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Jordan Davis ’14, an AfricanAmerican majoring in electricaland computer engineering, wasthe first student from his highschool to attend an Ivy Leagueuniversity. Upon arriving atCornell’s College of Engineering,he said he wondered, “Are we
meant to be here?”“Looking around, I guess I
thought, I may be one of one ortwo black people in the room,”Davis said. “As a freshman, I was-n’t sure I was good enough.”
Although Davis said that, withtime, he has found that “peoplewill accept you based on what youknow, rather than what you looklike,” he said that increasing diver-
sity in the engineering college iscrucial to bolstering the confi-dence and success of minorityengineers at the University.
Across Cornell, underrepre-sented minorities — AfricanAmerican, Hawaiian and PacificIslander, Hispanic and NativeAmerican students — make up17.1 percent of undergraduates,according to the fall 2011 enroll-ment report. But at the engineer-ing college, only 6.4 percent of stu-dents identify themselves as under-represented minorities — a figurethat administrators and studentssaid was troubling.
Some students, like RichardDansoh ’13, said they stick out inlecture halls, among a sea ofCaucasian and Asian faces.
Dansoh, an African Americanoperations research and informa-tion engineering major, said that,at times, he has felt that “professorsmay be pleasantly surprised if I’mtalking to them and come off asbeing articulate and well-versed inthe subject.”
“Maybe they’re impressed thatI’m an African American and inengineering,” he said. “Sometimes,they can be a little more interestedin me” than they would be in theaverage student.
It can also be difficult to shakeoff preconceived notions of abilityand merit, students said, especiallyin engineering — a field whereadmissions officers are committedto increasing the number ofminorities at their schools.
“You have to fight the stereo-type that you do belong where youare,” said Brandon Gainer ’13, anAfrican American chemical engi-neering major. “You have to showto the professors that you can per-form well in their classes.”
Although Sara Hernandez,director of Diversity Programs inEngineering, warned against draw-ing universal conclusions for whyunderrepresented minorities leaveengineering, she said that for thesestudents, entering a college where
Vol. 128, No. 127 MONDAY, APRIL 16, 2012 ! ITHACA, NEW YORK
The Corne¬ Daily SunINDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
16 Pages – Free
At a forum Saturday,Darrick Trent NighthawkEvensen grad and Chavez
C a r t e rg r a d ,the twoc a n d i -d a t e srunningt obecomeg r a d u -ate stu-d e n t
elected trustee, said whatthey would do if elected.
Evensen, who is the grad-uate and professional stu-dents’ current representativeon the University’s Board ofTrustees, has held the posi-tion for two years. He previ-ously served as the presidentand the finance commissionchair for the Graduate andProfessional StudentAssembly.
Evensen said he hopes toimprove communicationbetween students and theBoard of Trustees.
Although Evensen saidthat he thinks “we’ve madeprogress” on improving com-munication between studentsand the Board, he added, “Ihope to expand that progressover the next few years.”
Evensen said he also wantsto work on improving envi-ronmental sustainability atCornell.
While Cornell performedwell in recent rankings ofenvironmental sustainability,“there are a few areas such assustainability education, sus-tainable investment, sustain-ability in operations andmanagement on campus andother areas in which we canstill improve,” he said.
Carter is the current pres-ident of the Black GraduateStudent and ProfessionalStudent Association. If elect-ed, he said will tackle mentalhealth issues and increase thetransparency of the Board, hesaid. He added that he wouldlike to see an increase in thenumber of mental health ser-vices available to students oncampus. Additionally, Carter
s a i dthat toincreaset h eBoard’st r a n s -p a r e n -cy, heh o p e sto makethe role
of the graduate studenttrustee more visible on cam-pus by expanding the circleof organizations that thetrustee works with.
The debate was moderat-ed by Juan Forrer ’13, editor-in-chief of The Sun.
CARTER GRAD
EVENSEN GRAD
Utsav Rai can be reached [email protected].
By UTSAV RAISun Staff Writer
Grad Students CompeteFor Board of Trustees Seat
Clubs May Face New Funding Route
After several student organiza-tions were embittered by substantialbudget cuts, the Student AssemblyFinance Commission is makingstrides to repair what many considera broken system of student funding.
Upon receiving an unexpectedlyhigh volume of requests for fundingin fall 2011, the SAFC was forced toslash the maximum level of funding agroup could receive by nearly 50 per-cent. Complaints from student lead-
ers about inadequate funds led to theSAFC’s proposal on Thursday toimplement a new system that wouldplace student groups in a tiered sys-tem with six levels of funding.
“The biggest problem is that thereis not [currently] a strategic allocationof funds, because every group can getthe same [amount] no matter whatthey do [or] how much they spend,”said Larry Kogos ’13, co-chair of theSAFC, which is responsible for deter-mining the funding allocation forstudent organizations. “Hopefully,this would be a more strategic alloca-
tion, in the sense that groups thatactually need the most money can getthe most money.”
Under the current system —which sets a single, uniform cap forall SAFC-funded organizations —“the incentive for a group is to applyfor as much money as possible,” saidRoneal Desai ’13, SAFC liaison tothe S.A.
Club sports teams in particularraised concerns about the allocationprocess after their budget was
By REBECCA HARRISSun News Editor
See SAFC page 4
Eng. College Trails in Minority Enrollment
AAP A&S ENG HOTEL HUMEC CALS ILR
Black Enrollment byUndergraduate College
(Fall 2011)6.8%7.1%
2.3%
4.2%5.6%
6.0%7.2%
By AKANE OTANISun News Editor
See ENGINEERING page 5
KYLE KULAS / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The engineering college has the lowest percentage of black students at Cornell.
The Unsocial NetworkHarry DiFrancesco ’12 remarksthat although more peoplethan ever are connected onFacebook, there is an epidemicof loneliness in today’s world.
| Page 7
Partly Cloudy and WindyHIGH: 83 LOW: 50
ArtsThe Bright Side of LifeBobby McFerrin, best knownfor his song, “Don’t Worry, BeHappy,” performed a conta-giously upbeat set at the StateTheatre this weekend.
| Page 9
Little EinsteinsCornellians teamed up Saturdayto teach middle school students about engineering.
| Page 3
Opinion
SportsReboundThe women’s lacrosse teambroke a two-game losing streakwith its victory against LoyolaSaturday.
| Page 20
News
Weather
Live from Bailey, it’s Sunday night
Saturday Night Live comedian KenanThompson, first made famous to
generations of Cornellians for hisrole in the Nickelodeon show,
“Kenan and Kel,” performed atBailey Hall on Sunday evening.
New system proposed after year of steep budget cuts
2 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Monday, April 16, 2012 DAYBOOK
TodayDaybook
Too Big to Know: Book Talk by David Weinberger1:30 - 3 p.m.
700 Clark Hall
Meet the Author: Tim Campbell4 p.m.
Cornell Store
No More Nucleophiles:Direct, Selective Cross Coupling of Electrophiles
4:40 - 6 p.m.119 Baker Lab
The Marine and the Policy Maker5:30 p.m.
G10 Biotechnology Building
Has the Ivy Changed?A Look at College Life at Cornell Today
10 - 11 a.m.Kendal at Ithaca, Auditorium
Climate Change and Indian Country:A Sovereign Change Model
12:15 - 1:15 p.m.G65 Myron Taylor Hall
Truman Scholarship Session4:35 p.m.
103 Barnes Hall
Tomorrow
Today
TUEWEDTHUFRI
Hi: 57° Lo: 35° Partly Cloudy
— Jinjoo [email protected]
Tuesday gets much cooler, but it is still warmer than whatwe are used to.
Hi: 56° Lo: 38° Mostly Sunny
Wednesday is warmer and sunnier. Now you have alegitimate excuse to wear shades.
Hi: 63° Lo: 40° Partly Cloudy
On Thursday, the temperature spikes up, so be sure towear a lighter item below your cardigan or hoodie.
Hi: 58° Lo: 41° Cloudy
Friday cools down slightly and gets a little grayer. But whocares, right? It’s Friday! It’s warm enough that you canhold hyour Friday treat (perhaps fro-yo?) without shivering.
Not unlike the inappropriate thinker who holds down smirks until she finally starts laughing inclass, Ithaca suddenly releases all the repressed heat it has been withholding today. Although the heaton Monday does not sustain itself throughout the week, it will be warm enough to abandon the heavycoats during the day. Let the carefree dressing and the joyous skipping ensue!
