Magazine
Mentorship in Action Yikkity Yak Don’t Talk Back Trevor’s Trouble in Paradise Small Plates, Big Hearts Making an Impression at Boxcar Press
THE NEW
Editor’s Note
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Meghan Rimol
MANAGING EDITORS
Annie Menna Trevor Zalkind
LONG FEATURES
Senior Editor Jill Comoletti Assistant Editor Linda Gorman
SHORT FEATURES
Senior Editor Nicki Gorny Assistant Editor Soleil Young
FRONT OF BOOK
Senior Editor Hayden Willing Assistant Editor Taylor Georgeson
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Meredith Jeffers
ART PRODUCTION Lise Sukhu Sophia Openshaw
MULTIMEDIA DIRECTOR Xiaoyang Liao
WEB DIRECTOR Approaching Sadler Hall on my first day at Syracuse University was one of the few times in my life when words completely escaped me. As my dad pulled the SUV into the roundabout and practically pushed me out of the car, he instructed me (in stereotypical dad fashion) to go introduce myself to the smiling students standing by the doors to the building. Stressed and overwhelmed, I followed his directions and hauled myself over to meet my new classmates. I had trouble getting out much more than my name—I had never lived in a place so large, so diverse, filled with thousands of students with interests ranging from magazine journalism to computer engineering to musical theater. I didn’t know where I fit in, or how I ever would. And then, just a few weeks later, I found 360. Instantly, I discovered a community of my own—a group of people with whom I identified, united around a shared interest. Since then, I’ve become a part of other communities on campus—I’ve found my place at Newhouse and the iSchool, as a member of the abroad community, in my job at Whitman, on my intramural sports teams. My community has grown from a singular identity to a summation of my Syracuse experience, each aspect unique and incredibly special. Similarly, the Syracuse University community is not defined through just one identity. Syracuse University lives at more than a dozen campuses
across the world, in more than 250,000 alumni, in thousands of hours of volunteer service that students have dedicated to the city. Syracuse University is more than just a place—it’s a way of connecting, a shared experience between hundreds of thousands of people. It is countless communities of all shapes and sizes, working together to form one collective identity as the university. Now moving into a new niche as Syracuse’s community magazine, 360 wants to showcase the unique way that the university touches those all across the world. On page 28, learn how community-supported agriculture programs have helped Central New York farmers grow. Read about SU students who are reaching out into Syracuse city schools as mentors and tutors on page 32. Check out our photojournal on page 22 to see Central New Yorkers in action at this winter’s Sled for Red cardboard sledding derby. Be sure to look on page 34 to learn about 360’s plans for reaching even more of the community with our expanded web presence. I’m glad to welcome you as a part of our community of readers, and I hope that this issue helps you find your own space at Syracuse University.
Best, Meghan Rimol
Courteney Larocca
ART DIRECTORS Chris McCarthy Peter Murphy
DESIGNERS
Alyssa Hernandez Sydney Hirsh Rachael McKnight Nina Mullin Joy Scull Mustafa Thomas Crystal Yang
VIDEOGRAPHERS Nicki Gorny
PHOTOGRAPHERS Naomi Duttweiler Natalie Goldstein Annie Menna Sara Schleicher Beaux Wongwaisayawan Yilin Zhou Trevor Zalkind
COPY EDITORS Emily Andrews Erin Gillaspy Courteney Larocca
Front of Book 6 Top 10 7 Let’s Yak About it
We trolled Yik Yak over the last few months to collect some of the best commentary shared on the anonymous app
8 Page by Page
Four campus magazines find their niche to connect Syracuse students
20 Tapas Time
Laci’s Tapas Bar owners discuss small plates, sharing, and bringing people together
Features 10 And We Danced
Students dance the night away at SU’s first OttoTHON
12 Pressing Issues
Syracuse’s Boxcar Press brings old school printing back to the mainstream
14 Free to Go
Our managing editor discusses traveling solo, paradise, and drug inspections in Colombia
18 Bottoms Up
Tour CNY’s best spots for local brews and add “craft beer enthusiast” to your Tinder profile
22 Downhill Derby
Armed with carboard, tape, and a little creativity, Central New Yorkers take to the snow to raise money for AIDS resources
26 Flipping the Script
SU students revise history through American Voices
28 Let it Grow Mission Statement Since its debut at Syracuse University in 1998, 360 Magazine has always strived to achieve a balance between tradition and change. Founded by Lanre Mayen Gaba as a new lens to view culture, 360 has a different focus, format, and feel than its predecessors. Through the years, the magazine has become a general interest publication with a cultural twist, dedicated to informing students about issues on campus, in the community, and in the whole world at large. Disclaimer The views expressed in 360 Magazine are not necessarily those of the entire staff. 360 welcomes contributions from all members of the Syracuse University and SUNYESF community but retains the right to publish only material 360 deems acceptable to the publication’s editorial purpose.
A parternship between farmers and locals gives new life to farms in Central New York
32 Lessons For Life
Students from Syracuse University and the city school district share knowledge and compassion through mentorship programs
10 Acts Of Kindness on SU’s Campus
“My friend lost her keys one day, and Officer Friendly didn’t rest until they were found.” –Ben Stonish, Sophomore
“I was moving into my apartment complex, and I had a bunch of massive suitcases that I needed to drag over to my building and up the stairs. Some guy was helping another student move in, and he dropped everything to take my bags and carry them all the way to my room.” –Jessica McKinney, Senior
When classes have you stressed beyond belief, little acts of kindness can change the whole course of your day. We asked members of the SU community about the one moment of kindness that brought a little more sunshine to these gray Syracuse winters.
