Author Archives: Lauren Kilcullen

Ithacan Transformations

Posted on by
1

We’ve all noticed some changes happening in Ithaca lately, a few of which include the seemingly excessive construction in collegetown (or the excessive construction everywhere…) and the new Ithaca plan that Svante is attempting to put into action. While I recognize the need for new housing at Cornell and the improvement of the look of collegetown, it’s a little sad to realize that while I will be here for all the pain of the construction, with the noise, the detours, and the general inconvenience, I won’t be here when these projects are completed. But even so, Ithaca is taking steps to make itself better. As a student in a Drugs and Society class, I was most interested in hearing Svante speak on the Ithaca plan. The Ithaca plan is designed to reduce drug use in Ithaca and to keep drug users safer in Ithaca. The controversy of the plan is that it involves a safe injection room – a room where people can go to inject where a trained staff member will be on hand to treat patients in case of an overdose. The upsides of this are big: first and foremost it will save lives. You can’t help dead people. In addition, when injectors are put into contact with these centers they are also put into contact with people who can help them quit if they want to. Ithacans are worried that these centers will increase drug use: but in Vancouver, where one of these centers has been active for year, they found that there was no increase in use. Another part of the plan is for police officers to have a choice when they make a drug arrest – they can send the user to a judge and trial or they can put the user directly into treatment. Purely from a public health perspective, this plan has the potential to help a lot a of people. And in our current position in the war on drugs, where we have arrested thousands of people with no reduction in drug use, we need to try something new.

Anabel’s Addressing Food Insecurity

Posted on by
3

Last year, when I heard that the student assembly wanted to build a grocery store on campus, I thought they were absolutely crazy and that it would never happen. But much to my surprise, Anabel’s is opening at the beginning of next semester. This store has been born so quickly, and the students who have worked toward this store are so passionate and driven, they really deserve recognition for their hard work.

It seemed to me that the hardest issue the group faced was in convincing Cornell that food insecurity is a legitimate issue on campus. I was surprised at the number of Cornellians who had ever missed a meal due to monetary concerns. I am very excited about this grocery store, mostly because of the close availability of produce, but with its discounted merchandise and availability of subsidy money, this store has the potential to help a lot of people. Anabel’s shows the initiative of some of our student leaders, and is a demonstration of the power students can have on their campuses. We should try to be more aware of issues around us and do what we can to fix them; if you’re not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

What does Activism Mean?

Posted on by
Reply

The word activism is such a controversial term. When people think of activists, the first think that comes to mind is people holding up signs, loudly protesting things they think are wrong. People think of marches and getting arrested and Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. Most of us probably don’t think of ourselves as activists. Truthfully, activism means something different to everyone. When one person becomes an activist, when they believe that they themselves are an activist, varies greatly from person to person. We talked at length about the necessity of activism and when activism can stop – my personal opinion is that it will never stop. Humans are essentially different. We wouldn’t be human if we didn’t have our differences. But people will always be dissatisfied with being different. It is human nature. Differences lead to preferences, and preferences lead to prejudices. Prejudices lead to social injustice, and this injustice lays seeds for activism. As we overcome each prejudice and each inequality, there will always be new reasons for activism.

 

Even after a movement has “won,” it is important for that movement to continue to remind the people of what once happened, and to continue to work to change the minds of those who are still resistant to change. One such example is gay marriage – just because it is now legal doesn’t mean that we don’t still have a host of issues in jobs, business, and general bias against those who do not identify as straight. Another example is the civil rights movement – many of us think of the movement as over. But racial bias is still rampant in America and around the world. Women’s suffrage – we got the vote but we can’t have equal pay. These movements are never over, and we all have a responsibility to work towards equality.

The Magic of Movies

Posted on by
Reply

Last weekend I went on the tour of cinemapolis, which was both interesting and educational. I hadn’t realized how recent our conversion from film to digital was – I thought that the film reels that cinematographers had to slice together and run through reels was a thing of the ancient past, something you only saw in a movie about the 1950’s. It surprised me a lot to find out that only in the last few years have companies pushed for a transition to all digital. I had always wondered how the movies in the theater worked, like where the image came from and if someone had to be monitoring a projector. It was really cool to learn that now all someone in the theater has to do is essentially create a playlist and program in times for each movie, which has been previously downloaded, to play. I had never been to cinemapolis before, or really any theater like it, and it was really interesting to see the difference between a nonprofit theater devoted to continuation of an art form and a blockbuster theater that charges you $14 for a popcorn. The tour was very interesting and though I had some qualms about the types of movies they show I was glad I went.

