip Hop Archives

By LAUREN AVERY Sun Staff Writer

D J Afrika Bambaataa, who was recently appointed to a three-year term as the University’s first ever visiting hip hop scholar, made his first appearance at Cornell since his appointment Tuesday Along with hip hop dancer Richard “Crazy Legs” Colón, photographer Joe Conzo and moderator D J Rich Medina ’92, Bambaataa discussed the origins of hip hop and stressed the importance of maintaining the University Library’s hip hop archives

As a visiting scholar, Bambaataa will visit campus several times a year to meet students and faculty, give lectures about hip hop culture and conduct performances Bambaataa is credited as one of the founders of hip hop culture and is a nominee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, according to the University

During his talk, Bambaataa argued that, despite many people’s assumptions that hip hop originated during the 1970s and 1980s, its rap music component came from musical genres long before this time

“Most people don’t know that rap has always been there,” Bambaataa said “It has come in many different forms throughout our lifetime, and many of the songs that you might have heard before may have just been the hip hop of that era or that time ”

Bambaataa said he was heavily influenced by several youth movements and street gangs of his time, citing the Black Panthers, the Weathermen activist group and the Black Spades, the latter of which he later joined He credited the movie

Zulu as the

i n s p i r a t i o n for his establishment in the 1970s of t h e U n i v e r s a l

“[The Kroch Library staff ’s] vision and commitment in going after this incomparable hip hop collection on its own would be worthy of high commendation, but to companion the acquiring of the collection with attracting the legendary Afrika Bambaataa to Cornell as a visiting scholar is an extraordinar y achievement,” he said “Maintaining the hip hop archives is critical to maintaining the hip hop legacy ”

Medina, who now serves on the advisory board for the hip hop collection at Cornell, called Bambaataa a “national treasure ” He credited Bambaataa with inspiring him to pursue a career in disc jockeying

“Most people don’t know that rap has always been there. It has come in many different forms throughout our lifetime.” A f r i k a B a m b a a t a a

Zulu Nation, an organization for rappers, artists, dancers and others involved in hip hop

Prof James Turner, Africana studies, who introduced Medina, praised the University’s appointment of Bambaataa, saying it will help Cornell preserve the history of hip hop in its archives

Drink up

After graduating from Cornell with honors, Medina pursued a career in business, but he said he soon found that hip hop was his true calling Crazy Legs, a break dancer on the panel, is renowned for serving as the president of the esteemed Rock Steady Crew and for his community outreach Crazy Legs said that, in addition to being influenced by Bambaataa’s work, he was introduced to hip hop culture through “jam sessions” at his home as a child

“We would come into our house after playing all day, we’d be tired and dirty, and we’d hear this music and start doing the bus stop, which is the ‘Electric Slide’ now, ” he

a f f m e m b e r w h o re p o r t e d t h a t a n u n k ow n i n d i v i d u a l d re w g r a f f i t i i n va r i o u s p l a c e s i n s i d e U j a m a a re s i d e n t i a l h a l l o n Fr i d a y D r i v i n g W h i l e I n t o x i c a t e d Jo r g e Mo j i c a Sa n t i a g o w a s re f e r re d t o t h e It h a c a C i t y C o u r t a f t e r h e w a s a l l e g e d l y a r re s t e d f o r d r i v i n g w h i l e i n t ox i c a t e d o n T h u r s t o n Ave n u e , a c c o rdi n g t o t h e C o r n e l l Un i ve r s i t y Po l i c e De p a r t m e n t

Compiled by Kerry Close

said “But as bad as it was, the music was all we really had as far as bonding and coming together with each other ”

According to Medina, Conzo is famous for taking the “baby pictures of hip hop,” many of which can be found in the Cornell hip hop archives

Conzo said that he was introduced to hip hop culture accidentally when he began photographing emerging hip hop artists and developing the film by hand in a makeshift darkroom in his parents ’ bathroom

“I was into disco at the time, to be honest, and I tell people that I was kidnapped into this culture of hip hop before it was called hip hop,” he said “What blew me away was hearing these teenagers, my peers, playing my father and mother’s records that I heard them play at home, but playing it their way ”

Following the lecture, Bambaataa and Medina performed a live show at the The Haunt nightclub in downtown Ithaca

At the conclusion of the lecture, Bambaataa stressed the personal connection he feels to the hip hop genre

“I just feel humbled,” Bambaataa said “There is honor to be recognized and I hope that many more [artists] will be recognized ”

Lauren Avery can be reached at lavery@cornellsun com

Two Students Named Rhodes Scholars

By KERRY CLOSE Sun News Editor

Two Cornell students were among 32 Americans selected as Rhodes Scholars for 2013, according to the scholarship program ’ s website

C h r i s t o p h e r “ K i t ” Do by n s ’ 1 3 a n d

Daniel Young ’13 will join about 85 students worldwide as members of this year ’ s Rhodes Scholars class The Rhodes Scholarship ––the oldest international fellowship program in the world –– finances two years of graduate study at Oxford University in England, according to its website

Dobyns is an Africana studies major with minors in inequality studies and law and society He hopes to pursue a master ’ s degree in refugee and forced migration studies, according to a University press release

“I was incredibly humbled when I heard I had been chosen Studying at Oxford will greatly enrich my life’s work, and I know that such an opportunity would not have been possible without the support that I received from my professors,” he said in the press release

Dobyns, a scholar of Kiswahili and Zulu, has taught English in Rwanda and worked at an orphanage in Tanzania He has also develo p e d a c u r r i c u l u m f o r So u t h A f r i c a ’ s

National Council for Persons with Physical Disabilities and another on human rights abuses for a high school in Rwanda, according to the Rhodes Scholarship website

Additionally, Dobyns founded a company that distributes low-cost energy in rural Nigeria and a non-profit that provides con-

sulting to social entrepreneurs, according to the website

Yo u n g , w h o i s a m e m b e r o f t h e

University’s College Scholars program, is a philosophy major with a minor in South Asian studies He plans to obtain a master ’ sequivalent degree in philosophy at Oxford in the hopes of pursuing a career as a philosophy professor, according to the University press release

“I’m thrilled that the Rhodes Trust has decided to support me in my efforts to learn more about philosophy and social critique My education so far has been a highly collective endeavor I’d like to thank all my professors as well as my friends and family, who have helped shape me into a better person, ” he said in the press release

Young spent last semester in Nepal conducting research on social activism in the “untouchable” castes At Cornell, he is an active member of the Prison Education Program, which offers liberal arts courses to people incarcerated in maximum- and mediu m

Rhodes Scholarship website

Young, a native of Charlottesville, Va , is

Education and the Cornell Glee Club

Dobyns and Young were selected from a pool of 838 applicants who are enrolled at 302 colleges and universities around the world, according to the Rhodes Scholarship website They will enter Oxford in Fall 2013

Kerry Close can be reached at

Project Will Add Lights, Rehaul Infrastructure

COMMONS

Continued from page 1

inviting Because of the dense foliage on the current Commons, as well as the dark pavilions, “people have this perception that [the Commons] is not safe,” Ross said

Sasaki’s plan attempts to dispel these misconceptions by removing existing pavilions and other concrete elements that block sight lines, according to Ross

