Free Republic

ITHACA — Journalists covering dictatorial regimes overseas often have ‘minders’ assigned ensuring the state controls access. In a move more familiar to China than a college campus, Ithaca College officials announced Friday future press contact with administrators must be cleared by the college. The change in policy was quickly denounced by IC faculty as a “potential public relations disaster.” Starting Oct. 1, members of Ithaca College student newspapers, radio and television must first clear any administrative contact with the college’s media relations department. The new policy affects student media “who are reporting on topics of college policies and developments must...

One afternoon in Ithaca, N.Y., my kids were playing on the swing sets in the park when a little tike wearing a football jersey ran into my daughter’s path. I lunged for the swing — I jerked the chain so abruptly that I feared whiplash — and shared a “wow, that was close” exchange with the kid’s mom. “How old is he?” I asked. The lady looked at me as she placed her kid on the swing and said with no trace of irony, “His name is Jill, and she’s three.” As I tried to match the pronouns and antecedents,...

The FBI, the New York attorney general and the Tompkins County district attorney are investigating allegations that an Ithaca Police Department officer may have tipped off drug dealers about impending drug raids, according to Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick.

About 50 of the estimated crowd of 400 people who 'occupied' Utica Thursday evening ended up spending the night. The diehard protesters say they will continue to 'Occupy Utica' 24 hours a day as long as the weather permits. One of the organizers, Ken Keplinger says he does not want to put anyone's health in jeopardy, so as soon as the temperatures drop overnight to a temperature the group believes is unsafe, the protest will then only take place during the day. Keplinger says they do plan to stay 24 hours a day, as long as they can. Keplinger, who...

Three Democratic organizers have joined together in Tompkins County to rally up voters for President Barack Obama’s re-election. Senior Veronica De Cesare, a member of Obama for America 2012 who is responsible for canvassing Ithaca College and its surrounding areas, held a meeting in her Circle Apartment last week to talk about re-election tactics and to celebrate the repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which prevented openly homosexual and bisexual individuals from serving in the military. De Cesare, Cornell University senior Brynn Leopold and Robert Chapman, an adjunct instructor at Tompkins Cortland Community College, met in mid-September during...

Expect even more flags at Republican campaign events. And if the Democrats were wise, they might well strip the stage of flags altogether, suggests a new Cornell study, the first to look at the political impact of the flag's image on Americans. The research finds that for up to eight months after glimpsing the stars and stripes, voters of all political persuasions shift toward conservative Republican attitudes and voting behavior. "Part of the reason we think this effect is so durable is because we primed people with the flag while they were thinking about their voting choices," said Melissa J....

Giuliani is scheduled to speak at Cornell’s convocation May 28 at Schoelkopf Stadium. His selection as the first Republican to speak at this Ivy League school follows a long list of Democrats since 1984. In 2010, the school selected then-Democratic U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “It is encouraging to see that there’s a consideration of the other side, which I know a lot of us hadn’t thought was the case,” a member of the Cornell Republicans told the Cornell Daily Sun earlier this week.

While it's tempting for conservatives to cheer the termination of the liberal blowhard from MSNBC, I have a bad feeling that the Obama administration will try and use this to ram through some of their proposals for regulating broadcast content and the internet. Despite the fact that MSNBC will still feature liberals Matthews, Maddow, O'Donnell and Schultz as their big "stars," and despite the center-left bent to the big three networks and CNN, liberals are already using the Olbermann firing to advance the myth that there is nothing out there to balance against "Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and the vast...

GREECE, NEW YORK--A Greece man loaded his car with a shotgun, hunting knives, a flare gun, baseball bat and handcuffs and set off en route to Washington, D.C., with plans to engage law enforcement and possibly kill former Vice President Dick Cheney, according to the Secret Service. The Secret Service detained the man, Ian Rotunno, on Oct. 7 and this week charged him with threats against a former president. Rotunno told Secret Service agents that, as well as planning to kill Cheney, he intended to go to the Texas ranch of former President George W. Bush and murder him also,...

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ITHACA, NY--A Green Street mural approved by the Public Arts Commission is causing a minor uproar after Underground Railroad leader Harriet Tubman was described as “Comrade” Tubman. In an interview, the artist said his goal is developing a “socialist movement in the United States.” Earlier this month, the city’s planning director lavished praise on the 30×600-foot mural of Tubman and Frederick Douglas beneath the Aurora Street bridge. “I think it’s a great introduction to our city,” Ithaca Planning and Development Director JoAnn Cornish said. The mural, paid for through a state grant applied for by the city and the business-oriented...

