INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun 8 Pages – Free
Vol. 139, No. 29
TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2023 n ITHACA, NEW YORK
News
Arts
Sports
Weather
Clubs Recruit New Talent
Rango Band
Clean Sweep
Cloudy
As the spring semester begins, clubs utilize social media and prepare for ClubFest to attract members. | Page 3
Rich with instrumental, vocal and folksy rythm, Appalachian folk band performed at South Hill Cider. | Page 5
No. 11 Cornell hockey topped No. 1 Quinnipiac and Princeton this past weekend.
HIGH: 35º LOW: 26º
| Page 8
Students Bring Energy Back to Campus New University Cornellians return from a winter break full of family, friends and travels By JIWOOK JUNG Sun Assistant News Editor
As plow trucks cleared the streets of Ithaca after a full night of snow, many Cornellians strapped up their backpacks to trudge through the snow and secure a seat at their first morning lecture of the spring semester. To many Cornellians, winter break meant a long journey back home. For Amanda Yongvanich ’26, it meant a 19-hour flight to Bangkok, visiting her family for the first time since starting Cornell. “I was excited to see my family again, [along with] my sister and my dog, because this was the first time that I have been away from them for quite a while,” Yongvanich said. Yongvanich told The Sun that she spent substantial time reconnecting with her hometown friends while unwinding and recharging from her rigorous first semester at Cornell. “I was also excited to reconnect with friends because most of them were coming back from their colleges,” Yongvanich said. “[I] took time to relax and be away from the academic environment.” Some Cornellians took meaningful trips that connected to their personal values and widened their views. Tobie Bertisch ’25 took this time to travel to Israel, a place of personal and religious
significance. “I am Jewish, and going to Israel is meaningful and powerful. It’s a homeland,” Bertisch said. “The emotions are very high.” According to Bertisch, her experience traveling provided opportunities to explore her interests and academic inquiries on current issues that Bertisch sees in the media. “There is a lot of conflict in the Middle East right now. It was very interesting to hear the perspectives of the people who are actually living there,” Bertisch said. “More personal individual stories make the issue more
tangible. That was very powerful.” Many students voiced that they missed the community, friendships and experiences Cornell and Ithaca foster. “I missed my friends,” Bertisch said. “I love school. I love the people here and the energy.” Yongvanich voiced that she missed the Ithaca campus and the independence of living alone in college. To continue reading this article, please visit www.cornellsun.com
Sun News Editor
Residents of Tompkins County District 3, which includes parts of Collegetown and North Campus, are eligible to vote on Tuesday in the special election for County Legislator. Following the passing of Legislator Henry Graniston that left a vacancy on the Tompkins County Legislature, the Tompkins County Democratic search
JULIA NAGEL / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Voting | Susan Currie runs her campaign for legislator seat uncontested.
Sun Staff Writer
improve the facility, which included establishing a new maker space, teen center, digital lab, local history room and increased space for special collections. Currie is also involved in the Tompkins County Historical Commission, which allows her to immerse in the local community. In a Tompkins County Democratic Committee press statement, search committee co-chair Ann Sullivan said that Currie had a track record of good service to Tompkins County. See ELECTION page 2
See ESPORTS page 3
Jiwook Jung can be reached at jjung@ cornellsun.com.
MING DEMERS / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
First day | Bundled in coats, students head to their first day of classes ready to seek new challenges and growth opportunities.
committee selected Susan Currie as the Democratic candidate for District 3 Legislator. Currie, former director of Tompkins County Public Library, is running unopposed, but write-in candidates are still eligible. A resident of Tompkins County since 1979, Currie worked at Uris and Olin Libraries at Cornell for 24 years before starting her role as director of TCPL in the middle of the 2008 recession. Currie inherited a deficit of $750,000, which she closed while working closely with the County Legislature. “It demonstrated to me the direct impact of the infrastructure of our government and the impact of local neighborhoods, and I became really interested in how the County managed all of its agencies and departments,” Currie said. “I saw a lot of issues when I was in the library: homelessness, mental health, health care needs, housing, so I saw the direct impact of the government on our community.” While library director, Currie said
By CHRISTINA MACCORKCLE
Later this spring semester, students can expect full access to the new Esports Gaming Lounge located on the second floor of the Robert Purcell Community Center. According to Cornell’s Student and Campus Life website, the Esports Gaming Lounge will feature gaming PCs, popular PC games, TV stations and lounge seating. When the lounge opens, students will be able to attend drop-in times for unscheduled solo or multiplayer gaming and reserve spaces for student events. According to Senior Director of Campus Life Marketing and Communications Karen Brown, the Student and Campus Life office hopes that the lounge will bring together students with a shared interest in gaming. “While the lounge will help support our registered esports student organizations in their practice and help them participate in tournaments, it also provides an additional recreation space on campus for students to build community and socialize with friends,” Brown said. Popular on-campus esports organizations include Esports at Cornell, with teams in competitive gaming tournaments like League of Legend, Dota 2 and CS:GO. The opening of the lounge can help further these gaming interests. Brown said she hopes this increased student connection will ultimately contribute to student well-being. “Increased opportunities to make connections and create strong bonds with peers are critical to overall health and well-being — a key factor in personal and academic success,” Brown said. Echoing Brown’s hope, students expressed excitement about the prospect that the new space would bring together amateur players and professionals. “There are definitely lots of people dedicated to esports,” Sebastian Waizenegger ’26 said. “I know that there is a big gaming community in Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hall, so maybe they will move to the lounge.”
Former Cornell Librarian Runs for Legislator Seat By SOFIA RUBINSON
Esports Facility Set to Open Soon
she led a fundraising campaign to
“I saw a lot of issues when I was in the library: homelessness, mental health, health care needs, housing...” Susan Currie
Sofia Rubinson can be reached at srubinson@cornellsun.com.
Christina MacCorkcle can be reached at cmaccorkcle@cornellsun.com.