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The Knothole
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November, 2014
Volume 69, Issue 2
The People’s Climate March
Isabella Kaplan 2019
The air is hot and heavy. Hundreds of people rustle uncomfortably in the compact streets. Arms awkwardly bump into backs, sneakers step on sandals. After an hour people begin to grow restless due to the little space, the muggy gray air and the lack of mobility. Trying to ignore the over whelming claustrophobic feeling, I tightly grip the “ESF: We Build the Future” poster and study the surrounding crowd. Above my head, hundreds of signs flutter boldly: advertising diverse opinions, ideas and statements. Each person proudly holds a signs up high in hope that his or her voice is heard in this time of change. However the multitude of ideas, every marcher came to New York City with a common goal. Each person came to the People’s Climate March to show that it is time to protect mother earth, to embrace the troubles ahead, and to move towards a more sustainable tomorrow. Finally after an hour and half of waiting for the groups ahead to march, our section begins to move. Sighs and laughs of relief fill the once stagnant air as we march and disperse into the sea of marchers. The people around me come alive with excitement as chants against fossil fuels, and coal bounce from group to group. Moving along the tide of the crowd my eyes wander across the movement of people; trying to absorb all that I can. Before me looms a magnificent dinosaur. Its head rearing twelve feet above the ground, it dwarfs all those who walked beside it. This massive beast, composed of cans of oils of different colors and shape, clearly reminds the world of the origins of fossil fuels. Further down the street dances puppet skeletons adorned with logos of Shell, BP and Mobil. As far as the eyes could see the marchers paraded magnificent creativity — nuclear power plants dressed as business men, a melting earth perches on an ice cream cone, a giant chalk board illustrates the science supporting climate change. All of this inventiveness and cleverness portrays the same message — the time for change is now. As the march moves steadily forward, the people are greeted by a massive tv screen portraying hundreds of marchers. I hastily walk forward to see if I could see myself on the screen. However, the marchers on the screen are not those in New York City, but marchers
from around the world. Images flood the screen of marched in London, Montreal, Delhi and hundreds of other cities. America was not just taking action; the whole world was fighting for change — people of every color, class, nationality, and race all coming together for a common goal. For a moment my world became still. Before this moment I assumed that it was just Americans taking part in the Climate March, and that it wasn’t different from any other march that took place in the United States. I assumed that it was simply the American people’s voice for change. But the March is more than that; the March is a symbol of the solidarity of the children of Mother Earth. It is a symbol of the coming together of brothers and sisters who possess skills of creativity and ingenuity, and are moving towards change instead of cowering behind the stability of our current way of life. Slowly I return to the rush of people cheering through the city streets, and once again I march forward. I march forward with my brothers and sisters all over the world towards a more sustainable tomorrow.
THE KNOTHOLE
is the State University of New York College of Environmental Science & Forestry’s exclusive monthly student publication. The contents of the publication include recent and upcoming event coverage, interviews, editorials, opinion articles, political cartoons, artwork, poetry, club announcements, and much more. SUNY-ESF students are able to make submissions at The Knothole office in 12d Bray Hall (BraySpace) or by email at esfknothole@gmail. com before 5:00PM on Fridays the week after Issue meetings. The
Knothole meets every Thursday at 4:00 pm in the basement of Bray Hall. If you are interested in attending, please send us an email at esfknothole@ gmail.com so we can expect you!
Letter From The Editor Dear Readers, While this semester has been a new experience for all of us, we are happy to keep the tradition of producing the Knothole. It’s a small thing, to have a published, physical paper circulate campus, but we are proud to keep it alive. Coming out only a couple of times a semester in some ways makes a newspaper much more difficult to complete. These days, environmental news and science changes by the minute and reporting has become digital, to keep up with the times, while our physical copy has fallen behind. Here at the Knothole we are changing with the outside changes - we shall always remain the voice of ESF students, but it will be a new voice in semesters to come.
Happy Holidays,
The Knothole Editoral Team (Grace, Jen, TC)
Co-Managing Editors Jennifer Louie Grace Belisle
Treasurer Terrance Caviness
Advisor Karen Moore
Layout & Design Terrance Caviness Isabella Kaplan Editorial Staff Katie Oran Eleanor Clark
T
he mission of The Knothole is to provide its readers with writings that are both stimulating and contemporary: to inform its students of clubs, events, and off-campus happenings, to challenge a world driven by progress to uncover the truth about current environmental policies and innovations, and to express such ideas, ingeniously and collectively. We are not a newspaper; we are not a magazine; we are not The Daily Orange. We are simply created by Stumpies, for Stumpies... and we like it that way.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the writers only and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the publication’s staff or anyone affiliated with the State University of New York College of Environmental Science & Forestry.
