Sunspots (https://sunspots.cornellsun.com/page/62/)
By MEREDITH CHAGARES
It is November and if you are reading this, you are likely feeling the same emotions as me and everyone else on campus. You are feeling the pressure of a semester coming to an end followed by the inevitable grind of finals. You need to raise those grades or maintain them. You have a ridiculous amount of work to do and not much time to do it. You need to assemble your schedule for next semester and tuition is due soon.
By ADAM DAVIS
In the news lately, we have witnessed the rise of a political movement based not on facts and logical demands, but emotion. Some members of this movement certainly have noble intentions: they seek to “protect” those they deem “vulnerable.” But they have chosen to do this in a way which infringes on the freedom of others, all in the name of creating a “safe space” for themselves and others like them. I am talking, of course, about the anti-refugee backlash in the wake of the recent terror attack in Paris. Of course much has also been made lately about those other “safe spaces” — so many campus activists seek their creation as places where marginalized students can seek refuge from racism, classism, homophobia and various other forms of bigotry. This concept has fallen under particular scrutiny recently due to the protests that have sprung up at college campuses throughout the United States, from Yale to Missouri to just down the road at Ithaca College.
By MICHAEL MAUER
To everyone guessing that this post is about G.A.T.E., please give me some credit. I promise I can make jokes besides cheap puns … sometimes. Anyways, the actual topic for this week:
What anime would you recommend to someone who knows nothing about anime? Perhaps more importantly, what kind of anime would you show to the sort of person who thinks anime is just some bizarre portion of Japanese culture? I think this is an important question to consider because there’s a lot anime has to offer, even for people who aren’t generally fans of Japanese pop culture.
By MARK KASVIN
There is no question that superheroes are massively in vogue right now, especially in cinema. Recent years have seen a staggering influx of larger-than-life characters in costumes go up against bad guys in these huge multi-million-dollar spectaculars made by enough set and post-production crew members to fill a small town. In the midst of this box office flood of caped crusaders, I feel it necessary to remark that the explosive success of superheroes in Hollywood is, in the greater history of cinema, a blip; a loud blip, but a blip nonetheless. Here, I’ll go over the history of the genre up until the release of two pivotal superhero films and continue to discuss the current saturation of the genre in my next post. While the essence of the superhero film can be traced back to the original 1920 release of The Mask of Zorro, superheroes, as we know them, were never seen as a particularly lucrative or enticing property to adapt to screen until 1978 with the release Richard Donner’s Superman starring Christopher Reeve as the man from Krypton.
By SARAH CHANDLER
In one of my hourly wait-what-day-is-it attacks, I was struck by the fact that I only know what day it is because I’m constantly figuring out what day it is. Which I know sounds a little bit redundant. But what I mean is that we — college students mostly, but people in general — know what day it is in large part because of what we’re doing, according to our routine, on that day. On Mondays I have a lab. On Tuesdays I have a committee meeting.
By ASHLEY RADPARVAR
Having a stress free day is not the easiest of tasks to accomplish. Whether you are studying for prelims, finishing work or running from building to building, everyday can be a stressful one. Getting up for classes, having a set schedule and maintaining focus is hard if you don’t have a daily routine. Below are eight tips to making your day less stressful and a bit brighter:
Wake up at least an hour before your first class. Sure this may be difficult, but it can make a big difference in maintaining a stress free morning.
By HEATHER HERMAN
How do you determine whose life is worth more? This past week, the globe erupted in outrage over the terrorism in France. On Friday, November 13th, Paris trembled in the wake of gunshots. Facebook offered an easy, one-click option to change profile pictures in support, and social media posts rippled within seconds of each unfolding piece of news: a new location cited with violence, the re-estimated number of casualties and the release of personal stories from survivors who witnessed the attacks. However, over the course of a few hours, the posts on my social media newsfeed evolved from shock and anguish to outrage over the neglected victims to violence in other countries: Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Iran… the list is extensive.
By EVAN KRAVITZ
A couple weeks ago, the Facebook group “Cornell University Confessions” posted a confession that criticized Cornell’s decision to partner with the Technion — Israel Institute of Technology, and called for the divestment from Israel. Upon seeing this, I was disgusted to say the least. I wasn’t angry at the post itself; a lot of people post thoughtless things on the page, and others are usually quick to put them down. I was appalled by the fact that this “confession” garnered over 40 likes, which is unusually high for the page, and that people defended the post. On college campuses, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) is the main organization that promotes boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) initiatives towards Israel.
By GUNJAN HOOJA
Not all Muslims are terrorists. Why does this even have to be said? On Friday November, 13th, my heart broke once again. Staring at the television screen and seeing yet another terrorist attack play out with the death toll rising in front of my eyes, I felt sick to my stomach. The most devastating thing is that this was not the first time and it’s unlikely to be the last.
By ANDREW SHI
On this small stub of a hill in the middle of nowhere, the life of the mind teems with activity. Pause and consider that at this moment, 14,000 of ours peers are navigating a hive of courses, clubs, research, jobs and opportunities that are as fascinating as they are diverse. For the freshmen who’ve just survived killed their first round of prelims, Cornell is still a very new place, a domain that is perhaps still yet to be explored and settled into. A lot of the first year experience is about coming to terms with the newfound freedom of… well, everything. And the biggest freedom — or arguably the most constraining fear — may be figuring out what to study and what to do in all of these four years.