“Part of the redesign is to provide complete visibility from one side of the Commons to the other,” Schroeder, who is also The Sun’s production manager, said “ The existing [structures] interfere with retail sales because they prevent customers from seeing storefronts directly across the space ”

The project has also proposed improving the lighting of the Commons by adding new overhead cable-held lighting that will be suspended 18 feet above the ground “ The new lighting design will be much more functional, as more light will be evenly distributed over a larger area, ” Schroeder said “ This type of lighting system has been used in Europe it’s going to make the Commons a striking place It’s going to be like a floating plane of lights ”

Although the project will not be able to use solar panels for the lighting due to a lack of sunlight throughout the winter, it will remain environmentally friendly by being durable and reducing maintenance demands, according to Ross

In addition, the project proposes using trees to help absorb carbon dioxide There will be 30 feet of space between the new trees, according to Schroeder

In addition to improving the Commons’ aesthetics, the project will also upgrade its underground infrastructure, according to Ross The current pipes which Ross said are at least 100 years old contain lead joints that will require extensive excavation to be replaced

Additionally, the project hopes to rehaul existing manholes that are in poor condition, she said

The project will also replace existing storm sewers with larger pipes that will allow for better storm drainage on the Commons

Jonathan Dawson can be reached at jdawson@cornellsun com

Group Laughed Hysterically Students divided on reactions to demonstration

PROTEST

Continued from page 1

l St re e t m ov e m e n t s p r o t e s t e d a Wo r k o n Wa l l St re e t

C o n f e re n c e , h o l d i n g s i g n s t h a t

i m p l o re d re c r u i t s t o “ St o p t h e

C o r n e l l - Wa l l St re e t p i p e l i n e ”

T h e l o c a l a c t i v i t y o f O c c u p y M o v e m e n t s h a s d e c l i n e d i n 2 0 1 2 , b u t m u c h l e f t - w i n g i n d i g n a t i o n t ow a rd t h e a l l e g e d w r o n g s o f A m e r i c a ’ s b i g g e s t f i n a n c i a l i n s t i t ut i o n s o f t e n b l a m e d f o r t h e f i n a nc i a l c r a s h o f 2 0 0 8 h a s c o n t i nu e d u n a b a t e d St u d e n t s a t t h e e v e n t g a v e v a r y i n g a c c o u n t s o f t h e d e g re e a n d e x t e n t t o w h i c h t h e d e m o ns t r a t i o n a f f e c t e d t h e n e t w o r k i n g e v e n t “ I d i d n ’ t e v e n k n o w w h y t h e y w e r e t h e r e , ” Jo n a t h a n L e v i n e ’ 1 4 s a i d o f t h e p r o t e s te r s , s a y i n g i t w a s “ re a l l y w e i rd” w h e n m e m b e r s o f t h e g r o u p b e g a n h y s t e r i c a l l y l a u g h i n g T h e p r o t e s t e r s “d i v e r t e d [ p e op l e ’ s ] a t t e n t i o n , b u t t h e c o nv e r s a t i o n c o n t i n u e d f i v e s e co n d s a f t e r ” “ T h e y g o t t h e a t t e n t i o n o f e v e r y b o d y, b u t t h e y w e r e n ’ t v e r y s u c c e s s f u l , ” L e v i n e s a i d S o l o m o n a g r e e d t h a t t h e p r o t e s t e r s s e e m e d t o h a v e h a d “ v e r y l i t t l e i m p a c t o t h e r t h a n i n t e r r u p t i n g c o n v e r s a t i o n s ” “ I f e e l l i k e i t ’ s t h e i r r i g h t t o d o , b u t I t h i n k i t ’ s i n e f f e c t i v e a n d s h i n e s a b a d l i g h t o n C o r n e l l , ” h e s a i d D e s p i t e s o m e d o u b t s a b o u t t h e g r o u p ’ s m e t h o d s , L u k e Na m e r ’ 1 3 h a d a m o re p o s i t i v e v i e w o f t h e d e m o n s t r a t i o n “ It d e f i n i t e l y d i s t u r b e d t h e a t m o s p h e re o f t h e e v e n t i t t h re w p e o p l e o f f [ w h o w e re ] e x p e c t i n g a c o m p l e t e l y i n t e n s e , e a r n e s t e n v i r o

The protesters seemed to have had “very little impact other than interrupting conversations.”

Z a c h S o l o m o n ’ 1 4

Profs: Distance Learning Cannot Replace Courses

C.U. must support languages, instructors say

LANGUAGES

Continued from page 1

thing to have a full program with a live teacher on a campus as to get [language instruction] from video conference,” Feldman said

The low enrollment numbers for distance learning courses may partially stem from “students not really knowing what they’re getting into and being a bit leer y of [video conferencing courses],” Feldman said

While acknowledging that video conferencing courses, like their conventional counterparts, are taught in the classroom, Feldman said that the University needs instructors on campus to help promote foreign language study

“Having a teacher on campus to hold language tables, to do promotional events, to meet with students and get them interested and explain to them why they might want to study this language that builds a program in a way that a video from a remote site doesn’t,” he said “You can see that in the way that there was so much more support for Dutch when the teacher was here now, we have two students taking it when it’s a remote course ”

Jolanda Pandin, a lecturer of the Indonesian language, said that video conferencing can offer students the opportunity to learn a language when conventional options are not available Still, “ as of now, we can ’ t say that the video conferencing technology provides learning benefits equal to those that students in a conventional language environment receive,” she said

The conventional classroom format offers “immediate, direct and personal responses from instructors, which are crucial to language learning [and] aren ’ t yet matched by current video conferencing technology,” she said

Although critical languages often enroll fewer students than languages such as Mandarin, Spanish or French, Prof Tamara Loos, director of the Southeast Asia program, said that it is essential that the University support them Critical languages are of interest to not only budding linguists at the University, but also to United States foreign policy, she said

“If you have a lot of undergraduates who want to take the language, then Cornell benefits from offering that language That makes sense But if you think about it beyond Cornell, if you think about it in terms of producing experts in the U S who understand foreign languages, then it ver y quickly reaches a higher level of significance,” Loos said

Studying languages also helps widen students’ perspectives of their heritage and that of the countr y of the language they are learning, Pandin said

“Mastering a language which is not one ’ s own gives one chances to learn about others and hopefully to overcome one ’ s ignorance about them, especially about those who are marginal to our knowledge,” she said ”

With President David Skorton hoping to enroll more students in study abroad programs, it is more crucial than ever for the University to keep its critical language programs alive, Feldman said

“Generally, as a university that proclaims itself as the land-grant institution to the world, students need to be able to speak to that world in their own languages,” he said “President Skorton has said that 50 percent of students should have a meaningful international experience by the time they graduate, and I just wonder if you can have a meaningful international experience in a countr y where you don’t speak the language, where you rely on their translators Is that a meaningful experience?”