“Once when I went to do laundry, there was a sign that said, ‘Here! Quarters for you!’ And below that, someone had left free quarters for the washing machine.” –Nayali Quezada, Freshman
“I owed about $100 in library fines. The librarian was really nice and let me off with a $10 fine.” –Nick Coggiola, Sophomore
“I live on South, and there’s this one bus driver that is so nice. He always brightens my day. He sings songs for every stop and reads poetry.” –Kirstyn Ross, Junior
“I was waiting in line at Varsity the other day, and the guy behind me paid for my wrap for no reason. It was so nice!” –Tess Kornfeld, Senior
“I was really stressed about midterms, and someone messaged me on Facebook asking if I was okay and needed any help. It was really sweet.” –Nedda Sarshar, Sophomore
“During the summer, it can get really hot in Syracuse. I always used to see people leaving the Starbucks on Marshall Street and giving a cold drink to Gertis, the man who used to sit on the street corner there. Those people inspired me to start buying a cold drink for him, too.” –Gerard McTigue, Budget Manager for the Renée Crown University Honors Program
“One time, I dropped my wallet on Euclid. Some kind woman messaged me on Facebook and told me that she found my wallet, and I could come pick it up at her house on Livingston.” –Jesse Dougherty, Junior
“Michael Carter-Williams held the door open for me once. It was the highlight of my freshman year.” –Sarah Hosie, Senior
WE TROLLED YIK YAK OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS TO COLLECT SOME OF THE BEST COMMENTARY SHARED ON THE ANONYMOUS APP.
If you ever get sad about how awkward you are, just know that at least you aren’t the Schine steps. My vegan housemate just called my meat tenderizer a “corpse hammer.” Groups of frat guys remind me of the Penguins from Madagascar. Smile and wave, boys. Smile and wave. College boys need to chill with the weird expectations for girls. Like what are you bringing to the table? Oh right, a bucket hat. Mom: Honey, are you getting enough sleep? Me: Sometimes when I sneeze, my eyes close. Just got an email from my boss at the library that said, in all caps, “GET EXCITED: WE NOW HAVE AN ELECTRIC STAPLER.” Sun is out = Jesus guy is back in town. So the groundhog saw his shadow? Looks like six more weeks of freshman complaining and underestimating Syracuse weather. Every day hundreds of precious minutes are tragically lost to professors trying to figure out how to work YouTube videos. Waiting until the last minute to do this paper because I will be older, and therefore, wiser. As the Canada geese population migrates elsewhere, the salmon population rapidly returns to Syracuse.
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Page by Page Four campus magazines find their niche to connect Syracuse students Words: Taylor Georgeson ZEST magazine is making its first appearance at Syracuse University this spring, breaking ground as the school’s premiere travel publication. The magazine will spotlight aspects of international and local travel and feature helpful tips for young college travelers. Junior Madysan Foltz, editor-in-chief of ZEST, had the idea for a travel publication while studying abroad in Uganda last year. She realized that there were no travel magazines on Syracuse’s campus, and thus, ZEST was born. “I wanted to create a telescope for people at home and tell untold stories that they would have never heard about otherwise,” Foltz says. The magazine will produce a
Providing a platform for important but minimally discussed community issues is not an easy task, but The OutCrowd makes it its main priority. The magazine, founded in 2007, is the university’s only queer publication, focusing on issues within the LGBTQA community and providing a different perspective. The OutCrowd’s editor-in-chief, sophomore Farrell Brenner, explains that one of the main purposes of the magazine is to take a progressive stance on queer and trans experiences, producing content that any Syracuse student would find informative and interesting. “We try to produce a magazine that the entire community can consume, not just people within the
queer community,” Brenner says. “We make sure to get all parts of the queer community without a voice.” The magazine has five sections: features, social and political, sex and health, art and entertainment, and narrative. Throughout its pages, the publication includes a balance of text and art, ranging from photos to poetry. The newest issue of the magazine will also feature the publication’s first illustration spread. Looking ahead, Brenner believes The OutCrowd will continue to expand and grow. She hopes to continue producing content that is both informative and empowering to students, no matter who they are or where they come from.
wide variety of content, split into four different sections: food, culture, outdoors, and discovery. Foltz hopes to be able to highlight popular travel locations around the world, as well as lesser-known destinations. ZEST plans to create a website that features daily and weekly columns, and hopes to someday expand their brand to Orange Television Network. As for her main goals for the future of the magazine, Foltz says, “My hope is to engage students in the world outside of the campus bubble, and prove that you don’t have to travel far to travel wide.”
Often when freshmen look to become involved with a campus publication, it can be difficult to find a staff position as an underclassman. Juiced was created last year to prove that this does not always have to be the case. “Juiced is the only magazine with an entirely freshmen staff. This lets freshmen have the chance to get important leadership roles even in their first year of college,” says editor-in-chief McKenna Moore, also a freshman. Students develop a wide variety of timely content about events both on campus and around the world. “We produce whatever freshmen want to write about and whatever we believe
Many college students living off campus for the first time may find it difficult to decide what to cook each night, or to find quick, easy recipes that won’t break their wallets. Luckily, Baked offers the perfect solution. Baked, originally started in 2011 but relaunched last year, is dedicated to informing students about Syracuse food culture, sharing recipes that students can make on their own and ideas for
freshmen will want to read,” says Moore. Juiced is printed once a semester and includes several sections, such as sports, music, and food, featuring recipes that freshmen can put together with food served at the dining halls. The magazine has a very active presence on social media, publishing blog posts and articles nearly every day throughout the semester. Moore hopes to expand their digital presence even more in the future. Moore also wants to have more writers become involved on staff, as it is a great opportunity for freshmen to gain experience and develop their editing and writing skills.
dining out. “We provide sections on the restaurants, recipes, and people and organizations that are helping to improve the local food scene as well,” says editor-in-chief Audrey Morgan. The magazine is published once a semester, but has a blog that updates and publishes new content daily. Morgan is confident that Baked will continue to provide the best recipes and restaurant information for students all across campus.
