By Eli Sherman
State Radio trio. Photo Courtesy of State Radio
State Radio’s lead singer Chad Urmston wailed riff after riff on his homemade empty-oil-canister guitar, electrifying the crowd. The world-renowned Bostonian trio played for nearly 2 hours to a packed house at The Haunt in Ithaca, NY on Nov. 18.
To see a audio slideshow of their concert click the link below:
by Eli Sherman and Norah Sweeney
On Route 34, roughly a mile uphill from Cayuga Lake, on a tiny farmhouse porch, there is a mini-fridge filled with cheese. This is the makeshift storefront of Keeley’s Cheese Company, a startup artisan cheese business run out of McGarr Dairy Farm in King Ferry, N.Y.
One week old Across the Pond cheese, which is made and aged in McGarr’s “cheese cave,” located in the basement of the McGarr farmhouse. Courtesy of Keeley’s Cheese Co.
Keeley McGarr, the company owner, has been making her own cheeses since 2009. She sells her product at farmers’ markets in the Finger Lakes area and in shops as far away as New York City.
By Eli Sherman and Carly Sitzer
Anyone who was around for last week’s 60-degree day in Ithaca experienced firsthand one of the most likely signs of the Northeast Climate Change. And although warm days in November may be enjoyable, there are greater environmental repercussions to climate change.
Michael Hoffmann, director of Cornell University Agriculture Experiment Station, who has a background in entomology said that the increase in temperature and changes in weather have had profound impacts on the insects living in the area.
Insects, such as disease-carrying mosquitoes, hadn’t been able to survive Ithaca winter, but are now present and posing a threat to human health. Furthermore, Hoffman said that the agriculture in Ithaca has been impacted as well, because of the warm winters and increased storms.
Although many have doubts about climate change and global warming, Hoffman has documented changes in insects’ life cycles and agriculture and says that they can only be attributed to one source.
“The climate is warming,” he said. “And it’s because of humans.”
By Eli Sherman and Norah Sweeney
Ithaca is full of classrooms. Education is happening every day in the city’s living rooms, kitchens, tables in restaurants and forests with the Ithaca Freeskool, a community of educators and students who gather to learn away from the traditional classroom model.
In 2006, a small group of anarchists who wanted to take the institution out of education started a simple listserv of students and teachers. Since then, the Ithaca Freeskool has grown into a sizeable educational community that offers upwards of 40 classes each semester.
Greg Rothman, a former Ithaca College student, is now studying to be a medical herbalist and teaching a Freeskool class on the healing powers of herbs, speaks about the Freeskool and what it means for education in America.
By Eli Sherman and Norah Sweeney
A group of Ithaca College students dressed in yellow HazMat suits gathered at Free Speech Rock on Friday at 4:00 p.m. They rallied to raise awareness about hydraulic fracturing, a controversial means of extracting natural gas from the Earth’s crust.
Emma Garrison and Kaela Bamberger, co-presidents of Ithaca College’s ‘Frack Off’ club, organized this anti-fracking rally in anticipation of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s initiative to allow fracking in New York State.
Garrison, an Environmental Studies major, and Bamberger, who is studying Drama, were inspired by the documentary “Gasland,” which recounts the fracking-related environmental degradation in Pennsylvania.
By Eli Sherman and Aaron Edwards
Stephen Wilkins’ eyes focus on a point on the wall in front of him. With a deep breath, he closes his eyes and lets out a sustained note.
“I think I’ll go to the G chord instead,” he says as he plays a single chord on the upright piano beside him.
He starts up again. Italian words begin to flow from his mouth. It’s Ottorino Respighi, his favorite composer. Wilkins isn’t practicing for a recital, a gala or a concert. He’s getting ready for an audition for “Glee.”
For full story go to Ithaca Week
By Eli Sherman and Patrick Duprey
For senior track and field star Melissa Hewitt, the United States is always where she’s wanted to be — she just faced a few obstacles getting there. Hewitt, the Ivy League record
Born in Jamaica, track star Melissa Hewitt is now breaking Ivy League sprint records at Cornell University. Photograph Courtesy of Melissa Hewitt
holder in the 100-meter dash, grew up about an hour outside Kingston, Jamaica, but the
Caribbean never quite felt like home for her. From the age of seven, she wanted to move to
America and the new beginning it offered, but it wasn’t until 2006 when she left Jamaica … for Canada. Two years and a substantial financial aid award offer later, Hewitt found her home at Cornell University. Although
many athletes represent their home countries by wearing their national pride on their sleeve, Hewitt isn’t looking back, pursuing a new cultural and economic life in the U.S. with no plans to return to Jamaica.
For full story go to Ithaca Week
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