By wpengine April 19, 2002
Cornellians will celebrate Earth Day, the annual day of environmental awareness, for the 33rd time this Monday. Sponsors Cornell’s Earth Day celebration is sponsored by SAECO, Center for the Environment, CRESP, Caritas, United Progressives, Peaceful Justice, Ursus, Roots and Shoots, SNRC, Phi Sigma Pi, COE, Kyoto Now, Greens, COLA, Amnesty International, Educate for the Earth and Earth Rise. The celebration, started by Senator Gaylord Nelson in 1970, is “usually marked as a time where organizations take the time to speak on the status of the environment and the progress they have made in preserving it,” said Yiwei Wang ’04, an Earth Day organizer. “It’s main goal is to promote awareness and instill a sense of love and respect for our planet and its inhabitants,” Wang added. “The CU Earth Day 2002 organizers hope to raise awareness about diverse environmental issues and local community activism,” said Vanessa Ulmer ’02. “Crucial to this goal is promoting an expanded understanding of ‘environmentalism’ that reaches beyond elite concerns to include issues of social justice and equity,” she added. This year, Cornell’s celebration of Earth Day will consist of three events. Kicking of Monday, at 11 a.m. A Celebration of the Earth and Community Activism activity will be held on Ho Plaza. The event will feature speakers, open-microphone poetry from various campus and off-campus activist groups as well as live music from the White Pines and Cornell Percussion. “The speakers are truly excellent,” said Christina Schiavoni ’02. “We hope that individuals will leave Ho Plaza with an understanding of the urgency of the issues presented, a sense of the interconnectedness of these issues, and a feeling of empowerment, determination and hope,” she added. At 5 p.m., following the celebration on Ho Plaza, students are encouraged to attend the Hunger Banquet in the Willard Straight Hall Memorial Room, sponsored by the Phi Sigma Pi fraternity. “Current world hunger issues in the United States and abroad will be discussed, focusing on the ways poverty and malnutrition affect people in various regions of the world,” said Wang. The dinner will feature food from local Ithaca restaurants and cost $4, proceeds of which will be used to attempt to eliminate world hunger. The final event of the day will be the State of the Earth Address in Anabel Taylor Auditorium at 7 p.m. The event will feature five speakers: Anke Wessels, Phil McMichael, Jane Mt. Pleasant, Mahesh Rangarajan and Leland Glenna, who will speak from diverse perspectives and share their greatest current environmental concerns. “It will be a look at the ‘big picture’ with topics ranging from globalization, to hunger and food security, to climate change and international agreements,” said Schiavoni. “Celebration is the way we give gratitude for what the Earth gives us and what we give each other for contributing to an ecologically sustainable world,” said Tony Del Plato, an Ithaca resident and environmental activist. “As grim as the situation looks right now for a sustainable world, celebration recharges our need to hope for a better world,” he added. All Cornell students are encouraged to attend this Monday’s festivities. Archived article by Marc Zawel
By wpengine April 19, 2002
This weekend marks the first time that all three crews will see racing action. The heavyweights and women will remain at Collyer Boathouse, while the lightweights travel to New Jersey to face Princeton and Rutgers. After a brief rest last weekend, the heavies will be back in full swing tomorrow against the crews of Navy and Syracuse. The battle between Cornell and Syracuse should be especially fierce as the two central New York teams fight for the rights to the Goes Cup. “It’s usually an extremely competitive race,” explained heavyweight coach Dan Roock. Last season, Cornell won the trophy for the first time in several years. “This is the first time that this team will be defending the trophy,” Roock added. The women and their opponents, Penn and Rutgers, will be joining the heavyweights down at the Inlet. The three teams will come together for the Raritan Cup race, which has become an annual tradition. “It’ll be tough competition. It’s always a pretty tight race,” coach Melanie Onufrieff explained. All three teams’ varsities have seen mixed success on the water this year, which means that there are no favorites going into the event. After a victory at home last weekend, the lightweights will head to Princeton to try to continue their success. “This weekend everyone is looking to improve on the speed we produced last weekend,” said senior captain Joe Kiely. “Everyone is looking forward to racing and gauging how fast we can go.” The crew is confident but realizes that past performances will mean little when they are staring down Princeton and Rutgers at the starting line. “The race is going to be huge,” explained coach Todd Kennett. “We’re going to have to psych ourselves up for a monster.”Archived article by Meredith Long