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And We Danced
Students dance the night away at SU’s first OttoTHON Words: Adrianna Rodriguez Photos: Naomi Duttweiler and Yilin Zhou
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he crowd at the Women’s Building basketball court is decked out in bright colors, glittery makeup, tutus, and neon socks. They are ready to dance. As the introductions end, the lights turn off and the music starts. OttoTHON, Syracuse University’s very first 12-hour dance marathon, has begun. Sophomore Jillian Lynch was the driving force behind the high-energy fundraiser. She decided it was time to organize a dance marathon after realizing that SU had never hosted one. “We had them in my high school, and I know a lot of colleges across the nation
have them,” Lynch says. She and her executive board members worked for a year to organize the first OttoTHON, and their hard work paid off; the event raised more than $84,000, clinching the record for the most money raised by a first-year marathon in the Northeast. The sum also places OttoTHON third among first-year marathons nationwide—even topping Duke University’s $81,000. Colleges and universities across the country have held dance marathons since 1973, following the model established by Pennsylvania State University. SU’s OttoTHON raised funds for the cancer ward at Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital. Many people were involved in turning OttoTHON from a passing thought into a reality. To start, Lynch and her executive board partnered with the Residence Hall Association. “They helped us with booking the venue and all sorts of things,” Lynch says. In addition to RHA, the Student Association showed its support by giving money, and local businesses and vendors were more than willing to lend a helping hand. “Everything we received for the event was either donated or given,” Lynch says. OttoTHON also provided students a chance to showcase their talents on the dance floor. Sophomore Bethany Bourgault attended with her own team, the Syracuse University Ballroom Dance Organization. “We perform at different things, like Relay for Life, so this sounded like something we would be interested in doing,” Bourgault says.
But dancing was not the only way students helped. Freshman Emilia Navarrete was one of the many student volunteers. Navarrete is a member of her residence hall’s community council and president of her floor in Boland Residence Hall. She was also an Army Chair, which means she was responsible for getting people in her residence hall excited about OttoTHON, registering students, and helping Lynch spread the news about this great cause. “I think the most important thing about OttoTHON is not only the financial support we’re providing,” Lynch says, “but also the emotional support.”
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PRESSING ISSUES Syracuse’s Boxcar Press brings old school printing back to the mainstream
Words: Linda Gorman Photos: Natalie Goldstein
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oxcar Press’ administrative office on West Fayette Street is the epitome of hipster-chic: rustic brick, high ceilings, and brightly painted plaster. The front wall of the room is papered with colorful stationery, and patterned paper chains hang from the ceiling. Designers and administrative staff sit in tastefully decorated cubicles, keeping their voices to a low murmur. But after passing through the door in the back of the office to the press itself, visitors are greeted with an immediate assault on the senses. The basement shop is all noise and moving parts. The ’60s jam “The Loco-Motion” blares from speakers in the corner, while more than a dozen antique letterpress printers run continuously, printing birth announcements, business cards, party invites, and more. One press along the wall spits out an order of custom wedding invitations. With a loud mechanical whir, the rollers come down and ink the custom letterpress plate, leaving a textured print of a specific design. Finished invites sit in a stack on a nearby table. The couple’s names, printed in curly calligraphy, make a slight impression on the page. Printers, casually dressed in jeans and t-shirts, handle supplies and finished prints. Other employees fold
stacks of paper by hand. No one sits idle, and for good reason: Boxcar ships 20 to 40 orders per day. The print shop, located in Syracuse since 2001, is a leader in the resurgence of letterpress printing. Once the industry standard for books and newspaper printing, letterpress is becoming increasingly popular as an artisanal craft process. Boxcar has the largest collection of operating presses in the country, and perhaps the world, says Boxcar representative Erica Henriksen. Most of the bulky Heidelburg printers the shop uses come from the ’50s and ’60s and are no longer manufactured. Letterpress printing has not been widely used in decades. In the mid-20th century the practice was largely replaced by offset lithography printing, a method based on the reaction between oil and water. But in the past few years, letterpress printing has been making a comeback. Henriksen credits this to a feature on the business published in Martha Stewart Weddings, as well as a broader demand for craft products. “I think people like the idea that it was made by a person and not a machine,” she says. This means Boxcar Press’ custom work is a luxury product—wedding invitations run about $10 to $25 per piece. Boxcar has also added foil stamping and digital printing to its repertoire in an effort to adapt to the current market.
Founded in the late ’90s in Minneapolis, Boxcar Press now employs more than 80 people. Founders Harold Kyle and Deborah Urbanski relocated to Syracuse after Urbanski enrolled in Syracuse University’s Creative Writing Program. The shop currently occupies a space in the Delavan Center in downtown Syracuse and is involved in several community initiatives. Boxcar hosts a yearly paper giveaway, where local teachers can pick up leftover paper for free. And in August, Boxcar brand Smock hosts a sidewalk sale, where shoppers can purchase slightly imperfect products for significantly reduced prices. Environmentalism has been a priority for the shop since its earliest days. Boxcar Press runs a platemaking recycling program, collaborating with a company that melts down used plates and turns them into porch furniture and other consumer goods. Boxcar also plants a tree for every sample sold through Bella Figura, one of the shop’s wedding invitation brands, and offers to match customers’ donations toward tree planting at checkout. In total, Boxcar has planted approximately 40,000 trees. During the printing process, Boxcar aims to stay environmentally friendly by using eco-friendly inks and solvents, as well as paper made with cotton and bamboo. “Printing has traditionally left a really negative impact on the environment,” Henriksen
says. “So one of our big goals is to use great materials, but also make sure that we’re not hurting the environment in the process.” After being printed, folded, and packaged, Boxcar products end up in the packing area, stacked high in pallets ready to ship domestically and internationally. Though the majority of customers are in the U.S., there is a growing demand for letterpress abroad, particularly in Australia and the U.K. Henriksen says the universal appeal of Boxcar Press’ products has to do with the customized nature of the process. “I think people kind of got tired of the mass-produced and very impersonal kind of product,” she says. “With us, there’s more of a personal connection.”
