Editorials and Opinions

Guest Column: Learn someone's history before attacking them personally

January 23rd, 2007
Earlier tonight I crossed paths with my friend Gino Bush. I hadn't seen Gino in several months, but had thought of him often, since reading the letters to the editor in the Ithaca Journal regarding the renaming of State Street and the ensuing dialogue on the Journal website. The website dialogue was especially personal in attacking Gino. I was hit hard by the hatred in the attacks on Gino.
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Editorial: LACS Needs Original Plan Included in Facilities Bond

January 17th, 2007
Tonight the ICSD Board of Education is expected to cast its final vote on the proposed Facilities Bond project that they will present to the public in March for a vote. The board has been meeting regularly for several months to discuss and debate projects included in the bond. The current dollar amount to do everything that is still on the table is approaching $100 million.
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Rabbis who don’t believe in God? Kol Haverim offers Ithacans a place for Secular Judaism

January 16th, 2007
Where do people who do not believe in a supernatural being find what people of faith find through church – a moral framework, inspiration for political action, a network of like-minded individuals, and community-based ethical education for their children?
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Guest Commentary: Why We're Boycotting Maté Factor on the Commons

January 2nd, 2007
In Ithaca many people consider the consequences of how and where they spend their money. My wife and I have friends who can tell you why they refuse to buy products from several manufacturers as well as from a local big-box retailer or two.
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Letter to the Editor: On ICN Poll: Is Ithaca Racist?

October 31st, 2006
hanks so much for putting this question out there ('is Ithaca racist?', a poll on ICN web site) and for all that you do to get real and move towards race liberation/ending racism. I feel compelled to give more than a yes or no answer to your question. Rather than say 'Ithaca is racist,' I would say "Ithaca is indisputably suffering from racism," and here is why I would say it that way:
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Editorial: Go see who's profiting from the war in Iraq

October 25th, 2006
The other day, I saw Robert Greenwald's movie "Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers" at Cinemapolis. Ithacans have two more days to see this consciousness-raising movie for a fundraising cause: Cinemapolis is allowing the Tompkins County Worker's Center to show the film as a fundraiser. That's tonight and tomorrow (Wednesday and Thursday), at 7:15 pm. $8.00 and they take 100% Ithaca HOURS.
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Guest Column: Grant disenfranchised youth their wish: rename State Street after MLK

October 19th, 2006
As Dr. King once said, "Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." Tonight, it’s true, we can’t see the whole staircase—all the implications of every scenario of granting such a complex, emotionally-charged request, but I respectfully ask the Board to take the first step in granting this request that comes from many people of various skin, economics, business interests, and most importantly from young people of color who have so nobly led this complicated issue.
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EDITORIAL: Change State Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Street

October 11th, 2006
Today the Board of Public Works is scheduled to vote on whether to change State Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Street. The proposal was originally brought forth by local activist Gino Bush and his Circle of Recovery Class of 2004 from Ithaca High School. And as most Ithacans know, has sparked numerous public hearings, debates, and controversy, and postponed the vote for many months.
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Editorial: Gay marriage ban can't stop love, commitment, or weddings

August 16th, 2006
I just returned from Massachusetts where my sister, Diane, got married to the love of her life: Nicole. The wedding took place in a beautiful old church in Williamstown, in the Berkshires.
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Editorial: The American Obsession with Lawns

August 2nd, 2006
I finally got myself out of the house today and into the heat to cut my grass. In all honesty, the only reason I did so was because I fear what my neighbors think: they all have impeccable lawns and spend countless hours outside mowing, watering, trimming, clipping, and poisoning. I wonder if they look at my unkempt, weedy lawn and think: what does she do all day in that house? She can't even take care of her lawn!
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EDITORIAL: On an Inconvenient Truth

July 5th, 2006
Last Saturday I went to Cinemapolis to see an Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore's documentary film about global warming. One of my preconceptions about the film was that it would serve more as a PR piece for Gore—and indeed I did think about that during the film.
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Editorial: Remember Personal Responsibility?

