Why the FDA’s “gay blood” ban is an obstacle to the LGBT rights movement
By Adam Polaski
Sitting in a waiting area where four other students were poring over bound-and-laminated pamphlets, I read through the eligibility requirements for donating blood to the American Red Cross. Admittedly, I was only half-reading the paperwork; I had donated before, in [...]

By Adam Polaski
For some families, Sunday mornings are a sacred, time-honored tradition: you wake up, you get dressed up really nice in your – duh – Sunday best, you go to church, and then you eat a big breakfast as a family.
Things are a little different with my family. On Sunday morning, from 10am until [...]

You’ve seen Animal House. Or maybe you haven’t and simply want to nod your head and pretend that you totally understand these key pop culture references that you encounter at least a few times a year, like me. Either way, you may have never thought about it this way, but Greek organizations like fraternities and sororities are more like families than you may expect. Here’s why: an adequately brief look at surrogate big brothers, communal living and scary skeletons in the closets of those old, party-weathered frat houses.

Examining religion’s influence on large family size and the “Quiverfull” lifestyle
By Adam Polaski
While checking out the booths at the South Dakota State Fair a few months ago, Bruce and Diane Crevier came across a caricature artist drawing cartoonish sketches of fair attendees. They approached her and expressed their interest in a drawing, asking if the [...]

Students distribute uneaten campus meals
By Adam Polaski
A group of seven students are huddled around a counter in the empty, quiet kitchen of the Towers dining hall at Ithaca College. The students are spooning rice, pork and mixed vegetables into 30 disposable food containers while laughing and talking about their plans for the weekend. Several of [...]

Locals look to Ithaca Hours to jumpstart the economy
By Adam Polaski
As the rest of the country waits to see whether Congress’ economic stimulus plan proves effective, Ithaca’s residents need not look any further than the Commons for a strategy to potentially stave off the negative effects of the recession on the local economy. There is [...]

By Adam Polaski
On the morning of Tuesday, October 26, Mrs. Beatrice Cooper, first grade teacher at Virgil Elementary School in Cortland, NY, choked on a piece of an apple that one of her students gave to her earlier in the day. The 63-year-old immediately detected foul-play and speculated on the possibility that it was a [...]

The de-evolution of activism on our campus
By Adam Polaski
Passionate students report to class with instruments in tow, ready to learn the intricacies of composing and performing music. Their professors stress that they should develop habits of extensive rehearsal, viewing music as their priority and everything else as a distraction from practice. As classes end, the [...]