8-25-22 entire issue hi res

Corne¬ Daily Sun

University Updates Fall 22 COVID Policies

precautions that should be taken.”

In a University-wide email on Tuesday, the Cornell Campus Public Health Support Center reminded students of the new changes to the COVID19 safety practices and released new guidance for immunocompromised students.

“As the pandemic has evolved, it is clear that SARS-CoV-2 is becoming one of the many viruses that surrounds us,” the email read. “Even though it is unrealistic to expect that we will be able to eradicate COVID-19 as a disease, given its ease of transmission, there are special

The University strongly recommends that students pick up antigen tests during the arrival period until Friday. PCR tests are also available during this period at locations on campus by appointment using the supplemental testing link on the Daily Check.

Cornell will discontinue PCR testing on Aug. 31, citing the wide availability of antigen tests which will remain available for pick up on campus.

Masking remains strongly encouraged in classrooms, and individual professors reserve the right to require students to wear a mask in class.

For students who test positive for COVID-19, Ithaca-based students should report their test results on the Daily Check and email their academic advising office for academic support. Most students are expected to isolate themselves in their residence hall or apartment.

The University acknowledges that while this policy is safe for most members of the Cornell community, individuals who are moderately to severely immunocompromised as defined by the CDC can request temporary housing accommodations should a roommate or suitemate test positive for COVID-19.

LWV to Focus on Rights Inequalities

Local League of Women Voters details plans for Women’s Equality Day

national elections and public policy issues of concern to voters. The Tompkins County branch is one of the oldest, founded in 1920.

This year’s Women’s Equality Day marks the 102nd anniversary of the certification of the 19th Amendment into law in 1920, which gave women the right to vote. In a shift from a typically celebratory day, the League of Women Voters of Tompkins County will not be rejoicing this Friday, August 26. Instead, the organization is focusing on the ways they feel women have lost basic rights in recent years.

“In 2022, women have fewer rights than they’ve had in decades,” wrote LWV in an official statement. “This year, we’re acknowledging Women’s Inequality Day, uniting to demand that lawmakers restore and protect our rights”.

LWV is a national, non-partisan organization that is committed to defending democracy and empowering voters by informing them about local, state and

Through Women’s Inequality Day, LWV will be demanding that lawmakers restore and protect all women’s rights by passing voting rights legislation, adding the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution to guarantee equality for all Americans regardless of sex and restoring reproductive rights following the overturn of Roe v. Wade.

“Normally August 26 is a big celebration, but it isn’t this year,” said LWV Tompkins County Vice President Megan Nettleton. “This year we are going to have a booth on the Ithaca Commons and have various women’s organizations in town as representatives and chat with people who stop by about the issues facing women currently.”

Immunocompromised students in University housing can proactively reach out to Student Disability Services should a roommate or suitemate test positive. According to the statement, this would enable a swift move if a room is available.

“As we continue to manage the effects of the pandemic, let us act with care and respect toward one another,” the statementsaid. “Together we are learning to live with COVID-19 and minimize its impact on our community.”

Founded to expand undergraduate research opportunities at Cornell, the Nexus Scholars Program welcomed its first cohort of students this summer for an eight-week paid research opportunity.

The Nexus Scholars Program is offered to Arts and Sciences students from any area of study in the college to conduct research in selected fields, including science and technology studies, Asian studies, feminist, gender and sexuality

and chemical biology.

Students accepted to the program conducted research on the Ithaca campus alongside their faculty research advisor, also known as a principal investigator, from May 31 to July 22. For some students, the program was their first exposure to undergraduate research whereas others took the opportunity as a way to continue and advance research from previous semesters.

According to Milani Aviles ’25, many of her peers fell into the

category.

A LISTING OF FREE CAMPUS EVENTS

Difficult reflections |One year ago, on Aug. 15, 2021, the Taliaban entered the presidential palace in Kabul, ending their rapid takeover of Afghanistan. Speakers Zinab Zhra Attai Ph.D. and visiting scholar Sharif Hozoori will reflect on Afghanistan’s recent history, life under the Taliban regime and what to expect in the future of the Taliban regime.

