2.21.12

Orgs. Debate Technion Partnership

By SYLVIA RUSNAK Sun Staff Writer

Supported by several professors, a proPalestinian student organization is calling on the University to end its partnership with the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology The group alleges that the Technion is implicated in war crimes as a result of its involvement in Israeli military research and development

In response to a petition started by the group online, the Cornell Israel Public Affairs Committee on Sunday posted a thank-you

Two Robberies Reported on West Campus Monday Night

Two people were robbed at knife-point on West Campus Monday night, according

descriptions of the height and attire of

occurred at about 9:58 p m and within 550 yards of each other

In both repor ts, the suspect was a white male, demanded the victim’s wallet and displayed a knife Additionally, the first robber was repor ted to have fled toward the Ithaca City Cemeter y a block from where the second robber y was repor ted Still, the first robber y was repor tedly committed by a 5’10” man in a “ gray hoodie,” while the second robber y was committed by a 6’4” male with a “black coat and a rag on his head,” according to repor ts made to police

The Ithaca Police Depar tment is investigating the repor ted robberies A preliminar y search by police Monday did not locate the suspects

Witnesses said the area was swarming with police shor tly after the repor ted incidents

Compiled by Jeff

Stein

letter to University administrators for forging the partnership The two universities will build a tech campus on Roosevelt Island in New York City over the next 30 years

The petition, written by Students for Justice in Palestine, criticizes the Technion’s relationship with two of Israel’s major defense corporations, Elbit Systems and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems It calls the Technion “ a full participant in the actions carried out by the Israeli militar y ” that

Gitlin ’13 Unopposed For S.A. Presidency

By EMMA COURT Sun Staff Writer

Student Assembly Vice

Pre s i d e n t Ad

’13 is running uncontested to be S A President for the next year No other applicants for the position turned in the materials by the necessar y due date for the position of Monday at noon, according to S A Pre s i d e n

’12

l

a

This is the first time a candidate for president of the S A has r un uncontested since the oppor tunity to vote for the position was extended to the

“Up until this afternoon, I was planning on having an opponent ”

0 0 9 , according to Corey Earle 07, associate director of student programs and an unofficial University his-

A

n

d h

Na

w

u

d r u n unopposed Monday afternoon Up until this afternoon, I was planning on having an opponent and r

one, Gitlin said Gitlin is the brother of Ben Gitlin ’12, the editor in chief of The Sun

dents who were popularly elected –– Rammy Salem ’10 Vince Andre ws ’11 and Natalie Raps ’12

a mpaigns, Earle said in an email Monday Gitlin said he will still run a campaign in order to remain in touch with the student body’s opinions and needs

S AE Wants Trial Moved to Ithaca

By MICHAEL LINHORST Sun Managing Editor

As a $25 million wrongful death lawsuit against Sigma Alpha Epsilon and several Cornell students progresses, new details have emerged about the events leading up to the death of George Desdunes ’13 last February

According to documents filed in the lawsuit by Desdunes’ mother, a “ noose ” was tied around his neck so tightly that it left “ligature marks The noose, the documents say, was used in addition to zip ties and duct tape during the pledging event that preceded Desdunes death In a separate development, SAE began pushing earlier this month to move the case from New York City, where it was filed, to Tompkins County, arguing that many potential witnesses are in the Ithaca area

Desdunes mother filed the lawsuit against SAE and several Cornell students in June The suit seeks at least $25 million in damages Desdunes, 19, who was a brother in SAE, was found on a couch at the SAE fraternity house on Feb 25, 2011, and later died at Cayuga Medical Center

The lawsuit claims that after a hazing event in which he was tied up and given alcohol by pledge

PUPIL POETRY

EcoVillage Installs Panels

To Harness Solar Energ y

By JACOB GLICK Sun Staff Wr ter

After 18 months of planning and constr uction, EcoVillage at Ithaca completed a solar panel array in December that will provide a majority of the community’s electrical power

T h e s y s t e m , w h i c h c o s t n e a r l y

$270,000, will generate 50 kilowatts of electricity enough to offset between 50 and 60 percent of the community’s power

c o n s u m p t i o n , a c c o rd i n g t o a re p o r t released by EcoVillage Leaders of the project say they hope that it will demonstrate the efficacy of renewable energy sources, such as solar power, on a small scale “ There are a lot of ideas and concepts for how to change our society’s dubious trajector y, but they don’t mean much until someone actual tries living that way, ” said Jeff Gilmore, an EcoVillage resident who helped spearhead the proj

by the lack of opposition to the project “I was surprised how easy it was to get consensus on this project,” Gilmore said “ This was a big financial commitment, and had a number of risk factors [including] regulator y snags, mistakes in financial models, system design problems, cost overr uns, et cetera ”

potential snafus loomed in the minds of the residents planning the ambitious solar panel assembly, the project team was “

allowed the residents to take the risks “knowingly as a group ”

Liz Walker, executive director for the E

Education, praised Gilmore and Tony Henderson, a member of the electrical company that installed the panels and an Ecovillage resident, for their dedication to both the idealistic and practical facets of the project “

“There is a lot of value in having something you can point to and say: ‘If they did it, why can’t I?’”

J ef f G ilmore

“Our par ticul a r s t y l e [ a t EcoVillage] is to star t with the general, middle-class American lifestyle and modify it for a lower ecological footprint, more interdependency through the sharing of common spaces, tools and chores, and a somewhat tighter social engagement with the neighbors ”

Established in 1996, EcoVillage currently consists of two neighborhoods, each with 30 homes, and promotes an environmentally-friendly lifestyle for its residents

The solar panels project was financed in par t by tax credits and loans that will be paid off by residents “through the regu l

y, according to its community newsletter Though residents will not pay significantly more for electricity from the array, Gilmore said he was pleasantly surprised

n d of project does

Tony Henderson –– to have a vision, put in a lot of hard work, and see it through all of the obstacles to the point of completion,” Walker said in an email Walker also attributed the project s success to the village residents’ ability to finance it She said that she believes the solar array will not only provide “ultralocal, ultra-clean” energy, but that it will also prove to be an asset to the community ’ s ongoing educational work on sustainable living practices

Echoing Gilmore’s expectations for the project, Walker added that she sees the project as an example she hopes other communities choose to follow Gilmore spoke optimistically about the possibility of moving from the smaller-scale success of EcoVillage’s solar project to larger endeavors, such as projects at Cornell

“Cornell already has in place many of the things needed to make such a project w o r k , ” h e s a i d “ I

already own their buildings and their land ”

Regardless of whether or not the project team ’ s ser vices are requested by the Un

Students Will Volunteer in Nicaragua

By JONATHAN SWARTZ Sun Contributor

This spring break, a group of 22 students in Cornell’s chapter of the Br i d g e s t o C o m m u n i t y s e r v i c e organization will help construct a hospital in Siuna, Nicaragua Bridges to Community aims “ to create a world where basic needs are treated as human rights” by helping provide necessities such as shelter and nutrition to poverty-stricken communities in developing countries, according to its website

As part of the Cornell trip, participants will attend a mandator y two-credit seminar prior to their departure The students will discuss ser vice, learning and poverty, as well as Nicaraguan culture and histor y Prof Phillip McMichael, development sociology, has advised the group since it was founded in 2004 He has contacted many of his students to volunteer with the program, according to Amy Couch ’12, p re s i d e n t o f Br i d g e s t o Community

“I worked on a project with Prof McMichael in a developmental sociology class, and then he reco m m e n d e d t h a t I t a k e De ve l o p m e n t a l So c i o l o g y 4 5 0 0 , which is Bridges to Community,”

Couch said “I went on the trip [last year] and had such a great experience, and I wanted to become more involved ”

Couch said the trip proved to be a learning experience as well as a volunteer opportunity

“I got more out of engaging with the community members and learning about issues of poverty, Couch said “I felt like it was more of an exchange than I was ser ving them What I got most out of the trip was what I learned from the people that we worked with Jessie Boas ’13, vice president of Bridges to Community, who also went on the trip last year, said that the program integrates both volunteering and educational aspects

“I was searching the Cornell Public Ser vice [Center] website, and Bridges seemed to resonate ver y strongly with me, ” she said “I found that the educational aspect of the program was both exciting and motivating, as our studies would be applicable in the group s journey to Nicaragua ”

She also said that the program offered her a chance to gain a better understanding of a different culture

“Compared to a majority of the world, I come from a ver y privi-

leged background, and I believe it is essential to connect with those that are less fortunate,” Boas said “In the past, I have become stuck in the Cornell bubble In order to break free from this isolation, I pushed my limits and joined the Bridges team ”

The trip costs about $1,700 per student Students pay for the trip and help fundraise throughout the year, according to Couch

“ We h a ve a c o n c e r t a t T h e Nines, a raffle at Level B, Shadows Dance Troupe puts on a show for us at Bailey and the hockey team does a skate night with us, ” she said Couch said the program has helped her determine her future plans Next year, she will return to Cornell to pursue a master ’ s degree

McMichael as one of her advisors

“I thought international work was what I wanted to do througho

ve l i n g t o Nicaragua has confirmed what I want to do and what I am passionate about,” Couch said “[The trip] definitely impacted what I wanted to do with my life ”

