2.22.12 issue

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

Chipotle Opens to Rave Reviews

Students brave hour-long wait for Mexican chain

By TAJWAR MAZHAR Sun Staff Writer

Ithaca heralded the grand opening of its first Chipotle Mexican Grill on Tuesday with crowds of patrons wrapping around the restaurant The popular chain first announced its opening in November, rousing the excitement of Cornell students

“I’ve had a lot of experience with Chipotle It is hands down the best fast food around,” Seth Braunstein ’13 said as he waited in line “Finally Ithaca came to its senses and got one, and that’s awesome There’s no way I’m going to miss the grand

opening ”

Michael Twiford ’14 who lives in the Washington, D C area where there are over 75 of the burrito-based restaurants, said that, since he has a Chipotle at home, he is “ so excited that it finally coming to Ithaca ”

“I’ve been waiting for this Chipotle for weeks and I’m just so happy to be here,” Twiford said

Chipotle staff said their day was kept busy with eager diners milling around the restaurant “Our day’s been really busy, with people lining up all day People have camped out-

See CHIPOTLE page 5

By LIZ CAMUTI Sun Senior Writer

In the brewing legal melee between gas drilling companies and local municipalities seeking to ban hydraulic fracturing on their lands, round one, it appears, is over: Local communities in a win by decision

Tompkins County court judge Philip Rumsey ruled Tuesday that the Town of Dryden’s recent ban on hydraulic fracturing a controversial practice in which chemicals are injected into the ground at high pressure to extract natural gas falls within the authority of local governments to regulate municipal land use

According to court documents, Rumsey determined that the state ’ s mining law, which allows drilling companies to regulate their own activity, cannot stop towns from banning drilling through zoning ordinances

On Sept 16, Anschutz Exploration Corporation, a Denver-based gas drilling company, filed a lawsuit against the Town of Dryden The suit challenged the town ’ s hydraulic fracturing ban, calling the prohibition “invalid, unlawful and unenforceable,” according to court documents

According to the company ’ s statements during the trial, Anschutz has invested $5 1 million in drilling operations on more than 55,000 acres in the town The company argued that Dryden’s ban on hydraulic fracturing commonly referred to as “fracking” violated a state law designed to create standardized regulations for oil and gas drilling and

See FRACKING page 5

Signatures of S .A. Candidate’s Bid Scrutinized Organization Pushes to Educate LGBT Students on Health Issues

By JINJOO LEE Sun Staff Wr ter

A student initiative is raising awareness about health issues faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students and connecting them with existing programs that serve the LGBT population both on campus and in the Ithaca community

Spenser Reed ’13, vice presi-

be working on these issues because there is a lot of attention nationally on LGBT health,” said Vishesh Kothary ’12, founder and president of Come out for Health!

“This is a great time to be working on these issues because there’s a lot of attention nationally on LGBT health.” V is h es h K ot h ar y ’ 1 2

dent of Come Out for Health! said the group was inspired to take action in October by U S Secretar y of Health Kathleen Sebelius Sebelius said that there was an urgent need for healthcare practitioners to have a better understanding about the unique health disparities that LGBT Americans encounter “I think this is a great time to

Come Out for Health! is currently working to address a number of health issues per tinent to the LGBT community, l i k e s m o k i n g Ko t h a r y s a i d that the LGBT community has a high rate of tobacco use in par t because of “industr y targeting ”

“[Tobacco companies] have sponsored AIDS charities, where gay men often gather They also had a project targeting minorities, he said To help reduce smoking rates

See LGBT page 4

By JEFF STEIN Sun City Editor

A candidate for Student Assembly attempted to take credit for another candidate’s signatures by crossing off the petition’s original name and replacing it with her own, documents obtained by The Sun Tuesday night indicated

That candidate, E J Yeterian ’15, will still be permitted to run for the position because she collected more than 100 signatures the number necessary to qualify Adam Raveret ’12, director of elections for the S A , said in an interview Tuesday While not confirming the details of the infraction, Raveret said Yeterian would not receive further disciplinary action The “ proper punishment for anything that took place, Raveret said, is to not include any signatures that were not collected by her

Raveret said “the hearing that took place tonight was confidential, and no one outside reelection committee and E J should know about it, so that’s a little frustrating ”

“Do you know E J ? E J is honestly one of the sweetest girls in the world,” Raveret said Raveret’s narrative appeared to

Violation | An S A candidate’s election petition, above, reportedly included signatures intended for another candidate

contradict an email, obtained by The Sun, that he sent to Yeterian on Monday In that account, while waiting in line to turn in their petitions to run for the S A women ’ s issues representative, Yeterian reportedly told Melissa Lukasiewicz ’14 that she, Yeterian, did not have enough signatures Lukasiewicz, who apparently had more than enough of her own signatures, proceeded to give Yeterian two sheets of her own

“It is quite apparent that you had crossed out Melissa’s name

throughout the forms and wrote your own name on the sheet,” Raveret said in the email “Since the signatures reflect the intent of the signers to put a particular person on the ballot, it seems inappropriate to transfer them to a different candidate unless you go back out and get all of the signers’ consent to do so ”

Neither Yeterian nor Lukasiewicz returned phone calls Tuesday night

Jeff Stein can be reached at jstein@cornellsun com

Fasting Girls: Then and Now

10:30 - 11:30 a m , Auditorium, Boyce Thompson Institute

The Way Forward –– How Events in Developed Nations Will Impact Emerging And Frontier Markets

2:30 - 4 p m , B10 Sage Hall

The Armenian-Italian Diaspora: An Afternoon Talk With Antonia Arslan

4:30 - 5:30 p m , G22 Goldwin Smith Hall

To Write Love on Her Arms

7:30 - 9 p m , Statler Auditorium

Lessons From Asia: Becoming a Global Technology Leader

1 - 2 p m , Sage Hall

Nonprofit/Government Career and Information Fair

1 p m , Statler Hall Ballroom

Edwidge Danticat Reading

4:30 p m , HEC Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall

Mind’s the Prison: Art Gallery Opening by Jaeil Cho ’12

6 p m - 12 a m , 626 Thurston Ave

DesignConnect Jam Session #2

6:00 - 8:00 p m , 102 Mann Library

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PIT TSFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich (AP) Police

say an unloaded gun has been found inside a piano that was donated to a southeast Michigan nursing home years ago

Healthcare Center in Pittsfield Township, 5 miles south of Ann Arbor, found the gun Friday in a case inside the piano

Schick says he suspects the Ruger 22 caliber pistol was hidden long before the musical instr ument was donated to the home

Schick says police checked a state database but found no registered owner for the gun They are tr ying to determine its last owner by checking the serial number against Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives records

ALBUQUERQUE, N M (AP) A 23-year-old college student from Ne w Mexico is scheduled to go to trial for allegedly stealing a small pumpkin wor th two dollars

KOAT-TV in Albuquerque, N M , repor ts that Lauren Medina will go before a jur y and Moriarity Ma

accused of taking the pumpkin in October 2011 from McCall’s Pumpkin Patch in Moriar ty

Her sister, Annette Atencio, says Medina spent $75 on food that day but forgot to pay for the pumpkin she picked up as she was leaving Atencio says her sister offered to pay but was refused and then handcuffed

Atencio says she’s in disbelief that the theft charge against her sister was not dropped

She says her sister could have pleaded guilty and be given probation, but refused

NEW YORK (AP) The Ne w York Mets’ longtime clubhouse manager has admitted he illegally owned millions of dollars’ wor th of team memorabilia C h