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OUR MANAGING EDITOR DISCUSSES TRAVELING SOLO, PARADISE, AND DRUG INSPECTIONS IN COLOMBIA WORDS AND PHOTOS: TREVOR ZALKIND
I
am a suspected member of the Colombian drug trade. Or at least I would assume so, after an encounter with the Colombian military in the Cartagena Rafael Núñez International Airport. I told them the truth, even though it really only made matters worse. I was traveling alone. I had also spent the majority of my time outside the city in rural areas and dense tropical forests known for illicit agriculture. I was profusely sweating—which was mainly a heat issue—and stuttering in Spanish in typical gringo fashion. In their minds, I must’ve already been guilty of something. The gruff mustachioed guard had to inspect my luggage—and my body—to find something, anything. I began to ponder the possible outcomes of the situation as the guard suddenly yanked my passport and plane ticket home out of my hands. As I
watched my passport disappear into a back room with Mustachio, a woman wearing latex gloves stared me down and “come hither-ed” me. Only a week earlier I had entered the country. While I was equally sweaty, I had a rather different concern. I was in Cartagena without an itinerary and without a co-traveler. However, my time abroad in Chile and Ecuador in the fall of 2014 provided me with sufficient Spanish skills to be able to sweet talk my way into a group of Chilean girls. And sweet talk I did. Within ten minutes of arriving at my hostel, I found the only group of Chilean chicks in Cartagena with whom I could practice my Spanish and tour the city. According to the receptionist at the hostel, a walking tour was five minutes away. With the Chileans leading the charge, I slowly realized we were going in circles. In such a long and slender country like Chile,
they must have only needed to know the ordinal directions of north and south. I riskily expressed that thought aloud in Spanish—and it paid off after hearing their chuckles. They invited me to a chiva. I didn’t know what a chiva was, but it sounded like a type of Pokemon. And Pokemon are nifty. I definitely could have lost my life that night. Not because a Pokemon surprise-attacked me in the weeds of Cartagena’s colorful urban jungle, but because a chiva is a party bus from hell. For one, this bus had no doors. Second, this party bus was crammed full of people. There were about six rows of bench seating, which fit around six people in each row. There were usually eight people in each row at the peak of the night. Third, there was a band in the middle of the bus that played music and encouraged audience participation—namely, dancing. The fourth, and possibly most dangerous part of this truly Colombian endeavor, was that a party bus isn’t a party bus in Colombia without cheap aguardiente flowing around the bus and into the mouths of passengers—and possibly the bus drivers. At least the bus had a bitchin’ paint job and really spunky decorative lights. This bus drove around Cartagena all evening, picking up passers-by who spontaneously decided to flag us down and join in on the fun. I hopped on at the very beginning with my chiquillas chilenas and placed one butt cheek on the last six inches of bench space. The other butt cheek? Free hanging, about four feet above the cobblestone streets of the old city. After half an hour, the band initiated a maelstrom of drum beats and the wheezing of an accordion. The 25,000 Colombian pesos (about $10) I spent for entry must not have been for the talent. A man, the copilot of sorts, began rat-a-tat-ing Spanish phrases into a megaphone that were most certainly not safety instructions. After every sentence came the whistles and wails of passengers. I have enough Spanish knowledge to know the English equivalents of “seatbelt,” and phrases like, “keep your hands and legs inside of the vehicle at all times,” neither of which were a concern of his at the moment—or ever, given the fact that I was a continent away from any concepts of legal liability. At this point in my ride, after my legal ponderings, I lost feeling in my left butt cheek. It was about an hour and a half before any alcohol was served; far too long, as I was already preparing funeral arrangements for my left butt cheek. The Chilean girls were constantly chanting, “Te-ne-mos sed!” (We’re thirsty!) On the plus side, upon speaking with people in the row in front of us, they assumed I was Chilean through proximity—a major accomplishment given my checkered collared shirt and reflective white skin.
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Granted, I was the only gringo on the bus and I had six months of practice feigning Latino roots in Chile. I take my victories where I can get them. Basking in my glory, I celebrated with a watered-down coke and aguardiente combo. Three or four—or was it five?—drinks later, the bus kicked us off and my left butt cheek found relief in the form of dance. Not the tentative I’m-a-foreignerand-am-trying-to-fit-in kind of dance, but the rather aggressive I’ve-lost-feeling-in-my-ass-and-wouldlike-to-feel-once-again kind. Furious stepping and twirling of Chileans ensued while the aguardiente hit its peak. My ass achieved liberation, and it was time to return to the hostel. I knew there was no way I could continue a lifestyle of party bussing for the remaining six days I had in Colombia. I went to Colombia to relax, to find paradise. I began my quest the following morning at the crack of dawn—no butt or cocaine puns intended—stepping aboard a ritzy Mercedes bus full of honeymooners. It took a five-hour bus ride to find paradise. Which is considerably shorter than the 24-hour car ride
across the United States I took to Syracuse. I passed through the gates of Tayrona National Natural Park and beelined it to Cabo San Juan del Guia, the picturesque beach found in all two of the Colombia tourism pamphlets in existence. What awaited me there was bliss through simplicity. I spent four nights in a hammock hanging over the pulsing Caribbean waves because I wanted to. Because I could. Because I was alone, and no one else could tell me otherwise. Also, because it was cheap. Mainly that. Don’t get me wrong though, it was liberating. I spent five days monkey spotting, hiking, reading, sweating, sunset-watching, fresh juice drinking, hammocking, and simply living. Having a beach to yourself allows for the most idealized version of living. You are only responsible for breathing, and the waves help to provide a slow cadence. Colombia was calm and tranquil, like my breathing. Or so I thought. Here, at the airport, I was hyperventilating, and the sassy airport military lady noticed. Instead of sitting me down and providing calming Spanish words, she continued to search my backpack, splaying my
clothes across the terminal. Luckily for everyone, the clothes all smelled due to my rather sweaty and showerless time in the jungle. This was becoming a scene, and I was somewhat okay with it. Maybe I’d make it viral on YouTube with documentation of my violated rights. Mustachio was back without my passport, but were those—more gloves? He yanked my arm and pulled me towards the back room. At this point my left butt cheek became self-aware once again, signaling to my brain that desperate measures were needed. Would bribery work? Would they realize the validity of my cries of, “I want my mommy”? No, I realized. No, they would not. I was shuffled into a room with a desk and a machine that looked like a treadmill combined with a metal detector. Never before have I seen a peligro (danger) sign and been so relieved. This sign was advertising the effects of x-rays. Noninvasive! Gracias a dios. I gladly signed my name on the form they presented, and struck a pose as the treadmill whirred me through the radiation. Mustachio’s lips twitched with a chuckle, noticing my relief. He handed me my passport and ticket. I was free to go.
