Recent Contributions from David Wittenberg

Live Blogging the Debate

David Wittenberg — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:05:27 -0400

Sun Associate Editor David Wittenberg live blogged the first presidential debate and the preceding coverage. The debate took place on Sept. 26 at the University of Mississippi. Click here to jump to comments.

McCain Campaign Suggests They're Ceding the Minority, Youth Vote

David Wittenberg — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Call it “cut and run.”

The Sen. John McCain campaign is giving up on the youth vote.

And the minority vote.

And good riddance.

In a story Thursday — “In a More Diverse America, a Mostly White Convention” — The Washington Post reported McCain campaign manager Rick Davis’ description of a strategy that “essentially cedes the black vote.”

Significantly, Davis suggested McCain would cede the youth vote, too.

“We can run our campaign the way we want to run it and not be in direct conflict with a lot of voter groups [Obama] is trying to get,” he told the Post, singling out “the minority community or the youth,” as constituencies that are apparently excluded from the phrase “president of all the people.”

Meet Peter Kwon '11, Lone Protester

David Wittenberg — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Meet Peter Kwon ’11. Yesterday he got so mad about the death of Schedulizer that he ran into the Cornell Store, bought some poster board and a marker, and began a one-man crusade on Ho Plaza. “Bring Schedulizer back!” he shouted. “PeopleSoft may not need Schedulizer but the students do!” he cried. Again, and again, and again. Kwon drew stares, chuckles, and a steady stream of support. “Screw PeopleSoft! PeopleSoft is garbage!” one kid called out.

Kwon said he was undaunted by the fact that he was standing alone, and unafraid of University retaliation.

“What are they going to do, expel me?” Kwon said.

Youth Vote '08: McCain's Tone Deaf But Trying Hard

David Wittenberg — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0400

He’s effeminate! He’s dreamy! And he’s only about 15! Is somebody finally going to call the McCain campaign and tell those people that Barack Obama isn’t the fourth member of the Jonas Brothers?

I tried my best, but they wouldn’t listen to me. Something about being young and inexperienced.

“We believe that Barack Obama is a global celebrity who has a lot of fans out there,” McCain campaign spokesperson Joe Pounder told me.

And maybe he’s right. This is clearly a quality no leader of the free world should ever aspire to. Real Americans want people to hate us! We were going to nominate Oscar the Grouch, but his publicist said he was unavailable. And besides, he has too many young fans.

Keep Your Eyes Peeled

David Wittenberg — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400

I’m not going to tell you about how to get along with your roommate or pick classes or decide which set of plastic drawers to get at Wal Mart. I’m not going to tell you anything any other college freshman in the country would understand.

Over the past three years, as a reporter, writer and editor for The Sun, I’ve gotten to know Ithaca and Cornell in a way few do. Amid the bustle and chaos of university life, it was my job and privilege, every so often, to step back and observe.

Francis Fukuyama on the War in Iraq

David Wittenberg — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 02:08:47 -0400

[video]

Cornell Sun Opinion and Associate Editor David Wittenberg take a look at the Iraq War with political economist Francis Fukuyama

Frosh Architects Parade for Annual Dragon Day Celebration

David Wittenberg — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Today from 1 - 3 p.m., the first-year architecture students will unleash a dragon.

Frankenstein had his monster, Henry Higgins his Pygmalion. And in the darkest depths of their Rand Hall lair, the first year architects this week created a vicious, bloodthirsty beast that knows no mercy.

But today — today that beast will meet his fiery end.

With a terrible strength far beyond the ken of mortal man, the dragon will burst out of Rand Hall at 1 p.m., travel east on University Ave., before continuing on to East Ave., Campus Road and the South Central walkway through Ho Plaza before entering the Arts Quad between Uris and Olin libraries.

Taj Mahal in Ithaca: A Musical Reflection

David Wittenberg — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

I won’t beat around bush — the crowd at the State Theater last Thursday was old. It was about even-split between a graying, be-ponytailed group clad mostly in fleece jackets with Barack Obama buttons and a group of rowdy, mustachioed, big-bellied contractors wearing their work jackets over old Buddy Guy t-shirts.