Queens cour thouse to possessing stolen proper ty and tax fraud

He is expected to be sentenced in April to five years ’ probation The 55-year-old is also banned from any Mets facility, even if he buys a ticket

Samuels was fired by the team in 2010 He had worked for the Mets since 1976 and became equipment manager in 1983 Di s t ri c

At

admitted having almost $2 3 million wor th of Mets memorabilia and collectibles His guilty plea includes charges that he evaded paying

and

involved in the investigation

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Citing Popular Demand , Univ. Considers I.R . Major

By KAITLYN KWAN Sun Staff Wr ter

Despite its rigorous workload, the international relations minor has increased in popularity among students, leading administrators to consider changing the I R minor into a major in “global affairs ”

The moment is right for us to really consider this possibility,” said Fredrik Logevall, director of the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies “ This is the time to think about whether we can make this a reality It’s certainly an exciting possibility ”

Logevall attributed the rising interest in the I R minor to a change in students’ worldview

“ There is a sense now that the world is becoming a smaller place and more interdependent,” he said “ We’re all more interconnected than we used to be, and therefore, it s more important for us to understand the world around us Perhaps students and parents see a greater need for at least a minor ”

Still, administrators said that a new major faces several roadblocks

Prof David Lee, applied economics and management and director of the I R minor, said that the Einaudi Center is unable to create a major due to a lack of “administrative resources ” The minor is currently coordinated part-time by a graduate student, but will need a full-time staff in order to expand

Additionally, Lee said, the possibility of offering an I R major “ comes down to funding, like so much else ”

It would be great and highly advantageous for students to have the option of an international relations major or global study major, but it would only make sense if we do it right, which would mean investing more resources, ” he said

Several students who expressed interest in an I R major said that the current minor is too demanding for them to complete The minor requires students not only to take eight courses which is on par with the number of required credits for several majors, such as economics but also fulfill a language requirement to complete it

Because of this requirement, Lee said, approximately 80 percent of I R minors are in the College of Arts and Sciences, where the minor’s language requirement can be partially fulfilled by the school’s distribution requirements

Some students in colleges which do not require proficiency in a foreign language said this particular requirement discouraged them completing the minor

Sae Ryoung Lee ’15, one student who is hesitant about completing an I R minor because of its requirements, said that she thinks completing six courses should be “good

After Obama’s

By DENNIS LIU Sun Staff Wr ter

President Barack Obama’s victor y in the 2008 presidential election transformed the racial identities of black college students, according to a study by University researchers published at the end of November

A f r i c a n A m

i c a n s t u d

n t s a t Cornell and the State University of New York at Buffalo Thomas

enough” for a minor

Enrico Bonatti ’14 agreed, saying that although the minor’s courses are “really interesting,” its extensive requirements deter many from completing it

“I know a lot of people who were considering an I R minor but then half of them dropped [it],” he said

Although Logevall acknowledged that compared to numerous other minors, the I R requirements are heavy,” he said he does not think they are “unduly burdensome ” “ There’s a logic to the requirements that we have I want it to be a serious minor and one that is meaningful,” he said

In addition, Logevall said that the minor’s requirements help narrow down its pool of applicants to those who are serious about the minor, adding, “I want it to be a serious minor and one that is meaningful ”

Not all students agreed with Logevall, however

Jared Macher ’14, who said he was interested in the I R minor but decided not to pursue it because of its requirements, said that students should be able to pursue a minor

without having to complete extensive coursework

I think a lot of students at Cornell don’t particularly choose a major because they’re totally interested in it, but because they see the value of that degree,” he said “You want to offer the greatest degree of academic flexibility and opportunity sustenance ”

However, both Lee and Logevall said if a major is not created, the minor is still useful for entering “One of the reasons why we have the program we have is because it draws students from across the University and I think that reflects in large part the diverse nature of Cornell, Logevall said “ The way the I R minor is construed currently, it is an interdisciplinar y-focused minor so you draw classes from government, from economics, from AEM, from anthropology and so forth And that speaks to one of the strengths of Cornell, which is its breadth ”

Kaitlyn Kwan can be reached at kkwan@cornellsun com

Election, More Identify Themselves by Race, Researchers Say

Fuller-Rowell grad ’10 showed that the collective experience of the election prompted more individuals to identify themselves in terms of their race

According to Fuller-Rowell’s research, participants exhibited increases in their perceptions of public regard the extent to which they feel their race is well l i k e d f o l l ow i n g Ba r a c k Obama’s electoral victor y “Public regard is an interesting dimension because, histori-

Disorderly Conduct And Harassment

An individual at Ho Plaza was referred to the judicial administrator on Monday after engaging in disorderly conduct and harassment, a report from the Cornell Police stated

Unlawful Possession Of Alcohol

Five individuals were referred to the judicial administrator on Sunday for unlaw-

ful possession of alcohol The students were found in five different North Campus dormitories, a report from the Cornell Police stated

Criminal Mischief Police responded to a call Sunday about an unknown individual damaging floor tiles in the men ’ s showers at Clara Dickson Hall, a report from the Cornell Police stated

Compiled by Akane Otani

cally, it has been ver y low among African American communities,” s a i d Pro f A n t h o n y Bu r row, human development, co-author of the study So to see increases on this particular dimension is not only interesting, it’s really profound ” Tony Montgomer y ’13, president of the Cornell Democrats, said that while he was not surprised by the study’s results, he was interested in the level of intensity that college students expressed for a presidential candidate

“ Fo r m e , a s a n A f r i c a n

American, I took a lot of pride in that election,” Montgomer y said “But also as a Democrat, and as a n A m e r i c a n c i t i ze n , I t h i n k there’s a lot to appreciate about his nomination and election ”

Fuller-Rowell began to create the study as an extension of his dissertation, which examined the factors that produced changes in the racial identities of college students over time The presidential elections approached just before he finished his dissertation

“[Barack Obama] would have been the first black president, so it was certainly interesting to us, ” Burrow said “ This was something that could certainly shape racial identity ”

The researchers gathered data by asking students to complete

sur veys two weeks before and five m o n t h s a f t

o n

Participants either agreed or disagreed with statements such as, Being Black is an important part of my self-image,” and, “In general, others respect Black people ”

In conjunction with the surveys, individuals also had to complete daily assessments in the seven days before and after the election, according to Burrow

The researchers then used the re s u l t s t o d e t e r m i n e s t u d e n t s ’ personal levels of regard for their own racial identity and the extent to which they felt race was an

viewed themselves

According to Burrow, similar studies with racial identity in the past have only looked at personal encounters with the reality of race, such as experiencing discrimination or exclusion He said this study is particularly noteworthy because it examined a nationwide event that had a posi t i ve i n f l u e n c e o n A f r i c a n Americans

“I think what this has done is that it’s opened up more than just the interpersonal conversations or day-to-day experiences that people can have that racial identity exploration could be the result of larger social, maybe even socio-political, events, Burrow said “It may not be the things

that are locally in your environment that you personally experience, but could be things that are happening in a much larger social ecology ”

Begun after the election, the study also found that African A m e r i c a n s t u d e n t s i n c re a s e d their private regard for their race and their belief that race was an important part of their self-identity The study also found that participants who considered race a central characteristic of their identities were more likely to explore their own identities

Looking ahead to the 2012 election, Burrow said he and his peers will consider conducting another study He added that if President Obama is reelected, it would likely strengthen African American students’ perceptions of public regard

“I think the important thing is to keep that enthusiasm up not only about politics, but also about progressive causes, about voting, to get that same turnout, ” Montgomer y said “At the same time, I’m more concerned about getting Barack Obama reelected as a Democrat because of his principles, not so much about g

