Cornell University holds 3rd annual Centrally Isolated Film Festival

By Aaron Laramee and Rachel Mucha

After being ushered down to the Cornell film forum, tickets are quickly exchanged for a program and an enticing pair of 3-D glasses. A pair of large double doors creak open to reveal what seems like a perpetually dark room with a faint red tint. After a few moments of silence, clapping and cheering soon light up the room as the opening credits for the first student film begin to roll across the screen.

The Centrally Isolated Film Festival showcases student films from the upstate New York area, including Ithaca College, Cornell University, University of Rochester and more. For the past three years, Cornell has hosted the festival, run by the Performing and Media Arts Department. Typically, faculty advisors are involved heavily in the planning of the event, but this year film student organizers took the lead.

Danielle Aviv is a senior Performing and Media Arts major, and she’s been involved with CIFF for the past two years after enjoying the first event so much.

“I actually went to the first one that was two years ago. It was my sophomore year of college and I just went and attended it to become more involved in my major,” she said. “I really enjoyed it and I wanted to be involved in it next year.”

After working on CIFF for two years, Aviv is attached to the project and wants to see it continue to grow.

“I thought that since this is so new I could hopefully transform it by being a part of it. It’s still a work in progress…it’s still evolving, and I think this year is the next step in making it a more permanent staple in this area,” Aviv said.

Alex Rehberg, a senior Cornell PMA student, had a hand in organizing CIFF this year as well. He said he thinks the festival has a big impact on the film culture in upstate New York.

“I think that upstate New York has this rich history in film making and student filmmaking in particular, but I think that right now, it’s diminishing. What we’re trying to do with the CIFF is grab these student filmmakers and say ‘Let’s make upstate New York films great again.’”

Dozens of student filmmakers came to the festival to watch their works on the big screen. Among them was Ithaca College film major Chris Kelley. His experimental film, Fly Trap, made it into CIFF.

“I’m proud of this film…I’m proud I put in an ungodly amount of time, and I’m just happy that I get to show it,” Kelley said.

Fly Trap is about a young woman named Tilly Masterson who just graduated from college. Kelley explains that Tilly is a sociopath and a maneater–she literally eats men. Kelley said he really wanted to make a statement about how women are commonly objectified in the horror genre.

“In this film I wanted to put a strong woman front and center and watch her kind of deteriorate under the conventions of horror cinema,” he said. “So it plays on themes of sexual dominance and the male gaze.”

With all these filmmakers in the same room, both Rehberg and Aviv say that the festival’s hope is that students will meet and exchange ideas.

“A lot of this is trying to make filmmakers from different schools mingle. Just try to create relationships between the filmmakers, which is something we’re still trying to work on for the next few years,” Aviv said. “I know Ithaca College has an amazing film program…it would just be cool if we could do more collaborations.”

https://magic.piktochart.com/embed/12809607-untitled-report

New York State legalizes Mixed Martial Arts competitions

by Sara Kim and Aaron Laramee

After a nearly 20-year ban, the New York State legislature passed a bill March 22 legalizing mixed martial arts competitions in the state.

New York State first imposed the ban in 1997, a time when other states also prohibited and unregulated MMA fighting, according to the Ultimate Fighting Championship website. The UFC and a group of fighters from Mixed Martial Arts filed a lawsuit against New York State officials back in November 2011 to challenge the constitutionality of the ban, according to the UFC website.

“Specifically, the lawsuit alleges the ban infringes upon the rights of the fighters who want to publicly exhibit their skills as professionals and express themselves before a live audience, the rights of fans who would like to experience live professional MMA events, and the rights of those who train, publicize or otherwise advanced MMA in New York,” the UFC website said.

Since the recent overturn on the ban, both professional and amateur fighters will now be able to compete in MMA fights in New York.

Alex Henry, professional MMA fighter, said the legalization of MMA competitions in the state will be advantageous for the fighters for two reasons: people will be able to fight in their hometowns and people will not fight in their opponent’s hometown.

“A lot of the times, you’ll get a split decision that will go in favor of the other guy due to the fact that you’re in their hometown,” he said. “We’ve got a couple guys that take some losses due to the fact that they’re fighting in other people’s backyards.”

