Jacob Cornish
Bucket List

These next things are the goals in my life which i hope to accomplish, if i am able to cross all of these out i can say i lived the life i wanted to live.

1. Graduate college
2. Get a job in the Federal Bureau of Investigation
3. Surf in the pacific ocean
4. Backpack across Europe
5. Learn Arabic
6. Start a family
7. By my parents a car
8. Serve for the country overseas
9. Buy a Porsche
10. Live in California

Journalism Profile

Jacob Cornish

The journey of life has not been an easy one for Dr. Peter Cornish, he grew up all over, by the time he was a senior in high school he counted that he had lived in a total of 15 places. These included a stint in Louisville, Kentucky, as well as a number of years in Tampa Bay, Florida and Harlem, New Jersey. He was born the into a family that already had 8 children in it, being the youngest of 9 children in a family that did not have a lot of money to begin with caused him to learn to lookout for himself. He got a job as a cashier at the local corner store and used his weekly paychecks to buy bus fare and school supplies at the age of 12. He explained that holding onto a job at such a young age taught him that  “nothing comes easy to a white boy in Harlem, you gotta go out and grab what you want.” He used this as his motto for the entirety of his life.

Dr. Cornish, explained that growing up in a studio apartment with a family of 11 people in it was the hardest thing he has ever done in his life. Harlem was a very tough place to grow up and he witnessed more violence there than he ever had in his life. He was held up by a homeless man with a knife and was forced to hand him his bus pass. This caused him to have to wake up an hour earlier and walk a mile to school since his parents could not afford a car. That however was not even the memorable thing he had experienced in his childhood. When i asked him his most vivid memory as a child he told me something i could not even comprehend, it was the most gruesome and terrible thing i have ever heard in my life and my father is now, more than ever the biggest role model in my life. He explained to me that on christmas eve his family went out to dinner for the first time of the year for the special occasion. When they got home the door was knocked down and all of their presents were gone. Their house was robbed clean and everything was a mess. The family kept rummaging the house for possessions and their family dog and what they found was worse than ever. Peter walked into the bathroom and saw a sight that he “Still has nightmares about to this day”. His dog, a 5 year old golden retriever, was lying lifeless on the bathroom floor with a kicked open stomach. He was unable to fathom what he had just saw. His parents quickly came in after they heard the blood-wrenching scream he had let out. The horrible mess was cleaned up and the family moved on with their life the best that they could. Peter continues to believe that to this day his short lived Harlem stay was an experience that made him able to handle any sort of adversity and possess the ability to work hard for what he needs.

As Dr. Cornish got older he continued to move around and progress as a person. His family started to settle down and he did his high school years in numerous parts of New Jersey. His last 2 years of high school were finished in New Brunswick, where he was able to maintain a 3.8 GPA despite having to manage a job as well. He graduated high school with hard work and determination and he continued to use his motto of going out and taking what you need at the University of Rutgers in New Jersey. His family was not able to afford to put him through college and since Rutgers is a state university they were reluctant to give him any financial aid. With this in the back of his mind he knew he needed to get a job in college as well. He worked for a moving company the entirety of his college career and was still able to graduate with a 4.0 GPA. He won an award for finishing top 5 in his class at Rutgers and continued to get his PhD at UAlbany when he graduated. Paying for college however, seemed to be the hardest part for him. He explained to me that “Every semester I never knew where the money was going to come from”, he even needed to ask Rutgers to loan him his last semester's tuition so he was able to get his degree. They saw his academic record and didn't think twice about granting his request. Peter's journey through college really taught me that if you work hard and believe you can succeed you can, even if the odds are not in your favor. His second son, Sam Cornish, says “My dad has the biggest influence on me than anybody i have ever met, he sculpted me to know to get things done. He made me realize that life doesn't come easily, you need to strive for your goals and work hard to achieve them.”

Being able to come from nothing and turn into the Dean of Albany College of Pharmacy showed me that hard work and dedication really do pay off. My father is the role model in my life and him being able to make a full house out of a pair of 2s really gave me a model to how i should live my life.

A few weeks ago, to start the Warriors tear through the western conference, the warriors played the Pelicans. They had a good first 2 games, but when the 3rd game came on, the warriors and pelicans looked as if they switched places. The warriors were shooting a measly 36% at half, where as the Pelicans came out hot and shot the lights out, they had a field goal percentage of nearly 52%. Although the warriors only trailed by 11 at  half time, they were playing as if they were losing by 40, maybe even more.

The warriors big 3, Draymond Green, Steph Curry, and Klay Thompson were not playing too particularly terrible, but it takes a team to win an NBA playoff game. The second unit of the warriors, consisting of Iguidala, Livingston, Barbosa and Speights looked absolutely terrible. Even with the help of their star Steph Curry, they were unable to do anything. They missed countless numbers of easy shots, even layups and tip ins were not going in for the unlucky Warriors. Even worse tho, they turned the ball over every chance they got. By the end of the first half, the Pelicans had 17 fast break points, one of the reasons their shooting percentage is sky high. All in all, it was a rough first half for the Dubs.

The third quarter was not much better for them either, the Pelicans came out on a 10-0 run, which complements their 21-0 run in the beginning of the game. This run puts the Warriors down 23 and this looks like it is going to be a blowout, something the Warriors fans have not seen in quite some time.