Energy Engineering Seminar Series

12:25 p.m., Olin Hall 165

President’s Awards for Employee Excellence 2022

8 a.m., Virtual Event

A Short Course in Courage 10 a.m., TBA

Business Manager Serena Huang ’24

www.cornellsun.com E-MAIL sunmailbox@cornellsun.com

Gatty Lecture: The Two Longest Reigns in Siam and Thailand 12:30 p.m., Kahin Center

Afghanistan One Year Later: Reflections on Life Under the Taliban 5:30 p.m., Uris Hall Terrace

Tomorrow

James Potorti Interpretive Gorge Walks 10 a.m., Buttermilk Falls State Park

Cornell Statistical Consulting Unit And Mann Library 10:30 a.m., Virtual Event

Screening of In Vitro

By Larissa Sansour and Soren Lind 11 a.m., Johnson Museum of Art, Picket Family Video Gallery

Center for Technology Licensing Practicum and Pizza Information Session Noon, Upson Hall 116 Lounge

Yiddish Conversation Hour Noon, Virtual Event

Felix Heisel and Circular Construction Lab: Circulating Matters 11:35 a.m., Virtual Event

Deconstructing Demolition: An Exhibition on Salvage, Reuse and Deconstruction Noon, Virtual Event

Ancient Philosophy: Prof. Christian Pfeiffer, University of Toronto 3:45 p.m., Physical Sciences Building

Return of Swim Test Causes Long Waits, Stress

By ELI PALLRAND Sun News Editor

For the first time in two years, Cornellians are once again swimming 75 yards across the Helen Newman Hall pool in order to complete the swim test: one of two University-wide graduation requirements at Cornell. Reinstated for the fall 2022 semester after a pause during the COVID-19 pandemic, this fall is the first chance for freshmen, sophomores and juniors to complete the test.

Students lined up outside of Helen Newman Hall to take the test from August 15-19 with additional dates on the 26th and in October and November. All undergraduates graduating in fall 2022 and onwards must either pass the test or enroll in a swimming class offered by the University.

Despite reminders from lifeguards on duty that the swim test is “not a race” and can be taken at any pace or stroke, Emily Cen ’26 found the test hard to enjoy due to how the other swimmers behaved.

“Everyone swam really fast, making it more like a race than a test,” Cen said. “And it would be awkward to be the last to reach the end.”

This competitiveness made the process more tiring for swimmers like Zachary Seidner ’26, who said he felt he had to compete.

“It was surprisingly exhausting; I think everyone in the lanes for ‘strong swimmers’ were racing each other since they felt like they needed to go fast,” Seidner said. “This made the whole process very tiring.”

Students also dealt with problems unrelated to the swimming part of the test, including long lines and packed halls.

“The line took about [an] hour to get through for a swim test that lasted about 90 seconds. It was low stress but quite annoying,” said Zachary Chosed ’26.

Shao Stassen ’26 had a similar experience, waiting nearly an hour to get into the pool despite arriving for the test 30 minutes early. While Stassen said he had an “okay” experience with the test, she emphasized that the line to get in was cramped.

“While I was waiting, the finished people also came back the same way, which [made] the narrow hallway even tighter,” Stassen said.

For Seidner, the long line had an unexpected benefit: friendship.

“I arrived 20 minutes early to beat the line and still ended the swim test 50 minutes after they said it would occur,” Seidner said. “It was cool though because

in line I got to get to know more people and the long line gave so much room for conversation that I made a potential friend.”

Some students had mixed feelings about the test. Alex Fitenko ’26 said he enjoyed the swimming part of the test but found the line “ridiculous.” For separate reasons, he believes the test should not exist.

“I think the swim test should no longer be a requirement because it is not relevant to most students’ goals,” Fitenko said.

However, many students still support the existence of the swim test, even if they wish it was better organized.

