TALLAHASSEE-As University of Miami Head Coach Larry Coker put it, in football, sometimes the law of averages goes in the other team’s favor.
No. 14 Florida State snapped a six-game losing streak against the No. 9 Hurricanes Monday night with a 10-7 victory in front of a record 84,347 fans at Doak Campbell Stadium.
Miami (0-1) had a chance to tie the game with a 28-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter, but John Rochford
I have begun to notice a trend that maybe has always escaped me, but being the infamous defamer that I have become over the last semester, I feel that I must call these people to attention.
In my comings and goings I have noticed a peculiar trend in a lot of women. I think the term for them is “tease.” If you don’t know what a tease is, I will explain: A tease is a female who is incredibly flirty. For example: sitting on guy’s laps, holding his hands, leaning and brushing up against him and outwardly attempting to seduce him with sexual innuendo and double entendres. This person goes no further; she flirts for the sake of flirting even though her actions clearly dictate she wants more. It’s like a very attractive woman coming up to a guy at the bar, dropping him a napkin that says, “Meet me upstairs in 10 minutes: I’ll be naked and waiting.” Of course, the first thing that comes to mind is sex, so when he goes upstairs, she’s clothed like Martha Stewart and watching Lifetime television.
My gripe is when the perpetrators get called out on it, and when asked for more, they raise their fists in feminist fury. They will complain and scowl, calling you a pervert and then ask the golden question, “Who do you think I am?” Apparently he thinks you’re easy as Paris Hilton in night-vision. For example, if a girl hangs out with football players and acts very flirty with them, doing the usual coquettish tease actions I described above, then obviously the football players are going to want sex-that’s what football players do, because apparently they’re not playing football.
What I am trying to get at is, you reap what you sow, and this can be translated to various aspects of our lives. If I have the reputation for, I don’t know, say, writing about Greeks, I shouldn’t be surprised when Greeks get angry at me or I get angry when people expect me to write about Greeks. Let’s say I have a reputation for being lazy; I shouldn’t get angry when people call me lazy. Likewise, if you act like a harlot, expect to be treated like a harlot.
This isn’t to say that if you do act like a harlot, some guy has the right to do as he damn well pleases. What I am saying is that if you create a reputation for yourself through the way you act and dress, don’t be surprised if people act upon that image you have created for yourself. Learn to respect yourself and demand that people respect you. Act in a way that warrants respect and you’ll then have it.
Jovanni Bello can be reached at j.bello2@umiami.edu.
Care what’s going on in the world? Watch the news. Care what Ben Minkus thinks? Probably not, but thanks to these handy dandy top-five lists, you’ll get a behind-the-scenes look of how one UM student perceives reality. (Note: the following thoughts conveyed in the following lists do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Hurricane or its editors…or, awkward as it may sound, of Ben Minkus).
WORLD
Top five reasons Bush nominated John Roberts for Chief Justice of the U.S.A.
5. Doesn’t know names of any actual existing justices
4. Fell asleep watching 700 Club marathon
3. Judge Judy wouldn’t return his calls
2. Hey, anything for the people of New Orleans
1. Dick Cheney told him to
SPORTS
Top five reasons UM lost to FSU 10-7
5. “Hurricanes” is now a more offensive nickname than “Seminoles”
4. Needed more playing time from Willie Williams
3. Needed more playing time from Buck Ortega
2. Collective misinterpretation of meaning of “special teams”
1. The law of averages kicked in
ENTERTAINMENT
Top five reasons the MTV Video Music Awards show was a smashing success
5. The Grammys have gotten too “pop”
4. It’s all part of MTV’s stellar programming package
3. Carson Daly has been missing for eight months
2. Finally, somebody gave Green Day a little airplay
1. FP & L fixed their power first.
Ben Minkus can be contacted at b.minkus@umiami.edu.
When and if UM discusses the amount of funds that will go toward replanting our lost trees, perhaps it would be in our best interest to donate those funds toward the victims of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast states. These victims are in need of food, water and shelter more than our campus is of trees.