Henry said while the legislation will not change the overall atmosphere of the competitions, there are some issues that arise with the approved bill.

He said one problem is travel costs for out-of-state fighters to come into New York to fight others.

“They’re going to have to travel, they’re going to have to take time off of work, and it’s going to be money out of their pocket one way or another just like it was for us going to their hometown,” Henry said.

Zechariah Lange, professional MMA fighter and Muay Thai and wrestling instructor at Ultimate Athletics, said the legislation will create issues focused on money in competitions.

He said money is a distraction from the importance of MMA fighting.

“To some people, it’s money depending on where you’re coming from or whatever perspective you have on it,” Lange said. “But to me, personally, I think money is a bad factor into the equation.”

Henry said taxation is also an issue that people often forget. He said although people are happy with the results of the legislation, the bill mentions little about taxes taken during MMA fights.

“Truth of the matter is, is it costing us more than we are making off of it?” Henry said. “We’ve been so happy about it for so long, but now that it’s here, do we really want it?”

https://magic.piktochart.com/embed/12606123-ufc-statistics

Armus Guyton, amateur MMA fighter, said fighters should be paid a lot for what they put into the sport.

“What I do know for a fact is that this is New York, so everything is taxed like crazy,” Guyton said. “I’m pretty sure they’re going to take a lot of the fighters’ money, which I feel like is kind of whack.”

Henry said another issue with the bill is the level of competition presented in the state.

At the amateur level, Henry said, fighters from upstate New York fight others from the area, but at the professional level, fighters ultimately want to compete at different competitions outside their hometowns.

“The problem that I see now is that guys like me personally, we want to fight higher competition that would be, in my opinion, out of state,” he said. “The problem with it being legal in New York State now is we’re going to fight a lot of amateurs that are just going pro.”

Guyton said MMA fighting is not only a sport, but also a lifestyle.

“MMA, to me, is a great sport that allows you to find out who you really are,” Guyton said. “You’re going to learn everything you need to know about yourself in a cage.”

Art of Living teaches stress-relieving breathing techniques

By Aaron Laramee and David Stern

One-by-one, people filtered into the room where Dr. Garima Singh and Meenakshi Manivannan sat, smiling warmly at those who entered. The room was so quiet and relaxed that the scene acted as a stark contrast from the bustling streets of Cornell lying just outside the double doors.

Art of Living’s Ithaca chapter hosted an open session that taught community members how to harmonize breathing rhythms as a way to relieve stress, anxiety and depression. This meeting was part of Art of Living’s weekly lessons that take place at St. Luke Lutheran Church on Friday evenings.

Dr. Garima Singh started the session with a welcoming smile and immediately began getting to know the participants and learning what sources of stress and anxiety they hoped to alleviate.

Singh came from India to the United States in 2005 to pursue a PhD at Cornell and to participate in cancer research. Recently she decided to change her career path and is now interested in research happiness and human relationships.

During her time at Cornell, Singh was looking for a way to relieve tension and that is when she got involved with Art of Living. “Getting my PHD was stressful, and one thing that I remember vividly about this is the moment I entered the workshop place I felt all my stress was going away, immediately I felt at home among strangers,” she said.

Another reason that Singh became so committed to this type of meditation is because of the positive results she experienced from using Sudarshan Kriya, an effective breathing technique. According to the Art of Living website, “This unique breathing technique eliminates stress, fatigue and negative emotions such as anger, frustration and depression, leaving you calm yet energized, focused yet relaxed.”

Meenakshi Sundaram Manivannan was the other volunteer leading the session. Also from India, Manivannan studies mechanical engineering at Cornell and became involved with Art of Living in October, 2013.

During the session, Manivannan described to the participants the many positive impacts that these breathing techniques have had on his life. He explained that he felt very lonely and isolated when he first got to Ithaca, but that Art of Living provided him with the sense of community and belonging that he had been searching for.

“That type of belongingness I had not felt before so I ideally felt connected and that is what kept me,” he said in reference to first workshop with Art of Living. Manivannan explained that he often travels to different cities for Art of Living events, and that without the open community of fellow members, he would not be able to do the volunteer work that he so loves.