“I actually loved that Cornell had

swimming as a graduation requirement. I never knew how to swim until I came to America, and I think it is a critical skill to have — especially in Ithaca,” Stassen said. “Know[ing] how to swim can really save [the] life of other[s], and it is such a good exercise even for [the] older population.”

Seidner added that he supports the test particularly because of Cornell’s location.

“In today’s world, it is important to know how to swim for safety reasons, especially with Cornell’s gorges,” Seidner said.

Eli

can be reached at epallrand@cornellsun.com.

Local Womens Group Emphasizes Inequality

Due to recent Supreme Court decisions, LWV halts Women’s Equality Day celebrations

Continued from page 1

With this year’s shifted focus, LWV members will be discussing what they view as the most pertinent problems facing women in America.

“When we look at the things that have happened over the last 100 years since women have won the right to vote, we still do not have equal rights with men,” said LWV Tompkins County Co-President Sally Grubb.

been ratified by the necessary number of states, but not in the prescribed time frame outlined by the Constitution.

“We are pushing that the time frame be altered,” Grubb said.

As a final advocacy issue for this Women’s Inequality Day, LWV will be pushing for the restoration of abortion

“When we look at things that have happened over the last 100 years since women have won the right to vote, we still don’t have equal rights with men.”

In 2013, the Supreme Court, in the case Shelby County v. Holder, struck down the section of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which forced states with a history of racial discrimination to seek approval for changes in election law. According to Grubb, this move makes it more difficult for minority communities to vote.

”We will be out there encouraging people to call their Senators to restore the Voting Rights Act to its full form and support the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act,” Grubb said.

The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would restore and strengthen the Voting Rights Act.

The Equal Rights Amendment has

Sally Grubb

access rights.

“On June 24, the Supreme Court decided the country didn’t need equality. So they overturned women’s reproductive rights,” Grubb said. ”For those of us who know what life was like before abortions were available, we know that too many women are getting hurt. It is impossible to believe that it got to this stage.”

LWV will be setting up a booth in effort to talk to local residents about women’s inequality issues on the Ithaca Commons from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday.

Cornell Promotes Research Trough Nexus Scholars

The Nexus Scholars Program was my introduction to research,”said Aviles, a Nexus Scholar who worked under Prof. Kerry L. Shaw in the department of neurobiology and behavior. “The majority of fellow scholars I met, specifically in the STEM fields, were rising sophomores who had not done much either,”

Others applied with more specific interests and plans, such as Shelby Williams ’25, who applied to the program with her faculty advisor and research topic that she had been a part of in Spring 2022. Williams, who works with Prof. Julilly Kohler-Hausmann, history, researching voting rights policies and legislations, applied as a way to dedicate her summer entirely to her research.

Nevertheless, for all participants, Nexus presented a unique opportunity to devote their summers to advancing their interest in specific disciplines.

This experience came with many benefits for students since it served as a paid launch into the mechanics of research design earning up to $7,000 for the summer. The

amount of funding is determined by the project and the student’s hours per week. Furthermore, the program offers an opportunity for students to make long-lasting connections with faculty that can extend far beyond the summer.

Aviles explains that with a strong enough connection, many faculty advisors will invite their undergraduate researchers back into the lab in the fall and spring semesters to continue their work.

Despite its merits, participating in the program was not without its challenges. Some students found the beginning portion of the program difficult to navigate.

“It was a learning curve, especially for me, since I had never done research before and this was the closest thing I had to an adult job or experience,” Aviles said. “At first, it was hard to understand how things functioned or even figuring out whether I was doing too much or too little work. Finding balance was key.”

Students interested in the program can apply for the summer of 2023 in late October.

Tifany Adjei-Opong can be reached at taa53@cornell.edu.

Cornell Biennial Returns Exhibitions

By JIWOOK JUNG Sun Assistant News Editor

feature waste cycling and NFT artworks

ing human waste and using it in food production.

Starting this Sunday, Cornellians should expect to see a display of edible fruiting crops emerging out of six toilet seats, which will be placed in the Rock Garden between Olive Tjaden Hall and Sibley Hall. This exhibition is organized and presented by Cornell Council for the Arts as part of the fifth Cornell Biennial.

