The debate over gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale heats up

By Jacquie Simone
As drilling companies are waiting to push water and chemicals into the ground through hydrofracking, activists are pushing back. Recently, community members have been speaking out against natural gas drilling in Tompkins County, fearing it will negatively affect the environment and possibly [...]

Local Roller Derby Expands with Increased Popularity
By Jacquie Simone
During the day, 37-year-old Sue Dozoretz listens to ambient music as she gently massages customers at the Finger Lakes School of Massage. But at night, she transforms into “CamArrow” and spends her time slamming into opponents as she skates around the rink, egged on by the cheering [...]

By Jacquie Simone
As the leaves fall and temperatures plunge, beckoning yet another blustery upstate New York winter, I often find myself wishing for a trip south of the border. Fortunately, Ithaca is home to Viva, a taqueria and cantina offering colorful, fresh Mexican food.
Stepping into Viva, you’ll see the complete opposite of the drab late-autumn [...]

By Jacquie Simone
It’s 2:17 a.m. on a Saturday. While sitting around with your friends, reminiscing about your exploits and shenanigans of earlier in the night, your stomach starts to join in the conversation. It gurgles and squeaks, begging to be fed. If you don’t appease its demands soon, who knows what will happen.
You frantically search [...]

Ithaca College criticized for labor issues
By Jacquie Simone
In the middle of the most labor union-dense state in the country, in a politically liberal city, Ithaca College might not be as pro-labor as one would think. Many faculty and community members believe the school’s administration actively discourages membership in unions.
In fact, the college was given the [...]

America’s versions of foreign cuisine
By Jackie Simone
This is not Chinese food,” Yidi Wu, an Ithaca College sophomore from China, said as she pushed aside her dumplings in disdain at a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, Washington, D.C. Wu is certainly not alone in her bewilderment with ethnic food in the U.S.: the Americanization of ethnic food [...]

IC professor, students protest School of Americas
By Jackie Simone
Patricia Rodriguez wasn’t intimidated by the police forces and helicopters that surrounded the 19th annual School of the Americas protest. She was not afraid that she could be arrested while she called for the closing of the notorious school on Nov. 21-23. She was not scared that [...]

Cracks in IC’s social structure
By Jackie Simone
A typical day at Ithaca College includes running into tour groups of high school students with their nervous parents. Tour guides walk backward and try to project their voices so that the out-of-place crowd can hear vivid descriptions of the college and the myriad opportunities offered to students. The [...]

By Jackie Simone
Red, white and blue crowds erupted in applause and waved signs enthusiastically. Setting a television record, more than 40 million viewers at home watched the mayhem of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions on television screens across the country. Two weeks of rhetoric, alliterative slogans and snide remarks about the opposition party culminated [...]