Monday presents us with a whooping high of 83 (I say this with the feeling of someone who has unexpected-ly won something).
weatherFORECAST Hi: 83° F
Lo: 50° FPartly Cloudy/Windy
Monday, April 16, 2012
Editor in Chief Juan Forrer ’13
The Corne¬ Daily SunINDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
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THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Monday, April 16, 2012 3NEWS
87th Hotel Ezra CornellDraws Hundreds to C.U.Hotelies host weekend for industry leaders
Students Show Skills to Youth at Science and Engineering Fair
Non-Hotel students walkingpast the Statler this weekend mayhave been attracted to the areathanks to a dessert truck parkedoutside offering delicious — andfree — cupcakes. But that was onlythe most public sign of this week-end’s 87th annual Hotel EzraCornell, which encompassed threedays of fancy food, lectures byindustry leaders and afternoon tea.
A ticket to HEC’s full list ofevents cost attendees $750 each,not including a hotel room stay.The event’s more than 300 studentvolunteers, some who workedaround the clock, scrutinized everydetail to make sure the guests weresatisfied. Thursday throughSaturday night, all of the events —and, in fact, the entire StatlerHotel — were student-run.
H E C ’ sguests —who num-bered about300 thisyear andi n c l u d e dmany suc-cessful figures in the hotel industry— came to see the students inaction, according to DanielleFoster ’12, HEC’s media relationsmanager.
“They really let us show that weknow what we’re doing,” KelsieTaylor ’14, assistant rooms direc-
tor, said Saturday as she preparedthe afternoon tea service.
Foster added that HEC is morethan just a weekend when StatlerHotel is run by students.
“We really try to make it seemthat they’re coming for the confer-ence and not just back to theStatler,” she said.
The weekend featured goodies,including personalized pillows ineach guest’s room embroideredwith that guest’s initials, and mealsintended to pique the interest ofhotel industry experts.
Friday’s breakfast, for example,promised to “experiment with newflavors while staying true to thespirit of a good ol’ breakfast,”according to the HEC program.
Speakers included Ian Schrager,who founded famed New YorkCity nightclub Studio 54, andKevin Zraly, founder of theWindows on the World Wine
School.HEC also had its own mobile
app to help attendees keep track ofthe schedule of events and otherdetails throughout the weekend.The app was designed by ParkerMoore ’14, who, as an informationscience major, is one of the few
non-Hotel students on HEC’sstaff.
“We really wanted to embraceour theme of innovation,” Fostersaid. An HEC app was firstreleased for last year’s conference,but it was significantly updatedthis year, she said.
The dessert truck parked justoutside the Statler’s lobby wasanother new addition this year.Mikki Cannon ’13, a volunteerwho was stationed in the truck,said she enjoyed working in thewarm weather and near so manycupcakes.
“Everyone else is jealous that Ihave this job,” she said.
The company that owns thetruck, Sweet Street, has workedwith HEC for several years, buthad never brought the truck forthe weekend, Cannon said.
The weekend culminated in a
gala dinner in the Statler’s ball-room on Saturday night.
The gala “is the most fun eventand the most elaborate meal,”Foster said, so it required the mostpreparation by students.
A few hours before the gala wasscheduled to begin, dozens of stu-dents were hurrying around theballroom to set up each place set-ting. The song “Call Me Maybe”blasted on the ballroom’s speakers,and a to-do list posted nearbyreminded students they still had to“gather 200 bar napkins” and assistthe bartenders with “polishing, ice,trash [and] garnishes.” Other stu-dents cooled a giant six-liter bottleof champagne.
Lindsey Brous ’12, HEC’s pro-gram director, said her favoriteevent was the cocktail receptionthat followed Saturday’s gala. Itgave the students a chance to
reflect on the weekend, she said.“The end of the weekend is
always bittersweet,” Brous said. “Itis a huge accomplishment thateveryone works hard for. However,many of us know we will be grad-uating soon and it will be our lastHEC.”
Saturday night marked theclose of HEC’s 87th year. The con-ference, which began in 1926 inRisley Hall, predates the HotelSchool. For many years, it wasfamous around campus for itsWaiters’ Derby — an event thatfeatured student waiters racing oneanother on the Arts Quad whileeach carrying a tray and a bowl ofwater. The event is now known asthe Service Olympics and occurseach fall semester, Brous said.
Wine and dine | Students set up the gala dinner at the Statler for the 87th Hotel Ezra Cornell Saturday night.TINA CHOU / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
“They really let us show that we knowwhat we’re doing.”Kelsie Taylor ’14
By MICHAEL LINHORSTSun Senior Writer
Michael Linhorst can be reached [email protected].
Tau Beta Pi, the engineeringcollege’s honor society, hosted itssecond annual Science andEngineering Fair Saturday to edu-cate students and communitymembers and display their work.
Several engineering studentgroups prepared exhibits to show-case at the event, with stationsranging from providing silly puttyingredients to featuring the workclubs have done to prepare forengineering competitions.
Lance Collins, dean of theCollege of Engineering, broughthis sixth-grade daughter, Ashley, tothe fair, which he said was “fantas-tic.”
“I think it’s important to exposemiddle school students to every-thing possible about science andmath,” Collins said.
Sam Odle ’13, a member of theChemE Car Team, showed partic-ipants the chemical science behindthe cars that ChemE builds for itscompetitions. Odle said that it was“cool to see all the kids who hadn’treally decided what they wanted to
do in college” and show them dif-ferent fields of engineering.
“The younger kids wereamazed that [a] liquid [couldchange] color,” he said. “A lot ofthe older kids had questions aboutchemicals and technology.”
Additionally, Odle said, the fairallowed Cornell engineers to teachthe students about importantresearch that takes place at theUniversity.
“Most of the professors in theschool are doing research withcompanies people know, and theresearch they’re doing is going to
be stuff we will see in our lives inthe next 10 years,” he said. “It’simportant for people to see what’sgoing on here and how they canget involved.”
Students from the AmericanSociety of EnvironmentalEngineers boasted compost binsand samples of hydrilla — an inva-sive plant species recently found inCayuga Lake.
Tanapong Jiarathanakul ’14, amember of the society, said thatalthough people’s initial reaction tothe compost bins included asking,“Is this a bunch of dirt?”, peoplewere “much more understanding”after hearing about the environ-mental damage hydrilla can cause.
“Hydrilla looks like weeds, butwhen we explain what it is theytook interest,” Jiarathanakul said.“I’m glad that I was able to educatepeople on this particular topicthat’s really relevant to Cornell.”
Jiarathanakul added that thefair was a good way for Cornellengineers to show prospective stu-dents a sample of its engineeringprogram.
“I feel like the fair was reallyhelpful for pre-frosh because itgives you a really good perspectiveon the program,” he said. “I thinkthat if I came to this fair before Icame to Cornell, then it would[have been] much more helpful infinding out what Cornell has tooffer.”
Students from Cornell’s chapterof the American Society of CivilEngineers also presented at the fairthis year, sharing information on
their concrete canoe team, whichbuilds and races a 20-foot canoemade of concrete against otherschools every year.
“You have to make it really real-ly strong, but so it doesn’t sink,”said Hannah Kiem ’13, a memberof the team. “It’s very fun.”
For Kiem, the fair was a “reallygood opportunity to get our nameout there in terms of our projectteams and to show people whatwe’re capable of doing.”
“We had a lot of pre-frosh lookat things, which was really valuableto us, because they might end upjoining our team next year,” shesaid.
Kiem echoed the sentiments ofother students who presented theirwork at the fair, saying the eventwas a chance to encourage youngscientists to take an interest inengineering.
“The importance comes withproviding outreach and educationto the community … even when[students] are very young,” shesaid. “We try to do activities tofacilitate [them] learning and hav-ing fun at the same time.”
Michael Dezube ’12, vice presi-dent of Tau Beta Pi, said thatalthough organizing the fairrequired a lot of time, the successof the event made the work worth-while. He added that the fair was agreat way for Tau Beta Pi to helppromote interest in the field ofengineering.
Weird Science | Tau Beta Pi hosts the second Science and Engineering Fair on the Engineering Quad Saturday.
RYAN LANDVATER / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
By TINA AHMADISun Contributor
Tina Ahmadi can be reached [email protected].
4 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Monday, April 16, 2012 NEWS
H EAR T O F C OLLEGETOW N AP ARTMENTS: Studio, 1, 2, 3,
4, 5, 6, 10 HOUSES:
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slashed from $10,000 to $5,000last semester, The Sun reported inOctober.
“Groups were kind of blind-sided this year because caps werecut in half. SAFC caps have beengoing lower and lower. Manygroups have been crippled … theycan’t hold practices, can’t haveevents,” Kogos said. “Our revenuestream, in terms of byline fund-ing, has only been increased by alittle bit, so that alone is not goingto be enough to fix the issue.”
Under the current fundingguidelines, about 20 percent ofallocated funds go unspent eachyear, according to Desai. Headded that these unspent funds —amounting to about $200,000each year — rollover from year toyear and are essentially wastedresources.