Jonathan Swartz can be reached at jbs336@cornell

edu

EcoVillage project will “have the effect of helping people expanding their ideas of what is possible for regular folks to do ” “ There is a lot of value, I think, in having something you can point to and say: ‘If they did it, why can ’ t I?’” Gilmore said

Jacob Glick can be reached at jglick@cornellsun com

GIAC Celebrates Black History Month

The Greater Ithaca Activities Center held its annual Black History Month Talent Show on Friday, drawing the talents of poets, singers and dancers, according to The Ithaca Journal

“People enjoy celebrating Black History Month It’s a special time and people want to commemorate that,” Marcia Fort, executive director of GIAC, told the Journal

Cayuga Heights Names New Police Chief

The Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees voted unanimously last week to make James Steinmetz the village’s new police chief, The Ithaca Journal reported

Steinmetz joined the Cayuga Heights Police Department in 1994 and formerly held the position of sergeant, according to The Journal

Ithaca

Chipotle Will Open Tuesday

Chipotle Mexican Grill is opening its new location on Meadow Street Tuesday, The Ithaca Journal reported The restaurant chain, known for its burritos and tacos, is now hiring

Man Arrested for Burglary

On Sunday morning, a resident of Linn Street called the police following a break-in, according to The Ithaca Journal

Charles E Brown was charged with second-degree burglary, petit larceny, obstructing governmental administration and an open container violation after being found with the stolen property, The Journal reported

Compiled by Dennis Liu

S AE Files Motion to Move Wrong ful Death Lawsuit to Tompkins County

DESDUNES

Continued from page 1

members, Desdunes became so intoxicated that he “required immediate medical treatment Instead, he was taken by the pledges, still bound at the wrists and ankles, and dumped on a couch in the SAE house where he was unattended and left to die ”

The lawsuit was filed on June 27 by Marie Lourdes Andre, Desdunes mother, in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, where she lives But SAE filed a motion on Feb 2 to move the case to Tompkins County, arguing that potential witnesses would be inconvenienced by having to travel to New York City Andre “should not be able to force virtually all of the material witnesses to travel to [Brooklyn] solely for her convenience, SAE s motion argued The motion identified two cleaning service employees, as well as employees at Cayuga Medical Center, as potential witnesses One of the cleaning ser vice employees stated in an affidavit that he had found Desdunes in the SAE house Attorneys for both Andre and SAE declined to comment on any part of the lawsuit The judge in the case has not yet ruled on SAE’s motion but a hearing is scheduled for Thursday

In other court documents, new details emerged about what Andre alleges happened to Desdunes before his death

In addition to tying Desdunes’ hands and feet with zip ties and duct tape, the lawsuit says pledge members “tied a noose around his neck, leaving ligature marks documented in hospital records ” The zip ties, duct tape and alleged noose were part of a mock kidnapping that was a traditional SAE pledge event, court documents allege Pledge members took Desdunes and another SAE brother to the townhouse apartments on North Campus around 1 a m on Feb 25, 2011 The two fraternity brothers were tied up and quizzed about “fraternity information and lore,” and when they answered incorrectly they performed exercises or were given drinks, such as flavored syrup or vodka, the documents state

At about 5 a m the pledge members returned Desdunes to the SAE house, where he was left on a couch because his room was locked, Andre’s lawsuit says Desdunes’ roommate had previously locked the room “ to prevent pledges from kidnapping him while he slept ” When Desdunes was found at 7 a m that morning, he was still bound with the zip ties and duct tape, the lawsuit says Andre’s lawsuit states that her son ’ s blood alcohol level was 0 409 after his death However, a separate criminal complaint says Desdunes’ blood alcohol level was 0 35 By comparison, the legal limit to drive in New York State is 0 08 SAE and several of the students named in

the lawsuit filed responses denying the suit’s allegations None of the defendants’ attorneys agreed to discuss the lawsuit for this article

Soon after Andre s lawsuit was filed, the SAE Foundation a nonprofit organization, distinct from the fraternity, that was also named as a defendant brought a motion to dismiss the suit It argued that the New York court in which the lawsuit was filed did not have jurisdiction over the Foundation, which is headquartered in Illinois The court has not yet ruled on the motion

In addition to the SAE fraternity and the Foundation, the lawsuit names several former SAE pledges as defendants, including Max Haskin ’14, Ben Mann ’14 and Edward Williams ’14 The suit states that the pledge event took place at Williams’ dorm in the townhouse apartments SAE’s former chapter president, vice president and several other undergraduate officers were also named as defendants

In May, Haskin, Mann, Williams and a fourth unnamed defendant who was under the age of 19 at the time were charged with misdemeanor counts of first-degree hazing and first-degree unlawfully dealing with a child in connection with Desdunes’ death

The defendants, none of whom were still enrolled at Cornell at that time, pleaded not guilty

The individual who was under 19 was also charged with tampering with physical evi-

dence after he allegedly asked his roommate “ to get rid of the left-over zip ties and duct tape from the hazing incident,” the court documents state

The University withdrew recognition of SAE in March, forcing the fraternity’s members to vacate the house by the end of that month Additionally, the SAE national organization closed the Cornell chapter and suspended all its members until they graduate

Leading up to Desdunes’ death, the lawsuit claims that SAE had “negligently implemented” an ineffective risk management policy

The fraternity had knowledge of “ a staggering number of serious injuries and deaths from Greek activities, substantial flaws in its management system and the foreseeable risk of future injury and death should its activities, traditions and risk management strategies continue without meaningful change,” the court documents state

SAE’s website features an anti-hazing education program and states that the fraternity “is committed to create a safe environment for all of our members ”

The lawsuit claims that SAE knew or should have known about statistics and studies showing high rates of binge drinking and alcohol-related deaths and injuries among fraternity members nationwide

Michael Linhorst can be reached at mlinhorst@cornellsun com

Gitlin ’13 Will Be Only Candidate for S.A. Pres.

GITLIN Continued from page 1

“I still want to speak to students and student organizations and h e a r t h e i r c o n c e r n s a n d w h a t they want the priorities of the St u d e n t A s s e m b l y t o b e n e x t year, he said Gitlin said that as president of the S A , he plans to continue many of the programs the body b e g a n t h i s y e a r He n a m e d among his priorities streamlining f u n d i n g f o r s t u d e n t o r g a n i z ations on campus, working on student health and safety projects, collaborating with administrators and student leaders on the University’s ne wly outlined diversity initiatives and working on S A outreach effor ts Gitlin said he will wait for the ne w S A to be elected before p l a n n i n g i t s l a r g e r a g e n d a Campaigning for the 25 other S A p o s i t i o n s w i l l b e g i n

We d n e s d a y, a n d v o t i n g w i l l begin March 5

Raps praised Gitlin, saying he h a s t h e e x p e r i e n c e t o c a p a b l y lead the organization

“A s S A V i c e Pr e s i d e n t , [ G i t l i n ] h a s g o n e a b o v e a n d b e y o n d , ” R a p s s a i d He’s worked with his own initiatives, and stayed committed to fur thering the entire assembly I couldn ’ t have done a lot of [what I did] without him

She cited specific S A programs spearheaded by Gitlin as examples of his leadership qualit i e s , i n c l u d i n g C a y u g a ’ s Watchers –– a proposed program that would hire student sober monitors –– and the Learning C o l l a b r a t i v e o n Hi g h R i s k Drinking

“He’s had the S A ’ s suppor t to address an issue that students as well as administrators really want to see fixed,” Raps said “I know the S A is in safe hands, which is all you can really hope for in an organization ”

Roneal Desai ’13, the S A minority liaison at-large, said he considered r unning for president of the S A early last fall, but decided against it

“Being on the S A for my third year, I began to see exactly what role I thought I played, what I enjoyed doing and where I t h o u g h t I c o u l d m a k e a n impact, Desai said “I wanted to w o r k l e g i s l a t i v e l y o n t h e SAFC and byline funding and with minority groups on campus, to make sure they get the help and suppor t they need ” Desai said he would not have been able to tackle the issues he wanted to if he had been elected S A president “ T h e p r e s i d e n t i s a v e r y administrative role; it’s primarily the liaison between the S A and u p p e r - l e v e l a d m i n i s t r a t o r s , ” Desai said “It’s a critical role but wouldn’t give me the role I wanted ”

Desai said the lack of opposition to Gitlin is a result of multiple factors, including the composition of this year ’ s S A He said, f o r i n s t a n c

, t h a t t h e r e w e r e fe wer juniors in the organization than in previous years D e s a i a l s o s a i d t h a t m a n

people on the S A

including

i r niches in other areas Still, he said Gitlin is more than qualified to be president

“[Gitlin] has the ability as a student to bring the student pers

table, Desai said “Other stud e n

y skilled in technical exper tise but don’t understand the full pantheon of student issues as [well as G i t l i n ] d o e s I ’ m e x t r e m e l y happy to see he’ll be leading the assembly next year

”

Emma Court can be reached at ecourt@cornellsun com

Fuchs S ays Partnership Is Meant to Foster Academic Collaboration

oppresses Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip

Provost Kent Fuchs said the par tnership is intended to foster academic collaboration and was not intended as a political statement in suppor t of the Israeli government We par tnered with Technion in this new venture because of our complementar y academic exper tise and strengths and our shared vision for a campus that will help transform New York City into a world hub of innovation and technology commercialization,” Fuchs said in an email Monday

The petition was borne out of a broader boycott against Israeli organizations, according to Max Ajl grad, a member of SJP

“This

P rof Elizabet h S an ders

“ This is not our call for a boycott,” Ajl said We are responding to a call for a boycott that was put out by Palestinian civil society ”

Ajl said Technion’s actions play a fundamental role in developing technologies

that oppress Palestinians

A

Rafael and Elbit, which have developed technologies for use in Israeli Merkava

helped to develop militar y sur veillance drones used in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, according to Ajl

However, CIPAC members said the petition’s accusations against the Technion were unfounded because it wrongly accuses Israel of committing war crimes

“ The petition ignores Israel’s right to defend itself With security threats from multiple fronts and facing enemies who employ civilians as human shields, Israel must rely on the innovative militar y technologies developed by institutions such as

Rotbar t ’12 and Yotam Arens ’12, co-presidents of CIPAC, wrote in an email

SJP brought their complaints to Fuchs in December, before Mayor B

announced, according to Ajl

The group plans to bring the issue to the attention of the Faculty Senate and to hold an open discussion on the collaboration on March 1

Students are not the only opponents the

Sanders, government, said concerns were raised about the substance and process of Cornell’s collaboration with Technion at a Feb 8 Faculty Senate meeting Sanders

also signed the petition

Par tnering with Technion constituted “ an endorsement of a university that is heavily involved in the Israeli militar yindustrial complex, and that decision was taken in complete secrecy, as the Provost acknowledged, without any consultation with the faculty, Sanders said Sa

political decision of symbolic impor tance ” for its apparent endorsement of a situation that “doesn t leave a good taste “ This could be, and no doubt will be, interpreted as a warm embrace of the [

Technion, and of the Israeli occupation,” she said “And Technion –– much to the surprise, I think, of faculty

is not putting for ward any money whatever, so it has to be seen as a ver y symbolic decision Nobody would argue that this is the best university in the world with which we could have par tnered ”

Fuchs said he does not suppor t boycotting other universities Though some students may have disagreements with the politics of a par tner university’s government, he said, cooperation between two academic institutions can “contribute to the betterment of our global community ”

“Cornell can be the most effective when we as individuals and as an institution exercise our academic freedom and engage with universities worldwide in collaborations and par tnerships, both formal and

informal,” Fuchs said

Yet Prof Eric Cheyfitz, English, who signed the petition, said the par tnership raises ethical questions about how universities should collaborate

“ The Cornell University bylaws state: that one of ‘the functions of the University Faculty shall be to consider questions of educational policy which concern more than one college, school or separate academ

Cheyfitz said in an email “In the case of the Technion par tnership, no such consideration was afforded the faculty through its representatives in the Faculty Senate ”

Ajl said the University’s decision could forever stain Cornell’s image “ The University made a business decision and it will go ahead with it unless it decides that it makes sense to not go ahead with it,” Ajl said It raises enormous questions about the University’s ethics because from now on ever y single war crime that the Israeli army commits, Cornell’s hand will be on it, and that raises questions about the future of this institution ”

As of Monday night, the petition had 576 signatures

Editor s note: Rebecca Harris 14, a Sun news editor-in-training is Chair of Political A

Committee She was not involved in the editing of this article

Sylvia Rusnak can be reached at srusnak@cornellsun com

CEOs’ Clash Roils Company Behind Comic Hero Archie

NEW YORK (AP) The past three years have been upbeat ones for Archie, the everyteen hero of one of America’s most enduring comics He's gotten married twice, no less His social circle has expanded to include his first gay friend He’s even appeared on a postage stamp

But behind the scenes, a bitter and sometimes bizarre feud has brewed at the company that produces the more than 70-year-old comic Its two CEOs, a son of one founder and the daughter-inlaw of another, are accusing each other of all sorts of funny business

He and some other staffers say she’s a volatile, abrasive menace who has sexually harassed employees with vulgar remarks, made bad business moves and even paraded a former football player around the office to intimidate people She says he’s a scheming chauvinist who has demeaned her, kept her in the dark about Archie Comic Publications finances and invented allegations to try to force her out and seize control of the company

He’s asked a court to strip her of her role at the company She s sued him for defamation and $100 million in damages A judge has at least temporarily barred her from the company ' s suburban New York headquarters, fined her $500 over the ex-football player s visit and vowed to appoint a temporary receiver to protect the company ’ s assets amid the fight if the two sides can ’ t choose someone on their own by Wednesday

Altogether, it s a far cry from the congenial environs of Riverdale, the fictional town where Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead and friends have navigated dating quandaries and high school hijinks for generations

The corporate tug-of-war has gotten tongues wagging in the comics world where “it’s pretty much the same as if two movie studio bosses fell out, ” said Rich Johnston, the founder of Bleeding Cool, a London-based comics news and gossip site

It’s unclear whether the clash has had any financial impact on Archie Comic Publications Inc , which declined to release sales figures But “it’s bad for image” at a time when the company has been eagerly looking to line up movie and other deals

said writer and comic book historian Mark Evanier

There has been some concrete fallout: A Cleveland-area group cited the court fight in canceling speeches that Archie co-CEO Nancy Silberkleit was to give at three schools in December, according to news reports And the other co-CEO, Jon Goldwater, has cast the stakes in dramatic terms

“An iconic American company is in serious danger of failing and being liquidated” if Silberkleit stays, Goldwater said in court papers

The trouble began after the 2007 and 2008 deaths of former Archie Comic leaders Richard Goldwater and Michael Silberkleit, sons of two of the company ’ s three founders Silberkleit’s widow, Nancy, and Goldwater s half-brother, Jonathan, became co-CEOs in 2009

Nancy Silberkleit, a former elementary-school art teacher, was to oversee scholastic and live theatrical endeavors Jon Goldwater, who d been a rock and pop music manager, would have final say on everything else, according to her employment contract Each controls 50 percent of the company

Redheaded, letter-sweater-wearing Archie Andrews has been a fixture on funny pages and beyond since his 1941 debut, spawning everything from the 1969 bubblegum pop hit “Sugar, Sugar” a real-life single by the fictional characters band, the Archies to the “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” TV series in the late 1990s and early 2000s

It’s hard to measure Archie's current place in the comics market, especially because industr ywide comic-book shop sales aren ’ t considered a good gauge for Archie, which sells more on supermarket racks

While characters and themes have been tweaked with the times, Archie’s publishers have been mindful of its wholesome image and heavily teen and preteen audience It’s sometimes been seen as old-fashioned in a comics universe that has become edgier and more adult in recent decades

But “in the last few years they’ve done a very good job of making the storyline more current and getting some attention for it,” said Milton Griepp, the publisher of ICv2, a website and magazine that covers the comics industry

A n t h o n y, D av i s

J

o i n t h e L i n s a n i t y

NEW YORK (AP) Carmelo Anthony is set to rejoin the Knicks star ting lineup and take par t in the Linsanity for the first time since it began sweeping Ne w York

The All-Star for ward was in the star ting lineup Monday night against the Ne w Jersey Nets Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni says Anthony, who missed the last seven games with a groin injur y, is ready to go, and guard Baron Davis also is expected to make his season debut for Ne w York

Anthony hasn’t played since Feb 6, the first game Jeremy Lin became a star ter with the Knicks Anthony played six minutes against Utah, but Lin scored 28 and the Knicks won their second of what turned out to be seven straight victories

Anthony is averaging 22 points per game, but while Knicks fans have been swooning over their ne w point guard, they also have been fretting how Anthony and Lin will mix

“He was pretty good without him so I imagine he’ll be pretty good with him,” D'Antoni said of Anthony before the game “Ever ybody will benefit from a good point guard ”

Lin s emergence as the point guard the Knicks have been searching for has been a boon to the pick-and-roll offense But that’s not Anthony’s game

“ We’ll r un our offense,” D’Antoni said “Jeremy’s going to r un the pick-and-roll Melo will get the ball and do his thing We ll see if it s balanced If it's not we’ll have to balance it and all that ”

D’Antoni figures Anthony and Lin will need some time to figure out what works best for each other

Any player wants a point guard that gets him easy shots and Jeremy can do that,” the coach said

Davis has been recovering from a herniated disk in his back and an infection in his elbow, which delayed his Knicks debut Ne w York signed him to eventually be its star ting point guard, but Lin changed those plans

The 32-year-old former All-Star will be a much-needed backup to Lin, who has played at least 26 minutes in eight of the nine games in which he has had a major role, topping 40 minutes four times D’Antoni said Davis could also slide over to shooting guard and play with Lin

Either way, he’s a role player on the Knicks for now

“He can see what’s happening, too, ” D'Antoni said of Davis “Right now Jeremy is the star ter Nothing is ever set in stone but Jeremy’s playing pretty good right now ”

Iman Shumper t won ’ t play Monday night against the Nets, D’Antoni said, because of a sore left knee He said the rookie guard is day to day

NEW YORK (AP) The grandson of the late Princess Grace of Monaco was briefly hospitalized after a brawl in a Ne w York City nightclub

Prince Pierre Casiraghi (cah-zee-RAH’-ghee) suffered cuts to his face during Saturday’s brawl Former nightclub owner Adam Hock was arraigned Sunday on charges of assaulting the prince and three friends at the Double Seven nightspot in Manhattan's Meatpacking District

Attorney Richard Golub who represents the 24-year-old prince told The Associated Press that Casiraghi was treated at a hospital and released after the brawl Golub says Casiraghi s group did not instigate anything or provoke the attack

Plane, Copter Clip Each Other Over California; Pilots Hurt

RIO VISTA, Calif (AP) A small plane and a helicopter clipped each other over Northern California Sunday night, forcing both aircraft into emergency landings and leaving the two pilots with minor injuries, officials said

The six-seat Beechcraft Bonanza made a rough landing in a field just short of an airport, while the two-seat Robinson R22 helicopter set down in a field just off state Highway 160, the officials said

The accident occurred about 7 p m about eight miles south of the small Rio Vista Municipal Airport, halfway between Oakland and Sacramento along the Sacramento River, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said

There was no immediate word on what may have caused the accident or any details on damage to the two aircraft

The male pilot of the single-engine plane and the 29-year-old female helicopter pilot were taken to hospitals with minor injuries, Sacramento County sheriff ’ s Deputy Jason Ramos said The woman had cuts to her hands, he said

The helicopter pilot was the only person aboard, and there were two aboard the plane, Gregor said There were no reports of any injuries to the plane passenger

The helicopter pilot came down about 50 feet from the highway, turned off her fuel tank and walked to the road to get help from drivers, Sacramento County and California Highway Patrol officials at the scene told Sacramento s KXTV-TV

The plane had taken off and intended to land at an airport in the town of Byron, some 20 miles to the south, but went down shortly before reaching it

Both aircraft had private owners, according to FAA records

The 1961 Beechcraft plane is registered to Ronald A Gawer of Brentwood, Calif in Contra Costa County, the records show

The 2005 Robinson helicopter is registered to a Hayward-based business owned by Matthew Spitzer and was leased to Vertical CFI, a pilot training school, Spitzer’s wife, Rosemary, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview A Vertical CFI official didn't immediately respond to a phone message

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate

Neither of the two small, two-runway airports involved have an air traffic control tower

NYPD Monitored Muslim Students All

Over Northeast

NEW YORK (AP) One autumn morning in Buffalo, N Y , a college student named Adeela Khan logged into her email and found a message announcing an upcoming Islamic conference in Toronto Khan clicked “for ward,” sent it to a group of fellow Muslims at the University at Buffalo, and promptly forgot about it

But that simple act on Nov 9, 2006, was enough to arouse the suspicion of an intelligence analyst at the New York Police Department, 300 miles away, who combed through her post and put her name in an official report Marked “SECRET” in large red letters, the document went all the way to Commissioner Raymond Kelly’s office

The repor t, along with other documents obtained by The Associated Press, reveals how the NYPD s intelligence division focused far beyond New York City as part of a sur veillance program targeting Muslims

Police trawled daily through student websites run by Muslim student groups at Yale, the University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers and 13 other colleges in the Northeast They talked with local authorities about professors in Buffalo and even sent an undercover agent on a whitewater rafting trip, where he recorded students’ names and noted in police intelligence files how many times they prayed

Asked about the monitoring, police spokesman Paul Browne provided a list of 12 people arrested or convicted on terrorism charges in the United States and abroad who had once been members of Muslim student associations, which the NYPD referred to as MSAs They included Jesse Morton, who this month pleaded guilty to posting online threats against the creators of the animated TV show “South Park ” He had once tried to recruit followers at Stony Brook University on Long Island, Browne said

“As a result, the NYPD deemed it prudent to get a better handle on what was occurring at MSAs, Browne said in an email He said police monitored student websites and collected publicly available information in 2006 and 2007 But documents show other sur veillance efforts continued for years after ward

“I see a violation of civil rights here,” said Tanweer Haq, chaplain of the Muslim Student Association at Syracuse University “Nobody wants to be on the list of the FBI or the NYPD or whatever Muslim students want to have their own lives, their own privacy and enjoy the same freedoms and opportunities that ever ybody else has ”

In recent months, the AP has revealed secret programs the NYPD built with help from the CIA to monitor Muslims at the places where they eat, shop and worship The AP also published details about how police placed undercover officers at Muslim student associations in colleges within the city limits; this revelation has outraged faculty and student groups

Though the NYPD says it follows the same rules as the FBI, some of the NYPD’s activities go beyond what the FBI is allowed to do Kelly and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg repeatedly have said that the police only follow legitimate leads about suspected criminal activity

But the latest documents mention no wrongdoing by any students

Jury Selection Under Way In New Jersey Webcam Spying Case

NEW BRUNSWICK, N J (AP) The trial of a former Rutgers University student accused of using a webcam to spy on his roommate ’ s intimate encounter with another man could reveal some of the myster y that surrounds the case if the unidentified man in the video is called to testify

The stor y touched off a national conversation about the impact of bullying of young gays after the roommate, Tyler Clementi, committed suicide in 2010, in the days following the alleged spying

The suspect, Dharun Ravi, is not charged with his death; however, he is charged with bias intimidation a hate crime punishable by 10 years in prison invasion of privacy and tampering with evidence and a witness

Questioning of potential jurors is scheduled to begin Wednesday

The suicide will certainly loom over the trial When prospective jurors went to court last week to fill out questionnaires, Judge Glenn Berman told them that Clementi had killed himself

T h e C o r n e ¬ D a i l y S u n

Independent Since 1880 129TH EDITORIAL BOARD

BENJAMIN D GITLIN 12

CHLOE GATTA ’12

DANIELLE A NEUHARTH-KEUSCH ’12

RAHUL KISHORE 12

BRENDAN DOYLE ’12

BIGALOW ’12

RAINIS ’14

COHEN RISTORUCCI 13

PETER A JACOBS 13

LAUREN RITTER 13

NEWCOMB 13

JOSEPH VOKT ’14

MAEGAN NEVINS 12

AARON SAGE 13

ALYSSA TSUCHYIA 12

ELIZA LaJOIE 13

RUBY PERLMUTTER 13

Letters

Gandhi’s controversial comment s

To the Editor:

Re: “Ar un Gandhi, Mahatma’s Grandson, Urges Nonviolence in Speech at University” News, Feb 14

I was surprised and disappointed to see that the ar ticle concerning Ar un Gandhi’s address to the University had no mention of the controversy surrounding comments made by Mr Gandhi in an opinion piece for The Washington Post in Januar y 2008 In the piece, Gandhi stated that Israel and the Je wish community “overplay a historic experience to the point that it begins to repulse friends” in reference to the Holocaust, adding that Israel has made a “snake pit” out of the tragedy enforced by its “superior weapons and armaments and [its] attitude toward [its] neighbors ” These comments provoked substantial outcr y and ultimately led to the dissolution of the M K Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence only weeks after ward Mr Gandhi cer tainly has the right to express his opinion, yet I would hope that such vie ws held by the ar ticle’s subject would be assessed in conjunction with the positive opinions offered Mr Gandhi's vie ws on non-violence should not be sheltered from the regrettable vie w that as he wrote in The Washington Post “ We have created a culture of violence (Israel and the Je ws are the biggest players) and that Culture of Violence is eventually going to destroy humanity, despite these comments being the kind that Mr Gandhi would rather not be faced with again Em Ludek ’12

HThe Truth About Jeremy Lin

ere ’ s a new, unexpected adjective to throw into the pile of puns already made to describe Jeremy Lin: or“lin”ary

Is he a basketball phenom who has shocked the sports world? Sure

But is he a trailblazer who has finally shattered the Asian American stereotype, as so many sportscasters and fans have trumpeted? Not even close

Because once we finally sober up from the week-long Linsanity fest, we will clearly see a devout Christian who got a near-perfect scores his math SAT II exam and graduated with a degree in economics from Harvard

Jeremy Lin is as neutral, bland and unas-

suming as they come He shies away from the spotlight and passes on the credit for Knicks victories to his flashier, egotistical teammates Even when he got cut by his two former teams, he simply gritted his teeth and moved on, despite knowing that he could compete with the best

And that’s what should be most unsettling about his precipitous and unforeseen ascent to fame: His talents would have almost certainly gone unnoticed if not for a series of fortuitous injuries that fell into place at the very last moment, just before he was about to be cut again by his third team And Lin would have just let the opportunity slip away

But maybe thanks to a little divine intervention, Jeremy Lin avoided fading forever into obscurity Only after the Knicks starting point guard got a herniated disc, their leading scorer tore his groin and their allstar power forward lost his brother to a car accident did Jeremy Lin finally show the world his basketball prowess

On the court, Lin may be the AsianAmerican anomaly playing in a racially black- and white-dominated league, but he has also confirmed that Asian Americans are still the model minority that they were 160 years ago when they first arrived to California’s shores he’s still the diligent, hardworking, goody two-shoes who walks around delicately in order to avoid stepping on other people s toes

So Jeremy Lin hasn’t broken any AsianAmerican stereotypes He has, in fact, affirmed them

But his underdog rise to fame one that should have never happened points to a larger problem Asian Americans have reached a rut in the United States Despite dominating the top high schools, universities and graduate schools, despite being the ethnicity with one of the highest high

school and college graduation rates, despite having one of the highest household incomes and lowest crime rates, we ’ ve never been able to get over the leadership hump that would propel us into the upper strata of management positions

We have so much going for us But when we enter the real world a world where report cards and test scores are no longer yardsticks and meritocracy isn’t the name of the game we lose our sense of direction and fail to capitalize on our favorable upbringing

Out of the companies in the Fortune 500, only 10 Asian Americans serve as either the chair, president or CEO and only 96 hold boards seats a paltry and pathet-

ic 2 08 percent

At the prestigious National Institutes of Health, where Asian-American scientists compose 13 49 percent of the work force, only one just one holds a scientific director position out of the possible 27

Even in the Ivy League, where Asian Americans are estimated to compose up to 20 percent of the student populations at some schools, we have only recently managed to break the bamboo ceiling, when Dar tmouth President Jim Yong Kim became the Asian American president of an Ivy League university in 2009

So here’s the cold and bitter truth: The hard work and humility that may have worked for our parents before they immigrated doesn’t work for us The ethos of their generation, captured by the subservient China Doll and Charlie Chan archetypes of the 1960s, no longer pays off once your SAT score is high enough and your transcript is brimming with A’s

In fact, what they told us to do when we were young to put our heads down to our desks and don’t stir up any trouble has prepared us for lives in which we ’ re destined to excel at middle management and mediocrity

Are these generalizations of an entire ethnicity crude and tactless? Of course

But then again, it’s exactly this type of provocation that the Asian-American community needs It needs be boiled up in passion It needs to get incensed It needs to get down and dirty, step on some toes, and create a little friction

Because if we don’t, what we have we worked so hard for?

Inf o r m in g t h e C o n su m e r

In a recent column, I wrote about the growing popularity of ethical consumerism,” a movement that aims to incite social change through conscientious purchasing decisions Ethical consumerism, I suggested, is predicated on consumers ’ ability to get comprehensive, accurate information about the products they buy Other wise, it’s impossible for ethical consumers to tell whether or not a given product tr uly aligns with their values

There’s a corollar y to this argument, though, that I think also merits discussion: Just as information is necessar y to empower consumers, it’s similarly necessar y to protect them This point may seem some what uncontroversial, but the vehement opposition that consumer protection initiatives frequently encounter strongly suggests other wise Of course, consumer protection takes many forms, some of which elicit greater backlash than others This column is chiefly concerned with access to information

Arguments against disclosure requirements for producers tend to take the following forms: First, industr y interests might argue that the information being disclosed is unimpor tant or irrelevant to consumers ’ purchasing decisions Second, opponents argue that disclosure requirements place an undue burden on producers, who may have to change labels, re write contracts or conduct product testing (consider, for example, nutritional labeling) More generally, those with a distaste for market regulation might find disclosure requirements unnecessar y or redundant: Consumers acting in their self-interest will naturally seek out products that maximize their well-being If companies harm them, consumers will vote with their pocketbooks more effectively than government can regulate And finally, some have s u g g e s t e d t h a t p ro d u c t d i s c l o s u re ove r w h e l m s c o nsumers with information that they may not understand or know how to use; as such, these requirements inhibit efficient decision-making more than they help it

Many of these arguments, often voiced by free-market advocates, rely on the notion that the natural workings of the marketplace obviate the need for government inter vention But in instances where consumers have incomplete access to information (a situation known as informational asymmetr y), government regulation in

fact facilitates market efficiency

To illustrate how this works, let’s consider a “market” we students have become all too familiar with: course enrollment The analogy isn’t per fect, but I think it’s nonetheless ver y instr uctive as to why cer tain forms of consumer protection can be immensely beneficial

Ever y semester, students face the daunting task of picking classes for the next semester (and the even more daunting task of actually waking up in time to nab them) You can think of students as consumers “shopping” for a product, in this case, classes Student Center, then, is something like a vir tual mall, albeit one apparently designed to make its patrons utterly miserable

Innumerable factors influence our “purchases”: Is the course material interesting? Does the class fulfill a requirement? Is it at the right time? Is the professor good? These questions are answered by consulting a wide range of sources: We ask friends, check out

R

even email a professor or two But I imagine that

y researching courses, many of you have wound up in classes that under whelmed or disappointed

Some of the mismatch is inevitable: Even the best

round of complications from having to order ne w books, or catch up on reading

Imagine how much clearer course enrollment would be if syllabi and course evaluations were publicly available for classes in all colleges (as they are in CALS) Students would have more accurate expectations regarding the content and nature of their courses, and would therefore be more likely to pick classes that tr uly fit their interests And there are external benefits to more accessible information, as well: Under whelming classes other wise kept afloat by successive waves of unknowing students would be more quickly weeded out, and professors would have even greater incentive to improve their classes Here, greater access to information not only benefits consumers, but also improves the entire market

The same is tr ue on a larger scale, which is why I greet opposition to consumer protection with more than a healthy dose of skepticism The enrollment anal-

pensate for actually experiencing a class But I’m sure many of you, like me, have wished that more information about a course was made available during course enroll

Course descriptions are often brief, unhelpful or

Ratemyprofessors com or Coursehero com tend to be sparse for all but the largest of classes, and even then aren ’ t necessarily credible And not only are past syllabi unavailable in most colleges, but now median grade repor ts are gone, as well In shor t, a lack of usable information can make course selection all the more daunting, and lead to decisions that we later regret Sure, there’s always add/drop, but students then face a second

Wogy, of course, is a ver y basic justification for disclosure requirements, but a valid one nonetheless Consumers have a right to accurate and comprehensive information about the goods and ser vices they purchase, not only for their own sake, but also for the sake of a well-functioning economy When it comes to information disclosure, the tr uth only sounds counterintuitive Regulations don’t inhibit free markets They create them

David Murdter is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences He may be reached at dmurdter@cornellsun com Murphy s Lawyer appears alternate Tuesdays this semester

T h e Li b e ra l A r t s Ma l ai s e

hat’s the difference between an English major and a large pizza? At least the pizza can feed a family of four

This quote, and others like it, was often repeated in my household by my father, a successful doctor and owner of a private practice I’m not sure what brought about his particular contempt for literary or intellectual types, but what I do know is that he is not alone in making this characteriza-

tion It is not for the practical-minded, shall we say, to consider the arts to be the soul of a civilization To most people, what is studied in the halls of liberal arts colleges (including Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences) is useless, juvenile drivel By this, I mean to say that such areas of study do not very easily answer the age-old parental question, What are you going to do with that?”

It is unfortunate, though unsurprising, that with the downturn in the American economy of roughly the last five years, more and more people are saying that the American university model is not satisfying its supposed core purpose of educating

young adults to be the workforce of the future Not to use a cliché (I can hopefully move beyond clichés, thanks to my liberal arts education), but if I had a penny for every time I’ve heard politicians and business leaders say the words, “This country d o e s n t p ro d u c e e n o u g h e n g i n e e r s , I would have enough money to disregard the careers my education isn t helping me reach If my math is wrong in this calculation, I am entirely indifferent after all, I

interesting challenge how people are going to find jobs I don’t know what the answer to that is but I know what the answer is not The answer is not four years in college ” Though he did in fact critique the tendency of American educational institutions to design engineering programs as “flunkout operations,” Schrage was also taking a hard line against the “uselessness” of such things as “degrees in sociology ” It’s debatable whether or not he was arguing that such a study is actually useless or rather just valueless

ily interested in alchemy “ was not the first of the age of reason: He was the last of the magicians ”

What once stood as metaphysical musing evolved over time into theory and scientific fact There is no doubt in my mind that in Newton s or Aristotle s time, there were snarky leaders of commerce making f u n o f t h e i r r i d i c u l o u s e x p l o i t s

am a social science guy, not a math major I recently watched a video on Youtube titled, “Are we ready for the ‘Age of Abundance?’” in which theoretical physicist Michio Kaku and a number of other academic figures discussed the future of science and technology in the context of the future of the American economy and the world of business One member of the panel, a research fellow from the MIT Sloan School’s Center for Digital Business named Michael Schrage, was particularly critical of the American university system In his musings on the question of how people will find jobs in a future economy, he said, “ The economics are being transformed and I think it’s going to be a very

humanities and social sciences is taking place It is interesting to note that the word “scholarship” can be traced back to the Greek word for, believe it or not, leisure Scholarship was the activity of those who, like the aristocrats of old, could afford to study things that were otherwise considered useless These were impractical fields such as poetry, philosophy, literature and later in history the classics But they were also disciplines that we think of now as practical studies: Biology, chemistr y, physics, economics, law and medicine were all at one point considered either branches of philosophy or magic The great economist John Maynard Keynes once quipped that Isaac Newton, who was heav-

Nonetheless it was in minds of intellectuals like them that civilization progressed at all It just happens to be in the areas of sociology and psychology, for instance, where great strides are being made today in the understanding of how human beings really work This might or might not help the American job market in the long run, but I honestly don’t think either answer should impede anyone from studying these topics The most important reason to study in such a field is interest and interest alone Enthusiasm and fascination, after all, are what spark true inspiration, innovation and success not big salaries

A bachelor’s degree in Arts may not get you the hefty paycheck it would have in 1960 but that makes it no less important in the grand scheme In the short-term, all we can do is study what we love whether that be feminist literature, high finance, tending cows or building robots and be happy Enjoy the ride

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Enter Olive Tjaden Hall and walk up the stairs in front of you Then, open the first door on your left You will find yourself in the Experimental Galler y, a room converted into an alternative exhibition space Until this Thursday, the galler y is home until this Thursday to the

the room This is impressive mainly because Unfold is constructed out of intricately folded hand-painted paper On one side, her creation crosses the boundar y between wall and floor It spills out on to t

d , wooden floor in

y Michelle Chen’13 Sit on the armchair in the corner after you ’ re done exploring the piece and enjoy the view

Unfold, as an installation piece, is site-specific In simpler terms, it was designed specifically for the dimensions of the Experimental Galler y and aims to change the viewer s perception of the environment The space itself is a central component of the entire piece; space transforms art, then art in turn alters perception of space An explosion of bright color on the walls initially greets you once you enter the room The transition from the pale morning light to this colorful world is harsh, in particular for tired eyes At first glance, the intensity of the colors over whelms your vision; all you can do is circle the room, tr ying to take ever ything in at once It takes a few moments to adjust but fairly quickly, the eye gets accustomed to this busy environment Suddenly, shapes and colors come alive Now, you can not only detect patterns and distinct shapes among the swirls but also distinguish geometrical dimensions

to produce a beginning, middle and end to the installation There is little doubt to where one should start viewing the installation T h e v i s i b l e w h i t e pipes and few areas of exposed brick give the ro o m a d e n s e q u a l i t y w h i c h s e e m

d s with the fluid nature of the installation These industrial characteristics ground your thoughts to t h e r o o m w h i l e t h e sweeping pyramids on the wall lift the mind away from the earthly confines of borders and s p a c e T h i s i n t e r n a l dichotomy is represented by the title of the piece as well; the folded p a p e r c o n s t r u c t i o n s make up what is Unfold ‘ Un f o l d’ l i t e r a l l y denotes to opening or unwrapping the folds of something, implying a s e n s e o f f re e d o m y e t ‘folded’ denotes a cont r a s t i n g n o t i o n o fencasement, suggesting confinement One detail about a visit to the Experimental Galler y that is fairly irritating: one of the crafted pyramids had fallen off the smallest wall of the room The tape was still visible on the back of the pyramid, which made it highly improbable that it was meant to be placed there This lack of care is irritating to say the least because it indicates a lack of appreciation for Chen’s vision Cornell has spent hefty amounts of money to renovate campus buildings; the actual products of a student s education at Cornell should be valued just the same if not more

The piece takes up the room ’ s expanse Chen carefully utilizes her entire canvas, in this case the dimensions of

image of what appears on the wall, as if reflected on water Colors dominate the stark, blank edges of the room; mint, navy blue and red flow across the walls These shades are entwined in undulating streaks of paint on paper The paper is folded much like origami in threedimensional pyramids and secured to the wall by their bases The points of the pyramid create depth, further emphasizing the wavy movement of the colors The pyramids form indeterminate fluid shapes, reinforcing the concept of the graceful wave These paper creations seem

After all this, one wonders if Unfold ultimately reaches its goal Does it indeed change our perception of the space around us? Although one should not expect the almost magical power of an optical illusion when gazing at it for the first time, it does subtly change your awareness of the room It blurs the boundaries of space, places a beginning, middle, and end to it, and connects the separate walls into one fluid area So if you ever walk into Tjaden Hall this week for class, don’t forget to walk up the stairs and open that first door to your left After you have observed Unfold to your heart’s satisfaction sit down on the one chair in the corner and come to your own conclusion

Eleni Konstantopoulos is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences She can be reached at edk44@cornell edu

Jokes in Cold (and Gorges) Places

BY JULIA MOSER Sun Staff Writer

Sitting in the third row of the State Theatre on Thursday, the question that kept popping up in my mind was, “What kind of shampoo does Demetri Martin use?” Martin, who is 38 years old, has the luscious locks and wardrobe of an 18year-old His humor on the other hand is that of a seasoned middle-aged man with a whimsical side, a guitar and a notepad

Those unfamiliar with Martin s comedy should know that the notepad and guitar are essential to any Demetri Martin experience He was first thrust into the spotlight with his 2006 comedy album, These Are Jokes, on which the best track by far is The Jokes With Guitar When Martin breaks his axe out, you know you ’ re in for a good time These jokes are usually one-liners that take some thinking about, like much of Martin’s comedy While many of the guitarjokes were ones Martin-fans had heard before, they still brought forth a rousing chorus of laughter from the audience

The notepad too was expected by fans who had either seen him do stand-up before or seen his two-season long show on Comedy Central, Important Things with Demetri Martin About half way through the evening Martin pulled out his giant notepad on which there were graphs that included one of how fun it is to watch someone perform karaoke: pretty fun if they’re very good, then less fun when they’re a little worse then really fun if they’re a lot worse Martin then went on to explain that watching someone ski also follows the same graph Antoher graph was a bar graph with one very high bar and one very small one; the high bar shows how interested you are in your kids and the low one shows how interested Demetri Martin is interested in your kids (which, as Martin went on to say, is how you want it)

The evening began with Martin announcing that his friend, who wrote for his TV show which was, for some reason, cancelled, would be opening for him “The second comedian is not bitter about this” said the voice of Demetri Martin Levi MacDougall, the opener, made it definitely worth getting to the State on time Not every joke landed, but most of the time the ones that flopped did so more because of timing issues than because the content of the joke was not funny If anything, it was wor th watching MacDougall just to appreciate his bright orange sweater with elbow pads

MacDougall came back at the very end of the show upon Martin s request just to chat MacDougall s improvised, or perhaps semi-improvised humor (they had ended shows this

On Sunday night The Simpsons aired its 500th episode in what is now its 23nd season, furthering its claim as the longest running sitcom of all-time The majority of Cornellians have only secondhand knowledge of what a world without Homer was like Springfield USA’s most prominent nuclear family has outlasted the USSR, the Y2K bug and Dick Cheney Yet what really makes its sur vival impressive is that the show has been dying for nearly a decade

Now before I rant, let me

e m p h a s i ze t h a t m y a d

c e n c e w

s d e f i n e d by t h i s show The Simpsons replaced The Magic School Bus as my favorite program by the time my first tooth came loose, The show was my religion and six p m ever y weekday night was my mass Yet as I moved into my teenage years, other interests (sports, girls, recreational drugs, homework) began taking up more of my time time I could no longer spend watching Millhouse or Apu But what cemented my divorce from the show was the universal acknowledgement by fans and critics alike that its quality was melting down faster than a nuclear radiator under

way on a number of stops on their tour together) revealed his innate humor more than his planned jokes did MacDougall’s and Mar tin’s banter was quick and extremely fun to listen to; it was almost like you were eavesdropping on two people who always seemed kind of ordinary to you, but are actually the funniest people you have ever encountered in your life

This banter at the end of the show produced the one sticky moment of Demetri Martin s time on stage He had asked for audience par ticipation, which of course encourages the people one would least like to hear participating, to participate Someone yelled out something about Ithaca’s scenery, which prompted MacDougall into a long discussion of the “Ithaca is Gorges” t-shirts Martin snarkily added, “I wonder if anyone ever jumped wearing one of those sweatshirts ” The audience uttered a collective, “ohh ” Martin then said, “I just mean jumped like up and down, like doing jumping jacks or something,” but it was not an ideal way to end the show

Martin’s humor is definitely not for everyone It demands that the audience members to think for themselves- for example a joke about how black people are not a minority in the stick figure world He relies also a lot on word play, like when he joked about how sneaky the word, “color-scheme” is There are not very many “bits” in Martin’s routine The longest one joke: an elaboration of how dustpans are willing to help you clean, but only to a certain extent, lasted only about a minute

Having already seen Martin perform live twice before, I knew what to expect However, judging by the conversations taking place outside the State Theatre, most of the audience was pleasantly surprised by Martin’s unique style Even though I had heard several of the jokes before, I still found myself laughing at nearly every punch line The one thing

that I noticed about this show as compared to the others of Martin’s I’ve attended was that he seemed really tired This is understandable considering that Martin had done a show in New York City the night before and that the Ithaca show was the last of his Telling Jokes in Cold Places” tour Overall however Martin more than met my expectations and undoubtedly exceeded those of an unbiased viewer

Julia Moser is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences She can be contacted at jmoser@cornellsun com

It’s Not Always

Sunny in Springfield

Homer’s super vision While the exact point of its downfall remains hotly disputed amongst media scholars and dudes who live in basements, there is no denying that by the mid-2000’s, the show’s dialogue was getting simpler, its jokes were getting flatter and its plots were getting dumber I simply couldn’t handle it anymore The revolu-

tionar y show that could once boast Conon

O Brien as a head writer had become a sitcom bland enough for a Jay Leno audience to enjoy

I returned to Springfield via Hulu this weekend to watch the five most recent episodes, partly out of respect and partly out of curiosity I respected that it had reached No 500, a milestone that deser ves re c o g n

breakup may have been And I was curious

to see if Homer and the gang had regained any of their old form, ditching the daft dialogue for its bygone satirical bite

The short answer is that the show still stinks The long answer is that it only mostly stinks There were a handful of socially conscious moments, like when the smartphone-owning Lenny gets trapped underneath a car and yells Help, I don t know how to use the phone on my phone ”

Another funny scene shows a dejected Otto, the town ’ s deadbeat bus driver, walking out of a store called “ The Needle Exchange” when he discovers the store ’ s name is referring to sewing There were other sporadic one-liners that would have fit well into a C o l b e r t Re p o r t s c r i p t ( t h e Re p u b l i c a n National Committee tells Homer, “Simply pick the white male candidate you want”), yet overall, the current manifest of The Simpsons is to its early seasons as the spinoff Joey was to Friends The show flounders because it lacks confidence in the intellect of the viewer

In one scene, Lisa expresses hesitation about the condition of the house Marge responds by saying Lisa, this house is not an embarrassment ” Then there is a long pause in which nothing happens This by itself would be funny The script has set the

viewer up for something embarrassing to happen (i e Homer runs through the hallway naked, or the upstairs bathtub falls through the ceiling), thus Marge’s silence is ironic Yet all potential for humor vanishes when Marge feels the need to explain aloud

Describing why something is funny tends to make less funny, and being walked through a joke makes you feel kind of stupid

All of this makes me wonder if the dense quality of modern Simpsons episodes reflects the modern state of the average American’s intellect Apologies if this statement comes off as being overly snooty (I’m no Novawatcher myself ), but what if the show s current tendency to speak slow and hold its viewers’ hands through ever joke is done out of necessity, and not merely out of lazy writing? The Simpsons has been renewed for two more seasons, meaning that it will be at least a full quarter centur y of life on Evergreen Terrace While I wish the show the best, I am not sure I’ll be able to handle reviewing many more episodes as the family that changed America approaches No 600

Brian Gordon is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences He can be contacted at bgordon@cornellsun com Get Off My Lawn runs alternate Tuesdays this semester

Pens Fall to Sabres, Disappoint Bylsma

BUFFALO, N Y (AP) Sabres forward Derek Roy was still upset with himself after being robbed by Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury s pad save in the second period

He didn't miss on his next opportunity

Roy redirected Jason Pominville's centering pass through Fleury's legs for a short-handed goal as part of Buffalo's three-goal third period in securing a 6-2 win over the Penguins on Sunday It was a game in which the Sabres snapped a four-game skid (0-3-1) and Roy finished with two goals and an assist to enjoy his best outing in nearly four months

"Finishing the chances is obviously key," said Roy, who was staring at an open side only to have Fleury kick out his left pad in preventing the Sabres from building a 3-1 lead with 7:20 left in the second period

"He made a nice save But at the same time you want to finish that and get up three goals and close the game out, " Roy said "In the third period, I was really mad and I wanted to go out and score a goal "

It was a breakout performance for Roy, whose five points (two goals, three assists) in three games matched what he had in his previous 20 (three goals, two assists)

Pominville had a goal and two assists, while Paul Gaustad, Drew Stafford and Tyler Ennis also scored in helping Buffalo (25-27-7) move out of a tie with Carolina for last place in the Eastern Conference Deryk Engelland and Jordan Staal scored for the Penguins, who came out flat in failing to build off a 6-4 win at Philadelphia a day earlier

Backup goalie Brent Johnson s season-long struggles continued His record dropped to 3-7-2 after being yanked early into the second period after allowing three goals on 12 shots Though Fleury provided the Penguins an immediate lift upon taking over, he eventually allowed three goals on 12 shots as Pittsburgh (33-21-5) squandered a chance to move ahead of the fourth-place Flyers in the East

"It was a letdown for our team, " Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said "We knew exactly what team we were playing and what they could do and how they were going to play We didn t execute and play that way And early on, we gave up good opportunities, which they capitalized " Fleury stopped the first seven shots he faced, including Patrick Kaleta's penalty shot, in giving thePenguins a chance to mount a comeback in cutting Buffalo s lead to 3-2 on Staal s power-play goal 5:05 into the third

After squandering early leads in losing each of their past two games, the Sabres responded with Stafford and Roy scoring goals 2:22 apart

"Today we finished the deal," coach Lindy Ruff said "I think the answer was getting the fourth one right away That was the answer We just kept coming " Ryan Miller was sharp, too He made 24 saves, including stopping Staal and Evgeni Malkin on breakaway attempts in the second period

Pominville opened the scoring 52 seconds in, and Roy made it 2-0 by the 4:16 mark

The Sabres got off to a fast start despite having their pregame warmup interrupted when a light bulb broke just before Buffalo took the ice Shards of broken glass were scattered across the ice in the Buffalo end, leading to several Sabres players requiring to have their skates re-sharpened

The NHL allowed the Sabres additional time to warm up, which they did in the Penguins end And the start of the game was delayed for a few minutes to allow the last few Sabres players time to have their skates sharpened

"After a weird warm up, we stuck with it Didn't want to make any excuses out of it, Pominville said We were able to get the lead, get it early and be good with it " since 1880

The

Cornell Daily Sun

Men’s and Women’s Tennis Fail to Defend ECAC Titles

The men s and women s tennis teams both failed to defend their titles at the ECAC Indoor

C h a m p i o n s h i p s ove r t h e we e k e n d , f i n i s h i n g four th and seventh, respectively, at the conclusion of the three-day event The No 2-seeded men, competing in Hanover, N H , dropped a 4-2 match against Dar tmouth on Sunday after falling to sixth-seeded Brown, 4-3, in the semifinals On Friday, the Red bolstered by a s t r o n g s i n

a t e d Columbia, 4-2, to secure a ber th in the semis Leading Cornell in singles play was sophomore Venkat Iyer, who was undefeated in his three matches over the weekend, dropping only one set at No 1 singles Dar tmouth’s four singles

enough to render the doubles match unnecessar y On the women s side, the Red managed a 3-0

v

Ne w Haven, Conn , on Sunday after dropping its

2 scores Against No 43-ranked Princeton, junior Sarah O’Neil defeated the Tigers’ Hilar y Bar tlett ranked No 84 in the countr y in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4 The Red put up one other point on the day, cour tesy of sophomore Ryann Young at No 3 singles, whose opponent retired in the first set of their match On Saturday, Young contributed another point, winning an abbreviated

Alecsiu At the No 6 spot, Cornell freshman Rosemar y Li defeated the Lions’ Chelsea Davis, 7-6(3), 6-3 Li also teamed with classmate Sara Perelman to win the No 3 doubles match by a score of 8-3 Cornell clinched its seventh-place finish against Fairleigh Dickinson behind singles victories from junior Christine Ordway and Young, and a doubles win cour tesy of Li and Perelman

The men ’ s team returns to action next weekend for the Blue-Gray Invitational from Feb 24-26 in Montgomer y, Ala Meanwhile, the women will visit Binghamton on Feb 26 before another non-league home match against Army on Feb 29

Compiled by Spor ts Staff

Track Team Sees Heps on Horizon

TRACK Continued from page 16

who has been injured leading up to Heps

“It was a good final tune-up before Heps; for some of the guys who have been injured, making sure that those guys are 100 percent ready to go [this week],” he said

In addition to serving as a stepping-stone for Heps, the Deneault Invite had a fair share of strong performances by the Red Highlights of the meet were when two freshmen broke school records In the men ’ s shot put, Stephen Mozia broke a 37-year-old record with a throw of 62-8, while in the women s 300m Katie Woodford broke a 20-year-old record with a time of 39 11

In addition to Mozia, the men ’ s team won seven total events Freshman Rutger Admirand won the 800m with a time of 1:51 56 Sophomore Montez Blair won the high jump with a leap of 7 25, while sophomore Peter Roach placed first in pole vault with a height of 16-4 75 Sophomore Mike Rabbitt claimed the 400m with a time of 49 65 The men ’ s team finished the day with 24 IC4A qualifiers

On the women ’ s side the Red captured 10 total events In the 800m, freshman Jade Williams won with a time of 2:10 71 In the high jump, sophomore Jennifer Bush cleared 5-7 to take first, while freshman Lindsey Enders claimed pole vault clearing 12-5 5 In the 400m sophomore Libby O’Brien took first with a time of 57 25

The Red is now focused and poised to come out strong in the fight for the Heps crown Schilkowsky believes that this is going to be a two-team competition between Cornell and Princeton

“Princeton and Cornell this year have the two best teams that the Ivy League has ever seen in track and field, and it s going to be an absolute slugfest,” he said “Every single race is going to be us going after each other If you really want to see great competition between two great nationally elite teams, then you want to be here in Barton Hall this weekend All year the coaches, [us], train to be 100 percent ready to go this weekend ”

Aaronson expressed that the time to perform at the team ’ s highest potential is now

“If you ’ re going to peak at a time in the indoor season, it’s now; that’s what the indoor season is built around is the Heps,” he said “At a [school] like Cornell, it’s hard to only focus on sports with the rigorous academic schedule, but everyone is doing everything they can to get their work done early and get well rested ”

For the seniors, this weekend will mark their final indoor Heps a feeling that senior co-captain Melissa Hewitt is just now realizing

“It’s bittersweet,” she said “I’m excited because we ’ re at home I feel like I’m putting a little more pressure on myself

Red Looks Ahead to Final Five Games

Cornell’s defense set the tone for the game, playing a tight zone and holding Penn to a 22 percent shooting average In the final minutes

Flynn and junior Clare Fitzpatrick created a strong defensive tandem, preventing Penn from making crucial baskets towards the end of the game

“We made plays; we set one another off, Flynn said At the very end, we were making sure to not let them get a shot off Each player knew exactly what they were doing everyone was on the same page for every play Ever yone contributed to the game, and every point counted ”

the No 1 team in the league

Undefeated in all of their Ivy games, and on a 12-game winning streak, the Tigers were bound to be a challenge for Cornell

“We go into every game with the same mentality, ” Lane said “They’re obviously a good team, a championship team, and the best team in the league, but that doesn t change the way we approach the game ” Cornell’s Anyanwu and DiMagno were the first to score in the game, but the Tigers began a 22 consecutive-point run which secured them a formidable lead, 39-18

midable of an opponent and never let the Red close the gap within 10 points of their lead

“We didn’t execute offensively, and never really got into a scoring flow,” Lane said “They controlled the tempo of the game We have to set the tone no matter how good or bad the other team is We let them take us out of our offense We have to be able to execute our offense even if we ’ re playing the worst team in the league ”

Cornell’s season continues next weekend at home, as the team will face Brown and Yale With five games left in the season, the Red will have only a few chances remaining to work on the things it has focused on all season

“We didn’t play our best game it was close at the end, but we got the win and we got it done.”

