Holy Cannoli! It's The Syracuse Italian Festival

Last week it was Irish Fest in Clinton Square, and tonight it was Italian Fest in front of Syracuse City Hall. While the Irish Fest featured a lot of craft and artisan tents, the Italian Fest is pretty much all about eating and listening to music (which mostly consisted of Opera). My friends and I got there a little after 7 and headed straight to the food to scout out dinner. None of us had eaten dinner so that we had plenty of room to stuff ourselves. Two rows of long white tents houses all the many vendors - all offering another delicious choice. They had shrimp, ravioli, various pastas with vodka sauce, pizza, and so much more.


Sam and Robin (the two on the left) sought out the fried eggplant, something Robin fell in love with last year. I went for the more basic dinner - a chicken parm sandwich and these freshly made garlic potato chips. Then of course, as the title of this post suggests, a vanilla cannoli for dessert.


The whole atmosphere of the downtown streets was perfect for an evening at the festival. It was drizzling on and off for most of the night, but nothing that spoiled the fun. It was a good time to just get off campus and to come down and enjoy the beautiful architecture downtown that so many students ignore. City Hall in particular is one of my favorite buildings in Syracuse (the tall white building lit up in the background of the picture above).


The best part was the whole night cost less than fifteen dollars. By using the free Connective Corridor bus, we avoided spending anything on gas or parking. The bus line was created by Syracuse University to encourage students to visit downtown cultural attractions. Eventually, there are plans to go beyond a simple bus route and build a physical corridor that includes landscaping, lighting, and artistic elements to more closely connect the university and the city. Imaging that - a good time on a Friday night that I will actually be able to remember tomorrow morning!

Need New Law to Address Teenage "Sexting"

A Rochester boy is facing serious charges after forwarding nude pictures that a 15 year old girl sent to his cell phone. The 16 year old boy from the town of Webster is charged with Possessing a Sexual Performance of a Child under the age of 16, and Promoting a Sexual Performance of a Child under the age of 17 - both felonies. The boy could get time in jail and could be given sex offender status.

The charges were made after the parents of the 15 year old girl filed a complaint. There is even talk that the boy's friends who received the forwarded images could also face charges.

I understand the reasoning behind some charges being filed, but considering that this is a growing trend among teenagers, there need to be changes made in the legal system to properly address the problem. Its not fair to any of the kids involved that they are being charged under old generalized child pornography laws that were never intended to deal with this type of situation.

There should be separate laws to handle situations like this where all parties involved are underage. In my opinion, this should not even be a criminal case - this would be better settled in family court - especially given the young ages and associated sensitivity issues.

Officials have not ruled out charges against the victim either. To me, not only does that make the most sense, but she should receive the same punishment as the boys. She is, after all, the one who sent the illegal images in the first place. Too many times in situations like this the law goes after the male and the female is considered solely the victim. Was it wrong for the boy to send the pictures to his friends? Of course, but the girl is more guilty than innocent in this.

They both made mistakes here, and no one should have their life ruined over this unfortunate situation. It's bad enough the 16 year old boy's name has been published by the media. Parents need to keep better track of what their kids are doing with their phones, and lawmakers need to find a better way to deal with the growing "sexting" problem.

Why Counties in NY Pay More for Medicaid

We had two guest speakers in my Public Affairs - Local Government Class. The First was Syracuse Mayor Matt Driscoll, followed by Onondaga County Chief Fiscal Officer Joe Mareane.

Many interesting topics were discussed, but one in particular was helpful in understanding the financial troubles of New York State Counties. All New Yorkers know that the State's Medicaid program needs to be reformed and causes huge budget problems for local governments each year.

Mareane explained in simple terms what the problem is. When the federal government created the Medicaid program, they told the states that they must provide a basic list of services to their residents (and pay for them). In addition, the states were offered a list of additional optional services they could pick and choose from, and again, pay for.

Every state except New York offered the basic services, declined most of the optional ones, and used state revenue to pay for most or all of the Medicaid program. New York had other ideas. Instead, Albany decided it would share half of the cost of its Medicaid program with county governments. So, because Albany was essentially getting a 50% discount on services compared to other states, it enrolled in all of the optional services as well.

The result is that county governments, especially those in Upstate NY, are crippled under the financial burden of the NY State's ridiculously large and expensive Medicare program. According to budget documents at ongov.net, Onondaga County's 2008 budget is $1.1 billion - with $92 million going to the state for Medicaid, an increase of about $2 million from last year.

Former Onondaga County Executive Nick Pirro (who teaches the class) says that these costs and others have created such high taxes in NY that businesses don't want to come here. That's also why 9 out of the 10 counties in the US with the highest property tax rate are in NY (Onondaga is 7th, Monroe is 3rd). This information is in a preliminary report from the New York State Commission on Property Tax Relief, of which Pirro is a member (he handed out bound copies of the report in class - so I have one and will have more information specifically on that in the future.

This is a serious issues that state leaders need to address. Citizens must continue to put pressure on lawmakers in Albany to lower the tax burden and make NY a desirable and attractive place to do business. This is the only way that upstate cities will be able to fully recover from the loss of manufacturing jobs.

