By wpengine
Even though the alumna had needed to be strong in making several decisions as the first female attorney general, Janet Reno ’60, a Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of ’56 Professor, admitted she does have vulnerabilities. “I love yogurt ice cream,” Reno confessed in an interview with The Sun on Friday morning. Throughout her two years as a Rhodes professor, Reno, even with minor weakness, has made a lasting effect on students that she has come across. Reno in the past has participated in a series of lectures and events around campus, including smaller sessions with Balch Hall residents, a dormitory she lived in during her undergraduate days. The former attorney general also gave the 2001 convocation speech to graduating seniors. A person who was particularly impressed with Reno was Doug McLean ’06, a student who heard her speak in his GOVT 111: Introduction to American Government and Politics class. Although he admits that he did not know much about the former attorney general beforehand, he was impressed with the way she spoke about the difficult decisions she faced throughout her career. “I thought she spoke very well — in a very calm, quiet manner which I didn’t expect,” McLean said. “It was really interesting hearing how [her decisions] affected her as a person.” During her final Rhodes professor visit to East Hill which ended on Saturday, Reno has maintained a consistent regimen of guest lectures and activities. Last Sunday, she gave a Sage Chapel lecture entitled “Justice” — she has also spoken to students in classes from a variety of different majors and departments. Labeling her last stay as “a great ten days,” Reno said that her main goal throughout her tenure was “to try and address what professors thought would be helpful in their classes.” “What I liked best were the questions from students,” Reno said. “It was invigorating and challenging and inspiring in many notions. I found it all meaningful.” One event that Reno found particularly stimulating was the “Rethinking the Criminalization of Youth” symposium held on Nov. 6 and 7. During this event, leaders in different areas ranging from psychology to law came and spoke about issues ranging from the juvenile death penalty to the Lee Boyd Malvo case. Reno said that events like this help “bring academia together.” On the other hand, although she emphasized that Cornell is sitting on top of “a gold mine of knowledge,” she said that the University needs to make its research known to places around the country. “I continue to find new work here at Cornell that can be helpful to communities across America,” Reno said. As a chemistry major during her undergraduate days, Reno said that if she had the opportunity to come back as a student, she would take as much out of the experience as possible. One goal Reno wished she could have accomplished during her days as a student was earning a degree in public health, citing the importance of addressing communities and “preventing problems before they occur.” Although Reno was last here just a short time ago in February, the University has undergone several changes since her last visit including the installation of President Jeffrey S. Lehman ’77 in June — a man Reno is “tremendously impressed” with. A second significant change was the announcement of the newest Rhodes professors, most notably the appointment of former congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) who starts her tenure this week. Although McKinney’s selection has caused much controversy, Reno said she has a positive impression of her. “We worked together on civil rights issues,” Reno said. “She was a pleasure to work with.” Reno also touched upon the current situation in Iraq. She said that it is “important for the U.N. to be involved” and that countries should all work together to ensure a peaceful transition. In talking about her own experiences as the attorney general, Reno said that there are some situations which she could have handled better, including the events surrounding the 1993 Branch Davidian standoff in Waco, Texas. On the other hand, she said that we also need to remember experiences such as this one in considering future decisions. “We’ve got to take situations like Waco to learn the best we can,” Reno said. She added that she has not felt “intimidated or frightened” when making decisions, and usually asks herself “what is the right thing to do.” In doing this, Reno said it makes you “much more comfortable with yourself.” Although Reno said that she has no plans to seek political office in the near future, she is concerned about a number of issues including voting procedure, youth development, public education and the elderly. She also said that she will be “active in pursuing good candidates.” With her free time, the Miami native, who enjoys scuba diving and sailing, wants to continue to “speak and teach and write and perfect my [kayaking] Eskimo roll.” Reno said that she loves the sky, greenery and water of the place she was born and raised, yet she still keeps a special affection for the University in her heart. “I will always look forward to coming back to Cornell,” Reno said. Archived article by Brian Tsao
By wpengine
