We like to think of Cornell as a global campus. However, it has come to the attention of Daze that this school’s influence can be seen especially well in regards to a particular international phenomenon, one that wouldn’t necessarily come to mind when you think of the Ivy League: reality television.

The featured article in this week’s issue of Daze was inspired by one of our own — not so long ago, Associate Design Editor Irene Leung ’11 was featured on an episode of the short-lived reality TV show Switched!, which ran from 2003 to 2004. Though Irene doesn’t like to talk about it and maintains that all copies of the episode in question have been destroyed so it can’t be found (we’re still trying), appearing on a reality TV show is nothing to be embarrassed about; just ask any of the several Cornellians who have starred on the small screen over the past few years in such popular shows as The Apprentice, Survivor and America’s Next Top Model.

With different backgrounds, career paths and even ages, they all had the unique experience of being an Ivy Leaguer thrown into the pop culture spotlight — how often does that really happen (excluding the occasional shenanigans of Ann Coulter, Bill Nye or the like)?

For how Cornell’s contestants got on the show, how they reacted to this new and different experience, the aftermath of their turns on TV — stay tuned (i.e., turn to page 5) to find out. Then, after you look us up on Facebook or Twitter, send any questions, comments or concerns to daze-editor@cornellsun.com.

Yours truly,

Allie Perez