“We often avoid conversations around the wastes we generate,” wrote CCA in its event announcement. “We hope this installation helps envision the value of phosphorus and nitrogen to edible and nutritious plant growth in the excrement we flush away.”

“We believe an art installation centered around human waste cycling can provoke viewers to see the potential of this initiative, and envision themselves functioning within it, without requiring an in-depth understanding of the scientific process,” CCA wrote.

“[B]lending experimentation in the arts with the most recent research developments across the disciplines and campuses of Cornell.”

Prof. Timothy Murray

This art project was put together by Matéa LeBeau ’22 and Isabella Culotta ’22 in an effort to encourage the audience to realize the potential of reclaim-

LeBeau and Culotta are two out of more than 30 artists CCA is working with to put together the Cornell Biennial, featuring artworks, installations and performances. In addition to Cornell artists, the 2022 Cornell Biennial invited 22 artists from 11 countries to collate Cornell-based art projects touching on topics including social justice, global warming, robotics, sustainable architecture, migration and labor.

“Particular to the ethos of the Cornell Biennial is its commitment to blending experimentation in the arts with the most recent research developments across the disciplines and campuses of Cornell,” said Timothy Murray, curator of Cornell Biennial. “The Biennial not only brings to campus a range of the most innovative projects in global arts but also champions how the inventive discourses of art can inform if not reshape how we understand social relations, ecological challenges, design recycling, engineering imaginaries and biological response.”

There are some new changes and additions being implemented for this year’s biennial. Joining forces with CCA, The Cherry Arts will be sponsoring a regional art competition in an effort to expand the scope of Cornell Biennial across upstate New York.

In New York City, Cornell Tech is also participating in the Biennial and announced its plans to collaborate with Zhang Huan and Sui Jianguo to display non-fungible token artwork.

The biennial receives its funds from the Office of the Provost and multiple Cornell partners. The relevant artworks, exhibitions and performances are available on campus from April to November.

Jiwook Jung can be reached at jjung@cornellsun.com.

By GRACE KIM Sun Dining Editor

LYour source for good food

Cooking Up Joy Easy Protein-Based Recipes

iving alone in a new environment is not an easy ordeal and can be daunting at times. There’s no dining hall or parents to rely on for ready-to-eat meals when you’re hungry or need a filling snack.

This summer, I took it upon myself to cook at home and leave behind the temptation to eat out at my favorite restaurant every week because I knew that once I moved into my apartment next semester, it was all on me to feed myself while on a budget.

Although summer has just begun, I narrowed down my favorite easy-to-cook, protein-packed home recipes during my time at home . Here are my top three choices that I would recommend for any student like me cooking on a budget:

Tofu Quinoa Bowl

This simple yet filling dish is one of my alltime favorites. This dish primarily centers on two main sources of protein: tofu and quinoa, which will leave you filled and satisfied for several hours. I was first inclined to make this dish after trying True Food Kitchen’s version.

Simple yet delicious, the bowl combines Asian sauces with hearty vegetables. I love to season this bowl with a mix of minced garlic, soy sauce and oyster sauce.

This trio creates the perfect sweet-savory sauce that marinates every ingredient. Additionally, I love to top the bowl off with a fried egg and some sliced avocado to add further nutrients and flavor. My go-to recipe is Spices in my DNA.

Air-fry Sweet Potato Bites

This snack is truly the most simple but delicious dish that I have tried. I don’t consider this “cooking,” as it only requires three major steps: cut the sweet potatoes, season them slightly and put them in the air-fryer. I learned that the beauty of air-frying the sweet potatoes is that it is convenient and mimics the texture of sweet potato fries, which are also a favorite of mine.

To make this dish, I recommend that you cut up the sweet potato into bite size pieces, sprinkle some salt and pepper and set the air fryer to 375 F for 15 minutes. Trust me, you will keep going back to make more.

