/09.14.2011

Meet the Beat

Th ursday

City should create permanent place to display graffiti artwork, page 10

Independent rugby team promotes sport through success and community service, page 23

Junior spreads his love of music while carrying gold boom box across campus, page 13

S epte m be r 1 5, 2 0 1 1

spray on

open play

The Ithacan

It ha ca , N . Y. Volume 7 9 , Is s u e 3

Svante Myrick prevails in primary race IC merges

with Cornell DC program By brian rank staff writer

Svante Myrick, Ithaca 4th Ward representative and 2009 Cornell University graduate, celebrates his victory in the primary Tuesday at Delilah’s.

rachel orlow/the ithacan

by ithacan staff Svante Myrick, Ithaca 4th Ward representative and 2009 Cornell University graduate, won the democratic mayoral primary election for the City of Ithaca on Tuesday.

Myrick won the primary with 45.9 percent of the votes, beating Pam Mackesey, a member

of the Tompkins County legislature who had 37.1 percent, and J.R. Clairborne, 2nd Ward city council representative who had 16.6 percent, according to the Tompkins County Board of Elections.

Of 5,624 active registered democratic voters in the City of Ithaca, 1,867 came out to vote in the primary election, according to

election board data.

Stephen DeWitt, Democratic commissioner of elections, said this year the turnout was high compared to what it has been in previous years.

“For a primary this is fairly consistent,” he said. “It might have even been just a little more

See primaries, page 4

City of Ithaca considers banning hydraulic fracturing by kacey deamer staff writer

The City of Ithaca is considering a complete ban of horizontal hydraulic fracturing — also known as fracking — within city limits, while state and federal governments still have not determined whether the natural gas extraction process is safe.

Ithaca would be among the growing number of local governments in central New York to take preventative measures when the federal government has not yet done so.

The New York Department of Environmental Conservation last week released a report titled “2011 Recommendations For Permitting High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing in New York State.”

In the document, the DEC suggests an exclusive protection of the Syracuse and New York City watersheds. This includes the Skaneateles Lake and Catskill/Delaware watersheds.

Ithaca, along with a significant percentage of the rest of the state, is not directly protected.

Fracking is an extraction process used to remove underground

resources such as natural gas and oil trapped in the shale below. The Marcellus Shale, which lies below Ithaca through Pennsylvania, is a rock formation in which 168 to 516 trillion cubic feet of natural gas is trapped, geologists estimate.

The fracking process uses about 5 million gallons of water, mixed with sand and chemicals, to pump into the ground to release the gas.

The City of Ithaca is considering a complete ban on fracking, according to Jennifer Dotson, chair of Common Council’s Planning Committee. The town of Ithaca, as well as the towns of Dryden and Ulysses, have already banned fracking via zoning regulation.

At their meeting last month, Dotson said the committee decided to pursue a ban on fracking on city-owned land, which includes areas near the watershed where the city water supply comes from.

The group also discussed a zoning ban that would prevent fracking within city limits.

Last year the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency began a study of the fracking practice to “understand any potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water

and groundwater,” according to the agency’s website. Initial research results are estimated to be completed by the end of 2012. The agency intends to have a final report in 2014.

how fracking works

Well Horizontal Fracking A horizontal well is first drilled down vertically above the target gas-bearing rock, then special tools are used to curve the well. Horizontal fracking is used to get the maximum amount of gas from a single well, according the the Department of Environmental Conservation.

Eric Rosario, vice chair of the planning committee, said one of the most important tasks of

See fracking, page 4 The ins and outs of a horizontal hydraulic fracturing drill

Sand keeps fissures open Natural gas flows from fissures into well

Shale

Fissure Water, sand and chemical agents

Well

Well turns horizontal

Fissure Source: department of environmental conservation

Design by yu-chen (jane) chen

f ind m or e. onl ine. www.t heit hacan.org

Ithaca College plans to collaborate with Cornell University by enrolling students in Cornell’s satellite campus in Washington, D.C., this spring — temporarily replacing the college’s failed D.C. program.

The collaboration follows the suspension of the college’s D.C. program for the fall semester due to a dwindling number of applicants over the past few years. SAUNDERS said Only five students students should from the college have an opportunity will be enrolled in to study in D.C. Cornell’s program.

Tanya Saunders, assistant provost for international studies and special projects, said the collaboration will give students a chance to study in D.C. while the college focuses its resources on establishing a program in New York City. She said the college expects to use Cornell’s program for at least three years.

“We decided rather than dividing our attention right now, we’re focusing on building [a program in] New York before returning our attention back to D.C.,” she said. “And yet we want our students to have an opportunity to study and have an internship experience in D.C. in the meantime.”

Saunders said there is no official agreement between institutions, but she and Robert Hutchens, director of the Cornell in Washington program, said they plan to have an agreement in time for students to enroll for the spring semester.

Students can apply for the program now using an online form, but the information on the college’s website is not updated to reflect the collaboration yet.

Saunders said students have expressed interest in the program though none have applied as of yesterday.

Cornell’s program is similar to the college’s and includes internship requirements and courses taught by Cornell-affiliated professors. Unlike the college’s previous program, all residential and academic rooms will be housed in the same building, instead of contracting with a separate apartment complex.

Cornell’s academic program centers on producing a research paper while using the many research centers in D.C., such as the Library of Congress. Students also take elective courses on topics ranging from American social issues to D.C. architecture.

Hutchens said students from the college should have access to the same opportunities as Cornell

See washington, page 4

[ T hurs day Bri ef ing]

2 The It hacan

Th ursday, S eptember 1 5 , 2 0 1 1

Nation&World

Syrian military attacks mourners

Syrian troops fired tear gas at a gathering of mourners just hours after U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford and other Western diplomats expressed their condolences to the family of a rights advocate killed last week, activists said yesterday.

The incident could increase already high tensions between Washington and Damascus, which has accused the United States of helping incite violence in Syria. Authorities have also criticized two earlier visits by Ford to the country’s Central and Southern regions.

The Syrian regime is trying to crush a 6-month-old uprising with deadly force that has killed some 2,600 people, according to U.N. estimates.

Last month, President Barack Obama demanded Syrian President Bashar Assad resign because he had lost legitimacy as a ruler. Major U.S. allies such as Britain, France, Germany and the European Union have made similar moves.

Hikers’ release delayed by Iran A bail offer for two Americans convicted

of spying is still under review, Iran’s powerful judiciary said yesterday in a potentially embarrassing rejection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s prediction that their release could be in a matter of days.

The statement by the judiciary is a message that only its officials can set the timetables and conditions on any possible release and not the president, who is locked in a bitter power struggle with Iran’s ruling clerics who control the courts.

On Tuesday, defense lawyer Masoud Shafiei said that the court handling the case set bail of $500,000 each for the Americans, who were detained in July 2009 while hiking along the Iran-Iraq border. A third American, Sarah Shourd, was released last year on the same bail — but only after similar mixed messages between Ahmadinejad and the judiciary over the timing.

BP blamed for poor Gulf decisions

A key federal report laid much of the blame on BP for the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history and the deaths of 11 rig workers, par-

this week 15

Thursday

Mentoring Workshop will be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. in Taughannock Falls Room.

SAB Music Presents: The Fall Acoustic Series with Amanda Duncan, sponsored by the Student Activities Board, will be held from 7 to 10 p.m. in IC Square.

18

Sunday

Catholic Mass will be held at 1 and 9 p.m. in Muller Chapel.

Founders Day Concert in the Park will begin at 2 p.m. in Dewitt Park. Rain location is in Ford Hall.

ticularly with regard to the cement seal that was put in place the day before the explosion that triggered the spill.

The report, released yesterday, said in the days leading up to the disaster, BP made a series of decisions that complicated cementing operations, added risk and may have contributed to the ultimate failure of the cement job.

Other investigations spread around the blame rather evenly, faulting misreadings of key data, the failure of the blowout preventer to stop the flow of oil to the sea and other shortcomings by executives, engineers and rig crew members. The joint investigation team laid considerable blame on BP’s shoulders.

The panel said BP failed to communicate these decisions and the increasing operational risks to rig owner Transocean.

Obama’s jobs plan calls for cash

President Barack Obama’s latest jobs plan calls for $130 billion in aid to state and local governments, providing either a welcome infusion of cash for those struggling with budget gaps, government layoffs and crumbling roads or merely a temporary patch for budget holes that are likely to remain long after the federal money runs out.

Obama’s plan has to clear a politically divided Congress, which could scuttle it entirely or enact bits and pieces of it.

As envisioned by Obama, state and local governments would receive $50 billion for transportation projects, $35 billion for school programs, police and fire department payrolls, $30 billion to modernize public schools and community colleges and $15 billion to refurbish vacant and foreclosed homes or businesses.

GOP questions government loan

House Republicans questioned yesterday whether the White House rushed approval of a half-billion-dollar loan guarantee for a now-bankrupt solar panel manufacturer once cited as the kind of renewable energy company worthy of federal stimulus money.

Solyndra Inc. was a major presence in Washington and spent millions of dollars on lobbying there, particularly about the Energy Department’s loan guarantee program. And

Indian civilians wade through murky flood waters yesterday near the country’s Gop village in Orissa’s Puri district, about 22 miles from Bhubaneswar. Heavy rains and flooding have killed at least 16 people in eastern India and left nearly 100,000 others without homes.

Biswaranjan Rout/associated press

its executives raised thousands of dollars for Obama and Democrats in Congress.

The collapse of the California-based company ultimately left taxpayers on the hook for $528 million, raising questions if the loan was rushed to accommodate a company event in Sept. 2009 that featured Vice President Joe Biden.

Turkey supports missile defense

An early warning radar will be stationed in Turkey’s southeast as part of NATO’s missile defense system, the foreign ministry announced yesterday. The deployment reflects improving relations with the United States, which were strained after the invasion of Iraq.

The system is capable of countering ballistic missile threats from Turkey’s neighbor Iran, which has warned Turkey that deploying the radar at the military installation will escalate regional tensions. Turkey insists the shield doesn’t target a specific country and the ministry statement didn’t mention Iran.

Ban’s end called ‘inconsequential’ An Army general who co-directed a

Pentagon study on ending the ban on the right of gays to serve openly in the military said yesterday that a repeals is likely to prove “pretty inconsequential.”

Gen. Carter Ham said he expects civilians who strongly oppose the move — and some gay rights advocates — will voice their views when the repeal takes place Tuesday.

But inside the military the prevailing attitude will likely be business-as-usual, with no call for further debate about the merits of repeal.

A Pentagon group studied in 2010 how to implement a repeal law, which was subsequently passed by Congress in December.

Some in Congress have criticized President Barack Obama’s decision in July to certify that repeal of the ban would not harm the military’s ability to fight.

SOURCE: Associated Press

corrections

September 15–21, 2011

16

Friday

Shabbat Services will begin at 6 p.m. in Muller Chapel.

Shabbat Dinner will begin at 7 p.m. in Terrace Dining Hall.

19

Monday

Stuff the Bus, a school supplies drive sponsored by United Way, will be held from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. on the Academic Quad.

Author Susan Faludi, sponsored by the Park Center For Independent Media Speaker Series, will give a lecture at 7:30 p.m. in Emerson Suites.

Multimedia Can’t get enough of our stories?

There’s even more online. Check out our multimedia at theithacan.org.

Displaced lives

Video

Take a closer look at junior Ellis Williams, the man behind the boombox.

17

Saturday

Renaissance in the Belly of a Killer Whale, sponsored by Spit That!, will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. in Emerson Suites.

20

Tuesday

Spread the Word to End the Word, sponsored by Recreation and Leisure Studies Majors Club to stop the casual use of the “r-word,” will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. in IC Square.

Audio Slideshow Get a taste of culture from the Japanese Festival that took place at Cornell University.

add your event Email your events for “This Week” to Assistant News Editor Erica Palumbo at epalumb2@ ithaca.edu by 5 p.m. Monday to have them printed in this section of The Ithacan.

21

Wednesday

First Year Reading Initiative Speaker Jonathan Shay will give a lecture from 7 to 10 p.m. in Emerson Suites.

Evensong, a Protestant Community worship service, will begin at 9:30 p.m. in Muller Chapel.

Video

Check out the 9/11 peace walk re-dedication ceremony on Muller Pond.

Last week, The Ithacan reported in the story “South Hill squad seeks scoring from new players” that the women’s soccer team graduated six players, but they actually graduated seven; that there are two seniors on the team this year, but there are three; that the team is looking to win the Empire 8 title, but they are looking to win their third Empire 8 championship; that the score of Saturday’s game was 3–1, but it was actually 2–1; and that sophomore Amanda Callanan is a forward, but she is a midfielder.

It is The Ithacan’s policy to correct all errors of fact.

Please contact Elma Gonzalez at 274-3207.

Copy Editors Sophia Chawala, Mathew Dezii, Adeesha Ekanayake, Zoë Epstein, Dina Grimaldi, Rebecca Hellmich, Bernadette Javier, Jillian Kaplan, Lewis Kendall, KT McVeigh, Danielle Merendino, David Osborne, Casey Phillips, Robyn Schmitz, Brittany Smith, Nicole Viteritti, Vicky Wolak

Got a news tip?

Contact News Editor Kelsey O’Connor at koconno3@ ithaca.edu or 274-3207.

n e w s

Th ursday, Septem be r 15, 2011

The I th a c a n 3

Semester series to highlight black culture by noreyana fernando contributing writer

The Center for the Study of Culture, Race and Ethnicity has launched its annual discussion series with a new focus on black cultures.

The first event kicked off last night in Emerson Suites with filmmaker and activist Byron Hurt, who presented his documentary “I Am a Man: Black Masculinity in America.”

CSCRE Director and Professor Asma Barlas said this year’s series aims to promote a better understanding of black male society in America.

“What we are trying to do with this series is to encourage a more complex understanding of the circumstances in which black men live in this country,” Barlas said. “That is the framework for the activities we have planned around this series.”

Barlas said the series initiative will also serve to quell media stereotypes, while addressing ways in which black men are represented.

“The point of the discussion series is to complicate the ways in which we think about, talk about, write about and represent AfricanAmerican men,” she said.

Barlas said one area of focus is steering away from media stereotypes.

“A lot of students, and for that matter, nonstudents, rely a great deal on sound bites, on what they think are reliable statistics,” she said.

“We get all kinds of poisonous associations between people of color generally, and the pathology of crime, drugs and so on and so forth.”

Sean Eversley Bradwell, assistant professor in the CSCRE, met Hurt when he first visited Ithaca College in 2007.

“I think his work is phenomenal. I am excited to have the chance to bring him back on campus,” Bradwell said.

“I Am a Man,” which was screened yesterday discussed how racism, sexism, homophobia and the threat of violence negatively shaped black masculine identity in American culture.

Hurt said though the film was released in 1997, he is excited to see it remain relevant in black men’s lives.

“I wanted to launch conversations to get black men to be able to talk to one another, getting people to think about the world that we all live in and how we can become more attuned to the struggles and complexities of life,” he said.

Bradwell said it is essential to have a space to reflect on the social importance of black men.