Manivannan firmly believes that the breathing techniques, such Sudarshan Kriya, have had tremendously positive impacts on his own life, and the lives of many others. He told the story of Art of Living and founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who taught his methods of meditation to instructors in America, who then spread this knowledge across the country. Now Art of Living is a worldwide organization that helps millions of people improve their own spiritual, mental, and physical health.

There medical evidence to support these methods as well. Doctors and medical websites refer to the importance of proper breathing and the health benefits of effective breathing techniques. “The way you breathe affects your whole body,” according to WebMD. “Full, deep breathing is a good way to reduce tension, feel relaxed, and reduce stress.”

//www.storehouse.co/stories/DL5b6s2th0Ba/embed

Singh says that her own transformation is a testament to the effectiveness of the breathing techniques taught by Art of Living. “I used to be always brooding over things of the past but this was a huge change,” she says. “Like my anger was unmanageable before and now, you can see, I would never punch anybody in the face, but this is how I was growing up as a teenager.”

For Singh, these breathing techniques are part of larger understanding of spirituality. Though many of these methods came from Hindu scripture, there is nothing explicitly religious about improving the relationship between mind and body. “Religion has all of these negative connotations but spirituality can be achieved without religion,” she said. “Spirituality is all about connecting with yourself.”

Groton Public Library celebrates ‘Tech Week’

By Aaron Laramee and Arlana Shikongo

The millennial generation is teased for being born with their cellphones and tablets in their hands. Despite their seemingly inherent tech savviness, technology and science are ever evolving industries and new gadgets are booted out of factories daily. That said, it is not every day that one has the opportunity to fiddle with 3-D printers or voice-activated speakers, but during the Tech Week held at the Groton Public Library, members of the community did.

Teen Tech Week, a teaching based, nationwide event, aims to expose teenagers to technology, digital resources and services. The Groton Public Library decided to participate in the event, adding its own flair by making tech week events and gadgets accessible to all.

Drew Montreuil, the organizer of Tech Week at Groton Public Library, explained the motivation behind the initiative. “It’s just an opportunity for the libraries to showcase the different technologies they have; different things the patrons can get their hands on that they might not otherwise be able to afford or have access to,” he said

The event hosted some of the latest technology to date, such as a 3-D printer and LittleBits, which are little magnetic modules that hook together to build things. Both items were present at the “Family Technology Open House” hosted on Wednesday, March 9. from 6 to 9 p.m, one of the events during the week.

Montreuil demonstrated and explained exactly how the 3-D printer and design program worked while allowing guests to see it in action. “I think so far this week, the highlight has been the 3-D printer,” he said.

Montreuil explains that for most people it’s something new that they have never seen before. “When people first see it and I start to explain it to them, they just get so excited about this cool technology and the possibilities that come along with it,” he said.

Some other events that occurred during that week include a “Girls’ Night In Technology Petting Zoo,” aimed specifically at girls who want to try their hands at the new technology, on Friday, March 11. The library also hosted a “LittleBits Invention Lab” every afternoon from 3 to 5 p.m. during tech week for ages 8 to 14.

Montreuil explains that he was inspired to bring the event to Groton to give people the opportunity and access to knowledge he believes will aid in future college and career pursuits. “It’s like a whole new branch of literacy is developing with the programing and all the technology,” he said.

Montreuil discussed how that essentially opens up a new branch of knowledge for libraries. “ In 20 or 50 years when these kids are growing up into adults they’re gonna need these skills and so this is kind of a new branch for libraries to go out into and help these kids get these skills that they are going to need down the road.”

Some of the children watched the 3-D printer at work, while others were entertained by the Amazon voice-activated smart home speaker that was also on display. The speaker lights up whenever it hears its name.

“My favorite part of the event was the circuits,” said Ryleigh Burnett, a young attendee. “It’s cool how you can just put them together and then figure out how to turn them off and on,” she said.

Montreuil concludes that the culture of technology for youth today is very different and very integral to being a contributing member of society. “These kids are growing up in a completely different culture than we did. These things from day one are integrated into their lives, cell phones, and social media, and all these things.”