The unfortunate state of rock and roll music is a lot like Taj Mahal himself: a 250 pound, 67-year-old man shaking his hips on stage. It still sounds great, but you have to wonder why this guy — long past the apogee of his popularity — is still sticking around.

Let’s End Elections: The Case for the Powerball Presidency

David Wittenberg — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Let’s end elections. For good. The presidential primary season has begun with, well, torpor. The campaigning is excruciatingly early, the positions reliably hackneyed, and the lobbyists’ money flows like cheap beer at a fraternity party. The system is stagnant, and ordinary Americans, especially younger ones, are disenchanted. So like Jonathan Swift, I have a modest proposal.

Imagine an American family seated together around the television on the first Tuesday of November watching — wait for it! — the selection — of the President of the United States of America. That’s no typo. What if we picked the President by lottery? Surely no one would object to exchanging a new dystopia for our current one.

Cornellia Obscura: An Institutional Aversion to Daylight Leaves Old Uncle Ezra in Desperate Need of a Sunshine Rule

David Wittenberg — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Academia is a culture of openness, a culture of scrutiny. It’s a culture of tough questions and uncomfortable answers.

Yet on issue after issue, Cornell’s policy amounts to a betrayal of the values that make it great, a betrayal of its folk status as the “People’s Ivy,” and a betrayal of the admissions office’s pet claim that Cornell is “Elite,” but “Not Elitist.”

The issue lies with the kudzu vine of institutional exclusiveness that is choking open discussion and debate throughout the Cornellian system.

The End of the Student Assembly

David Wittenberg — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0400

One of my first assignments on The Sun was covering the Student Assembly. I could say it was like covering the Jerry Springer beat, but I won’t. It wouldn’t be fair to Jerry’s rotating cast of teenage vampires, dysfunctional families and paternity-test foursomes.

The kids on the S.A. are hardworking and mean well, but the fact is that most Cornellians just don’t pay attention. When they do, they see the S.A. as a cage match’s worth of backbiting, infighting, self-aggrandizing Tracy Flicks.

Which is why the S.A. needs to change. I’m not saying we need to raise the tenor of the debate. I’m saying we need to bring the blood sport to the masses. Let’s give a vote on the Student Assembly to anyone who shows up with a student I.D.

Gimme Shelter

David Wittenberg — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400

“That’s what’s so great about this new kind of activism: it’s convenient. Just like masturbation. It’s better than sex, because it’s on your own time.”

— Stephen Colbert

Picture the American political beast. I am thinking of a huge obese lizard with all kinds of spines and slime coming out of him. Like Jabba the Hutt with horns and teeth. Ooh! Ooh! Remember “Pizza the Hut” from Spaceballs? Just wondering. My point is, this guy — or gal! — doesn’t like to move. For the average American politician, the costs of violating the status quo are prohibitively high. Often, it takes a Taser to the belly to, ahem, encourage action.

The Career Fair Is Decadent and Depraved (Not That There's Anything Wrong With That)

David Wittenberg — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400

“This is where the money is,” the Bloomberg rep told me. And sure enough, Tuesday’s career fair was a place for people who aren’t satisfied with the prospect of banking, say $5 million a year, and really, really (really!) need to make at least 10. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. The Career Fair, I believe the headline says, is Decadent and Depraved. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, either.

Free enterprise and those who practice it — from Ghanaians selling Foakleys in Battery Park to lobstermen sailing out of Gloucester harbor to the most cutthroat of hedge and private equity fund managers — are part, if not all, of what makes America, well, America.

Doctor of Journalism

David Wittenberg — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 01:00:00 -0400

Cornell, according to the delicate geniuses over at Newsweek, is so hot right now. I can’t understand why; not when the University’s unsurpassed ability to choose staggeringly mediocre graduation speakers is a perennial embarrassment.