“There is a need for all kinds of education on campus,” he said. “Having a space to have a

by emily francis contributing writer

Filmmaker Byron Hurt kicks off the Center for the Study of Culture, Race and Ethnicity’s annual discussion series with the theme “Black Men” yesterday. The series will continue all semester.

rachel orlow/the ithacan

conversation about the world, history of social importance, and the social importance of black men is absolutely necessary.”

In the past, CSCRE has hosted discussion series such as “Race and Immigration” and “Chaos or Community? MLK and the Politics of Resistance.”

Senior Ariel Lawrence, who has attended many of CSCRE’s discussion series in the past, said the events offer one of the best places to have an open dialogue about race and culture on campus.

“There are a lot of different presentations and events, and it’s probably one of the most successful spaces created on campus where students and professors can come together in a way in which you can openly discuss what’s going on and what the subject matter is about,” she said.

Gustavo Licon, assistant professor in the CSCRE, said he attended the first event to support the series and to gain new knowledge and perspectives on the topic.

“It’s on a very important topic,” he said. “I don’t think people are kidding when they say ‘black men are an endangered species’ particularly when it comes to higher education, men of color in general.”

The series will include two more events on the

theme, titled “Black Men,” this semester.

Artist-in-residence David Butler will conduct a discussion titled “Representing Black Men,” from 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 31 in Emerson Suites. Zaheer Ali, research fellow at Columbia University and Jared Ball, associate professor at Morgan State University, will conduct a panel discussion about Malcolm X from 7 to 9 p.m.

Nov. 15.

Juniors Shaunice Phillips and Reisy Veloz said they attended the event to understand the image of black men in society.

“I am interested in a lot of the speaker series that are offered by the center,” Veloz said.

“I just like to come watch and hear about other people’s experiences.”

Lawrence said she met one of her best friends freshmen year by attending the event and always encourages students and professors to attend.

“It’s vital for the students in order to be fully engaged with their campus climate, whether it be socially or politically,” she said. “I enjoy that there’s an actual dialogue among the people involved with the series.”

News Editor Kelsey O’Connor and Assistant News Editor Elma Gonzalez contributed to this article.

Bookstore appeal sinks by nicole hakimi contributing writer

Students are taking more advantage of innovations in the online marketplace to help ease out-of-pocket educational costs, according to new data from the U.S. Public Research Group.

The research group surveyed 1,905 undergraduates and seven out of 10 students reported they had not purchased one or more textbooks because the cost was too high.

Rentals, e-books and e-readers are gaining popularity as cost-reducing alternatives to traditional textbooks.

Rick Watson, director of the Ithaca College bookstore, said over the past few years textbook prices have been rising by at least 5 percent a year, and textbook sales at the bookstore have been declining consistently for three or four years.

“This semester, we’re down about 30 percent textbook sales within the store,” he said.

Sophomore Mary Kate Fain said she never purchases brand new print textbooks because they are too expensive.

“I like to get them as cheap as I can,” she said. “I don’t have a lot of money, but I mean, we’re college students, who does?”

College tests new Sakai online system

Junior Will Rocheleau used the Kindle version of a textbook for a class freshman year because of the convenience of having a lighter alternative to a heavy book.

“I would have [the e-textbook] on the device,” he said. “It was the convenience of having that space so you don’t have to carry it.”

But he said that his foremost concern with the Kindle was navigating to his assigned reading.

“The Kindle doesn’t necessarily have page numbers because of the way the text cam adjusts,” Rocheleau said. “It was really hard to find what I’m supposed to read.”

While the college bookstore does offer digital textbooks, sales have been minimal, Watson said.

“Some colleges have experienced big growth in digital, but it all depends,” he said.

Last fall, the bookstore started offering textbook rentals through its website and this semester, rentals are up 81 percent since then, Watson said.

Watson said the main advantage of renting textbooks is the cheap upfront cost.

Freshman Leonard Slutsky rented some of his textbooks from Chegg.com.

Maddie Rimpas hands over books purchased online to junior Christina Kranz. The bookstore is down 30 percent in textbook sales this semester.

kevin campbell/the ithacan

“I was a little worried that the quality wasn’t going to be good, but it was actually pretty good, and I saved a few hundred dollars.”

In the public interest group survey, 93 percent of students reported that they’ve purchased at least one book whose price was affected by the textbook publishing industry’s practices. For instance, publishers will release new editions and custom editions and offer “bundling,” the practice

of packaging textbooks with CDs and passcodes.

Slutsky said he was upset several of his classes required custom textbooks, which were only available through the college bookstore.

“You can’t buy them used or rent them because they change every once in a while,” Slutsky said.

“I guess they’re pretty hard to sell back. If the professor doesn’t use the same book the next semester, you’re out of luck.”

Students and professors are adjusting this semester to a new way of keeping track of classes online.

Sakai, Ithaca College’s new collaboration and learning program, is set to completely replace Blackboard next fall and has been rolled out to classes this semester.

The program TAVES said Sakai manages and or- has garnered a positive response ganizes course- so far. work, provides interaction between students and professors and has blogging and messaging features for quick communication between classmates.

To smooth the transitional period between the two programs, both Blackboard and Sakai are being offered for students and professors this year, Michael Taves, executive director of Information Technology Services, said.

Currently, there are more than 500 course sections active on Sakai, and sections on Blackboard have dropped from more than 1,000 to around 500, Taves said.

“I’ve gotten a lot of anecdotal feedback and it’s been 100 percent positive,” Taves said.

However, some professors have been reluctant to make the switch.

William Kolberg, associate professor in the Department of Environmental Studies and Sciences, said it takes time to get used to a new program.

“I don’t want to just walk away from something — unless somebody tells me I have to.”

The college will pay about $50,000 less annually for Sakai, while Blackboard had a six-digit price tag.

More than 150 faculty members have gone through training for the program by ITS, Taves said.

Susan Swensen, professor of biology, said she uses Sakai for three of her classes in the School of Humanities and Sciences.

“One of the things I really like about Sakai is your ability to email and notify the students when you post something,” she said.

Though some professors are sticking to what they know, Taves said he is confident the program’s marketing will help more people make the switch.

“There are definitely a lot of people who have experience with it now and are making the move,” he said.

While Sakai is in many ways different than Blackboard, the process for setting up courses on HomerConnect remains the same for faculty.

Junior Matthew Abrahamson said he thinks highly of Sakai.

“It seems to be a little more easy to navigate,” he said.

Sophomore Valerie Ridgway said it can be difficult to manage so many systems to stay on top of coursework.

“The problem I find with having Sakai, Blackboard and my Webmail is that I’m constantly looking in different places in order to find what assignments are due when,” she said.

n e w s

4 The It hacan

Program offers IC clean slate

washington from page 1

students, including a database of more than 1,000 internship opportunities spread across interests such as politics, law, news media and non-profit organizations, Hutchens said.

“We like to say that if you can dream of it, then you’re likely to find it in Washington,” he said.

Saunders said because the program is entirely Cornell’s, students need to find out if going to D.C. will enable them to meet all their requirements for graduation.

“We are inviting our students to look at what Cornell offers, meet with their adviser about how that meshes with expectations for an internship in their major and then make a decision,” she said.

Saunders said the D.C. collaboration will function like study abroad agreements with an affiliated institution, where the college forwards students’ tuition payments to the host school. She said students are responsible for any difference in tuition, plus room and board and any additional expenses.

Cornell’s 2011-12 semester tuition is $20,662.50, and the college’s semester tuition is $17,639, which means students will pay a difference of about $3,023.50 or 17 percent more.

While an affiliated program is separate from the college, which expects students to report directly to the host school, if there is an issue regarding a student, the host program will contact the college, Saunders said.

The Cornell in Washington program accepts 57 students each semester, but Saunders said Cornell will leave the five spaces open to students from the college and possibly more if not enough Cornell students apply.

“Given the number of [Ithaca] students who have been going in the past to D.C., we feel that that’s probably the right place to begin,” she said.

Saunders said she will begin work to create a new D.C. program that she will present to Marisa Kelly, provost and vice president of academic affairs. She said the new program will be a departure from the past with a goal of modeling itself after the London Center by offering opportunities to students across a variety of majors.

“I want to begin with a clean slate and ask fresh questions instead of looking back at what they did and trying to repeat it,” she said.

Kelly said the collaboration will be an effective way to attract more students to the D.C. program, especially because students can stay in Cornell’s own housing units.

The college will also establish a center in New York City by 2020, and Saunders said a pilot program this spring will also share Cornell’s buildings. The college will run the academic portion.

Saunders said it is important to sustain academic study programs because they offer internships that will be a springboard for future employment. She said developing both the programs in New York City and D.C. will be a high priority.

“We want to take our time and do it right,” she said.

Th ursday, S eptember 1 5 , 2 0 1 1

Myrick to stick to original promises primaries

“We are not just focusing on Democrats anymore,” he said.

“The message is still the same. It’s than a normal turnout.”

Myrick was the youngest alder- about bringing Ithaca forward, man in the city council at 19 years getting Ithaca ready for what old in 2008. Now 24, he has secured comes next and creating a brightthe primary and will continue to er, better Ithaca in so many ways.”

Flaherty said the campaign used campaign for the general election, social media to spread the word, but which will be held Nov. 8.

“Tomorrow I’ll wake up at 6 also relied heavily on personal cona.m.,” Myrick said minutes after the nections with the community.

“A lot of it is literally going to the results came in. “I’m on the radio at 7 and then I’ll be back at the office voters, going to their door,” he said.

Former Ithaca Sheriff Peter at 8 and we’re back out talking to people, trying to reach voters — see Meskill said Myrick is exactly what what their concerns are and explain the city needs — a young and intelligent mayor who is willing to listen what we’re about.”

Mackesey and Clairborne could and reach out.

“They ran a great campaign, they not be reached for comment.

Myrick said he will stick to his had a lot of help, they did things just original platform for the upcoming the way they should,” he said. “They stayed on subject and they had a lot general election.

“We’re going to be focused on of energy.”

Some of the prominent issues in our commitment to bettering the community and keeping the prom- the mayoral race include economic entrepreneurship, ises I made at the beginning of my development, crime and violence in downtown campaign,” he said.

Junior Rob Flaherty, Myrick’s Ithaca and sustainability.

As mayor, Myrick said he plans campaign communications manager, said he and Myrick will retool to address hydraulic fracturing, the the campaign to get on track for the controversial practice of drilling for natural gas, by advocating for upcoming mayoral election. its ban within city limits. He said he will look at creative ways to deal Ithacans took to Twitter to react to with fracking, like workSvante Myrick winning the primary. ing with the Finger Lakes Land Trust to buy land along the watershed to @shaneadunn: @SvanteMyrick Congratulations, good sir! So proud to say I worked with prevent drilling compayou at the #Cornell Public Service Center nies from using the space. where you got your start!

Dryden resident Amber Gilweski said she supported @ChrisMarshallCU: Proud as a papa for @ Myrick’s stance on fracking.

SvanteMyrick winning Dem primary for #Ithaca “It’s important that he mayor. I can say, “I knew him when...” Maybe cares about the city’s enhe’ll give me a job someday!? vironmental issues as well as political ones,” she said. @BenEisen: The Twitters tell me that @Svante“The environment is imMyrick won the Ithaca Democratic Primary. A moportant, and he gets that mentous day for the city. #anewpageforithaca. the issues surrounding it shouldn’t be forgotten in the campaign.” @Rob_Flaherty: So that was one of my top life moments right there. Congrats to Myrick said he will @SvanteMyrick. also focus on several initiatives to invigorate the from page 1

Word on the tweet

City of Ithaca resident Mary Brock turns in her ballot Tuesday at the Lehman Alternative School for the democratic mayoral primaries.

kevin campbell/the ithacan

city’s economic growth. He said he intends to maintain the city’s reputation as a pedestrian- and bike-friendly community.

He also said he will urge Ithaca College and Cornell University to increase their contributions to the tax base by encouraging them to contribute 25 percent of assessed property taxes. This would add $10 million to the tax roll, which would help eliminate the city’s budget deficit, he said.

Myrick said he also plans to give attention to smaller details in the city. For example, he plans to advocate for “smart meters,” which use credit cards and allow the meter time to run for as long as the driver needs as opposed to the current meters, which require coins.

Jim Dennis, a member of the Tompkins County Legislature,

said he didn’t vote for Myrick because he lives in Ulysses, N.Y., but supported his campaign.

“He has the energy, the knowledge and the ability to lead the City of Ithaca,” he said. “We need someone to lead it in a new direction.”

During his tenure as a city council member, Myrick helped pass outdoor smoking regulations and created a proposal with specific design guidelines for Collegetown to prevent space and parking issues.

Ithaca resident Chibo Shinagawa said she supported Myrick because he addressed the issue of diversity in the community and kept a focus on youth in his campaign messages.

“I haven’t heard any other candidate talk about inclusion in the community, or talk with such passion about the City of Ithaca,” she said.

City concerned about hazardous truck traffic fracking from page 1

the committee is to respond to the supplementary, generic environmental test that the state has now completed concerning the safety of hydro-fracking. The comment period ends in December, and Rosario said the committee needs to let the state know what the City of Ithaca thinks of their report.

Heavy truck traffic around drilling sites also raises concerns when it comes to fracking. Rosario said trucks that are traveling to and from fracking sites often carry hazardous materials. Water safety is also a major concern that the committee is exploring, he said.

Dotson said it is important to ensure that Ithaca roadways are safe. The committee will review road preservation laws to analyze how the trucks could violate the preservation law.

While local governments and organizations, like Frack Off, work to ban fracking in New York, some residents are excited by the prospect of drilling in the state.

More than 2.8 million American jobs are supported by natural gas,

according to Friends of Natural Gas NY, an alliance of New York state residents who support the development of clean, natural gas.

A 2010 Pennsylvania State University study found that the Marcellus Shale could generate nearly $19 billion in economic value per year and 200,000 jobs by 2020.

As the City of Ithaca works to prevent fracking within the region, Frack Off, an on-campus group, hopes to prevent drilling not only in the city, but also statewide.

The group is moving into its second semester with plans to combat the practice in Ithaca and New York state as a whole.

Like the city’s planning committee, the group wants to respond to the DEC’s environmental safety report on fracking. The organization hopes to grow a strong resistance before the response deadline in December.

The group hopes to enlist supporters of the movement through a youth conference during midOctober in Albany, executive board member Ben Lloyd said.

The fracking opposition on campus does not stand alone, Garrison said. By joining together with

other groups, Frack Off is working towards a larger-scale movement to help gain more attention from communities, she said.

Lloyd said both horizontal and vertical fracking are dangerous extraction processes.

“Something a lot of people might not know is that vertical fracking has been happening in New York for the past decade,” Lloyd said, “It’s almost as bad as horizontal fracking, it just doesn’t use as much water.”

From left, juniors Max Grigri, Emma Garrison and Ben Lloyd, members of Frack Off, discuss their plans to address fracking Tuesday in Campus Center.

rachel orlow/the ithacan

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Campus club advocates ending use of 'R-word' Word pledge table at an event for Active Minds, a group at the colIthaca College’s chapter of lege that supports mental health Spread the Word to End the Word, awareness and education. They were a worldwide organization dedicated surprised by the amount of interest to raising awareness of the misuse people showed in their display and of the word “retarded,” is kicking off decided to take the awareness movement even further. the year with their own rally.

"We turned to each other and The group was officially launched at the 2009 Winter said, ‘This needs to be bigger,’” Special Olympics and gained noto- Brenner said.

They asked the college's riety after joining with Best Buddies International and Teen Truth Live, Department of Recreation and two national anti-bullying groups. Leisure Studies to sponsor an event so they could further More than inform people about 200,000 people the mission to stop have already the use of what they pledged to stop see as a hateful word. their casual use Junior Alyana of the word.

Pomerantz, one of The college the volunteers at community — Jesse kanowitz the event, explained will gather what sets the “Rfrom 4 to word” apart from 7 p.m. Tuesday on the Fitness Center quad for its other derogatory terms.

“The R-word is so harmful beown rally. The event was organized by seniors Jessie Kanowitz and cause it’s a replacement word,” Sarah Brenner, who brought a chap- she said. “People use it for calling ter of the organization to the college things stupid, but you’re not realafter personal experiences working izing that you are talking about an entire population of people who with people with disabilities.

Kanowitz was inspired to raise cannot control their condition.”

Brenner said the word is hurtfurther awareness after working in the Youth Bureau in Recreation ful because the targeted people are often defenseless.

Support Services.

“If you went up to one of my "I work with people with disabilities and I don't want one of them to best friends who is a gay man and be called this word and be subjected called him a faggot, he would turn to the hurtful consequences it has," around and stand up for himself and she said. "Ever since we heard of the say what was on his mind,” she said. organization, we both have been very “Some disabled people might not understand what is happening or be passionate about this movement."

Last spring, Kanowitz and Brenner able to stand up for themselves.”

Kanowitz said the accurate way had a Spread the Word to End the

by harmony wright contributing writer

“Mental retardation is not a term, it's just a hurtful word. “

From left, seniors Jessie Kanowitz and Sarah Brenner hang Spread the Word to End the Word posters in Campus Center on Tuesday. They hope to attract a large number of people to the event to spread awareness.

Michelle Boulé/the ithacan

to refer to a person with disabilities has been changed.

“Mental retardation is not a term, it’s just a hurtful word,” she said. “People use it inaccurately. In fact, there is no accurate way to use it anymore.”

In Nov. 2009, a bill called Rosa’s Law was introduced to the U.S. Senate and signed into federal law in Oct. 2010. Rosa’s Law required the removal of the term “mental retardation” from federal health, education and labor policy, instead replacing it with the term “intellectually disabled.”

The Spread the Word to End the Word event aims to inform the college community of these changes to federal law. There will also be individuals — with and without intellectual disabilities — telling their stories about the effect the term has had on their lives.

The event's highlights include free stickers, T-shirt and bracelet-making, a free barbecue and an Ithacappella concert featuring local performer John Simon. WICB will also play music, and different games and activities will be provided for children.

Brenner said though progress has been made in the battle against the word, there are still many steps that need to be taken, particularly conscientious use of our vocabulary.

“It amazes me how many people I still hear using the 'R-word' at Ithaca College," she said. “You’d think we would be mature and adult enough to realize what’s being said at the college, but that’s not the case. We want to change this.”

To learn more about Spread the Word to End the Word or to make an online pledge, visit www.r-word.org.

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Author explores effects of 9/11 Following the 9/11 tragedy, Susan Faludi, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of New York Times best-seller “Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women,” sat down to write her latest book, “The Terror Dream: Myth and Misogyny in an Insecure America,” in 2007 after being in Europe during the July 7, 2005, FALUDI said she bombings in London.

“The Terror Dream” hopes to incite exposes the media fantasy discussions about and fear that followed the reactions to 9/11.

9/11 attacks. Faludi will present “9/11: Myth, Media and Gender” at 7:30 p.m. Monday in Emerson Suites. The event is sponsored by the Park Center for Independent Media.

Staff writer Taylor Long spoke with Faludi about “The Terror Dream” and her personal views on the country’s failure to confront complex issues relating to 9/11 10 years later.

Taylor Long: What did you want to accomplish in publishing “The Terror Dream”?

Susan Faludi: I was hoping to launch a meaningful discussion about our cultural and psychological reaction to 9/11 and why it was so strange. My hope was to get an actual conversation going that was about something more meaningful than missions accomplished, evildoers crushed.

TL: Did you make these analyses during the time it all happened, or was it something you reflected on later and decided to write about?

SF: After 9/11, I got all these phone calls from reporters who were doing post-9/11 stories about how 9/11 was going to supposedly bring back traditional female and male roles. Women would be getting married, rushing to the wedding alter. [They] would want to stay home and bake and would want

a man to protect them. Men were going to be more “masculine” — a John Wayne sort of machismo. It all seemed very strange and off the point. Like everybody else, I was sleepwalking a little bit after, sort of in a daze and confused and in shock. It took a while for me to begin to put the pieces together.

What began my thinking process was I was in Europe when 7/7 happened — the attacks on the subways in London. I was following the news and the aftermath of those attacks on BBC and British newspapers.

What I noticed was that the rhetoric was very different. They treated it as a crime that needed to be investigated and prosecuted and there was no talk of how British women were going to go back to baking crumpets and serving tea.

TL: This Sunday was the 10th anniversary of 9/11. How do you think the narrative surrounding 9/11 has changed since that time, if at all?

SF: The “Terror Dream” chronicles a moment in which all our defenses were down.

So a lot of our raw fears and anxieties as a culture were on display. As we moved away from that moment, the reaction was less visible. That said, because we never confronted that as our reaction, it still lies there beneath the surface ready to be provoked the next time we face another crisis moment.

The thing that strikes me the most about the 10th anniversary is how little we’ve really grappled with the deeper meaning of the American response to the attacks. When you look at the immediate coverage, which was wall to wall, there’s very little that’s insightful or even willing to engage with the deeper questions. Mainly what happened was that we just went back into our burrows and buried ourselves in reality shows and have not confronted any aspects of our reaction, which is tragic.

Remembering the brave

Father Carsten Martensen stands on the podium Sunday in downtown Ithaca outside the Fire Station on Green Street to commemorate the fallen victims of 9/11. He narrated the story of a 9/11 hero he knew personally and spoke about his own experience the day of the attack.

Dan states/The Ithacan

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College & City Forum to address issues on upstate transportation

The Upstate Transportation Forum will be held at 8 a.m. Thursday and 5 p.m.

Sept. 23 in the Holiday Inn on South Cayuga Street.

A variety of topics will be covered at the forum, including carsharing, active transporta- ZIELINKSI tion, new technologies, partnering with big business and using local talent and resources.

The forum will feature speakers such as Gary Ferguson, executive director of Downtown Ithaca Alliance; Jeff Olson, an architect involved in greenways, open space, active living and alternative transportation projects; Fernando de Aragon, director of Ithaca Tompkins County Transportation Council, and Susan Zielinksi, managing director of Sustainable Mobility and Accessibility Research and Transformation.

LGBT series to screen movies on sports issues

The Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Education, Outreach and Services will screen “Training Rules,” a documentary about the effect of homophobia in women’s collegiate sports, Oct. 5 as part of its Out of the Closet and Onto the Screen series at Ithaca College.

This year the series focuses on “LGBT People and Sport.” Other screenings include “Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story,” a documentary about gay boxer Emile Griffith, on

Nov. 2 and “Rock the Boat,” a documentary about a crew of HIV positive sailors, on Dec. 1. All screenings will begin at 7 p.m. in Textor 103 and are free and open to the public.

Career Services to hold graduate education fair

Career Services will hold the annual Graduate and Professional Fair from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

More than 130 schools and representatives from graduate and professional programs will attend. Following the fair there will be panelists answering questions about law school and medical school applications.

Political blogger to speak about legal challenges

John Nichols, blogger and a political correspondent in Washington, D.C., for The Nation, will give a lecture titled “First Amendment Remedies: The Constitution as a Call to Action,” at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 27 in Textor 102.

Nichols will discuss how the NICHOLS U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling about classifying corporations as individuals subverts real persons’ rights and the struggles in several states to defend labor rights and local democracy.

He has co-authored several books with Robert W. McChesney such as “It’s the Media, Stupid,” “Our Media, Not Theirs” and “The Death

Public Safety Incident Log selected entries from Sept. 1 to sept. 5 september 1 Unlawful Poss. of Marijuana LOCATION: Emerson Hall SUMMARY: One person judicially referred for unlawful possession of marijuana. Patrol Officer Mark Denicola.

Conduct Code Violations LOCATION: Circle Apartments SUMMARY: One person judicially referred for violation of drug policy and tampering with fire equipment. Master Patrol Officer Christopher Teribury.

September 3 Medical Assist/ Injury Related LOCATION: Terrace Dining Hall SUMMARY: Caller reported a female passed out, possibly had a seizure and struck the back of her head. One person transported by ambulance to CMC. Master Patrol Officer Dirk Hightchew.

Medical assist/ Illness related LOCATION: Butterfield Stadium SUMMARY: Officer reported a person tripped, fell and injured a knee. Person declined medical assistance. Master Patrol Officer Donald Lyke.

September 4 Unlawful Poss. Marijuana LOCATION: Z-Lot SUMMARY: Two people arrested for underage possession of alcohol and one of the two for unlawful possession of marijuana. These people were issued appearance tickets for the Town of Ithaca Court and restricted from the campus. Sergeant Ron Hart.

Criminal Mischief LOCATION: Terraces SUMMARY: Caller reported an unknown person broke a window. Investigation pending. Patrol Officer Jay VanVolkinburg.

Making Graffiti LOCATION: Circle Apartments SUMMARY: Officer reported male subjects spray painted graffiti on a door and fled. Investigation pending. Patrol Officer Jay VanVolkinburg.

September 5 Welfare Check LOCATION: Terraces SUMMARY: Caller reported an intoxicated female. Person was found to not be intoxicated, only upset. Irresponsible use of alcohol was unfounded. Patrol Officer George Whitmore.

Conduct Code Violation LOCATION: Terraces SUMMARY: Caller reported an unresponsive person locked in the bathroom. One person transported to CMC by ambulance and judicially referred for irresponsible use of alcohol. Sergeant James Landon.

For the complete safety log, go to www.theithacan.org/news.

Key cmc – Cayuga Medical Center CCV – College Code Violation DWI – Driving while intoxicated IFD – Ithaca Fire Department IPD – Ithaca Police Department MVA – Motor vehicle accident BAC – Blood alcohol count

and Life of American Journalism.”

The event is sponsored by the office of the Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, the Departments of Politics and Sociology, the Park School of Communications, the Legal Studies Program, Labor Initiative in Promoting Solidarity and the Park Center for Independent Media.

Professor publishes book about women in fashion

Elizabeth Sheehan, assistant professor of English, published “Cultures of Femininity in Modern Fashion,” a collection of essays that she co-edited with Ilya Parkins, professor at the University of British Columbia.

The book shows how fashion originates from diverse cultures of femininity and modernity.

Sheehan also co-wrote its introduction and contributed a chapter titled “The Face of Fashion: Race and Fantasy in James VanDerZee’s Photography and Jessie Fauset’s Fiction.”

Professors to be awarded grant for wiki curriculum

The National Endowment for the Humanities Digital Humanities’ Start-Up Grant awarded $50,000 to Michael Smith, associate professor of history and environmental studies and sciences, and Ali Erkan, associate professor of computer science, for their project “Untangling the Web of Historical Thinking: What the Structures of Student-Produced Wikis Reveal.”

The project examines students’ use of wikis and how the websites can help them gain historical knowledge

in new ways beyond wikis’ collaborative potential. The grant will be used to select and adapt an open-source software system.

Cornell University to host Jon Stewart performance Jon Stewart, comedian and host

of “The Daily Show,” will perform two shows at 7 p.m, Oct. 28 and 29 in Barton Hall.

Tickets for non-Cornell-students went on sale beginning yesterday priced at $38 reserved and $36 general admission, with a limit of four tickets per person.

Cornell director to speak about garden leadership

Elizabeth Newman Wilds, director of the Cornell University Plantations, and Donald Rakow, director of the Cornell graduate program in public garden leadership, will discuss his latest book, “Public Garden Management,” at 4 p.m. today in Mann Library at Cornell University.

Sharon Lee, co-writer of “Public Garden Management,” is the former deputy director of the American Public Gardens Association and editor of the journal “Public Garden.”

The book is a guide for establishing and running sustainable, profitable public gardens.

Cornell University holds composting workshops Cornell University launched

“Compost with Confidence,” a series of workshops sponsored by the Cornell Cooperative Extension aimed at helping people set up and

manage their own compost system.

The next sessions will be held Sept. 24 and Oct. 29 at the Ithaca Community Gardens by the entrance to the Ithaca Farmers Market.

The workshops are free.

The series covers topics centered on composting basics. The next workshop, “Stealth Composting,” will discuss how to maintain an indoor bin using a double-bin system.

It will be held at 10 a.m. Sept. 24.

“Winter Composting” will be discussed Oct. 29.

Association ranks Cornell second-best workplace The American Association of

Retired Persons has named Cornell University one of the top places to work for people more than 50 years old. Cornell placed second in a list of 50 employers. Scripps Health received the top ranking.

The university has been included in the list since 2005, the first year the award was given.

Cornell received AARP’s highest ranking in both 2008 and 2009, the only employer to do so twice.

Bookstore to host writers in non-juried local reading

Buffalo Street Books will hold their 10th Works in Progress Reading, a non-juried reading, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Sunday at Buffalo Street Books at 215 North Cayuga St. in DeWitt Mall.

The reading will feature local writers and poets such as Carol Santucci, Ginnah Howard, Alice Lichtenstein, Mary Blake, Daniel Reinhold and Melanie Bush.

Opinion

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editorials

graffiti needs lasting outlet

The Ithaca community should dedicate space to graffiti instead of covering up the art with commissioned murals painted on public buildings.

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hile sculptures and murals decorate the Ithaca community, splashes of graffiti hide behind brick buildings and beneath layers of paint, waiting for a chance to join the display.

Ithaca has a strong history of public art. Community organizations like the Ithaca Public Arts Commission provide funds to help beautify the city with this artwork. Its latest endeavor, the Mural Street Art Project, funds mural paintings on public buildings that have become tag sites for graffiti.

The most recent mural by Sean Chilson is of “Old Greeny,” the mythical Cayuga Lake beast and also the source of inspiration for one of three Ithaca College mascot finalists last spring.

Faculty members of the college’s art departments support local artists painting permanent murals in town. They believe it’s more visually pleasing than having bare walls vulnerable to graffiti tagging.

However, the blue and brown hues of Chilson’s designs, and his free-form style that resembles a more “professional” stroke than graffiti, have sparked controversy among students.

Those who identify with Chilson’s art believe the city should dedicate space for graffiti artists to display their work instead of covering it up. By creating a platform for graffiti, the city could decriminalize the art form and revive the ’70s graffiti culture.

Because the city seeks to commission artists willing to work for small amounts of money, those already invested in the community would be the most viable option. Hiring students to do the work may help reduce “bad” graffiti and encourage more applicants who won’t be turned away because of travel costs when coming to paint the murals in Ithaca.

By making greater efforts to reach out to students or even alum still invested in the arts, Ithaca can form stronger partnerships with these individuals, demonstrate an appreciation for their artwork and seek future monetary support from the community.

power strut

Feminists march in solidarity to restore the dignity of women who have been victims of sexual assault.

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ext Saturday, activists will lead a march against rape and victim blaming. “SlutWalk” will serve as a reminder that sexual assault is an act of violence that affects all people regardless of their appearance, demeanor, race or gender.

This movement not only empowers women to stand up for themselves, but also to confront the violent act of rape and rid individuals of the guilt they often feel after being violated.

As an “act of political solidarity,” the movement aims to restore female dignity that has been stripped away by the term “slut.”

Today, the inherently misogynistic phrase has created a socially constructed idea that women who dress promiscuously are “asking” to be sexually assaulted. Rather than blaming the attacked, society should critique its culture that teaches how to prevent sexual violence. We should address that these abuses are not only illegal, but also immoral.

Though the term “slut” will never go away, feminists are using it to take back their ideals. By changing the word’s meaning, it calls on society to recognize that no manner of dress begs for sexual advances. It also forces people to recognize that women demand respect for their bodies, minds and spirits.

SNAP JUDGMENT New Look What are your thoughts on the use of Sakai instead of Blackboard?

Watch more Snap Judgments at theithacan.org.

“I Like it. it seems easy enough to work around. The only thing i don’t like is that when i click some of the letters they do not say that they’ve been read.” theresa FERRANTE ‘15 CLINICAL HEALTH STUDIES

“i haven’t even been on sakai. that’s how much i like it. i can’t find it. maybe if it was easier to find i could give a positive input.” dan ackley ’14 chemistry

“it’s pretty easy to use because i have two professors using it and they always post the lectures. every time i have a new announcement i get an email about it” mehzabeen khan ‘15 business administration

“i really don’t like it at all. it’s not well organized. it’s confusing. I only have two classes that are using it, but i don’t know what’s for each class.” kristin sargoy ’14 cinema and photography

comment online.

Now you can be heard in print or on the Web.

Write a letter to the editor at ithacan@ ithaca.edu or leave a comment on commentaries and editorials at theithacan.org.

Letters must be 250 words or less, emailed or dropped off by 5 p.m. Monday in Park 269.

The Ithacan Aaron edwards editor in chief whitney faber Managing editor megan devlin opinion Editor kelsey o’connor news Editor elma Gonzalez assistant news editor erica palumbo assistant news editor kelsey fowler accent editor

“I feel like teachers should pick one or the other, so everyone should be on blackboard or on sakai.”

ANTHONY RIMOLI ’14 PHYSICAL THERAPY

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Guest commentary

SGA wants student feedback to improve campus

I

thaca College is at an important crossroads.

We’re rebranding, and we’ve created a strategic plan. While these decisions are made at the top, the people who they affect the most are frequently the students at the bottom. It’s more important than ever that as the college changes, the student voice is loud, forceful and clear.

That’s where Student Government Association comes in. We’re composed of 24 senators and six executive board members whose job it is to represent the student body to the administration. We’re reevaluating the ways that SGA does business, and we want to have the students involved.

This year, we’re looking to increase student input on big campus decisions. Many rob Flaherty administrative resolutions are currently made with little or no student voice.

Considering these decisions have a direct, tangible effect on the student body, and tuition accounts for a majority of the college’s annual revenue, SGA feels this is unfair and must be corrected.

We’re also looking to change the way SGA communicates. We hope to maintain clear lines of communication with the students that go beyond the typical posters, Ithacan ads and Facebook messages. Students can expect every senator to hold “access hours” in locations all over campus.

We’ll be at floor meetings, events and dining halls to hear what students want to see improved at the college, what SGA can do better and what new ways students can get involved in the process.

For student organizations, we have some exciting changes to our funding process: It is now entirely online. SGA Treasurer Rob Hohn created a system where groups can submit budget requests digitally, which saves paper and hassle. The process will be streamlined and will make student organizations more vibrant, involved and active.

The current executive board was elected on the promise that it would finish and present the Vehicular Transportation Proposal, the campus

CHRIS zivalich

9/11 coverage leaves out Islam

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From left, seniors Scott Nachlis, president of Student Government Association, and Eve Trojanov, vice president of academic affairs, plan with junior Rob Flaherty, vice president of communications. file photo/the ithacan

shuttle proposal. Our vice president of campus affairs is working hard to achieve that goal. If the college wants to be truly sustainable, it must free itself from the automotive culture that clogs our parking lots and pollutes our air. The shuttle is a solution to not only shortening long walks to class, but also increasing parking space while reducing our carbon footprint. The late-night service TCAT is offering this semester is one step in the right direction, but it doesn’t do enough to address these problems. Our shuttle proposal will be more comprehensive, and we feel it will do more to address the problems.

In a broader sense, we’re looking to foster a stronger Ithaca College community. We all know that the college lacks the school spirit that pervades other universities across the nation. We’re looking to fix that. One new program we have in the works would sell spirit gear to raise funds for

grants to aid students for whom the college has become unaffordable because of emergency circumstances. Kansas State University successfully piloted a similar program, K-State Proud, which could be successful here.

This is a pivotal time for the college and its students who have a unique position to influence the future of this school beyond the four years they’re here. But this can only happen by getting involved.

SGA is working to make the college a better place, but we need help from the student body. We can’t make the community better without this support.

We can’t make the student voice heard without the students. But no matter what, stay engaged, involved and active on campus.

Rob Flaherty is the vice president of communications of Student Government Association. Email him at rflaher1@ithaca.edu

Guest commentary

Underdog’s moderation may win GOP nomination

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ast Thursday, President Barack Obama released his American Jobs Act, a $447 billion package to stimulate job growth through public spending and the elimination of tax breaks for the wealthy.

When compared with the economic beliefs of leading Republican presidential candidates, who will Nikolas undoubtedly DeCosta-Klipa criticize the president’s plan for increased government spending, an ideological divide emerges.

The GOP front-runners, notably Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann, hold conservative positions on not just economic issues, but also social issues, including anti-gay rights and the denial of scientific evidence for global warming and evolution.

That being said, the GOP candidate who stands the best chance of winning the general election against Obama is currently polling in the single digits.

Jon Huntsman, former Utah governor and ambassador to China, is a moderate Republican and — with almost every other GOP candidate churning out far-right rhetoric — has the best chance of wooing independent and even Democratic votes in the national election.

political (off)-beat

From left, Republican presidential candidates Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney and Rick Perry pose before a debate Sept. 7 in California.

Jae C. Hong/associated press

Mitt Romney used to be the most prominent candidate who could attract independent votes.

But since Romney entered the race, he has repeatedly backtracked from his formerly moderate positions in an attempt to appease the GOP base, which has damaged his credibility among traditional voters.

Romney recently attacked Obama’s health care reform law, even though it’s modeled after the health care reform bill he passed in 2006 as Massachusetts’ governor.

His newly released jobs plan, his commitment to a no new taxes pledge, and his changing stance

on abortion have also put Romney ideologically in line with his other conservative opponents.

Meanwhile, Huntsman’s credentials are as good as any Republican’s.

He maintained budget surpluses in Utah and approval ratings of more than 80 percent, even with record tax cuts. The Pew Research Center named Utah the Best Managed State in America while under his control.

What makes Huntsman notable, though, is his centrism. He supports civil unions for same-sex couples and is “comfortable” with the health care law’s controversial individual mandate that requires citizens

to purchase health insurance — something that has been widely unpopular among Republicans. Like Obama, he supports simplifying the tax system by removing loopholes that give cuts to the wealthy.

Perry and Bachmann’s ultra conservatism could currently win them the Republican nomination.

However, when their contrasting ideologies come to the forefront of debate in the general election, many independents may think twice about voting for candidates with such conservative ideals, as many Americans did in light of Sarah Palin’s folksy yet fundamentalist rhetoric.

While the polls have yet to catch on, Huntsman has received attention from both sides of mainstream media. The Wall Street Journal called his jobs proposal “impressive as any to date in the GOP presidential field.” The Huffington Post labeled Huntsman as “simply too reasonable to be nominated.”

And therein may lay the problem. Huntsman is truly the lone moderate; as he is willing to compromise in a party overtaken by pledges and partisanship. Because of that, the Republican base will likely become too stubborn to stand behind its best hope for a Republican presidential victory in the 2012 election.

Nikolas DeCosta-Klipa is a sophomore journalism and politics major.

Email him at ndecost1@ithaca.edu

All opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of The Ithacan. To write a guest commentary, contact Opinion Editor Megan Devlin at 274-3208.

his year marks the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks — a nightmare that continues to haunt our country. Unfortunately, while we mourn the victims of 9/11 without question, our selective eulogizing, which has since then proliferated, silences countless Iraqi and Afghan civilians who endured an unconscionable degree of anguish throughout the past decade.

Last week, every major news outlet dedicated some kind of segment to 9/11. Mainstream journalists from top networks discussed how news gathering has changed. Other stations highlighted families who have been able to move forward since then. These selections of sources and stories have, indeed, been informative, inspiring and important in helping heal the American people.

However, the palpable exclusion of Iraqi and Afghan families from most major U.S. media coverage prevents us from coming to grips with the reality of 9/11 and its impact on global warfare, counterterrorism policies and foreign relations.

According to conservative estimates from The Associated Press, civilian causalities in the Iraq and Afghanistan military operations are at least 35 times higher than the number of Americans killed in the attacks.

Most despicably, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, neither of which the U.N. Security Council approved, illustrate the irresponsibility of Washington officials.

Their “heat of the moment” strategies left behind a trail of collapsed communities and impoverished people. Yet we rarely hear about those who have suffered from our bloated defense department.

There is no excuse for little coverage of Afghan or Iraqi perspectives on the war. We need to listen to Muslim families who have experienced discrimination because of our post-9/11 tendency to associate al-Qaida with all 1.5 billion subscribers of Islam.

The news seems to have exhausted its resources in narrating how 9/11 affected our nation.

But when it routinely leaves out entire populations who have lost thousands of family members, resources and credibility, critical journalists fail to truly capture the essence of violent conflict.

The voices of those whose homes serve as war boundaries deserve to be heard and become part of our national political discourse.

It is our duty as proponents of democracy and freedom to value all perspectives and experiences.

To ignore voices that pose the risk of painting a more disturbing picture of U.S. hegemony is to only perpetuate the negative stereotype that Americans don’t care about what their country does. chris zivalich is a senior journalism major. Email him at czivalich1@ithaca.edu

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Carrying the beat Junior gets campus grooving with boom box

By Allie HEALY Staff Writer

Junior Ellis Williams often carries Betty White between classes, waving to passersby as he strolls along the sidewalks of Ithaca College.

He isn’t toting around the “Golden Girls” star, but rather his large, gold Lasonic-931 boom box, Betty, playing music for everyone to hear.

Freshman Sierra Council smiled when she first heard him on the academic quad last Friday.

“It’s so Ellis,” she said. “He’s a big guy with a big boom box.”

Williams noticed headphones were increasing in size and popularity among the student body and decided he wanted to share his music. After getting the boom box as a gift on Valentine’s Day, Williams decided to start carrying it on the first sunny day in spring of last year.

“I felt like music was becoming an individualistic experience,” he said. “What I aim to do is to disrupt that.”

Williams roams the campus at least a From left, junior Ellis Williams and sophomore Henry Halse attend a couple of times a day with his boom Brothers 4 Brothers meeting Friday. Williams serves as co-president. box. The flashy gold box has Rachel Orlow/The Ithacan plenty of colorful buttons crossed the bridge and passed sophomore Rachel Gropper, and knobs, but Williams decided to name it after a dain- who was sitting on the railing while talking on the phone.

“I hope I’m not interrupting your conversation,” Williams said. ty, classic woman.

Gropper shook her head with a smile and said, “Don’t worry “My friends wanted me to name her ‘Magnum,’ but I about it. I was just telling my mom about you.”

When he isn’t strolling the sidewalks with Betty, Williams thought that was too vulgar,” he said. “Since she’s my golden is busy with his major in television-radio and three minors: African diaspora, scriptwriting and speech communication. girl, I thought ‘Betty While education remains significant to Williams, he is also White’ was only appropriate.” involved on campus as the Brothers 4 Brothers co-president, While Williams blared “Nothin’ Hear more a junior class senator on the Student Government Association On You” by B.o.B featuring Bruno from Ellis and a member of the Urban Mentorship Initiative. He hopes Mars on Friday, the welcoming Williams at theithacan.org to have future involvement with the South Side Community responses began to flow in. As a friend came into sight, Williams began to groove Center, WICB and ICTV. Going on their third year with Brothers 4 Brothers, Williams toward him, striking a pose every now and then.

He stopped and stretched out Superman style, and junior Tom Ransom have taken the reigns as the newly inducted co-presidents. Ransom said he was one of the first people boom box still in hand.

“People stop me to ask me about a song or artist to hear Williams with his boom box.

“Last March he told me to look out for him on Monday,” because they like that, particularly on Fridays,” he Ransom said. “I asked why, but he just said to just wait. I was said. “I feel like I’m doing something right.”

Williams has come to be known across cam- wearing my big headphones while walking to class and all of pus as “the kid with the boom box.” He gets nods a sudden I heard this bumping over my own music. I heard of recognition from students he passes, some Ellis before I saw him.”

Williams has started bringing his music to Brothers 4 singing along to the song he’s playing.

Music has played a large role in his life, wheth- Brothers meetings, too. Before the meeting begins, members pass the boom box around and change the song on the er the boom box was by his side or not.

“When I was 11, my grandfather would pick iPod docked into the middle of the counsel. Though batteryme up from middle school, and he would play operated and portable, Williams makes sure to plug in the a lot of funk and soul,” he said. “That was the boom box before everyone settles down — lose power, lose foundation. Then my mother would clean up the groove.

Both Williams and Ransom are looking to efficiently creon Sundays with the Princes and Black Street ate a close-knit community with the male students involved. playing. I was surrounded.”

Hoping that someday his efforts and hard work will pay Though he plays many genres of music, Williams likes to stick to hip-hop and R&B off, Williams dreams of becoming the first black host of the from different eras. Oftentimes his boom “Tonight Show.” But he still debates whether his boom box box will bellow music by artists such as will be in hand alongside his briefcase while commuting to Michael Jackson, Rick James, Notorious his future job. He smirked at the thought.

“If society was ready for that,” he said.

B.I.G. and Tupac. But if he had to choose his favorite artists, Williams said he finds himself unable to settle on just one.

“First I’d have to go with the Temptations,” he said. “Then Michael Top 5 playlist Jackson. For the ’90s, I definitely have 1) “Otis” by Kanye West and Jay-Z to go with Tupac, and then 2011, I’d 2) “Live This Life” by Big Sean have to say Kanye West and Jay-Z. 3) “Casanova” by Levert Most of the time I start my day 4) “I Like” by Guy off with ‘Otis.’”

5) “On Our Own” by Bobby Brown As he continued to blast his favorite jams, turning To send a song request into the Lower Quad to Williams on Fridays, near Eastman Hall, tweet him @blakonciousness Williams with the hashtag #boomboxfridays

“

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Rachel Orlow/THe Ithacan

[ a cc e ntuate]

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Ithaca is...

Local Food Assistant accent editor shea o’meara shares some venues for locally grown food

Bandwagon Brewpub Located on the Commons, the Bandwagon Brewpub is one of Ithaca’s most recognized breweries. The pub serves beef grown in the area and cures its own bacon from local pork. www.bandwagonbeer.com

Sounds like summer

Tse-Yin (Ingrid) Tu, vice president of Cornell University’s Japan­­-US Association, plays drums Saturday during Ennichi, a Japanese summer festival sponsored by the group. The event included cultural food and performances by Cornell musicians and artists.

rachel woolf/the ithacan

c

The Piggery Deli The Piggery Deli on Route 13 in Ithaca is owned by Trumansburg pig farmers and serves meats, eggs and cheese from farms in the area. www.thepiggery.net

Felicia’s Atomic Lounge For locavores who want to both eat and drink products produced near Ithaca, Felicia’s Atomic Lounge near the Commons offers cocktails made with fruit from local farms. www.atomicloungeithaca.com

blast past

Popular athletic apparel company Sells throwback shoes for charity

from the

OOPS!

Top rappers arrested

While Nike may spend most of its time designing gear for people who are moving forward, the company’s newest shoe is for those stuck in the past.

The 2011 Nike MAG is a replica of the shoe Michael J. Fox wore in the hit 1989 film “Back to the Future Part II.” While this battery-operated version doesn’t magically tie itself, it does light up for five hours. Last Thursday, the company released 1,500 pairs of the 2011 MAG to be auctioned online. All proceeds, and a $50 million donation from Nike, will benefit the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. These shoes may be a thing of the past, but they’re helping brighten the future.

— Shea O’Meara

omg!

celebrity

Popular Reality TV SHow MOM plays cupid for her daughter

It’s no secret that Kris Jenner, the mother from the reality TV show “Keeping Up With the Kardashinas” tends to meddle in her daughters’ love lives. But with all of her older children in steady relationships, Jenner decided it’s time to play matchmaker for her 15-year-old daughter, Kendall. Though pop sensation Justin Bieber is busy gushing to the press about his ongoing romance with fellow pop star Selena Gomez, Jenner is determined to be Kendall’s wingwoman. She invited Bieber to Kim Kardashian’s wedding last month in hopes he and Kendall would hit it off. Lending a helping hand to a daughter in need is one thing, but trying to sabotage a relationship is just plain trashy.

— Benjii Maust

quoteunquote Even when I was a kid, I used to run around naked with the babysitter — driving her crazy.

— Lady Gaga to “Harper’s Bazaar” on her love of being naked as a child, which caused problems with her caretakers.

Houston rappers Paul Wall and Baby Bash were arrested Sunday for drug possession in El Paso, Texas. The duo was in town to perform at the Summer Jam 2011, a concert featuring popular hip-hop artists, and allegedly had less than two ounces of marijuana when officers brought them to the station. The rappers were released on bail after spending about 12 hours in the precinct and paying a $300 bond. Wall posted a photo of himself and Bash in a police cruiser and tweeted, “Fresh out the El Paso County jail wit @BabyBash @BIGGROY in the same tank they held Willie Nelson/Johnny Cash.” The law isn’t getting this pair down.

—Shea O’Meara

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Lip dub ready to rock with second attempt feels the original lip synch captured school spirit and enthusiasm, but With wild dance moves and dy- did not reflect the creators’ ideal vinamic school pride, students will sion. The long route, for example, put their best lip-synching skills made the campus seem somewhat forward to capture the spirit of the empty, and the video ran for a Ithaca College community ­— in less lengthy eight minutes.

“There’s a capacity for Ithaca to than four minutes.

This Sunday, students will come do so much better,” he said.

This Lip Dub will benefit from together for IC Lip Dub Part II, a follow-up to last May’s version. A lip dub fresh talent: a new director, junior is a video that features participants Joe Killeen, and a creative contributor, senior Jimmy Knowles. lip-synching to a pre-selected song.

Killeen said he believes the larger In the original version at the college, about 150 students lip-synched staff will impact the final product in to a medley of ’90s songs while run- a positive way.

“When you have more people ning all the way from IC Square to the statue above Textor Hall. The creative at the table, more things are being team behind Lip Dub II is striving to thrown around, more things can get done, and better ideas are always born outdo their efforts from last spring.

Junior Rob Flaherty, executive from it,” he said.

The video will feature “I Believe in producer of the project, said he a Thing Called Love” by The Darkness. It runs just over three and a half minutes.

Killeen said he is excited about taking on the song.

“It’s an upbeat song, easy to infuse with energy and excitement,” he said.

The lip dub will also incorporate To view the first IC Lip Dub, visit theithacan.org.

Online Lip Dub II films noon Sunday at Textor Ball. a narrative.

By Janet Early Staff Writer

Then-sophomore Wade Ferrari captures the final crowd shot during last spring’s IC Lip Dub. He is returning to work the camera for the second lip dub this Sunday. “Lip Dub II” will include four separate locations across campus.

Courtesy of Jacob Lifschultz

As the lyrics express growing affection, a prospective student, played by sophomore Dylan Van Arsdale, will be shown exploring areas of the college. “[He] is infatuated and ultimately falls in love with all that this campus has to offer,” Killeen said.

This Lip Dub will be done in four shots: the Dillingham fountains, the tc lounge, the new Athletics and Events Center and Muller Chapel. The first Lip Dub was done in one unedited shot.

Knowles said the new spots will enhance the video’s appeal.

“Those four areas kind of highlight our campus the best and really show it off to a percent of students,

to alumni,” Knowles said. “It’s going to be something that people are going to want to see.”

The Lib Dub staff hopes to attract a significant percentage of the student body. Unlike the original, which was scheduled the week before finals, this lip synch occurs only weeks into the semester, a time the producers see as prime for students eager to embrace a sense of school pride. Senior Sheraz Iqbal, a contributing member of the Lip Dub staff, said he enjoys the enthusiastic atmosphere.

“I love doing it because everyone has so much energy and it’s just a crazy fun environment that everyone wants to be in,” he said.

This time around, there will be no prior rehearsals. Instead, participants can expect a brief run-through when they arrive before jumping into the action.

“It’s an opportunity for students to come out, show off how much they love this school, to have fun — to be a part of something that they may not be a part of [otherwise],” Flaherty said.

Sophomore Samantha Giraud participated in the IC Lip Dub last spring, and urged fellow students to join in the excitement.

“Bring your school spirit,” she said. “Wear yellow and blue, or a crazy costume. Don’t be afraid to act crazy — it’s all part of the fun.”

Professor writes national best-seller bears down not only on her characters’ emotional world, but on the sort of depth of their soul.

Fierce passion and an unparalleled deter- There is a tremendous amount of inventiveness mination are characteristics shared by both the and boldness in that I really like.”

The writing process was long and meticupeople in Eleanor Henderson’s debut novel “Ten lous, Henderson said. She spent the last nine Thousand Saints” and the author herself.

Since the book was published June 7, years working on multiple drafts of “Ten Thousand Saints,” which she Henderson, assistant started in graduate school. professor of writing With one hand Teddy Henderson, a Florida naat Ithaca College, has balanced the bud on the tive, graduated with a B.A. experienced a whirlindentation of the can, over in American Literature/ wind of accolades and the perforations Jude had Creative Writing in 2001 acknowledgement, made with a paper clip, lit from Middlebury College, quickly making the it with the other, and like a and an M.F.A. in Fiction in transition from college player of some barnyard in2005 from the University of professor to a nationstrument, he put his lips to the Virginia. ally recognized author. mouth of the can and inhaled.

Henderson said while “I still feel like the the first draft focused on same writer I was,” she From “Ten Thousand Saints” the perspective of the main said. “But I feel lucky to character, a 16-year-old have some exposure, and boy living in New York City, the second draft the whole experience really feels like a dream.”

A professor at the college since August 2010, introduced other points of view to the novel, Henderson received her book deal with Harper expanding the perspectives.

“Even though in the end it was somewhat Collins/Ecco for “Ten Thousand Saints” three torturous to spend so much time with these days after she was hired at the college.

In the book, the main character, Jude, loses characters, I’m really glad I spent so much time his best friend, Teddy, to a drug overdose. Jude with the book because ... it made it a better decides to pursue a straight-edge lifestyle to book,” she said.

Jack Wang, associate professor and chair of cope with Teddy’s death. Henderson said her husband’s experience with the straight-edge the writing department, said he could not be movement in 1980s New York City inspired more proud of Henderson’s success.

“She is someone for whom very little escapes the novel.

Henderson’s book has garnered notable notice,” he said. “She takes a small moment and success, including a rave review from New really explodes it into something really finely York Times reviewer Stacey D’Erasmo in observed, and that is what is most impressive June. While Henderson received many posi- about her as a writer.”

Wang said Henderson’s writing ability and tive reviews, D’Erasmo’s praise helped place influence on campus has brought attention to “Ten Thousand Saints” on the national map.

D’Erasmo said she instantly connected with both the college and the writing department.

“We’ve talked for a long time about raising Henderson’s novel because she was intrigued by the profile to the national level, and having peothe beauty and exuberance of the writing.

“She’s a thick writer, she’s a dense writer, she’s ple recognize the kinds of writers and the kinds an imagistic writer,” D’Erasmo said. “She really of program we have at Ithaca College,” he said.

BY Jesse Maeshiro Staff Writer

“

”

Eleanor Henderson, author of the best-selling book “Ten Thousand Saints” and an assistant professor of writing at Ithaca College, reads her book Tuesday in her office at the college.

Dan States/The Ithacan

“It means a lot that there’s a national spotlight on one of our faculty members.”

Henderson spent most of June in 14 different cities on a publicity tour. Despite this claim to fame, she said that her heart still lies in teaching.

“There are a lot of writers who would like to live on writing alone and that would be nice, but I have a passion for teaching and I like to talk to my students about what I love which is crafting stories,” she said. “Even if I could retire by 33, I would still want to go back into the classroom and be able to work with my students.”

Senior Mitchell Cohen, one of Henderson’s students, said she has an incredible influence at the college, both as a writer and a professor.

“As a writer, she is amazing and the book speaks for itself,” he said. “She really is also one of my favorite professors. She’s always willing

to work with people to make them a better writer, and I really appreciate that.”

Currently, Henderson is working on her second novel. When she’s not writing, taking care of her two children or working as a professor, Henderson spends her time gardening, cooking and frequenting the Ithaca Farmers Market.

As Henderson closes this chapter in her writing career, D’Erasmo said she foresees big things on the horizon in Henderson’s future.

“It definitely feels like one of those books that’s really from the heart, really from within,” she said. “I wish her the best, and she obviously has tremendous determination and drive so I’m figuring the future’s looking really good for her.”

Henderson will give a reading at 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 5 in Clark Lounge.

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Readers’Theatre captures emotional tribulations

BY Lucy Walker Staff Writer

In “Frozen,” a play centered on human interaction, actors explore challenging social issues without once interacting physically with each other.

The Readers’ Theatre of Ithaca will present the play, which follows Nancy (Anne If you Go Marie Cummings), a “Frozen” British mother whose When: 8 p.m.

10-year-old daughter Friday and disappears. After introSaturday, ductory monologues, 6:30 p.m.

Sunday her life intertwines Where: The with Agnetha (Judith Space, 700 W. Andrew), who studies Buffalo St. serial killers in England, How much: $12 and Ralph (Ruby Max Fury), the man who kidnapped, molested and killed her daughter.

The Readers’ Theatre’s staging of the play, like the group’s previous productions, uses only chairs and music stands. The three actors read their lines off scripts in binders. Next to them, Zachary Sweet plays the cello and Payal Ballaya reads the stage directions aloud.

The actors use only a suitcase, phone and child’s toy for props, miming a laptop, cup of water and service button on an airplane. In the first act, the actors mostly face the audience, even when speaking with each other.

As the show reaches its climax in the second act, they talk face-to-face for important moments, but even physical interactions are pantomimed separately.

Non-existent scenery, simple lighting, minimal costuming and a lack of blocking allow all the performers to concentrate on their goal: conveying the substance of the script without extra frills. This approach, however, leaves the audience to decide critical points for themselves.

Andrew said she admires how the staging pushes audience members.

“I like the fact that it makes us and the audience wait to see any connection until Act Two,” she said. “It’s strange not to move around.”

She said having scripts on stage is a safety net more than a crutch, but she hopes to memorize a few more scenes before the premiere. Fury said he is working to get through scenes without looking at the script, which he said will make his brutal character more thrilling to watch in performance.

“It’s a wonderful challenge to work between a performance and reading,” Fury said.

Cummings, artistic director of the Readers’ Theatre, said the compelling script pushed her to produce “Frozen” as the opening show of the season. She said its monologue-centric nature lends itself to the understated drama of The Readers’ Theatre while bringing important issues to the forefront of the production.

“I picked it because I read it in [the early] 2000s… [Then] my friend directed it,” she said.

“Educational and entertaining, it taught me something about criminals.”

The play was first performed in England in 1998 and made it to Broadway in 2004, when it was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play. Despite critically positive reviews, not many new productions have been staged because of the subject matter. But that’s exactly what drew Cummings to the show.

“I like plays that combine everything,” she said. “It’s not dead entertainment, but thought-provoking — a different opinion on things we don’t like to think about.”

Cummings directs the show with the assistance of Tim Perry. In the development period, she also led the work on character accents. The rehearsal period for this production was slightly longer than the usual few meetings for the style due to the accents and sensitive nature of the plot. During the final rehearsals and performances, Perry will supervise the runs with Alex Crenshaw, stage manager, and offer constructive criticism to the actors, since Cummings needs to remain in character.

From left, Nancy (Anne Marie Cummings), Ralph (Ruby Max Fury) and Agnetha (Judith Andrew) star in “Frozen,” a play about the kidnapping of Nancy’s daughter and the despair that follows.

Courtesy of Anne Marie Cummings

All the players said they found themselves captivated by the story and characters.

For Ballaya, the play depicts something she deals with every day. As a professional therapist for 35 years, she has worked with perpetrators, victims and families, like the character Agnetha.

Andrew said she appreciates the many overlapping themes of the play.

“It’s so complicated,” she said. “The characters are all so vivid and multilayered. As an actor, that is so wonderful.”

The actors, with experience acting throughout the Ithaca area and beyond, approached their roles differently.

Andrew researched Dorothy Otnow Lewis, the psychiatrist who her character is based on, to understand her personal and professional life and how they affected each other. She said

her performance strives to exemplify the stress of such work and ultimately makes Agnetha a lovable, but obstinate character.

Fury came to the Readers’ Theatre looking for greater opportunity and found himself playing an electrifying character.

“I love Ralph,” Fury said. “I love that he doesn’t know how damaged he is. He looks at the other side of the coin of deviance, but only because he got caught. That’s why he becomes sympathetic.”

Even with the compelling characters, it’s the weighty ideas brought up during the play that will remain with audience members long after the curtain falls, Andrew said.

“I like the controversy of it,” she said. “I don’t like safe or boring plays. There are controversial theories and ideas that will draw people to it.”

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Midwest art forms disjointed exhibit

thursday

by whitney faber managing editor

The figure is one of the most fundamental parts of human existence. Artists spend lifetimes studying it. They learn its different lines, angles, curves and shades. Then they spend the rest of their career drawing, painting and experimenting, all just to find ways of interpreting it.

The latest exhibit at the Handwerker Gallery displays this eternal quest and all its “The Figure” possibilities. The exhibit, called Handwerker Gallery “The Figure,” is a guest exhibition created by the Midwest Paint Group. It’s a disconnected hodgepodge of works that explore the human body.

The collection is missing a clear perspective and vision of the body — an inherent effect of showcasing so many artists — but is nonetheless an interesting look at all that can be created when an artist looks at the human form.

The display of the pieces has an appealing flow. The exhibit begins to the left of the gallery with drawings done on paper with charcoal

by Glen Cebulash, Lester Goldman and George Rose. These pieces are abstract and full of dark slashing lines to the point that push the onlooker to search for the faces and bodies among them. In one moment it’s all clear, but if the observer loses focus in the next, the figure is gone.

The collection progresses to the works of Jeremy Long on the back wall. Done with oil on canvas, his most prominently presented pieces are an exploration of one woman — Colleen.

The first and third painting are composed in a Van-Gogh-reminiscent style, with thick brush strokes and globs of paint on the canvas. The subject is plain, but the artist’s style carries the piece. The viewer is drawn into following each stroke’s progression through the painting.

The most striking of Long’s work is “Colleen in Hammock.” In this piece, Colleen lies relaxed on a hammock, surrounded by absurdity: A man and a boy hold the cloth of the hammock, a woman plays a flute and a man walks down into a hall. Despite these distractions, the viewer is drawn into the center of the painting, where the artist has painted himself staring at Colleen. His eyes are piercing as he looks only at her. Though the painting is not

Xiu Xiu is an experimental indie band playing at the State Theatre. The performance begins at 9 p.m. Tickets are $10.

friday

Art Review

Appetizer Potluck with Kate Payne is hosted by Buffalo Street Books in the Dewitt Mall. Payne is the author of “The Hip Girl’s Guide to Homemaking,” a book of do-it-yourself tips for household crafts. The workshop begins at 6 p.m. Admission is free.

Live Jazz Happy Hour is a night of live music with no cover charge at The Oasis Dance Club. Swing dance lessons are available at 5:45 p.m. for $5 per person, and the bands begin at 6:30 p.m.

Junior Brian Chick looks at artist Jeremy Long’s “Colleen Folding Laundry,” an oil painting on canvas.

The piece is featured in the Handwerker Gallery’s exhibit “The Figure,” which will run until Oct. 17.

Jordana Jarrett/the ithacan

necessarily an interpretation of figure, it is still a worthwhile piece.

Moving through the gallery, the rest of the works are well-done, but are not particularly striking, until the painting by artist Glen Cebulash called “Three Figures.” As expected from its title, the piece is perfect for the exhibition’s theme. A large oil on canvas abstract painting, it is most intriguing in its simplicity. Up close, the painting shows a mess of pastel cubes in peach, green, pink tan and other skin-like colors. But from a few steps back, the forms of three women appears. Without any true markers of the human body, the three bodies are clear.

The exhibit continues with a mix of abstract and impressionist paintings of nudes, with three self-portraits of George Rose added to the mix.

Though these seem a little random among the rest of the full-body subjects, they aren’t without merit as individual works.

At the back of the gallery, the works by Michael Neary are some of the most appealing deviations.

His pieces — “Last Drop,” “Deb Standing” and “Nude on Green Cushions” — are executed with a real playfulness. They are painted with the forms of reality shifted ever-so-slightly, with the people’s faces distorted and their bodies in strange proportions.

With the pieces on the final wall, the collection ends just as it began, with small drawings made mostly with charcoal on paper.

Combining so many artists’ works, “The Figure” has many different perspectives to offer. However, as a collection, it lacks a congruency of vision, though the pieces have individual merit and make up an intriguing exhibit.

“The Figure” is on display until Oct. 17 at the Handwerker Gallery. Admission is free and open to the public.

Staff Writer

In its newly released fourth album, “Night Shades,” Cobra Starship hides its typically quirky and catchy lyrics, infamous guitar riffs and complementing keyboards in a mix of bumping beats.

Cobra While club-goers Starship “Night may be wearing Shades” sunglasses at night, Fueled By the band’s older fans Ramen may be using them to Our rating: hide a tear or two.

HH Cobra Starship’s new album shows a transformation from alternative rock to a technical sound with only a hint of rock influence. The shift started when the band’s 2009 hit “Good Girls Go Bad” steadily

Album Review

pulsed through the airwaves targeting mainstream listeners. “Night Shades” continues to appeal to the masses as it romanticizes the glamour and glitz of the party girl lifestyle.

Following its previous spunky, neon-fused album, “Hot Mess,” the band highlights the powerful vocals of Gabe Saporta, lead vocalist, and also brings outside talent aboard.

In the album’s hit single “You Make Me Feel…,” Sabi, Starship’s featured female vocalist, duets with Saporta.

Sabi mimics the style of American singer and actress Leighton Meester, who was featured in “Good Girls Go Bad,” as the prowling nightclub siren.

Also in the line-up, the heated second track, “Middle Finger,” features popular college rapper Mac Miller.

While this might seem like an odd

saturday

International Peace Festival is a celebration for global cooperation located on the grounds of St. Catherine’s of Siena Parish. The festival begins at 3 p.m. and admission is $5.

sunday

Founder’s Day Concert in the Park is hosted by the Friends of Ithaca College. The Ithaca College Wind Ensemble will perform a program inspired by the Wild West. The concert will be begin at 2 p.m. and will be held in Dewitt Park. Admission is free.

Mr. Carter breaks tradition

Soaring alternative band attempts electronic sound

by Allie healy

hot dates

by robert rivera staff writer

Courtesy of fueled by ramen

duo at first, Miller acts as the Robin to Saporta’s Batman, and the two complement each other with ease throughout the song.

The too-perky track “#1 Nite” oddly mimics Taio Cruz with repetitive lyrics and a simplistic chorus that shows the band’s love affair with the nightlife and lack of originality.

Starship’s attempt to revamp its sound falls flat, and the band’s longtime fans may find themselves leaving their shades at home.

After more than a year of incarceration, Lil Wayne is back with a new album that shows prison doesn’t always reform people for the better.

In “Tha Carter IV,” Wayne tries to shatter his bad-boy image by focusing some songs on his emotions, but Lil Wayne fails to retire his “Tha Carter misogynist attiIV” tude throughout Cash Money the entire album.

Records Wayne shows Our rating: compassion in H his song “How to Love,” an acoustic love ballad that clashes with Wayne’s usually brash style. The track is epitomized by the lines: “I just want you to know/ That you deserve the best/ You’re beautiful.” Though this song is

Album Review

both catchy and surprisingly beautiful, it’s a stand-alone track in a sea of clichéd raps where Wayne brags about how materialistic he is.

The 28-year-old’s newest release shows he does not have the skills or fresh ideas to survive in the rap industry for much longer.

Wayne’s catchphrase “Weezy F. Baby” is scattered through most of his music, and this time, the “F” stands for failure.

Courtesy of cash money Records

quickies “Apokalypsis”

“Mirror Traffic”

“Still Living”

With an opening track that begins with a blood-curdling scream, Chelsea Wolfe’s new album “Apokalypsis” explores mortality, global poverty and the existence of innocence with distorted music and hissing vocals.

While Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks have years of experience in the studio, their new album “Mirror Traffic” lacks the clarity and polish expected from professional musicians.

In their new album “Still Living,” the indie-rock band Ganglians trades in the dark, rocker sound heard in its first release for a beachy, light tone more fitting for its Northern California roots.

Chelsea Wolfe Pendu Sound Recordings

courtesy oF Pendu Sound Recordings

Ganglians Lefse Records

Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks Matador Records

courtesy of Matador Records

courtesy oF Lefse Records

compiled by Shea O’Meara

A ccen t

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Action flick wins with knock-out story [ Convincing stunts and brotherly love shed light on violent sport bY michael reyes

]

valid friday through thursday

cinemapolis The Commons 277–6115

Contributing writer

While a grade-school teacher and his estranged brother may not seem like they’d stand a chance in the violent world “Warrior” of Mixed Martial Lions Gate Arts, “Warrior” Features comes through as Our rating: a believable film HHH that exemplifies the heart and passion of highly-ranked professional fighters.

Directed and written by Gavin O’Connor, “Warrior” is the story of Tommy (Tom Hardy) and his brother Brendan (Joel Edgerton) who compete in “Sparta,” a world- championship grand prix to name the greatest middleweight MMA fighter. Tommy, a retired Marine, seeks help from his father (Nick Nolte), a recovering alcoholic, to train him for the tournament. Brendan, a fighter-turned-physics-teacher, faces foreclosure on his house after being suspended from his job for participating in local fights for extra cash. Despite strong opposition from his wife (Jennifer Morrison), he decides to train with his ex-coach (Frank Grillo) for a chance to win the Sparta fight purse.

O’Connor’s script successfully takes the tale of a torn family and merges it with the high-stress, violent life of a championship fighter to create an entertaining and emotionally fulfilling film.

The beginning is a bit slow and convoluted with scenes dedicated to Nolte’s bland performance as a father trying to obtain forgiveness from his sons. These moments

ticket stub

bellflower 7:20 p.m. and 9:25 p.m. and Weekends 2:20 p.m. and 4:25 p.m.

Film Review

the whistleblower 7:25 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. and Weekends 2:25 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. another earth 9:10 p.m. and Weekends 4:10 p.m. sarah’s key 7:05 p.m. and Weekends 2:05 p.m. midnight in paris 7:15 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. and Weekends 2:15 p.m. and 4:15 p.m.

From left, brothers Tommy (Tom Hardy) and Brendan (Joel Edgerton) compete in Sparta, a major mixed martial arts competition. They must work through family issues and personal barriers to become top fighters and win the purse.

Courtesy of lions gate features

drag on with repetitive apologies that create no lasting sympathy for the character. But “Warrior” still manages to hit the right beats and provides an incredible climax during the Sparta tournament.

O’Connor cleverly creates conflict between the brothers, instead of the typical and overused dilemma of which character will win the competition. This provides interesting insight into the minds of the athletes and creates a more meaningful film.

Tommy is a loner and remains mysterious for most of the film, and his quiet character contrasts with his dynamic older brother.

Brendan is a family man, a charismatic high school teacher and surprisingly capable in the cage.

The brothers show the nuances in the personalities of professional MMA fighters.

“Warrior” is not only a riveting film, it is a fair representation of the sport of MMA. Previous movies based on MMA, such as the 2008’s “Never Back Down” portray the sport with unrealistic kung fu flashiness. O’Connor took great care in approaching the sport with precise realism. At some points the fight scenes are so well done that it seems to be a live showing of a real Ultimate Fighting Championship

Complex story echoes past era

match, rather than a choreographed sequence. O’Connor’s sensitivity to the accuracy of the sport is admirable and makes the film believable.

While “Warrior” does have some kinks in its pacing — which result in long drawn out scenes that tend to bore — at its core the movie is highly entertaining and emotionally fulfilling. The film speaks truthfully about what it means to be a fighter with little theatric exaggeration and has the potential to be for MMA what films like “Rocky” and “Raging Bull” were for boxing.

“Warrior” was written and directed by Gavin O’Connor.

Conventional ideas damage sci-fi story By james hasson staff writer

By chloe wilson contributing writer

The CIA’s killer spy reputation may be a thing of the past, but “The Debt” is a captivating, intelligent thriller and a reminder of the ruthlessness that pervaded the spy world during the Cold War era.

Adapted from the 2007 Israeli film “Ha-Hov,” “The Debt’” follows Rachel Singer, one of three “The Debt” Mossad operatives sent to appreFocus Features hend a Nazi war criminal during Our rating: the Cold War. The film begins HHH1/2 decades later in 1997, when a middle-aged Rachel (Helen Mirren) learns the mission that made her famous may not have gone exactly as she remembers it. The film then flashes back to 1960s Berlin to reveal the younger, little-known Rachel (Jessica Chastain) working with fellow spies David (Sam Worthington) and Stephan (Tom Wilkinson). The film switches between eras to reveal what really happened during the mission and uses the characters’ struggle with the falsehoods in their own pasts to show the burden of living a lie. With its intriguing story line and adventurous appeal, “The Debt” is a smart thriller that benefits from a talented technical team.

The film stays true to the action-thriller genre — Rachel is slammed facedown into a heater during the film’s opening minutes ­— but adds artful, character-building scenes to create a balance between the action sequences and powerful story line.

The well-constructed cinematography has a gray-and-blue color scheme that mirrors the alienation of living as a spy and having to hide one’s true identity from the world. The shots of large spaces with few people add to this feeling of loneliness, while the overall darkness of the film reflects the weighted themes of morality and

consequence the story deals with.

The film’s major flaw is the lack of distinction between David and Stephan, which makes it hard to become attached to any character except Rachel — who is easy to spot as the only female central to the story. By the time the film fully distinguishes between the two male leads, it is almost over and may make the viewer feel like they missed an important part of the film.

“The Debt” fills a spot for intellectual actionthrillers that today’s movie selection consistently leaves empty. And, as a historic film, it opens a window to a way of life that cannot be experienced in the modern world.

“Apollo 18” takes elements from every horror movie with that handheld-camera look in the past decade and sends them to the moon in a new sci-fi thriller that fails to launch.

In the film, NASA astronauts Benjamin Anderson (Warren Christie) and Nathan Walker (Lloyd Owen) are sent to the moon “Apollo 18” to install surveillance equipApollo 18 ment for the government.

Productions When they are disrupted Our rating: by alien creatures they must H1/2 fight to survive and escape.

Director Gonzalo López-Gallego proves he has little experience and no finesse with the horror genre. Despite dwelling in the realm of sci-fi horror, “Apollo 18” crams in tropes from supernatural horror films that make the film seem like a cheap re-hashing of other, more effective films. López-Gallego uses strange sounds and electronic voices as part of the film’s sound track, though they don’t fit its mood or genre.

The effect becomes predictable and annoying and adds nothing to the story.

López-Gallego attempts to create a scene where Walker is possessed by an alien, but the astronaut only acts mildly paranoid and becomes the target of a few gross effects when the infection spreads through his body.

The film fails to provide anything worth watching, and the only lasting connection between the audience and the marooned, hunted astronauts is that both may want to escape.

“The Debt” was adapted by Matthew Vaughn, Jane Goldman and Peter Straughan and directed by John Madden.

“Apollo 18” was directed by Gonzalo López-Galleg and written by Cary Goodman and Brian Miller.

Film Review

Film Review

From left, Rachel (Jessica Chastain) and David (Sam Worthington) work to catch a war criminal.

Courtesy oF focus features

regal stadium 14 Pyramid Mall 266-7960

i don’t know how she does it 2:50 p.m., 5:40 p.m., 8:10 p.m., 10:30 p.m. the lion king 3-d 12:40 p.m., 3 p.m., 7:40 p.m., 10 p.m. the lion king 2 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 7 p.m. straw dogs 1:10 p.m., 1:50 p.m., 4:50 p.m., 6:40 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 10:30 p.m.

Buck larson: Born to be a star 2:20 p.m., 5:10 p.m., 8 p.m., 10:35 p.m. contagion 2:10 p.m., 4 p.m., 4:40 p.m., 7:10 p.m., 9:10 p.m., 9:50 p.m. warrior HHH 12:50 p.m., 3:55 p.m., 7:05 p.m., 10:15 p.m.

Shark night 3-d 9:40 p.m. the debt HHH1/2 1:40 p.m., 4:20 p.m., 6:50 p.m., 9:20 p.m. colombiana H1/2 3:45 p.m., 9:30 p.m. our idiot brother 2:30 p.m., 5 p.m., 8:20 p.m., 10:40 p.m. the Help 1 p.m., 4:10 p.m., 7:20 p.m., 10:25 p.m.

Rise of the planet of the apes 1:20 p.m., 3:40 p.m., 6:20 p.m., 9 p.m.

cornell cinema 104 Willard Straight Hall 255-3522

For more information, visit http://cinema.cornell.edu.

our ratings Excellent HHHH Good HHH Fair HH Poor H

2 0 The It hacan

for rent Aug. 1 2012-2013 2 story 6 bedroom furnished house on Prospect St. 2 full bath 2 kitchens 2 living rooms bar fireplace 8 private parkings front porch 607-233-4323 or mfe1@tweny.rr.com 2 Bedroom House for rent close to IC available now 273-5192 or 592-0152 2012-13 Two Bedroom, 201 West King Rd. Carpeted, quiet setting but close to IC, dumpster, “we love pets,”parking, yard, grill, internet available, furnished, $495 per person+ utilities available 8/1/12, 607-279-3090 e-mail livingspaces1@msn.com pictures on ithacarent.net Beautiful large 3-4 bedroom apartment available. Walking distance to Commons. Recently remodeled kitchen, bathroom and flooring. On-site laundry and parking available. Rent $1500-$2000, including heat, water, hot water, sewage and snow plowing. Contact ck236@cornell.edu for appointment (MUST HAVE 24 hrs notice).

2012-13 4 Bedroom House, 1123 Danby Rd. Close to IC, Parking, Furnished, Hardwood floors, woodburning stove, yard+patio, grill, dining room, internet available, washer+dryer, dishwasher, “we love pets,”$495 per person+, available 8/1/12 call 607-279-3090 e-mail livingspaces1@msn.com, pictures at ithacarent.net

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C l a ss i f i ed 2012-13 Studio 209 Giles St. overlooking six mile creek furnished or unfurnished,carpeted, includes heat and electric washer + dryer 24 hr. on street parking, close to IC + Commons + public transportation, internet available,“we love pets” $695 per month available July or August 1, 2011 call 607-279-3090 or e-mail livingspaces1@msn.com

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2012-13 3 Bedroom Downtown, 103E Spencer St., off st. parking, hard wood floors, washer+dryer, yard, grill, internet available,furnished,”we love pets,”close to the Commons, dish washer, $520 per person, includes heat+cooking gas available.8/1/12 call 607-279-3090 e-mail livingspaces1@msn.com, pictures at ithacarent.net

Employment

An apartment with no hassle. Hudson Heights Studio Apartments are located next to IC. Openings for the spring semester, January 1, 2012 for 6 months or a year lease. We are renting for next year starting June 1st -August 15th. We have houses and 2-3 bedroom apartments as well.

Early sign up gets you this year’s prices. The rent includes: furniture, all utilities, parking, garbage and recycling, with laundry rooms on the complex. A division of ILS Ithaca Living Solutions: Call Tony at 607-273-8473 office or cell 2807660 for an appointment. EMAIL anthonybusse@gmail.com or website www.hhithaca.com.

Great 6 BR on Pennsylvania Ave Large 6 BR Duplex Furnished, Laundry, Parking, Patio, Yard. Walk to IC Bus on Cor $510 per person Call 607-227-3506

Receptionist/ admin assistant position available at established construction Management/ real estate development firm. Flexible 30 hour Monday thru Friday work week. An excellent opportunity for advancement for the right person.

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Notices FREE TO GOOD HOME, 2 YORKIE PUPPIES RE-HOMING, AKC REG, CONTACT ME VIA EMAIL FOR MORE DETAILS ON: xtionbert@ gmail.com

Th ursday, September 1 5 , 2 0 1 1

Everybody has issues... ...we have a new one every week The Ithacan ...every Thursday

... It’s all online. theithacan.org The Ithacan.

Th ursday, Septem be r 15, 2011

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Divers ion s

dormin’ norman

sudoku

By Jonathan Schuta ’14

Pearls Before Swine®

Th ursday, September 1 5 , 2 0 1 1

By Stephan Pastis

answers to last week’s sudoku

crossword ACROSS 1 Rumple 5 Position 8 Band instrument 12 Flapjack chain 13 Wheel buy (2 wds.)

14 Saudi or Syrian, e.g.

15 Ordinance 16 Mice, e.g.

18 Rookie surfer 20 Circle portion 21 Hesitate 23 CAT scan relative 26 Touched 29 More spooky 31 Chromosome unit 32 Mgmt. biggie 33 Napoleon’s island 34 Snoop

By United Media

36 Wapitis 37 S&L offerings 38 Welles or Bean 40 Quit stalling 41 Substantial 45 Ivory (hyph.)

49 Male guinea pig 51 Anthracite 52 Runway hazard 53 Tree trunk 54 Afternoon socials 55 Fan’s shout 56 Just scraped by

DOWN 1 Cosmonaut’s lab 2 No way! (hyph.)

3 Without help 4 Exceeded the limit 5 Bamboo muncher 6 Verse starter 7 Hot sauce 8 Greenish mineral 9 “Where Eagles Dare” actress 10 Keep out 11 Stomach muscles 17 La — tar pits 19 Promising 22 Manipulative types 23 Grocery-list item 24 Soldiers in gray 25 401(k) cousin

26 Graze 27 Comes to a halt 28 Did not follow 30 Shinto or Zen (abbr.)

31 Truck mfr.

32 Guarantee 35 Nessie’s hideout 36 Hydrocarbon suffix 39 Alpha opposite 40 Leather punches 42 French cleric 43 Grabbed 44 Connecticut campus 45 Beer-festival mo.

46 Catwoman, to Batman 47 Air-traffic org.

48 “Little piggie” 50 Wine category

answers to last week’s crossword

Th ursday, Septem be r 15, 2011

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From left, players from the Ithaca Avengers and the Ithaca College women’s club rugby team face off in a game Saturday at Higgins Stadium. It was the season opener for both teams.

dan states/the ithacan

All hands on deck Independent women’s rugby team fosters inclusion and community on and off the pitch

sidelines during the team’s 40-15 seasonopening victory against the Renegades, the When a team has its sights set on captur- college’s women’s club rugby team, Saturday ing that big win in the final moments, the at Higgins Stadium.

Head Coach Annemarie Farrell, who is brightest stars are usually the ones who step also chair of the Department of Sport Manout onto the field.

But for the Ithaca Avengers women’s agement and Media at the college, spends rugby team, veterans and rookies alike entire games giving her players feedback with a quick-witted sense of humor that share the spotlight in each game.

Flanker Wendy Hankle, a writer for kept them relaxed on the pitch.

Just two years ago, Farrell met with six Ithaca’s Institutional Advancement Communications Department, said the phrase other rugby players at the Ale House in “too many hands in the pot” does not apply downtown Ithaca to discuss the creation of an independent women’s rugby team — to the Avengers. the Avengers were “We want to win born soon after. games, but if you totally Farrell said the stink you’re still going to original idea was to get to play,” Hankle said. fill a void in Ithaca’s “If you come to pracrugby scene that tice and you completely was created when don’t know what you’re the Avengers’ predoing and can’t catch a — Ithaca Avengers Flanker wendy Hankle decessors, the ball, you’re still going in Iguanadons, folded to the game on Sunday.”

Hankle had seen rugby on TV prior to in 2002. She said she wanted to start an indejoining the Avengers, but never played the pendent team in Ithaca because she was on a sport. She said the team’s inclusive nature hiatus from coaching rugby.

“There were a couple of alums from was what piqued her interest.

“It really takes everyone on the team to Cornell who wanted to start a team, and be successful, and that was cool for me com- I was at this interesting juncture where I ing from a background of playing volleyball was done coaching Cornell and before I or softball where there’s always this instant coached the Ithaca men’s team,” she said. where you have to perform in a really out- “And so it was just a number of factors that came together and been even more standing way,” Hankle said.

The Avengers’ roster is made up of an successful than I would have predicted at eclectic group ranging from women in their the beginning.”

What began as an idea between seven 20s who are still finishing college to mothers in their 40s. Nearly half of the players who people downtown quickly formed into a burshowed up to preseason practices this season geoning rugby powerhouse. Soon the Avenghad never played rugby before, but the team ers had several dozen women show up to has developed a sense of continuity on the their weekly practices at Eastern Heights Park and scrimmages against Cornell University’s field in their short existence.

The players were constantly commu- women’s club rugby team every Thursday at nicating on the field while players on the the Cornell Rugby Pitch.

Hankle said that in rugby physicality bench shouted encouragement from the

By matt kelly staff writer

“In rugby, when the guy gets tackled, that’s when things just start to get good.”

continues well after first contact.

“Compare rugby to football where the quarterback throws the ball, a guy catches it and gets tackled, and then everybody goes back to the huddle and talks about their feelings,” she said. “In rugby, when the guy gets tackled, that’s when things just start to get good.”

Farrell said another reason why rugby is gaining popularity in Ithaca is its role as a physical outlet for every one of its players.

“Rugby is one of only four sports that has the same rules for men and women,” Farrell said. “And so I think when you give women the chance to play a contact sport where they are allowed to be physical and aggressive, there’s just such an interesting niche for that.”

Wing player Mary Buehler, an administrative assistant in the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance, had played rugby at the college, but said she was surprised by how much she learned from Farrell about the game.

“I couldn’t believe how much fun I was having and how much I was learning about rugby that I didn’t know when I played in college,” Buehler said.

“It was pretty amazing to see people who had never played rugby before grow so fast and learn so much — and that’s a credit to our coach.”

In just two years, the Avengers have risen to become one of the most elite independent rugby teams in the Northeast. The team is the two-time defending champion of the Philadelphia Sevens Open and was a semifinalist at this past summer’s Can-Am tournament, the largest rugby tournament in the Western Hemisphere. They also beat a Canadian all-star team.

The Avengers make sure that they give just as much effort off the pitch to help the Ithaca community as they exert in their games.

Buehler was appointed as the team’s first community To see a service coordinator this video of an Ithaca Avengers past summer. She said it practice, go to was essential that the team theithacan.org give back and establish themselves as more than just a winning rugby team to have a viable future in this area.

The team has put on kids clinics at Ithaca festivals and adopted a stretch of County Road 119 between the college and East King Road. They will have a clean-up of the highway Oct. 9.

Farrell said her team’s values will remain constant whether it wins or loses.

“We’re not willing to sacrifice the values that we founded this team upon simply to win a game or a championship,” Farrell said. “But I think we can play everyone and still win at the same time because we’re focused on really safe and really good rugby.”

Left: Annemarie Farrell, chair of the Department of Sport Management and Media and Ithaca Avengers head coach, talks with her team during Saturday’s game. sara mccloskey/the ithacan

Center: From left, senior Lauren McAlpine chases after Avengers flanker Tiffany McLaughlin on Saturday. sara mccloskey/the ithacan

Right: The Avengers try to grab the ball away from the women’s club rugby team during Saturday’s game at Higgins Stadium. The Avengers won the game 40-15. michelle boulÉ/the ithacan

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crunch time

Th ursday, S eptember 1 5 , 2 0 1 1

Veteran secondary fortifies defense By andrew kristy staff writer

harlan green-taub

Extra teams dilute playoff Playoff expansion has been a constant in baseball for the past 52 years. The playoffs expanded for the first time in Major League history in 1969 when four teams from the National and American Leagues qualified for the post season and each split its teams into two divisions.

Following the 1994 players strike, Major League Baseball expanded the postseason to four teams in each league, splitting teams into three divisions and adding a wild card spot for the team that finished with the best record without finishing first in their division.

The current system has been in place since then, but now Major League Baseball wants to expand the postseason again and add another wild card team in each league.

While baseball currently has the lowest percentage of teams that qualify for the postseason each year — only eight of 30, compared to 12 of 32 in the NFL and 16 of 30 for both the NBA and NHL — fewer teams have won championships in football, basketball and hockey than in baseball.

With the pennant races heating up, adding another playoff team will not only take away the credibility that winning a division championship has, but also make it easier for less deserving teams to get a chance to make the playoffs.

The beauty of a 162-game season is that it separates the consistent teams from the “streaky” teams. The season is long enough that teams that go on hot streaks won’t be able to sustain momentum, and the bad teams will eventually get weeded out.

Adding another playoff team will only take away from the rest of the teams. Looking back at the past few seasons, it’s clear that the new wild card system would favor inferior teams.

Had this system been in place last season, the Yankees would have had to play the Red Sox, who finished six games better during the regular season.

In 2009, the Colorado Rockies would have had to play the San Francisco Giants, who they finished four games ahead of.

In 2007, the Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners both finished six games behind the Yankees.

In every season, two teams from the same division would have been facing off in a one-game playoff, though the two had already played each other 18 times over the course of the regular season.

It seems like the current system is working fine right now, so why change it? The answer, as always when it comes to professional sports, is money. More teams, more money and happier owners make baseball less competitive.

Harlan Green-taub is a senior televison-radio major. Contact him at hgreent1@ithaca.edu.

When an opposing quarterback drops back to pass against the football team’s secondary this season, he will be doing so against a unit of seasoned veterans.

Starting three seniors and one junior, the South Hill squad’s defensive experience is loaded with proven talent in the secondary.

The Bombers have two The Bombers’ seniors at cornerback who secondary has have been standout players 49 tackles in its first two games for three seasons in Mike this season.

Conti and Spence White.

Both were named First Team Empire 8 conference members in 2010, and each has been starting for most of their four-year Bomber careers.

Conti said the experience of having played in the defensive backfield helped him, White and the entire secondary.

“It’s one thing in practice, but when the lights are on and it’s go time — when that first whistle blows, sometimes you have to learn the hard way,” Conti said.

Senior strong safety Kevin Cline and returning junior starter Josh Liemer lead the Bombers at the safety position. Cline, who has been a standout on special teams, had a career high nine tackles in Saturday’s 21-7 loss to Salisbury University. Liemer also tied another career high with 10 tackles in the disappointing loss.

White said though their main job on the field is pass coverage, the secondary still has a heated desire to be able to make key stops when it needs to.

“When it comes to the tackling phase, we take pride in being the smallest guys on defense,” he said. “We walk around with a chip on our shoulder trying to be big dogs back there — just trying to make as many tackles as possible.”

Though Salisbury is predominantly a rushing team and runs a flexbone option offense, it elected to throw the ball seven times for 82 yards in Saturday’s contest. With Bomber veterans in the secondary, it’s possible other teams will avoid throwing passes down the field.

Cline said the secondary’s familiarity with each other helps them adjust well to situations over the course of the game.

“We know the material, we know what the calls

stat check

From left, senior strong safety Kevin Cline goes after freshman free safety Cory Schulz during practice Tuesday on Lower Allen Field. Cline has recorded 12 tackles in two games for the Bombers this season. rachel woolf/the ithacan

are, and we communicate real well,” Cline said.

Conti said their communication could help not only to prevent miscues, but also bolster the entire defense.

“Josh [Liemer] will see what I’m doing and he’ll be like, ‘alright I know what Mike’s about to do,’ and he can kind of make me correct if I am about to mess up,” Conti said. “It’s the right chemistry, especially coming from the back — we can see everything pre-snaps.”

The veteran secondary will be vital to the team’s success in bouncing back from the loss, but Liemer said the group of four is ready for the challenge of the following game against Union College on Saturday.

“We’ve all played in a lot of games so we’re used to seeing a lot of different looks,” he said.

“If something goes wrong or gets you down, just move on to the next play. We all have faith in each other.”

South Hill squad feeling effects of inexperience

By Nate King

contributing writer

The men’s soccer team’s roster has 24 underclassmen players out of 33 total players this season, which adds up to a lot of inexperience.

Junior center back Ryan Norland said it has been tough for the team to put together a full game of consistent play this season.

“We have a lot of freshmen that are skilled, but when we lack experience it’s hard to play a full 90 minutes of great soccer,” he said.

The Bombers have made many mistakes early, which forced them to play catch-up from the start. In its first two games, the Blue and Gold surrendered a goal in the first 10 minutes.

Head Coach Andy Byrne said the team’s slow start put stress on the offense, which caused them to lose patience and pass the ball to players who were not open.

Through the first three games of the season, the Bombers have gone 0–3–1 and have been outscored by their opponents 10–2. Sophomore forward James Shankland is the only player to score for the Blue and Gold, tallying two goals in the season opener against Ramapo College of New Jersey. The South Hill squad has not scored a goal in 270 minutes of play.

Junior left back Jack Shirley said

Sophomore forward James Shankland dribbles upfield during practice as junior back Ryan Norland looks on Monday at Higgins Stadium.

juan tamayo/the ithacan

the team needed to put the ball in the net more to increase its energy.

“Once we score a goal, everyone is going to get that spark,” Shirley said. “We’re going to start playing a little harder, we’re going to start play-

ing for each other a little more.”

Despite such a discouraging start to the season, the players said they realize by simply playing together more, they will mesh and eventually become a formidable squad.

Norland said more games and practices would help bring the team together.

“It really is just going to take time,” Norland said. “The more we play together, we’ll definitely improve.

There’s no doubt about that.”

Shirley said he is optimistic and already feels as though the Bombers are a better team than last year, when they finished with a record of 4–8–4.

“Our attitude is a lot better than last year,” he said. “This year we’re more on the same page and everybody wants to win. A lot of people are putting individual accomplishments aside and we’re trying to win as a team.”

Byrne said the young players have a tough schedule ahead, but need to continue their development by exhibiting their fortitude and resilience.

“They need to be patient and continue to work hard,” he said.

“They’re going to take their licks and come across teams with more experience. All I can ask is they hang in there, continue to work hard and get better.”

The Bombers’ next two games will be against Empire 8 conference foe St. John Fisher College, which picked up its first win of the season Sunday, and St. Lawrence University, which has yet to lose a game this season.

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Out on the open road Former cross country runner bikes more than 6,000 miles While many people need four wheels to travel across America, former men’s cross-country runner Brian Keefe ’11 did it with two.

From June 4 to Sept. 1, Keefe rode his mountain bike on a planned route, taking him roughly 6,150 miles from Boston, Mass., to Florence, Ore. Staff Writer Emily Helwig talked with Keefe about his trip.

Emily Helwig: How did you get this idea to ride a bike across the country?

Brian Keefe: I met a lot of people through my time at Ithaca that had done similar things. My initial plans for what to do after college always really focused around kind of an unconventional, just-get-out-andgo-exploring attitude and go see a lot of different stuff and see national parks around the country. I talked to a lot of people who had rode their bikes across the country, so that’s kind of how I got the initial idea to not drive a car, not take an airplane, but ride a bike.

EH: Did you have to do any training to prepare for the ride?

BK: Actually, I was always a runner, so I had the endurance aspect down. I ran two seasons of cross-country at Ithaca, and did some local races around the area. I did a little recreational mountain biking on the weekends in Ithaca, and that was actually the bike that I used for this trip. I got lucky be-

cause I didn’t get hurt or anything. I just kind of took it a little slower in the beginning to get my legs conditioned to all the pedaling. As I felt better and more accustomed to just getting up every day and riding, I would pick up the mileage, and it worked pretty well.

EH: Where was your favorite place that you stopped?

BK: Zion National Park. It is a really amazing place because it just blows you away. You could do any hike and just stop in the middle of the hike and stare out into this canyon, and you could look for hours and never get bored. It’s just aweinspiring. It’s this vast incredible thing, and I had never seen anything like that before, so it was really cool.

EH: When you started the trip, what were you hoping to get out of the experience?

BK: Every single person I talked to on this entire trip asked me this question, and I still don’t have a good answer for it. This was really like my moment of freedom, my moment of enjoyment between my four years in Ithaca going to school and what’s coming next. I spent three days thinking about this question because a lot of people were asking me it, and I guess the one thing that I really wanted to prove to myself was that I could commit to something. Because if you can commit

Former men’s cross country runner Brian Keefe ’11 bikes in mid-August through Nevada as part of his ride across the country. Keefe traveled 6,150 miles over the course of 12 1/2 weeks from Boston, Mass., to Florence, Ore. Courtesy of Brian Keefe

to biking more than 6,000 miles across the country, you can accomplish pretty much anything.

EH: What are your plans now that you’re back on the East Coast?

BK: I’m moving to Boston, and I have a job that I’ll be getting in financial services. I actually got the job through my friend Jason who gradu-

EH: Now that the trip is finished do you think it was worth it?

for three months straight without any obligations or any care in the world. I got up every day and rode a bicycle, and I met incredible people and saw incredible stuff while I was doing that. I wouldn’t trade a second of that for the world.

BK: Of course it was worth it. This was the most fun I’ve ever had in my entire life. I got to do what I love

Check out Keefe’s trip blog at openmiles.blogspot.com for more photographs and tales.

ated a year before I did, and he put me in touch with his boss, so I was able to secure this job through someone that graduated from Ithaca College.

Look online for game stories from these sports: TODAY • 4 p.m. Women’s Tennis vs. Hartwick College at Wheeler Tennis Courts TOMORROW • 6 p.m. / 8 p.m. Volleyball at Philadelphia Biblical University / Goucher College in Union, N.J. SATURDAY • 11 a.m. Men’s and Women’s Cross Country at Oneonta Airfield Invitational in Oneonta, N.Y. • Noon Men’s Cross Country at Penn State Spiked Shoe Invitational in University Park, Pa. • Noon Women’s Golf at Empire 8 Championships in Churchville, N.Y. • 1 p.m. Football at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y. • 1 p.m. Women’s Soccer at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, N.Y. • 1 p.m. Field Hockey at Nazareth College in Rochester, N.Y. • 1 p.m. / 3 p.m. Volleyball at Southern Vermont College / Kean University in Union, N.J. • 2 p.m. Men’s Soccer vs. St. John Fisher College at Carp Wood Field • TBA Men’s Tennis at Middlebury Invitational in Middlebury, Vt. SUNDAY • Noon Women’s Golf at Empire 8 championships in Churchville, N.Y. • TBA Men’s Tennis at Middlebury Invitational in Middlebury, Vt. TUESDAY • 4 p.m. Field Hockey vs. SUNY-Oswego at Higgins Stadium • 4 p.m. Women’s Tennis at Alfred University in Alfred, N.Y. • 4 p.m. Women’s Soccer at SUNY-Cortland in Cortland, N.Y. rachel woolf/the ithacan

Bold = Home game The Ithacan

online | theithacan.org/sports

2 6 The It hacan

S ports

Th ursday, S eptember 1 5 , 2 0 1 1

Volleyball team strives to maintain focus in matches

By Nate bickell staff writer

After two disappointing tournaments to open the season, the volleyball team is looking to cut down on mental mistakes and turn its season around.

Senior middle blocker Kate Thoene said a lack of consistent focus has led to a 3—5 start to the season.

“We haven’t come up against a team who’s better than us physically yet,” she said. “It’s our own mental errors that have been bringing us down.”

The Bombers got off To see a to a strong start, defeat- video of senior ing Rutgers-Newark and outside hitter SUNY-Brockport on Friday Jessica Hoefduring the Bomber Invita- fner, go to theithacan.org tional this weekend in Ben Light Gymnasium.

Senior right-side setter and middle blocker Liz Previte said the Bombers have played with fewer nerves and experienced better communication in their wins.

“We are telling one another what we need to do differently, and that feedback from player to player is really important,” she said.

The Bombers’ slide began Saturday, as they suffered a five set loss to eventual tournament champion SUNY-Geneseo.

The Bombers committed three straight hitting errors to end the match, with the Blue Knights taking the victory 17-15 in the fifth set. It was the team’s second five set loss of the season. Their first was against Lebanon Valley College on Sept. 3.

Head Coach Janet Donovan said avoiding errors in pressured moments will be key to winning the fifth set.

“We’ve just got to step up at key times and put the ball away,” she said. “We’re going to do everything we can in practice to create as much pressure for them like what

Senior middle blocker Kate Thoene goes up for a stop in Saturday’s game against St. John Fisher College in Ben Light Gymnasium. The Bombers lost to the Cardinals in three sets. jacob beil/the ithacan

we will face in matches.”

Previte said the key to winning five set matches will be getting a better start to the game so the South Hill squad does not have to play from behind.

“Often we lose the first set, and it follows us in the back of our heads,” she said. “We just need to focus on starting out stronger in the first set and building our confidence and winning in three sets instead of five.”

Thoene said a lack of focus has often led to players being out of position and giving up easy points. She said sometimes the team is either out of position or not prepared for the next play.

“It’s things that if you were mentally in the game and focused shouldn’t ever be a problem.”

Thoene said.

A bright spot for the Blue and Gold has been the play of junior right-side setter Missy Weil and senior middle blocker Karin Edsall, both of whom have switched from their primary positions. Edsall has been a middle blocker for the past two seasons, but played as the Bombers primary setter last weekend.

Edsall set a career best in assists with 33 against SUNY-Geneseo. Her previous career high came in the match before against SUNYBrockport when she recorded 25 assists in a four-set win.

Previte said Edsall had an easy-going attitude toward what position she plays.

“Karen is just a go-with-the-flow kind of person, wherever she’s put she plays, and she’ll do her best at it,” she said.

Weil practiced as a setter during preseason, but moved to outside hitter this weekend and proceeded to lead the team with 34 kills for the tournament.

Senior outside hitter Jessica Hoeffner said Edsall and Weil impressed her by excelling in new positions.

“It was great to see those two players step up and take ownership,” she said. “We just need more people to get into that mentality.”

Thoene said the Bombers need to find their focus in order to play at the consistent level they know they are capable of.

“Individually, and as a team, we need to assess why these mental lapses in judgment are happening so these past two weekends don’t happen again,” she said. “There have been glimmers of really good play, but we really need to be able to piece that together.”

[the buzzer]

Th ursday, Septem be r 15, 2011

The I th a c a n 2 7

bombers to watch Heidi Baumbach Senior Cross Country Baumbach finished second overall Saturday at the Oswego Invitational to earn the Empire 8 Runner of the Week award. Baumbach finished the five-kilometer run with a time of 19:06.95, beating her time of 20:23.50 in the Alumni event last week.

Josh Liemer Junior Football

Crossing the finish line

Ithaca resident Micky Casad crosses the finish line of the AIDS Ride for Life on Saturday in Stewart Park. Casad participated in the 100-mile ride in which riders also biked distances of 42 or 50 miles around Cayuga Lake.

Shawn steiner/the ithacan

Liemer recorded a career-high 10 tackles in the Blue and Gold’s 21–7 loss Saturday against Salisbury University. Liemer also recorded a tackle for a loss and leads the South Hill squad with two interceptions this season.

by the

numbers

82

The number of passing yards the Bombers football team gave up Saturday. See story on page 24.

33

The number of assists senior middle blocker Karin Edsall recorded in Saturday’s match against SUNY-Geneseo. See story on page 26.

off the field Bombers’ tell us their favorites Ameritalia or Sammy’s?

Spence White

Senior Football

Sammy’s

Favorite place on campus

Fitness Center or Library

Favorite late night talk show host

George Lopez

the foul line

Weird news from the wide world of sports

Curt Schilling is known for being one of the greatest clutch pitchers of all time. He was a World Series co-MVP when the Arizona Diamondbacks won the World Series in 2001. In 2004, he pitched the famous bloody sock game for the Red Sox, helping to lead a comeback from three games down to win the American League Championship series. Besides being known as a great postseason pitcher, Schilling was known for having impeccable control. When Schilling was honored Saturday at Chase Field in Phoenix, Ariz., to mark the 10th anniversary of the Diamondbacks championship, he was asked to throw out the first pitch. Instead of throwing a strike, Schilling airmailed his former catcher Damien Miller, nearly throwing the ball into the seats behind home plate. Schilling’s control, like his great postseason performances, are a thing of the past.

–-Harlan Green-Taub

Julia Conroy

Junior Field Hockey

Ameritalia

Textor Ball

Chelsea Handler

Daniel Craighead

Senior Cross Country

Sammy’s

Athletics and Events Center

Jon Stewart

they saidit “You give a code violation because I express who I am. We’re in America last I checked.”

Serena Williams after being docked a point by chair umpire Eva Asderaki for excessive yelling Sunday in her U.S Open Championship loss.

2 8 The It hacan

photo finish Captu ri ng th e B ombers at t h ei r be st

Th ursday, September 1 5 , 2 0 1 1

Security in the net

Junior goalkeeper Becca Salant punts the ball during the Bombers’ 3-0 shutout against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Tuesday at Carp Wood Field. Salant has started all four games in the net for the team this season, making 30 saves in more than 350 minutes of play and recording a goals against average of 0.75. She had nine saves in Tuesday’s win. alexis bonin/the ithacan