Teriyaki Salmon

Salmon is my favorite seafood, so it made sense for me to combine together my favorite sauce and seafood. Thanks to my culinary class, I was able to successfully

grill the salmon, glazed in a sweet teriyaki sauce on the outer edges.

The key to this dish is not the actual salmon or sauce, but rather the timing of how long you grill the salmon for. Although it is up to your personal preference, I advise you not to grill it for too long, as the sweet teriyaki sauce will burn not only the pan, but also the salmon.

This dish definitely requires multiple trial and errors in order to determine your perfect texture of salmon. Finish this dish with some rice, grilled veggies and chopped green onions. I learned that this is a great dish that you can combine with many other ingredients and meal prep with. I would recommend the recipe by Natasha’s Kitchen.

I still have two months of summer left and a whole year of school ahead of me, and I can’t wait to take the time to cook more of my favorite restaurant dishes. After having access to a kitchen and supplies, I realized that it was my laziness keeping me back from cooking this whole time.

Although it can be difficult initially, it’s truly rewarding to eat a dish that you prepared from scratch, and I hope that others can experience the same.

Grace Kim is a junior in the Nolan School of Hotel Administration. She currently serves as Dining Editor on the 140th Editorial Board. She can be reached at gmk73@cornell.edu.

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Letter to the Editor

Re: ‘The Tale of Cornell’s Broken Housing Market’

To the Editor:

Thank you for publishing this investigation of the housing crisis in Ithaca. I am an alumna who lived in Collegetown in my fifth year, from 2020 to 2021, and experienced firsthand the problems of tight supply, high rents and low quality described in the piece. I also have been involved in the movement to increase housing supply and affordability in New York City, where I grew up and now live. My understanding of the shortage of homes in major cities nationwide informs my perspective on the shortage in Ithaca.

While I was living in Collegetown, I examined the City of Ithaca zoning map and found that a large swath of the land to the southeast of Collegetown is zoned so that only single-family homes can be built. Single-family zoning is often rooted in racial segregation and contributes to suburban sprawl, environmental destruction and the restricted supply and high housing costs that now plague Ithaca’s rental market. Ithaca should follow the lead of California, Oregon and the city of Minneapolis by legalizing multi-family homes citywide, alongside single-family ones.

I encourage readers who live in New York State and care about this problem to support two bills in the state legislature: S7574, which would legalize buildings with up to four families on all residential lots, and S4547A (A4854A), which would legalize accessory dwelling units such as basement apartments across the state. Abolishing exclusionary zoning in New York State is an important step toward a more affordable, inclusive and sustainable housing system.

E. Ciara ’20, MEng ’21

Kevin Liu Guest Room

Kevin Liu ‘26 (he/him) is a freshman in the College of Engineering. Comments can be sent to opinion@cornellsun.com. Guest Room runs periodically this semester.

Why the Name ‘Hu Shih’ Deserves Commemorating

On the evening of June 21, I joined thousands of other first-year Cornellians in a battle to access the crowded housing portal to see our housing assignments. After finally getting access, many of us flooded Discord chatrooms with messages along the lines of “What is a Hu Shih?” upon winning the lottery for a brand-new air-conditioned room.

Once all the dust had settled, questions like the one mentioned earlier remained in our heads. Though I will be a fellow Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hall resident myself, I also wondered about the origin of the name “Hu Shih Hall,” the building adjacent to mine. The answer was easy to find. After just some simple Google searching, I quickly learned the significance of Hu as an individual and realized how fitting (and even overdue) it was to name one of Cornell’s over 600 buildings after Hu.

According to Cornell’s official news release, the buildings of the North Campus Residential Expansion were named after “deceased Cornellians with inspirational, groundbreaking careers and who reflected the history of Cornell’s diversity.” This is so true for Hu — so true to the extent that it actually surprised me to learn that Hu Shih Hall is the first building on campus to be named after an international alumnus/alumna, and also the first to be named after an individual of Asian descent.

