Columns

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: RE: ‘Antiquated Ivy League Rules Rob Student Athletes of University Careers’

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To the Editor: 

The Cornell administration and the entire Cornell community are to be congratulated, and even more so thanked, for the great job they have done in tackling the virus at Cornell. Cornell has exhibited great leadership. I also applaud our Ivy League for putting safety and human lives ahead of entertainment and personal preference in the suspension of winter athletics. This suspension is the right move even allowing for some sports that might be safe enough to take place with the proper safeguards. What I don’t understand, as mentioned in a Sun column this Monday, is the Ivy League’s stance on the addition of one year to the athletes total eligibility, making up for the year eliminated due to the virus.

Columns

YAO | Complacency: Just as Contagious, Even More Dangerous

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Recently, Pfizer announced that the company had ended its coronavirus vaccine trial with a 95 percent success rate. Moderna shortly followed with news that those who received two doses of the vaccine still had elevated levels of antibodies three months later. This is news that we have waited on for almost a year, and it is most certainly cause for hope and celebration –– we finally have the means to quell the virus that governs our lives. 

However, that doesn’t mean that we can relax and resume our lives as usual. It’s dangerous to succumb to the boredom and agitation that makes us complacent and impulsive. We cannot forget that contracting the virus can mean life or death.

Arts & Culture

How COVID Changed Cornell Dance Groups

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“The dances we taught had to be able to be done in a small space… It’s hard to judge a dancer on their abilities if we can’t see them fully execute a movement.”

Columns

WANG | Smile, You’re on Camera

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As most of you reading this probably know, online classes kind of suck. Yes, online classes do mean I can get up ten minutes before class and still be on time. However, this also means that when I collapse into my desk chair and open up Zoom, there is a very high chance that my brain is still half asleep, and I will not fully process the majority of what my professor is saying. But in my opinion, that’s not the worst part of online classes. To me, the worst part is showing up to my classes and discovering that pretty much every single person has their camera off.

Columns

SEX ON THURSDAY | Lackluster Libido

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Ever since the start of the pandemic, I feel like I have no libido. I have very little interest in sex. My partner is starting to take my lack of sex drive personally, but I don’t know how to tell them that it’s not their fault! Is there something wrong with me? 

-LackLuster

Hi LackLuster,

If there’s a “No Sex Drive During a Pandemic Club,” then you and I are both members. And so are millions of people across the world.

Columns

SMITH | The “New Normal”

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This Friday, I went to get dinner with a friend at Moosewood. We talked about our classes and agreed about our mutual stress but excitement over another Cornell semester. It was a Friday like most I’d experienced at Cornell, relaxing for a moment after a busy week, except we were wearing masks, we talked about the differences between our online and in-person classes and discussed our preferred surveillance testing sites. At one point we marveled over how if, one year ago, someone told me I would be wearing a mask every time I went outside, taking classes over Zoom and getting tested to see if I had been infected with a disease responsible for a global pandemic, I would have politely asked what that person was smoking. Now, however, I feel more strange seeing a maskless face or being in a crowded space than I do putting on a mask before going for a solitary run. 

I’ve lost track of the number of references to the “new normal” made in the last several months.