Potter's a Pleaser

By wpengine | November 22, 2002

After months of anticipation, fanfare, and propaganda, the sequel to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone has finally arrived. Oh, and it’s even better than the first. Packed into almost three hours of footage, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets delivers nonstop excitement and action amidst thrilling special effects that promises to keep kids and adults alike on the edge of their seats.

The film opens with Harry, expertly portrayed by returning star Daniel Radcliffe, trying to keep quiet while his relatives, the Dursleys, entertain important guests in their suburban house. While Harry is trying to stay unnoticed, an unwelcome house-elf named Dobby suddenly appears in his room with a foreboding message, “Harry Potter must not return to Hogwarts!”

When Harry refuses to listen, Dobby magically causes a cake to fall on his uncle’s guests, in hopes that Harry will get into so much trouble that he will not be allowed to return to the wizard school. However Dobby doesn’t realize that Harry has some mischievous and resourceful friends who break him out of his room that same evening.

Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and his brothers take him back to their house, an interesting structure that could only be standing because of magical forces, where Harry finally meets his best friend’s family. For the first time, Harry begins to understand what having a real family is like, but his feeling of security does not last long when things begin to go horribly wrong.

The trouble begins when Harry and Ron get stuck at the train station and miss their ride to Hogwarts. Instead of waiting for Ron’s parents, the two decide to illegally fly the bewitched car back to school. Not only are they almost expelled for the troubles they caused, their car also runs out of gas at the last minute, landing them in an awful tree called the Whomping Willow, whose branches almost cost Harry and Ron their lives.

Back at school, all the familiar characters return, including wise Professor Dumbledore, played by the late Richard Harris, strict but fair Professor McGonagall (Maggie Smith), wickedly sarcastic Professor Snape (Alan Rickman), and the lovable giant, Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane). We are also introduced to two new teachers, Professor Sprout (Miriam Margoyles) who teaches the kids medicinal usages of magical plants, and Professor Lockhart, brilliantly portrayed by Kenneth Branagh, the arrogant new defense of the dark arts teacher who causes girls to giggle and women to swoon, including Harry’s other best friend Hermione (Emma Watson).

Strange things begin happening at Hogwarts when students, ghosts, and animals mysteriously become “petrified”, that is, frozen in shock, and rumors start spreading that the Chamber of Secrets has been opened. With some investigation and the help of a diary of a student named Tom Riddle, the three learn that Slytherin, one of the founders of Hogwarts, built the Chamber, and that only his heir can reopen the room to unleash the monster within. The beast is suppose to then drive out or kill all of the “mudbloods”, a dirty word for wizards born to Muggle (human) parents.

From there, the movie becomes very intense and action filled, including another even more amazing quidditch scene and two very scary sequences involving spiders and serpents that I will not describe any further. There is no question that the computer animation techniques have improved greatly since the last movie, allowing for a more realistic and breathtaking ride.

However, the true magic of the film still comes from the beautifully written characters. The kids all reprise their roles wonderfully and naturally, while the other supporting stars also add a colorful touch to the movie. Snape is not quite the sinister character he was in the first movie, his role is taken over by creepy Lucius Malfoy (Jason Isaacs), Harry’s arch-nemesis Draco’s father.

The backlash against the franchise has already begun, as some people think the wonder of the books is being buried by the well, franchise, of the films. Sure, kids are out there buying up Harry Potter merchandise like mad, but many have left their computers for the first time in order to read the books. Now, that’s definitely magical.

