Men's Tennis Splits Two

By wpengine | April 14, 2003

The men’s tennis team took one of two matches this weekend on the road, edging out Dartmouth, 4-3, on Friday, before falling to No. 41 Harvard, 5-2, on Saturday. The loss to Harvard dropped the Red to 2-2 in the Ivy League and 15-6 overall.

Against the Green (10-9, 0-2 Ivy), the Red took three singles matches in a row, and won the doubles point with victories at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots. The junior duo of Aravinda Neumann and Scott Paltrowitz took the third doubles spot by a score of 8-4, while classmates Julian Cheng and Michael Schlappig took the No. 2 spot, 8-5.

Freshman Brett McKeon and Schlappig took their singles matches in straight sets at the No. 3 and No. 5 spots, while the most consistent singles player for the Red, junior Scott Spencer, won a hard fought match at the No. 4 spot.

“We’ve been winning the key points when we’ve needed them,” said Spencer. “We are all stepping up and playing hard.”

Spencer and Paltrowitz accounted for all the Red’s scoring against the Crimson (13-8, 3-0). Spencer won his singles match in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3 at the No. 5 spot, while Paltrowitz battled for a three-set victory at the No. 2 spot.

Women’s Team

Meanwhile, the women’s tennis team got swept at home this weekend by Harvard and Dartmouth to fall to 2-10 overall and 0-4 in Ivy League play.

The Crimson (15-3, 3-0) dominated the Red 7-0, winning every set in singles play en route to the sweep. Harvard also won the doubles point, sweeping all three spots.

The Red had slightly more success against Dartmouth (6-8, 0-1), thanks to the duo of senior Akane Kokubo and sophomore Nicole Chiu, who each won their singles matches in straight sets, at the No. 1 and No. 4 spots, respectively, and teamed up to win their doubles match at the No. 1 spot.

The Red took the doubles point with a victory at the No. 3 spot by sophomores Erika Takeuchi and Melissa Tu, by a score of 8-5. The Red almost stole the match, but Tu was outlasted at the No. 6 singles spot in three sets, after winning the first. The women make their first Ivy road trip next weekend when they travel to New Haven and Providence to face Yale and Brown.

Archived article by Chris Mascaro

Princeton Biggest Obstacle For Men's Lacrosse Team

By wpengine April 15, 2003

Five days ago, the men’s hockey team’s season ended. You’re still sad about it. You believe the Red was robbed when Shane Palahicky’s goal in the first period was ruled a high sticking. You think that David LeNeveu gave up a couple of goals that you’re sure you’ve seen him make saves on before. Even though you’ve had a few days to digest the reality, you still can’t get over that most inauspicious ending to Cornell’s winningest season ever. Well, it’s time. Today is a new day. The temperature might reach 80 by this afternoon. There are only 17 days until Slope Day. And this Saturday, another Cornell team will take what it hopes will be another step in its own road to the national title. To give you an idea of just how important Saturday’s men’s lacrosse game against Princeton is, consider this: Princeton has never won an outright Ivy League championship without beating Cornell. And Cornell has never won an outright Ivy League championship without beating Princeton. Never. Think about that. Combined, Princeton and Cornell have accounted for at least a share of 37 Ancient Eight titles out of 47. For both teams, the road to the championship has always run through the other. No other school has come close to attaining the consistent success of these two powerhouses. And the Tigers and the Red have enjoyed tremendous success once again this year. Cornell is 7-3 this season. The Red has won six out of its last seven, including all four League contests. In this past weekend’s 13-5 rout over Dartmouth, junior attack Andrew Collins scored seven points, and was named Ivy League Player of the Week for his performance. He is the third Cornellian to be so honored this season, and the second in a row, after senior J.P. Schalk took the honor last week. Princeton is also a perfect 4-0 in Ivy League play in 2003. And after dropping the first two games of the season, the Tigers have rolled, winning their last seven in a row, despite playing without injured All-America attack Ryan Boyle for two games during that stretch. Cornell has not beaten Princeton since 1995. Not coincidentally, 1995 was the last time that a team other than Princeton was the Ivy champ. (Princeton and Brown were co-champions that year.) The Tigers currently hold a seven-game winning streak over the Red. The Tigers have been the sole Ivy champion each of the last seven years. Last season, Princeton’s remarkable 40-game conference winning streak ended with a loss to Yale. Cornell beat Yale last year, and again this earlier this. This season, the Red has finally begun to peak as the end of the regular season nears. The laxers have not lost a home game this season, and will attempt to again defend Schoellkopf Field this weekend. And since Cornell has not beaten Princeton at home in its last three attempts, this year’s game will carry even greater significance. The Red has gone to the NCAA tournament in each of the last two seasons. However, it has not had the Ivy League’s automatic bid in 16 years. This year’s team is primed to break that streak. But if that’s to happen, Saturday’s game is a must win. And a must see. Because, really, what better way is there to fill the void created by the end of one championship-caliber team’s season than with the excitement of another championship-caliber team?Archived article by Owen Bochner
On Patrol With … CUPD

