Galleries

IN PHOTOS | CML Encampment, April 25, 2024

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10 a.m., April 25 | “First Look”

The encampment site is set up on the Arts Quad at dawn on April 25. (Ming DeMers/Sun Senior Photographer)

10:41 a.m., April 25 | “Administration Arrives”

Vice President of Student and Campus Life Ryan Lombardi and Dean of Students Marla Love arrive on the Arts Quad and express disapproval over the nature of the encampment. (Ming DeMers/Sun Senior Photographer)

11:41 a.m., April 25 | “Onlookers”

Cornell University Police Officers watch nearby as protestors call for a rally in support of their demands. (Jason Wu/Sun Senior Photographer)

12:02 p.m, April 25 | “Liberation is a Mindset”

Speakers, including Prof. Russell Rickford, history, engage the crowd in a rally during which they explained the protesters’ demands. (Nina Davis/Sun Photography Editor)

12:21 p.m., April 25 | “The People’s Microphone”

Christopher Cowen, executive vice president and chief financial officer, tells organizers that the tents violate the University’s policies.

Arts & Culture

Elfbar Ideology, Dialogues: Levi Pierpont

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Levi Pierpont reached out to me after I cited his Guardian Op-Ed in my own piece about the death of his friend, Aaron Bushnell. We ended up having a conversation about his experience in the Air Force and the involvement of Buddhism in his decision to become a conscientious objector (i.e. leave the military due to moral principles). We also discussed Palestine and how the Philippine languages reflect an imperialist component to language diffusion. This is that conversation, continued.

Letters To

KUEHL | Student Assembly Referendum Passes

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Today, the Cornell Undergraduate Student Body voted by a ratio of 2:1, with 46.77 percent participation, to call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and to divest from the following weapons manufacturers: BAE Systems, Boeing, Elbit Systems, General Dynamics, L3Harris Technologies, Leonardo, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, RTX and ThyssenKrupp. 

Arts & Culture

From Pain to Poetry: ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ in Review

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All is fair in love and poetry, but both are not without torture. Taylor Swift’s 11th studio album The Tortured Poets Department is finally here. Tortured Poets presents an ethereal collection of hushed midnight musings that are vulnerable, brutal, unhinged, hopeful and, of course, tinged with torture. Swift provides us with a look into her life as she struggles with emotions determined to drown her while continuing to go above and beyond for her fans. Tortured Poets is a revealing and cathartic album that comes with claws that spare no one, even Swift herself.

Arts & Culture

Elfbar Ideology, Pt. III: Notes on Extinction

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Imagine if Paul Revere rode into Lexington only to realize that the British had already begun to sack the town. He continues into the fray: “The British are coming! The British are coming!”

This seems to be the situation of climate activism today. The British are already here: Some scientists say that we have already hit the “point-of-no-return” for the enduring health of our climate. The Paris Climate Agreement pinned it at 1.5 degrees celsius past pre-industrial levels. Now that we have smashed the ceiling, we are left to wonder why the sky didn’t fall.

Arts & Culture

SOLAR FLARE | Here Comes the Sun!

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It is the long awaited time of year again: Spring has technically sprung, according to the schedule of the equinoxes. 

The following playlist is meant to capture the fleeting hope that comes with spring. It is light at first, short lived yet giddy before the heaviness of summer begins to set in and temperaments become relaxed.

Arts & Culture

92% Surge in Book Banning Attempts Indicative of Enduring Battle for Basic Rights

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On March 14, 2024 the American Library Association published a report highlighting a dramatic 92% increase in efforts to ban and censor books across the nation in 2023. Censorship attempts have risen consistently in the past years with each year topping the previous for the number of titles challenged. These trends reflect a growing battle pitting libraries and booksellers against those wishing to silence diverse voices. These attempts are rooted in individuals feeling threatened by progressive ideas that challenge the inequality entrenched in society. These attempts are appalling. The insecurity conservative minds feel passes on these troubling beliefs to children because they never see the books that would allow them to form their own opinion, causing the cycle of inequality to continue. 

Arts & Culture

The Irony and Gravity of This Year’s Passover

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Passover, or Pesach in Hebrew, is one of the most important and beloved Jewish holidays. Passover is usually a joyous affair; it begins on the 15th of the Hebrew month of Nissan — sometime in March or April in our calendar — meaning it is also a festival of spring. Celebrating the beginning of the agricultural season and freedom from slavery, characterized by family and friends coming together, there is usually little to be sad about during Passover, though my caring grandmother did always shed a tear for the animals lost throughout the story. However, as Jews across the globe anticipate the beginning of Passover on the sundown of April 22, this holiday will inevitably be seen in a different and much more somber light. Given recent events, the story and message of Passover is more critical than ever — and undeniably ironic. 

Passover commemorates an event which occurred over 3,000 years, making it the oldest continuously celebrated holiday in the Jewish calendar, having been celebrated since at least the fifth century BCE.

Arts & Culture

Fantasy Favorites: Duology Recommendations

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As an avid fantasy reader, I have read everything from stand-alones to eight-book series with equal eagerness. However, I have found it can be extremely intimidating to start a lengthy series, while stand-alones often lack the development I seek in my fantasy worlds. In my opinion, duologies, or two-book series, offer a perfect middle ground. You don’t have to say goodbye to your favorite characters too soon, but you aren’t committing weeks or even months to a single plot.