Inside Issue #1: Hindu mandir..................................................................... 3 Strategic Planning............................................................ 4 SER-ESF..................................................................................... 7 Creatures................................................................................ 7 Climate March......................................................................8 Environmental Crimes...................................................... 10 Environmental News....................................................... 10 The Panda............................................................................. 11 An unknown Treasure..................................................... 12 Van Jones ............................................................................. 13 I walked.................................................................................. 14 DIY............................................................................................ 14 Ask-a- Nut.............................................................................. 15 Ask-a- Townie........................................................................15 Take a second...................................................................... 16
Cover Photo: www.addictinginfo.org
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Hindu Mandir
Experiences
Isabella Kaplan 2019
It’s Seven p.m. on a crisp, early, fall evening. My friend Anish and I stepped out of the taxi onto the nearly deserted parking lot of the Hindu Mandir of Central New York. As my eyes scanned over the empty space, worries began to swarm my mind — had I read the website wrong? Was the temple closed on Wednesday nights? However, the questions disappeared as soon as my eyes came upon the temple. The temple seemed massive in height, stretching far over the flat, grassy lawn. The tall, sturdy, grey walls towered over me. In front of me stood two proud glass doors, two stories tall. Above these doors rested the beautiful and delicate symbol of the Om. Entering the temple, a vacant reception desk, decorated with idols and flowers, greeted us. Anish directed me to the closet, and explained to me that shoes are not worn inside as a form of respect. Scattered around the closet were a couple pairs of shoes. As I unzipped my boots, I wondered, where all the owners of these shoes could be. Before I could express my concern to Anish, the sounds of a ringing bell filled the once silent air. We followed the sound to a pair of dark brown doors and opened them cautiously. A large open room awaited me. The eggshell white walls were humbly decorated with beautiful lamps. On the carpeted floor, were hundreds of empty black chairs. Looking past the rows of chairs, I saw a sight of awestriking beauty. There before me, an alter rested illuminated by a pale light from the skylight above. In the center of the alter, two ornate idols smiled kindly at me. The marble statues stood about 4 feet tall; their faces painted to resemble soft pink lips and intelligent brown eyes. These two gods were draped in flowing white gowns, embroidered with gold and silver thread. The idol on the left, Krishnan, wore a crown that reminded me of an aura. In his hands he held a small disk (Anish informed me that they resemble the weapon of the gods) and a seashell in the other. His wife, adorned with dangling earrings and a soft long veil, rested to the right of Krishnan. Picture frames, idols of lesser gods, flowers and gifts, surrounded the opulent gods. Next to these elegant arrangements, was a smaller alter, covered with more framed pictures
image credit: www.waymarking.com/gallery
and flowers. Behind this, humbled by the bright reds and purples of the alter, hid a platform. On top of the platform were six piles of different grains of rice, with a small ball on top. I was soon to learn that it represented the 5 elements. As my eyes danced from one beautiful sight to another, I noticed the bell which rang continually, had stopped - the Pooja (prayer service) had begun. Facing the alter, next to Anish and I, stood a family including the parents, grandparents and a small infant. The women were dressed in traditional Indian dress. One a crimson red and the other in a forest green. Both of (name of robes) were delicately sequenced with silver thread. The men of the family wore modern, western clothes. Huddled together, the family watched the preacher and sang along with the prayers. The priest, who had his back turned to us, wore a simple tan robe folded into a complicated pattern so it fell like flowing water over his body. The priest sang prayers in sand script, and would occasionally lay completely flat on the floor in front of idols to demonstrate his strong devotion. As the service continued, the priest picked up a small silver plate on which rested incense sticks. He gracefully wafted the smoke of the incense over each of idols, and then over each of the congregation members. He continued this sequence with water, and placed a red tika on their foreheads — first giving the object to the idols and then to the congregation. All of this is to show respect for the gods, care for the members, and to ward off demons. After the first ceremony had finished, the priests gave each congregant a gift of fruit. The family said their thanks and quietly left the room. A few minutes later the priest began to ring a bell to start the next ceremony. Alone
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Strategic Planning
Zach Corey’s Interview with PJ Connel Zach Corey 2016
What exactly is strategic planning? The way it works is, whenever a new leader comes to a school, it’s common practice to have a strategic plan to set it up. Dr. Wheeler’s plan is happening now and he’s getting everyone on campus involved. So a strategic plan is basically what your college is going to do to make a name for it, to move forward in the upcoming years—a plan to enhance your college’s image and move it forward in the world. Anything specific? A focus on what I would say is making a name for ESF, nationally known… branding us and making us more visible to the world because we are a small school. Obviously his focus scientifically is with species exploration and biology, and I think that propped a little, but the overall goal is for it to be across the board improvement on the school. So what’s this talk about developing a different name for the school?
administrates and staff, but a couple faculty members got involved. For example, Bob Malmsheimer co-chaired one of the sessions. No one was required to other than the chairs. And same for students really—no one was forced to go, but everyone was encouraged. Why is this of concern or what is the pressing issue at the moment? Well I think you would be… stupid to avoid a discussion about budget, because actually at the meeting, Dr. Wheeler introduced the process. He started that presentation with a discussion of our budget and how we are currently running a deficit, and what were are going to do to fix it. And that involves cutting 500,000 dollars of cost, which could mean laying people off; so it’s nerve racking to say the least. But the reason people should care is that it is going to change the way the college looks as soon as next year. And it could mean rather large changes, as I brought up a dozen times now the name change, clumping as different colleges, changing majors, and changing our mission statement as a school. Change will be seen and felt and heard, so everyone should care and even if you don’t care you’re going to eventually care, because it will be in your face about it and you won’t have a choice.
That was one of the suggestions to increase our branding and make us more visible. ‘More marketable’ I think was the word for that… we Any specific things that will be cut? have the second longest name in the country. I guess more specifically, No, the terminology used was a there are five or six questions being hiring chill, not a hiring freeze. So image credit: www.accelerate-impact-team-breakthrough.com proposed by the strategic process. if a position is deemed essential to And they are all available on the website at ‘www.esf. the personnel and it is vacant, then the search is kind of edu/strategicplan’. non-existent. For example, the director of multicultural affairs is currently vacant and there’s no search to fill How to make the college more visible, what components it—it’s just an empty office, literally if you go to 14 Bray. should be compulsory in the undergrad experience, foI think most faculty positions across campus that are cuses on research faculty vs. grad. It’s pretty expansive, empty [will be left empty]…for example, there are two but they’ve tried to encompass every part to make our professors that have left the ERE department since I got school better. here, and those positions haven’t been filled. We’ve tried, but the money isn’t there. So it is definitely an issue of What type of faculty is involved? concern. And I don’t want to say it’s being overshadowed by the strategic plan, but I know just from experience It’s up to the faculty themselves if they want to get inthat the two are being treated as separate issues. But volved. A couple of them were co-chairing discussion ses- personally, as more of an opinion statement, I feel like sions. Each of the last college hours, so the last Wednesyou can’t really have a discussion about planning for day of September and the first Wednesday of October, your school’s future if you know that we ran a 866,000 they had sessions and each of the six questions that I dollar deficit last year and were already dipping into our mentioned earlier were addressed in specific rooms on reserves. So I think that’s something that needs to be campus. For the most part these meeting were run by
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Strategic Planning taken into account when we are planning for our future and I don’t know how well that’s being done. But, I’m not an expert so I don’t know, I can’t criticize. With these cuts, do you expect tuition to be increased? Is there a proposed way to relay these cuts? The plan was to fix the bottom line by a million dollars by the end of this year. So what that means is increasing revenue by $500,000 and decreasing costs by $500,000. So the decreasing cost part comes in with not filing the vacant positions. There are a couple of other things, but that’s probably of the most concern to people. The increase revenue part involves boosting enrollment and asking for more financial support from the College Foundation. We have the expansion of Centennial Hall, which is giving money to the College Foundation, which makes its way to us. The only long term plan is they thought about building a dining hall. We recently got that $20,000,000 grant from SUNY to build an inner harbor research facility. But that’s actually a controversial thing because we have twenty million dollars to build the facility, but no money to operate it. It’s been referred to as ‘another mouth to feed’. So those twenty million dollars are just to build?