Of course, in the Annals of Completely Moronic Ideas (a leather-bound volume available in Olin and Uris libraries and by electronic reserve), Cornell’s entries are some of the most putrid stinkers of the lot. Like the Public Relations department’s decision to print up some totally spiffy “Hottest Ivy” celluloid buttons.

It’s this kind of narrow attitude and utter lack of foresight that leads to mistakes: mistakes like 12 shots of SoCo, the Iraq War and a convocation keynote by Soledad O’Brien.

Bong Hitz 4 Jesus

David Wittenberg — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 01:00:00 -0400

It’s the first day of classes, so David Wittenberg thinks he can still get away with a column about stuff that happened over the summer.

Bong Hitz 4 Jesus. There. I just said it. How do you like me now, Supreme Court?

If Justice Stevens had wanted to do his dissent properly, he would have told Sarah Silverman’s version of The Aristocrats from the bench. On the same day that the Supreme Court protected Corporate America’s right to muck up our elections, it delivered a sucker punch — the kind with a roll of pennies squeezed in its balled-up fist — to high school students’ sacred right to say stupid stuff. I mean what I said there. High school kids ought to have a right to say stupid stuff.

Cornell, Je t'aime

David Wittenberg — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Joy in Mudville?

David Wittenberg — Thu, 03 May 2007 01:00:00 -0400

Deckhead:

The Scoop

Body:

I still have a cardboard cutout of Mo Vaughn in my room at home in Newton, Mass. There’s a Pedro Martinez rookie card in a prominent space on my bookshelf and a Nomar Garciappara t-shirt somewhere at the back of my closet. As a lifelong baseball fan, I know this is a special time of the year.

Mr. Arcuri Goes to Washington

David Wittenberg — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Deckhead:

The Scoop

Body:

The first time I met Rep. Michael Arcuri (D-NY), his 70-year-old mother Betty wanted to make sure I got the full set of Mike Arcuri for Congress baseball cards.

A couple of weeks ago, the newly-elected Democratic congressman called me on the cusp of the House’s vote to set a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.

This Week in History

David Wittenberg — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 01:51:10 -0500

Article body:

Ujamaa Formed

On Feb. 24, 1972, The Cornell Chronicle reported that students began planning for Ujamaa residential college. Ujamaa, the article stated, is a Swahili term “that embodies the concepts of self-reliance, hard work and cooperative economics.”

Ithaca Mayor Declares Snow Emergency

David Wittenberg — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 00:39:44 -0500

Article body:

As a midwestern storm system barreled down to dump an anticipated two feet of snow on Central New York yesterday afternoon, Ithaca’s mayor declared a snow emergency, TCAT vowed its busses would run throughout the storm and Cornell officials and grounds crews prepared for massive cleanup operations.

City News

David Wittenberg — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 02:11:18 -0500

Article body:

Illness Shuts Down Lansing Schools

Schools in nearby Lansing were closed Friday in attempt to beat a wave of illness tearing through the schools. Thursday, 180 of the 400 students at Lansing Middle School were absent and school officials sent home eight more. Most students and staff have suffered from flu-like symptoms and strep throat. The superintendent canceled after-school activities through today for kindergarten through eighth grade students. Even though school was closed, staff came in Friday to wipe the desks down with disinfectant.

Hate Crime Leaves Questions

David Wittenberg — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 01:25:26 -0500

This article is the first in a series examining issues of race and diversity at Cornell. The goal is to investigate where we are now and where we are going, to seek out the role race plays at Cornell, as it is lived every day by members of the Cornell community.

Charles Holiday — son, student, stabbing victim — was addressing the court. Halting, quiet, strained at first, his voice grew stronger as he continued.

“Vengeance,” Holiday said, “I leave that up to my god.”

“I’m not here to give any solution to problems of racism,” he said. But he did want to make one thing clear. “The hands that helped me that night were white,” he said. “Race is a very, very silly thing to base one’s actions upon.”