African American

Dennis Liu can be reached at dliu@cornellsun com

Student Group Hopes to Help LGBT Student s

Un i ve r s i t y, Ko t h a r y s a i d “ We r e e s p e c i a l l y f o c u s i n g o n s t u d e n t s t h a t a re n o t c o mf o r t a b l e w i t h b e i n g i d e n t i f i e d a s L G B T, ” h e s a i d “A

Un i ve r s i t y - s p o n s o re d p ro g r a m m i g h t n o t d o ve r y we l l , b u t a p e e r - s p o n s o re d p ro g r a m m i g h t , b e c a u s e t h e re ’ s n o s t i g m a ” T h e g ro u p d o e s n o t p l a n t o l i m i t i t s o u t re a c h t o C o r n e l l s t u d e n t s , h owe ve r “A n o t h e r t h i n g i s c o n n e c ti n g w i t h It h a c a c o m m u n i t y, ”

Ko t h a r y s a i d T h e y h a v e a

Pl a n n e d Pa re n t h o o d h e re t h a t

h a s a g r a n t f ro m Ne w Yo rk

St a t e f o r LG BT h e a l t h T h a t ’ s p re t t y u n u s u a l ; yo u d o n ’ t f i n d

t h a t i n s m a l l t ow n s a n y w h e re

Ko t h a r y s a i d t h a t C o m e Ou t

f o r He a l t h ! h a s m e t w i t h re p re -

s e n t a t i v e s f r o m P l a n n e d

Pa r e n t h o o d a n d C a y u g a

Me d i c a l C e n t e r t o d i s c u s s h ow

t o b e s t i n f o r m s t u d e n t s a b o u t a v a i l a b l e re s o u r c e s a n d s e r v e t h e m , a d d i n g t h a t , a s s t u d e n t s , we w a n t t o s t a r t a c o n ve r s at i o n ”

Ma t t h e w C a rc e l l a , a s s o c i a t e

“We are a group of students that hope to bridge this gap by creating open access to quality healthcare for the LGBT population.”

S pen s er R eed ’ 1 3

d e a n o f s t u d e n t s a n d d i re c t o r o f t h e LG BT Re s o u rc e C e n t e r, s a i d t h a t h e a l t h p ro f e s s i o n a l s a re o f t e n n o t p ro p e r l y e d u c a t e d o n h o w t o a p p r o a c h i s s u e s f a c e d by LG BT p a t i e n t s “ T h e re a l i t y o f i t i s , l o t s o f c o l l e g e s a n d u n i ve r s i t i e s d o n ’ t t e a c h t h e i r s t u d e n t s a b o u t LG BT h e a l t h , ” C a rc e l l a s a i d So we re g r a d u a t i n g M D s o r n u r s e s w i t h o u t h a v i n g a re a l l y g o o d k n ow l e d g e o f h ow t o b e i n c l u s i ve w i t h l a n g u a g e , [ s u c h a s ] h ow d o yo u a s k s o m e o n e a b o u t t h e i r f a m i l y s t a t u s o r c h o i c e s a b o u t t h e i r h e a l t h ” He e m p h a s i ze d t h e n e e d f o r a n o r g a n i z a t i o n l i k e C o m e Ou t f o r He a l t h ! , s a y i n g t h a t , t h e Un i ve r s i t y d o e s n o t f o c u s a s m u c h a t t e n t i o n o n L G B T h e a l t h a s i t s Iv y p e e r s “ Gi ve n t h e s i ze o f o u r u n ive r

jinjoolee@cornellsun com

Burrito Fans Revel in New Chipotle

CHIPOTLE

Kendra Loya, Chipotle training coordinator, said “It’s been out the door ” Loya, who has worked with Chipotle for three years, said she travels to train staff at

been working with

team in Ithaca since Feb 13

“It’s been great, ” Loya said While many en-

c

” Weiner said “ They’re all waiting in line to pay for food in

C

Chipotle sign before hitting K

Kamin

Dr yden Lawsuit May Set Precedent for N.Y. State

“I figured she must know something that I don’t since she was out of state, so we decided to come here on opening day Kamin said “I m not too upset She was right It really is good

“Our day’s been really busy, [with] people lining up all day People have camped outside.”

K en dra Loy a

waiting in lines snaked around the store, the packed restaurant was a deterrent for some

It

Elayne Weiner decided to leave after seeing the mob lining up for the famed burritos

“Somebody must have said there was free food so half of Cornell and probably half of

Chipotle in Virginia, and it is good, but I wouldn’t wait an hour for Chipotle ” Ben Rosenthal 13, however, said that he and his group of friends did not mind waiting in line for about half an hour

“It was efficient, pretty fast Not too bad at all,” Rosenthal said Ithaca resident Christina Kamin s car was a casualty to

the restaurant

opening On Monday, a driver ran into

Insider referred to Chipotle

encourage the extraction of these resources

The case was widely expected to set a precedent for New York State, several cities officials said

“ What this does is just to spread the message that municipalities should have the right to regulate these industries which are disruptive and have environmental impacts,” said Ithaca Alderperson Seph Murtagh (D-2nd Ward) “It’s definitely a decision that has statewide implications ”

Murtagh added that a final decision on whether New York municipalties can prohibit fracking will likely hinge on the Dryden lawsuit and another suit filed by a landowner against the Town of Middlefield

Tajwar

“This was kind of a gray area of the law [but] these are really precedent-setting cases, ” Murtagh said

As New York State moves toward permitting high-volume hydrofracking, Dryden and 51 other municipalities across the state have either changed their zoning regulations or passed laws to ban the process, The Sun reported in November

Whether the state will allow fracking is ultimately Gov Andrew Cuomo s (D) decision Cuomo has said that he will only approve the method if it can be done safely

In a statement Tuesday evening, New York State Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton (D-125th) expressed support for the decision, which ruled in favor of local communities’ ability to control land use through zoning in the municipality

“This is a victory for municipalities and land-owners across New York," Lifton said

Independent Since 1880 129TH EDITORIAL BOARD

BENJAMIN D GITLIN 12 Editor in Chief

CHLOE GATTA 12 Business Manager

DANIELLE A NEUHARTH-KEUSCH 12

Associate Editor

RAHUL KISHORE 12 Web Editor

BRENDAN DOYLE 12 Assistant Managing Editor

LAUREN BIGALOW 12

Editor

JAMES RAINIS 14

& Entertainment Editor

MARGO COHEN RISTORUCCI 13 News Editor

PETER A JACOBS 13

LAUREN RITTER 13

ANNIE NEWCOMB 13

JOSEPH VOKT 14

MAEGAN NEVINS 12

AARON SAGE ’13

ALYSSA TSUCHYIA 12

ELIZA LaJOIE 13

RUBY PERLMUTTER 13 Senior Editor

MICHAEL LINHORST ’12

Editor

BEAUCHEMIN ’13

Manager

H RICH ’13

Editor JOONSUK LEE 12

JOSEPH ANDERSON ’12

STEIN ’13

JUAN FORRER 13

DANIELLE B ABADA 14

QUINTIN SCHWAB ’14

KATERINA ATHANASIOU ’13

RITTNER 14

YANG 14

CRITELLI ’13

CHOU 13

HU ’12

PATRICIO G MARTÍNEZ ’13

R eally, W hat Makes a Holiday?

