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May 24, 2010  Jason Koski/University Photography Senior profile: Andrew Daines
Major: Philosophy Why did you choose Cornell?
After two years at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, I left for a two-year mission in Malaysia for the Mormon Church. It dawned on me while serving on an island in the South China Sea that I was meant to study philosophy. Cornell was a wild card. I had never visited. Going sounded like an adventure, so I went. Main Cornell extracurricular activity -- why is it important to you?
My column, The Right Stuff, in the Cornell Daily Sun has been very dear to me. It has consistently (biweekly) required me to take stock of my undergraduate experience and the university's political landscape. Compulsory reflection is a rare luxury, and one I'm glad to have enjoyed. While at Cornell, what other accomplishments/activities are you most proud of?
I've gained a sense of the classics. By now I have read a little something and can speak intelligently on a number of Platonic dialogues, ethics, government, mind, reason and theology. As a transfer student, I only attended Cornell for two years. For the first, and perhaps only, period of my life, I completed all of my reading assignments to discover there is a lot of magic in these books, a lot of meaning to be found. My most prized accomplishment is having done my homework and found it to be worth doing. This came in handy when I served as a teaching assistant for an American Legal Systems course in the Auburn Prison through Cornell's Service Learning Program. I did my best to pass along this appreciation for the classics to my students, and they responded enthusiastically. Your most profound turning point while at Cornell?
During my senior year I attended a small party that went on into the early morning hours. For whatever reason, the party's host had prepared a spread of bagels and champagne. Looking around, I realized I was surrounded by ag students, philosophers, business types, foreigners, New Yorkers, lefties, right-wingers and nearly every other kind of person found on campus. This "any person, any study" idea became relevant to me as I considered the blessing of good company. Did any of your beliefs or interests change during your time at Cornell?
I had never taken much of an interest in politics before Cornell. I arrived in Ithaca at age 22 never having voted. My first year here, the national election cycle spurred me on to awareness. All of a sudden I began to see that the motions of campus political life are real. I embarked on two successful campaigns for committee positions in the Arts College and got to see the inner workings of a Big Red machine. As soon as the Sun gave me my own column, I wrote an embarrassingly inaccurate piece about the Student Assembly, which I managed to both apologize for and defend publicly at one of their meetings, earning me a mix of praise, scorn and access. The micro-processes of power and leverage and nepotism do not cease to fascinate me. What Cornell memory do you treasure the most?
Being a guest on WVBR's "The Sunday Forum with Tommy Bruce." The other guest and I had a 20-minute exchange about a campus dust-up over the D.C. school chancellor's protested visit to Cornell. Beyond the cool factor of live radio, the experience was entirely civil, rational and, I think, enlightening. Both of us backed away from the previous week's vitriol while maintaining ownership of our principles. I can't think of a more wonderful collegiate experience. What are your plans for next year and beyond?
Next year, I will be working on a business I founded, Pre Play Sports Inc., which is a mobile sports gaming business that is working on a revision of the Fantasy Sports concept using iPhone. Then I would like to get into education leadership, preferably in the charter school movement in New York City. |
