Science & Tech
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FARAJ | Leveling the Play Field for All: Athletics Must Protect All Sports’ Team Budgets
The landscape of college athletics is shifting. Since the NCAA’s landmark policy change in 2021 allowing student-athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness — commonly referred to as NIL — deals, college sports have become increasingly commercialized, blurring the line between amateurism and professional sports. With record-breaking viewership, multimillion dollar sponsorships and a surge of public interest in athletes like Caitlin Clark and Paige Beukers — and for women’s sports overall — it felt like equity was finally within reach. But now the ground is shifting again. The Trump administration has intervened by rescinding Title IX-based federal guidance that had ensured NIL compensation was distributed equitably across men’s and…
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Vladimir Nabokov, Our Great Immigrant Novelist
In the introduction to his essay collection Reflections on Exile and Other Essays, Edward Said states that if the immigrant writer “cannot take for granted the luxury of long residence, habitual environment, native idiom, and you must somehow compensate for these things, what you write necessarily bears a unique freight of anxiety, elaborateness, perhaps even overstatement.” Though Said wrote this to analyze exile’s role in artistic production and criticism, its sentiments carry forth to the everyday experience of immigrants in the United States. With their right to exist threatened daily, the immigrant must face a new challenge, one wrapped with anxiety and uncertainty. Having to move away from their old…
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From Native American History to Martial Art: Exploring the Murals of Ithaca
A Haudenosaunee-Dutch treaty. A form of martial arts. Mentorship program participants. Marine biology. These are the focus of four of over 400 vibrant murals that together embellish nearly every street in Ithaca. Each mural contains intricate details that tell a unique story, from historical events to environmental protection. The Sun spoke with four artists about the inspirations behind a few of Ithaca’s many murals. “Two Row Wampum 400 Year Anniversary” by Brandon Lazore A mural painted on the Seneca Street Garage honors the 400-year anniversary of the Two Row Wampum. On Seneca Street Garage, community members get a snapshot of Native American history through artist Brandon Lazore’s mural, “Two Row…
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AYSW | Graduating through TV
I’ve spent more time watching TV this year than during my last three years of college. My freshman year, I essentially cut myself off from watching TV to “focus.” While binge-watching can definitely be distracting, it’s important to see how valuable TV can be. Sitting down to watch an episode (or more) with friends after a long day is revitalizing. Watching your comfort show lets you escape from your worries. And keeping up with TV can be a great way to start conversation. When I started thinking about what I’ve been watching recently, I realized the life lessons I took from all of them had something to do with growing…
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Graduate Students Revive Push for Divestment, Elect 2025-2026 Representatives
Cornell’s Graduate and Professional Student Assembly presented its 2025 election results — including results of a ballot question about divestment — during their final meeting of the year on Monday. Graduate student Nicholas Brennan, current executive vice president of GPSA, was elected to be the next president in a sweeping victory, garnering nearly five times as many votes as his two competitors, Bhagvat Patel and Mario Keputa. The election results also revealed broad support for divestment from the voting graduate student body, with about two-thirds of voters believing Cornell should divest from weapons manufacturers. The divestment ballot question was modeled after the Spring 2024 Student Assembly referendum, in which 69.3…
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‘I Will Always Come Back’: Inside the Cornell Jazz Ensemble and Its Performance WIth Legend Vincent Herring
The Cornell jazz ensemble is a group of 21 student musicians who practice and perform alongside Prof. Paul Merrill, music. Each semester, the largest ensemble in the Ivy League puts together shows for Cornell students to attend for free. On April 19, the Cornell Jazz ensemble put on a spring performance as they played 11 songs with alto and soprano saxophonist, Vincent Herring. The Sun spoke to Herring, Merrill and other members of the band in order to gain insight on this successful group as well as their experiences performing alongside a jazz legend. Experience at Ensemble Many members of the band stated that they have seen the difference between…
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SOLAR FLARE | An Epilogue to Senior Year
These songs describe the feelings that are uniquely tied to these past four years and the tangle of emotions that looming graduation brings. It’s folk with a little pop mixed in. It’s happiness and nostalgia and panic. Jacqueline Taieb: “7 Heures du Matin” It sounds like the scramble of getting up for class on a Thursday after going out the night before. The song is chaotic and retro, romanticising youth. French! 2. Kurt Vile and John Prine: “How Lucky” The soft guitar and gentle vocals underscore one last reflective stroll through campus. “Today I walk down the street I used to wander.” To me, it’s a message from your senior…
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Women’s Lacrosse Falls to No. 16/18 Penn Despite Strong Final Push
In its penultimate game of the season on April 19, the Red (9-5, 3-3 Ivy) went down the road to Philadelphia to play conference rivals No. 16/18 University of Pennsylvania (8-5, 4-2 Ivy). The Red came into the match hoping for a victory that would seemingly secure Ivy League Tournament qualification, but would end up falling short in a tough 18-10 loss against the Quakers. The game started off evenly matched, with each team exchanging blows early into the game. However, five unanswered goals late in the first quarter would quickly shift the momentum in favor of the Quakers. Head coach Jenny Graap ’86 said it is important to come…
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Local Author Gordon Cooper’s The Lucky Six in Review
Ithaca and its surroundings are rife with history and stories waiting to be told. From resplendent gorges to Indigenous and military pasts, the region’s lore pulses just beneath the surface, ready to reveal secrets to those who know where to look. The Lucky Six, a new novel by local author Gordon Cooper, is a goldmine in regional historical fiction. Set in 1874 in nearby Watkins Glen, previously known as Watkins, The Lucky Six teaches an interesting piece of local history while weaving in an engaging, multi-faceted mystery. I was pleasantly surprised by the depth and thought that went into plotting and writing this story. As a writer myself, I understand…
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BURZLAFF | The Tip Jar (2): The Courage to Stay: On Belonging and the Quiet Power of Small Choices
A message arrived in my tip jar last week. It was quiet, vulnerable and honest in a way few of us feel allowed to be in public. The writer spoke about living with ADHD and shared how stimulant medication has helped them manage its practical dimensions, even while a recent New York Times article made them rethink the very framework in which we understand it: not so much as a disorder, but as a condition shaped by environment, expectation and emotion. That insight sparked a wider, more personal reflection: What if Cornell isn’t the right place for me? “I have come to realize that I do not belong at Cornell,”…