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Devon Gilliams

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C.U. Dining Workers Complain of Low Wages but Fear Consequences of Strike

By Devon Gilliams · Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016

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Cornell Professors Expose Problems Posed by Humanitarianism

By Devon Gilliams · Monday, April 25, 2016

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Renowned Astrophysicist Kip Thorne Explains Science Behind 'Interstellar'

By Devon Gilliams · Thursday, April 7, 2016

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Voices for Planned Parenthood at Cornell Campaigns for Imprisoned Women

By Devon Gilliams · Tuesday, March 22, 2016

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Mad Men Writer and Executive Producer To Speak at Cornell

By Devon Gilliams · Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016

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Professor Discusses Causes and Implications of Climate Change in Seminar

By Devon Gilliams · Friday, Feb. 26, 2016

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Board of Trustees Increases Graduate Student Stipends by Two Percent

By Devon Gilliams · Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016

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Storm Jonas Delays Student Return to Cornell

By Devon Gilliams · Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016

While Keanu Reeves is somewhat famous for being, shall I say, of questionable talent, one has to admire his perseverance. His latest film, Hardball, doesn't stray from the typical perception, but it is still not a total loss. Reeves plays Connor O'Neil, a gambler and scalper down on his luck in Chicago, who is pursued by a cavalcade of men who want desperately to break his legs. After one particularly big loss, when he asks a friend for money, he is essentially forced into coaching a baseball team of kids from the projects for the payment. Needless to say, self-discovery and happiness ensue. From previews and descriptions, this film appears to be the run-of-the-mill Mighty Ducks -type tale in which an unlikely coach, through a zany progression including plenty of comedic montages, turns a group of misfit kids into a lean, mean, fighting machine of a team. This, however, turns out to be false advertising. While such a plot line is quietly present, there were aspects of this film that differed from The Mighty Ducks and other archetypes, such as the portrayal of life outside the team for the underprivileged kids, which was admittedly disturbing. As the kids approached their buildings, they filed between the drug dealers and people shouting at them from all directions, looking straight ahead, terrified. Once inside, families all sat on the floor (below the windows) to avoid stray bullets. This depiction was one admirable portion of the film, albeit a bit out of place. At this point, it would be easy to simply pan Reeves' performance and get it out of the way, but in this case it is not necessarily that clear-cut. Sure, overall, his eyes still had no expression and his voice was monotonous beyond reason. This is what made him shine in the Bill and Ted movies. But there were moments when one had to admit that his acting was acceptable. Reeves seemed convincingly uncomfortable at one point, when he stood to lose twelve thousand dollars on a bet. There were, however, laughable moments when he got angry, and lacked the proper fire in his eyes to make it realistic. But in general, his mediocrity probably wouldn't have been as blatant in this film, had I not been trained to look for it by past critics. Diane Lane plays the teacher of the boys on Reeves' team. Since, by some obnoxious law, there can't seem to be a movie without a love-related side plot, they hit it off. Their courtship, in this case, is appropriately underdeveloped. The spotlight is shifted to Reeves struggle with gambling and the lives of the kids. The absolute highlight of this film is the kids on the team. They were charming, hilarious, and did an excellent job even when their roles became serious. Of course, as with any kid sports movie, there was the obligatory chubby kid (who was extraordinarily cute), and a few jokes centered around that. The cinematography was not particularly noticeable throughout the movie, with the exception of a few insightful camera angles in showing the homes of the children and other random, sparsely-placed points. The music, on the other hand, added a nice touch, allowing such old school hits as "Big Poppa" by Notorious B.I.G. to surface. Such auditory distraction helped action scenes involving baseball games and practices progress smoothly. While it is to be expected of this sort of film, the predictability was a low point. From the acting to the plot, no surprises were to be found. But the kids made it sufficiently fun (and, on the flip side, sobering) and, therefore, the film was not an utter waste of time. Archived article by Stacy Williams

Campaign Proposes Placing Cornell Alumna on $10 Bill

By Devon Gilliams · Monday, Nov. 23, 2015

The admission rate for the Class of 2005 has dropped this year from 30.5 to 25.7 percent across the University's seven colleges. "Although the admissions reply deadline was May 1, it is still too early to report on the composition of next year's freshman class," said Doris Davis, associate provost for admissions enrollment. She predicted that this information would be available by the middle of May. However, the admissions office has already tallied figures for those students who have been offered admission. Avoiding Over-enrollment The University received 21,518 applications for admission this year, a six and a half percent increase over last year. "Since we do not want to be over-enrolled this year, we admitted about 600 fewer students even though our applications increased," Davis said. "This made admission to Cornell much more competitive," she added. Admissions has to keep the yield to 3,000 because of the North Campus Initiative, in which all freshmen will be housed on North Campus beginning this September. North is equipped to house no more than 3,000 freshmen, along with 600 to 700 upperclassmen who will act as resident advisors or live in the program houses located on North. "We hope admissions does a good job at keeping the number at 3,000," said Jean Reese, a student services associate who works in the office of student and academic services. "It's not an exact science," she added. Diverse Demographics Last year, about 100 more freshmen accepted Cornell's offer than the admissions office expected. As a result, students were forced to live in residence hall lounges and other spaces. According to Davis, of the students who were admitted, 30 percent are from New York. About seven percent of the students come from countries outside of the United States. Thirty percent of the students identified themselves as African-American, Asian-American, Hispanic or American Indian. "We are being much more proactive with regard to our recruitment of students of color and students from outside New York," Davis said. Besides deciding to accept less Regular Decision applicants, one of the major elements of Cornell's early decision process changed when it decided to deny some early applicants outright. The University had previously either accepted or deferred all of its early decision applicants to the regular decision pool. Cornell accepted about one third of its freshman class early. Archived article by Maggie Frank

Student Campaign Highlights Reproductive Health Care Rights

By Devon Gilliams · Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015

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