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BOTTOMS UP
TOUR CNY’S BEST SPOTS FOR LOCAL BREWS AND ADD “CRAFT BEER ENTHUSIAST” TO YOUR TINDER PROFILE
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KEY 1. EMPIRE BREWING CO. 2. MIDDLE AGES BREWING CO. 3. EASTWOOD BREWING CO. 4. GORDON BIERSCH 5. BEAK & SKIFF APPLE ORCHARDS 6. CRITZ FARMS
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Words: Meredith Jeffers
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Empire Brewing Company
Armory Square: 120 Walton St., Syracuse, NY
Warning: Empire Brewing Company isn’t for the faint of heart. From Chocolate Chili Stout to Maple Porter, this Amory Square fan favorite offers some of Syracuse’s strangest—and most delicious—brews. Be sure to try out Runway Rose, a rose hips and chamomile blend that’s the official beer of Syracuse Fashion Week (yes, that’s really a thing). Empire brews all of its beer in-house with fresh and local ingredients. If you’re itching for a more in-depth glimpse into the brewing process, head to the Empire Farmstead Brewery in Cazenovia, opening in late 2015.
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Middle Ages Brewing Company 120 Wilkinson St., Syracuse, NY
This downtown staple throws its brewing methods all the way back to Medieval times, handcrafting its beers and ales with English-imported malt since 1995. Syracuse Pale Ale, Wailing Wench, and Dinosaur BBQ Ape Hanger Ale are some of Middle Ages Brewing Company’s signature drinks. Visit the tap room and grab a pint, or if you’re feeling really ambitious, lug home a keg.
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Eastwood Brewing Company 108 Walter Dr., Syracuse, NY
The recently renamed Eastwood Brewing Company is a newbie to the Syracuse brewing scene, but its flavors are a total standout. This microbrewery experiments with everything from Oatmeal Stout to Double Milk Chocolate Stout, in addition to the more standard pale ales. Even better? For just three bucks, you can sample eight of Eastwood’s craft beers.
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Gordon Biersch
304 Hiawatha Blvd. W, #J-101, Syracuse, NY
When Dan Gordon and Dean Biersch decided to open Gordon Biersch in 1987, they had one goal in mind: to serve delicious food alongside the most authentic German beers. Their vision led to the opening of the first Gordon Biersch restaurant in Palo Alto, CA one year later. Their brewery opened in San Jose, CA in 1997, and today Gordon Biersch brews more than 3.1 million gallons of beer annually. If you stop by their restaurant in Destiny USA, be sure to try the legendary garlic fries. Wash them down with a glass of Gordon Biersch’s Schwarzbier, meaning “black beer” in German, which has a coffee-flavored finish.
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Beak & Skiff
2708 Lords Hill Road (Rte. 80), LaFayette, NY
Beak and Skiff’s fresh apples taste just as good in drink form. The orchard’s brewery, 1911 Spirits, stirs up some delicious vodka, gin, wine, and cider at its Apple Hill location in LaFayette, NY. Visit their café and tasting room to try one the signature hard ciders, which come in four different varieties: Heritage Dry, Sweet Apple, Hopped, and Rosé.
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Critz Farms
3232 Rippleton Road (State Route 13), Cazenovia, NY
Pressed apples straight from the orchard are the secret to the delicious ciders produced at The Harvest Moon Cidery at Critz Farms, each sweetened with fruit juice, fresh honey, or maple syrup. All of the apples are pressed using a machine that was built in Syracuse in the 1890s, which now presses more than 1,000 gallons of cider each day. Visitors can tour the plant to see the restored press in action, watching the apples as they move through the process from tree to tap. Be sure to stop by the tasting room to try one of nine award-winning brews, ranging in flavor from the dry Rippleton Original to the sweet Maple Moon.
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Laci’s Tapas Bar owners discuss small plates, sharing, and bringing people together Words: Angelica Welch Photos: Jill Comoletti
From Armory Square hotspots to sidestreet dives, restaurateurs have been searching for their niche in the booming food scene in Syracuse. Laci’s Tapas Bar is located in the Hawley-Green District and, since opening, has revitalized its historic community. Desiring a more inclusive eating experience, founders and co-owners Laura Serway and Cindy Seymour have harnessed the bonding power of tapas to create a comfortable place for the community to gather, share meals, and experiment with new cuisine. How would you describe Laci’s to someone who has never tried tapas before? It’s about coming to your table and saying, “Look at the menu and order yourself four tapas, and we’re going to pass them back and forth. We’re going to share this meal.” For us it’s about enjoying conversation, leaving your cell phones off, and actually looking at each other while you enjoy a nice meal. Why did you choose to open a business in Syracuse, and in this neighborhood in particular? This neighborhood, for me and Cindy, has so much beauty and character. It has been so
neglected. We came down here and bought this building, but realized that in order to continue to grow our business, we would have to clean up the area. So we just rolled up our sleeves and went for it. So Laci’s brought tapas to Syracuse. Why did you feel that this style of cuisine was an important addition to the restaurant scene? In all of our travels, our style of dining is eating small and living large. That’s our tagline as well. We’re all about eating smaller meals and eating more often. You have to educate people when they come in the door before they can even order, because so many folks think they won’t be full. I love those people. My best evenings are the ones when people say, “Oh I’m not going to be full,” or, “What are tapas?” and “You guys are crazy.” I just laugh at them and think, “Okay, you’ll see.” Or the ones who have never had bacon-wrapped dates before. Well, that’s good, I’m going to order them for you and if you don’t like them, don’t eat them. I’ll sit my butt down at your table and eat them for you, and I’ll pay for them, so you have no risk. The customers laugh about that, but it’s true. Our rule of thumb is that if you order something and you don’t like it, it comes off your bill.