As I suited up in my Revolutionar y War reenactment uniform and went for a stroll with my bayonet on President’s Day eve, I wondered why we ’ re not on holiday this week, when we could b e t

foundation of our remarkable democracy When more and more Cornellians looked at my festive garb with scorn and confusion, I realized that perhaps we celebrated President s Day differently where I gre w up on the Upper West Side of Ne w York City But is there a right or wrong way to celebrate a holiday?

T h o s e w h o h o l d e a t i n g Tu

k e y o n

Thanksgiving sacrosanct will now holler, “Surely, Jacob, you cannot be serious Even the veggiest of vegetarians chow down on Tofurkey!” And they’re absolutely right Consider the thought bubbles that most likely bore the first popular holiday each Febr uar y: “I, the proud owner of a pleasa n t l y p l u m p, b u

named Phil, believe the arrival of spring is

Zahos 15

14

Editorial

Taking Action on Diversity In Higher Education

ON TUESDAY, THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT announced that it will hear a case on affirmative action in higher education This Supreme Cour t decision could eliminate the use of diversity as a justification for any consideration of race in admissions decisions A decision like this could have enormous implications for Cornell and represent a step backward for the University In the face of this decision, Cornell should cement its commitment to using broad definitions of diversity, which may include race, and stand up for its policies

The announcement by the cour t came shor tly after President David Skor ton sent an email to the Cornell community pledging that the University will set target goals for diversity for student admissions and faculty hires Though these goals have not been quantified, they will take into account several different measures of diversity One of these measures will likely be race, as the University has mentioned the importance of adding people of color with requisite qualifications in previous policy statements

Skor ton ’ s message represents an acknowledgement of the administration’s current shor tcomings as it works to improve diversity Though Cornell already uses an affirmative action rationale that takes race into account, the fact that the rationale alone was not enough to raise the level of diversity por tends that eliminating racially conscious policies altogether would have negative consequences on diversity at institutions of higher education Higher education would benefit more from goal setting on broad measures of diversity than eliminating some of these measures altogether Cornell has been operating on the principles of affirmative action for much of its recent existence, and this focus on broad measures of diversity, including race, has made it a more dynamic and engaging place By opening up to those of differing backgrounds, races, religions and genders, Cornell has given oppor tunities to those who may have been denied it other wise, helping to eliminate disparities that have persisted in the broader American society

At a university like Cornell, the par ticipation of individuals with diverse points of vie w is critical to enhancing scholarship and learning Cornell should use its experience in dealing with diversity issues to speak out in favor of its affirmative action policies

predicated upon my rodent’s reactions to the clouds and the sun Phil’s 39 percent success rate in the last 115 years is hardly a legitimate meteorological sample size of his exper tise, considering he will live forever I propose we name the calendar date after Phil’s species to pay more earnest attention to his prophesies ”

So perhaps the question is, what makes a holiday in the first place food, feast or fast? The bir th death or life of a people a relationship or a nation? Just what criteria make the fine people of Hallmark nod their heads? The fine people working in Washington D C give us a day off?

C

, work-stoppage holidays Ne w Year’s Day, Mar tin Luther King, Jr Day, President’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans’ Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas more seriously than Groundhog Day You’d be hardpressed to come up with even a diffuse theme that r uns through all ten of these religious, cultural or historical days perhaps the only one is deep-seated American tradition, but there’s nothing un-American about celebrating Feb 22’s own National Margarita Day; work hard, happy-hour hard

Some holidays just bleed red white and blue The case for President s Day seems simple: born on Feb 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln steered the not-so-United States through the Civil War, and Feb 22, 1732 saw the bir th of George Washington, Mona Lisa of the $1 bill, lover of ballroom dancing and patriarch of the United States But why not celebrate Franklin D Roosevelt, anothe r of our fines t pre s ide nts whos e bir thday, March 4, was only two days shy of Febr uar y? Fur ther, why not celebrate the life of Amerigo Vespucci, Italian explorer and namesake of our Motherland, who died on Feb 22, 1512? Columbus has one of those 10 days all to himself, and he thought the Ne w World was Asia Granted, w e d o n t w a n t t o d i l u t e h o l i d a y s

President’s Day needn’t call for celebrating Frederic Chopin or Andy Warhol’s deaths but there wouldn t be American presidents without Amerigo

As per the Columbus/Vespucci principle, it seems senseless to dwell on why

President’s Day is a federal holiday and Election Day isn’t or why our government can ’ t choose between Memorial Day and Veterans Day maybe it s tradition, fear of change or not wanting to admit failure but these are questions we plebeians can only ponder More impor tant is the definition of a holiday, a word comprised of “holy” and day that, for Brits, can also indicate a recreational vacation Holidays are begging f o

choice If Ash Wednesday is holy to you, I hope you have an easy and meaning ful fast today Today is definitely a holiday for members of the U S Olympic Hockey team

defending-champion Soviet team on Feb 2

Margarita Day or star t a ne w holiday to raise 21st centur y American consciousness Feb 22 commemorates Richard Nixon’s visit to Beijing in 1972 to meet with Premier Chou En-Lai and open diplomatic

relations, as well as the depar ture date of the “Empress of China,” the first US trade ship to China If that’s too serious, how about skipping class tomorrow and turning the Ar ts Quad into a giant bed-sheet For t in memorial of the snow fight that never happened?

Sound silly? Consider how widespread obser vance works Between commemorating the arrival of Christianity in Ireland obser ving Lent, attending church ser vices, wearing green and getting festive, how do most people celebrate St Patrick on the most widely celebrated saints day worldwide? The day s loaded with religious and cultural significance for those who obser ve it, but whether or not you go to church or obser ve Lent, dressing up like Shrek and imbibing green drank is encouraged Holidays evolve year after year, and the ideals and ideologies that once powered the day may be transmogrified to entirely different animals Today we have another oppor tunity to honor veterans, a day for stores to hold sales and isolated bir thday parades in Virginia but there are definitely other ways to honor George’s bir thday Other wise, the holiday is a celebration of historicity our sheer ability to chronicle that Washington was born today, rather than a celebration of his life and the values he embodied But if we care, let’s read from the canon of American histor y, go boating t

sound a horn to sing America the Beautiful at noon or eat strawberr y shor tcake with blue icing The only way to keep holidays meaning ful is personalization ever ybody, ever y family, does a little something

Passover or the Four th of July

There’s no federal holiday until May 28, Memorial Day, when many of us are out of here, and the next popular holiday, St Patrick’s Day, falls on spring break this year I’d be honored if we could put our minds together and come up with a revolu-

Pancake Day this Feb 28

The Opp ortunity Cost: Just How Much Can We Af ford in Syria

For over a year, the opposition movement in Syria has grown, developed and shifted from public protesting in the nation’s capital to widespread violent battling against the ruling regime While Egyptians have experienced a tumultuous and dubious transition to militar y rule and Libyans received substantial militar y and financial aid from the U N and NATO, Syrians continue to fight their fight unaided by the foreign powers that be

The Arab League has condemned Bashar al-Assad the scion of the ruling family of 41 years and demanded that he step down The League considered the use of similar pressure a success in Yemen, where Ali Abdullah Saleh stepped down in Januar y after 34 years of rule Assad has not, however, stepped down; instead, he has ramped up the tactics that the Syrian Army uses on opposition fighters and protesters in an attempt to quell the widespread dissent The numbers of those killed var y, but according to the UN at least 6,000 had been killed by government forces since the uprising broke out in March

This death toll approaches that of the entire Kosovo War, including the NATO bombings, even though there has been no foreign militar y interference By all accounts, fewer civilians had died in Libya when NATO inter vened than have in Syria thus far This absolutely constitutes a humanitarian crisis, and yet substantial help outside of diplomatic negotiations by the Arab League has not arrived

Plain and simple, the scale and manner in which Assad’s regime has inflicted violence on the Syrian people is wrong His regime is part of the small but elite Alawite Muslims minority, of which the Assad family is a pillar, ruling over the entire countr y through important militar y positions This enables “official” army branches to participate in the widespread violence against protesting civilians

The Assad regime has essentially hijacked the Syrian people s right to political self-determination Through concentration of wealth and power, they have held onto the countr y ’ s reins for over four decades and continue to do so in spite of a clear domestic bent on a new government The Syrian opposition has a legitimate claim to contest the Assad regime, and has a right to do so peacefully

W

AIf the Assad regime will not allow that to happen, then foreign powers, preferably a coalition like the Arab League or a U N group, must induce it as they did in Libya

What variables make this situation different for the international community from that in Libya, and why has such a coalition not come about?

