Archive: Around Town

Hey there my name is Arizona. I am a three-year old Chinese Shar-Pei mix. I'm a loveable fellow who's looking for a loving home, so please come and visit me at the SPCA to see if I'm the right dog for you!

Visit the SPCA Web Page

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Are you as confused about cholesterol as I used to be? Do you wonder what it actually is? Do you understand why some of it is "good" and some "bad"? Are you concerned why our levels sometimes get too high and if so, worry that it might lead to a heart attack or stroke? Do you know what you can do to lower the "bad" kind? Those are questions I had until I did some research. I thought it would be helpful to you if I passed along the answers to these questions, and more.

I think the logical place to start is to learn what cholesterol really is. It's a waxy, fat-like substance that helps our bodies function properly. Chemically the compound is written C^₂₇, H⁴⁵, OH. Our body actually produces all we need. It's used to strengthen cell walls and membranes, produce hormones, Vitamin D, and bile acids that help us digest fats. The problem comes because we increase our levels of cholesterol based on the animal based foods we eat and our life style.

Cornell Plantations will receive $20K from the Stanley Smith Horticulture Trust to expand visitor services in their F.R. Newman Arboretum.  Over the course of the next year, Cornell Plantations will be adding new interpretive signs, way-finding signs, and offer self-guided audio-visual tours via mobile phones in the F.R. Newman Arboretum.

Since the completion of the Arboretum in 1981, Plantations has had limited visitor information – in the arboretum – to explain to visitors the importance of the plant collections found there.  This grant allows for expanded services that will include mobile phone audio-visual tours to communicate the significance of the key plant collections within the 150-acre arboretum, and will reveal how researchers from Cornell and around the world use these collections for scientific study.

The Friends of the Ithaca Youth Bureau (IYB) is announced the launch of its new website last week.

The site is a hub for finding out about the Friends of the IYB and how it is providing funds and resources for Youth Bureau programs.  Visitors to the website can view stories, photos and videos of some of the many children whose lives have been impacted by the Youth Bureau services that the Friends support.  The website also provides opportunities to donate online to the current Sponsor a Smile campaign and connect to the Friends on Facebook and Twitter.

Last Fall Lansing third graders took it upon themselves to hold a bake sale and raise money and supplies to help Owego flood victims.  They raised $394 and collected school and cleaning supplies.  Friday morning they were surprised by members of the Lansing-Ithaca Rotary Club, who came to their classroom to present them with the club's Community Service Award.

"We give it to someone whose actions reflect the Rotary ideal of Service Above Self," club President AnnMarie Hautaniemi told the boys.  "You know, where you just do stuff because it's a good thing to do, not for any personal reward.  This year we are very pleased and proud to give our award to this class, who through your own initiative raised $394, cleaning, school and other supplies to help the Owego victims of the flooding in the Fall of 2011."

Visitors to Ocean Bound!, the Sciencenter’s newest exhibition, will experience the underwater world as never before as they gain new appreciation for the importance of watershed health. Ocean Bound! opens to the public at the Sciencenter on Saturday, February 4 and Sunday, February 5. 

Ocean Bound! introduces visitors to the sights and sounds of watersheds through interactive exhibits that feature stunning high-definition media, and challenges them to make choices that protect watershed health. In a truly immersive experience, visitors will pilot a full-size submersible vehicle from mountain stream to ocean, exploring various flora and fauna that occurs on the way.  Interactive 3-D watershed models allow visitors to explore how water moves through a watershed.

Ever wanted to know more about the Museum of the Earth’s 44-foot long Right Whale? Now is your chance! Whales: From the Depths of the National Geographic Collection presents the best sea mammal photography from National Geographic’s extensive archives.

Paired with specimens from the Paleontological Research Institution’s (PRI) collection, content from its scientists, and ocean sound recordings from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Bioacoustic Research Program, these dramatic photographs from renowned marine wildlife photographers’ intimate and close whale encounters tell the long story of whales’ life on Earth, examine their present state, and explore their future. From January 26-June 4, meet Right Whale #2030’s millions of ancestors that have lived in every one of the world’s oceans. Whales is organized by National Geographic.

The more I read about the healthy effects of food, the more I get confused.

On my television screen an actor, who portrays a doctor in a white coat, tells me as long as I eat grapefruit with every meal I won’t gain weight.  The next guy who talks at me, also wearing a white coat, tells me that I can be healthier if only I would eat more chocolate – preferably dark chocolate. Then I read that nuts are loaded with energy and good health even though if I eat more than a handful, I’m going to consume too much fat and gain weight. Resveratrol, found primarily in red wine, might help me live forever but then I learn I’d have to drink about 750 bottles of wine a day to equal the amount rats consume in the tests.  I can lower my cholesterol if only I would eat more oats, and on and on it goes.

Hey there, my name is Amaryllis. I'm a friendly girl who is looking for a loving home, so please come and visit me at the SPCA to see if I'm the right cat for you.

Visit the SPCA Web Page

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In an era in which multiplex movie houses often have 20 or more screens, it is remarkable that Ithaca sustains a five-screen art house cinema.  But as much as art houses are about independent film making and nostalgia, they are facing the same challenges of rapidly changing technology as commercial cineplexes.  That means enormous up-front expenses in re-equipping their theaters with modern digital projectors.

"For the foreseeable future 35 millimeter will be available, so we're not in imminent danger of going dark," says Cinemapolis Director of Business Development Scott Bliss.  "But it's something that's going to be on the near horizon.  The speed at which it came about this year was surprising to a lot of people in the industry.  It was always something that was coming and then we crossed that tipping point."

How frequently do you read in the news that American students are falling behind in math and science?  Lansing teachers have been doing something about that with three math programs in the elementary and middle schools.  These programs have had measurably positive results showing a sometimes dramatic rise in student math literacy.

A fact fluency initiative was begun about a year and a half ago at the elementary school.  3rd Grade teacher Rhody O'Donnell says that teachers have been collecting data on Lansing 3rd and 4th graders' math fluency since the program began in January of last year, and the results have been remarkable.

Eric Schollmeyer of Lansing and Deanna Darling of Groton qualified for the Dean's list at Misericordia University for the fall semester.  Qualifying for the Dean's List there requires a 3.55 or higher grade point average.

Lisa Petry of Lansing earned a place on the Dean's List at SUNY Cortland this fall.

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