S p en c er Lan e

“We didn t play our best game it was close at the end but we got the win and we got it done,” Lane said

This was the second time that Cornell defeated Penn this season; the Red beat the Quakers earlier in the season, 67-53

With Friday night s win secured, the Red moved on to face Princeton,

“It was a game for learning opportunities,” Flynn said “For each four minute increment, we tried to make sure we stopped them on defense, that we outscored them

It didn’t pan out as we hoped, but we had that mentality of going on step at a time ” Flynn, DiMagno and Fitzpatrick contributed points for the Red; however, the Tigers proved too for-

to win ”

For many first-time Cornell competitors this is more than just their chance to compete for the team; this weekend is a chance for the rookie athletes to cement themselves as a force to contend with for years to come Schilkowsky offered words of advice to his teammates competing for the first time

“Just relax, and trust your training,” he said “We train harder than anyone else in the league here at Cornell, so we know that we re going to be ready to go and throw down some really good times this weekend ”

According to Hewitt, Princeton should be prepared for the Red because Cornell is determined to dethrone the Tigers I m sure they re pretty confident, but I don t think they know what’s coming,” she said

Hewitt and her teammates will enter Heps with the hope that not only will they emerge victorious, but they will do so surrounded by their fellow Cornellians, in what they said would be a “ sea of red ”

Juan Carlos Toledo can be reached at jtoledo@cornellsun com

“We want to make sure we stay consistent throughout the games, ” Flynn said “We have been making steps to this It’s been one of our biggest themes If we make sure we put in the entire 40 minutes, I believe we can really upset some teams in this league ”

“We didn’t get the outcome [this weekend] that we wanted, but we got a win, which is something to be proud of,” Lane said “[Next weekend] we ’ re hoping to get two home wins and finish above the 500-mark in the Ivy League ”

Rebecca Velez can be reached at rvelez@cornellsun com

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

Spor ts

C.U. Finishes Fourth at National Championships

By LAUREN RITTER Sun Assistant Sports Editor

Cornell placed fourth overall over the

m

Championships marking the highest finish in program histor y The unprecedented weekend campaign began Friday afternoon in Princeton, N J , when the No 6 Red (13-7 4-3 Ivy League) handed No 3-ranked Yale (15-3, 6-1) an 8-1 upset, in Cornell’s first-ever quarterfinal win at the event

“ We came into [the match against Yale] with an opportunity of a lifetime it was one of our only times to prove to Cornell who we really were because throughout the year we have these expectations and never fulfilled them,” said junior Arjun Gupta “ We were like this time we all have to come together one time, one time for nationals because this is where it all matters ”

The victor y over the Bulldogs was only the third or the Red in the teams ’ 53-meet series Cornell entered Friday s matchup hoping to avenge a 5-4 loss to Yale on Jan 14 Defeating the Bulldogs ensured the Red a Top-4 finish in the Potter Cup

We came through and we all played as one and played together as a team, ” Gupta said “It was the only time that we beat Yale in [the current squad’s] histor y and the only time that Cornell has passed the quarterfinals in the national championship it meant a lot to us and [head coach Mark

Devoy]

Junior Rishi Jalan (No 9) and Gupta (No 6) gave the Red its first two wins on Friday against Yale by beating each of their opponents in four sets Jalan improved to 12-0 for the season with the win Senior Thomas Spettigue finished the sweep for the first wave of matches, rallying from a two-games deficit to defeat Yale’s Richard Dodd at the No 3-position Freshman Ryan Todd (No 8) improved Cornell s lead to 4-0 with a five-game victor y, before senior co-captain Alex Domenick (No 2)

b e a t Ya l e ’ s Hy we l Ro b i n s o n i n t h re estraight games clinching the victor y for the Red Senior Will Hartigan, junior Nick Sachvie and freshman Aditya Jagtap also won their matches

On Saturday the Red faced No 2r a n k e d Pr i n c e t o n ( 1 5 - 1 , 7 - 0 ) i n t

national semi-finals; however Cornell was unable to secure the win, eventually falling to the Tigers, 7-2 Spettigue and Jagtap gave the Red its only victories of the day at No 3 and No 4 respectively Princeton went on to claim the national championship title the following afternoon, upsetting 13-time defending champion Trinity (16-1), 5-4

T h e Re d w e n t r a c q u e t - t o - r a c q u e t against Har vard (16-4, 5-2) in Sunday’s third-place match at Princeton s Jadwin Squash Courts Cornell was unable to stave off a Crimson win, ultimately falling to the Cambridge rival, 5-4

We ended up losing to Har vard, 5-4,

King Arjun | Junior Arjun Gupta finished 2-1 over the weekend, falling to Princeton on Saturday, but beating both Yale and Har vard on Friday and Sunday

but we all fought really hard,” Gupta said “It could have gone either way, but we all fought hard and played well and that’s what counts We re not too disappointed with our loss to Har vard ”

A f t e r t h e f i r s t w a v e o f m a t c h u p s , Spettigue and Gupta provided Cornell with a 2-1 lead; however, Hartigan was the only Red player to secure a win in the second rotation Coming down to the final three, junior Owen Butler defeated his opponent in the No 7-position to give the Red its fourth point The final two Cornell players were unable to overcome their C r i m s o n c o u n t e r p a r t s , t h u s g i v i n g Har vard the 5-4 victor y and third-place title

“I lost my last collegiate match and I hate losing anyone on my team will tell you that,” Domenick said “But, I have no regrets for my squash career As a whole, I

Deneault Invite Prepares S quad for Heps

By JUAN CARLOS TOLEDO Sun Staff Wr ter

Months of training, weightlifting, dieting, nursing injuries and mentally preparing will culminate in the Heps indoor finals this weekend at Barton Hall for the men ’ s and women ’ s track and field teams After the disappointment of being dethroned by Princeton one year ago, the Red is focused and gearing up for a chance to reclaim

its title as Heps champion In preparation for Heps, Cornell hosted the Deneault Invite on Saturday Feb 18 This meet was a chance for many athletes to sit out and rest in preparation for the Heps, as well as an opportunity for the few remaining athletes still on the bubble to show their coaches and their teammates why they belong on the Heps squad

“Ever y year [the Deneault Invite] is a great meet, ” said senior

short sprinter Chase Aaronson

“It’s everyone ’ s chance to either rest up for Heps or prove themselves for the Heps team Every single year we have some great performances that come out of nowhere

Sophomore mid-distance runner John Schilkowsky described how important a meet like the Deneasult Invite is for an athlete

By REBECCA VELEZ Sun Staff Writer

have played on many U S teams and I’ve played ver y well I thought this year I played ver y well Even though it didn’t end the way I wanted, I have no regrets While team competition has ended for Cornell’s squad, some players will travel to the CSA’s Individual Championships on March 2-4

“Ever y year the Top-64 players play at t h e [ C o l l e g e Sq u a s h A s s o c i a t i o n ’ s Individual National Championships,] so a lot of Cornell players will go because a lot of our players will be in the Yop-64,” Jalan said “Last year Nick Sachvie was Rookie of the Year and finished No 2 in the countr y, so we have great expectations for Cornell squash ”

Cornell (10-13, 4-5 Ivy League) came away with mixed results over the weekend, defeating Penn (10-13, 3-6) in a close game, 4542, before losing to Princeton (19-4, 9-0), 75-39

Cornell started off on a good foot on Friday night against Penn, with the Red finishing the first half ahead, 24-14 Both sophomore guard Allyson DiMagno and senior forward Maka Anyanwu contributed four points, while junior guard Taylor Flynn sunk a 3pointer towards the end of the half

We had already beaten Penn so we knew they were going to be hungry for that win,” said junior guard Spencer Lane “ We tried to go out with as much energy as possible ” The Quakers staged more of a fight in the second half, going on a run that would bring them to tie the score at 42-42 with a little over three minutes remaining From theat moment on it was a battle to the finish, as both teams fought to hold the lead With 70 seconds remaining, Lane made her second of two free throws to put the Red ahead 43-42 In the remaining minute Penn fouled DiMagno, who sank both free throws lifting the game to 45-42

“There were some things that we could improve on, ” Flynn said “The biggest thing we took away from this game was having a good early start and keeping our ground No matter how much they fight back, we can hold them down and pull through in the very end ”

Cornell’s defense definitely set the tone for the game, playing a