Archived article by Yiwei Wang

Forum Raises Farm Worker Rights

By wpengine November 25, 2002

A forum organized by the newly formed Cornell Farm Worker Advocacy Coalition was held last Thursday evening in Uris Hall. A series of speakers ranging from local migrant farm workers to the director of the Cornell Migrant Program spoke to an audience of about 40 people about important issues currently facing farm workers in upstate New York. The panel of six stressed the lack of human and labor rights afforded to migrant farm workers in the state and how students could help gain fundamental rights for the workers. This was one of the first events of the new student organization, started to get Cornell students more involved in helping local farm workers. Migrant farm workers, of which there are approximately 47,000 in New York alone, often migrate or perform seasonal labor on different kinds of farms, ranging from harvesting fruit such as apples, grapes and cherries, to work on dairy farms. While the National Labor Relations Act of 1995 entitles most workers to many fundamental labor rights, farm workers are exempt from this legislation and therefore are exempt from most labor laws considered standard for other industries in the U.S. The panel explained and illustrated many examples of such laws, including the right to workmen’s compensation and sick leave, minimum wage and freedom from harassment. A highlight of the program were three farm workers, Irlain Theodore, Aleus Hilaire and Augustin Dumerci, who spoke about their experiences during the past 15 to 20 years. Each told a similar story of coming to the United States from the Caribbean and the various jobs they had worked as a farm worker since that time. While each had been in the industry for a number of years, none had received any more substantial increase in payment for work and experience. They all spoke of working in conditions where managing farmers withheld payment for long periods or infinitely, and without water or light. While some of the workers expressed their enjoyment of farm work in general, they all hoped that and actively encouraged their children to succeed enough to be employed in other industries. Because conditions are so poor for farm workers, and real wages have actually decreased over the past thirty years, Hilaire asked the audience who would harvest their food in the future, implying that conditions were so bad that soon everyone would leave the industry. The efforts of organizations such as the United Farm Workers and Rural and Migrant Ministries have been able to lobby legislatures on behalf of farm workers and to organize farm workers themselves to increase their power. However, the latter has remained quite daunting because the workers are not even given the right to organize or unionize. The panel stressed the importance of empowering farm workers themselves, rather than continuously advocating for them. “Farmworkers are the ones leading the charge; we’re helping them along the way.” said Bill Abom of Rural and Migrant Ministries. The idea for the new student groupcame last year from several students and Herb Engman, director of the Cornell Migrant Program, an outreach program which began in 1971 as the Agricultural Manpower Project, part of the department of human development in the College of Human Ecology. Engman spoke extensively about many of the local issues affecting farm workers as well as systems in which Cornell students and faculty have worked on behalf of local farm workers in the past. During the latter part of the program, Engman and members of the Rural and Migrant Ministry as well as some audience members talked about the potential help that students could give by lobbying the state legislature, doing research and creating a knowledge base about farm worker issues for students. Several of the student founders have engaged in independent work during the school year or summer through local organizations. Rebecca Bixby, president of Cornell Farm Worker Advocacy Coalition, and Pilar McKay worked on a field interview project this summer, involving interviewing migrant workers across N.Y. about sanitary condition across the state. Alyson Greenlee, another organizer of the Cornell Farm Worker Advocacy Coalition, worked for Rural and Migrant Ministries this summer. “Before working [at the Rural and Migrant Ministries], I had no idea that this issue existed, because farm workers are totally hidden from everyone. And even in school, you don’t learn that they don’t have the same rights as other workers,” Greene said. “Even in ILR, we spent maybe one day learning about how farm workers are exempt from most labor laws.” Discussion between the audience and the panel veered towards the immense structural causes of farm worker impoverishment and lack of rights. While they are being oppressed by farmers, many of the farmers are not making large profits at all and are in turn oppressed by the distributors and supermarkets who sell the food. “There’s an incredible variation, and it’s not based on need, it’s based on production,” Engman said. “The biggest earners are the truckers, processors and grocery stores.” Bixby said that the struggle is “definitely something that Cornell students can and should be involved with, in the way that it relates to ongoing policy changes regarding immigration and documentation” Archived article by Aliza Wasserman
Canadian Parliament Member Speaks

By wpengine November 25, 2002

A current member of the Canadian Parliament and former Canadian Minister of National Defence, Art Eggleton, spoke this past Friday in Goldwin Smith Hall’s H.E.C. Auditorium on Canadian-U.S. Relations since Sept. 11. The talk was sponsored by the Canadians at Cornell Club, the largest Canadian student organization in the Ivy League. Debunking Myths Eggleton said that he wished to “debunk sad myths” that seemed to develop after the terrorist attacks. These myths include “Canada [being] portrayed as a haven of terrorists” and concerns over the Canadian-U.S. border, the longest undefended border in the world. Eggleton said that Sept. 11 “awakened us all to new dangers [and] ushered in new challenges for Canadians and Americans alike.” The president of the Canadians at Cornell Club, Daniel Braun ’04 — a Canadian citizen — said, “When Sept. 11 hit, I didn’t feel like a foreign citizen and it hit close to home … I’m sure other Canadian students felt the same way.” First Country Eggleton said that Canada was the “first country outside of the U.S. to respond” to Sept. 11 and “among the first countries to offer assistance for what would eventually become Operation Enduring Freedom.” Eggleton noted that the “Canadian contribution [is] going largely unreported.” Just three months after Sept. 11 the Canadian government finished work on their budget, with nearly “seven billion dollars [reserved for] all initiatives.” These initiatives include the Smart Border Initiative, which is an attempt to “create a seamless yet secure border” with the U.S. According to Eggleton, “more than one hundred billion dollars U.S. cross the border everyday” which is more than the U.S. trades with all of the European Union countries combined. Though Canadian military assistance was provided for Operation Enduring Freedom during Eggleton’s term as Minister of National Defence, he noted the existence of “growing discomfort with American unilateralism.” Referring to an explanation given to him by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for American unilateralism, Eggleton said, “It is the mission that will define the coalition and not the coalition that will define the mission.” “The principle of multilateralism is still valid” so that the entire international community has a voice, Eggleton said. He added that the “very rules we now seek to circumvent may be the same rules we wish to evoke.” Eggleton also said “as a general principle preemptive action is fraught with dangers … the U.S. or other Western nations [do not] have an unblemished record [and] the solution we sought often [becomes] a problem later.” However, Eggleton noted that Canada is “not neutral when liberty and human rights are at threat” and that “we seek the same outcomes [as the US]: freedom and justice and peace.” “We in Canada are not a militaristic nation, nor do we spend a lot of money on the military,” Eggleton said. He also stated that “perhaps it is because we share so much with you [Americans] and think so much of you that we expect so much of you,” adding that “if war is being inflicted on our friends we rise to the occasion.” Audience members had the opportunity to ask questions after the lecture. One member asked about Canada’s involvement in the United State’s alleged violation of Geneva convention resolutions concerning the treatment of prisoners. Canada passed custody of prisoners they captured in Afghanistan to the U.S. with “assurances the U.S. would follow Geneva conventions,” Eggleton said. He noted that the main issues over prisoner treatment centered on whether the captives were prisoners of war or unlawful combatants. Organizers said they felt lucky to have such a prominent speaker come to Cornell. “Eggleton’s lecture was informative and insightful,” Braun said. “He is at the forefront of Canadian decision making.” Archived article by Brian Kaviar