“If there are $200,000 unspentevery year, then that money isnever used by students, eventhough we have groups who wantmore money,” Desai said. “Thenew system solves this by givinghigher caps to groups that histori-cally spend their funds.”
Adam Nicoletti, vice presidentof finance for the S.A., calledclubs that request more moneythan they actually spend some ofthe “worst offenders” in con-tributing to the rollover.
“Groups that ask for moremoney than they need bringdown the cap, dragging it downfor groups that need more thanthe cap,” he said. “Then, whenthey don’t even spend all of themoney they’re given, those fundsroll over and go to waste.”
According to the proposal,groups would become eligible tomove between tiers at the end ofeach academic year. The SAFCwould determine in the spring ifan organization should move up,move down or remain in its cur-rent tier for the following year.
Tier mobility would be basedon objective criteria designed toassess how much money a groupneeds and how effectively theytend to spend the money they areallocated, Nicoletti said. He addedthat re-evaluating tier placementeach year would ensure that fundscould be directed to groups that
need it the most.According to Brandon Coulter
’13, co-chair of the SAFC, such asystem would also be the drivingfactor behind incentivizing stu-dent groups to become morefinancially responsible.
“We restructured this systemto hold treasurers accountable andto be as accurate and as morallyjust in what they’re asking for on asemester-by-semester basis,”Coulter said.
Under the tier system, Desaiadded, “the incentive is to be asefficient with your money as pos-sible. So you want to apply forexactly as much as you need; oth-erwise, if that money goesunspent, you could move down atier.”
Groups would initially beplaced into tiers based on the effi-ciency of their spending over thelast three years, beginning in fall2008, according to the proposal.
“No group will be placed in atier such that they are eligible forless money than they have spentin their [highest-spending] semes-ter over the last few years,” Desaisaid.
He added that organizationsapplying for funding for the firsttime in fall 2012 would automat-ically fall into the lowest tier.
The changes require the S.A.’sapproval before the SAFC canimplement them in the fall,according to Nicoletti. He said theproposal will likely come to a votewithin the next few weeks.
S.A. President Natalie Raps ’12expressed optimism that the S.A.will approve the new guidelines,which she said will give the SAFC“more flexibility” to ensure stu-dent groups receive the moneythey need.
However, she emphasized theimportance of soliciting feedbackfrom the student body beforeapproving major changes to thesystem.
“I want to make sure that weget as much of the student voice… as possible before we come tovote,” Raps said.“Communication is key beforethe changes are enacted.”
Sylvia Rusnak contributedreporting to this article.
Proposed SAFC ChangesAim to Free Up Funds
FUNDINGContinued from page 1
Rebecca Harris can be reached [email protected].
NEWS THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Monday, April 16, 2012 5
they are “surrounded by the topstudents of the world in a veryrigorous curriculum” can be espe-cially challenging as “one of a few[minority students] in the class-room.”
“It can be difficult if you con-front situations in which youthink people are making certainassumptions about you — aboutyour preparedness, your back-ground or you as an individual,”Hernandez said.
For minority students who arealso female, the feelings of isola-tion can be compounded.Women make up 30.2 percent ofengineering students but fewerthan twenty percent of studentsin some majors within the col-lege, according to fall 2011 datafrom the engineering college’sregistrar.
For Erica Barnett ’13, an elec-trical and computer engineeringmajor, being female and a minor-ity in Cornell engineering hasbeen a “challenge.”
“I’ve learned to accept the sit-uation and deal with this circum-stance the best way I can,”Barnett said.
Barnett added that some of herclose friends from high schoolwho are engineers at historicallyblack colleges and universitieshave had “reflections on class-room experiences [that] are farmore positive than the reflectionsI hear from other black engineerson campus.”
Being one of just a few minor-ity student engineers can also bean isolating experience, Gainersaid, because the small number ofminorities who can lead people tonot connect with other students.
Given the rigor of Cornell’sengineering curriculum — atDuffield Hall, for instance, agroup of engineers huddledtogether over a problem set is acommon sight — students whodo not feel like they are able towork with their peers may strug-gle in their classes.
“A lot of minorities may notfeel as comfortable approachingother students; they may feel sin-gled out and not part of the com-munity,” Dansoh said. “But inengineering, it’s a very big deal tobe able to work with your peers ...because often you’ll be workingwith each other.”
Gainer agreed, saying, “If youdon’t really feel like you belongwith a certain type of people, itcan be detrimental to your GPA.That can push you out to notcomplete your degree.”
The graduation rate of minori-ties in STEM fields lags behindthose of their Caucasian andAsian peers. At Cornell, while 81percent of freshmen entering theengineering college will graduate,75 percent of underrepresentedminorities will not graduate fromthe college in five years, accordingto Hernandez.
This “gap,” Hernandez said, is“clearly … of concern to the col-lege.”
“We are employing strategiesto support the persistence andsuccess of URM students in engi-neering,” Hernandez said.
The current disparity makes it
all the more crucial that Cornellcontinue to recruit minorities inengineering, students said. Whenstudents have mentors to look upto, they can be more likely to suc-ceed in engineering.
“I know from personal experi-ence that it’s a lot easier when yousee someone who you can look upto as a mentor,” said DenzelBridges ’13, a materials scienceand engineering major. “For somepeople, it helps if they see some-one who looks like them to talkabout not just academic issuesbut also non-academic things aswell.”
Several students said theyfound mentorship through theUniversity’s outreach programs.Barnett, for instance, said thatDiversity Programs inEngineering, the National Societyof Black Engineers’ Cornell chap-ter and C.U. EMPower mentor-ing program have been “greatresources [that] have created asense of family and acceptance forme within engineering atCornell.”
These organizations,Hernandez said, are “phenome-nal.”
“They do a lot to supportpeers and help them have a senseof community — both academicand social — within the collegeand the University,” she said.
While Hernandez said that“we definitely want to be doingbetter than what we [currently]are,” she noted that outreach andrecruitment efforts have, in part,already increased diversity at thecollege — bringing twice thenumber of underrepresentedminorities to Cornell in the Classof 2016 than the college did sixyears ago.
“It’s still not a huge percentageof our students, but there aremore students from very diversebackgrounds, and that’s startingto change the environment andcomposition of the college,” shesaid.
Accompanying increasedminority recruitment in engineer-ing, Barnett said, “diversity ofthought, backgrounds and prob-lem-solving techniques translatesinto better solutions and betterfinished products.”
As for whether the grind ofderivations, proofs and MATLABat Cornell is worth it, Dansohsaid he thinks that “after doingthis, I feel like we can do any-thing.”
“Coming in freshman year, itwas a very hard struggle — and iseven in many ways still a struggle— but I’ve grown so much as aperson, and the idea of moreminorities coming into thislifestyle, track and path reallyexcites me,” Dansoh said.
By increasing recruitment,retention and mentoring forunderrepresented minorities inengineering, Dansoh said, theUniversity can both increasediversity in the field and helpgrow the next generation of scien-tific leaders.
“To have that type of hopetoward your future is something Ifeel like a lot of minorities couldbe empowered by,” he said.
Lack of Diversity Isolating,Minority Engineers Say
ENGINEERINGContinued from page 1
Akane Otani can be reached [email protected].
OPINION
The Corne¬ Daily SunIndependent Since 1880
130TH EDITORIAL BOARD
Letters to the editor may be sent to [email protected].
Please include an evening phone number and your graduatingyear if applicable.
The Sun reserves the right to edit for clarity, content and space.
All opinions welcome.
THIS WEEK, BOTH UNDERGRADUATE and graduate students will vote toelect a trustee from the graduate and professional student community. This trusteewill be responsible for not only representing graduate and professional students, butalso for weighing in on broad policies pursued by the Board of Trustees. Over his fiveyears in student governance, Darrick Nighthawk Evensen grad has demonstrated thathe is the best candidate for the position.
Evensen has the experience working in student governance to understand theissues that not only affect the graduate and professional student community, but alsothe Cornell community as a whole. Evensen served on the Graduate and ProfessionalStudent Assembly from 2007 to 2010, giving him an intimate understanding of grad-uate student issues. He served as president of that body from 2009 to 2010, when hewas elected to his first term as a student trustee.
He has rightly identified graduate student housing and the cohesiveness of a com-munity with 93 fields of graduate study and three professional schools as the mainissues that will continue to affect graduate and professional students in the future. Hisexperience working with the Cornell administration and students makes him themost capable candidate to tackle these substantial challenges.
Beyond the issues that affect the graduate and professional student community,Evensen has worked to address challenges that affect the broader community. Forexample, Evensen is one of two students on the University Gorge Safety committee,which is working to implement the recommendations made by President DavidSkorton to enhance the safety of the gorges. Doing so shows a willingness to repre-sent the interests of the broader community, which is absolutely essential for aUniversity trustee.
