Author: Emily Atkin
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Exodus
Cousin Harry always hated Passover. “We’re not even Jewish,” he’d say. “We don’t even do it right.” He’s not completely incorrect about the Jewish thing. Although my dad’s side of the family does celebrate all of the big Jewish holidays (Hanukkah, Yom Kippur, etc.), we don’t Bar Mitzvah our kids, no one speaks Hebrew, and…
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WOTS: Epic Protests, Rahm da Bomb, Fail after Fail after Fail
Protests! Protests! Protests! Protests! Protests! Protests! Wow. And here’s Joe the Plumber, milking it. Speaking of Joe the Plumber, what WOTS would be complete without some Sarah Palin bashing from our favorite opining outlets? You know—eating young, torturing the bible—all that good stuff. Also from the Observer, we gain literary prowess! Donald Trump called it “garbage,”…
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Running Store Closes, Owner Laments Rent
When Janice Cyr heard that her rent was going up, she was worried. “I felt this lump in my stomach,” she said. “I just thought, ‘we’re not going to be able to survive this.’” In the end, the Shawangunk Running Company could not survive. The specialty sports store just off the corner of Main Street…
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Word on the Street is…
The biggest buzz around campus: Four Loko is on it’s way out. The state will stop distributing the caffeine-infused, Jolly Rancher-esque “blackout in a can” early this December. To prove Four Loko’s alleged dangerous affects, Brooklyn Assemblyman Felix Ortiz decided to try it himself. The New York lawmaker’s heart rate shot up, he got blitzed, and then…
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Incumbents Remain, Republicans Reign
New Yorkers who were hoping to “throw the bums out” are likely re-making their guest beds, as the majority of incumbents in the state are still in office after this 2010 midterm election. It was not incumbents, as was widely expected, but mostly Democrats who lost seats in New York and around the country. And…
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Election 2010
The votes are in, but it’s not over yet. The 2010 midterm election results are still trickling in locally and nationally, and it’s just the beginning of what looks to be two tumultuous years in politics. Here’s a summary of what’s happened so far. The predicted anti-Democratic wave has played out somewhat, and Congress is…
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Senate Candidates Trade Ideas, Criticisms
Just nine days before an election expected to be riddled with incumbent casualties, popular Democratic U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer and his Republican opponent Jay Townsend took their differences to the debate room. The often contentious debate was held Sunday night at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY. The questions addressed the recently passed health care bill,…
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The Real World: SUNY New Paltz
New Paltz alumni young and old speak about the jobs they secured after college, and what it took to dip their feet into the real world.
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Meg Zanetich: Freelance At Last
On Sunday morning, Meg Zanetich left her house with a notebook, a pen, and an agenda – cover the Boy Scout pancake breakfast. “Yes, the riveting journalism of the Hudson Valley,” she joked. “Hey, I take what I can get!” Zanetich, 24, graduated from SUNY New Paltz this August with a degree in journalism. She…
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Behind the Carnal Camera
When Gabrielle Stein opened her eyes on the morning of June 23, she was met face-to-face with a giant, tattooed, dead fetus. It was four feet tall, to be exact. And it was only a photo. But she awoke to the same image on the ceiling above her bed every morning for the next two…
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Controversial Paladino, O’Donnell Win in Primary Upsets
The rallies, the signs, the costumes, the anger – it seems the persistence of the controversial Tea Party movement in the last year is starting to pay off. In a shocking New York gubernatorial primary Tuesday night, Buffalo businessman and self-proclaimed “baseball bat” wielding candidate Carl Paladino beat the heavily supported candidate, Rick Lazio, with…
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A Talk With Blues Traveler
On Saturday, September 4, the first annual Hudson Valley Green Festival closed with an energetic performance by nationally acclaimed band Blues Traveler. The band is most well-known for their songs, “But Anyway,” “Run Around,” and “Hook.” Less known is their love for the Hudson Valley and efforts to leave behind a smaller carbon footprint. One…
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The Game
It’s hard to know which politicians in Albany can be trusted. After reporting on them for more than four months, the thought of a lawmaker whose main concern does not ultimately lie with their own well-being is laughable. Even when I begin to feel good about a lawmaker, I remember his incumbency is a testament…
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Lawmakers Seek to Limit Pesticide Use
New York environmentalists may be cheering louder than usual this coming Earth Day as proposed legislation could ban pesticide use on school grounds. The legislation, which would make the use of certain pesticides illegal on K-12 school and daycare grounds in the state, is getting ready to come to a vote on both the Assembly and…
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Holiday Headaches
Every year as Easter approaches, I know it means politics. The non-Jewish side of my family consists of staunch, moral conservatives and we always seem to have at least one heated debate. Whether the arguments are about sweeping issues like health care or sticky topics such as underage drinking, it always ends with a headache. Year after year, I…
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Albany’s Dirty Laundry
The New York Times wrote a telling article last week, commenting on and analyzing the status of our state’s government. Liz Krueger, vice chair of the Senate Finance Committee and a well-respected voice in the state Senate, was quoted in the article. “Welcome to the Senate,” she said. “Or should I say, ‘condolences’?” It doesn’t take…