Once they have the first draft of the strategic plan, which is eventually going to be a documented written plan, they’re going to post large printed copies of in Gateway and have just bunch of post-its. So you can read it and put a post-it on the issues you have opinions about. So that’s one thing. Another thing Dr. Wheeler has sort of encouraged is Ted-Style talks, as he called them, where students can go up and give short presentations about the issues that they think are most critical, and say where they would like to see their school go in the future. So I like that idea; I think it could be an issue while we are good at public speaking. I don’t know if many undergrads are going to be excited to go up in front of a group of faculty and staff and talk about their opinions about the schools future. I think this different than giving a press on research, but on the other hand it something we should all be passionate about. Otherwise, talk to me, because I’m involved with this kind of stuff a lot. And definitely, go on the website. There are comment boards on the meeting they have already, on the six questions that they are posing. And people can see who you are so don’t say anything too inappropriate, but your voice will be heard. If students feel like they’re not being heard enough, change it. It what ways can we change it?
Raise a stink! With the initial set Just to build it, that doesn’t include of listening meetings on the first operation, maintenance, or staff. Wednesday…about the strategic That’s being questioned because in plan, students weren’t explicitly ina time where we’re cutting positions vited. I knew about them because I and costs—we might be fighting over image credit: www.dubai-computer-services.com was at the faculty governance meetdry erase markers soon—we are ing where Dr. Wheeler introduced building a new research facility. the strategic planning process, which started with those meetings. But it wasn’t massively advertised to stuIn terms of tuition costs, it’s a grey area, because of dents. And I obviously told the Undergraduate Student rational tuition that was put through a while ago, defiAssociation about it, and encouraged them to go and tell nitely before I got here. It is also called ‘SUNY 2020’. their friends to go, but again it wasn’t widely advertised. Rational tuition is basically gradual increase tuition, ‘x’ But once students started getting wind of it…I know say, percent and you can count on tuition going up by that that same morning, a lot of people in my major found out much each year. But now that is ending. And the reason about it and they made a Facebook event for it. A couple students were actually in favor of that was because you of people went to the sessions about the Undergrad know you knew your enemy… you knew your tuition was experience and point blank asked a couple of the higher going to be this much this year, and go up by this much, up staff there why the students hadn’t been widely etc. But that’s due to expire next year and what that invited. And a straight answer wasn’t really given, and means is a tuition can stay where it is, or they could just ultimately it came down to a discussion of whether or increase it judicially. And there are currently no discusnot we could fit the students in the rooms where we were sions to put rational tuition back. So that is a big issue having the meetings. So it became an issue of space, I for the undergrads. I’d be scared… I am scared. suppose? But after that, after the administration realized how How can students get involved? much students wanted to be involved, e-mails were sent out about the following week’s meeting. So I don’t His office is usually pretty open; you can make an apthink it should be to hard for students to get their voices pointment with him if you want to go right to the presiheard, and again, if you feel like your voices aren’t bedent. But that could be a little scary for some people. ing heard there’s always something you can do about Student Life & The Environment • THE KNOTHOLE • 5
Strategic Planning it. Come to a USA meeting, tell me, tell everyone, talk to your friends. Write angry letters, and get involved for sure. So if we do these things, do we really have a say or is it really just opinions up in the air, are we being listed too? I wish I could give you a straight answer; the naïve child in me wants to say ‘Yeah! Of course!’, but the process itself is going to call for three different drafts of the plan. There is going to be an initial draft, and then a second draft, and the third draft is supposed to be the final draft. And I think its very critical that students themselves pay attention so that the opinions that we already express and will continue to express up until the publishing of the first draft, happens. So we can say ‘okay, well we all said this and none of it is being taken into account’. So clearly our voices aren’t being heard and I think it’s important that we go and express our opinions, but that we also follow up and make sure that they are being heard. Because it’s really easy for people to just smile and nod their heads and humor us and say that they are listening, but then complete ignore them. So while I don’t want to say that’s what is going to happen, it’s definitely something we need to be aware of.
away? Yeah! Mostly again from a financial stand point. Because we do pay lot money to SU for the services we get. Not just classes… for example, I’ve taken physics and geology. That plan has been negotiated and I think that plan works really well, but we do a lot with them that we pay a lot of money for and I know we are actively searching for ways to reduce that in favor of bringing stuff over here just because it’s expensive to work with them because they are a private university. So yeah, they are define looking at reducing services with us. What that means specifically is up in the air, things are changing almost daily but it is happening. Final thoughts?