Brilliant! Syracuse Irish Festival (Sponsored by Guinness)

No better way to spend an overcast Saturday afternoon than at an Irish Fest in Clinton Square. There was a nice cool breeze blowing through as we walked through the craft tents, past lines of beer tables, and lots of Irish food stands. There was music and dancing all day, with a tribute to outgoing Congressman Jim Walsh who retires this year scheduled at 8. All of the Irish Pubs in Armory Square were represented in mobile form for the day (the regular establishments preparing for after parties later in the night). Clinton Square is the prefect venue for the many festivals in Syracuse. Stay tuned...next week is Italian fest and I believe the weekend after that is Oktoberfest!

Stop Hating Oprah and Get a Life

I can't believe how mad people are getting at Oprah for not interviewing McCain's running mate Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Why is that such a surprise to people? Obviously if she came out earlier in the year to support Obama, she is not going to buddy up with his opponent.

Last I checked, there were over 3600 comments for the story at abcnews.com. People charged the talk show host with being racist and sexist for not granting Palin an interview before the election. People are calling Winfrey fake, and a liar.

Pardon me for being ignorant, but I don't see why a daytime talk show host cannot express her preference for a presidential candidate. It would be a conflict of interest to interview Palin before the election. A talk show is not a news program, and is in no way obligated to give equal time to each candidate.

Oprah, like every other American, has a right to voice her opinion in the election. She does not pretend to be a journalist, or to be politically balanced. It is disgusting that people are calling her a racist because she supports a fellow American with a common heritage as her own.

My Local Government Class

Last Semester when it came time to select this fall's classes, I jumped at the opportunity to take a class on local government taught by former Onondaga County Executive Nick Pirro. He retired at the end of last year after serving for 20 years as the county's leader, and accepted an invitation from SU's Maxwell School to teach this class under the Public Affairs department.

I knew this was right the right decision from the minute I walked into the classroom. Mr. Pirro introduced himself by walking to each person's desk and shaking their hand. He stressed that he was new at the whole teaching thing, and that the syllabus could be changed to make sure that all of our questions were answered. There would be no need for a textbook in this class - he would provide important documents and all the insider's information not available in any bookstore.

So far we have already had three guest speakers from the greater Syracuse community: a civic engagement leader, a town supervisor, and a village mayor. Next week we will talk to Syracuse Mayor Matt Driscoll, and soon we will talk to either the new county executive or a top level county official.

I see this as a goldmine for an aspiring local reporter - to have a class that not only gives you contact after contact, but all of the background on how government works at the local level. The challenges, successes, and policies that are worked on everyday. The need for governments to streamline to become efficient and financially solvent. This type of class should be required for all journalism students. Three hours a week is not enough! I will keep you posted on how the rest of the semester goes!

Journalism Should be a Public Service

There was a time when television journalism wasn't supposed to make money. There were no flashing graphics and wooshing sound effects. All you needed was the anchor, the audience, and the news. Respect was something the reporter earned every night. These were the days when the networks offered news as a public service - a mandate from the FCC for the use of limited public airwaves.

Sure those newscasts look primitive now...the cardboard sets and the cheep music...but the legends like Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite were invited into living rooms across America each night anyway. This was back when the people trusted the media...mainly because the media earned it with a genuine passion to serve the public by keeping them informed.

It was only a matter of time before the networks realized their news divisions could make money. Suddenly, newsrooms became more concerned with what stories would attract the most viewers. No longer did the importance of the story dictate what led a broadcast.

Sure there have been positive outcomes from this...more news coverage is available than ever before. Much of this coverage would not be possible without significant investments in technology...which would not be available without a profit driven industry. News is now available all of the time - on 24 hour cable news channels and online. These are the benefits of change.

But treating journalism like a business has brought a different attitude to the profession. Too many reporters these days expect trust and demand respect instead of earning them. So many times I hear student journalists wanting to go after the "big" stories", and referring to many everyday news events as lame.

This concerns me. It indicates that many up and coming reporters are no longer interested in telling the people's story and are more into the glamorous on air roles that await them. They don't care about places like Syracuse because it is a "small and boring city". The result? Local news will never be the same again. Young journalists moving from small markets to larger ones never take the time to really get to know the ins and outs of the communities they serve. There is no way you can learn a market within a 2 year contract.

Not all student journalists are like this, but enough of them are that it will be hard to reverse the already growing distrust of the mainstream media.

Remembering Dad: John Carter Bense, 1957 - 2008

Penfield: July 30, 2008, at age 51. Predeceased by his father, Roger Bense. He is survived by his wife, Eileen Bense; mother, JoAnn Bense; son, Nathan Bense; brothers and sisters, Debbie (Rick) Brunelle, Roger S. (Ann-Michelle Garrison) Bense, Linda (John) Phillips; sister-in-law, Jackie Bense; mother-in-law, Cecile Morrow; aunt, Roberta (Wallace) Tervin; many nieces, nephews and cousins. The family would like to thank the Wilmot Cancer Center, especially Drs. Mohile, Hendren and Symer. John was a Xerox employee for 28 years.

Friends may call Sunday, 4-8 PM at the funeral chapel (1031 Ridge Road, Webster), where a service will be held Monday, 11 AM. You are invited to bring a written memory or favorite photo of John for the familys memory book. Interment will be private. Contributions in his memory may be made to the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center, 600 Elmwood Avenue, Rochester, NY 14642.