Columns

CHASEN | Forgive Your Friends

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But oftentimes, there’s something that gets omitted from the Cornell experience, something that’s more important than all the rest. It’s the people — from the friends you meet during your first week to the longtime Ithaca residents you meet on campus and around town who have seen generations of Cornellians come and go. The people are what make the Cornell experience what it is. 

Why do I bring this up? Because sometimes the people around you will make you question this simple truth. This has been especially true in these last few years, where the pandemic has called into question many of the social customs we had all previously taken for granted.

Columns

DO | Let’s be Friends

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Late August and non-frozen-hellscape weather once again mark the start of a brand new school year. A fresh set of classes to attend to diligently, new dorm rooms to christen with unwashed laundry and a fervor for the spirit of academic exploration that runs through our Big Red veins. Not to mention, a whole new cohort of bright-eyed freshmen embarking on their college journeys — all in the surveillance test-free comfort of their brand-spanking-new dorms and boujee pastry cafes. Back in my day, North Campus was a pile of dirt, rock, machinery and cigarette butts. These whippersnappers just don’t know how good they have it.

Columns

Olguín | Friendships of Proximity

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My high school English literature teacher still lives in my mind. Somewhere in between telling us what cocktail drink we most represent and breaking down Camus, he wiggled himself into my brain, and I haven’t been able to think the same since. He was the person who broke the news to everyone sitting in his senior English class that after graduating high school, we wouldn’t talk to the majority of our friends.

Columns

BETTEZ | The Death of the Acquaintance

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An acquaintance was once someone who you could run into as you rush through Ho Plaza on your way to class and chat, or attempt to catch up with over the roar of a frat party’s Spotify playlist. Maybe they were even a friend of a friend, or an ally when you frantically needed help on your problem set the night it’s due. Without these relatively inconsequential interactions, Cornell’s campus is no longer a community of interconnections, but a set of isolated bubbles. An unfortunate, but not unexpected consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic lasting as long as it has is the death of an entire class of friends. The loss of the acquaintance is just another symptom of the loss of the campus space and sense of community we’ve experienced over the last year.

2020 election

ONONYE | Block or Unfollow? Losing Friends During the 2020 Election

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Raise your hand if you’ve lost a friend or two (or 30!) during this election season. I definitely have. As we finally reach the end of a 2+ year run for the presidency, I can finally reflect on what this election cycle has meant to me. I can list thirty million things, but one of the most significant is that I have lost a few friends. 

Up until the 2020 election run, I really believed that I could be friends with anyone regardless of their political ideology. I had done it my entire life.

Dining

Food Ethics | Medicine for the Lonely

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While walking up the stairs in my house, I saw my brother Mike’s door was propped open. I popped my head in to see how he was doing. Talking with him, we happened upon the topic of illness. “My throat has been so sore that it hurts even to swallow. I wouldn’t mind the cough otherwise.”

Well, I had a solution for that!

adobe

Food Ethics | To Make Margaritas

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To make margaritas, you need lime juice, and a lot of it. Limes are not native to central New York, so I knew this would constitute the greatest sacrifice of food miles. However, due to our special occasion, I decided it was a worthwhile sacrifice. Isaac is Mexican and missing home, so I hoped this would bring him joy. As we were both very hungry, Isaac offered to help me juice the limes.

Comfort

Somewhat Sober | Comfort in Food during Uneasy Times

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This article was originally supposed to be about how quesadillas are the perfect late-night, post-drinking snack. But, given the global health crisis, it’s really not the most important thing to be writing about, is it? First, I really hope everyone is taking this crisis seriously and is practicing social distancing. Please do not congregate in large crowds and avoid being in public places — such as restaurants, bars or cafés — as much as possible! Taking this seriously is very important to limit the exposure of those who are at the most risk.