Something has been said a lot about this whole thing, and I want to be known that I feel that this process is great; we’re trying to improve our school. I think if you’re not actively trying to make something better, then why are you bothering to be a part of it at all. But at the same time, ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’. We’re talking about changing the name and boosting enrollment and all this stuff, and I think a lot of people here are very happy with the way the school is, so now I’m trying to figure out why we’re trySo does it seems like we’re trying to ing to make all these changes, as become a larger school? far as I’m concerned we’re already pretty great. There’s always room Yeah, one of the primary ways to for improvement, but I think we image credit: www.strengthsalchemy.com increase our revenue was to boost need to be careful on how much we enrollment. Almost every year since I’ve gotten here it’s change and whether or not that change is going to hurt been the biggest first year class that they’ve had, this us or help us. That’s my two cents. Moving forward, I year by a lot. There were 333 first year students, and a think it would behoove the students to be as involved as record number of transfers. So yeah, they’re definitely possible, and make sure their voices are heard. Now is trying to make school bigger. I’m not a fan, I think not the time for discretion or being shy; now is the time most people like our small school atmosphere. From a to go out and go to those meetings and raise your voice, financial perspective I get it, a college is a business and and tell people what you think because if you don’t do it they’re trying to balance our budget, whatever. But I now you’re going to lose your chance forever. Dr. Murphy don’t want to lose what we have because there is other was in office for 13 years; these could be initiatives that things we can do. we will be feeling for over a decade. So it’s important that we get off on a good foot. I’m a senior, I’m not really Could you say, having a small school atmosphere was going to directly feel most of this stuff since I’ll be gone one of the reasons students apply here? in may. That being said, I care about the school and I’m going to care about this school my whole life. But first It’s the reason I came here; I had it narrowed down to year students need to especially try to get out there bea couple schools but this school’s smaller than my high cause they’ll feel it more directly for sure. But yeah, ‘if it school was, and I like that. You get to know everyone so ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. I like our school. it feels like a big family. I look across the street at SU, and I don’t want to say I hate it but I don’t want to be part of a school with 20,000 people… it’s just crazy. What about connections with SU? Are we trying to break
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Clubs and Creatures
Society for Ecological Restoration Student Association at SUNY ESF (SER-ESF) Zach Corey 2016
Interested in food sovereignty, agroforestry, permaculture or ecological restoration on a community scale? SER-ESF is a club that could get you your fix. With so many off-campus and on-campus volunteer work, this club acts as a way to connect you to these community service opportunities and establish other events related to such. The club became official rather recently, September 22, 2014, and has already completed community service at Rahma Forest Snack Garden, with plans for many more events ahead. For those of you unfamiliar with the Society of Ecological Restoration, they are a small global organization that intends “ to promote ecological restoration as a means of sustaining the diversity of life on Earth and re-establishing an ecologically healthy relationship between nature and culture.”
“The basic goals of SER-ESF are to connect the State
Weird Creature Spotlight Steve Scaduto 2017 This time on Weird Creature Spotlight, we come face to face with an animal that appears to have unlocked the secret of everlasting life. Meet Turritopsis dohrnii, also known as “The Immortal Jellyfish”. This tiny creature originates in the Mediterranean Sea and the waters of Japan, and in its full grown adult form, is less than an inch in size (perhaps as large as a human fingernail). The jellyfish reproduces the old fashioned way, with a sperm and an egg, but what makes it amazing is its ability to constantly prolong its life. Just imagine for a moment: being able to live indefinitely, watching as years, millennia, and eons go by. You watch as the Earth changes beneath your feet or, in this case, tentacles. You witness history unfold right before you, seeing civilizations rise and fall as time marches on. You may actually end up getting to know your great-great-greatgreat grandchildren. Now stop imagining, because that isn’t how the immortal jellyfish works. In reality, the jellyfish achieves its incredible lifespan in a much more tedious and rather bizarre way. The secret to the immortal jellyfish’s longevity lies in its ability to manipulate its’ own life cycle. Turritopsis dohrnii begins its life as a larva, which settles onto the sea floor and devel-
University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF) to the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER); and to serve as an interdisciplinary hub at SUNY ESF opening doors for students to be involved in ecosystem restoration as a field of study and as a practical service to communities and our Earth.” SER-ESF intends to have several committees in order to optimize and filter available service projects that best suit the efforts of the club. What does this mean for you? This club is a bridge to a global society dedicated to ecological restoration and also a bridge for you to make a positive influence on the local community. Morally and professionally, this club could become a valuable resource for you. Potentially networking you into the real world and educating on topics that better the environment. SER-ESF is just getting off the ground and offers a great opportunity to experience the club creation and expansion process.
ops into a polyp. These polyps band together to form colonies known as hydroids, and it is from these hydroids that the jellyfish, or medusa (yes they are named after that Medusa), emerge. These jellyfish spend their tiny lives undulating about, chowing down on plankton and having a grand old time in general. When the jellyfish start to get old or are faced with environmental hardship, however, things get interesting. Where most creatures on Earth would just give in to the sweet embrace of death, the Immortal Jellyfish simply hits the reset button. By transforming the structure of their cells, the jellyfish can retract their tentacles, shrink their bodies, and return to their polyp form. From there, they can wait until the time is right and then reemerge as adults again. While this process may not seem all that special, what makes it so incredible is that each jellyfish can repeat this life cycle indefinitely, continuously emerging, reproducing, then reverting to a polyp until predation or disease takes it out. Unlike many other weird and unique species, the Immortal Jellyfish is not endangered and is actually doing quite well. Able to hitch hike in ballast water containers of large shipping vessels, this little jellyfish is quickly spreading across the globe. While the species’ ecological effects are currently unknown, it isn’t a stretch to believe that an ever expanding army of undying squishy blobs can be a major force to contend with. We have discovered the real Fountain of Youth, and its name is Turritopsis dohrnii. Student Life & The Environment • THE KNOTHOLE • 7
Climate March Signs
Climate March
Kat Bagari 2017 We have finally made it Here Here Here. Globe girl says: “IGNORANCE IS NO LONGER BLISS.” Agreed. Protect Mother Earth and she will protect you. Respect your Mother— It’s as simple as that. Paradise was always a garden; Rehabilitate the garden and We will enrich our family. OUR FAMILY. I used to say someone should Do something about that, Then I realized I was someone. Don’t wait until it’s gone. There is only one Earth, Lets take care of it. There is no Planet-B. Take responsibility for your CO2nsequences. Now, Today, Be that Somebody.