Tompkins County citizens tak to public forum to discuss lead levels in water

by Aaron Laramee and Anne Uhle

Audible grumbles turned to hushed voices as another resident of Tompkins County stood up to say what was on his mind. “You know what? I’m a little bit offended by the county health department, and anybody that says my kids have a reasonable level of lead exposure.”

Greg Goodrich was one of many concerned parents that gathered among others at Ithaca Town Hall Thursday to talk about the high levels of lead in Tompkins County schools. The meeting addressed many concerns including false testing, plans to test again, and what families impacted by the lead contamination should do.
One of the more vocal participants in the public forum was Enfield resident Greg Goodrich, who had a pile of papers with him asking for donations of reusable water bottles to help the communities affected by the lead levels.
Ithaca City School District tested the water in August and results showed elevated levels of lead. The school district decided not to disclose this information because the pipes had not been flushed before the test according to Frank Kruppa, public health director at the Tompkins County Health Department in a statement by the TC Health Department.

//www.storehouse.co/stories/aLHob6B5FFkA/embed

In January, the Ithaca City School District found that lead levels were lower, but remained higher than the actionable level appointed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA.) Tests showed the highest levels were found in Enfield Elementary School and Caroline Elementary School which were tested again on Feb. 6. The ICSD disclosed this information to the parents in late February, according to the Ithaca Journal.
The recommended level of lead in water is zero parts per billion and the actionable level is 15 parts per billion, by EPA standards. Parents of students at Caroline and Enfield are understandably worried about their children’s health with the exposure to the lead. If the lead levels are higher than 15 parts per billion , the CDC recommends taking action to lower the lead levels.
There is some doubt about the accuracy of the lead tests. Anna Kelles, a member of the county board with a background in biochemistry, expressed her frustration with the way the tests were handled in the fall and winter of 2015.
“One of the things I did understand, that I did appreciate as far as the sampling is concerned is that it did not originally follow protocol. So if you want to get an accurate estimate of what the levels are we need to resample and follow the proper protocol.”

The water systems at Caroline and Enfield were shut off at 10 p.m. the night before the water was tested. According to the EPA guidance on testing drinking fountains, “minute amounts of scrapings from the valves will produce inaccurate results showing higher than actual lead levels in water.”

Caroline and Enfield plan on re-testing the water for lead by the end of this week. There is still some debate over whether or not it is an issue of contamination or aging infrastructure, Kelles assured the public “We’ve had cases, for example, 12 cases in the last year, and whenever you get a case, you evaluate for that case and trace it back to what the source was. In all 12 of those cases the contamination came from soil and lead. None of the cases came from water. I’m not saying that water isn’t a possibility, I’m just saying that what we have found in Tompkins County is that there has never been a documented source coming from water.”

Tompkins County and New York State health departments say that children younger than six-years-old have elevated blood lead levels when at 10 micrograms per deciliter, although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) changed standard to 5 micrograms per deciliter in 2012. The Tompkins County Health Department said that no children have tested with elevated blood lead levels according to the old standards.

The lead exposure is most harmful for children under six years old and no safe blood lead level has been identified in children, according to the CDC. Lead poisoning can affect almost every organ in a person’s body, according to the EPA.

David Jacobs, chief scientist with the National Center for Healthy Housing asserted that there are practical steps to be taken, “We know how to prevent lead poisoning, it is a matter of political will and obtaining the necessary resources to prevent it.”

Families who have been exposed to lead are encouraged to talk to their primary care providers.

The path to becoming an entrepreneur

By Aaron Laramee, Mallery Rockwell, Taylor Zambrano

Would-be entrepreneurs and small business owners networked and shared personal success stories at the Rev Ithaca Startup Works on the evening of Feb. 23. The Southern Tier Startup Alliance hosted the event titled, Are you an Entrepreneur?

Entrepreneurs in Residence, Brad Treat and Ken Rother, opened up the event by sharing their personal stories about how they became an entrepreneur and gave advice on how anyone else could become one as well.

Treat is a management instructor at both Ithaca College and Cornell University. He had been CEO for a number of companies for the past 15 years — most notably SightSpeed, a videoconferencing company allowing people to make video calls, computer-to-computer voice calls and calls to regular telephones.