Akane Otani can be reached at aotani@cornellsun com

HELENE BEAUCHEMIN 13

Business Manager

RUBY PERLMUTTER 13

Associate Editor

JOSEPH STAEHLE 13

Web Editor

ESTHER HOFFMAN 13

Photography Editor

ELIZA LaJOIE ’13

Blogs Editor

ZACHARY ZAHOS 15

Arts & Entertainment Editor

ELIZABETH CAMUTI 14 City Editor

AKANE OTANI 14

ELIZABETH PROEHL ’13

Associate Multimedia Editor

SCOTT CHIUSANO ’15

Assistant Sports Editor

REBECCA COOMBES 14

Assistant Design Editor

NICHOLAS ST FLEUR ’13 Science Editor

JOSEPH VOKT 14

Assistant Web Editor

JACQUELINE CHAN ’14

Marketing Manager

ERIKA G WHITESTONE 15 Social Media Manager

JESSICA YANG 14

DAVID MARTEN ’14

JAMES RAINIS ’14

Independent Since 1880

130TH EDITORIAL BOARD

JUAN FORRER 13 Editor in Chief

JEFF STEIN 13

JAMES CRITELLI 13

A RITTER ’13

NEWCOMB 13

CHAN ’15

KOH 14

KATHARINE CLOSE 14

REBECCA HARRIS ’14

DANIELLE B ABADA ’14

HALEY VELASCO ’15

AMANDA STEFANIK ’13 Assistant Design Editor

SYDNEY RAMSDEN 14 Dining Editor

MAGGIE HENRY ’14

Coordinator AUSTIN KANG 15 Assistant Advertising Manager HANK BAO 14

KATERINA ATHANASIOU ’13

Editor

JACOB KOSE 13 Senior Editor

PATRICIO MARTÍNEZ ’13

Senior Editor

DANIEL ROBBINS 13 Senior Editor

Letters

t h e “ c o m p l i c a t e d”

n a t u re o f t h e c o n f l i c t , t h e c o l u m n q u i c k l y a b a n d o n s a n y e f f o r t t o w o rk t h ro u g h t h e

c o m p l e x i t y a n d i n s t e a d p e n s a p o l e m i c t h a t d o e s a w a y w i t h c o n t e x t , i g n o re s h i s t o r y a n d l e ve l s s o m e o f t h e m o s t i n s u l t i n g c h a r g e s I ’ ve e ve r s e e n p u b l i s h e d i n t h e p a g e s o f T h e Su n T h e c o l u m n c h a r g e s Is r a e l w i t h t h e “ e t h n i c c l e a n s i n g ” o f Pa l e s t i n i a n s , a n d t h e n d r a w s a n e q u i va l e n c e b e t we e n t h e s y s t e m a t i c , r a c i a l l y m o t i va t e d s l a u g h t e r o f s i x m i ll i o n Je w s i n t h e Ho l o c a u s t a n d Is r a e l i a c t i o n s t ow a rd Pa l e s t i n i a n s ove r t h e p a s t 6 5 ye a r s T h e f i r s t c h a r g e i s w o e f u l l y i n a c c u r a t e ; t h e s e c o n d i s d i s g u s t i n g

T h e p i e c e p o i n t s t o t h e d i s p l a c e m e n t o f Pa l e s t i n i a n s f ro m t h e i r h o m e s i n 1 9 4 8 a n d t h e re c e n t m i l i t a r y a c t i o n i n Ga z a a s e v i d e n c e o f s o c a l l e d “ e t h n i c - c l e a n s i n g ” W h a t i t d o e s n ’ t m e n t i o n , o f c o u r s e , i s t h a t f i ve A r a b c o u n t r i e s c h o s e w a r a g a i n s t Is r a e l i n 1 9 4 8 w i t h t h e i n t e n t o f p u s h i n g Is r a e l i n t o t h e s e a A n d w h e n c a l l i n g t h e re c e n t Ga z a a c t i o n a “ m a s s a c re ” a n d e v i d e n c e o f “ e t h n i c c l e a n s i n g , ” t h e a u t h o r i g n o re s t h e m e as u re s Is r a e l t o o k t o a vo i d c i v i l i a n c a s u a l t i e s , s u c h a s d ro p p i n g l e a f l e t s w a r n i n g c i v i li a n s t o a vo i d Ha m a s p o s i t i o n s T h e c o l u m n d o e s n ’ t b o t h e r t o m e n t i o n t h a t Is r a e l w i t h d re w f ro m Ga z a i n 2 0 0 5 , o n l y t o b e re w a rd e d w i t h s h owe r s o f ro c k e t s ove r

So u t h e r n Is r a e l A n d i t c a n ’ t s e e m t o f a t h o m t h a t m a y b e , j u s t m a y b e , Is r a e l’s m i l i t a r y a c t i o n i n Ga z a w a s n ’ t “ e t h n i c c l e a n s i n g , ” b u t a d e f e n s i ve a c t i o n t a k e n t o p ro t e c t t h e 3 5 m i l l i o n c i t i ze n s w h o f o u n d t h e m s e l ve s u n d e r ro c k e t f i re a n a c t i o n a n y o t h e r c o u n t r y o n E a r t h w o u l d h a ve u n d e r t a k e n

So w h e n t h e c o l u m n a s k s m e t o “d e c i d e w h e t h e r 1 6 0 Pa l e s t i n i a n s d e a d a n d s i x Is r a e l i s d e a d l o o k s l i k e Is r a e l i s e l f - d e f e n s e , ” I w o n ’ t f a l l v i c t i m t o i n t e l l e c t u a l l a z i n e s s a n d p re t e n d t h a t a b o d y c o u n t s e r ve s a s s o m e s o r t o f p e r ve r s e s c o re c a rd I ’l l k e e p i n m i n d t h a t a l m o s t 1 , 7 0 0 ro c k e t s h a ve b e e n l a u n c h e d i n t o Is r a e l t h i s ye a r a l o n e , a n d t h a t we re i t n o t f o r t h e Iro n Do m e m i s s i l e d e f e n s e s y s t e m , m a n y m o re Is r a e l i s w o u l d b e d e a d A n d w h i l e t h i n k i n g a b o u t t h e t o p i c o f “ e t h n i c c l e a n s i n g , ” I ’l l re m e m b e r t h a t Ha m a s u s e s c i v i l i a n s a s h u m a n s h i e l d s a n d p a w n s t o f u r t h e r i t s e x p re s s e d g e n o c i d a l a i m o f k i l l i n g Je w s a n d w i p i n g Is r a e l o f f t h e m a p, w h e re a s Is r a e l i s a d e m o c r a c y w i t h a s i z a b l e A r a b p o p u l a t i o n t h a t c o n t i n u e s t o g row T h e c o l u m n m a d e s u re t o c a l l T h e Su n ’ s re c e n t e d i t o r i a l o n t h e c o m p e t i n g

Is r a e l i / Pa l e s t i n i a n p ro t e s t s “ a n i n e xc u s a b l e a c t o f c ow a rd i c e ” I ’d s u g g e s t t h e a u t h o r l o o k i n t h e m i r ro r

Na t h a n i e l Ro s e n ’ 1 3

This article is a MUST READ for any tenacious student, staff or faculty member who desires to go the extra mile to make a good impression Yes, your C V (résumé) matters, and of course you should practice furnishing witty, laconic and fluid re s p o n s e s t o t h o r n y q u e s t i o n s , b u t another absolutely essential aspect of professional presentation is extensive knowledge of etiquette for attire As a trustee one who must constantly

ser ve as a paragon of professionalism in dress I feel it is my privilege, nay, my duty and honor to share my far-reaching understanding on this subject with the Cornell community