Additionally, Evensen has put forward the most comprehensive platform of thetwo candidates. His platform shows a willingness to think beyond the graduate com-munity. His platform touches on points ranging from the state of Collegetown toboosting diversity on campus to gorge safety initiatives. The comprehensiveness of hisplatform and the ease with which he can discuss these disparate topics demonstrateshis broad knowledge of the issues that affect all Cornellians.
We hope that in a second term, Evansen will be able to build on his weaknessesand take strong stances that may be in opposition to the views of the Board. Whenasked to name a decision that the Board of Trustees made that he disagreed with,Evensen only said that there must be more transparency in committee meeting andthat more student input must be garnered to give the proposals legitimacy. Thisresponse indicates an inclination to go along with the majority opinion of the Board.We hope that, if reelected, Evensen will not simply follow the majority, but will pub-licly take stances that members of the Board may disagree with.
Despite our reservations, we believe that Evensen will not shy away from ensuringthat all constituencies and concerns are represented at Board of Trustees meetings. Hehas the knowledge of the workings of the University that will allow him to succeed ina second term.
Evensen for Student Trustee
At precisely 3:00 p.m. today, thepestilent tumor that has beenaccompanying me everywhere
for the duration of my senior year willfinally be extracted. And by that Imean, my honors thesis will finally befinished, bound, and — Lord havemercy — turned in.
While my first thought was to cele-brate the momentous occasion on thespot with my convenient thigh holsterflask, I realize that the momentousoccasion deserves a little more pompand circumstance than some quasi-enthusiastic swigs of the old single bar-rel.
So, my friends, I’ve decided insteadto punish my ever-faithful liver with afull six-day Collegetown bar crawl.
The idea behind the bar crawl is sim-ple: Starting this Monday, my trustyroommate and I will be hitting a differ-ent Collegetown bar every weeknight.Saturday will top off the event with amuch-needed house party designed torid my respectably tiny three-bedroomapartment of its disproportionately
massive supply of half-finished liquorbottles.
Conveniently, Collegetown barshave done the majority of the work forus already. They’ve all conspired, itseems, to scatter their theme nightsthroughout the week — Ruloff ’s onMonday; Stella’s on Tuesday; Fishbowlon Wednesday; Dunbar’s on Thursday;and Pixel on Friday. This convenientcombo of ill repute makes for a healthychange of scenery and a not-so-healthybevvy of mixed beverages to fuel the barcrawl.
Frankly, this idea is so genius I’msurprised it hasn’t made it onto the 161things to do list yet. Although I imagineimminent alcohol poisoning for mostpeople with normally functioning liversmight have something to do with it.
But if you, gentle readers, would liketo join me in the Six-Day Bar Crawl oreven initiate one of your own, there area few rules you must heed beforeembarking on this after-hours adven-ture.
The first rule of the Six-Day BarCrawl is that you must be a second-semester senior. I realize that this cutsout a good chunk of the over-21’s atCornell and a plethora of others thathave pretty convincing fake IDs or elseare just particularly slutty looking girls.
But answer me this: When else otherthan second semester senior year canyou legitimately go on a six-day bender
without being mistaken for an alco-holic? Never, my friends.
Also, frankly, there’s the matter ofthe underclassman’s inability to controlhimself long enough to turn the eventinto a fait accomplit.
Frankly, both your livers and thejudgment centers in your brains aresimply not developed enough to handlethis kind of feat.
The Six-Day Bar Crawl is amarathon, not a sprint. If you can’tlimit yourself to one or two drinks anight, you’re never going to make itpast Thursday. And even if you canstand to be either hung over or drunkfor six days in a row, that kind of behav-ior defeats the real beauty of the Six-Day Bar Crawl altogether.
Which brings me to the second ruleof the Six-Day Bar Crawl: You must notparticipate in the event through with-out understanding what exactly you’retrying to accomplish with this juncture.
The real beauty of the Six-Day BarCrawl is not to see whether you can sur-
vive six days in a row of going out.Frankly, anyone with a death wishcould probably handle it.
No, my friends, the real beautybehind this marathon of short dresses,heavy makeup, high heels and themedlibations is to spend six, concentrateddays in a row enjoying your last nightsat Cornell with the people you love themost.
The Six-Day Bar Crawl is less aboutthe bars you hit and more about thepeople you hit them with. If you don’tdrink, I’m sure you could just as easilydo a Six-Day Bird WatchingExtravaganza ... or whatever else peoplewho don’t drink do with their free time.
But the number one prerequisite ofthe Six-Day Bar Crawl is that youabsolutely must surround yourself withthe people you love the most, no matterhow tired you are, how sore your feetare or even how hung over you feel.
Seniors, these are our last momentsto appreciate Cornell. Don’t spendthem locked in your room every nightof the week. Go out! Enjoy this beauti-ful campus, this awesome city and yes,even these sticky floored bars, for every-thing they have to offer.
CristinaStiller
Believe You Me
Cristina Stiller is a senior in the College of Artsand Sciences. She may be reached at [email protected]. Believe You Me appears alternateMondays this semester.
The Six-Day Bar Crawl
Editorial
JUAN FORRER ’13Editor in Chief
HELENE BEAUCHEMIN ’13Business Manager
RUBY PERLMUTTER ’13Associate Editor
JOSEPH STAEHLE ’13Web Editor
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BRYAN CHAN ’15Multimedia Editor
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WORKING ON TODAY’S SUN
ASSISTAN DESIGN EDITOR Amanda Stefanik ’13DESIGN DESKER Nikkita Mehta ’12PHOTO EDITOR Esther Hoffman ’13
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ARTS DESKER Daveen Koh ’14NEWS NIGHT EDITORS Utsav Rai ’15
Jinjoo Lee ’15
There is a question that has and verylikely will puzzle college students(and some quite esteemed econo-
mists) for a long time, one that has muchsalience to us all: Why has Marijuana notyet been legalized?
Now I hope to set a few things straightbefore I proceed on a bit of a diatribe. I donot possess any particular conflict of inter-est in writing this article and intend to beas objective as possible. In other words, Iam not a stoner. I am not disgruntled withPresident Obama for not sticking up formy civil liberties (read: stoner’s rights) andam not presumably hoping to vote forRon Paul. I am more or less an objectiveobserver. My interest is in emptying outour prisons and raising our tax revenue.
Before I proceed, however, perhaps afew facts: Tobacco, an addictive carcino-gen with the potential to give non-smok-ers cancer, is a legal substance. Accordingto the Center for Disease Control andPrevention, Tobacco causes upwards of443,000 deaths per year (49,000 of whichare caused by secondhand smoke).Alcohol, another addictive favorite ofmany a college student, is dangerousenough to claim 75,000 lives per yearaccording to MSNBC. Marijuana? Zero.Not one death by Cannabis alone. Gang-related deaths involving Marijuana mightbe a high number; however, this can beblamed on the criminalization of the sub-stance rather than the substance itself.
Let’s face it: Marijuana is just not the
kind of substance that should be illegal,especially in a world where tobacco andalcohol aren’t, and especially in the sup-posedly free land of America.
There are probably many reasons whyMarijuana was illegalized to begin with.I’ve heard theories ranging from racismagainst Mexicans, who were the firstgroup associated with the plant, toRichard Nixon’s hatred of those damnsubversive hippies — and it is likely thatboth origins have some amount of truth tothem. In my view, it was likely somethingof a mix of these two ideas. I do not placeany validity on the idea that cannabis wasclassified as illicit purely for medical rea-sons.
Why is Marijuana to this day still ille-gal then? Because Americans have another,perhaps not entirely unfair, association inmind: Marijuana and laziness. If there isanything particularly un-American in thisworld (apart from Socialism, Nazis,Radical Islam and France) it is laziness.There is a likelihood that at the heart ofevery weed-hating American is the ideathat this funky-smelling plant is leadingeveryone to be too relaxed, too smug andsatisfied to do anything with themselves.
As Robin Williams put it, “If theylegalize it, they’re gonna have to regulate itand they’re gonna have to put a warningsticker on a pack of joints. And it’ll say:‘Surgeon General has determined … thiswill make your music … AWESOME.’”
This is more important than racism
and far more important than medicine. Ithits at our very culture as Americans, atwhat sociologist Max Weber famouslycalled the “Protestant Ethic,” the moralethic of work for work’s sake. Marijuanamay just not be a very “American” drug.Weed may not be dangerous at all, but itmight make you choose your iTunes visu-alizer and a bucket of Cherry Garcia overyour problem set — at least that is theperception.
