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"Forcible Touching Incident" in Collegetown

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If you’re a current member of Cornell’s community, you probably received a CU Crime Alert Email Monday night regarding a “forcible touching incident.” If not, I’ve pasted it below:

“Cornell University Police has been advised that the Ithaca Police Department is investigating a reported forcible touching incident that occurred sometime this past weekend (Sept. 5-6) in the approximate area of the 300 block of College Avenue. The incident was reported to the Cornell University Police Monday afternoon, Sept. 7. The details of the incident are still being investigated, and suspect information is still being developed.”

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Afghanistan in Flux

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Welcome to the 2009/2010 edition of Muckraking for Pennies. I had this long piece of dramatic rhetoric (it’d put Marc Anthony in Julius Caesar to shame, believe me) planned for this occasion but I figured that that would be a bit pretentious and boring right now. Instead, let’s focus on Afghanistan.

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Ithaca is Gorges

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In Ithaca, gorges are more than just a defining part of the landscape. They have become a source of fame for Ithaca, inspiring the well-known “Ithaca is Gorges” t-shirt. For Cornell, the gorges, particularly the two that run through campus (Fall Creek and Cascadilla gorges), have become parts of University lore. Jumping from great heights into the gorges and swimming in them has become something of a right of passage for Cornell students. Ask many on campus and they will recall well-preserved memories, including the vivid, coherent thoughts that raced through their minds right before splashing into the water.

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Watching a Sea of Green: June 25, 2009

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Maybe it’s because Michael Jackson has died—it’s a sad and unnerving feeling to think that he’s gone—but today has had a very peculiar quality to it. Even for Iran, today was rather strange.

Let’s look at what’s happened.

Seems like Iran is in a state of flux, alternating between days of horrific violence and tense calm. Today is the major exam day of Iran, during which the Konkoor—Iran’s college entrance exam—is administered. It’s of a different mode than the SATs.

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Watching a Sea of Green: June 24, 2009

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Much to my dismay, it looks like I’d spoken too soon about things appearing relatively calm in Iran. Today was chaotic.

The major point of incidence in Iran was at Baharestan in Tehran. Baharestan is where the Iranian Parliament (Majlis) meets. Protesters amassed there today (the 24th) in an effort to again show their rejection of the election results that had President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad overwhelming reelected to the presidency. As is now frequently the case in Iran, where there are protesters there are Basij paramilitary forces. And where there are Basiji there is sure to be violence.

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Watching a Sea of Green, June 23, 2009

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If you’ve kept abreast of what has been going on in Iran, then you’ll have noticed perhaps that things seem somewhat calmer in Iran. That’s all relative of course; compared to Saturday, anything even slightly tamer is bound to appear calm. Beyond that, however, the government has increased its efforts to curtail communication between the protesters and the rest of the world.

To a point, they’ve succeeded. But, information is still seeping out via twitter and other routes of internet communication.

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The Green Resistance

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Unless you’re apathetic about news and/or foreign policy (if you are, why are you reading this blog?) then you’ll have heard by now about the protests in Iran.

I won’t rehash the whole events of the past week,–they can be seen
here –but it is important to note just how monumental the events of the past week have been in Iran.

For the past 30 years, the Islamic Republic of Iran has not been much in the way of democratic towards its people. Every time it has taken one tentative step towards political reforms, as it did during the presidency of Mohammed Khatami from 1997-2005, mild protests have ensued. It would be as if after having a taste of water, you’d suddenly become thirsty for more.

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Cornell News: Holocaust Memorial on the Arts Quad

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If you wander the arts quad today, you’ll see the patch of grass to the left of A.D. White covered in small flags. The display was created in remembrance of the Holocaust, with each flag representing 4,000 killed through the genocide. The flags are not only representative of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, but are also in memory of any minorities that suffered at the hands of the Nazis, including homosexuals and the mentally challenged. Each maligned group is represented by a different colored flag (e.g. Yellow flags represent Jewish victims)

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Prince Touts C.U.-Saudi Bond

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The relationship between Cornell University and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was publicly acclaimed yesterday when His Royal Highness, Prince Turki Al-Faisal, addressed a gathered audience at Statler Auditorium.
Prince Turki’s speech, “What We Expect from America: a Saudi Perspective,” the latest in the Foreign Policy Distinguished Speaker Series held by the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, focused largely on how the United States should handle issues throughout the Middle East.
In starting the talk, Wasif Syed, chairman of the Prince Turki Al-Faisal Welcome Committee, noted Prince Turki’s authority in Middle East foreign relations.