Describe your ideal customer. One who wants to have fun. Having a meal is a personal thing, but it’s also a fun experience when you’re here. Our number one goal is hospitality; it’s treating the guests the right way. So from that perspective, I want the guests to be happy and have a good time. You know you can get food anywhere, but you can’t be served like you will be served at Laci’s Tapas Bar, not in this city. So if you come to Laci’s, what is one thing on the menu you have to try?
Other than the food, what do you think Laci’s has brought to this community? Our passion for developing, assisting, and growing the community around us. We don’t have a problem with giving back. I think that the biggest contributions we bring are the opportunity to give back and our own personal time, sweat, and equity. Anyone can write a check, but not just anyone can walk around and pick up the trash on the side of the street or rebuild neighborhoods like we do.
Bacon-wrapped dates. They are a musthave. Our Pow Sauce, too, that’s something we’re getting ready to take to market. We now serve it with pretzels in a little container to sample it, so we can show people it’s really a sauce you can put on anything. The menu is really well designed when it comes to gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegetarian options, because that is today’s world. It amazes me when I walk into some of these other restaurants, even in our town, and I think, “Really? If you can’t cater to everybody, who’s going to come here?” I don’t understand it.
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DOWNHILL DERBY Armed with cardboard, tape, and a little creativity, Central New Yorkers take to the snow to raise money for AIDS resources Words: Meghan Rimol Photos: Trevor Zalkind and Sara Schleicher
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ars slid into the slick parking lot at Four Seasons Golf and Ski Center, filling the lot to capacity and forcing many to perch precariously on the steep driveway of the resort. Piling out of the vehicles were families of small children, a grown man dressed as Evel Knievel, and another dressed as Doctor Who, all ready to face the sled derby taking place on the hill that night. Central New Yorkers filed into the old wooden lodge, purchasing tickets offering slopeside access to the evening’s events and unlimited samples of the wide selection of hot food offered after the race. The annual event, started in 2010, is hosted by ACR Health, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing health services for individuals with chronic illnesses in the local community.
At ACR Health’s fifth annual Sled for Red fundraiser, held this February, daredevils of all ages strapped themselves into cardboard sleds and raced down the ski slopes in front of hundreds of cheering supporters.
Coming down the hill in a mere 13.4 seconds, the top sled at this year’s event was designed by Team 95X, who also provided microphone commentary throughout the night. The leader of their team closed out the night with another victory, effortlessly winning the pizza-eating contest.
Many racers weren’t as quick, some barely making it out of the starting gate before crashing their sleds into the snow. But this didn’t deter competitors from hopping out of their cardboard creations to travel down the hill on foot, dragging their crumpled sleds behind them across the finish line.
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Crowds of locals shouted words of encouragement to their teams and heckled the competition as drivers slid down the hill in style, battling for prizes including fastest sled, best costume, and loudest team.
Teams were tasked with raising at least $250 for AIDS support resources in Central New York and creating a sled out of just cardboard, tape, and paint. From a camper big enough to fit multiple small children to a TARDIS built for maximum downhill speed, the sleds were constructed by various local businesses and organizations.
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Flipping the Script SU students revise history through American Voices Words and Photos: Annie Menna he air is hot and thick in the small studio. A fan in the corner offers a small breeze, but it’s not enough to move the heavy, black curtains rigged to a track on the ceiling. Standing in the center of the room is Syracuse University junior Sam Bailey, dressed in Civil War-era clothing. His co-star, an older man dressed as a plantation owner, lassos Bailey with a rope and feigns a strong tug. The engineering major, all 200-odd pounds of him, hits the ground—hard.
The shot is good, but the crew soon realizes they have a problem: Bailey has torn a hole down the front of his pants, exposing purple boxers. “Can someone grab a couple safety pins?” asks Matt Fernandes, a senior television, radio, and film and English and textual studies dual major. “Somehow I don’t think the purple boxers will fit with the timeline.” Fernandes is coaching Bailey as abolitionist Frederick Douglass in his production of American Voices. The 22-minute docudrama, which doubles as Fernandes’ senior thesis and honors capstone, has been in the works for almost two years. The film reinvents the historical slave narrative through the voices and literary texts of those who escaped slavery in the American south. Fernandes originally did research with African American studies professor Renate Simpson, who encouraged him to pursue the project as a larger film. “We knew that 12 Years a Slave was coming out, and we knew that film had kind of turned its eye to slavery for a stint,” Fernandes says. “But even Steve McQueen didn’t talk about it as a slave narrative. He talked about it as an autobiography of Solomon Northup. We
wanted to discuss the history of this genre, because it isn’t something that exists in a vacuum. This is a pretty extensive literary history.” Fernandes partnered with senior television, radio, and film major Mónica Bermúdez in their capstone class, TRF 469: Advanced Filmmaking. “When Matt first described the project, he knew what he wanted,” Bermúdez says. She believes that knowledge of such an important period of history is relevant in light of the continuing struggle for racial equality. Bermúdez took on the role of producer, with Fernandes as director. They had to build their team from scratch, which Bermúdez says was daunting at first. “You go through four years of college meeting so many people with talent,” she says, which made it easy to connect with the talent the crew needed. Bermúdez invited Milan Chaney, a senior communications and rhetorical studies major, to audition for the two lead female roles. The story of Harriet Jacobs particularly resonated with her. “It was kind of interesting to see that Harriet took a stand for herself,” Chaney says. “This was a time when it wasn’t even acceptable for a woman to take a stand and say, ‘I know myself, I know what I deserve.’ Even now women don’t know their value as much as they need to.” Compared to spoken word poetry—the preferred medium for Chaney, who is an active member of the Nu Rho Poetic Society—reading from a script felt like tunnel vision. “The hard part was memorizing it,” she says. The emotional tone of the script created another challenge, she adds. “It’s a time that nobody really wants to relive. To actually be in that space and channel their emotions for that moment was really a new challenge for me.” Principal photography wrapped up in mid-March and an edited cut will be screened during the first week of May. The steps that remain during post-production include editing, raising funds through a Kickstarter campaign, and creating the musical score. “That’s when you not only have the visuals, but you can hear it and really lace together all your ideas and create the cohesive flow,” Bermúdez says. For now, their goal is to stay faithful to the vision and to the men and women who became activists and abolitionists. “The docudrama has a very abstract and fractured look because we’re working with an abstract thing, which is literature. The challenge was learning to defend the vision,” Fernandes says. “There are a lot of pieces to the puzzle, so it’s going to be fun to see how this all fits together. I’m feeling good.”
