Around the Horn

I enjoy watching The Office on NBC.  The writing, acting, and mockumentary format make the ridiculous storylines so believable.  Well, after tonight, it just upgraded to platinum status.

Just a little background on a specific story line: Dwight Schrute, who moonlights as a beet farmer, anime lover, and loves to wear shades of mustard yellow shirts, is by far one of the strangest paper salesmen on staff.  Andy Bernard, the Cornellian sycophant, is engaged to Dwight’s secret office love, the uptight accountant Angela.  In an effort to tick Andy off, Dwight shows up to work in a Cornell sweatshirt and proceeds to adorn his desk with Cornell peraphernalia.  While in the break room, Dwight tries to push more buttons:

Dwight: “So how do you think we’re gonna do against Penn this year? Nathan Ford’s arm looks pretty strong.”

My jaw dropped.  Nate just got a shout out on primetime television.  It’s totally deserving, and pretty darn awesome.  Nate is so down-to-earth and an amazing athlete, and as obnoxious as the writers try to shade Cornell, I do give them cred for getting their facts straight.

An opera class would never be complete without a visit to the opera house…in Syracuse.  Half of the class ventured to the Crouse-Hinds Theater to see Die Zauberflote, or Mozart’s The Magic Flute.  I love how the class is so small, but because there is so much material to cover in a 50-minute class, all of the students never have an opportunity to get to know each other.  That’s nothing that a 1 hour drive can’t solve, and I got to know four of my classmates during our commute.  We come from all different majors, from Math and Engineering to Psychology and English; it’s lovely knowing that music really does transcend and connect to different audiences.

While the Syracuse Opera is not the Met by any means, it was still a treat to dress up and listen to a live opera.  Having studied the Magic Flute in class the previous two weeks, all of us were well-versed with the libretto, so the opera was easy to follow, and we could enjoy the musical ingenuity of Mozart.  The production was light-hearted and comical, a good cap to a prelim/paper heavy week.

As I briefly mentioned earlier, I trekked to Massachusetts over Fall Break to visit a few high school friends.  It was good to get away from Ithaca for a weekend, but I couldn’t help by notice how all of our college lifestyles are immensely different, and this is undoubtedly influenced by the location, size, culture of our respective schools.  And for many of you contemplating early decision/action, these are crucial elements to consider.  If you have the opportunity to visit a campus, especially if you are applying early, take it.  My own thoughts after this enlightening social experience:

The small liberal arts school:  While visiting my friend Sarah, there is no beating the scenery of rural Massachusetts.  The leaves were in their full fall glory, and the campus is idyllic.  I also admire the school spirit within this small school; students were out in force, cheering at football, soccer, and other sporting matches.  While I think having such a small student community (2,000 students) really bonds the students together, by the end of the weekend, I was unwillingly immersed in all of the school’s drama.  Yes, any school will have their fair share of talk and gossip, but this gave me memories of high school, where everyone knew everyone, and you couldn’t really walk around campus without bumping into the one guy/girl you are currently in a tiff with.  Sarah also seemed to have a saga/epic for every person who passed us (and–of course–said hi, too).

The urban campus: During my senior year, I was sure I wanted urban; I’m an LA girl, and city folk don’t enjoy anything rural or inaccessible.  I applied early, and was devastated when I received a rejection letter (ouch?).  I will say that everything worked out for the best.  While I maintain that I prefer a city environment, I’ve shifted my necessity for city down a few years.  Looking back, I would have been terrified of the city; I probably would never fully experience a community or bond among my class.  And, pinching pennies would be difficult with my impulse shopping and buying.

Too big, too small, just right: Cornell is a perfect match for me, and I can only wish you all the best in your quest to find your perfect-fit school.

My housemate Hannah is a member of the Museum Club, which held their once-a-semester “After Hours” at the Johnson.  During after hours (from 9pm-2am), all of the exhibits are open, and refreshments are served in the lobby.  Various student groups, ranging from a cappella to breakdancing, perform throughout the night.  While the museum is always free admission, it is one of the buildings on campus that students don’t take full advantage of.

One of my goals during my summer in NYC was to visit a different museum every week; during my explorations, I have come to respect and enjoy the museum atmosphere.  Yes, I love getting lost in the Met, staring at photographs, paintings, slowly strolling along the museum floor.  There are some great pieces within each museum, just waiting to be discovered.  However, the famous paintings–the Monets, Picassos, Pollacks–are only recognizable to me because of art education in my pre-college years.  Having worked in museum administration a few summers ago, visitor numbers are not what you would expect.  Numbers mean money to most of us, and the lack of public interest also cuts down on potential funding.  Funding for the arts in the education system, is consistently being cut from city budgets.  Art classes have so much to offer and allows students to really use the right-side of their brains, to think outside of the box, to enjoy museums.  I know this has turned from a light review to a rant, but I can only hope that we will still have accessible museums and art education in our public school systems in the next few decades.

The Schenectady/Albany freeway system is horrific.  And leave it to the US to combine the interstates and routes 7, 787, 87, 88, within a 15 mile radius.  I must have passed 4 separate Route 7s on my trip back to Ithaca.  I’d encourage to be a little more creative with numbers…To add, my 4 hour trip became a 5 hour ordeal.  On the upside, gas is pretty cheap on this end of town.

I’m taking a City and Regional Planning class about Green Cities, and the freeway system is one of the hot topics discussed.  Back in the 1950’s, there was a surge of freeway building under the Eisenhower Administration, and the not-so-subdued efforts of automobile lobbying in Congress.  While the interstate freeway system is useful, we’re left with many urban cities as the crossroads for multiple routes, creating traffic, confusion, and complex roundabouts.  However, I’m not a big fan of the one-lane roads in the rural areas (driving behind the slow cars on the 79 is torture).  I guess that’s why I’m excited to rid my car after graduation, and move into the city.  An effort to escape freeways and windy roads.

Six weeks into school, all of us are deserving a little break.  While many of my friends went home yesterday in time for Yom Kippur, I am still in town, as I have a midterm tomorrow in Opera.  Then it’s off to Williams College to visit my friend Sarah, followed up with a day-or-two visit to Boston.  Cheers to you, Columbus.

Has anyone seen the recent Columbus Day Old Navy commercial?  The only reason I bring it up is because I’m slightly disturbed by the fact that the first line in the commercial is “forget when Columbus sailed to America…!!” and then plugs their 1492 items of clothing up for sale.  I hope that’s not the lesson we’re teaching young America.  Materialism plagues us all, but I don’t think marketing Columbus Day as the pre-Halloween-Thanksgiving-Christmas day to shop wasn’t what the fellow had in mind.

Richard Perry for the New York Times

This year’s presidential election will be the first one I’m voting in (I was 17 during the last election), and I am psyched!  My whole house settled down last night to watch the Palin-Biden debate.  We have a pretty mixed party representation, but there was talk that Palin would get crushed by Biden during the debate after watching clips of her interview with Katie Couric.  I thought she did a good job trying to repair her image, and stayed on the ball with Biden.  Biden, the seasoned veteran, was cordial and held back his tongue, which saved both of their faces.  I was a little turned off by Palin’s “you betchas” and her constant referral to McCain as the “Maverick” of the Senate.  However, I felt that most of the debate did not really outline either of their campaigns, but rather did a lot of fingerpointing and promising that they will bring “change” (Obama) or “reform” (McCain) to the United States.  I’m not very involved in politics, but I do think voting in this election will be essential.  Our house will be watching the remaining debates these next few weeks, and I’m impatiently waiting for my absentee ballot to arrive in the mail.