Don’t be fooled! While the powerblue pin-stripe suit, matched with a freshly starched ivor y or ecru shirt and a well-paired tie can take you far, it may not be appropriate throughout the year Emily Post’s guide to etiquette (17th edition, p 56) reminds us that it is no longer the color, but rather the weight of the fabric that determines whether your outfit is seasonally suitable There i s n

between now and winter break, than the hideously ugly holiday sweater With any luck, the invitations to holiday gatherings are already piling up in your inbox Before you respond, please ensure that you are prepared to enter that function exuding all the opul

knowledge of etiquette and experience sporting professional apparel, I offer the following sure-fire suggestions for making a stunning impression with a monstrous holiday sweater:

1 First and foremost, the lurid and unseemly garment must complement your demeanor The whole idea behind the unprepossessing holiday sweater is that it facilitates your engagement with others If you are a gentle introvert, think about a subdued color scheme, a tame pattern and few frills If you, however, are a boisterous, gregarious

sweater

2 Don’t underestimate the importance of the back-stor y Plenty of websites offer intentionally beastly attire Show some self-respect and avoid purc h a s i n g o n l i n e W h e n o t h e r p a r t y g u e s t s i n c re d u l o u s l y q u e s t i o n y o u about your knitted monstrosity, you want to have a tale about fighting over the $2 deal at the Salvation Army with an 80-year old woman Of course, the b e s t b a c k - s t o r y i s i f y o u a c t u a l l y received the sweater as a gift, but we can ’ t all have moms like Mrs Weasley from Harr y Potter

3 Color scheme This is a tough one While you may be tempted toward the typical holiday hues, do not neglect the possibility of making a statement with less traditional shades The goal here is to shun the banal and insipid tones while still avoiding the impres-

sion that you are celebrating Christmas in the Caribbean, covered in pastels Save the Easter-egg pink for the spring; any deep, royal colors will likely suit you well

4 Message It is difficult to balance

p o l i t i c a l c o r re c t n e s s a n d i n c l u s i v i t y

mixed metaphors Unless you think you can tactfully explain the juxtaposition of the Star of David and a menorah next to ears of corn and a kinara

(Kwanzaa), or the Arabic script of an Eid prayer mingled with a cross and eight tiny reindeer, perhaps you should just cut your losses and choose a single holiday You could always have more than one sweater

5 Fit As much as I am a supporter and aficionado of metro-sexual attire, I w

European slim-fit look when sporting your loathsome holiday sweater This particular garment was made to have a looser feel Having said this, avoid u r b a n - t h u g b a g

s s a s w e l

Ju

t because it has a likeness of jolly St Nick plastered on the front does not mean it needs to be sized to fit the white-bearded head elf

6 Pa t t e r n s v s s o l i d c o l o r s O f course, patterned sweaters introduce a little more flair (professors, consider the argyle cardigan, it just screams academia), but harkening back to the first point, the pattern (or lack thereof ) you choose depends on your disposition and how daring you are Be ever conscious of the traditional rules for wearing horizontal and vertical lines, d e p e n d i n g o n t h e a s p e c t o f y o u r physique you seek to highlight with your garish attire

7 Accessorize! Please avoid blinking lights as part of your sweater; save that for the ground effects on your aftermarket lowered hot rod You can (and should!), however, complement your sweater with myriad holiday themed items (e g tinsel, garland, silver and gold bangles and bracelets) Chains are okay, but don’t let it interfere with the main attraction; the huge dollar-sign or clock around your neck should not cover Rudolph’s beautiful vermillion muzzle, embroidered delicately into your cardigan If you really want to make a statement, go for the St Luciaesque accessor y by wearing a wreath with lit candles as a crown

While I could continue at length, I hope I have set you on a path to bright-

innovative fashion tips Remember, I am always available via e-mail to dis-

matters, including

Takin g O w nership of Yo ur D i g it al Identity

For perhaps the first time ever, my Facebook news feed lit up in a show of collective activism this past weekend Not over a political or social cause, mind you, but rather solidarity regarding the sale and use of information shared over Facebook In light of proposed changes to the site’s privacy policy, Cornellians perceived a threat to their ownership of their digital identities

What the news feed activists don’t realize is that they never owned their Facebook data to begin with For the entirety of our time at Cornell, we have invested time and effort sharing photos, messages, events and information over social media without regard for the consequences Instead of naively claiming faux copyright over what we share, our generation must consider whether we share too much and if expanding our digital identity comes at the expense of our actual livelihood

The posts that inundated my news feed all asserted individual copyright over Facebook content and notified Facebook that written consent was required for use of the content for commercial purposes The posters wrote that such clarification was necessitated by Facebook’s initial public offering and subsequent change in privacy policy

Of course, one cannot undo or modify the terms and conditions for use of Facebook they agreed to when signing up Facebook did modify its privacy policy, but not significantly and irrespective of the transition to public ownership That the posts spread as they did, even within the Cornell community, defies the conventional wisdom that an individual wall post would not come to Facebook s attention nor be of legal consequence The common concern of so many, however, reveals an inherent misunderstanding on the part of Facebook users Such a misunderstanding raises questions about the efficacy of current mechanisms for conveying and signing terms and conditions for website use

In order to fully appreciate the ramifications of misunderstanding Facebook’s privacy policies, it’s necessar y to appreciate how much we use the site The over whelming majority of Cornellians are among the site’s 845 million monthly active users According to researchers at the University of Gothenburg, the average Facebook user logs in 6 1 times and uses the site for 75 minutes per day That’s the equivalent of a lecture a day on Facebook, although we all know time spent on Facebook and time spent in lecture isn’t zero-sum The blog Digital Buzz further notes that “48% of 18 to 34 year olds check Facebook right when they wake up ” Facebook doesn’t merely consume time, but also effort; we prioritize and stress over our digital lives

from the incipience of the real day

The 8 75 hours per week the average user spends on Facebook are significant when compared to the other activities Cornellians spend time on According to the 2011 PULSE Sur vey, on average Cornell students spend approximately 15-16 hours per week in scheduled class and labs, less than five hours per week engaged in physical fitness activities and around five hours per week on extracurricular activities Fur ther, over half of Cornellians do not work for pay and almost 60 percent per form no community ser vice in an average week When it comes to o u r t i m e a t C o r n e l l , Facebook takes precedence over exercise, involvement, income and the community Of course, some time spent on Facebook is concurrent with other activities, but in multi-tasking we turn our attention from the real world to the digital one

use of Facebook can positively affect student self-esteem because it shows things that reflect well upon the user

Another study, by Cornell Professor of Sociology Matthew Brashears, showed that while Americans have increased their networks through social media, the number of people we count as close friends has actually declined To me, the implications of the Cornell studies are that we immerse ourselves in our positive digital identities, moments and friendships while sometimes ignoring and forsaking our actual selves

Ultimately, something positive can come out of the fact

With all the time and effort we invest in Facebook, it makes sense that users would want to assert their copyright over what can only be understood as an extension of our identity Facebook indeed accumulates a wealth of information about its users and has considerable latitude in its use of the data Inevitably, we voluntarily elected to share personal information and now face the consequences Facebook has been genuine in attempts to spread awareness of its privacy policy, and will continue to do so as more and more Americans become attuned to their digital rights and responsibilities