Climate March
The People’s Climate March Katie Oran 2018 On September 21st, 2014, over 400,000 people, among them Al Gore, Leonardo DiCaprio, U.N. Secretary General Ban Kimoon, activists, scientists, students, and elected officials, all gathered on the streets of New York City to march for action on climate change. The march was held the weekend before the annual general assembly of the United Nations was scheduled to meet in New York City. Organizers hoped to show the United Nations that citizens of their countries were standing up against climate change by hosting simultaneous marches in more than 150 different countries. 40,000 people marched in London, England. In Melbourne, Australia 30,000 people marched in solidarity with those across the world, and for those who were unable to march. At the United Nations General Assembly, President Obama said, in reaction to the march, that “the alarm bells keep ringing, our citizens keep marching. We cannot pretend we do not hear them.” The General Assembly comes a year before the next Conference of Parties on Climate Change, scheduled to take place next year in Paris, France. About 40 students from Syracuse University and SUNY-ESF attended the march. Freshman Derrick Rice (2018) said that he was impressed with “the range and diversity of people” he saw. He saw people of “every age, gender, race, socio-economic status, and religion all marching for the same thing”, and that it made him feel as though he was, “a part of a family of concerned citizens.” The diversity of the march was encouraged by the many organizations involved in planning. The poorest citizens, often in the poorest countries, are disproportionally affected by climate change, and they were represented at the front of the march along with indigenous peoples. Participants were separated into six sections marching as one. The students from SU and ESF were in the student section and freshman Makayla Comas (2018) said that the youth at the front of the march were “completely representative of how America is now.” She said that it was “very powerful seeing them at the front line because they will be the ones who are most affected, and they will be the ones who create solutions to the problem.” This march comes as the effects of climate change are
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becoming more visible. The intensity and frequency of storms, droughts, floods, heat waves, and “polar vortexes” is becoming more apparent, and it will only get worse. In the midst of the march, however, some commuters in New York City were stuck in traffic for hours. Some of those caught in the traffic said that by sitting in traffic they were adding to the level of pollution in the atmosphere, and that the march was doing more harm than good. The organizers, however, said that the main goal coming from the march was to encourage those who attended to go back to their communities and continue to drive positive change, to “act locally, but think globally”. Student Life & The Environment • THE KNOTHOLE • 9
News and Crime
Environmental Crimes Justin Coleman 2018
Wildlife poaching is not a new crime. It is similar to many crimes that have been a part of society for many years. For many years, animals and wildlife have been treated largely as a commodity, with the wildlife trade being considered a profitable business. This is still true today, seen by wild game hunting in America. This is largely because the efforts of law enforcement are like game wardens or conservation officers/ park rangers that dedicate their profession to protecting the natural and resources and wildlife, so that all Americans may enjoy these things. Across the world there are men and women alike that dedicate themselves tirelessly to doing the same as our very own environmental protectors. However they are grossly underfunded and often have minimal training in the essential tools of the trade. This is becoming a large problem for those that risk their lives every day in this job. While many of the problems related to environmental crimes have been around for a long time, some have been growing, often exponentially, culminating to a point that in the 1970s, an organization, the first of its kind, was formed. Coined as CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered species, is an international convention signed by nearly every country of the world. This is the global database that designates the level of threat and possibility of an organism facing extinction as of the present or
Environmental News Katie Oran 2018
Beached Walruses 35,000 walruses have beached themselves in northwestern Alaska, near the village of Point Lay. Scientists from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said it was the largest gathering of walruses ever recorded. Margret Williams of the World Wildlife Fund (WFF) said, “the massive concentration of walruses onshore—when they should be scattered broadly in ice-covered waters—is just one example of the impacts of climate change on the dis-tribution of marine species in the Arctic.” According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, Arctic sea ice this year is expected to be the 6th lowest measured. Because of the lack of ice, walruses “are hauling out on land in a spectacle that has become all too common in six of the last eight years as a consequence of climate-induced warming”, the US Geological Survey (USGS) stated. About 10,000 walruses also gathered on the shores in Cape Schmidt in Chukotka, Russia.
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in the near future. This presents guidelines for the levels of protection that must be given to the organism. Although it has been signed, many countries still face obstacles when trying to enforce these codes. This may be attributed to a lackluster attitude towards the environment and leader’s inconsideration of the scope of these crimes. Other factors that could be contributing to the lack of enforcement are the complex dynamics and links between different crimes. One thing that has changed with environmental crimes is how they have risen from the status of domestic problem to global issue. This means that instead of the problems taking place domestically they affect many different countries and involve multiple continents and various nations. As the issue grows it is becoming a business that involves criminals operating on different continents and using sophisticated methods to skirt the regulations and avoid the long claw of the law. As a result of the complexity of the criminal networks, the under equipped rangers and law enforcement often find themselves grossly outnumbered against the mafias. While the poachers on the ground are the start of the supply chain, they often do not have much connection to the high-level kingpins that orchestrate the trafficking. Since the ground-level poachers are the easiest cogs to remove in the criminal machine they comprise a majority of the arrests by law enforcement. This is not a “be all, end all” solution and is merely bandaging the wound. There is hope however. There has been increasing attention brought about by countries that are affected by these issues as well as from the international community.