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A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN FARMERS AND LOCALS GIVES NEW LIFE TO FARMS IN CENTRAL NEW YORK WORDS: NICKI GORNY PHOTOS: TREVOR ZALKIND
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very week between June and October, Susan Krabacher has bins heaped with fresh produce delivered to her Fayetteville home. She checks the weekly distribution sheet to see what she should take inside—sometimes a bunch of basil, a few heads of lettuce, or her family’s favorite: leafy sprigs of kale—and she arranges the rest on her patio for the other members. Ten to 15 of her neighbors will stop by later that evening to pick up their own share of the produce. “It’s a really nice way to build community,” Krabacher says. Often, these neighbors stay to chat, trade a few recipes, or ask questions about the produce. The weekly pickups at Krabacher’s home are only one piece of a broader model known as communitysupported agriculture (CSA). Increasingly popular
in Central New York and across the country, CSAs enable members such as Krabacher and her neighbors to invest in a local farm. They pay the farmer a lump sum before the growing season begins, and in exchange they receive weekly deliveries of whatever is fresh and in season at that farm throughout the year. The idea is to have mutual benefits: financial stability for farmers and a farm-totable connection for members. “CSAs are really just the idea that you have a direct connection to the farm,” says Elizabeth Henderson, the retired farmer who first brought CSA-style farming to Central New York in 1988. “It’s the only way a farm can sell its products to people who share the risk with the farmer.” The model first took root in the U.S. in 1986 and spread to the Rochester area two years later through Henderson’s Genesee Valley Organic CSA. Now renamed Peacework Organic CSA, these programs have cropped up across the country. The past 10 years have seen particularly rapid growth in CSAs, Henderson says, attributing this in part to a broader
“locavore” movement that promotes locally sourced food. By 2012, the U.S. Department of Agriculture counted 12,617 CSAs in the U.S. LocalHarvest’s online directory narrows this to more than 450 CSAs in New York alone, with at least five CSAs serving Syracuse and surrounding areas. While CSA-style farming thrives across the country, the model tends to hold a particular appeal for farmers in Central New York and other northern states with clearly identifiable seasons. Beth Wells, who has six years of collective experience at Grindstone Farm and Freedom Rains Farm in Pulaski, NY, says this is because upfront payment through CSAs can help keep farms financially stable—even when snow-covered fields put a hold on profits during the winters. Seasonality doesn’t necessarily pose a financial issue in milder climates, she says, comparing her farm to a friend’s in Texas. “She could be growing year-round in her climate,
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and making money year-round,” Wells says. “Whereas once the snow starts flying and the temperatures start dropping, Central New York farmers are done. But you still have to sustain yourself. You still have to pay the bills and keep the power on.”
detail what crops to expect each week, the boxed deliveries don’t always match the lists. Blights and diseases could mean few or no tomatoes in one season, for example, while a bumper crop of cabbage could simultaneously be putting heaps of it in members’ refrigerators.
Wells’ Freedom Rains is fairly small, with 20 acres and approximately 130 members as of last season— its first after breaking away from the adjacent Grindstone Farm in 2013. By comparison, Ithaca’s Early Morning Farms covers approximately 100 acres to feed its 1,600 members. But these modest numbers allow the relatively new Freedom Rains to fund itself almost entirely through its CSA. Wells and her husband only sell their produce wholesale when there is a bumper crop, or an unexpectedly large yield. So when people join the Freedom Rains CSA, their money goes directly toward growing their food and putting a roof over their farmer’s head.
Members have to be flexible, says CSA member Sara Jo Brandt-Doelle, and remind themselves that unpredictability is part of investing in a farm. BrandtDoelle feeds a family of four on her Freedom Rains deliveries. And in her six years of membership at Grindstone and Freedom Rains, she has learned how to cook plenty of vegetables that she never would have picked out from a grocery store by herself. Her 7 and 9 year old sons even count purple beans among their favorite vegetables.