What many of us don’t realize is that, increasingly, what we share becomes our identity to the outside world The Federal Trade Commission has authorized firms to conduct social media background checks of proposed hires, and they increasingly choose to vet your friends, pictures and commentar y Aspiring students aren ’ t free from scrutiny; Inside Higher Ed reported on a sur vey that showed “the percentage of admissions officers who reported that something they found there [on the internet] had negatively affected an applicant’s chances of admission increased in the last year from 12 percent to 35 percent ”

Perhaps more importantly, our use of Facebook has personal consequences A study co-authored by Cornell Professor of Communication Jeffrey Hancock showed the

Pthat many Cornellians fell victim to a Facebook copyright hoax We can channel our concern about ownership of our digital identities into an effort to delineate those profiles from our actual selves There is much that can be gained from sharing over social media (for example, column readership) and its use to facilitate and enhance our interactions is extremely promising But we must take care to not let its use supplant our actual interactions, because we don’t ultimately own or control our digital identity

We don’t have the ability to delete what become Facebook’s proprietar y pictures, opinions and music choices from the collective Internet memor y What we do have is the opportunity to make wise life choices and selectively represent ourselves on Facebook by being smart in what we share; Facebook can only share the information you volunteer Think about limiting your use of social media so that it complements, not replaces, your activities, interactions and future prospects In doing so, you’ll be copyrighting your right to represent yourself as you wish and avoiding having your digital identity come in the way of sharing your true self

Jon Weinberg is a senior in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations He may be reached at jweinberg@cor nellsun com In Focus appears alter nate Wednesdays this semester

In P rai se of Gannett Health S er vices

raise of Gannett Health Ser vices is not a common sentiment on East Hill Often complaints about the health ser vice center ’ s handling of a case of the common cold and the ensuing jest, “Did they ask you if you were pregnant?” reverberate Far Above Cayuga’s Waters I shared these same vie ws of Gannett’s supposed incompetence until a fe w weeks ago when I was faced with a gr uesome alternative, the Cayuga Medical Center Urgent Care facility

For those loyal readers who noticed that I did not write a column two weeks ago, I apologize Unfor tunately, I was

sick to a degree that did not even allow me to eat food or sleep comfor tably, hardly an appropriate condition for writing a column The sickness that was afflicting me was called Coxsackie vir us, a l s o c a l l e d H a n d , Fo o t a n d Mo u t h Disease for the painful sores that you sustain on and in, you guessed it, your hands, feet and mouth

With the initial onset of the symptoms I asked a friend to drop me off at

the aforementioned Urgent Care facility on Sunday since Gannett is not opened on Sundays (an issue I will discuss later) In total, including a separate trip to a pharmacy, the entire ordeal took me four hours and I was essentially told to take ibuprofen, use cough drops and apply eye drops for what was improperly diagnosed as Conjunctivitis (later, I found out that my bloodshot eyes were simply a sideeffect of the Coxsackie and that the antibiotics that Urgent Care had given me were not helping)

I suffered for several days, unable to eat or attend class until I took my sick-

David Fischer Fischy Business

ness to Gannett on Tuesday With a properly scheduled appointment, the visit was a cool bree ze in the Coxsackie-induced swamp of my inability to eat I came away from the visit with a concrete idea of what the vir us did, how to treat it and with actual medication to dull the pain of my cold-sore-filled mouth Fur thermore, t

scheduled two follow-up appointments to track my immune system ’ s progress in

Gannett had actually provided a concrete plan to conquer the vir us rather than just letting the illness take its course like Urgent Care had And, more impor tantly, they did it in half of the time Granted, there are several significant problems with how Gannett operates First of all, the health ser vices building is closed on Sundays, and as a close friend recently put it, “people don’t just not get sick on Sundays ” Take my case for example; I was str uck with my illness on a Sunday and was forced to go to a clinic where I did not receive adequate care

Another problem is Gannett’s misguided fixation on their own alcohol policy Gannett requires that you fill out a preappointment questionnaire before ever y visit where they ask about your recent alcohol consumption Although there is an option to not answer the question, if your answer aligns with the standard for binge drinking (four drinks for females or five for males in one sitting) then, according to a friend’s account, a large par t of your visit to Gannett will consist of alcohol-related patronizing rather than t re a t i n g t h e re a s o n f o r yo u r v i s i t t o Gannett These are two aspects of the health center that must be reformed in order to optimize an ill student’s experie n c e , b u t e v e n w i t h t h e s e a s p e c t s , Gannett remains a valuable resource for student health

You really do not appreciate the efficiency of Gannett until you make backto-back visits to a hospital clinic and then to the clinic on Ho Plaza At Gannett, if

you simply walk in without an appointment you can expect to be seen quickly by a nurse who will likely refer you to a same-day appointment within an hour At a clinic, you can expect to wait with screaming children, people talking loudly on their cell phones and a television blaring car toons for about an hour until you are seen by a nurse who quickly checks your vitals and then tells you to go back into the loud, unclean waiting room

A l t h o u g h m a n y d o n o t c o n s i d e r t h e sheer, assembly-line efficiency of Gannett to be pleasant, it is far more pleasant than the unorganized alternative Fur thermore, at least in my anecdotal experience, the doctors at Gannett are quite knowledgeable and helpful as long as you know the correct questions to ask them It seems a universal constant with health care professionals that they require prompting to be tr uly helpful and, as long as you come to Gannett with written questions for the doctors they are q u i t e h e l p f u l A l t h o u g h I a g re e t h a t Gannett could provide a more pleasant experience for Cornellians (and that it definitely should be open on Sundays) it accomplishes its purpose admirably It acts as a bastion of health care knowledge where students can go to avoid the long wait and other negative consequences of poorly r un clinics

David Fischer is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences He may be reached at dfischer@cornellsun com Fischy Business appears alternate Wednesdays this semester

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

T h e S u n ’ s To p 1 0 S o n g s o f 2 0 1 2

In an interview with Stereogum last year, Cloud Nothings mastermind Dylan Baldi bluntly revealed, “The Wipers are undoubtedly the biggest influence on Attack On Memory Nowhere is that more evident than on “Wasted Days,” the eight minute epic that is the standout track on one of the year ’ s strongest albums Like the Wiper’s “Youth of America” always worth a listen “Wasted Days” is a complex and intricate musical achievement that stays within the realm of rock, but also tests its boundaries What makes Baldi stand apart from his acknowledged predecessors is his penchant for introspective lyrics, centering his composition around the revealing and repeated refrain, “I thought I would be more than this ”

Despite being the second single of Grimes’ new hit album, Visions, “Oblivion” is her more distinguished track Singer Claire Boucher’s unique lispy voice is, as usual, fun and playful The electronic music of the track reminisces the original synth-fuelled era (also known as the ‘80s), but with the characteristic Grimes strangeness Perhaps the best part of the track is the subtle but interesting background chorus of “la la la”s The fear that Boucher expresses about walking alone at night certainly hits close to home as well: "I never walk about/After dark/ It's my point of view/ That someone could break your neck ” Some may question the new style Grimes has pursued in Visions, but with a song this catchy and thoughtful, who cares?