The widespread inactivity has been aggravated by that

Iran and the ambiguous calculus of what decision w

more stable The Obama administration has proved war y of continued efforts by Iran to dispel Western initiative on suppor t for the opposition movements

which has a significant Christian population, Syria is one of the most diverse countries in the region

Opposition is dominated by Sunni Muslims, this is true But it’s more likely that this is a product of the countr y ’ s demographic make-up than sectarian strife Fears that the Shia minority, including Alawites, could be turned on violently are probably baseless since the major paramilitar y

Senators John McCain (RAriz ) and Lindsey Graham (R-S C ) have become outspoken in their belief that the United States should stand behind the Syrian opposition, a stance that might change the administration’s attitude over time

Iran, however, has thus far successfully utilized its increasingly few international supporters to prevent action similar to that in Libya Russia joined China in vetoing a U N Security Council resolution to demand Assad s resignation The U N General Assembly proceeded to approve the resolution in opposition to the vetoes As loaded as a description as this could be, there are axes of power being drawn over Syria’s domestic turmoil and Iran is leading the charge

But still, it is true that the United States should be considerate of whether or not inter vention actually achieves a stable future for a region in whose interests we are so vested Would a strict religious government potentially be more abusive than the Assad regime? Does Syria even risk falling to religious extremism while building a post-revolution state?

Syria is quite religiously diverse, which would certainly decrease the likelihood of an extremist or Iran-backed party ’ s success in future elections Aside from Lebanon,

group Free Syrian Army is composed of a wide diversity of defected soldiers, including Alawite Shiites The Free Syrian Army has an agreement with the non-militar y group the Syrian National Council, unifying political and militar y aims at a crucial moment If the United States wants to be able to interact with a peaceful Middle Eastern region in the future, we need to a c

friend” regimes’ failure These protests and battles will continue regardless of support, and thousands could die If we endorse apathy, then not only do we perpetuate an unfortunate philosophical stance but so too will we encounter diplomatic issues when the inevitable arrives If we are willing to act through the Arab League and contest the balance of power as it stands in the face of Iran, then financial and militar y support now provides a powerful opportunity to change the dynamic of U S involvement in the Middle East

Maggie Henr y is a sophomore in the College of Ar ts and Sciences She may be reached at mhenr y@cor nellsun com Get Over Yourself appears alter nate Wednesdays this semester

hat D oes It Mean to Be A sian A merican?

t C o r n e l l , A s i a n a n d A s i a n Americans compose 20 percent of

t h e u n d e r g r a d u a t e s t u d e n t b o d y

Our issues are often commented upon, but r a r e l y i s t h e p e r s p e c t i v e o f a n A s i a n American represented in the mainstream discourse So what does it mean to be Asian American?

It means that you ’ re bi-cultural: both Asian and American, yet neither at the same time In Asia, you ’ re American; in America, you ’ re Asian You are also bi-cul-

tural in the sense that you walk a fine line between being a person of color and being a token white

It means that you re a perpetual foreigner: It doesn’t matter that you were born here, or that English was your first language, or that your family has been in America for the past six generations people see you and assume you ’ re a foreigner It means that you must be the same as the Asian next you and that you share the exact same identity and exact same problems: It doesn’t matter if, as a Southeast Asian, you are an underprivileged minority

because all Asians are model minorities

It means that because of the model minority myth, other people of color don’t always see you as a minority, and at times you question whether or not you ’ re a person of color because you ’ ve internalized the racism and social constr ucts You forget the context in America and you forget the long histor y and future promises of discrimination You forget the histor y of how and why the idea of a model minority was created that the white patriarchy used the

Asian American identity as a counter to the civil rights movement of your Black sisters and brothers in the 1960s

It means that because you ’ ve internalized the racism and the stereotypes, you tr uly believe that you ’ re a cur ve-buster and that somehow because of your race you ’ re supposed to be academically superior to others So when the time comes that you get a C minus on a test, you don’t go and get help from a professor or TA because why would you need it? You’re Asian, you ’ re supposed to have academics covered You also tr uly believe that Asian women are more subser vient and submissive, and that

because that’s what you ’ ve seen and been told your entire life by society

It means that in terms of compositional c

yanked around to ser ve the benefits of others If we need to seem more diverse, we'll count you as a minority If we ’ re tr ying to obtain recognition for how we suppor t our underprivileged minorities we won ’ t count you because there’s too many of you Asian Americans are left out of the conversation of diversity and minority issues unless it ser ves others to include us Ultimately the issues of Asian Americans are not addressed because it is never about what you need and what is fair to you; it is about how your identity best ser ves others

p e o p l e a s

y o u ’ re silent and then block your voice when you tr y to speak Asian Americans, they never protest or anything, so why should we listen when they talk to us about the inequalities they face? At Cornell, there are signs that this is changing, and let us all work together to ensure that these signs become hard reality Let us work together to ensure that the issues and concerns of 20 percent of the student body factor into the agendas and concerns of the Student Assembly and the administration Being Asian American has nothing to do with geographic lines or skin color or eye shape or any physical markers Being Asian American has ever ything to do with the social str uctures that have been imposed upon us and the sociocultural expectations that are used to discriminate against us and marginalize us star ting from the day we are

born Marginalization doesn’t happen by accident

At Cornell, this marginalization takes many forms It spans from the fact that Southeast Asians are not considered underrepresented minorities and are therefore not actively recr uited to Cornell, to the statistic that half of all completed suicides are by Asian and Asian Americans, to the sentiment of “Asian invasion” held by many students about the prominence of Asian and Asian Americans in the demographics of Cornell Because of this, it is hard to feel welcomed at Cornell; it is hard to feel at home at Cornell

To ameliorate the isolation, the Cornell Asian Pacific Islander Student Union hosts Asia Night ever y year, but Asia Night only temporarily provides a sense of community Asia Night ser ves as a warm welcome and introduction to the deeper issues that the A s i a n a n d A s i a

y face It celebrates the diversity of the Asian and Asian American community, and I hope that the Cornell community uses it as an oppor tunity to begin exploring race relations and racism at Cornell I hope that the community will begin exploring the Asian and Asian American perspective so that our issues are commented upon with our outlook in mind and so that room is given for us to voice our opinions and concerns

Karin Zhu is a senior in the College of Ar ts and Sciences She may be reached at kz45@cor nell edu Guest Room appears periodically this semester