Treat said he and others in charge of SightSpeed grew the business into a global communications company and profitably sold that to Logitech for 30 million dollars in 2008.

Treat said he usually advises budding entrepreneurs to make connections with other entrepreneurs, especially by attending Rev events, which are free and offer a chance to meet other like-minded people.

“A lot of good information comes not just from the content, when I stand up or somebody else is giving a talk, but also you learn a lot by talking to the other entrepreneurs,” Treat said. “They have a different perspective, and they have different challenges.”

After Treat and Rothman spoke, the floor was open for people to share their own ideas and start-ups.

Dorothee Goldman, a member of the Ithaca community, attended the event in hopes of finding some help in her own business as well.

Her business, Oratel Diagnostics, involves straws and litmus paper. She holds the litmus paper up to farm cows and depending on the color that the paper turns, she can determine whether the cow is ready to be fertilized or not.

“Somebody said this will never work on a large farm where there are a thousand cows, and I said I’ll just go to one of the farms and ask them,” she said. “I did, and they made me test it and wouldn’t let me leave.”

Goldman has a background in biology and has studied circadian biorhythms. She noticed this periodicity in her body that changed color with the paper during different times of the day, which she then began mapping on a regular basis. Goldman noticed that when she had her menstrual period, the color changed again.

“By the year 2020, there’s not going to be enough land or water to have enough cows to produce enough milk,” she said. “Right now we’re wasting, and we can save by applying this technology.”

Karli Miller-Hornick, an alumna of the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, discussed her own entrepreneur story at the event. Her company, Farmigo, brings fruits, vegetables, meats, and handmade products from local growers and producers directly to local communities. Farmigo acts as a host that connects its members directly to local farmers using their online farmers’ market.

Miller-Hornick became manager of the Farmigo’s software in July 2015.

“I’m kind of a unique case because I don’t own my company but I am in charge of it, I am running it,” she said.

She said that while attending the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, nothing that was presented as a career option appealed to her.

“I never owned a suit, I never wanted to go into an interview, it just did not feel right for me,” she said. “I really wanted to have freedom and be outside and just kind of be creative in the ways that I am creative.”

Miller-Hornick said she wanted to take a different approach with her career. She was searching for a career opportunity involving entrepreneurship, farming, software and marketing.

“It kind of always felt like I was going upstream against what the hotel was telling me was the right career path,” she said. “When I found the company I am working with now, Farmigo, it just seemed like an incredible and perfect fit.”

She came to Rev Ithaca Startup Works to discuss ideas and business experiences with others.

“There are a lot of business decisions that I need to brainstorm with people, and I want advice from people who have been through it before, so I kind of came here looking for that kind of mentorship,” Miller-Hornick said.

Cornell greenhouse returns with hi-tech additions

By Aaron Laramee and Will Uhl

After undergoing renovations and high-tech upgrades for six years, Cornell’s Liberty Hyde Bailey Conservatory has reopened to the public this past week.

The greenhouse is equipped to autonomously tend to a wide variety of plants. A light- and heat-sensitive mechanical shade system manages of light exposure the plants receive, as well as providing significant energy retention, especially once it becomes far cooler than what many of the more tropical plants are accustomed to.

Another new feature is the addition of the Palm House, named in honor of Liberty Hyde Bailey’s specialty: corpse flowers, or Titan arum. Named after the pungent odor they release upon blooming, they will benefit from the Palm House’s 4-foot deep custom blend of soil, made to be long-lasting, environmentally sustainable, and resistant to compaction from foot traffic.

Despite the high-tech focus, the conservatory’s not just for Plant Science students. Head Grower Paul Cooper was enthusiastic about inviting everyone to enjoy the space: “This is open to the public – the state helped us pay for this, and it’s something I feel obliged to share with the public. I’d really encourage people to come visit.”

The bright light, warm atmosphere and colorful surroundings are a welcome respite from Ithaca weather. “We really encourage our visitors to take the time in here to feel well and get that sun on your shoulders. It’s a nice thing to have in Ithaca, particularly in the winter.”