A mural approved by the Public Arts Commission under the Green Street bridge is causing a minor uproar after Underground Railroad leader Harriet Tubman leader was described as “Comrade” Tubman. In an interview, the artist said his goal is developing a “socialist movement in the United States.”

ITHACA, NY--According to an upstate New York paper, "a candidate for state Senate announced that people should vote for her because she's a woman." Pamela Mackesey of Ithaca is a Tompkins County legislator and a Democratic candidate for the 53rd District Senate seat occupied by George H. Winner Jr., R-Elmira. Winner is not seeking re-election. During a stop at Elmira College, which was a women's school when it was founded in 1855, Mackesey pointed out that while women are active in the voting booth, they are less visible when it comes to running for office. "In 2010, 84 percent of...

Three Ithaca-area schools rank among the most gay-friendly colleges, according to a survey by a national nonprofit group focused on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) college students. Ithaca College scored five out of five stars in the Campus Pride Climate Index. Cornell University scored 4.5 out of five. Binghamton University scored well, too - ranking four out of five stars. The annual index has become a yardstick used in student and faculty research, campus organizing efforts and gauging LGBT student safety and inclusion. Ithaca College high score - only 19 of more than 230 schools ranked five out of...

Visitors to Ithaca come away with various impressions, focusing on the beautiful scenery, the liberal attitudes or our love of art. One theater reviewer from Washington, DC told readers Ithaca is a 'virtual Berkeley of the East.' Washington Times entertainment blogger Terry Ponick made that comment and many more while in town to see "Penelope of Ithaca" at the Hanger Theater. "It's like a trip back in time to the Woodstock Era here, with posters and adverts providing 'medical' marijuana even as the ubiquitous bikes seem at times to crowd out automobile and pedestrian traffic alike, writes Terry Ponick. Along...

ITHACA, NY–The administrators of a Facebook page set up to support Ithaca Police Officer Bryan Bangs are accusing Mayor Carolyn Peterson and other city officials of attempting to suppress the group’s free speech rights. Police officials are denying the accusation. Bangs was cleared by a Tompkins County Grand Jury in July of wrongdoing in the shooting death of Shawn Greenwood. The Grand Jury found that Bangs acted in self-defense while trying to arrest Greenwood, a convicted felon, under a warrant. Later that month, Bangs’ house was torched in an apparent arson. No one has yet been charged in that fire....

"WINE VENDING MACHINES of different kinds are spreading in different venues, which is great for consumers, wineries, and stores. A couple weeks ago I mentioned the Pennsylvania test market for buying bottled wine at kiosks (Wegman’s is one of the participating stores). "Corks & More, a wine store in Ithaca, is one of a handful of stores statewide that has wine-by-the-glass vending machines. You put your debit card in and get wine out by the taste, half-glass or glass. Ten vending machines dispense 40 wines, ranging from Opus One ($50 a glass) to Red Cat (75 cents a taste), with...

A Cornell sociologist is launching a new study to develop methods of identifying covert social networks, including terrorists who are preparing attacks, human traffickers and drug smugglers, among other groups. Matthew Brashears, assistant professor of sociology, has received a three-year, $797,000 grant from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency for the study that aims to help the U.S. government thwart terrorist attacks. "We're very excited to have a chance to do this kind of work," said Brashears, who wrote the grant proposal with sociology doctoral candidate Michael Genkin. "It's becoming very difficult in the modern age to interdict decentralized criminal activities....

ITHACA, NY--The City of Ithaca, Police Chief Ed Vallely, Deputy Chief John Barber, Deputy Chief Pete Tyler and the Tompkins County District Attorney's office discriminated against Ithaca Police Officer Chris Miller and other white male officers, Miller is alleging in a $17 million lawsuit filed in federal court May 20. The lawsuit alleges they increased their discrimination against Miller after he filed human-rights complaints and retaliated with baseless accusations, threats of indictment and termination, harassment, greater scrutiny, and unjustified and unlawful discipline, including a bogus investigation of him in 2009. The suit also names the Ithaca Police Benevolent Association and...

Prof. Michael Lynn, marketing and tourism, surveyed 374 waitresses about their perceived “sexiness,” breast size and other physical characteristics and correlated these results with the amount of tips the waitresses received. His results indicate that evolutionary instinct trumps the ideals many patrons profess. Though most customers say they reward service, Lynn reports that quality of service has less than a 2-percent effect on the actual tip. Instead, he found that waitresses with larger bra sizes received higher tips — as did women with blonde hair and slender bodies..... Lynn explained that his study could be useful to a potential waitress...