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Miserable Together

Over the past few years, there has been an interest among filmmakers to explore the “anti-romantic comedy ” Though audiences may still favor sappy, cheesy, Nicholas Sparks-style romances (The Vow opened to $41 million, people), the romantic comedy is a struggling genre both critically and financially (see New Year’s Eve) Instead, intelligent filmmakers have opted to tell the stories of what happens when love does not conquer all Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Revolutionary Road and Blue Valentine all reached critical and slight commercial success due to their honest interpretations of the hardships of being in a relationship However, this genre is not at all new Cornell Cinema will be screening the über-sad 1997 Chinese film, Happy Together, directed by master filmmaker Wong-Kar Wai Its brilliance will make you want to get a refund from whatever crappy romantic comedy you saw this month (again *cough* The Vow)

Part of Cornell Cinema’s WongKar Wai film series, Happy Together tells the story of Lai Yiu-fai (Tony Leung) and Ho Po-Wing (Leslie Cheung), a gay couple that moves from Hong Kong to Argentina in order to revive their floundering relationship Though over 11,000 miles away with a brand new start, Lai and Ho cannot break themselves from the cycle of breakups, emotional and physical abuse, and, eventually, reconciliation When Lai meets Chang (Chang Chen), a kind and innocent immigrant from China, he wonders if there is more to life than constantly fighting with Ho Leung, who is arguably the finest Hong Kong actor of his

generation, delivers an incredibly restrained, tender performance as lost soul Lai While he stays mostly silent over the duration of the 96-minute movie, Leung is able to communicate years of sadness and isolation just through the look in his eyes Cheung plays mean, playboy manipulator Ho with nuance, so much so that he almost makes you sympathize with his despicable character Leung and Cheung have excellent chemistry as the doomed couple; their heated arguments, sexual tension and desperate attempts at love all stitch together a blanket of tragedy Chen provides a serviceable supporting role as Chang and provides a nice foil to Ho

But the real star of the film is director Wong-Kar Wai Wai, who won the Best Director prize at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival, is truly a master at work here Combining his traditionally lush cinematography with a deeply personal story of what it means to be gay and in and out of love the acclaimed Chinese director creates a beautiful portrait of human intimacy and nature His choice to film in both black-and-white and color add to the dichotomous nature of Lai’s life: his past and his present, his public image and his private image and his love and his hatred always dueling for understanding The setting of Argentina provides Wai with beautiful, colorful set pieces of both rural and urban areas of the country Wai uses the flashy, neon lights of the bustling cities to contrast how sad and alone Lai is in Argentina; a gay man on the outcast of society, the cars and the people and the lights counter his deep isolation The director also digs deep into the natural beauty of Argentina, for

added symbolic effect In a stunning minutes-long sequence, Wai films the wondrous, yet turbulent Iguazu waterfalls The landmark, which was a place Lai and Ho dreamt of visiting, serves as a visualization of love, both violent yet beautiful, frightening yet thrilling, dangerous yet lovely The magnificence of the shot rivals some of the best images in last year ’ s The Tree of Life by Terrence Malick

Another highlight of Happy Together is the soundtrack Wai chooses to place an eclectic assortment of tunes that enhance the viewing experience and reinforce his themes Chinese music is used to remind us of Lai’s forgotten past and all that he has left behind to attempt new beginnings with Ho Since Lai acquires a menial job selling tickets to a tango-themed restaurant, the tango appears quite often as a musical accompaniment to the seductive and violent relationship between Lai and Ho Wai even uses 20th century pop hits, including the 1967 Turtles song Happy Together The song, which also gives the film its title provides an illustration of Lai’s dreams of happiness for both him and Ho and serves as a question whether Lai will be able to love anyone else for the remainder of his life

Though much of Happy Together is quite depressing, it is in no way hard to watch With Wai’s technological craftsmanship countered with Leung’s personal and moving work, the movie is an absolute wonder to watch Our most talented directors seem to be moving towards more realistic, honest romances, and Happy Together is a wonderful milestone in the anti-romantic film canon

Jason Goldberg is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences He can be reached at jgg57@cornell edu

Found in Translation

Whenever I told people that I was going abroad, they always said, “ You’re going to end up falling in love ” In fact, my grandmother was convinced that I was going to come back impregnated by a virile Italian and often sent me Amanda Knox clippings to warn me of the dangers of succumbing to Roman Fever Luckily, I managed to return to the States unscathed by aggressive Italian sperm I prefer blondes anyway She did have reason for concern, though Months before I even boarded the plane, I began hearing stories of students who go abroad single, only to return head-overheels in love My abroad program alone produced at least three ongoing international love affairs It s tr ue that being abroad leaves you feeling all young and free and European and vulnerable to love, but cross-cultural relationships happen even here in the thralls of normalcy Just the other day, my little sister called me and told me that our father’s best friend had recently married o u r Po r

u g u e s e c l e a n i n g l a d y Straight out of Love Actually, I tell ya

Such relationships are enormously romantic, yet completely baffling to me As the product of an interracial relationship, I’m all about crossing cultures, embracing diversity and putting differences aside for love, but there’s still one barrier that I personally can ’ t imagine breaking down Though well traveled, I’m still basically monolingual and got a 1 on the Spanish AP to prove it I can hardly fathom communicating with someone on such a deeply intimate and romantic level if we don’t even speak the same language

The slight delay of communication that is expected with a language barrier ended up giving me an excuse, a reason to think before speaking Ever ything was a little premeditated and less organic but a little more deliberate and perhaps that much more meaning ful In relationships between people with the same native language, it’s sometimes difficult to tell the other person exactly how you feel; we tend to evade meaning with sarcasm and insinuation and roundabout phrasing But in another language, you can t really be subtle or passive aggressive when you have a limited number of words and sentence str uctures to go on While actual content is often lost in the verbal fillers the ums, likes and you knows of fluent conversation speaking a foreign language brings you back to the hear t of the matter

The ver y process of translation makes you go over your thoughts, your words Most impor tantly, translating makes you t h i n k a b o u t w h a t t h e words you ’ re saying really mean to you, how they are understood and the feelings they express in any language I miss you Mi manchi You are missing from me

To make sure we were all following, my Italian professor always used to ask the class, “Ci siamo?” Are we together? Are you guys with me? And we’d all respond in unison, “Si, si, ci siamo ” We got you We’re on the same page We understand you We’re speaking the same language

words he wants to use to do so The language barrier mimics this distance in a way, giving an extra split-second to reflect and compose You say only what you mean and you mean ever ything you say

But I do remember being abroad and the feeling of foreign syllables rolling off of your tongue, hearing them spoken in your voice Looking back on how my own interactions with Italians actually went down, I’m star ting to think that there might be something valuable in the communication gap after all Instead of blur ting out the first thing that came to mind, when I spoke Italian I had to pause and think about what I really wanted to say, choosing my words carefully and my grammar even more carefully More often than not, I spoke simply, clearly and directly because it was the only way I kne w how

Thinking back to those unlikely couples, I’ve come to think that their means of communication was not stunted or faltered, but just different, and maybe even a little better What’s more impor tant in a relationship than meaning ful communication? Maybe it’s not such an awful thing to make ever ything a little less instantaneous and trade in super fluous word vomit for something a little more thoughtful It s a bit romantic and brings you back to the time of international love letters, when ever y word was a choice and ever y sentence held meaning The distance between writer and reader allows the writer time to introspect upon the message he wants to convey and the

Maybe it wouldn t hur t to take a page out of the books of the aforementioned foreign lovers How would our current relationships change or improve if we were more conscious of our feelings and how we translate them into words? Even when English flows freely, maybe our first priority should be to take a second to think about what we want to say, how we want to say it, and whether we ’ re actually speaking the same language Ci siamo?