This year ’ s darling of the R&B genre, Frank Ocean, isn’t too keen on holding back His debut album, Channel Orange, was pushed out a week early due to fawning reviews, and he publicly discussed his sexuality on Tumblr Similarly, “Pyramids” breaks a whole lot of precedents Clocking in at just under 10 minutes, our favorite song of 2012 is a sprawling, ambitious track that contains more ideas than most discographies It moodily explores the limits of R&B, wedding early Prince and Daft Punk to extraordinary success Ocean even throws in an angsty John Mayer guitar solo The lyrics, meanwhile, weave together ancient history and a sexy fantasy in which our doleful singer is Cleopatra's pimp A daring affirmation that Ocean is here to stay, “Pyramids” glides from melancholy to celebratory with audacity and sophistication 10 minutes have never gone by faster

Hipster evocations of irony, acoustic guitars and pretension have ruined rock music Japandroids are here to remind you that all you really need to change your life is a guitar, a drum set and lyrics screamed at the top of your lungs “The House That Heaven Built” mixes heart-onyour-sleeve (read: emo) introspection with Springsteenian grandeur The key line sounds like the greatest epigraph ever scrawled onto a bathroom stall: “It’s a lifeless life with no fixed address to give / But you ’ re not mine to die for anymore, so I must live ” This song is the sound of riding your bike in a thunderstorm with a thirty rack in your backpack, not giving a damn if you crash Anybody who’s too cool for this kind of stuff is lying to themselves

In a year fraught with misplaced nineties nostalgia and irresponsible bass drops, Icona Pop captured the essence of both, with a handy assist from the alwayseffective Charli XCX “I Love It” is the aural equivalent of mainlining Pixie Stix Combining a snotty vocal delivery most reminiscent of the Spice Girls (nineties bitches if there ever were any) with an EDM beat that forgoes any sort of build-up or subtlety, “I Love It” examines the surrounding destruction a devastated economy, an incendiary Middle East, a supposed lack of morals among the youth of today and announces: “I don’t care! I love it!” Never has apathy sounded so joyous

W h o ?

David Byrne & St. Vincent

When Baltimore duo Beach House released the follow-up to its 2010 breakout Teen Dream, expectations were at an all-time high Bloom proves to be yet another extraordinary record right from the get-go with soaring opener “Myth,” a gorgeous fusion of synths, operatic guitar and Victoria Legrand’s smoky vocals “Myth” kicks off the album on a heavy note as the layers of beats and synth effects build to an explosion culminating in Legrand’s longing howl, “Help me to make it, help me to make it ” Just when we thought the song couldn’t get anymore epic, in comes one of the most stunning and memorable guitar solos of the year “Myth” is a triumph: It’s beautiful, nostalgic and, well, just so delightfully Beach House-y

After a 2011 spent expanding their brand, getting into a scuffle with Tegan and Sara and inspiring a classic Mos Def freakout following their insane performance on Fallon, Tyler, The Creator and his comrades in Odd Future were risking oversaturation by keeping themselves in the spotlight But while the Tipper Gores of the world just wished they would go away, Odd Future just kept releasing music: “Oldie” is their mission statement 2012’s ultimate posse track proved that Odd Future’s bench is deep Everyone, from the emergent Hodgy Beats to the gravel-voiced Mike G to perennial jokester Jasper Dolphin drop quoteables The highlight, though, is Earl’s return to the fray, a display of verbal acrobatics unmatched by any verse this year Any song where someone rhymes “Four Loko in a cobra clutch” with “dunkin’ scrotum in a Folger’s cup ” is a force to be reckoned with

For better or for worse, 2012 was the Year of “Call Me Maybe ” From frat parties to Obama-based tribute videos, Carly Rae Jepsen’s breakout song was everywhere, spending nine weeks at the top of the Billboard Top 100 chart Luckily, the year ’ s most ubiquitous pop song was also one of its best, a classic bubblegum tune that became popular for a reason The lyrics and music are simple, almost to the point of redundancy, but they hide the truth about “Call Me Maybe:” The song is a classic pop tune, dealing with mature emotional themes of attraction, anxiety and rejection And it’s fun to dance to

The opening track and lead single from Love This Giant, the collaborative album born of the union between indie luminary Annie Clark, aka St Vincent, and Talking Heads frontman David Byrne, “Who” is as delightfully absurd as one would hope from the highprofile pair Whereas many of the songs on the album fell short of expectations, on “Who?” Clark and Byrne’s

Intermittently trading verses and singing in unison, they oscillate between whimsy and philosophical inquiry, while a lively brass arrangement interjects at every pause The flurry of sound that results is both charming and perplexing, a musical love child of eccentric origins

1 0

When we chose this year ’ s top songs, this wasn ’ t part of anybody’s list But someone decided to tack this on as a “bonus,” and soon we agreed that it earned a spot This mimics how the song exploded: It’s so ridiculous that no one, not even K-Pop fans, can take it seriously Its popularity is not simply its ridiculousness; it denies offense and criticism at every angle without seeming as outrageous as the song itself philosopher Slavoj Zizek sounded silly when he called the song a “ pure ideological phenomenon” of capitalism Stripped of our cynicism and divisions, there’s nothing we can do but the horse dance 835 million times and counting

Going Places: A Year in Visual Art at Cornell

BY DAVEEN KOH Sun Arts and Entertainment Editor

The art of the in-between has thrived at Cornell this year A pair of site-specific works confronts visitors approaching the Johnson Museum of Art From afar, one blends into the Johnson s stone facade; the other radiates (roars, even) from a previously unnoticed hollow in the building The first work is Barrier, an insidious installation by the New York-based multimedia art collective Type A (Adam Ames and Andrew Bordwin) 21 curved, concrete sculptures, almost indistinguishable from the construction barricades that divide highway lanes, occupy the steps leading to the museum ’ s main entrance You might have casually brushed against these rather narrowly juxtaposed barriers and registered them as minor inconveniences en route to your next class Looking at photographs of Barrier, however, the grey army is shockingly visible Rapt with attention and arranged with military precision, the structures recall the imagery of security and surveillance Stare at Barrier long enough (20 seconds should do), and the tension between aggression and protection becomes palpable

Overhead, Cosmos is inescapable It demands pause When you ’ re trudging up Libe Slope on your way to a night prelim, Cosmos signals things infinitely bigger and brighter Ne w York-based ar tist Leo Villareal and his team spent weeks on-site to precisely position 12,000 light-emitting diodes on frames running along the ceiling of the Johnson’s Mallin Sculpture Court Villareal also needed time to understand the site to get the programming right the sequences of drifting and dashing light are random enough so that viewers won ’ t be able to detect a pattern Inspired by the light sculptors Dan Flavin (Monuments to V Tatlin) and James Turrell (Roden Crater), Villareal manipulates the basic laws of physics to create infinitely complex works Activating spaces is one of Villareal’s foremost aims, and he is very good at it Spend a minute stargazing at the Johnson, or stop by Villareal’s newly unveiled installations in New York City the honeycombed sculpture Hive at Bleecker Street Station and the Carbon-60 molecule model Buckyball at Madison Square Park