By wpengine April 15, 2003

“There is more to the college experience than just books,” Officer Steve Shirley of the Cornell University Police Department (CUPD) explained to me after dealing with a shoplifter at the Cornell Store last week. This past Tuesday, I rode along with Shirley and Officer Scott Grantz ’99 while they patrolled in their SUV police cruiser. Shirley is a seven-year veteran of the force, and Grantz joined in August. I met them and the rest of C-line — the 3-11 p.m. shift — in the meeting room where we listened to Officer in Charge Sergeant Randy O’Connor give the daily briefing. Prior to the briefing, there was a discussion of a prank pulled the night before by five Ithaca residents. They had faked a suicide call from a Blue Light Phone on one of the North Campus bridges. The discussion then shifted tone to excited talk about the men’s hockey team’s chances at the then-upcoming Frozen Four: The CUPD is an active supporter of Cornell hockey. O’Connor spoke under a sign that read, “Cornell Police will set the standard against which all campus law enforcement agencies measure their SUCCESS.” He started with the weather report and then ran through various announcements, including a warning from a Massachusetts police department about a wanted con man who bought a $50,000 BMW with a false check and is suspected of being in the Cayuga Heights/Cornell area. After the briefing, Shirley and Grantz got a call that a shoplifter had been caught at the Cornell Store. Normally, officers work alone, but Grantz is still undergoing field training and needs to ride with Shirley until he completes his 18 weeks of field training. He has already attended five months of police academy in Corning, N.Y. The first question they asked the shoplifter was whether or not he was a student. On the trip to the store, Shirley explained that “a student is afforded a lot more leeway.” The shoplifter revealed his name, year and address; he was a junior residing in Collegetown. At first, the student was confrontational and defiant, but after Shirley matched the student’s tone by raising his voice, the student backed down and admitted to stealing a few pens and a jewelry case, together worth $10-15. According to a Cornell Store loss prevention employee, that figure is the average amount stolen during robberies at the store. Shirley explained to him that because the suspect was a student, he would not be charged with larceny. “People who are not students go to jail,” Shirley said. Instead, he said, the student received a ticket to attend a Judicial Administrator hearing. After being advised that he “learn from [his] mistakes,” the student became more relaxed and offered some praise for the CUPD. “These officers do their jobs efficiently and respectfully,” he said. Shirley did not leave the store before talking to small handful of employees, all of whom he knew on a first-name basis. He struck up conversations with all of them, asking how their latest bowling game was or how their spouses were doing. Throughout the day, I was struck by how well these officers knew the community and were a part of it. After the robbery incident, Shirley and Grantz laughed a little and Shirley said with a shrug, “You see everything here at the University — all kinds of personalities. Some are hostile, some are accepting.” The CUPD is an anomaly in comparison to campus security at other colleges because it consists of deputized sheriffs. They carry real weapons: Glock Model 23 40-millimeter pistols. Back at the station in Barton Hall, they have a weapons locker full of shotguns and riot gear. They have a bomb-sniffing dog named Saber. They are officers of the law in the same manner as the Ithaca Police Department (IPD) or Cayuga Heights Police Department, which can cause occasional turf wars. Because they are deputized sheriffs, CUPD officers can roam just about anywhere in Tompkins County. To complicate matters, parts of the University’s campus fall into the City of Ithaca and thus are part of IPD’s jurisdiction. CUPD officers rarely venture off the University campus, though, so the two departments respect each other’s unofficial boundaries. But on some occasions, the CUPD has gone to Ives Bowling Center or Collegetown in order to break up fights; usually they go because they can respond faster than the IPD. Many of the officers I spoke with explained that being a CUPD officer meant that they saw many different things, including theft, disturbed people, numerous fights on weekends and even some indecent exposure. “We see a lot of indecent exposure in the libraries, and when it gets warmer, it spills over outside to Beebe Lake,” said Officer Jim Morrissett. Later in the evening, we went to the J. Carlton Ward, Jr. Laboratory of Nuclear Engineering for a “property check.” One of CUPD’s responsibilities is to provide security for “sensitive areas,” which include the University’s nuclear reactor. “We check [the reactor] more than anything else. I can’t say exactly how often without compromising security, but it’s a lot,” Shirley said. Many CUPD officers responded positively when I asked them how they liked working for Cornell because although they are sheriffs, they are under the umbrella of the University. Grantz explained that he chose CUPD over larger and bigger organizations because he wanted to feel like “a part of the community.” Shirley responded similarly. “I never wanted to work anywhere else. I enjoy the atmosphere, the kids, the employees. … The administration has been great to us,” he said. He said this even after begrudgingly mentioning that the biggest downside of working for the force is that they are not entitled to a standard police retirement. Instead they receive a typical University retirement, identical to ones given to janitorial staff. After three and a half hours in the cruiser and an hour at the station, I left satisfied, with more respect for the officers at Cornell and the job they do daily. Archived article by Michael Margolis