Culture

SUIT DU JOUR | The Fanny Pack is Back

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Fanny packs are making a comeback. When most people think of fanny packs, they think of tourists scrambling about unknown streets of some foreign city or hikers trekking along in the woods. Or in the case of Cornell University, you probably think of your friends making rounds along the slope on Slope Day. The name of this accessory — fanny packs —  does not accurately suit the typical use or function of accessory itself. In the 1980s, fanny packs were introduced into US fashion and traditionally worn from behind, above one’s buttocks.

Entertainment

KYLIE’S ROOM | Story Time – This American Life

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“Tell me a story,” is a phrase that seems to come out of my mouth, or be sent via text message quite often. Sometimes, I am just looking for something to pass the time, idle gossip about people I don’t know and will never meet. But, other times I am looking for a story with purpose, to learn something new. People consider stories relics from childhood. They remember their parents reading to them in bed with a big story book about a mythical land, a prince, a princess, a villain, a moral to the story, and a happy ending.

Politics

WELCOME TO THE ZOO | 2016 Presidential Election

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With an open mind and two sides of the story, you’re bound to learn something new. Welcome to the zoo! This is a blog where both the Republican and Democratic viewpoints are represented. The blog is not meant to sway you either way necessarily, just to present both sides of the story. You may not agree with the whole article, but hey, you’re likely to agree with half!

Politics

OUTSIDE THE MAINSTREAM | Cornell Is Wrong About Unionization

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Cornell and President Rawlings are wrong. There is really no other way to say it. Last week, President Rawlings sent an email letter out to all of campus, which forcefully attacked the concept of a graduate student union at Cornell.  I think the content and spirit of this letter were not only intellectually dishonest, but obviously supported anti-union propaganda. I say this only because the language of this letter is very similar to language used by companies against union campaigns for workers.

Life

IT’S ONLY LOGICAL | Hooking Up

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“We’re more alike than I thought.”

Probably not, but I was too drunk to worry about the validity of the statement and too fixated on the idea of mitigating the inevitable wave of despair that I associate with falling back into sobriety. We lay there for a little while longer and chatted about pretty much everything , except for what was on our minds. Kant said that it was wrong to use someone as a means to an end, but I don’t really enjoy sex that much so I wasn’t too worried. James 1:15 briefly popped into my mind, but I’ve done worse so again I wasn’t too worried. I woke up early the next morning; we exchanged a hopeless ‘later’ and I began my long walk back to Cascadilla.

Life

BETWEEN BARS | Learning Chinese

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This week at Auburn I taught Chinese. It came as a surprise, really: when we checked our belongings in at the front desk I noticed a fellow tutor holding what looked like worksheets that were written in Chinese. She explained to me that she taught a small Chinese class and invited me to join her in administering a quiz for her class. It turns out the entire Chinese class that night consisted of three people. The five of us sat around a single table in a classroom filled with other students who were there for study hall.

Entertainment

SUNSPOTS | Halloween Edition: What is the scariest thing at Cornell?

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See what several of our writers have to say about some of the scariest things they’ve experienced during their years at Cornell. THE WALK TO MY HOUSE

Charlie Liao

As a non-guaranteed transfer, I had no clue that Cornell housing is basically over before Thanksgiving. So, I’m living conveniently closer to Ithaca College than I am Cornell. What does this mean? Well, it means walking through a living representation of the “Upside Down” from the Netflix hit, Stranger Things.

Politics

SENSE AND SENSIBILITY | The Conscience of A Liberal

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Awhile ago, Paul Krugman ran an op-ed piece titled “Plutocrats and Prejudice”, in which he observes the division between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton during the primaries as a division between what change is best. Senator Sanders says he, along with the people, will revolutionize politics, while Secretary Clinton says she will implement progressive reforms. The question of revolution or reform was discussed previously in Western Europe and pre-Soviet Russia in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Scholars discussed this question in the context of what is the proper interpretation of Marx’s work. To achieve socialism, do we implement reform or do we need revolution? In the present, the goal hasn’t changed.

Politics

KRAVITZ’S KORNER | The Uncomfortable Truth About AJ+

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In just over a year since its founding in September 2014, AJ+ has exploded onto the scene to become the second largest news video producer on Facebook. In October 2015, AJ+ amassed over 1 billion views across its platforms. It’s safe to say that AJ+ has risen to social media preeminence. Owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network, a Qatari-based multinational multimedia conglomerate, AJ+ produces digital media news coverage from around the around about social justice issues. It is a self-described “global news community for the connected generation. We highlight human struggles and achievements, empower impassioned voices and challenge the status quo.

Culture

POLITICS & STUFF | American Dream

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I am the child of immigrants. I am the child of two people who moved to another country with not a penny to their names and worked themselves to the bone for twenty years to finally earn a small house with a yellow lawn and white picket fence. My parents worked hard and endured continuous years of hardship because they were promised a light at the end of the tunnel. My family is The American Dream personified. And just as my parents’ lives were strung along by a longheld promise, my life has been shaped by that same promise.