Poffenbarger ’08 to Be Sentenced

David Wittenberg — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 00:55:37 -0500

Article body:

The student who pled guilty to felony hate crime charges after stabbing a visiting Union College student will be sentenced Monday. Nathan Poffenbarger ’08, who is white, admitted to stabbing then-senior Charles Holiday, who is black, after shouting racial epithets.

Lehman Proposes A ‘Welfare Planet’

David Wittenberg — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 03:19:01 -0500

Article body:

In his first appearance at Cornell since President David J. Skorton's September inauguration, former President Jeffrey S. Lehman '77 lectured on welfare and globalization yesterday as part of the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs' colloquium series. Lehman, who will present another lecture today, was the University's 11th president, serving from July 2003 to July 2005.

Local Party Faithful Wait, Watch for Election Day Results

David Wittenberg — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 02:33:06 -0500

Deckhead:

Democrats celebrate a victory in House

Article body:

At about 11 p.m. last night, the Cornell Democrats — about 60 of them assembled in Chloe McDougal’s ’09 living room — grew hushed. Republican Ray Meier, Oneida County District Attorney Michael Arcuri’s opponent in the race for the 24th N.Y. Congressional district, was conceding the election.

Dems Aid Arcuri’s Bid for Congress

David Wittenberg — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 01:57:45 -0500

Article body:

Irene Stein, the little old lady in a purple sweater jumpsuit and black walking shoes, is the chair of the Tompkins County Democratic Committee.

It’s people like her who really run this country. They organize the retail politics that can make or break a candidacy. What begins in living rooms and union halls, bit-by-bit, event-by-event, middle school gym by Elks Lodge, changes the direction of the most powerful nation in the world. That’s why Michael Arcuri is here tonight, in the sagging Victorian building that serves as the community center in Lansing, N.Y., just northwest of campus.

With Upcoming Retirements, Cornell Needs New Faculty

David Wittenberg — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 02:42:02 -0400

Article body:

Cornell is on the cusp of a massive wave of faculty retirements, and administrators are scrambling to make up the difference.

A hiring surge 30 years ago means that a group of faculty who came to Cornell around the same time is on its way out.

Student Groups Push For Bars to Close Later

David Wittenberg — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 01:49:38 -0400

Deckhead:

Some leaders, residents oppose a change

Article body:

If activists have their way, bars will stay open an extra hour – but first they’ll have to get through the opposition of local leaders and the indifference of some members of the county legislature.

Hevesi Defends Service Record

David Wittenberg — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 00:56:20 -0400

Article body:

New York State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi, embroiled in accusations that he used a state employee to chauffeur his wife for more than three years, spoke publicly at Cornell University yesterday, lecturing to an entrepreneurship class about the corporate scandals of the ’90s. Hevesi, a Queens Democrat, has apologized and paid the state more than $83,000.

Eliot Spitzer

David Wittenberg — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 03:16:51 -0400

Article body:

Big Dig: Spitzer said that Faso’s tax cut plan was an example of Bushian “voodoo economics.”

Pro-choice: Spitzer, who takes time to note that abortions should be a “last resort,” said he believes that the decision ought to be a woman’s alone.

John Faso

David Wittenberg — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 03:15:32 -0400

Article body:

Big Dig: Faso criticized Spitzer for having endorsed the re-election of State Comptroller Alan Hevesi, who had to return $82,000 to the State to cover the cost of illegally chauffeuring his wife.

News Analysis: Spitzer Debates Faso Tonight

David Wittenberg — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 01:59:27 -0400

Deckhead:

Dem, GOP governor candidates face off in Bailey

Article body:

In Bailey Hall tonight, Attorney General Eliot L. Spitzer and former Assemblyman John J. Faso will each try to convince the packed house and the TV audience that he deserves to be the next governor of New York State.

C.U. Cricketers Crack Their Bats on Campus

David Wittenberg — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 00:23:45 -0400

Article body:

“Around! Around!”

The bowler shouted as he ran toward his wicket, and then, in something between a leap and what in baseball is called a crow hop, whirled his right arm exactly 180 degrees over his head and sent the ball hurtling to the pitch where it skittered and then bounced up towards the heavily armored batsman’s mask.