June 21st, 2006
I can't quite remember who coined the phrase, whether it was Newt Gingrich or some other right-winger, but the term became widely used to describe how welfare mothers needed to pull up their bootstraps and work their way out poverty.
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Editorial: Diversity is not just a feel-good word

June 6th, 2006
Last week, I attended the First Annual Diversity Roundtable, sponsored by the Tompkins County Diversity Consortium, and held at the Hilton Garden Inn. The Diversity Consortium is a coalition of local governmental, educational, and civic groups working together to make Tompkins County a more inclusive place for all of its citizens.
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Guest Commentary: Help New York Naturopathic Doctors get Licensed

June 6th, 2006
If you've ever been fortunate enough to experience the care of a Naturopathic Doctor (ND), you likely realize what a comforting experience it can be.
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Editorial: Forget the Bling

April 12th, 2006
On one of the several listservs I subscribe to here in Ithaca, there's an interesting discussion going on regarding a study about the energy usage of hybrid cars versus SUVs. The study originally sparked a debate about the efficacy of statistics, which, as a journalist, I am all too familiar with. Give me any idea, almost no matter how inane, and I could probably come up with a study that "proves" its inherent value.
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Top Five Reasons to Change State St. to Martin Luther King Jr Street

March 27th, 2006
Mary Loehr and Caleb Thomas, local grassroots historians, share their reasons why State Street should be changed to Martin Luther King, Jr Street.
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Commentary: Oil Must Go!

March 23rd, 2006
Although solid as a continent, America floats on a sea of oil, for building roads and moving cars; for heating homes; for pumping water; for cultivating, fertilizing and harvesting fields; for making clothes and housewares; for trucking food and goods. Were oil gone tomorrow, we'd soon die.
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Letter to the Editor

March 15th, 2006
Dear Elizabeth: As one of many planetary scientists working here in Ithaca, I was very disappointed to see that you lumped space exploration in with defense weapons as negative aspects of the federal budget in your recent ICN. I should think we could all get behind learning about the origins of our planet...
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Editorial: Public Has Chance to Share Their 'Southwest Vision'

February 15th, 2006
Last week I attended a public forum on the proposed Southwest Vision Statement--a twelve page document written by the 11-member Southwest Committee that details several ideas for a new residential neighborhood. The two parcels of land that the city hopes to build this neighborhood on are directly west of Wal-Mart and Lowe's (and their behemoth parking lots).
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Editorial: Connecting the Dots

February 1st, 2006
Today marks the beginning of Black History Month, a month to celebrate, appreciate and learn about the contributions of African-Americans to American life. It was originally started in the 1920s as "Negro History Week" and expanded in the 1970s to a month. No doubt Martin Luther King Jr. gets the bulk of attention during Black History Month, but I recently came across a transcript of one of his speeches that is so incredibly germane to our current fiasco in Iraq, that I am quoting an entire paragraph below.
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Editorial: One Verdict Against the War (and More)

January 18th, 2006
Next week, the Saint Patrick's Four will be sentenced for two misdemeanor charges of damaging government property and trespassing for their act of civil disobedience on March 17, 2003, two days before "shock and awe," when they entered the Lansing military recruiting center and poured some of their own blood about the vestibule of the center.
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Editorial: All the News that's Fit to Print? All of it?

January 4th, 2006
On New Year's Eve, the Ithaca Journal's headline story was this: "Probe to find U.S. spying leak begins." It was basically about how the Bush administration is trying to find (and punish) the official who leaked the story that the U.S. government is illegally spying on U.S. citizens. The article was presented as though the leaking of this information was what's wrong with the picture.
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Editorial: Mixed Blessings

December 15th, 2005
Holiday season is here and I am blessed with mixed emotions. On the one hand, I'm disgusted by our culture's promotion of excess consumerism, shamed by our government's determination to break International Law when it comes to war crimes and torture, and sickened by the total denial of most Americans on both of those counts.
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