Aral Sea’s Eastern Basin Dry For the first time in 600 Years, the Aral Sea’s Eastern Basin, in Central Asia, is dry. Sat-ellite imagery released by NASA shows that the Eastern Basin of what was once the fourth largest lake in the world is empty. In the past 50 years, 90% of the lake has been depleted in what some call the planet’s “most shocking environmental disaster.” In the 1960s, the Soviet Union diverted two major rivers to fill the Eastern Basin for an irrigation project for cotton farms in what are now Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The lake once had a robust fishing economy, but according to a story published last week by NASA’s Earth Observatory at the Goddard Space Flight Center, “as the lake dried up, fisheries and the communities that depend-ed on them collapsed. The increasingly salty water became polluted with fertilizer and pesti-cides. The blowing dust from the exposed lakebed, contaminated with agricultural chemicals, became a public health hazard.” Despite enormous efforts from the World Bank and the gov-ernment of Kazakhstan, the water levels of the lake have continued to fall.
News and other thoughts
President Obama Expands Ocean Reserve Emma Aversa 2017 On the 24th of September, thousands of marine species in the Pacific exhaled sighs of relief after receiving the news that President Obama had expanded the previous Pacific Remote Islands National Marine Monument to nearly four times its previous size. His memorandum not only banned commercial fishing but also deep-sea mining and other resource depleting activities in the area. The Pacific Remote Islands area contains seven scattered islands that are home to corals, sharks, seabirds and other marine life that is not found anywhere else in the world. President Bush first began the preserve in 2009, but it only contained around fifty nautical miles. In September, Obama expanded the preserve to over two hundred nautical miles, which is around the size of three California states. This conservation effort by Obama is a step in the right direction according to environmentalists who applaud Obama’s action although were aggravated by the fact that the area was scaled down from initial plans, after Obama received complaints from fishers and miners.
Rethinking the Panda
Stephen Scaduto 2017 We all know the panda bear. Cute, furry, and just downright adorable, the panda has been the face of wildlife conservation for as long as anyone can remember. Millions of dollars have been spent trying to save the panda bear (key word: trying) and countless scientists have devoted their lives to saving this charismatic creature. But in a world where millions of species are facing oblivion and the earth is on the brink of its sixth mass extinction event, does the panda really justify all of the money and effort that it garners?
One thing that needs to be taken into perspective when analyzing Obama’s reduction in scale is the rapidity with which this expansion occurred. Oftentimes the complaint is that the Washington takes too long to move on anything due to the checks and balances in the system. Obama proposed the expansion in June and signed it into effect in September. He said in a taped message to the State Department, “We know how fragile our blue planet can be. If we ignore these problems (overacidification, fishing, mining), we won’t just be squandering one of humanity’s greatest treasures, we’ll be cutting off one of our major sources of food and economic growth.” Obama’s action was one that will continue helping us long after his term. His exemplary environmental leadership should be taken note of and used to inspire future generations, if we hope to be stewards of this Earth. the sky is the limit. More often than not, researchers are forced to use artificial insemination if they want any hope of getting cubs. In the wild, things aren’t better. Females only ovulate for a select few days out of the year, meaning that males have to be quite lucky if they want any chance of getting lucky. Even if a female does happen to get pregnant and have cubs, they require so much care that the mother can only afford to nurture one, forced to abandon any other young that she may have. If we’re going to invest millions of dollars in saving an animal, perhaps choosing one that is too lazy to even have sex isn’t the best idea.
In all fairness, the Giant Panda does do one thing very well: rake in the cash. When all is said and done, the average person is much more willing to donate Putting things lightly, the money towards saving a cute and fuzzy panda is, as a species, not exactly made bear that will play adorably in a tire for long term evolutionary success. For swing than, say, a bat that helps protect one thing, the panda is built to be a crops by keeping insect populations in predator, with the powerful teeth and image credit:www.animals-pics.com check. The question is: do the donapaws characteristic of other bears, and tions and funding brought in by the panda bear’s “sex appeal” yet a vast majority of the panda’s diet comes from only bamboo, outweigh the enormous resources of time and money needed to a plant which has very little nutritional value and is itself in keep the species alive? If yes, then perhaps the excess money decline. The panda bear’s lack of nutritional knowledge isn’t brought in by Giant Pandas can be put towards helping other, even its’ biggest problem. Giant Pandas have almost unbelievmore ecologically important species. As time goes on and the ably low libidos, disinterested in mating, to the point that some pandas continue to decline, however, it is likely that the cost of research centers have resorted to showing their pandas “bear keeping them alive will only increase. The point is, if you want porn” (videos of other bears mating) and give males Viagra to save a cute and cuddly animal, it might be a better idea to in the hopes that they will get “in the mood”. As of right now, just go to the animal shelter and pick up a puppy instead. scientists have not yet tried opening a glass of wine and putting on a Marvin Gaye album for the bears, but it would appear that Student Life & The Environment • THE KNOTHOLE • 11
Su’s Spotlight
An Unknown Treasure Grace Belise 2017
The Louvre, in Paris, is the most highly visited art museum in the world and sits at the heart of the world’s most highly visited country. Tourists flock to it in search of great masterpieces they’ve only seen in texts, on the Internet and in movies. In our local neighborhood sits a smaller, younger, and much quieter gallery. The SUart Gallery is nestled in the Shaffer Art Building on Syracuse University’s campus. While unknown to many of us on our campus, the gallery itself is a valuable opportunity to broaden our minds from the world of math and science, crossing the gap into the world of art. With a long history of displaying the works of masters, the gallery is under current renovations to expand its permanent collection. Domenic Iacono, director of the SUart Gallery, openly provided information on what to expect in the upcoming semester. “The renovations will include several new galleries including one dedicated to our ethnographic collections that will display works from China, Japan, Korea, and the continent of Africa.” Other galleries will feature the American and European collections. “Paintings such as Adolphe Bougoureau's Petit Mendicants from the French Academic period of the late 19th century, Robert Cottingham's American Hi-Fi an example of Photo-realism, and Edward Hopper's Night Wind, an etching often associated with Urban Realism of the mid 20th century will be on view.” For over a century, the SUArt Gallery has been building its collection, and housing exhibits featuring the paintings of Winslow Homer, drawings of Michelangelo, the contemporary works of William Kentridge, and most recently the works of photo-journalist MargaretBourke White. The collection begin in1873 under the first dean of the College of Fine Arts, Dr. George Fisk