This aspect of supporting local farmers is part of what makes CSAs attractive for Krabacher. She had been a member of Grindstone’s CSA for 11 years before this feature of the farm shifted to Freedom Rains, so she has known and been friends with Wells for years. That gives her a particular appreciation for the food on her table. She would much sooner look up new recipes if there’s a bumper crop of cucumbers, for example, than just let the produce rot in her refrigerator. “Once you get to know the farmers really well, I think you have a stronger attachment to the food you’re eating,” Krabacher says. “It took them a lot of hard work to bring it to your table.” This attitude similarly extends to a willingness to adapt when seasonal produce proves unpredictable. Although Freedom Rains publishes a seasonal calendar and sends its members regular emails that
Like Krabacher, Brandt-Doelle says her family also values the personal connection that CSAs facilitate with local farmers. She has spent a few years on the CSA CNY planning board, and her sons look forward to running around the farm at the annual summertime party. Brandt-Doelle’s husband is even among the half-dozen or so CSA members who participate in Freedom Rains’ work-share program, where he volunteers to help out on the farm during the season in exchange for a price cut on his family’s CSA share. These personal connections don’t just benefit members. Wells, too, says she appreciates hearing from her customers—maybe a spontaneous email or Christmas card thanking Wells and her family for what they bring to the table each week. “When you’re out busting your butt for 22 weeks,” she says, “it really makes it worth it to know that we’re impacting their lives as much as they’re impacting our lives.”
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LESSONS FOR LIFE Students from Syracuse University and the city school district share knowledge and compassion through mentorship programs WORDS: MADDIE BUCKLEY PHOTOS: BEAUX WONGWAISAYAWAN
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n a Friday afternoon, a group of Syracuse University students stands in front of a gathering of young men at Westside Academy. These SU students are members of Project GRIND (Greatness Resides in Nonstop Dedication), a mentoring and tutoring program for young men in the Syracuse City School District. In unison, they recite Project GRIND’s motto: “We GRIND. And we’ll always GRIND to reach our goals, and turn our dreams into realities, and recreate a path for our families. My story is unique and different, but our story is powerful. So we will not be ashamed of where we come from or what we have been through. If you support me, I’ll support you. If you believe in me, I’ll believe in you. We are part of a project where greatness resides in nonstop dedication.” Project GRIND is just one of many SU organizations that works with the Syracuse City School District, where the graduation rate is 51 percent and many students live below the poverty line.
family lives. So we’re trying to help them reclaim their power,” says sophomore Rachel Brown-Weinstock, vice president of MESH.
“We want to go in there and show them that school can be a positive place, that there are people who love them and want to see them succeed, and that we believe they can do it,” says junior Jacob Friesen Grant, co-founder of Project GRIND. “Kids don't care what you know until they know that you care.” Many of the GRIND leaders, Grant included, are Posse Scholars, students with academic and leadership potential who are granted four years of full tuition at Syracuse. They use the Posse leadership exercises and ideals to teach and empower the students. “A lot of these kids come from houses and backgrounds where there's not a lot of positivity,” Grant says. “The only places they’re learning from are TV, movies, and music, and they only see negative images and stereotypes. It's important for these kids to have a really positive person in their life.” Inspiring positivity in young men and women is also the mission of MESH (Merging Expression and Scholarship through High schools), another SCSD program run by SU students. MESH encourages young students to use poetry, creative writing, and art to explore their experiences and emotions. “A lot of the time, these kids don’t really have much say in what goes on because of their living conditions or their rough
The program works with students at Danforth Middle School and Expeditionary Learning Middle School and at a student-run after-school program at Ed Smith Elementary School. MESH doesn’t always take place in the classroom. The program hosts an event called March to College Day, when young students visit SU and attend workshops run by student organizations. “I think MESH gives these students an open space to not worry about grammar or spelling, to not feel judged, but to just write about their lives and their feelings and get out their creative energy,” Brown-Weinstock says. SCSD students also find another creative outlet in Writing Our Lives, a free writing program for young men and women. Writing Our Lives hosts an after-school writing program as well as an annual conference at the South Side Communications Center. This year, the conference encouraged students to think about activist issues with their writing. “We had a theme, ‘Youth Lives Matter,’” says program founder Marcelle Haddix, director of English education programs and dean’s associate professor. “It took into account some of the social issues that have been going on, in the U.S. in particular, concerning the killing of black and brown youth. We want the young people to have space to write in different genres about the issues in their community that matter to them.”
“It’s sort of humbling to realize how much we came from and to realize there are people who come from such hard circumstances that we’ve never understood in our own lives” 33
Ronald Taylor, a graduate student and volunteer with Writing Our Lives, also leads CPR (Cultural Project Rejuvenation), a mentoring program for young men held every Friday at Wilson Park. He led a music and poetry workshop with Writing Our Lives and used that experience to add a literary component to CPR. The program helps young men focus on their talents and become passionate about their goals. “It’s really about enabling,” he says. “We don’t say the word ‘empower,’ because you can’t really empower anybody until you enable them to realize their inherent abilities.”
her time as a volunteer. The student’s stepfather was shot and killed, forcing him to take on an adult role in his family while still in seventh grade. Brown-Weinstock and the student have a close relationship; she tries to help him with his personal problems. She says, “I came back the first day after break, and he was already kicked out of the classroom. He saw me down the hallway, ran, and hugged me. It’s these little things that make you realize you’re actually making a difference, even though sometimes it doesn’t feel like you’re getting through to them.”
The SCSD students aren’t the only ones who benefit from these programs. Taylor feels that volunteering has made a difference in his life. “It humbles me tremendously to walk into the classroom and make the students understand I’m not there to tell them I’m this great college student,” Taylor says. “I’m there to teach, but in essence, they’re teaching me.”
Michelle Mignano, president of the Syracuse Board of Education and an SU alumna, has seen the benefits for both the students in her district and the students from her alma mater. “The kids really connect with the students,” she says. “These are kids from all walks of life engaged with students from all walks of life, and they really bond.” She recognizes the energy that SU students bring to the schools, and expresses her gratitude toward all volunteers. While she knows teachers in the school district encourage the students daily, she sees the additional confidence these types of programs provide. “These are above and beyond, and they help these kids feel special,” she says. “Sometimes, feeling special is difficult to come by.”
Brown-Weinstock also believes she has learned about herself while working with MESH. “A lot of SU students come from more privileged backgrounds,” she says. “It’s sort of humbling to realize how much we came from and to realize there are people who come from such hard circumstances that we’ve never understood in our own lives.” Brown-Weinstock has grown close to one student in particular during
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