As thousands of people along the Gulf Coast, mostly low-income African Americans, await the slow-to-arrive aid from the government, our University is cleaning up its own mess. With power returned and debris to clean, our campus may not rest until its natural beauty is restored. We should conserve money from the clean-up process and sacrifice time and energy to help the victims who need it most.
With criticism coming from race-equality activists over the slowness to get help for the poor and disenfranchised of the Gulf-Coast region, we at our luxurious, private institution were helped immediately with our relatively minor needs.
Hurricane Katrina caused damage to the Miami/Coral Gables area in its own right. As the security guards around campus make sure students do not enter the roped-off “disaster areas” and the crisis worsens in the Gulf Coast, our problems seem trivial.
Is our private school campus of mostly middle-to-high income families an example that the rich get help before the poor? With such speed that the Coral Gables area was provided help, one would think a catastrophic disaster in a larger area would receive help even quicker. This has not been the case for those in Louisiana and the surrounding ravaged areas.
As one of many African-American men pleads, “Take care of us, we need you [CNN],” we live like kings and queens. I lost air-conditioning for one night in the apartment area during the hurricane. Many students living off-campus lost electricity for days. Other on-campus students, blinded from the outside, partied all night in Clubs Hecht, Stanford, Pearson, Mahoney and Eaton.
The royal treatment that UM on-campus residents received during and after Hurricane Katrina as opposed to the struggle for help in the Gulf Coast is an example of the disorganized priorities that our country and government have. The government officials speaking out to the hurricane victims seem as expressionless and stone-cold as when attempting to convince our country that our occupation in Iraq is for a greater good.
On Sept. 1, President Shalala announced that UM is trying to accommodate many students displaced by Hurricane Katrina by enrolling them in available classes. This is a noble gesture, and it shows that we are more concerned about the well-being of students’ education than the iconic banyan tree.
Like President Shalala, there are many good souls doing their part for the relief effort in what is the second year of devastating hurricanes across many states. As Hurricane Katrina barreled past south Florida and into the Gulf of Mexico, where was the help for those who could not evacuate? There was time. Two-and-a-half days to be exact. Ask the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
If lack of money and man-power was an issue, perhaps we now realize we have over extended ourselves in the folly of war in the Middle East while we still have much to take care of at home. According to the New York Times (9/3), when asked, “Do we have enough National Guard troops?” President Bush responded, “Of course we do.” We should all feel so convinced.
Sam Rega can be contacted at s.rega@umiami.edu.
Students can no longer add classes, we made it through Hurricane Katrina, and we played and lost our first football game, yet most students on campus are still waiting for their Napster service to kick back in.
New freshmen, graduate, law and medical students who weren’t offered Napster last year have had the ability to enjoy full versions of their favorite songs since Aug. 22, but many returning undergrads have been frustrated with the 30-second tease Napster Lite currently offers them.
Despite Napster not working for so many students, not a word has come from Student Government, the Information Technology department or the Office of Student Affairs on what the problem is. This has left many students assuming that this service, that was so hyped last year, is now defunct.
So what is the status on Napster? Napster technical support initially blamed the problem on UM IT for not giving them the list of eligible users. UM IT hadn’t heard anything about there being a problem, let alone it being their fault. Student Government President Pete Maki said he had received a few e-mails from students, but no popular outcry. Meanwhile, Student Affairs thought the service, which it is currently paying for, was working normally. Basically, nobody really knew there was a problem. And students either figured we were cut off from Napster, or maybe they just reverted to their former illegal file-sharing days. Or could it be that people just don’t miss Napster that much. If that’s the case, then why are we spending so much money on it?
This mix-up and waste of nearly three weeks of listening time for people who do appreciate the service could easily have been avoided by doing one thing: communicating. One of the great perks of being a UM student is getting free stuff-music, movies, laundry, shuttle rides to the Grove. While the student body is sometimes thought of as being generally better off than many other campuses, there are still enough typical starving college students here that should be questioning when one of their freebies is taken away. And the administration could have sent a simple e-mail with re-registration instructions at the beginning of school to avoid this whole issue.