With this in mind, it is no surprise atall that tobacco and alcohol are not illegal.The fact of the matter is they are simplypart of our culture. Tobacco may be anAmerican economic institution, thougharguably so is marijuana. What tobaccoand alcohol have that weed doesn’t is aconnection to the psyche of Americans ofall walks of life, conservative and liberal,rich and poor. Fat cat CEOs smoke cigarswhile construction workers share a smokeon their break. Manhattan aristocrats havetheir fancy wines while ’Mericans in the
heartland drink their all-American lagers.Marijuana, on the other hand, still has amajority of Americans against it, even inliberal-as-all-hell California. Whereasalcohol and tobacco are perceived as thesubstances of working people, marijuanais perceived as the substance of slackers,who could use a swift kick in the ass fol-lowed by a subsequent, “Get a job!”
Don’t hold your breath on nationwidemarijuana legalization. If I am wrong
about the primacy of culture over practicein this debate — and I hope I am — I willlook forward to the day when one can buya pack of Marlboro No. 420s orEntenmann’s “Special Recipe” ChocolateChip Cookies at the local corner store.That will be a trip.
OPINION
Real Americans Don’t Smoke Marijuana
Twenty-eight percent of 18 to 34 year olds checkFacebook before getting out of bed. First of all, areyou kidding me? We’ve replaced Snuggles the bear
and beanie babies with a flat, rectangular, oddly warm anddecidedly personality-less amalgamation of plastic andconducting materials. Who the hell made that trade? Andif stuffed animals aren’t your thing anymore, ever heard ofa book?
Facebook, at least judging by the numbers, runs ourlife. And the numbers are astounding: nearly a Billionusers worldwide, more than half of whom check theiraccounts at least once a day. In October, November andDecember of last year we posted 2.7 billion likes and com-ments on the site. Per Day. And if that isn’t enough, in theU.S., users spend an average of seven hours a month onthe site: That is three and a half full days per year or threefull weeks throughout your whole college career. Three fullweeks of sleepless Facebook snooping, posting, liking,commenting, status-updating, photo-uploading, timeline-developing and interacting with other people’s fabricatedonline personas.
Which brings me to my second point: Are we reallysurprised that loneliness is now seen by many medicalexperts as an epidemic? People today have fewer confi-dants, fewer close friends and spend more time alone thanin any previous decade. Directly correlated to loneliness:increased levels of stress hormones, higher likelihood of
depression and altered processes of DNA transcription.Translation: We should be doing everything we can toavoid loneliness.
Of course, social networks are not the only cause of this“epidemic.” Many technologies and developments overthe past century have led to more time alone: telephones,cars, suburbia, television, have all in some ways con-tributed to the well-documented “fragmentation” of mod-
ern society. Astuteobservers will alsonote that time aloneis not necessarily thesame as feeling lone-ly. Introverts, afterall, are not doomedto misery. Lonelinessdoes not have to dowith the numbers ofinteractions people
have as much as it has to do with the meaning of thoseinteractions.
It is here that technological advances have exerted theirgrip. Meaningful interaction, perhaps unsurprisingly, isoften a stand-in for face to face interactions that cultivatefriendships, and that provide opportunities for confiding.Over the the last half century we have had to create wholeprofessions — life coaches and mental-health counselorsare just two examples — to provide people with those con-fidants. Social interaction is now a service we pay lots ofmoney for. Modern society has outsourced meaningfulinteractions to professionals and has led to our isolatingourselves from the family members, friends and neighbors,who before might have provided such support.
So why pick on Facebook and social networking? Whybother to distinguish it from any other technology ofmodern society? Well, because Facebook is built on rela-tionships, interactions, sharing with others. As their mottoputs it: “Facebook helps you connect and share with the
people in your life.” And it does. We can now connect and stay connected
with thousands more people than we used to be able to.And every time I post what I did last night I am sharing itwith hundreds if not thousands of people. But do thesereally count as meaningful interactions? Sure, there is theability to post on a friend’s wall, to organize an eventwhere people will then interact face to face, to chat with afriend on Facebook chat. But many of Facebook’s featuresallow or even demand a sort of perpetual self-promotion.One where your life is perpetually perfect, forever fulfilled;where everything is worthy of some LOLcat exclamatoryor smiley face, where you are encouraged to participate ina happiness arms race.
And, well, beyond the occasional fml (or to twitterizeit: #fml) social networks don’t provide much space to hon-estly discuss and reveal your feelings; not only what’s gonewell, what you’re elated about but also what’s difficult, per-sonal, vulnerable in your life. Connections aren’t bonds.While Facebook perhaps isn’t advertising itself as a place toengage in meaningful social interaction, given the amountof time we spend on it, the number of people who inter-act on it, we should consider how it affects our ability andwillingness to do so. As Sherry Turkle, professor ofComputer Culture at MIT puts it in her book AloneTogether: “The ties we form through the internet are not,in the end, the ties that bind. But they are the ties that pre-occupy.”
Waking up in the morning and being told that you aresupposed to be happy doesn’t allow much space for honestrelationships, either with others or with yourself. So, itmight be time to wake up, get out of bed and look in a realmirror; to consider how it is that Facebook is useful butalso how it is ultimately deeply limited. And then log on.
Connected and LonelyTHE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Monday, March 5, 2012 7
Harry DiFrancesco
Stirring the Pot
Harry DiFrancesco is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences.He may be reached at [email protected]. Stirring thePot appears alternate Mondays this semester.
THE SUNTHRIVES
ON YOUR FEEDBACK.
SEND 200-500 WORDSUBMISSIONS TO
ALL OPINIONS ANDPOINTS OF VIEW
WELCOME.
Ian Cohen
Guest Room
Ian Cohen is a sophomore in the College of Artsand Sciences. He may be reached at [email protected]. Guest Room appears periodically thissemester.
8 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Monday, April 16, 2012
For Bobby McFerrin, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” ismuch more than his most famous song. It’s also his wayof life. Taking the stage at the State Theatre this week-end, McFerrin wore an infectious smile and an unas-suming presence for his entire set. Grinning and singingfor over two hours, McFerrin stunned an adoring audi-ence with a diverse set of solos, audience collaborationsand band-accompanied pieces.
McFerrin often described as a world music or jazzsinger, yet his unique vocal patterns and unbelievable tal-ent far exceed the limits of that genre. Critics like tocompare his otherworldly voice to an instrument, butbetween the pitch-perfect falsetto, beatboxing and mul-tiphonic singing he presented on Saturday, he soundedmore like an entire orchestra. Whether he was improvis-ing duets with audience members, providing a sound-track for volunteer interpretive dancers, or performingan astounding version of “Drive,” McFerrin’s range ofabilities was truly incredible.
Most affecting, however, was his complete and utterhumility. In a modest gray t-shirt and impressive dreds,he genuinely seemed both pleased to be there and invest-ed in his audience. Even his accompaniment — the
impeccable pianist Paul Nagle and the virtuosic bassistJeff Carney — seemed more like partners than backup.
The show opened with a series of partially-improvisedtunes, including a soulful and solo-packed version of VanMorrison’s “Moondance.” Eyes shut and hunched casual-ly over his microphone, McFerrin could have been
singing for a group of close friends ratherthan the packed State Theatre. This illu-sion, however, was soon broken as Nagleand Carney left the stage, and McFerrininvited the audience to replace his accom-paniment.
From there, McFerrin spent the nexthour engaging the audience and allowing usto play and musically experiment with him.For an evocative version of U2’s “I StillHaven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” hedivided his fans into two groups to create asimple harmony that provided all theaccompaniment he could possibly need.Next, he invited audience members —including a tiny and adorable young girl —to join him on stage for a display of inter-pretive dancing guided by his scat vocals.
Closing the interactive portion of the program was aseries of McFerrin-audience duets accompanied again byNagle and Carney. Several audience members wereafforded the opportunity to join McFerrin for the song oftheir choice. From “My Funny Valentine” to“Honeysuckle Rose,” McFerrin jumped right in and
improvised with his new partner. Atone point, he even composed an odeto the dog twhich was inexplicablysleeping in the front row of the State.
This sort of collaboration waswonderfully refreshing; this is some-thing all artists could strive towards.Who needs condescending panderingwhen musicians like McFerrin wantto challenge you?
McFerrin first rose to prominencein the late 80s following his perfor-mance of The Cosby Show themesong and the release of “Don’t Worry,Be Happy.” Following that song, herecorded the soundtracks for a num-ber of films and was eventuallyappointed as the creative chair of theSaint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Forthe past 20 years, he has made regulartours as both a vocalist and a conduc-
tor, gaining increasingly widespread fame and attention.He has also recorded over 40 albums, either as a leader ora supporting musician.
While McFerrin’s recorded music is fantastic, his truegenius lies in his live performances. As the State learnedthis weekend, a Bobby McFerrin concert is not aboutreplicating songs exactly as they sounded on an album.It’s about creating entirely new songs and experiences,individually tailored to each audience.