Maze of a Plot

Posted on by
Reply

Duhktar portrayed the frightening journey of a mother desperate to save her underage daughter from the violent leaders of another community. Herself the victim of an unhappy marriage, the mother, fearing for her daughters safety, endangers herself and another man who gives them shelter by fleeing the night of the marriage. As an American who has repeatedly taught to do what makes me happy and that my choices are my own, who has been taught to marry for love if I wish and to never let men be in charge of my life, this movie was sad not only in its plot but in its oppression of women, which is a huge issue in many countries today. It is a difficult line to walk to respect others’ culture while being put off by and occasionally outraged by some of their customs. This complete male domination of society is an aspect of this culture that, as a female engineer and an avid proponent of outreach to young girls to encourage them to take power over their own lives, I cannot accept and I hope I never have to deal with.  That men kill their female family members over insubordination, and that this behavior is condoned, is disgusting to me. No one person should be able to choose, on a whim, whether another person has the right to live or die.

I feel lucky to have been raised by such supportive parents who encouraged me to pursue anything I was interested in, who sent me to my room when I was wasn’t listening as a child, who ground their teeth through my questionable boy choices but let me figure out my life on my own. I feel lucky to live in a free country, and lucky to live in an area of this country where equality is considered important, where tolerance is high and people aren’t disgusted by gay marriage or little-known religions or the thought of gender equality. These things that we take for granted are worth a thought every now and again.

Jazz Night!

Posted on by
Reply

All through I school I  played in jazz bands, and this was something that actually took up a ton of my time – so when I got to Cornell I decided I was no longer going to pursue it. I had lost touch with the genre, and had never really been bothered by it. I signed up for the Spanish Harlem Orchestra event thinking that it would be a string orchestra – I had never heard of this band or their music. But as soon as I stepped into Bailey and saw the setup on stage, I was hit with a wave of familiarity – I knew they were a jazz band even before they hit their (very impressive) first note. Their pieces were intriguing, and even gave some latin takes on American jazz classics. It was an immersive experiences, surrounded by Latin sounds, Spanish lyrics, the distinctive beat of the bongos and the steady clicks of claves and the cowbell. They played a mamba and a cha cha and swing dancers danced in the aisles – the music was certainly dance worthy.

This event was a very pleasant surprise and their efforts to preserve that Spanish Harlem sound are admirable. Not many young people today get interested in jazz, especially such a remote subculture of the genre, but they really made it come to life.

A tornado of Shakespeare

Posted on by
1

The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged) [Revised] was absolutely brilliant. The actors were fantastic, and my stomach hurt from laughing so hard! I loved how the two plays that everyone knows (Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet) were both acted out in full, while all the others were written to be what most people think of them as – a blur of words and common plots. The acting felt real and intimate – they had great chemistry and were never boring. I loved how Shakespeare was expressed mostly in modern ideas. My favourite part was Hamlet backwards, with an appearance of Dracula saying “Blood your suck to want I!” And though I’m not usually one for audience participation, section C saying “Cut the crap Hamlet, my biological clock is ticking and I want babies now!” was  hilarious. (Ophelia had a great C section). The puns and the jokes were all hilarious and Jacob’s rendition of Hamlet’s final speech was simultaneously out of place and completely captivating. The play was such a pleasant surprise and I am so glad I went! (And you should all go it was so good).

Politics of Love

Posted on by
1

Love is not typically something we think about as political. Some of us think of our families when it comes to love, some think of flowers and chocolate on valentines day, and some think of just spending time with someone who they have a connection with. But love is a much more complicated idea than most of us imagine. It is many-faceted. While we often think of love as a feeling of safety, love can mean going places that you are afraid to visit. It can mean a memory pushed back in time. Love is different for everyone, and it was very interesting to hear the different versions of love from a diverse group during this dinner conversation. The pieces that were performed gave me chills – I had never thought about love in such a context. It was shocking to consider love within the frames of sexism, racism, and classism. To be asked, point blank, if love could truly flourish between a privileged white man and a less privileged woman of color was like being slapped in the face. Most of us are taught that love has no boundaries, and that we should love all – but while most of us nod our heads and say “of course,” we often have preconceptions about each other. And even if those preconceptions are overcome, a whole new obstacle arises in that we are all taught to love in different ways. While in one family to love may be to take care of the rest of the family, in another love may be taught as selfishness. Or at least the appearance of selfishness. This complicated topic really made me think and I am glad I attended.

Round and Round We Go…

Posted on by
2

When I was little, my dad actually used to build us a skating rink in our backyard – we would screw together a frame and lay giant sheets of plastic down in it, and then we would fill it with water and wait for it to freeze over. And if you poked a hole in the plastic with a toe pick, boy were you in trouble! Its cool to know that our awesome hockey team used to do the same thing, waiting for the water to freeze over, before Lynah was built. The rink is a great place that I frequent often, as an avid Cornell Hockey fan. Today Caitlan was an awesome teacher, especially for teaching us how to skate backwards and how to get up after falling! I thankfully didn’t have to use the second skill today, but my friends did! We all laughed when one friend fell flat on his back on camera (but was okay!).

The best part about the event for me though was pulling a friend who didn’t know how to skate around and around the rink until she somewhat got the hang of gliding, instead of walking, on her skates. It was a really great time and I am so glad we had this event.