image credit:Mark Tepper
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image credit:http://farm3.staticflickr.com
Comfort. Comfort believed that the necessity for art museums was a result of students needing to experience the art for themselves in order to understand the true principles of which they studied. The Art Collection today is home to almost 45,000 objects consisting of paintings, drawings, pottery, sculpture, etchings, prints, cultural objects and other forms 45,000 objects consisting of paintings, drawings, pottery, sculpture, etchings, prints, cultural objects and other forms. The current renovations are leading to the reopening of the permanent collection early in the spring semester 2015. The gallery is still open during the renovation period with select exhibits on display, including the front gallery containing the current exhibits. Iacono also informs of future exhibits, one of which will highlight 20th century women artists. At the end of the spring the work of MFA students to the College of the Visual and Performing Arts will be featured alongside a photo gallery of works by Robert Infarinato (Syracuse alumnus) organized by graduate students in the Museum Studies Program. Our gallery around the corner provides an experience parallel to that of any great, small, or local art museum. The exploration of creativity and expression on a canvas directly before us broadens our perspectives on what we see. Marc Chagall said, “Great art picks up where nature ends.” Sometimes only the creativity of the mind can push beyond the limits of a previously established structure of thinking. And that doesn’t require the Louvre, or the British Museum, or the Metropolitan Museum of Art, it can begin and grow from right next door.
Van Jones
Su’s Spotlight
Isabella Kaplan 2018 At 7:20 p.m., I sit in Hendricks Chapel, watching the people slowly trickle in. I wait patiently for Van Jones’ “Green Jobs and Sustainability” lecture to begin with a “Divest SU/ ESF” X pinned to my shirt and a pen and notebook in hand. As more and more people enter the chapel, the walls echo with soft, excited, chatter. At exactly 7:30, a woman walks up to the podium and the conversations die down to a small murmur. After a few words about upcoming events and an introduction by another speaker, Van Jones approaches the sound of enthusiastic applause. With his hands resting lightly on either side of the podium, he looks over the crowd with a light smirk upon his face. Pinned on his chest was a “Divest SU/ESF” patch that matched my own and many other students who patiently waited for him to begin speaking. As soon he began to speak, his words radiated throughout the room. Each word, animated and full of life, echoed with confidence. I sat in awe as he told how as a young adult he worked with other students to divest their universities from companies who did business in South Africa during apartheid. How college students, who were told they could accomplish nothing, changed the way of life, and made an impact. Then looking upon the crowd, he reminded us that we too have the power to change the country, and the world. His speech then transitioned to the power of the People’s Climate March, the environmental injustices placed upon the population, and the destiny of the future generation. For each part of the speech his words dance with emotion, pulling in every audience member into his vision. And then he became silent. The audience held their breath in anticipation, hungry to hear more. The bright smile slipped from his face as he began to speak once more. His
image credit: Makayla Comas
tone, previously filled with humorous confidence, became somber as he once again looks upon the crowd. “It is tough to make a change in this country. Ask me how, I know. All it takes one person to find another person… and it may be all the difference. ” Lightning flashes across the rain-splattered window pane, enhancing the power in words. He continues to explain that by joining with others around you, you can make an impact in the world. As the speech concluded, his words echoed in my head, and my heart beat with admiration for the storyteller that stood before me. As I left Hendricks into the misty rain I thought over the words I had heard.
Drawing By Sarah Maximowicz Comic by Joey O’reilly. To sumbit your art, poems and other creative outlets, send them to the knothole’s email!
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I Walked
Creativity
Sean Merryman 2017 Between two tall structures, the air picks up. I quicken my pace and a rumble begins some distance behind me. I feel indifferent to the noise and do not turn around. The air continues to gust, pushing my hair in every imaginable direction. The noise grows louder. My thoughts need to compensate, so they grow louder too. There are now two rumbles. The rumbling behind me has travelled some distance since I noticed it and has now begun to pierce my thoughts. My thoughts start to argue with each other over the noise; they find it hard to deal with. The rumbling grows louder and louder. A strange anticipation sparks somewhere near my stomach and blooms there. It swells up into my skull as the rumbling reaches its peak. The truck passes and the rumble dissipates. For a brief moment I forgot exactly where I was headed, but the riot in my mind debauched and soon enough I was able to remember. I’m headed to the house, I tell myself. I’m headed to her house. I once lived there with her, and it was nice. For that short while the sun would shine in rays through the kitchen window and we could watch the galaxies of dust float within the photons from our armchairs in the living room. I can remember the patio out back, too; illuminated in the warm night by a cheap string of white Christmas lights. With no stars above to feed our nostalgia, we would look at the windows in the far off apartment buildings and make constellations of those. There are many fond memories of this time, but I cannot escape the feeling that she knew of my condition even then. She held something from me in those days. I did not know this at the time, but looking back I’m certain that
DIY:Soda Bottle Cups Mimi Scicchitano 2017
What you need: A glass bottle, a lighter, twine or yarn, 100% acetone nail-polish remover, sand paper, gloves, eye protection, and a bucket of ice water deep enough to fit most of the bottle. What to do: 1.Go OUTSIDE very far away from crowded areas or flammable materials. 2.Take the yarn and wrap it around the bottle 3-4 times at the location you want to make the cut. 3.Leaving a few inches of yarn extra so that you can tie a knot, cut the yarn. Remove the yarn from the bottle, and soak it in the acetone for about 30 seconds. 4.Wrap the yarn back around the desired position, and tie it in a knot so it doesn’t fall off.