Spice Up Your Life

Music has the ability to move, inspire, enthrall and sometimes

ferent Sun Staff Writer will reveal his or her

the

In this column, appearing in The Sun every Wednesday, our writers will tell

So, here’s a stor y from A to Z, you wanna get with me you gotta listen carefully What a throwback Yup, these are the famous words from the Spice Girls first album My personal favorite is their second album Spice World, released in 1997 This album was the star t to a childhood of wonder ful tunes wherever and whenever You can never go wrong listening to the Spice Girls I should know considering I haven’t felt this way for a decade

When I was growing up, I think I can speak for ever y girl: The Spice Girls were

t h e c o o l e s t t h i n g s i n c e s l i c e d b r e a d Britney Spears competed for this top spot for a while, but I think it is safe to say that

Sp i c e Gi r l s c a m e o u t o n t o p Sp o r t y, Ginger, Posh, Scar y and Baby were all so d i f f e r e n t , y e t a l l w o r k e d t o g e t h e r t o become idols for girls all over the world, and possibly for the boys who wanted to date them For me, these five seemed like ordinar y girls whose dreams came tr ue alongside their best friends What else could a little girl want?

Their first album was the star t of their success I would listen to it all the time but did not fall in love with them just yet They were ne w and intriguing, yet it took their second album to seal the deal for me,

and countless girls globally Their first album was their attempt to catch the attention of the youth and get a feel for what their audience liked and disliked Once they realized the success of the song “ Wannabe,” their second album consisted of numerous songs of the same ilk, which is exactly what we wanted to hear

Sp i c e Wo rl d i s a c l a s s i c GNO (girls night out) pickme-up When you are feeling sad and alone, there is nothing better than blasting Spice World in your room, singing into a hairbr ush and dancing like no one s watching which hopefully no one is Besides making you feel better, these classic songs even get you motivated to clean your room if it is even possible to get motivated to do such a thing

always rely on music to turn to if I just needed to have a good time The classic lyrics in “Never Give Up on the Good Times” “Never give up on the good times, gotta believe in the love you find are words that remind me of the positive things in life, something ever yone needs to recall at times

Music has never been, and will never be, a major par t of my life, except in providing me with a way to escape the hard times and enter a fantasy world Life is challenging and music is a way to forget, for just one second how difficult times can get I have had a bumpy childhood illness has plagued my father since I was in the sixth grade and I ve felt like I can

When I listen to this album now, fifteen years after I first fell in love with it, I am older, wiser and not much taller, yet the album raises in me the same emotions it did when I was young with a simpler state of mind When “Spice Up Your Life,” “Stop” and “Never Give Up on the Good Times” come up on shuffle on my iPod there’s always a smile on my face and embarrassing dance moves to follow suit Maybe the dance has changed since I was younger, and my smile no longer consists

of bucked teeth, but the feeling I got then and the feeling I get now when these classic elementar y school throwbacks come on is the same warm sensation

Picking my favorite album was tough, mostly because love Taylor Swift, but her songs are star ting to all sound the same Music will never be as good as it used to be, which is why the Spice Girls’ legacy will forever remain strong for me with a positive connotation whenever their name is mentioned People can tr y to replace them and tr y to impact little girls the same way the Spice Girls impacted me, but I do not think anyone has the capability of ever having the same significance The Spice Girls were so loved by girls like me that they were able to reconnect with one another and do a tour so many years later, one that sold out at ever y stop it made

That says something, if not ever ything If Spice World did not have the same influence on your life as it did on mine, maybe this is the time to look back and give it another shot You will not have regrets, just a ne w fantasy world to escape to

CU Tonight Commission

Attention registered undergraduate student organizations: Got the ideas but not the funds? Apply to CUTonight

Funding Applications now available at rso.cornell.edu/cutonight/ Application Deadline is: February 28th @ 3pm

Funding up to $5,000 available to put on late-night events.

For more information contact: cutonight@cornell edu

Freeze frame | Sophomore Alexis Schupp placed second on bars over the weekend with a 9 775, as well as eighteenth on beam with a 9 200

Gymnasts Prepare for Ivy Classic

Continued from page 16

Mackenzie Sato had the team ’ s top score for the event, 9 475 Cornell finished in 13th overall for the event

“ We were on track to have our best meet of the year, ” Beckwith said “Instead we were a point lower then what we ve been doing

Injuries and illness seem to have come at a bad time for the gymnastics team, according to the coach, as the team prepares for the Ivy Classic on Sunday

“ They’ve struggled to get it all together in a single meet, ” Beckwith said “If there was a time to do it, it would be this weekend ”

The Ivy Classic is one of the gymnastics team ’ s most important events, according to Hein It will pit the team against ever y other Ivy League gymnastics program, including tough teams like Penn, Brown and Yale

“It’s our chance to reclaim the Ivy title ” said junior Sarah Hein

The Red won the Ivy Classic four years in a row, only to lose the title last year to Penn Winning the Ivy Classic this year would be a major victor y for the Red, and potentially pro-

Lin’s Success Could Pave Way For Future Ivy League Cagers

LIN Continued from page 16

helped the Red claim the Ivy

L e a g u e t i t l e t h a t ye a r Wro b l e w s k i , w h o s t a r t e d both of those games as a sophomore, was assigned the task of guarding Lin

It s different with college

a n d N B A d e f e n s e , ”

Wroblewski said “I always had a lot of help, we had five guys always devoted to knowing where he was on the floor,

w h e re a s i n t h e N B A t h e defense is more relaxed But it s cool to watch him scoring on those guys now ”

In his last 10 professional games, nine of which he starte d , L i n i s a ve r a g i n g 2 4 6 points and 9 2 assists per game He has outscored NBA legends such as Kobe Br yant and Jason Kidd in the Knick’s 8-2 run in Februar y

As Lin grows accustomed to what looks to be a fairly permanent role in New York, it should not be forgotten that he began to make a name for himself in Boston, where a heated city rivalr y stands

rooted in time While New York fans have quickly grown to love Lin, some Boston fans are still happy to see him succeed even if it is in their rival city

Ever ybody is becoming Knicks fans,” Kessler said,

d e s p i t e b e i n g a d i e - h a rd Boston Celtics fan for all his life “It s sort of hard not to root for the Knicks because t h e y ’ ve s t r u g g l e d s o m u c h lately, and I think a lot of people feel the same way ” Howe ve r, e ve n t h o u g h Boston fans are able to root for Lin while he plays in New York, there are still signs of the bitter rivalr y, according to Kessler

“I think if Lin were a baseball player coming out of Har vard who was playing for the Yankees, things would be a little different,” he said “Boston fans wouldn’t be as accepting then

No matter what city Lin’s success comes in now, the image he has created for Ivy League basketball in general is a lasting one Coupled with the Red’s run to the Sweet

Sixteen two years ago and the Crimson’s Top-25 ranking for the first time in school histor y this year, the stor y of an Ivy League basketball player turned NBA star is helping to improve public perception of Ivy League basketball

“ I ’ m k i n d o f b i a s e d because I’m not out of the Ivy world yet and I don t have an o u t s i d e p e r s p e c t i ve , ” Wroblewski said “But I think it’s great in terms of gaining respect for the Ivy League and I hope it gives guys like [ Jeff Foote ’10] a chance at an NBA team as well ” Kessler agreed, saying that

L i n ’ s a c h i e ve m e n t s i n t h e NBA would be a definite selling point during recruitment

f o r h e a d c o a c h To m m y Amaker, who has a signed Lin jersey hanging in his office

Sweet Sixteen two years ago, Lin s success now, all these things are legitimizing Ivy League basketball,” Kessler said

Scott Chiusano can be reached at schiusano@cornellsun com

Juan

Haley Velasco ’15: Jeremy Lin because the baby would be “Lin”telligent

Alex Gatto ’15: Nastia Liuken because I wouldn’t need to discipline my child Gymnastics makes you tough and Nastia would whip our child’s ass into shape

Evan Rich ’13: Gisele is an athlete, right?