And on Saturday, he achieved this goal magnificently.In a two-hour concert that seemed much shorter, hecharmed, delighted and awed the crowd down on StateStreet. As a performer who defies all criticism, McFerrinbrought a rare sort of inventiveness and talent that Ithacamay never see again.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Gina Cargas is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. Shecan be reached at [email protected].
ARTS& ENTERTAINMENT
Sunny and Soulful, Bobby McFerrin reveals his true genius at State Theatre
Feeling Good
Monday, April 16, 2012 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun | 9A & E
CHRIS PHARE / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
GINA CARGASSun Staff Writer
Boredom is a very dangerous thing. Theplaywright Anton Chekhov certainly knewthat. In Uncle Vanya, Chekhov’s classic med-itation on ennui, the characters lead lives ofquiet — and not so quiet — desperation.This desperation can be highly destructiveand contagious. When the retired professorAlexandr Vladimirovich (Peter Stein) andhis young second wife Yelena (LaurenBoehm) spend a summer at their countryestate, they “infect” everyone at the estatewho is “actively creating something” withtheir “idlenesss.” Although the ardent envi-ronmentalist and physician Astrov (TimPerry) feebly insists that he is merely “jok-ing,” his diagnosis is hardly off the mark.
The Readers’ Theatre’s performancereading, directed by Anne Marie Cummingsand Tim Mollen, strips down the play. Thereare no silver birch trees or Persian rugs insight to recreate the hallowed halls of asprawling 19th century country estate.There are no crisp, jingling harness bells ormelodic bird calls. But there is darkness andsilence.
The minimalist setting suits the neat andsuccinct translation penned by the PulitzerPrize-winning playwright David Mamet.The oscillations between acceptance andrebellion, tranquility and madness, are cap-tured by the award-winning improvisationaljazz cellist Hank Roberts, who has collabo-rated extensively with renowned musicianslike Bill Frissell, U2 and The Bad Plus.Roberts’ mellow and tender notes createhazy spaces in which even the mostephemeral, difficult thing can take refuge.
The play is really about a not-so-modernmalaise. The characters treat their lives likejars which they try to fill up with anything
they can find. Astrov and Vanya (P.D.Shuman) become enamored by the ravish-ing Yelena; they abandon their work andrestraint in pursuit of her affection. Thelovesick Vanya appears most buffoonish andpitiful when heoffers Yelena abunch of “sadautumn roses”and likens her to a“mermaid,” onlyto be derided byYelena as “disgust-ing.” Althoughmuch admired forher beauty, Yelenais consumed byself-loathing, per-ceiving herself as a“second-rate crea-ture” who mis-took he r ownattraction toVladimirovich’sfame for “love.”
The insuffer-ably arrogant butwidely misunder-s t o o dVladimirovich iswell-versed inlamenting theperils of old age.(Stein, a formerCornell Physics Professor, assures The Sunthat he is not at all like his overbearingonstage counterpart.) For such a learnedman, the professor is startlingly ignorant ofthe vast sacrifices his brother-in-law anddaughter have made to support his comfort-able urban lifestyle. For years, Vanya andSonya spent interminable nights admiringand translating the professor’s work andmanaging his country estate. When
Vladimirovich announces his plan to sell theestate, Vanya descends into madness,although Vladimirovich protests that theplan is hardly set in stone.
It is to the actors’ credit that none of thec h a r a c t e r ssinks intoa n o n y m i t yeven duringthis first runthrough of theplay. Eachcharacter isinterest ing;even theallegedly bor-ing ones,because onecan glimpsetheir robustinner lives.The old nurseM a r i n a( E s t h e rHerkowitz )and theimpoverishedl a n d o w n e rTelegin (DaveDietrich) arethe only char-acters whonever displayany signs of
neurosis. They are also the only characterswho are continuously working. Throughoutthe play, Marina knits serenely, giving outwords of wisdom and comfort to variouscharacters who struggle to flee from theirfrenetic situations. Like Marina, Teleginobserves the chaotic antics of theVladimirovich household from a distance.The spectacle is, however, secondary to hiscarpentry. Later, Telegin is accompanied by
a pair of black work boots, another symbolof his dedication to manual work.
Is work, then, the cure to emptiness? Theindustrious Sonya seems to champion thistheory, but she draws strength from thehope that she will be rewarded for her work.She reassures a broken Vanya, “I have faith,Uncle, fervent, passionate faith. We shallrest. We shall rest.” Although Sonya suffersintolerably — she has to deal with ademanding father and depressed uncleabove her personal battles with her ownplainness and boredom — she is the onlycharacter who honestly admits to being“happy.” Remarkably, one such occasionoccurs during an uncharacteristically inti-mate conversation with Yelena, when Sonyaconfesses her unrequited feelings for Astrov.Sonya’s ability to maintain graciousnessunder pressure in such a neurotic householdis nothing short of miraculous.
Does Sonya have good reason for herfaith, or Vanya, for his “madness?” Dressedup or stripped down, Uncle Vanya contin-ues to be prominently revived because ofthese hard questions. A Lawrence Oliver-directed adaptation opened the firstNational Theatre season on the main stage,while Annie Baker’s TV star-studded versionopens off-Broadway this summer. Chekhov,expectedly, makes no answers explicit. It’senough of a clue to know that in this play,words speak as loudly as actions.
Uncle Vanya opens on April 27 at TheSpace behind Greenstar. Following the play,Cornell professor Bruce Levitt will be deliver-ing a 15-minute talk-back. For more details,visit www.thereaderstheatre.com.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Bhangra Extravaganza
The Philosophy of Boredom10 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun |Monday, April 16, 2012 A & E
Daveen Koh is a sophomore in the College ofArchitecture, Art and Planning. She can bereached at [email protected].
DAVEEN KOHSun Arts and Entertainment Editor
COURTESY OF THE READERS’ THEATRE
Number 56 on the list of 161 Things to Do at Cornell isto go see a Bhangra show. Saturday night many came andchecked it off their list to Pao Bhangra XI. The event notonly showcased Cornell homegrown acts but also had guestperformers join in the dancing extravaganza. It was a spec-tacular show and a feast to the eyes to see the swirling explo-sions of color on stage as the performers broadcasted theirtalent and hours of dedication to the art.
Bhangra is a folk dance attributed to the Punjabi cultureof India and Pakistan, first performed by farmers to cele-brate harvests. It has now grown beyond the region andinfluenced other parts of the world, most notably the U.K.,through its dance and music. The music blends traditionalIndian music with elements of hip-hop, reggae and popmusic. Cornell’s own Pao Bhangra boasts to be the largestBhangra event in all of North America. Hosting acts fromYale, Princeton, the University of Maryland andWashington, D.C. as well as four acts from Cornell, PaoBhangra exposed the fascinating dance to an energeticBarton Hall on Saturday. All eight Bhangra groups per-formed their sets with infectious energy. Guest performers
Sitara and Yamatai were similar-ly impressive.
A group of Cornell alumnistarted off the show well, albeitslowly. Jashan Bhangra, a teamfrom Yale, then ignited the stagewonderfully with its set. Theperformers’ moves were smooth,making the audience wonderhow no performer bumped intoanother on stage (a wonder reit-erated as each group came to thestage). Their traditional garb wasalso impressive. The bright col-ors were attention-grabbing andthe moves kept the audiencehooked. It was hard to fathomhow any group could matchJashan Bhangra’s performance.Such a worry was quicklyassuaged, however, as the teams that followed never failed tokeep the energy and volume up. All of the visiting teams,however, seemed to be eclipsed by the home teams.
The all-girls team Kudiyan performed with extremelyfluid motions; their moves were dainty but filled withenthusiasm and rigor. This performance was followed by anexquisite one by all-boys team Mundey. With a set list thatincluded Carly Rae Jepson’s “Call Me Maybe” andLMFAO’s “Sexy and I Know It,” the performers had theaudience eating out of the palm of their hand.
Cornell’s Sitara also charmed the audience with a highlycohesive group performance. Yamatai’s drum performanceliterally reverberated through all of Barton, making theaudience’s skin tingle in minute aftershocks after the drum-mers’ turn.
Cornell’s mixed dance group concluded the show. Theirstrong sense of family was evident in the loving words saidabout their graduating senior members. They excited theaudience one last time in a set that left the audience wanti-ng more. As their captain energised the audience with an
onslaught of what could be considered a mini-rap at thebeginning, the team gave a larger-than-life performance toclose the show.
Overall, the night was mesmerizing with upbeat musicand dance that shared the love of Bhangra with a mixedaudience of already established enthusiasts and those new tothe scene. Not only did the teams do an amazing job, theemcees also performed commendably. Their chemistry, asthey plugged “ads” for sponsors, held the audience’s atten-tion during breaks. Albeit slightly cheesy at times, the “ads”still made the audience chuckle.
