Civic hackathon brings awareness, solutions to hunger and homelessness
By Shannon Hazlitt
November 20, 2014 - 9:25am
Hackers from Syracuse to Rochester and Ithaca gathered together to create apps and web services aimed at helping those experiencing homelessness.

Tony Kershaw remembers being homeless twice in his life. The 2005 alumnus of the College of Engineering recalls when he was 10, he had to go to his aunt’s house to take hot showers. He was homeless again while still an undergrad.

Syracuse area dance company offers classes to underrepresented youth
By Brooke Lewis
November 11, 2014 - 9:21am
The Young and Talented Dance Company allows students from low-income areas to perform all across Syracuse.

Akilah Cage was put on bed rest when she had her first child at 23. Most people would have taken that as a sign to stop working, but instead, Cage started the Young and Talented Dance Company.

New SU student group strives to bring students to the heart of downtown
By Lauren Cavalli
November 5, 2014 - 7:14pm
The Connective Corridor staff and students are working together to bridge the gap between campus and downtown Syracuse.

Why don’t more Syracuse University students go downtown?

A small group of students asked this question at the first meeting of the Connective Corridor Student Advisory Council that met in Newhouse on Sept. 26. They came up with many answers: It’s far; it’s hard to get to; parking; people aren’t aware of events that are going on.

The advisory council aims to find creative solutions to fix the disconnect between students and the city of Syracuse through programming.

Educating young voters: America's next generation stresses importance of voting
By Turquoise Jackson
November 5, 2014 - 6:42pm
While many young adults are ambivalent about voting, those at the polls discuss the impact and importance of Election Day.

Polling centers opened at 6 a.m. and closed at 9 p.m. to give voters plenty of time to cast their ballot. For Syracuse University and SUNY-ESF students the polling center at E.S. Bird Library was a great convenience.

"I always vote. I think it’s important to voice our opinions," said Liz Droge-Young, a PhD student studying biology.

SALT Makerspace brings maker culture to Syracuse
By Nathan McAlone
November 5, 2014 - 11:30am
Syracuse alum creates a natural space for creative thinkers to collaborate on and build original and imaginative projects.

After completing his MFA in Sculpture at Syracuse University, Michael Giannattasio was looking to regain the sense of community that came with university life. He had begun to compile tools for his own workshop, but missed the connection with other creators. Eventually this feeling led him to expand his vision of a workshop, and share both his knowledge and tools with the world by building a makerspace.

Before the votes are tallied, Election Day 2014
By Valerie Crowder
November 4, 2014 - 10:41pm
Democracy in Action students cover local, state and national races for the mid-term elections in Onondaga County.

Through the Democracy in Action project, undergraduate and graduate students in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications share voters' Election Day stories through photos, audio, video and text.

Students went to the polls, speaking with voters in Syracuse and the surrounding suburbs, where they heard voters' opinions about electronic voting scanners; met families casting their ballots together; and witnessed local traditions, such as Syracuse's annual Election Day spaghetti dinner.

Artist grapples with life challenges through therapeutic art
By Varuni Sinha
November 2, 2014 - 10:57am
A schoolteacher, landscape designer and painter, Brett Rewakowski creates art that help others cope with loss.

Brett Rewakowski did not have it easy growing up. One by one, everyone who was close to him decided to leave. 

At 10 years old, his father had a heart attack. In college, his best friend died in a car crash. In his twenties, a hunter shot and killed his cousin. Years later after a fine party, his friend’s girlfriend insisted she wanted to drive. She was slightly drunk. On the way back, she flipped the car over, killing them both.

This pattern has continued.

Refocused SCSD programs aim for career readiness
By Chantel Morel
October 28, 2014 - 10:57pm
Syracuse inner-city high schools strengthen programs to help students graduate with more than just a diploma.

It isn’t too often you see 17-year-olds eagerly go home to explain to their mothers the exact medical terminology for a nosebleed or why their clavicle is sore. But this is exactly what Henninger High School students on Syracuse’s west side are doing now, thanks to its new medical assistant program.

Talking to the dead: Artist's exhibit explores afterlife
By Varuni Sinha
October 28, 2014 - 12:06am
Fernando Orellana's interactive artwork at the Everson Museum draws from ghost folklore.

When a person dies, three to four months later, his house and belongings are often sold off in an estate sale.

“These are weird places. People act like vultures scavenging through all of people’s leftovers. Usually if you go there, a little late, all that is left are the dishes and silverware. The stuff that no one wants,” Fernando Orellana said.

iSchool entrepreneur to expand local tech startup to West Coast
By Varuni Sinha
October 26, 2014 - 10:35pm
After creating a successful tech startup in Syracuse, Andrew Farah aims to bring his company’s innovative technology to businesses in San Francisco.

Andrew Farah, a Syracuse University alumnus, rose to fame when he and his colleagues at Rounded Development created Density, a product that helps customers and small business vendors measure traffic at their shops.

“We used a simple wireless router to count every time any customer enters or leaves the shop premise,” Farah said.