Slope Song

'Gonna Find Out'

Elana Beale — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

I’ll admit a very poorly-kept secret: I love Cornell. Yes, I was raised with the pennant above my bed and sung the alma mater to sleep as a baby. Yes, my license plate is my NetID (if you see a 2003 Blue Jeep Liberty and a Florida license plate with John Lennon and ERB26 driving by, feel free to wave).Yes, I have spent the past three years getting paid to wax poetic about Cornell as a campus tour guide. Yes, my favorite perch on campus is in the middle of Libe Café, with an eye towards both face-time and a view of the Arts Quad.

Leading in a Fishbowl

Elana Beale — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0400

As many of us, aglow with newfound suntans and buoyed by nine days without Ithacation, return to campus from Spring Break today, we find ourselves facing the homestretch of the Spring 2008 semester. This time of year is marked by the reemergence of green grass and Frisbees on the Quads, the embarking on wine tours of the great Finger Lakes American Viticultural Area, and the transitioning of campus organizations to new leadership.

One Nation, Behind Bars

Elana Beale — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Almost 1.6 million adults are in prison in the U.S. — meaning about one in every 100 adults is behind bars, according to a recently published report from the Pew Center on the States. America incarcerates more adults than any other country in the world.

These numbers should be startling, yet not a surprise to the Cornell community. After all, this is not the first time this issue has been raised in these pages, in Cornell classrooms or within student organizations. This latest report, however, is further evidence that America’s incarceration rate is of extreme relevance to the entire Cornell community.

Salaam Aleikum, Cornell 2.0

Elana Beale — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

In the fall of my sophomore year, I underwent the Cornell rite of passage of enrolling in Psych 101. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning, I arrived in Statler Auditorium with my cup of gimme! coffee in just enough time to hear Prof. James Maas greet the class with “Salaam Aleikum.” The daily Arabic greeting paid homage to our classmates who took Psych 101 through videoconferencing at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar. This shared experience — spanning from Ithaca to Doha — was my first introduction to Cornell’s evolving role in higher education and global society at large.

Is 2008 the Change Year? I Can’t Tell

Elana Beale — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Two thousand eight is three weeks old and its first buzzword has already surfaced: change. The word and concept are everywhere.

Keeping the Faith

Elana Beale — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0500

“I don’t feel a need for religion in college. It, somehow, just doesn’t fit.”

I’ve heard this sentiment echoed repeatedly over my three and a half years at Cornell from students of various religious backgrounds and family structures. Upon arrival on campus, freshmen often send daily religious observance home with their parents, along with curfews and the plastic drawers that just don’t fit in their dorm rooms.

Collecting Four Years of Cornell

Elana Beale — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0500

What are you wearing, right now, sitting in class, or Libe Café or in the salad line at the Terrace?

Look around. What are the other students wearing? What immediate thoughts or judgments come to mind as you survey the clothing choices of yourself and your peers? Do outward appearances reflect how we lead our daily lives as Cornellians?

The Times They Are A-Changin’

Elana Beale — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0400

October at Cornell means peak apple-picking season, a (supposed) drop in temperatures, a red-orange-yellow explosion all over the Quads and surrounding hills and the return to Ithaca of our alumni, both young and old. Over both the past weekend and the one before, Cornellians of all ages could be seen roaming campus and Collegetown with looks of nostalgia, recalling the moments and faces that comprised their Cornell experiences.

Favorite Cornell Founder: Ezra Cornell or A.D. White?

Elana Beale — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Almost every Cornellian can confess to getting up close and personal with Andrew Dickson White. Ask any of the alumni descending on campus this weekend for Homecoming if they have at one point sat on stern-faced Uncle Andy’s lap, and I’m sure they will proudly share a story, either as a lost freshman frolicking on the Arts Quad or as a cap-and-gown wearing senior.

The lovin’ A.D. White, founder and first President of Cornell University, receives from generations of Cornellians shouldn’t be surprising. Let’s face it: Andrew Dickson White is the younger, hipper and more intellectual of our two founders. And he has a sweet house.

Don’t Tase Me, Bro!

Elana Beale — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400

This isn’t your parents’ activism.

Last week, Andrew Meyer, a University of Florida junior, stood up at a campus forum in Gainesville hosting 2004 presidential candidate and U.S. Senator John Kerry. He thanked the Senator for his time, for “being open and honest,” recommended the book Armed Madhouse by Greg Palast, raised the question of disenfranchised voters in Florida and Ohio, asked why Kerry conceded the 2004 election, called for the impeachment of President Bush and asked if Sen. Kerry was a member of the Yale secret society Skull and Bones. After Meyer’s allotted one minute was up, he was dragged away from the microphone, kicking, screaming and “resisting arrest.” Meyer continued resisting the campus police officers and was eventually forced to the ground, shouting “don’t Tase me, bro!” before being shocked by a Taser. The rowdy scene immediately erupted into a series of Meyer’s whimpered “ows.”

Connecting the Cornell Network

Elana Beale — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Statler High. Architects in the Green Dragon. English majors in Temple of Zeus. The entire engineering quad. Athletes in Trillium. Greeks at Johnny O’s. Program Houses.

It’s said that Cornell is an incredibly fragmented campus. One explanation is that on a campus of 13,000 undergraduates, students have to find their niche, individual identities that make Cornell a little more manageable, a little less overwhelming. But at what point do those niches detract from the development of a campus-wide, self-identified and networked community of Cornellians?

The G-Word

Elana Beale — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 01:00:00 -0400

My parents are not allowed to say the “G-word” in front of me.

In fact, as I have moved into a house of seven girls in Collegetown, returned to classes on the Hill, commitments, friends, giving half-smiles to that kid I met in Appel in October of freshman year (and haven’t had a conversation with since) and all other aspects of Cornelliana, I have been attempting to push May 25, 2008 as far into the future as it can go.

When asked about post-college plans, all I can do is demurely smile and say I’m feeling non-committal. How can I commit to law school when that means giving up another fabulous opportunity that could be just around the corner? It doesn’t matter that I’m not even sure what that opportunity may possibly be.