Outside, startles with its sumptuous visual vocabulary The exaggeratedly hostile Beating the Retreat ceremony, in which Indian and Pakistani military guards engage in demanding precision drills, is both poignant and farcical (in 2011 the rigour of the routine was toned down due to injury concerns) Kanwar presents many strange nuances as he finds them as irresolvable puzzles His str uggle to understand the principle of non-violence takes the form of meandering musings about Gandhi and Tolstoy Zarina Hashmi’s 2001 woodcut print Dividing Line, features a jagged line that evokes the complex rift between

“To create art is to create dangerously,” Albert Camus wrote Lines of Control, held at the Johnson Museum this past spring, illustrates how prescient Camus’ words have proved in a post-9/11 world At this stellar exhibition co-organized by the London-based arts organization Green Cardamom and the Johnson Museum, over 40 international artists contemplate ephemeral and explosive partitions in South Asia Amar Kanwar’s 1997 film about the Wagah Border, A Season

India and Pakistan, and the myriad relationships fractured by this territorial split The Cornell edition of this travelling exhibition was curated by Prof Iftikhar Dadi, history of art, Hammad Nasar and the Johnson’s Chief Curator Ellen Avril Perhaps for most on campus, art is usually experienced in transit, and not always consciously There are the exhibitions you walk past, sometimes for consecutive days, weeks even You register a burst of color, a tangle of pipes or some other entirely inconceivable feeling But still, you register something One of these venues is Mann Gallery, on the second

floor of Mann Library Thibault Roland post grad takes on the mystery of the road trip in Terra Nova, his otherworldly photography travelogue exhibited at Mann Gallery The show’s title references Newfoundland, the site of the surreal landscapes he captures (not the television series, the avid science fiction fan protests) “Aftermath” revels in the glory of a violent, violet sky, below which a highway pulses and pylons sway Drama gives way to comedy in Roland’s quieter photos “When Rock Meets Ice” is a witty dialogue between (you guessed it) a slab of ice and a boulder, on a pristine snowscape Roland experiments with repetition to stunning effect “ Twins” and “Repetition” depict lines of self-assured boats gliding through a silent evening

These portraits in transit, which took a lengthy 20 days to shoot, are an ode to the romance of going on the road Of course, you don’t have to go to an exhibition to experience art Cornell Cinema has proven especially helpful, by screening selections like The Artist is Present 750,000 people met Abramovic when she shared a table with each of them (736 5 hours in total) at her 2010 retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA) It’s unnerving and surprising to see nearly every visitor reduced to tears after spending anywhere between a few seconds to a half hour looking Abramovic in the eye The provocative performance artist, who insists she is just “ an artist” and not “ a feminist,” compels us to reconsider the power of the gaze, which has been endlessly analyzed in the history of art Filmmaker Matthew Akers spent years recording the construction of Abramovic’s MoMA show Aker’s final product, a perhaps insufficiently critical portrait of the artist, was screened at Cornell Cinema in October We see how Abramovic trains young actors and artists to replicate her performance art pieces, boot camp style We glimpse her intensely bittersweet relationship with her former longtime collaborator Ulay As we meet Abramovic’s penetrating gaze, we fall in love with her

This selection is, obviously, not exhaustive It would be nice if it were All this aspires to be is a reminder to look around and think twice about that proverbial shark in a formaldehyde tank Or if you have to write term papers about this sort of thing: It’s too easy to trip over definitions, or delve into theory without fully registering that the basis of all that you write is what you feel about what you see

Daveen Koh is a junior in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning She can be reached at arts-and-entertainmenteditor@cornellsun com

2013-14 12 Bedrooms Utilities Included except lights 4 Baths 3 Kitchens Laundry Parking Available 315-559-9029/607-748-1129

Heat Heads Towards Champion ship Win

What are you going to do now that the NHL is still locked out?

“Become a hard core Cornell Hockey Fan it’s the closest we have and hey, regardless of the lockout, it’s pretty good hockey!”

Katie Schubauer ’13

“ Wait for Notre Dame to win the National Championship on Januar y 7th Let's Go Irish!” John McGrorty ’15

“Follow Cornell Hockey even more ” Ben Horowitz ’15

“Go all the way to Europe where I can see some hockey ” Dani Abada ’14

“Move to Russia and become a cheerleader at a KHL team ” Jeff Stein ’13

“ Watch the KHL I can still get my fill of Geno Malkin and I hear they have cheerleaders Post-college career? Eh, maybe ”

Lauren Ritter ’13

“More Cornell wrestling Good luck this weekend boys at the Vegas Invitational!”

Haley Velasco ’15

“Root for the best basketball team in New York, the Brooklyn Nets!”

Scott Chiusano ’15

“I am going to spend more time watching Alastair Cook play his square cut through the offside for four ” Ben Schneider ’13

“Petition Cornell to revoke Gar y Bettman’s ’74 diploma ” Joe Niczky ’13

m , b u t w h e n t h e y t e a s e y o u l i k e t h i s , i t ’ s j u s t p l a i n m e a n Eve r yo n e ’ s f a vo r i t e b a n d w a go n t e a m o f t h e f i r s t h a l f h a s b e e n t h e K n i c k s , w h o b e g a n t h e s e as o n p l a y i n g s o m e i n s p i r e d o f f e n s e a n d d e f e n s e Howe ve r, t h e re ’ s n o c h a n c e t h a t t h e y c a n c o n t i n u e t h e i r h o t s t a r t ; t h e i r d e f e n s e h a s a l r e a d y b e g u n f a l l i n g o f f, a l l ow i n g 1 3 1 p o i n t s t o t h e Ro c k e t s i n t h e Je re m y L i n B ow l , a n d t h e re ’ s n o re a s o n t o b e l i e ve i t ’ s c o m i n g b a c k Fi r s t o f a l l , t h e K n i c k s a re t h e o l d e s t t e a m i n t h e h i s t o r y o f t h e N B A w i t h f o u r p l a ye r s ove r t h e a g e o f 3 8 a n d e v e r y s i n g l e p l a y e r e xc e p t Im a n Sh u m p e r t , w h o i s i n j u re d , i s a b ove t h e a g e o f 2 7 T h e we a r a n d t e a r o f t h e N B A s e a s o n a f f e c t s t h e f re s h e s t o f l e g s s o yo u c a n i m a g i n e w h a t i t w i l l d o t o t h e K n i c k s Ad d i t i o n a l l y, w h a t ’ s g o i n g t o h a p p e n o n c e A m a re St o u d e m i re c o m e s b a c k ?