With regards to his career, Hu is well known as a Chinese diplomat, scholar, philosopher and reformer. While not everyone will agree with his ideological or political views, Hu’s influential legacy is felt today by all Chinese communities on the planet, at least in the way they write.

Imagine if you lived today speaking our current modern English, but everything you read and wrote was in Old English that far predated Shakespeare’s works. In China, starting from the Qin Dynasty (221 BC), spoken Chinese began to evolve much faster than written Chinese, and eventually, the spoken language (known as vernacular Chinese) had become completely distinct from the written standard of Classical Chinese. The majority of the Chinese population, uneducated in Classical Chinese, could understand very little of written or printed texts.

In the early 1900s, Hu Shih became a pioneer and a staunch advocate for the use of vernacular Chinese in writing, and his campaign helped change the way all Chinese write today. As a result of the difficult reform led by Hu, reading and writing became so much easier for ordinary Chinese, and a large portion of the Chinese population emerged out of near total illiteracy in the past decades. Such is the scale and significance of Hu’s legacy; in my opinion, no words can exaggerate Hu’s contribution as a language reformer.

Yet he was also a key contributor to China’s modern liberalistic thinking and

was exceedingly influential during China’s New Culture Movement, the equivalent of China’s Enlightenment Period. He took numerous leading intellectual and social roles in the turbulent yet consequential period of Chinese history, including Chinese ambassador to the United States (1938-1942), chancellor of Peking University (1946-1948), and president of the Academia Sinica (1957-1962). The social ideals that he championed, such as liberalism, individualism and democratic institutions are, in my eyes, still more than relevant in today’s world. And the way I read it, his pedagogical ideals echo profoundly with what Cornell embraces.

Hu’s devotion to Cornell as an alumnus is also worthy of celebration. According to the official account of the Cornell University Library, by donating some 350 classic Chinese books in 1911, Hu laid the foundation for the Cornell University Library’s Chinese collection and the subsequent creation of the W. Wason Collection, a collection that has eventually become an envy of almost all American institutions.

For such an influential alumnus who made significant philanthropic contributions to Cornell, it appears to me that Cornell should have celebrated his life and legacy even more and even earlier on our campus. The naming of the Hu Shih hall is a good start and represents a well-deserved recognition of an alumnus of Asian descent. As Ryan Lombardi, Vice President for Student and Campus Life, put it, “Attaching these inspiring stories to spaces where Cornell students spend their most formative years ties them to the University’s rich past from day one, and it will remind them of the possibilities ahead as they become our future leaders.”

I hope that many of the 430 new Cornellians who have arrived in Hu Shih Hall and the thousands more who just settled into North Campus have been prompted to learn about some of Hu Shih’s stories and ideas. One of the many ideological and philosophical concepts Hu cherished was individualism. In Hu’s opinion, everyone in a community or a society has the freedom to develop a lifestyle of individualism, where people are free to forge their own paths but are still social beings influenced by the actions and thoughts of others. In one of his famous poems in vernacular Chinese, he wrote: Once intoxicated, one learns the strength of wine, Once smitten, one learns the power of love:

You cannot write my poems, Just as I cannot dream your dreams. I hope that every Cornellian living in Hu Shih Hall cherishes their own, individual dream; yet through the power of love, (maybe aided a bit by the strength of alcohol), they enjoy a lifestyle of true individualism — independent yet socially intertwined.

Fill in the empty cells, one number in each, so that each column, row, and region contains the numbers 1-9 exactly once. Each number in the solution therefore occurs only once in each of the three “directions,” hence the “single numbers” implied by the puzzle’s name. (Rules from wikipedia.org/wiki/ Sudoku)

I Am Going to Be Small

SC I ENCE

Cornell, Partners Partake in Nutrition Policy Making

By TENZIN KUNSANG Sun Science Editor

From July 4 to July 25, the University’s Division of Nutritional Sciences collaborated with the World Health Organization and Cochrane to host the eighth annual Summer Institute for Systematic Reviews in Nutrition for Global Policy Making.