Cooper said he especially enjoys visitors unfamiliar with botany, and hopes that the comfortable environment draws more interest to the plant sciences. “Personally, it really appeals to me to find people who don’t self-identify as ‘plant people’ to come in here.”

The menagerie of plants and the temperate atmosphere are vastly more approachable than textbooks and lectures according to Paul Cooper. “A lot of us like to escape the cold weather no matter what’s in here, and then you get people who start to see some stuff they’ve never seen before.”

However, the greenhouse is still a work in progress, which Cooper said he acknowledges. “We’re open for the public, but this is not the climax. We have a couple years of work to do to get this to be a real public sort of experience.” Most of the plants have yet to be fully planted into the soil, and the back half of the facility is mostly a mish-mash, not yet fully arranged for the public. The visiting hours are also tentative, open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays.

Despite that, the conservatory is far ahead of where it used to be, as Cornell alumni have noticed. Graduate of the class of ‘94, Phil Perry studied plant science during his undergrad and was happy to see so many big changes. “I think there’s been a vast improvement in the equipment, I mean I don’t think they even had circulation fans. Now you have these temperature sensitive side vents here… all of it looks computerized. A lot more efficient,” Perry said.

Mike Pezzillo, another plant science alumni from ‘94, also noted the marked improvements. “Liberty Hyde greenhouse was great, but when we were here, it was old, over 50 years old I think.” The original construction completed in 1931, following Cornell’s Plant Science Building. “I see some big-time improvements. Before, you would have to pull a chain to lift the vents open.”

For now, Cooper’s said he is just glad it’s finally open. “We’re really happy – it’s sort of hard to believe we’re back in here, and there’s a lot of work to do, but it’s just really encouraging that we have a conservatory greenhouse.”  

Ithaca school celebrates 15th anniversary with robotics clubs

By Aaron Laramee and David Stern

The Technology Student Association and Code Red robotics clubs showcased the projects that they have worked on this school year at an open house at Ithaca High School on Saturday, Feb. 6. Students presented the impressive creations that they have engineered, ranging from model cars and Lego buildings, to four-wheeled robots zipping across the floor and launching balls into the air. This event marked the 15-year anniversary of the first collaboration between these clubs and Ithaca schools.

TSA is a technology club that operates at both Dewitt Middle School and Ithaca High School. Code Red is a technology club at the high school level only and currently there are around 50 students on the Ithaca High School Code Red Robotics Team.

Karen Kiechle, a special education teacher in the technology clubs at Ithaca High School, explained the overlap between the two clubs, “because there is no code red robotics at the middle school level they have a huge group for TSA, and then they come to the high school and some kids go to Code Red robotics and some kids stay with TSA and some kids try and do both.”

The success of these programs in engaging the students is impressive. “There are so many different things that go on in the technology department, everyone can find some place to be successful,” Kiechle said.

With such consistent student participation, these clubs have also found success at some of the competitions around the country. The Code Red team competes in FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics competitions every year, making it to the international championship tournament in St. Louis the last two years. FIRST is a non-profit charity organization founded by Dean Kamen with the goal of inspiring young kids to engage in science and team building while gaining leadership skills and building self-confidence.

In order to compete in these exciting robot-battle style tournaments, teams have to raise between $5,000 and $6,000 for registration, according to FIRST’s website. That’s where the fundraising comes in.

Karen Trible is part of the community of parents who actively support these technology clubs. She currently helps with fundraising by selling energy-efficient LED light bulbs and all the parents work together to provide a productive environment for the students.

Trible, who has been volunteering for Code Red over the past 4 years since one of her kids became involved, described how all of the parents are actively involved in making these clubs successful. One of the ways the parents do this is by organizing a massive dinner each night during the building season for all of the kids to enjoy.

“There are about 50 to 60 kids on team any given team, so two parents each night get together and make food for all of the kids.” Trible said. “It ends up being a really big feast.”

 

Enthusiasm from the parents has been a driving force behind the success of these clubs. Ian Krywe, who has been the head advisor of Code Red for the past eight years, attributes much of the team’s success to the dedicated parents.

“There’s a lot of support from parent-volunteers even though a lot of them don’t even have students on the team any more, they just stick around because they feel so strongly about this organization,” Krywe said.