To their credit, the minute the issue was brought to their attention, Student Affairs was on the phone with Napster working to resolve it. It seems the solution to the problem was quite simple-re-registration. Students who used UM Napster last year simply need to go to https://spartan.tel.miami.edu/napster and follow the directions. New users can go to miami.edu/napster to download Napster and register. Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?
UMNEWS – University of Miami program lets ‘Canes study abroad without leaving United States
Is it really possible to learn a language in just seven days?
An intensive seven-day Spanish-immersion program is offered by the University of Miami from Oct. 22 to 28. The program is open to all adults, high school and college students. Regardless of current competency, students’ Spanish will improve dramatically. More importantly, confidence in the ability to communicate will soar.
The seven-day course is led by top instructors from the University of Miami. Each professor comes from a different Spanish-speaking country, adding a cross-cultural component to the course. The instructors’ dynamic methodology has students speaking on day one and keeps them speaking throughout the 56 hours of the course.
The goal of the program is to make each student feel comfortable and natural with Spanish in a short period of time. Based on the idea of being immersed in a place and culture and in essence, forced to speak the language, classes are led purely in Spanish, and classroom techniques are fast-paced, theatrical, highly creative, dynamic and bring out enthusiasm in the students. The instructors believe that language learning should be stimulating, entertaining and fun.
Seven-Day Intensive Spanish is offered by the University of Miami’s Division of Continuing and International Education, 201 Allen Hall, 5050 Brunson Drive, Coral Gables, Florida, 33124-1610. For more information, Contact: Julia R. Cayuso, program director, 305.284.1326, or
visit: www.educationmiami.com/departments/ILI/index.vsp.
ELsewhere – Gay men not allowed to give blood
By Caleb Fort
Daily Lobo (U. New Mexico)
(U-WIRE)-Student Marshall Martinez decided to do his part to help victims of Hurricane Katrina by donating blood.
However, a United Blood Services worker told Martinez, who is gay, that he had a permanent deferral on his name, which means he can never donate blood.
The deferral was on his name because during a screening interview to donate blood several years ago, he told the interviewer he had sex with a man.
Martinez, who is also a sex educator in Alamogordo, N.M., said it is wrong not to let gay men donate blood.
According to the Food and Drug Administration’s Web site, any man who has had sex with another man since 1977 is not allowed to donate blood, because gay men are at high risk of carrying HIV.
Brenda McKee, donor recruitment supervisor at United Blood Services, said the policy is not meant to be discriminatory. She said its sole purpose is to keep the blood supply as clean as possible.
Martinez said it is unnecessary to permanently ban gay men from donating blood, because all blood donated is tested for HIV.
McKee said not accepting blood from gay men, intravenous drug users or anyone who has had sex for money since 1977 is an additional protection.
According to the FDA Web site, the tests are not always accurate. Someone who has HIV can test negative for up to two months after being infected, so blood banks also must use interviews to screen for potentially infected donors, according to the site.
ETC – Open Senate meetings
Did you know that Student Government Senate meetings are open to all students? If you’re interested in joining SG, or want to see what your Senators are doing to represent you, Senate meets every Wednesday from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the University Center Flamingo Ballrooms.
The picture of dedication and University of Miami spirit is standing in the rain to save part of the banyan tree that fell during Hurricane Katrina. Keith Fletcher was just the man who did this in an attempt to preserve decades of tradition.
Fletcher, or Fletch as he is known to most, has recently taken on a new position as the Director of the Butler Volunteer Services Center (VSC), but he is certainly no stranger to the students at UM.
He first came to Miami in June 2002 and began working in the Department of Residence Halls as a Residence Coordinator.
“I came really because the residence life piece was here and it was a fabulous opportunity,” Fletcher said. “I had the chance right out of grad school to supervise a group of individuals, have a pretty big role in discipline and the opportunity to work with outstanding live-in faculty.”
