THE ITHACAN

Between The Lines: Let Strasburg pitch

By Nathan Bickell, Columnist • September 13, 2012

Columnist Nathan Bickell talks to Ithaca College baseball coach George Valesente about the Washington Nationals' decision to shut down pitcher Stephen Strasburg before the MLB playoffs.

Ride, ride, ride, hitchin’ a ride

By Aaron Munzer, Staff Writer • May 3, 2007

There’s no better way to see a country and meet its people than to bum free rides from them. Oops, I mean hitchhike. After throwing out the universal thumb dozens of times across Australia, we’ve met a cast of characters more colorful than in any Kerouac novel — the kind of people that you’d never…

Acknowledging tourism truths

By Liz Taddonio, Staff Writer • April 27, 2007

As I meet students making their way through Europe, one thing stands out to me. It’s the red flag of premature wiseness. It’s a case of mistaken identity. Apparently, living in a place for a year — or even less — warrants instant expertise. A couple of weeks ago, I met up with a friend…

Expectations proven wrong

By Sara E. Howard, Staff Writer • April 19, 2007

The excursions that my classmates and I take to other parts of Mexico never fail to surprise me. With every trip to a new pueblo or city, one assumption or another shatters under the force of experience. Our stay in Capulálpam, a Zapotec pueblo in the northern mountains of Oaxaca, was no exception. My classmates…

Taking a bite out of wildlife

By Aaron Munzer, Staff Writer • April 13, 2007

Throw another kangaroo on the barbie, because it’s official: In Australia, I’ve eaten more kangaroo than I’ve seen in the wild. Ditto for wallaby, the kangaroo’s cousin. Mmm. I wasn’t expecting to make such a smorgasbord out of the continent’s unique native fauna, but, man, does Australia’s unofficial national animal taste good. ’Roo meat is…

Linguistics pose serious problem

By Liz Taddonio, Staff Writer • April 5, 2007

For the first time in my life, I am speechless. In the U.S., I’m a talker, writer and gesticulator. Yet living in Italy, something’s missing. I’ve reverted back to kindergarten, and I learn by playing games. I saw the challenge the language barrier would be early on, in stores and cafés, but I understood it…

Quiet to chaos proves a success

By Sara E. Howard, Staff Writer • March 30, 2007

A month and two weeks have passed since I arrived in Mexico, and the first phase of my study abroad experience ended this weekend. My group and I lived with families during our stay in San Cristóbal, but now that we are moving to Oaxaca City, it’s time to pack up and say goodbye. My…

Aussie racism shakes student

By Aaron Munzer, Staff Writer • March 23, 2007

In the U.S., being racist is socially unacceptable. People still are, but they don’t talk about it in casual conversation. In Australia, peculiarly, vilifying Aborigines is almost tolerated. A surprising amount of Aussies have a skewed view of the indigenous people their ancestors killed and forced out of their land — similar to how the…

Staring down the competition

By Liz Taddonio, Staff Writer • March 9, 2007

Think back to when you were 5 years old and saw something you didn’t quite understand. Maybe it was a woman with bluish hair, or maybe a man in a wheelchair. Odds are you probably stared. Then your mom told you it was impolite to stare, and you learned your lesson. No matter how beautiful,…

Tortillas illustrate U.S.-Mexico trade

By Sara E. Howard, Staff Writer • March 2, 2007

I’ve been living the good life in San Cristóbal de las Casas. A small city in the mountains of Chiapas, Mexico, San Cristóbal de las Casas is the meeting place of many cultures and political ideologies. Both mestizos and indigenous people live here; U.S. backpackers and European tourists flock to its hostels; and scholars know…

Coming to terms with ugliness

By Aaron Munzer, Staff Writer • February 23, 2007

I’d heard about “Ugly Americans.” Before my trip, people whispered about how horribly ignorant Americans traveling abroad can be. God, I was scared. I didn’t want to be one of them. Well, it’s been about two weeks, and I can say with certainty we’re all Ugly Americans. But I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad…