EVENTS: SPECTACLE OF LIGHTS, SKATE WITH SANTA 21 FILM: “THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY” 30 THEATER REVIEW: “HANDLE WITH CARE” @ JCC 24 URBAN JOURNAL: OUR LEGAL WMD’S
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The lustre kings • the isotopes • rpo gala holiday pops • matt griffo • abandoned buildings club • AND MORE MUSIC, PAGE 14
DECEMBER 19-25, 2012 Free
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Greater Rochester’s Alternative Newsweekly
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Vol 42 No 15
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News. Music. Life.
None of us are stoners.” MUSIC INTERVIEW, PAGE 16
Hydrogen hopes. NEWS, PAGE 5
The push for pre-K. NEWS, PAGE 6
The cheese does NOT stand alone. CHOW HOUND, PAGE 13
REVIEW: “Changing Hands: Art Without Reservation 3” at the MAG. ART, PAGE 20
INTERVIEW | BY RON NETSKY | PAGE 8 | ILLUSTRATION BY MATT DETURCK
The economic arms race It’s a mixed metaphor of major proportions: the country’s headed for the fiscal cliff, with the debt ceiling closing in. And Robert H. Frank, professor of economics at Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management, says we might have to go off that cliff before Republicans realize they’re holding a losing hand. Frank writes the monthly Economic View column in the New York Times and is a distinguished senior fellow at Demos, a progressive
think tank. If you think of economists as buttoneddown, conservative types, Frank will turn that image upside down. When Frank analyzes an economic problem, such as why the middle class is falling behind, he doesn’t just study the financial aspects; the psychology of status becomes a major part of the equation. And when it comes to self-made millionaires, Frank agrees that hard work counts, but says there’s another often-overlooked factor: dumb luck.