Off Campus: Multimedia Belt

Strong Hearts Cafe
By Megan Saucke
February 4, 2010 - 7:44pm
The only all-vegan cafe in upstate New York offers an eclectic menu and a home for revolutionary spirits and activists.

At first glance, Strong Hearts Cafe looks like any other eatery, from the tables and chairs to the colorful chalkboard menu to the free wireless Internet. But Strong Hearts is the only 100 percent vegan restaurant in upstate New York, meaning the food has absolutely no animal products such as meat, eggs or dairy.

To Syracuse's new mayor
By Amy Su
January 6, 2010 - 1:19am
As Stephanie Miner takes office, community leaders expect her to do more to address the environment and development.

For a better and greener Syracuse, people expect the new mayor Stephanie Miner to make important decisions in projects related to sustainability and the environment during her term.

“I think the character of her leadership will be very different than the past few mayors,” said Deb Warner, vice president for public policy and government relations in Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce.

Explore Tipperary Hill
By S.J. Velasquez
December 29, 2009 - 12:50am
This traditionally Irish pocket of Syracuse hosts more than a few pubs.

You don't have to cross the pond to get a taste of Ireland's green pastures.

Syracuse's own Tipperary Hill hosts a surplus of Irish pride mixed with a multicultural flare that is uniquely American. From Cashel House, an Irish imports store, to a pizzeria owned and operated by a man whose grandparents haled from Austria and Poland, Tipp Hill's private businesses add to its old-world charm.

Changing times in Little Italy
By Brian Hayden
December 26, 2009 - 4:28am
Although the Syracuse neighborhood is far less Italian than longtime locals remember, banners throughout the district carry the distinctive name.

When Antoinette DiScenna started working in the North side of Syracuse 50 years ago, the neighborhood was full of Italian immigrants.


They lived in the area surrounding St. Joseph's Hospital, worked at  Learbury Suits, Nettleton Shoes, and other North side factories, shopped in the cafes, bakeries, fuit vendors, shoemakers and grocery stores of North Salina Street, and worshipped at Our Lady of Pompeii Church.

Saving Faith
By Renee Orenstein
December 11, 2009 - 9:37am
Rabbi Rapoport of the SU Chabad House teaches students how to balance college and religion.

If you've ever seen a man with a bushy beard walking around campus with a big plant and something that looks like a lemon, chances are it was Rabbi Yaakov Rapoport.

During Sukkot (a Jewish holiday in the fall), the Rabbi tries to get SU students to go into the sukkah (a temporary hut constructed to celebrate the harvest) and recite prayers with the lulav (plant) and the etrog (lemon).

Rabbi Rapoport, of the Chabad House, helps students relate to their Judaism in the whirlwind of college life.

Miner elected Syracuse mayor
By Shayna Meliker
November 4, 2009 - 1:06am
The first-ever woman mayor collects 50 percent of the vote to top two competitors.

For Syracuse mayor-elect Stephanie Miner, Tuesday night was one dreams are made of.

"To all of you who convince girls to believe in themselves and believe in their dreams, I want to tell you that you have somebody who has profound thanks for that,”  Miner told a crowd of of supporters in her victory speech.

Miner won 50 percent of the vote, becoming the first woman mayor of the city.

Reckless ink?
By Kristen Rajczak
September 25, 2009 - 2:30pm
With rules varying by state, city and county, Syracuse area tattoo artists say they're ready for more stringent regulation of their industry.

The waiting room at Scarab Body Arts looks more like a doctor’s office than a tattoo and piercing studio – comfortable chairs stand between white walls decorated with tasteful wrought iron and tribal artwork.


That’s until you see the framed poster of a topless woman behind a case filled with gleaming studs, and John Joyce greets you with a smile accented by black nostril plugs and a small ring through his septum.

Keepers of our parks
By Lauren Rae Bertolini
July 27, 2009 - 1:24pm
Residents strive to maintain Thornden and Westminster parks as vital green spaces for SU's neighboring communities.

With her infant daughter in tow, Miranda Hine would walk the few blocks from her home on Maryland Avenue to Thornden Park in the early 1980s.

"It was after four or five months that I was talking to a friend and she said, 'You don't go into the park alone do you?' " Hine said. "And those are a lot of the conversations that you would have with people. 'You wouldn't as a female go into that park alone?' they'd say, and I have been, for the past 30 years, and it's absolutely fine. "

A gold rush town no more
By Wasim Ahmad
June 18, 2009 - 3:37pm
Endicott, N.Y., is now a "toxic plume" after the old IBM plant spilled toxic chemicals into the ground in the 1970s.

Mark Bacon of Endicott lives at Ground Zero.

He lives across the street from IBM's former plant on North Street in Endicott, N.Y., a facility that during its manufacturing processes spilled toxic chemicals into the ground in the 1970s.

Years later, the vapors rising from the trichloroethylene (TCE) polluted grounds are allegedly making residents of the town sick.

It's also partly to blame for the town's economic decline.

Living in Faith
By melange
June 3, 2009 - 2:31pm
Paulette Johnson battles breast cancer with a positive outlook.

When Paulette Johnson was diagnosed with stage IIB breast cancer, she saw it as a blessing.

"I was thankful that God had given me this challenge ... I had never taken challenges in my life lightly," Johnson said.

At the time of her surgery, the cancer had already spread to 19 of her lymph nodes. Instead of brooding about her prognosis and the looming statistics, she shoved her black clothes to the back of her closet and replaced the hangers with a colorful wardrobe.