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she did. Another rumble begins above my head. A commercial airline insults my eardrums. I will not let the riot start up again. I’ve become rather skilled at calming my insanity since I left New York. I wonder what she will think when she see sees me. After what feels like a long time, I finally reach the house. The pale green exterior gave me a cheery hello and the chipped white shutters invite me in. I walk up—one and two and three and skip the fourth step to the porch—I drag my feet across the parallel two-by-fours of the porch and face the door. I pull back the screen, knock, and wait with a smile on my face. After a few moments the door begins to open; first I see a lock of her thick brown hair (now much shorter than it was), her shoulder peaks around and I see her face… and it is not her. “Hi!” the unfamiliar woman belts. I stand in shock for a few moments and my thoughts begin to create a ruckus again. I still have not said anything. “How can I help you?” she says, rather impatiently. I cannot muster words. Suddenly, I hear a familiar voice from inside the house and footsteps coming towards the door. “Helena! Who is it? Come keep an eye on this chicken, I don’t want to burn it like I did la—“ She reaches the door way and stops abruptly. She stares at my face. Helena looks from me to her a couple times and leaves with “Alright, I’ll just go back to the kitchen then.” She leaves and I see the corner of a smile emerging on Helena’s face. “Reed, how did you get here?” she says, with a stern look on her face growing even sterner with each second of silence. “I walked.” 5.Make sure that you allow any acetone on your hands to evaporate before the next step. 6.Being VERY careful, hold the bottle sideways by its base, and light the yarn on fire. Rotate the bottle as it burns so that each side is equally heated. 7.After 2-3 minutes (or after the yarn burns out), immediately dunk the bottle (neck first) into the ice water. This should cause the top to “pop” off, although sometimes the process needs to be repeated before it will break. 8.Wearing durable gloves, discard the shattered pieces of glass safely. Use the sand paper to sand the edges of the glass down. 9.Wash the cup and make sure there are no sharp pieces left on it, and you now have a cool new vase, drinking cup, etc. 10.Extra: If the neck popped off in one piece, you can flip it upside down and put it in the bottom half of the bottle. Fill the top part with soil and a plant, and put water in the bottom for a cute and effective way to water your plants!
Ask- A- nut
Quercus quandaries
Ask- A- Townie
Dear Nut,
Dear Townie,
I’m in a bit of a conundrum and can’t seem to make up my mind. Now that I’m in college, I’m conflicted about how I should be spending my time. On the one hand, I want to enjoy myself, make lots of great friends, and have an awesome social life in general. On the other, I’m paying a lot to be here, and I feel like I should be studying and working hard so I can pass my classes and actually GRADUATE from college. Should I choose school or my social life? What do you think?
Can you recommend a good ‘Mom and Pop’ diner in Syracuse? -Kate
Confused One Not Freakin’ Loving Identity Crisis That Embodies Decision-making Dear Conflicted, In my humble opinion, there is no real reason why you can’t have the best of both worlds. All you have to do is get a bit creative! It’s simple really: just study while you socialize. For example, anytime you’re at a party, bring some flashcards along with you. For every shot you miss while playing beer pong, learn one flashcard. Nobody will think that you’re weird at all! Or maybe you need to study but your friends all want to go play Frisbee. Simply tape some of your class notes onto the Frisbee, and every time someone throws it to you look over some of your notes. Or maybe you and your friends want to play video games, but there’s a big test coming up tomorrow. If you tape up some notes onto the TV, you can learn AND game at the same time. You can even integrate your social life into your classes. Let’s say you’re at a boring lecture. When you start to nod off halfway through, begin blasting music on your phone, and you’ll have started an awesome party right then and there! You can have a great time, and since you’re in a lecture hall, it technically counts as learning. And let me just say it again: nobody will think that you’re weird! So as you can see, you can have your cake and eat it too in college. All you have to do is learn the magic of multitasking. -Nut
Sean’s Corner
-Townie Dear Townie, What’s the best place around Syracuse for a nice Sunday hike? -Anonymous Dear Anonymous, One of the things I like the most about Syracuse is that, despite being a mid-sized city, there are lots of excellent hikes just a short drive from the city. Tinker’s Falls is about a 40 minute drive south of Campus. It has a nice ¾-mile hike to a waterfall and a longer hike to an open area at the top of the hill, which is used as a point of takeoff for hang gliders. If you’re looking for a longer hike, the Finger Lakes Trail crosses through Tinker’s Falls. The Trail traverses most of New York State, which means your options for hiking there are effectively limitless. Closer to campus and one of my alltime favorites is Clark Reservation in Jamesville. Clark is relatively small but offers a half-dozen trails, none of which are very difficult, and some nice views across a pond that is a 10,000 year old glacial-plunge pool. -Townie
image credit: pinterest.com
Sincerely,
Dear Kate, The first place I think of when I’m craving diner food is Mother’s Cupboard, which is on James Street on the East Side of Syracuse. Mother’s Cupboard is a very small place with very large food; the full size frittata weighs six pounds—finishing one will put you in an exclusive club alongside Adam Richman from Man V. Food, and get your picture on the wall of fame. I would also recommend checking out The Gem, a classic boxcar diner on Spencer Street near the mall, or Mamma Nancy’s on State Fair Boulevard. Mamma Nancy’s is open around the clock and is a great dive for a late night diner adventure.
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Take A Second Kat Bagri 2017
Take a second…give it to a friend. Take a second, hold it in your hand. Sprinkle it on some food and watch a meal, become an entrée. Paint it on a canvas and watch an idea, become a masterpiece. Pour it in your sweat and tears and watch your dreams become your life TAKE A SECOND …to breathe . . . A clean head for curiosity to grow. Not think but, know This is how it is this is how you live. Take a second… take a second.
image credit:Taylor Brown
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