Krywe, who has been a teacher at Ithaca High School for the past 11 years, got involved with Code Red in his first year there. After just three years he had the opportunity to become the lead adviser, a position he was happy to take. “It’s a great organization.” Krywe said. “It really transforms the students on the team.”

This transformation is what Krywe says his work is really all about. By providing students with an opportunity to apply their knowledge and pursue interests outside of the classroom, Code Red and TSA have helped students forge new relationships and acquire new skills and confidence.

“My favorite part is kind of cliché but it’s true: just seeing the transformation of the kids,” Krywe said. “For students who might not fit in in other places at school, this is the perfect home for them where they find like-minded students.”
Eli Robinson, a sophomore at Ithaca High School, has noticed his growth from last year to now. He started as a parts designer with Code Red as a freshman and stuck with it, despite the challenging learning process. Now, he truly feels like part of the team. “Last year I wasn’t doing a lot but this year I feel like I’m really contributing,” he said.  

Glenn Greenwald Targeted for Snowden Docs

Recently, popular journalist and journalism advocate Glenn Greenwald has come under fire for his actions regarding the leaked Edward Snowden documents.  Greenwald was accused of ‘stealing’ the documents he leaked about Snowden.  Greenwald had asked news organizations to pay for the information regarding the documents that he had access to.  House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) was quoted as saying, “A thief selling stolen material is a thief.”  While it is difficult to argue with that logic, FBI Director James Comey has stated that in most cases, it would be a crime, however, ‘”it would be “complicated” in a situation where the person selling that information was engaged in a news gathering activity because of “First Amendment implications.’”

Creating further issues, Comey stated that he was reluctant to speak in detail about Snowden’s case since ‘the FBI has an active investigation into that matter.’  Comey assured Rogers that the FBI is throughly combing through the case, looking for any legal recourse in the case, as well as making sure that Snowden’s accomplices were not brokering any of the leaked information.  The topic and information is all sensitive as the FBI can only release so much at the moment, Greenwald may come under fire for this instance in the future.

Attorney General Eric Holder has said that he could not foresee prosecuting those engaged “in true journalistic activity.”  The Attorney General, while not condoning the activity has said that if legal recourse comes, it is to preserve journalistic integrity.  He does not see it as an attack on Greenwald as any journalist, high profile or not, would be questioned and prosecuted in the same manner. Greenwald however, does not see fault in his actions, the documents being leaked by the NSA, he doesn’t see how his sharing of those documents is stealing when the NSA is really at fault.  Greenwald has stated he eagerly awaits recourse for his actions, if there actually will be any.

Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens: ‘Money Is Not Speech’

In a recent article by the Huffington Post, former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has come out and said that he does not consider money and its use to be free speech.  This controversial idea has been in the news for years now as big donors have been changing and shaping elections.  Stevens said, “While money is used to finance speech, money is not speech. Speech is only one of the activities that are financed by campaign contributions and expenditures. Those financial activities should not receive precisely the same constitutional protections as speech itself.”  Stevens has long been a critic of his former colleagues actions regarding campaign donations, super pacs, and the like.

Super Pacs especially are heavy contributors to the issue, yet not many seem to fully understand what a Super Pac is or does.  Satirist and political ‘pundit’ Steven Colbert won a Peabody award for his show’s exposure of Super Pacs and how they function.  Colbert began his own Super Pac as well as taking time on numerous shows to explain why the Pacs work the way they do and how they can influence elections in a big way.  Colbert took it upon himself to educate about the Pacs, and their ability to donate unlimited funds,  but the practice continues and does not seem to be slowing down.

In the article, Federal Election Commission vice chairwoman Ann Ravel said,”These tactics have no apparent purpose other than to conceal the sources of funds.” Hearing this coming from the VP of the FEC gives me hope in the battle for real political representation.  For far too long, the CEOs and heads of large corporations have had too much say in recent elections.  Campaign backers, like the Koch brothers are known for their heavily right wing allegiances and have  made very little effort to hide their influence. As the topic becomes more and more of an issue, I do not doubt that we will see the use of Super Pacas and the like to decrease as the American people become tired of their elections being decided by money ad not votes.