H i s t o r y h a s s h o w n t h a t h e i n s t a n t l y m a k e s a t e a m w o r s e o n d e f e n s e a n d w i t h t h e i r o f f e n s e a l r e a d y r o l l i n g , w h a t w i l l h e re a l l y a d d ? I f o re s e e a l o t o f d r a m a a b o u t w h o t o b e n c h a n d t r a d e r u m o r s s w i r l i n g w h e n h e re t u r n s f ro m i n j u r y A s f o r t h e c o n t e n d e r s , t h e Gr i z z l i e s l o o k l i k e t h e b e s t t e a m i n t h e We s t t h i s ye a r, e e r i l y f e e li n g l i k e t h e Sp u r s o f o l d D e f e n s i v e l y, To n y A l l e n g i v e s t h e m a n e d g i n e s s a n d i n c re d i b l e d e f e n s i ve i n t e n s i t y t h a t f e e l s d i st i n c t l y l i k e t h e Sp u r s o f o l d On t h e o t h e r e n d , Ma rc Ga s o l l e a d s t h e o f f e n s e – i n a m a n n e r s i m il a r t o t h e w a y Du n c a n r a n t h e Sp u r s ’ o f f e n s e i n t h e p a s t – a n d i t i s a b e a u t i f u l t h i n g t o b e h o l d Ga s o l i s a ve r a g i n g 4 8 a s s i s t s a g a m e a n d j u s t 1 3 t u r n ove r s a g a m e ; t o p u t t h a t i n t o p e r s p e ct i ve , h e i s f i f t h i n t h e N B A i n a s s i s t s - t o - t u r n ove r r a t i o a n d t h e o n l y n o n - p o i n t g u a rd i n t h e t o p 2 0 A l t h o u g h c o n t e n d e r s h a ve t o s h ow t h e i r m e t t l e i n t h e p l a yo f f s , w i t h t h e c o m b i n e d s c r a p p in e s s a n d o f f e n s i ve t a l e n t o f t h e Gr i z z l i e s , I b e l i e ve t h e y w i l l b e j u s t a s b i g a t h re a t o u t We s t a s t h e T h u n d e r, L a k e r s a n d Sp u r s c o m e p l a yo f f t i m e Ba c k i n t h e E a s t , h o n e s t l y, t h e o n l y re a l c o n t e n d e r i s t h e He a t ; s e r

Albert Liao can be reached at aliao@cornellsun com

Spor ts

Cornell Returns to Season Play

Men play in adult l ea g ue game, w omen fac e of f a gain st Stanford

t e r w

h o s t t h e Ba l t i m o re Po l o C l u b o n Fr i d a y a n d t h e w o m e n t a k e o n St a n f o rd a t O x l e y o n Sa t u rd a y T h i s we e k e n

e y b e g i n a g a i n a f t e r w i n t e r b re a k T h e m e n re t u r n t o t h e a re

h e t o p

t e a m s i n t h e c o u n t r y C o l o r a d o m ove d o n t o t h e t o u r n am e n t f i n a l b u t l o s t by o n e g o a l t o U VA a t e a m t h a t h a d b e a t e n t h e Re d by n i n e g o a l s e a r l i e r i n t h e s e a s o n T h e c l o s e f i n i s h a m o n g t h e t o p t h re e t e a m s s e t s u p w h a t w i l l l i k e l y b e h i g h l y c o m p e t i t i ve re g i o n a l a n d n a t i o n a l

t o u r n a m e n t s

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

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

p l a y t h i s we e k e n d a n d i n s t e a d f a c e t h e Ba l t i m o re Po l o C l u b, a n a d u l t t e a m c o n s i s t i n g o f f o r m e r c o l l e g e p l a ye r s

Ac c o rd i n g t o h e a d C o a c h Da v i d El d re d g e ’ 8 1 , t h e m a t c hu p s h o u l d p rov i d e a g o o d c h a l l e n g e f o r t h e m e n “ I e x p e c t i t t o b e p re

e x p e r i e n c e d t e a m [ a n d ] t h e y h a ve s o m e g o o

Red Heads to Brandeis Invitational

The Red heads to the Brandeis Invitational this

w e e k e n d i n Wa l t h a m , Ma s s t o c l o s e o u t t h e semester of competition for the 2012 year

“It’s a lot harder competition than we had in the past two competitions The schools are a lot harder There are more fencers w h o c o m p

national circuit We have b e e n c o n t i n u i n g t h e pace, ” said senior sabre Audrey Speer “I am excited ” C o r n e l l w i l l f a c e o f f a g a i n s t B o s t

n C o l l e g e , UNC, Johns Hopkins, St John’s, MIT and the host school Brandeis “[ The Brandeis] tournament is going to be really exciting for us It is our first real challenge of the year I think that we have all shown reall y g re a t re s u l t s , s o I think we have a lot to look

for the day On the indiv i d u a l f r o n t , f re s h m a n foilist Angelica Gangemi had a perfect day, 19-0, w h i l e s e n i o r s a b r i s t Au d re y Sp e e r a n d McIntosh had only one loss

“It’s our first great challenge of the year

The Red will return to a c t i o n a f t e r w i n t e r b re a k w i t h t h e P h i l a d e l p h i a I n v i t a t i o n a l o n Ja n 2 6 w h e re t h e team will face

McIntosh “It has always been the kickoff to our really difficult part of the season ” According to the team, t h e t o u

s h

n

been increasing in difficulty this season and will c u l m i n a t e a t

i s St John’s, who was ranked No 3 last year

In t h e h i s t o r y o f Cornell, against these specific teams that the Red will face this weekend, the team has a 72-40 record overall

In the last tournament at Sacred Heart, Cornell had a perfect 8-0 record going 173-43 in individual bouts

In the last tournament, both the foil and sabre squads went undefeated, while the epees went 6-2

Interesting Start to NB A S ea son

Am o n t h a f t e r t h e NBA season starte d , we k n ow barely anything The teams we expect to be good – the Thunder, Spurs and Heat –are good, while most surprises – the Bobcats being above 500 and the Lakers having just a 500 record –have no chance of sustaining their pace However, the things we have learned are certainly interesting

hwestern, Drew and NJIT The team will then head to the Ivy League Championship first and second rounds which will provide t

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

“ We have been practicing a lot [and] we have a p re t t y s o l i d g r o u p t h i s year We felt at the last competition that we were pretty cohesive so hopefully it will just get better with each tournament we do,” said sophomore epee Olivia Weller “[ The season] is going to get more c h a l l e n g i n g a n d

g o i n g t o p

i v e l y fence harder schools but as long as well all back each other up it should go [well] ”

Haley Velasco can be reached at hvelasco@cornellsun com

Firstly, Andrew Bynum’s off-the-cour t project: his hair It’s a shame for the 76ers that he is now out indefinitely and he may not p l a y a s i n g l e g a m e f o r Philadelphia – he’s a free agent at the end of this year – but his hair wow He has let it grow from his typical short haircut and the e a r l y re t u r n s a re g re a t Google ‘Is Andrew Bynum in costume or not?’ and be amazed and confused I’ve pondered this question for hours staring at my ceiling i n b e d a n d I j u s t c a n ’ t decide This story should b e l e a d i n g Sp o r t s c e n t e r

e ve r y d a y w i t h R a c h e l Nichols providing hourly updates

Another fun under-theradar story has been the great numbers Anderson Varejao is putting up this year Although he admits, “All I’m doing is the same thing – screens and rolling to the basket and going after every rebound,” he is having a spectacular statistical season He’s averaging 14

the Field

points and 14 1 rebounds a game, which leads the league Although God still hasn’t given up his vendetta against Cleveland (Kyrie Irving is injured for a month and the Cavs are 3-11), it’s nice to see an unsung hero be recognized for his statistical accomplishments

A n u n d e r - t h e - r a d a r gut-wrenching stor y is the m a n n e r i n w h i c h t h e Raptors and Wizards have lost games this year Let’s f i r s t g e t i t s t r a i g h t t h a t both teams are bad; the

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