Cochrane is a global network of medical practitioners, scientific researchers, public health professionals and others in the healthcare field. These contributors produce accessible, unbiased health information.

As a WHO Collaborating Center on Nutrition Research for Health and a Cochrane Center for Nutrition affiliate, the division partners with WHO to develop systematic reviews and inform clinical and public health guidelines.

The three week long summer institute allowed 27 scientists and practitioners from the Americas, Africa, Europe and SouthEast Asia to apply scientific evidence in policy making for nutrition guidelines and programs.

The Summer Institute brings together people from academia, government and non-governmental organizations, including program director Dr. Pat Cassano, faculty Drs. Julia L. Finkelstein and Saurabh Mehta, in addition to nutritional sciences doctoral candidate and teaching fellow Elizabeth Centeno Tablante.

“The Summer Institute aims to improve and develop technical skills and knowledge in the development of systematic reviews of nutritional interventions using a handson approach in a small group setting,” Dr. Cassano said.

“In addition, participants in the institute gain an understanding of the process of global policy making in nutrition and the

role of evidence synthesis,” she added.

Evidence synthesis is heavily emphasized within the Cochrane framework.

“Cochrane reviews are the cornerstone for guidelines and policies used and implemented in medicine and public health. The Cochrane network also is continuously developing methods to conduct systematic reviews,” Dr. Finkelstein, associate professor of epidemiology and nutrition, said.

Systematic reviews help address a specific question using predefined and transparent methods to help understand data and evidence from scientific research. Patients, policy makers, program implementers and researchers use these reviews to make informed decisions such as breastfeeding in the context of COVID-19 or folic acid flour fortification programs for prevention of anemia and neural tube defects.

For example, a Cochrane systematic review on the benefits and safety of fortifying wheat or maize flour with folic acid and population health outcomes, led by Centeno Tablante and Dr. Finkelstein, found that fortification with folic acid–the synthetic form of folate–may improve folate status and reduce the occurrence of neural tube defects.

“We review, evaluate and summarize the data and information from research to address a specific question using standardized methods. In this way, a systematic review offers a summary of all the available evidence on a specific topic or research question,” Tabalnte said.

This year’s summer institute followed a virtual format and included both synchronous and asynchronous sessions. The first week involved the completion of self-paced training modules on Cochrane methods for systematic reviews. During their second week, participants took part

in live sessions such as seminars, handson workshops and group discussions led by experts from WHO, Cochrane and the University.

“During the live and interactive sessions, the participants gain valuable insights into the evidence synthesis process and how it fits in the development of health guidelines,” Dr. Finkelstein said.

Nutrition policy | Cochrane systematic reviews have provided further support to the benefits of fortifying wheat with folic acid.

Some of the featured faculty panelists were Dr. Juan Pablo Peña-Rosas, human ecology, and Dr. Hector Pardo-Hernandez from the WHO, who talked about the WHO guideline development process and innovations underway for the guidelines for the prevention and treatment of obesity currently under development. Other faculty members included Dr. Lee Hopper, editor for the Cochrane Heart Group; Dr. Jordi Pardo-Pardo, managing editor for the Cochrane Musculoskeletal Group; and Damian Francis, former Co-Director of Cochrane Caribbean.

They discussed the current methods for evaluating risk of bias—with the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool 2.0—the certainty of evidence gathered for systematic reviews, the use of software developed for systematic reviews, and Logic Models as an important component to contextualize evidence in a systematic review.

This year marked the eighth anniversary of this Summer Institute. As part of this Summer Institute for Systematic Reviews in Nutrition for Global Policy Making in collaboration with the WHO, Cochrane and the University, there have been over 11 Cochrane systematic reviews and 15 published protocols. Systematic reviews developed during the summer institutes have also contributed to more than 12 health and nutrition guidelines from WHO and other international agencies. With a network of over 150 people around the world working on systematic reviews and policy making in the field of nutrition, the institute aims to continue developing and sustaining worldwide capacity for the development of evidence-informed decision making on nutrition policy and practice.