Compiled by Lauren Ritter

vide the team with the mental boost it needs for the NCAA tournament

However, Beckwith is not preoccupied with winning He says he wants the team to focus on performing as best as they can at the Ivy Classic, and not to worr y about winning or losing

“You can run your best day ever and still lose, Beckwith said “ There’s no defense in gymnastics, it’s all offense What I expect out of my team is to have one of our best days ever y time we go out and compete That’s all you can expect out of athletes ”

Hein was in full agreement with Beckwith’s v i e w t ow a rd s t h e Ivy Classic

“What I expect out of my team is to have one of our best days every time we go out and compete.” P au l B ec k wit h Alex Gatto can be reached at sports@cornellsun com

I w a n t u s t o stay focused on us not to worr y about winning or beating anybody, she said “I want us to be c o n s i s t e n t a n d

carr y our energy throughout the four events ”

The Ivy Classic will be held on Sunday at 1:00 p m in Bartels

Keeping the team energy high will be a necessity for winning the Ivy Classic, according to Hein, and the Red can only hope to do that if they have full attendance on Sunday

Continued from page 16

Kali Knickerbocker from Nazareth, according to Mitchell

Some of the lower level riders were also given the opportunity to canter in a horse show for the ver y first time, according to Kowalchik One of those riders was senior Amanda Fan Fan joined the team last year with no previous riding experience She entered the ring feeling ner vous, she said, but was able to pull through and place second

With only one show left, the Red is ver y close to completing an undefeated season The final show will take place

this Saturday in Alfred, N Y

“As much as we wanted to be undefeated before, it’s only gotten more intense now that we ’ re this close,” Kowalchik said

The team is confident that it has the ability and the willpower to ride to it’s final victor y “I think we can kick butt at Alfred,” Fink said If they respond like they have responded in the past I have no doubt that they will be undefeated,” Mitchell said

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

Squad Moves Into Final Match With Unbeaten Record

By ARIEL COOPER Sun Staff Wr ter

With just one show left in the regular season, the equestrian team remains unbeaten Although the Red faced some challenges over the weekend at the Cornell Show, hosted at Oxley Equestrian Center, the squad pulled through and dominated the ring Cornell finished the show with its highest score of the season The squad increased its lead over Alfred University to 64 points and secured its position as regional champion, according to junior co-captain Emily Kowalchik and head coach Chris Mitchell

“Based on how things were running I didn’t think, and I don t think anyone else on the team thought, we were actually doing all that well,” Kowalchik said

Although the Red had home field advantage, the responsibility of running a horse show gave the team much more to worry about than just its performance

“It’s just a testament to how close the team is and how much we have figured out how this system works by now that even with all that other stuff going on we were still able to do our job and ride well, Kowalchik said

“I think [the show] was a huge confidence booster for us, ” said senior co-captain Katie Fink “Our home show is really tough for us and I think we really kicked butt and proved that we can still perform in the face of adversity

While many riders were given the chance to show, only certain riders were the “point riders,” meaning that their performances were the ones that counted towards the team ’ s overall score Five of Cornell’s point riders won in a row to lead the squad to victory, Mitchell said in an email Three more riders also qualified for regionals junior Emily

Spor ts

Webster, sophomore Alyx Cheng and Fink In total, the Red is will send eight riders to regionals While teams do not travel together to regionals, the squad’s regional championship title guarantees it the chance to send a team to zones, according to Kowalchik Zones will take place at Skidmore this year Cornell’s former regional rival

While facing the Thoroughbreds will certainly pose a challenge, the Red is as ready as it will ever be, according to Mitchell, since strong team effort has been propelling the squad forward throughout the season

“It’s amazing it’s a total team effort without one

[rider] we ’ re not as strong, ” he said of the squad’s ability to both host and win last Sunday’s show

“We all worked together beautifully,” Fink agreed One of the most exciting developments of the home show was when senior Bronwyn Scrivens moved up in the prestigious Cacchione Cup competition The winner of the Cacchione from each region will go on to compete in a special class at Nationals against the winners from all of the other regions Scrivens is now tied for first alongside senior

By SCOTT CHIUSANO Sun Staff Wr ter

Har vard’s Lin Heats Up After Joining Knicks Red Tumbles Into Third at Towson Meet

After Knicks guard Jeremy Lin’s step back 3-pointer over Dirk Nowitzki found the bottom of the net Saturday afternoon, die-hard Knicks fan Spike Lee leaped out of his seat as his team went up by nine in what would be an eventual New York victory over the Dallas Mavericks However, the Brooklyn film director was not wearing his usual No 6 Knicks jersey Instead, the camera showed Lee sporting a Harvard Crimson jersey with the No 4 on the back

With Lin’s recent NBA successes resounding throughout the basketball community, the point guard’s time playing Ivy League basketball has essentially fallen by the wayside for most fans of the sport

Although Lin led the Crimson to a 21-8 season during his senior year, while scoring 16 4 points and dishing out 4 5 assists per game his name went largely unrecognized

“While Lin was here, he was just a regular guy, ” said Harvard Crimson sports chair Martin Kessler It s crazy to think that now he’s blown up so much, but two years ago if he’s walking down the street,

people didn’t think twice about it ” Crimson fans felt that Lin’s senior year would be their chance at an Ivy League title and a first ever NCAA bid

“[Lin’s] senior year was when basketball became super popular here because there was hope that Harvard could compete, ” Kessler said

However the Red shattered those dreams by winning the Ivy League title with an 11-3 conference record and eventually making it to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament

When Harvard came to Newman for the first meeting with the Red that season, it was thought to be the beginning of a serious rivalry, according to Kessler But Cornell came away with a decisive 86-50 victory, outscoring the Crimson by 22 points in the second half

“To be honest, I wasn ’ t super impressed with [Lin’s] game, ” said senior point guard and co-captain Chris Wroblewski “We paid a lot of attention to him when we were scouting them, knowing their offense ran through him, but we played them at home and ended up beating them by 36 ”

Though Lin put up a game-high 19 points, he only handed out one assist, and no one else on his team cracked double digits The Red had five players in double figures, including Wroblewski, who scored 13 points and recorded four assists

“I didn’t think he was a true point guard and he wasn ’ t a knock down shooter,” Wroblewski said “But obviously he has improved so much in both regards ”

The ability to keep Lin in check and limit the touches of his supporting players

By ALEX GATTO Sun Contr butor

Last Saturday, the Cornell gymnastics team traveled to Maryland to participate in the Shelli Calloway Invitational hosted by Towson At the Towson Invitational, Cornell placed third behind its host and Penn, ending the match with a score of 189 1

According to head coach Paul Beckwith, the team has been suffering numerous setbacks due to injury and illness, and looked to the Towson Invitational as a way to keep their energy up before the Ivy Classic

The Red struggled on vault, with junior McKenna Archer scoring Cornell’s highest score of 9 675, placing her in sixth On both bars and beam, the Red seemed poised to take back the match Sophomores Alexis Schupp and Melanie Jorgenson placed second and third on bars, with a 9 775 and 9 750, respectively For beam, senior Melanie Standridge tied for first, earning a 9 825, while Archer placed fourth in a four-way tie, with a 9 725

The Red appeared to falter on the floor routine, though sophomore