Between the Hills
Just another WordPress.com weblogKendall Day Update
Anissa Richmond, an Ithaca College student, witnessed the arrest of the unnamed girl on Kendall Street on May 9. “She was crazy,” said Richmond. “Police had come to check for open containers, and they weren’t even talking to her. She just poured the beer on the police and then they dragged her off.” Richmond confirmed that students were booing; however, no one else was physically doing anything.
Student Arrested at Kendall Day
A girl was handcuffed and ducked into a cop car on Kendall Street on May 8th. It was rumored that she spilt a beer on an officer who was trying to reason with her. Originally, the officer was alone, attempting to control the mayhem that broken into the streets at Ithaca College’s “Kendall Day,” an annual day long party celebrating the ending of classes. However, after the unnamed girl refused to comply, the officer called for back up. Minuets later cop cars filed onto the street, prompting intoxicated students to scream inappropriate slurs.
This was the first time in two years that someone was arrested at this celebration.
Details to come later.
May Day
As a child May Day consisted of bundling freshly picked flowers and leaving them on neighbors doorsteps. This past May Day was not as lighthearted.
Citizens of Ithaca gathered on May 1 and marched from Cornell University down to The Commons to rally for immigration and labor issues. The march began at 2 p.m. Fueled by passionate students, workers and citizens who carried banners and an assortment of signs, it lasted till 4:30 p.m. The march ended in The Commons themselves where there was a free concert and circulation of petitions.
One of the major issues discussed that day was that of the unfair treatment of Sodexo workers. Click the documentary below (made by Ithaca College sophomore, Topher Hendricks) to learn more.
Bird Nesting Walks
Can’t get enough of birds? Check out the guided “Nest- Monitoring Walks” hosted by the Cornell Ornithology Lab on Tuesday afternoons, in May, June and July. Bird coinsures will lead packs of bird watchers through Sapsucker Woods Sanctuary, and will inform them about these breeding birds.
Morning Calls
As winter fades to spring and the night sky brightens with the morning sun, the songs of birds lightly float through windows of sleepers. It’s a delightful sound that seems to push away the winter blues.
As the air continues to warm up, the Cornell Ornithology Lab is gearing up to take this morning wake up call to the next level. During May and June, the lab will be hosting “Morning Birds and Brews” every Wednesday morning from 7:30 a.m.- 8:30 a.m., which will be a guided bird tour before work. Free coffee will be offered on this journey into the Sapsucker Woods Sanctuary.
Admission is free.
National Event Hosted in Ithaca Commons
They met in the Commons. They came down South Hill and East Hill and journeyed from the shore of the lake. They met, they rallied and they took back the night.
On April 17th participants marched from Ithaca College, Cornell University and the Greater Ithaca Activity Center to the Tompkins County Take Back The Night event, an annual, national rally against domestic violence. The event lasted from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and provided speakers, personal story sessions, music and poetry.
Ithaca hosted one of the ten official events (as opposed to local events), along side those hosted at Brown University, Harvard University, Kent State and various other campuses. The Tompkins county event was the only site actively incorporating both the community and colleges.
Ithaca Road Work- A Cynical Reaction
They always use strategic planning to decide when to do roadwork in Ithaca- strategic meaning catastrophic. Upon returning to Ithaca for their fall semesters, the college population, students of both Ithaca College and Cornell University, were greeted with the welcoming arms of backhoes and dump trucks, as the city worked on the end of East State Street leading into the Commons. Since the city population had literally just tripled after move-in, this 90-yard stretch of street took four, painful, detour filled traffic stopping months to finish.
You’d think they’d learn from this.
Wrong.
Their at it again, and just in time for the all too noticeable bright yellow machinery to wave goodbye to their beloved college students as they depart for the summer. Ironic, don’t you think?
Starting May 1 electronic signs blinked the doomful message “May 3, S. Aurora closed” flash “Take detour” flash “May 3, S. Aurora closed” flash “Take detour.” How about a flash “Sorry” flash.
This time, if possible, it’s actually worse, detouring cars through treacherous downhill slopes we like to call streets, endless stoplights, and roads that have more potholes than flat pavement – it’s the maze that is the city map of Ithaca.
Parents will surely thank the city for this one.
Running at Snail Pace
The slogan, “America Runs on Dunkin’” is clearly exhibited at the Ithaca Dunkin’ Donuts on Sunday mornings when the que snakes out the door and the drive through line juts into the street, impeding the traffic on route 13.
America certainly does run on dunkin’; however, the citizens of Ithaca run on a very slow Dunkin’.
Kayla Inanc and Carli Mazich-Addice, Ithaca College students who frequent Dunkin’ at least two times a week, commented on the subject.
“When I go there I better have a lot of time to kill,” said Inanc. “They mess up orders, they are unorganized and unprofessional.”
“Also, if you’re going to have a drive through,” added Mazich-Addice, “you should know how to conveniently work both the counter and the drive through.”
Despite their utter frustration, they still make the trek down the hill for their caffeine high.
“It’s the only one in Ithaca,” said Mazich-Addice. “We love the product,” said Inanc, “not the service.”
They do what they must to keep themselves running.
Brazilian Bird Talk at Cornell
They say that birds fly south for the winter. Actually some fly as far south as Brazil! Well, at least the birds that Ornithologist Bret Whitney, of Louisiana State University, will be speaking about at his seminar this coming Monday, March, 1 at 7:30 p.m.
Interestingly enough, some of the birds he will talk about have just recently been discovered. As the Amazon has the highest diversity of birds on Earth, scientists say that there are many birds that have yet to be classified. Whitney will speak on his discoveries, as well as his state of the art research techniques and his experience NASA technology.
If you miss the bird songs of the spring or simply want to learn something new, head over to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, N.Y.
Chili Air
The month of February typically brings the word “chilly” to mind. However, for Ithaca residents, Cornell and IC students and frequent visitors of the area, the word has a different meaning. February means Chili, more specifically “Chili Fest.”
This Saturday, February 20th, the Commons will morph into what could be mistaken for a bustling city street, packed with vendors and hungry festival groupies, who follow the sweet aroma of cooked beans, meat and vegetables hovering just under their nostrils.
It’s not common to leave unsatisfied, and it is an all too familiar consensus to emerge stuffed, contented, and exhausted.
Although the name may be deceiving, the festival offers much more than chili. In fact “Chili Fest” is just a slang used by the frequents of the fest. To the rest of the public, it is known as the “Great Downtown Ithaca Chili Cook-off & WinterFest.” All come prepared to put their expert chili-tasting skills to the test, but many are surprised to find beer and wine tastings, mechanical bull rides, and numerous artistic performances ranging from karaoke to circus shows.
The festivities begin at 11:30 a.m. and end at 4:00. The award ceremony is scheduled to be held at 3:45, so be sure to stick around for the telling moment. Who will take the fest this year?