POTSDAM, N.Y. — Prior to the opening faceoff of Friday’s Cornell-Clarkson showdown at Cheel Arena, the blaring foghorn in the students’ section sounded to the excitement of the home crowd. Apparently, it wasn’t loud enough to wake the No. 11 Red (2-1-2, 2-0-1 ECAC), as the icers struggled for the first 30 minutes before salvaging a 2-2 tie against the Golden Knights (4-2-3, 1-1-1). After nearly half a period of sloppy play from both sides, it was Clarkson’s Tristan Lush who dealt the first blow, scoring at 9:53 of the first to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead. On the strength of a strong forecheck that bothered the Red all evening, the Golden Knights’ Jean Desrochers and Max Kolu worked the puck to Lush. Lusch then skated to just above the left faceoff circle, wheeled, and fired a wrister through the pads of freshman goalie David McKee for an early 1-0 lead. Despite animated instructions from Cornell head coach Mike Schafer ’86 during television timeouts, the Red remained lethargic throughout the period, allowing Clarkson to carry the action. The Golden Knights outshot Cornell, 8-7, during the period, but of those eight shots, most were from point-blank range, while the majority of the Red’s seven were taken from the perimeter. “We just didn’t come 100 percent ready to play tonight,” senior forward Greg Hornby said. “We didn’t get after them right away like we usually like to do.” “We weren’t mentally prepared for the game. We weren’t into it from the start and we can’t have that opening again,” sophomore forward Cam Abbott reiterated. “It’s getting yourself into a hole, and it’s just not what we’re about.” In hopes of infusing some life into his team, Schafer turned to his line of Hornby and the Abbott twins — Cam and Chris. They didn’t disappoint, as Cam Abbott notched the equalizer at 8:44 of the second period. After losing the puck to Clarkson freshman defender Michael Grenzy along the boards, Hornby re-stole the puck between the circles before floating a pass to junior defenseman Charlie Cook at the right point. Cook then sent a wrister towards the goal, which was redirected into the back of the net by Cam Abbott. “It was just Greg Hornby really working hard down low, fed Charlie Cook, and I just stood in front for a screen, and got my stick on it,” Abbott described. The Red rode the momentum, generating a couple of good scoring opportunities over the next several minutes. Once again, however, it was the Knights who came up golden, recapturing the lead, 2-1, on John Sullivan’s goal at 11:33 of the second period. As was the case on Clarkson’s first goal of the evening, Cornell’s failure to clear its defensive end led to the tally. After cycling the zone, Clarkson’s Lyon Porter slid a shot towards the Cornell net that ricocheted off a defenseman’s skate. While McKee was able to get a pad on the initial shot, he failed to cover the rebound, allowing Sullivan to skate in and ram it home. Trailing 2-1, Schafer began to shuffle his lines, mixing and matching his forwards in an attempt to spark his offense, which had scored 13 goals the weekend prior against Yale and Princeton. “It was a necessity to find nine or 10 guys that wanted to actually work hard consistently,” Schafer said. “That’s what happens on a given night. When you don’t have four lines that are willing to go and someone’s luggage is on the line, you’ve got to shuffle things up in order for people to produce.” However, it was Schafer’s reliable energy line of Hornby and the Abbotts which delivered once again, this time at 8:04 of the third period. Once again, the Red victimized Clarkson defender Grenzy, who turned the puck over to Chris Abbott at his own blue line. Chris quickly fed the puck to brother Cam, who one-timed a knuckler towards Clarkson goalie Dustin Traylen. Traylen stopped the initial shot, but could not control the rebound, allowing Hornby to swoop in and bury the puck in the open net. “Cam threw the puck to the net, a big rebound came out, and I was lucky to put it into the open net,” Hornby said. Cornell had several chances during the remainder of regulation and in the overtime session. However, Traylen came up big each time, robbing sophomore Matt Moulson and senior captain Ryan Vesce of potential gamewinners on several occasions. The story of the game, though, wasn’t the goaltending battle, which saw McKee make 26 saves, and Traylen with 28 stops. It wasn’t even Clarkson’s physical defense, which held a Cornell team which had averaged five goals per game to just two. The decisive factor in Friday’s 2-2 outcome was the Red’s sluggish start. “Awful,” Schafer said of his team’s slow start. “There was no sluggish to it — we slept walk. I can’t be any more disappointed in a Cornell hockey team than I have in quite some time. “We prepare the same way every week,” he continued. “There are 29 games during the course of the year, and they come out and they weren’t ready to lay it out on the line tonight.” Despite one of its poorer performances in recent memories, Cornell did show resiliency, coming back from two deficits to eke out a tie. “I liked the fact that they somehow managed to scrape out a point on the road,” Schafer said. “[But] when you don’t have the work ethic, it doesn’t matter what else happens. If you don’t come out ready to lay it out on the line, it doesn’t make a difference what anybody else does. It’s not acceptable.”Archived article by Alex Ip