For those who did not have the pleasure of seeing PaoBhangra XI, make sure to check it off your list next year. Beprepared to be blown away by talented teams from Cornelland elsewhere and fall in love with a new dance sure to infil-trate the party scene … or at least it should.
NATALIA FALLASSun Staff Writer
Natalia Fallas is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. Shecan be reached at [email protected].
ZACH WU /SUN CONTRIBUTOR
OLIVER KLIEWE /SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAHER
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Monday, April 16, 2012 11COMICS AND PUZZLES
Mr. Gnu Travis Dandro
American Affairs Desk by Mark Kaufman
Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau
ACROSS1 Puts behind bars6 Opera headliners
11 Dairy creature14 Stan’s sidekick, in
old comedy15 Call forth16 Hubbub17 Dish that’s thrown
together?19 Fix a button, say20 PDQ, in the ICU21 “__ I a stinker?”:
Bugs Bunny22 Mont Blanc and
Monte Rosa24 Belted out26 __ B’rith: Jewish
org.27 Phone bk. info30 Where 6-Across
often are whenperforming
35 Most of 34-Down’s surface
37 Sugar suffix38 Visiting
Hollywood, say39 Protective feature
of most powerstrips
43 Ticklish Muppet44 Bearded
grassland grazer45 Rib cage locale46 Wall protector
near a roomentrance
50 Campfire residue51 Catches some Z’s52 Musical work54 Traveler’s entry
document55 Woman’s
sleevelessundergarment, forshort
57 Watchman’s order61 Tasseled
headgear62 One who follows
tornadoes ... or anapt description ofthe starts of 17-,30-, 39- and 46-Across
65 Get along inyears
66 “Casablanca,” forone
67 Protein-buildingacid
68 Low-quality69 Make off with70 Liberal voter,
slangily
DOWN1 Scribbles (down)2 “That’s __ of
hooey!”3 “Casablanca”
heroine4 Leans to port or to
starboard5 “Get it?”6 Draw up plans for7 “Fathers and
Sons” novelistTurgenev
8 Chevy’s plug-inhybrid
9 Rap sheet abbr.10 Some Avis rentals11 The Volga River
flows into it12 Dedicated poetry13 “Holy
guacamole!”18 Copenhagen
native23 Not quite timely25 Skin breakout26 Uncle Remus title27 Hard-__: very strict28 Eye-related prefix29 Spoke from the
pulpit31 Refresh, as a cup
of coffee32 Psychic hotline
“skill,” briefly
33 Shine34 Fifth-largest
planet36 Old Greek
markets40 Capt. saluters41 “__ momento!”42 Neutral shade47 Cricks and tics48 Saddle knob49 Sweeping in
scope53 Disgrace
54 Folk singerSuzanne
55 Sheltered inlet56 “The Marriage
of Figaro”highlight
58 “In your dreams!”59 Pre-Easter time60 City tricked by a
wooden horse61 “Marvy!”63 Trike rider64 Actor Holbrook
By Jennifer Nutt(c)2012 Tribune Media Services, Inc. 04/16/12
04/16/12
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword PuzzleEdited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
Sun Sudoku Puzzle # 18 days ‘til Slope DayFill in the empty
cells, one numberin each, so that
each column,row, and region
contains thenumbers 1-9exactly once.
Each number inthe solution
therefore occursonly once in each
of the three“directions,”
hence the “singlenumbers” implied
by the puzzle’sname.
(Rules fromwikipedia.org/wiki
/Sudoku)
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SPORTS THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Monday, April 16, 2012 15
The women’s rowing team inched one step closer tothe NCAA tournament after a strong showing at theUniversity of Virginia Invitational over the weekend.The No. 14 Red swept No. 18 Clemson, Penn andUniversity of San Diego on Saturday, before achievingmixed results against No. 1 UVA and No. 19 Minnesotaon Sunday.
Cornell defeated Ivy League foe Penn in all five eventsSaturday morning, before picking up another five victo-ries against Clemson and USD that afternoon. The var-sity eight race against Penn was the tightest of the day,yet Cornell came out on top by a hefty 4.3 seconds.According to senior Anna Psiaki, the Red is thrilled withits performance.
“Against Penn, our mindset was to go out there andreally crush them,” Psiaki said. “They’re a team that wefeel like we’re faster than and we wanted to prove that ...Against Clemson, it was a different story. We wanted toprove that we deserved to be ranked higher than them.”
The Red has a strong history against unranked IvyLeague team Penn, most recently defeating the Quakersin last season’s Raritan Cup. Senior captain MargaretCook said that racing Penn first boosted the squad’s con-fidence for the whole weekend.
“Our first race on Saturday morning was against ateam we were familiar with and we’d had a little successagainst in the past,” she said. “We knew we could beatthem and after that it was a lot of teams we hadn’t racedbefore.”
Sunday brought tougher competition in the form ofMinnesota and top-ranked UVA. Four of Cornell boatscame in second to Virginia, while the second varsityeight placed in third. Senior captain Margaret Cook saidthe Red entered Sunday with nothing to lose.
“Every boat had a no-regrets mentality,” she said.
“No matter what the end result was, if we went the bestspeed we possibly could, we were going to be proud ofourselves.”
Psiaki echoed Cook’s sentiments, adding that theteam’s determination is something that makes it special.
“Every boat has a lot of fire and a lot of determina-tion,” she said “Even when we are down off the start ofthe race, we’ll walk back. That’s something special aboutour team.”
The first varsity eight finished 12.7 seconds behindthe UVA Cavaliers, while the second varsity eight a mere3.7 seconds back. The first and second varsity fourtrailed by 3.3 and 18.1 seconds, respectively. Accordingto senior captain Steph Lohberg, the team is contentwith its performance against UVA and Minnesota.
“Those were unchartered waters racing UVA,” shesaid. “A lot of the boats went above and beyond whatsome people might have expected from us.”
According to the seniors, this past weekend was amajor boon for the team’s chances at making the NCAAtournament. Despite a strong season in 2011, the team
narrowly missed selection for last year’s tournament.According to Lohberg, the Red’s success in Virginia willhopefully improve its chances of invitation to the tour-nament.
“The races from this morning were definitely pivotalin the NCAA system,” she said. “Coming so close toVirginia was definitely really important to prove our-selves as a team and show that we can be a competitivecrew.”
Psiaki said she also hopes the squad will continue tobuild upon this weekend’s performance. Cornell willface Columbia and Brown at home at Cayuga Inlet nextweekend, before taking on Dartmouth away on April28.
“I think that this weekend was a momentum-builder,” Psiaki said. “Most of the teams we raced wereranked below us, so it confirmed that we definitelyshould be ranked 14th or higher. It showed that we area strong program.”
Swept away | Cornell beat Ivy foe Penn in all five races on Saturday at the University of Virginia Invitational, but met mixedresults against No. 1-ranked host UVA and No. 19 Minnesota on Sunday.
OLIVER KLIEWE / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
C.U. Sweeps Penn,Clemson, USD atUVA InvitationalBy GINA CARGASSun Staff Writer
Gina Cargas can be reached at [email protected].
Columbia loaded thebases, but the Red wasable to stave off theLions, securing thethird win of the week-end, 5-4.
“You have a newapproach to every sin-gle game and you haveto go out there and tryand win,” Kazley said.“We were happy towin the first one, butin the second one wewere starting over.”
In the fourth gameof the series,Columbia managed toovertake the Red, 5-1.The series endedfavorably for Cornell,as the Red took threeout of the four con-tested games.
As of the end ofgame play onSaturday, the Red saton top of the IvyLeague with a 9-1record, just squeezingpast Princeton whowas 8-2 so far. Thefight to the finish
seems to be a grudgematch between theRed and the Tigers, asboth fight for the topspot.
“Our last weekendis against [Princeton]at home, so that week-end will really be piv-otal,” Kazley said.“We have been win-ning all of our games,but they pretty muchhave been too. We aretrying to just catch abreak and run awaywith it.”
Looking forward,Cornell will playSiena College athome, before headinginto the weekend witha four-game seriesagainst Penn.
“[Our] hopes forthe future are to winour half first [and]crush the other side inthe best of three andgo to the NCAARegionals,” Kazleysaid.
Haley Velasco can be reached at [email protected].
BASEBALLContinued from page 16
In a rainy weekend, the Cornell soft-ball team took three out of four frominter-division rival Columbia. The Red(19-16, 10-2 Ivy League) swept theLions (10-25, 3-9) on Saturday, beforesplitting the doubleheader on Sunday.Cornell was boosted by two big inningson Saturday, scoring seven runs in thethird inning in game one and five runsin the first inning in game two.
Sophomore infielder Jenny Edwardswas the offensive star on Saturday, goingfour-for-six with three RBI and threeruns scored. Her two long balls on theday bring her season total to seven,
which leads the Ivy League. Seniorpitcher Lauren Marx picked up herleague-leading fourth save of the year inthe first game, while sophomore AlysonOnyon pitched five complete inningsallowing one run to pick up her eighthwin of the year (8-3) as the Red claimedthe mercy-run win in game two.
“Saturday was a pretty good day forus,” said senior captain Erin Keene.“After a shaky first game, we settleddown a lot and were really able to take itto them in the second game.”
The Red lost its first Ivy League thisseason on Sunday in game one, 7-3. Theteam came back in game two to earn thesplit, 5-3. Onyon earned her ninth vic-tory in game two, as she pitched a com-
plete game allowing two earned runsand striking out five.
“Sunday was rough,” Keene said.“We knew it was going to be challeng-ing, but we came out flat and justweren’t able to overcome the deficit.”
Sunday afternoon’s win was impor-tant for Cornell, as the Red hung on tothe Southern-Ivy League division leadover Penn with a 10-2 record. The vic-tory also came on Senior Day whereCornell honored six seniors — KatieWatts, Jenna Stoller, Morgan Cawley,Erica Gaeta, Marx and Keene. The Redwas able to overcome three errors andhold onto a tight win.
Next weekend Cornell playsSouthern-division rival Penn inPhiladelphia, Pa. on Saturday andSunday. With Penn in second place inthe division, the next four games remainimportant for the Red’s playoff hopes.During the week, Cornell plays a twogame set against Colgate in Hamiltonon Thursday.
“This is going to be a tight race inthe southern division,” Keene said. “Wedefinitely do not have room for mis-takes. We came through with the win inthe second game, so we are still holdingon.”
Penn and Princeton are the final twoIvy League opponents that are standingin the way of Cornell’s hopes of three-peating as division champions. The Redfaces a tough road ahead as the team hasno more home games remaining on itsschedule.
Red Earns South Division Lead With Split Senior Day
Scott Eckl can be reached at [email protected].
WOMEN’S ROWING
She runs this Towne | Junior catcher Kristen Towne picked up one of the Red’sthree runs against Columbia in its only Ivy loss, 7-3, of the season on Sunday.
TINA CHOU / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
SOFTBALL
By SCOTT ECKLSun Staff Writer
Cornell Sits AboveRival Princeton inDivision Standings
Sports 16MONDAY APRIL 16, 2012The Corne¬ Daily Sun
WOMEN’S LACROSSE
C.U. Explodes in Second Half Against No.11 LoyolaAfter suffering two close losses in its past three games, on
Saturday the women’s lacrosse team faced No. 11 Loyola — ateam with a storied coach, as well as one that many consider acontender for the national championship. Although the gamestarted out evenly with each team trading goals in the first
half, a combination of an explosive second half and a strongeffort by senior goaltender Kyla Dambach propelled Cornellto a much-needed victory going into the last quarter of its sea-son.
“It is always great to get a win against a ranked team,” saidsenior captain and attack Jessi Steinberg. “Loyola always putsup a competitive effort against whoever they play, and they arecoached by one of the best ever. This win was huge for us.”
Steinberg put theRed (7-3, 3-2 IvyLeague) in front at thebeginning of the gamewith a quick goal, butLoyola (8-3, 4-0 BigEast) stormed back andscored three straight to go up, 3-1. The game went back andforth, with each team going on scoring runs until the first halfended with a score of 8-7 in favor of Cornell. The Red wasoutmatched by a 10-6 margin on the draw control in the firsthalf, and it seemed as if Loyola was poised to make a run atsome point in the game.
“Loyola was a great team, and they put up a fight the wholefirst half,” said senior midfielder Katie Kirk.
The second half, however, was a different game. As soon asplay started, junior attack Caroline Salisbury, senior attackOlivia Knotts and Kirk each scored two goals, lifted the Redto 17-9 in a just eight minutes.
“The game was an all-around effort for us,” Steinberg said.“This is definitely huge for momentum going into our gameagainst Syracuse.”
In addition, Cornell’s goaltending was spot on, asDambach made multiple saves to prevent Loyola from gain-ing a foothold in the game. Loyola never managed to get anytype of run going, so Cornell claimed the game, 17-10.
“When you have great goaltending, it just gives you a hugemental edge,” Kirk said. “Kyla played well all game, and wejust knew that she would be coming up the whole game.”
Cornell will need to carry this weekend’s momentum for-ward, as it will face off against in-state rival Syracuse — aperennial powerhouse that is currently ranked No. 2 in thenation.
“Syracuse has such a high powered and fast-movingoffense,” Steinberg said. “Our game plan is to do everythingwe can to slow them down and just play our style of play.”
Cornell will host Syracuse at home for a Tuesday nightmatch-up starting at 7:00 p.m.
By NICK RIELLYSun Staff Writer
Eight minute run | Junior attack Caroline Salisbury combined her efforts with seniors Olivia Knotts and Katie Kirk, as eachplayer scored two goals each, lifting the Red to 17-9 in a span of eight minutes.
LEENA KULKARNI / SUN CONTRIBUTOR
LOYOLA
CORNELL
1ST78
Game:LoyolaCornell
2nd39
1017Tot1017
Nick Rielly can be reached at [email protected].
This weekend was a four-gameseries of good baseball for the Red, as ittook three of four games from Ivy foeColumbia. On Saturday, Cornell (24-8-1, 10-2 Ivy League) swept the dou-bleheader, with the first game goinginto extra innings dues to consistentpitching, a solid defense and a forwardmoving offense. The series continued
on Sunday with a delay for pendingrain that pushed the first start timeback an hour and a half, before the Redcould match up against Columbia (14-19, 6-6), splitting the day, 1-1.
The first game on Saturday was aduel between pitchers. SophomoreConnor Kaufmann pitched a com-plete-game in the opener for the Red,allowing only one unearned run andfive hits. However, Kaufmann faced off
against Columbia’s starter Pat Lowery,who sat down eight while allowing justtwo hits and no runs through sixinnings against the Red. The oneunearned run came in the third, whichCornell answered back in the seventhto send the game into extra innings. Inthe eight, sophomore Ryan Plantier hita sacrifice fly to right with bases loadedto score senior Brian Billigen with thewinning run, which grabbed the victo-ry from Columbia, 2-1.
“We have been getting consecutive-ly good starts by [our pitchers],” saidjunior pitcher Mike Kazley. “ConnorKaufmann has been an animal in shut-ting guys down.”
The second game of the day beganwith early action, as junior infielderBrenton Peters led off the Red with a
double to right-center, followed bysenior infielder Marshall Yanzick’s sin-gle to center that put runners on thecorners. With one out, sophomoreChris Cruz hit an RBI groundout todrive Peters in. Senior infielder FrankHager’s RBI two-out double then sentYanzick in from third. Next, Tatumdrove in his second run for the daywith a single down the left field line.After the early action, no Red runnerswere able to advance past second forthe rest of the game. However, the vic-tory was due, in part, to freshmanpitcher Brian McAfee who had the beststart in his collegiate career, making hisrecord 5-0, with a team-high 43innings.
Cornell faced threatening skies onSunday morning, which pushed thenoon start time back an hour and half.Once the Red took to the field, the firsttwo innings did not look promising asthe Lions grabbed two early on.However, in the third, sophomore TomD’Alessandro hit a long ball over theleft field fence to bring Cornell backinto the game. Cruz followed themomentum with a second homer forthe Red, putting Cornell up by one.The Red was able to hold off the Lionsfor the rest of the game; however, therewas a close call in the seventh when
BASEBALL
See BASEBALL page 15#winning | Tom D’Alessandro brought theRed back to life on Sunday with a home run.
MONICA SUH / SUN CONTRIBUTOR
Red Defeats Lions in Three of Four Match-UpsBy HALEY VELASCOSun Assistant Sports Editor
Cruz ties program record for number of home runs in a single season
COLUMBIACORNELL
12
Last week, AndyNoel, the CornellDirector of Athletics,named Melissa Batie-Smoose the WendySchaenen ’79 headcoach of volleyball andPatrick Farmer the headcoach of the women’ssoccer program.
B a t i e - S m o o s ecomes to Cornell withnearly 20 years ofcoaching experience atnearly every collegiatelevel, with a legacy asthe most successfulhead coach in the his-tory of SavannahCollege of Art &
Design, where she ledthe team to a 81-43overall record.
Farmer comes tothe Red with 19 yearsof head coaching expe-rience, sporting a 261-97-40 career record forhis time with IthacaCollege, Penn State,Tennessee Tech andSyracuse. Farmer wasthe first women’s soccerhead coach at PennState in 1994. He wasalso inducted into theIthaca College SportsHall of Fame in 1998.
— Compiled byLauren Ritter
Noel AnnouncesWomen’s Soccer,Volleyball Coaches
BATIE-SMOOSE FARMER