Tenzin Kunsang can be reached at tkunsang@cornellsun.com.

NASA’s James Webb Images Further Explore Galaxy

By KAITLYN LEE Sun Staff Writer

On July 12 NASA revealed stunning first images taken by its James Webb Space Telescope. For scientists, the release of these images will lead to a better understanding of the history and formation of the universe and the potential discovery of life outside of Earth.

JWST is an infrared telescope projected to be the primary observatory for numerous astronomers in the next decade. Unlike the Hubble telescope, JWST can view a larger range of infrared wavelengths, which are longer than visible light wavelengths. As

objects farther apart in space emit light with longer wavelengths like infrared, JWST is necessary to observe these objects.

Prof. Lisa Kaltenegger, astronomy, is the director of the Carl Sagan Institute and explainedthat because JWST is bigger than Hubble, it can collect more light. This allows JWST to view objects farther from Earth that appear dimmer and smaller such as galaxies or planets orbiting other stars.

Additionally, because JWST can see objects farther from Earth, it can see farther in time than other telescopes. As light travels at a constant rate, the further an object is, the longer it takes for the light of the

object to reach the spectator. While Hubble can view galaxies at the age akin to a toddler’s age, JWST can view “baby” galaxies, the oldest galaxies formed in the universe 13 billion years ago.

JWST harbors various technologies that help it produce detailed pictures of the cosmos. For example, the Near Infrared Camera acts as JWST’s primary imager, using instruments called cornographs to take pictures of dimmer objects around a central bright object. The cornographs block the bright object’s light to view the dimmer objects. This allows astronomers to determine characteristics of planets that orbit nearby stars. Another instrument JWST utilizes is the Fine Guidance Sensor, which helps the telescope to point precisely at objects and take high quality images.

With the assistance of its instruments, JWST was able to take five images significant to exploring the universe.

“Watching the images from JWST is a touching testament to the spirit of humanity. JWST is an international endeavor opening our eyes to new mysteries of the cosmos, showing what we can do together,” Prof. Kaltenegger said.

The first image is of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, which shows thousands of galaxies in

a part of the sky the size of a grain of sand. According to Prof. Kaltenegger, all these galaxies contain billions of stars or planets and the furthest light source in the picture is from 13 billion years ago.

This picture allows researchers to determine the galaxies’ mass, age, history and composition. In addition, the image, when viewed in the longer mid-infrared wavelength of light, shows the galaxies in different colors, which indicates different composition. For example, blue galaxies have many stars and little dust, while green galaxies contain hydrocarbons.

The second image displays a spectrum of WASP-96b, a gas giant exoplanet, which is a planet outside the Solar System. It shows the presence of water, clouds, and haze in its atmosphere. Using JWST’s Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph , an instrument that uses near-infrared light from objects to produce a spectrum, the components of the atmospheres of WASP-96b and other planets can be identified. The spectrum detects water, oxygen, carbon and temperature. Thus, astronomers can determine which planets may be suitable for life based on their atmosphere.

The third image depicts the Southern Ring Nebula, shells of dust and gas ejected from a pair of dying stars 2,000 light years

from Earth. Each shell is a loss of mass from the fainter star of the pair, and the farther the shell, the older. With JWST, the nebula’s shells can be examined and, thus, help determine its history, composition and location. Additionally, the nebula’s expulsion of dust and material may become incorporated into forming stars or planets later on.

In the fourth image, a galaxy cluster known as Stephan’s Quintet lies 290 million light years away from Earth within the constellation Pegasus. It also captures the collision between these galaxies that results in new stars and potentially, new planets containing ingredients for life, according to Prof. Kaltenegger. The image provides insight to galaxy interaction, which leads to galaxy evolution and star formation.

JWST’s final image depicts the dazzling edge of the Carina Nebula seven thousand light years away, dubbed the “Cosmic Cliffs.” According to Prof. Kaltenegger, it reveals numerous forming stars and potential planets, giving insight into the formation process.

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Kaitlyn Lee can be reached at klee@cornellsun.com.