Workers Talk Union at Labor Day Picnic

David Wittenberg — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 10:39:50 -0400

Article body:

Classes may have been in session up on the Hill yesterday, but by the shores of Cayuga Lake, Labor Day was observed and celebrated. Children played on a fire truck; picnickers ate barbecue, watermelon and Cornell Dairy ice cream; and a folk band sang labor songs about the Haymarket riot, the historic demonstration for an eight-hour workday that turned violent in Chicago in 1886.

Skorton Checks In

David Wittenberg — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 23:33:34 -0400

Deckhead:

C.U. president and wife move into Mary Donlon Hall for one week

Article body:

A half an hour before President David J. Skorton was scheduled to move into Mary Donlon Hall yesterday, one of the other residents, Daniel Ochs ’10, was waiting for his new dorm mates just down the hall.

Skorton Announces Sudan Policy

David Wittenberg — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 18:00:00 -0400

Deckhead:

Cornell to selectively divest from companies that support gov't

Article body:

Cornell will divest from Sudan in response to the genocide in Darfur, President David Skorton announced on Monday. The University will bar investments of its endowment assets in oil companies currently operating in Sudan and in obligations of the Sudanese government, according to a press release issued by the administration. The government of Sudan has long been under fire from the international community for rapes and murders being perpetrated on tribespeople by so-called janjaweed militia in the western Sudanese region of Darfur. Skorton and local and national activists are enthusiastic about Cornell’s decision to divest from the country.

Skorton Takes On C.U. Presidency

David Wittenberg — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 23:02:41 -0400

Article body:

As Cornell freshmen adjust to dorm life, they join President David J. Skorton, who is living in Mary Donlon Hall for one week with his wife Robin L. Davisson. It is all part of the president’s plan to get to know the student body.

David Skorton Takes Post As Cornell’s New President

David Wittenberg — Sun, 16 Jul 2006 16:36:53 -0400

Deckhead:

Cardiologist leaves Iowa for Ithaca to join Big Red

Article body:

A little more than one week after the class of 2010 moves into North Campus dorms this August, Cornell’s third president in as many year will also move in — to Mary Donlon Hall. Incoming President David J. Skorton and his wife Robin L. Davisson will live in Donlon’s writer-in-residence suite for one week. It is all part of the president's plan to get to know the student body.

Cornel West Tackles Race, Injustice

David Wittenberg — Sun, 02 Apr 2006 20:00:00 -0400

Deckhead:

More than 600 people turned out on a Saturday night to listen to a man preach.

Article body:

More than 600 people turned out on a Saturday night to listen to a man preach. Prof. Cornel West, religion and African-American studies, Princeton, spoke from the pulpit of Sage Chapel, promoting social engagement and non-complacence with his singular dexterous fusion of academic theory, political activism and pop cultural commentary.

The Sun Gets Intimate With Sexpert Dr. Ruth

David Wittenberg — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 19:00:00 -0500

Escaping from Nazi Germany to Switzerland at 10 years old, Dr. Ruth Westheimer made her way through Israel and France before coming to the United States, where she would become famous as a radio "sexpert" and advocate for sexual literacy.

Before sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer's talk in Statler Auditorium yesterday evening, the diminutive sex sage, ex-sniper and Jewish grandmother sat down with The Sun for an interview as she signed copies of her books in the Statler Hotel lounge.

THE SUN: As if it's hard enough for many people to believe that a Jewish grandmother is a sex therapist, you were also a sniper in the Israeli War of Independence.

DR RUTH: I was. I'm not now.

THE SUN: Of course.

DR RUTH: But I've never killed anybody. I for some strange reason can put five bullets into the red circle, and I know - knew - how to throw hand grenades, and it was like the underground of what is now the Israel Defense Forces.

THE SUN: The Haganah.

DR RUTH: The Haganah. And it wasn't an act of heroism. All of us were in some group or another to defend the country in 1948.

THE SUN: And you were injured.

DR RUTH: And I was injured by a