There is one simple truth at 139 W State St.: Life revolves around The Sun. On Saturday, Sun staffers gathered to elect its 144th Editorial Board. Light filtered through the dance hall’s window panes to shine on discussions of ambitions and new beginnings. The silence following our speeches settled into the walls, floorboards and the yellowed pages of past issues. You read the stories and check the news, but it’s time to meet the editors. Please join us in welcoming the members of our 144th Editorial Board!
Cue Bobby Hebb’s “Sunny”! Leading our 144th Editorial Board with strength and style is Editor-in-Chief Sophia Dasser ’28. She loves spotting Oxford commas, and I love spotting her in the Temple of Zeus. With her iced Americano (and a tad of honey), a copy of The Sun and a coveted Zeus table, Sophia will take us to new heights.
Call me biased, but our objective side is lucky to have managing editor Varsha Bhargava ’27. Her passion, bread-and-butter and frequent pastime is color-coded spreadsheets (thank goodness one of us likes them). In case Varsha needs a waterskiing buddy, she always has assistant managing editor Kate Turk ’27. Kate is single-handedly influencing our office with her Cherry Cola Celsius fascination. Objective is objectively in amazing hands.
Need a little ‘rah-rah’ in subjective? We got you covered. Our associate editor read former associate editor Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five for the bit and is looking forward to Breakfast of Champions. I mean, who does that? Well, me. Sophia Romanov Imber ’28 will lead the subjective powerhouse. Opinion editors Zara Cheek ’28 and Rayen Zhou ’29 are always on it. Zara loves her postcards of artwork from the museum gift shop and is beating me at LinkedIn Games. Rayen can recite the alphabet backwards as fast as he can forward. Zara and I will let you know how that goes once we order our coffee (no scones).
It’s President Business over here at The Sun. Business manager Sophia Torres Lugo ’26 balances our books with so much grace that she’s learning how to figure skate. Over from the Nolan School of Hotel Administration, we have advertising manager Kendall Murphy ’28 keeping us in the green. On the green, he loves playing soccer, and you can also catch Human Resource Manager Victoria Wroblewski ’28 playing tennis. I guess business is seriously in motion.
Now, let’s get newsworthy. Our news editors always belong on the front page, above the fold (bylines, people, bylines). My boy Atticus Johnson ’28 is everywhere. He loves a good 99-cent Arizona Iced Tea. We got some more outdoorsy editors: Bing-bong! Coral Platt ’29 enjoys hiking, skiing and especially rock climbing. Don’t worry, she has a love-hate relationship with desking at 2 a.m. Mary Caitlin (MC) Cronin ’28 always hypes up the room with her energy, cortado and “4 Raws” by EsDeeKid.
Not to fret, our news editors are sufficiently assisted. Did you miss Sun Trivia Night? I got one for you: Who’s on the soundboard? It’s Giselle Redmond ’28. That’s MC’s favorite memory and mine too. Next step is to attend Giselle’s Callbaxx A Cappella concert! Keeping us in the outdoors activity scene is Everett Chambala ’27. He recently went to Greek Peak with Kate and Coral (do we all get an invite next time?). In case we want to switch up the energy drinks, Shubha Gautam ’28 worked as a bobarista for a total of one month!
Life revolves around The Sun, but Arts & Culture revolves around Melissa Moon ’28. Melissa is multi-talented: She’s an artist (once made a painting for Melissa McCarthy), can juggle (?) and she loves Oxford commas (womp womp). If you stumble into an Arts pitch meeting, you’ll find a drawing of each editor, featuring looksmaxxing duo James Palm ’27 and Matthew Rentezelas ’28 — courtesy of Melissa. See, I told you she’s multi-talented! James is ready for our next Arts rager with his pizza-making skills and pilot’s license (free trip?). Matt is a self-taught bass/electric guitar player. On the note of the musically-inclined, Hazel Tjaden ’28 (no relation to Olive Tjaden Hall!) has played the cello since she was three. Marc Staiano ’27 is our resident published author. All in all, RSVP to Arts Rager ASAP.
Features editor Jane Haviland ’28 met Kevin Jonas at her summer job five years ago! I’d like to feature her current obsession right now: Game of Thrones.
The Sun has some great (life)style. Lifestyle editor Katelyn Halverson ’28 is currently watching Gilmore Girls, probably with her iced cinnamon vanilla latte and maybe with her siblings (she’s a triplet!). Jane, Katelyn, which show do I start with? Maybe The Office, since assistant lifestyle editor Ava Betnar ’29 is from Scranton! Oh, and you’ll love assistant lifestyle editor Sanika Saraf ’28’s dog: His name is Karl Barx!
These words don’t perfectly picture my excitement, but the photo team can. Photography editor Nathan Ellison ’28 always captures the beauty of our campus, and now he’s getting into black and white film photography. Of course, Nathan is assisted by the best! A photo says a million words for Nathan Bo ’28, who walked 30 miles in one day (why do we have so many outdoorsy people?). Adelaide Chow ’29 can juggle — please, not the camera — and her favorite memory is getting Tacos CDMX with Nathan squared!
From Extra! Extra! Read all about it! To lights, camera, action! We have multimedia editors Jade Dubuche ’27 and Benjamin Leynse ’27. Jade loves a good bad movie (and a dragonfruit Redbull). It’s c’est la vie for Ben, who spent last summer taking photos in France.
Our science editors are on the best stories. Angelina Tang ’28 is friends with Morty the Turkey Vulture and knows we can all learn to be more pet-friendly. Tania Hao ’28 researches language development and taught us all about the science of falling in love for Valentine’s Day. Tania, I think the board needs to work on their pick-up lines.
The smell of mocha draft lattes is in the air for weather & climate editor Simran LaBore ’27. She plays the banjo and “Sound & Color” by Alabama Shakes in the office.
With so many outdoor activity lovers, it’s time to get on the field. Sports editors Matthew Leonard ’28 and Grace Reuben ’28 know ball. From Queens, N.Y. (can you hear the accent?), Matt loves watching NASCAR. Grace and I are on the same wavelength: She loves coffee, puzzles and books.
Are we recording? Video editor Mia Sofia Orengo ’28 is from Miami (dale 305!) but has lived in Hong Kong, London and Los Angeles. She’s really been all around the world and 360° on camera. Keeping us up with the latest trends, social media editor Katherine Istomin ’29 is a huge Patriots fan; her pug is named after Tom Brady. Assistant social media editor Josephine Jean-Paul ’29 loves a good song — she sings a cappella on campus!
Graphics editor Ashlin Kwong ’28 has our visuals in a good place (her favorite show). Somebody get her in News: Ashlin averages 150 words per minute! I could never be that quick with our crossword puzzle — games editor Tavan Bhatia ’27 is just that good. He has to give The Sun an apartment tour soon; apparently, there’s a dart board, foosball and air hockey table and an indoor golf putting green.
Layout editors Hunter Petmecky ’28 and Rena Geula ’28 always keep our print paper structured. Evidently, because Hunter loves a Celsius and Rena scores (soccer) goals in her free time.
I think we need some data on our board’s favorite TV shows. Data editor Amelia Garcia ’28 is a Love Island, Game of Thrones and Little House on the Prairie fan (#eclectic).
Now, the only person I want in my inbox is newsletter editor Smrithe Rajesh ’29. She loves playing old Flash games and has a major sweet tooth (’cause she’s the sweetest!).
Yes, The Cornell Daily Sun welcomes its 144th Editorial Board today, but it also thanks 143rd, 142nd … The Sun thanks the leadership at the helm every day, those manning the sails, preparing our ship and those waving goodbye on shore. Perhaps there are two truths, and I missed this one:
The Sun Will Always Rise.
Sophia Romanov Imber is a member of the Class of 2028 in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is an assistant arts editor of the 143rd Editorial Board. She can be reached at sromanovimber@cornellsun.com.
