After the day-long affair of elections and a gauntlet of long missed in-person speeches charged with an electrifying fervor for student journalism, The Cornell Daily Sun has elected its 141st editorial board. This year’s group of shining Sunnies is poised to create a board that is as vibrant and zealous as its namesake number is palindromic.
Editorials
EDITORIAL | The Myth of Taking Time For Oneself
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In the past four days, Cornell has been put under shelter-in-place orders twice — for a bomb threat on four Central Campus buildings and for the local police pursuit of an armed suspect. While no further tragedy came of either alert, fortunately, students spent the time panicked and uninformed. Given the weight of the events, it’s unacceptable that students haven’t received substantial support since. After the two incidents, President Martha Pollack encouraged students “to take the time you need to take care of yourselves and each other,” in a Tuesday evening email. But we question how possible this is — between ongoing assignments and exams, daily classes, extracurricular responsibilities, campus jobs and the little remaining time for eating and sleeping.
Without significant structural support for students to actually take a break and process the trauma of this week, these reminders feel shallow.
After Sunday’s five hours of waiting before the bomb threat was deemed “not credible,” faculty received little guidance about how to proceed for the week beyond calls for “generosity.” This relative silence from the University left individual instructors to make their own decisions — often less than generous ones — meaning students’ experiences of classes Monday varied widely.
Editorials
EDITORIAL | Cornell, Your Community Deserves a Better Vaccination Plan
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As New York State’s vaccination program ramps up, many Cornellians are now eligible to receive their first dose under the criteria for Phase 1B. However, despite their eligibility, many students are facing obstacles in traveling to vaccination sites in Syracuse and Binghamton.
If Cornell truly wants to encourage health and safety, it needs a better plan to help its community receive vaccinations. Now, as dining workers, residential advisers and in-person instructors are eligible, the University should assist at-risk individuals by offering scheduling, transportation and informational assistance.
“I felt completely alone in trying to arrange my appointment to begin with,” said Selin Cebel ’21, a student manager at Green Dragon Café. “Being an international student, I didn’t know how to find my way in scheduling this sort of thing.”
Cebel, who traveled to Syracuse for the vaccination last week, had to rent a car in order to receive her first dose. “Taking a public bus right now isn’t the best thing to do, especially when you’re going to get the vaccine, and so I had to rent a car from Central Ithaca,” she added.
Editorials
EDITORIAL | Safe Socializing for Mental Health
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Now that campus has returned to alert level green, it might be tempting to forget what moved Cornell to yellow in the first place. In a Feb. 5 email, President Martha Pollack attributed the pre-semester spike to a Collegetown party where several members of Greek life organizations were reportedly present and not following COVID-19 protocols. The actions of these students not only violated the behavioral compact, but were also incredibly selfish. However, Greek life represents a microcosm, albeit a rather extreme one, of how the entire student body feels.
Opinion
EDITORIAL | A Vote for Trump is a Vote for Autocracy
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The Sun endorses Biden as the 46th President of the United States of America.
Opinion
EDITORIAL | Remembering Antonio Tsialas ’23, One Year Later
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We echo the Tsialas family’s call for truth and transparency, as the investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death continues in the courtroom.
Opinion
EDITORIAL | Like Justice Ginsburg ’54 did for us, Leave the Doors You Open Ajar for Others to Pass Through
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So in the words of Ginsburg herself, “Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”
Opinion
EDITORIAL | Let the First COVID-19 Cluster Be a Wakeup Call
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Last March, when Cornell shut its doors, students and faculty alike were scared and confused as to what the next few months would bring. Our future at Cornell was uncertain. Students fled from their dorms and houses, final goodbyes were rushed and every student body and faculty member gained a uniquely traumatic experience that will stay with them. No one knew quite how serious the coronavirus pandemic would get. Nearly six months later, the U.S. exceeds 6 million COVID-19 cases.
Opinion
EDITORIAL | Cornell Must Meet the Demands of Its R.A.s
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Today, Cornell must prove to its student staff that they are not pawns to be manipulated during times of global unrest.
Opinion
EDITORIAL | Cornell’s Inability to Quarantine Arriving Students Should Concern You
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Cornell, already, is not holding up their end of the bargain; we have to pick up the slack.
Opinion
EDITORIAL | Fire Prof. David Collum ’77, Chemistry
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President Martha E. Pollack, fire Collum.