This might have just been some early game jitters though, Steph curry took a well needed rest, he had played 31 minutes in 3 quarters. As soon as he stepped back onto the floor the splash brothers do what the do best. They hit an unholy amount of shots, contested 3s, acrobatic layups, everything. They inched their way back, now, it was late in the 4th quarter, only 4 minutes left, and the Warriors were only down 8. They kept fighting and soon it was a deficit 4, with only 21 seconds left. That is when Steph Curry showed us why he was the MVP. He took the ball up the floor, passed it around, somehow ended up in the corner and hit a game-tying, and-one, 3 pointer to give his team some CPR and go into overtime.

In overtime, the warriors heated up, coming out to an early lead. The pelicans kept fighting but the combination of the splash bros and Draymond Green was too much. The Warriors put the pelicans away 123-119, making this the biggest deficit a team has ever come back from in NBA history. The Warriors were able to pull off the sweep and they now play the Rockets in the conference finals.

Steph Curry, after the game, said "They kicked our butts, but we fought back and showed that hard work and determination really pays off"

Two-9 Comes Through With Stellar Mixtape

In February of this year, the rap game was “F4RVR” changed when the Atlanta based rap group Two-9 released a mixtape that will go down in history as one of the undergrounds most favored. Two 9 is a rap group that has been born and raised in Atlanta, although they go along the traditional “trap rap” from Atlanta, their new mixtape shows just how versatile they really are. This rap group was discovered in 2009, and in that time they have released 11 mixtapes, and the newest, and best, in my opinion will make that 12 mixtapes in 5 years. Those numbers alone should show that when you put 4 different superstars together, you get consistent mixtapes, and they blow you away every time.

On this mixtape, before my ears were burned off from the fire that came out of my headphones, I heard the different aspects Two 9 brings to the rap game. On their first song, “Gather Round”, they show you a softer beat; they introduce you to the mixtape. They start off talking and laughing and this shows you how much they really enjoy what they do. They start rapping and the first person you hear is Curtis Williams, he is one of the founders of Two 9, along with KEY!, who is featured in the song but is not actually in Two 9. Curtis reels you into the song with his incredibly captivating flow; he twists words and phrases, bringing you in with each line. This song really struck my attention though because of how different it is. It shows us that Two 9 doesn’t only do hardcore rap, where your face is blasted off with the baseline. They welcome us into this adventure with a soft, calming beat and exquisite lyricism over it. Once you get through the first song, you go right into my personal favorite, Did It. This song is more along the lines of their “trap rap” but you still have the feeling of 90’s with the lyricism. Jace talks about how he has been living on the streets and needed to “hustle” to get off of them. He tells us about his purchase of a Lamborghini and how good it felt. This is probably why the song is called ”Did It”, it is a story about how they were able to do it. They came up off the streets of Atlanta and were able to make themselves well off enough to buy a Lamborghini.

Two 9 also started to feature other artists on this mixtape which they have not done in the past, other than KEY!. In this mixtape they bring in mainstream names, like Wiz Khalifa, Metro Boomin and Ty Dolla $ign, these are definitely not my favorite artists, but they bring a good style of versatility and diversity to the tracks. The advertisement from these very well-known artists also helps Two 9 get their name out there.

Although the mixtape was groundbreaking in my book, there were still some flaws along with it. The only time you hear the group talk and seems to have fun is when “Gather Round” comes on in the beginning. This is good for those who like to listen to music straight through with no interruption, but you don’t get the sense that they enjoy themselves as much as they should. Also there are some songs that really disappointed me; “Never See Me Again” is one of them. This song is one of my least favorite songs they have ever made. The flow is off rhythm with the beat and the beat itself is sub-par. This song really disappointed me; however I was quickly uplifted when “World Go Crazy” came up next. This song goes back to their roots, a good beat, unreal lyricism and catchy lines.

This mixtape, although it has some flaws, I would personally say it is one of the better mixtapes I have ever heard. The good balance out the bad and then some. Overall, I would rate this mixtape a ⅘, it has a lot of strong qualities, but also some bad ones, this mixtape isn’t perfect, but it is definitely great.

    ISIS Beheadings Too Graphic For Social Media

The ISIS killings have been the most gruesome, senile things I have witnessed in my time on this earth. They continuously kill innocent civilians just to show that they can. These things make me sick to my stomach and they should definitely be taken off the internet and not allowed to be viewed by the public. As stated in the Huffington Post article, the videos of beheadings are not to gain the attention of the public. It is to gain attention of the sick twisted sexual sadists in the world. The people who get sexual gratification from seeing blood and torture, the psychopaths that are unable to feel empathy, so they are able to commit the most heinous murders without even thinking about it.  If we are able to just cut these  showings of such disgusting crimes off of social media and news stations, i believe it will also cut the number of psychopaths joining ISIS drastically.

I feel that watching the beheadings is your own choice, not the choice someone else on a social media should make for you. I think it was very smart of twitter and facebook to suspend users who post these horrific pictures on social media. The moderation of these postings brings up the issue of free speech. Is it really a violation of our freedom if we are stopping people from showing beheadings on twitter? I do not think it is. Most of America will agree with me too. ISIS needs to show these images to appeal to the type of people they want to join this terrorist group, the crazies in the world who enjoy seeing this stuff. These images should be removed from the internet as soon as they come on it. It is definitely not a violation of the first amendment, taking down these killings is helping the american public to remain calm during a time of distress.