Since then, Fletcher has become a well-known figure on campus, becoming involved in other aspects of student life such as leadership and volunteer programs. He is genuinely concerned with helping students become as involved as possible to make the most of their time at the University.
Fletcher’s decision to leave Hecht Residential College and move to the VSC came last spring when the position opened. Until then he had planned to continue being an RC.
“Believe it or not, I kind of miss the discipline and all the crazy stories that you hear being associated with a freshman dorm,” Fletcher said. “I also miss the RAs because they were an incredible group of student leaders.”
While he undoubtedly loved his job as an RC, Fletcher is enthusiastic about his new position.
“I’m excited about the support I’ve received from the students and the support I’ve received from Dr. Whitely and Richard Walker to go forth and make the changes [to the VSC],” Fletch said.
His job entails overseeing the four main components of the VSC, which involves individual and group placement in service environments, advocacy for a variety of social issues, programming and service learning.
With new leadership comes changes and Fletch has a number of goals for the VSC. One of the primary focuses will be to enhance the service learning aspect of the program to allow students to obtain credit for service activities in an attempt to make volunteering an essential part of their curriculum and life. Other endeavors include remodeling the office, restructuring the coordination of sponsorship, marketing and re-establishing an international service fraternity on campus.
“We want to increase the affiliation people feel with the VSC and become more of a presence on campus,” Fletcher said.
Fletch’s ambitions for the VSC are a direct correlation with his expectations of UM’s students.
“I think what is really special here is the students aren’t satisfied with being mediocre,” he stated. “They aren’t satisfied with just meeting what is expected of them. They are always trying to reach their own best potential, whatever that may be.”
Stacey Arnold can be contacted at s.arnold@miami.edu.
Dean of Students William W. Sandler, Jr., who has served as an advisor, mediator and friend to students throughout his 43 years at UM, announced Wednesday that he will retire at the end of the school year.
In his years at the University, Sandler has seen both the school and the city grow, recalling days when only stop signs were required to cross U.S.1, Interstate-95 didn’t even exist, and campus life was full of student unrest and the tumult of major hurricanes.
“I’ve seen a lot of changes since ’62,” Sandler said. “They’ve all been great things. The University has become great and well-respected in those years. I’ve seen the University students excel and had many friends who graduated from here who continue to stay in contact.”
Originally from Sunbury, Penn., Sandler attended Mansfield University and Pennsylvania State University, where he studied education and counseling psychology. He first came to the University in 1962 as Counselor for Men. Over the years, Sandler served as Dean of Men, Assistant Dean of Men, Dean of Student Personnel and Associate Dean of Students. He has been Dean of Students since 1989.
“It’s been a pleasure to work with him,” Gregory R. Singleton, associate dean of students, said. “He’s been not just a wonderful role model for students but also faculty, staff and administrator throughout the years,” he added, noting Sandler’s patience, understanding and empathy with others.
Students’ feelings of sadness when they heard of Sandler’s retirement stood as a testament to his impact.
“I’ve been working [at the dean of students’ office] for about a month. He’s always in such a good mood,” Alessandra Gia, freshman, said. “I’m going to miss seeing him around.”
In 2001, Sandler was named ACPA Diamond Honoree and awarded the Lambda Chi Alpha Order of Merit. His past recognitions also include the Panhellenic Council Administrator of the Year Award and the National Lambda Chi Alpha Award for Distinguished Service.
“I’ve learned a lot from Dean Sandler,” Dr. Pat Whitely, vice president for Student Affairs, said. “It’s been a great privilege for me to work with him for my entire career since I’ve been at UM. We will definitely miss all his wisdom.”
“This will be the sad part, leaving and not being able to work with all these good friends,” Sandler said.
“I can’t say that I have any plans except retirement and working with my wife, enjoying a little golf, a little tennis and free time-get the reading done I haven’t done in all these years,” he said.
Sandler will retire in July 2006. The University will begin a national search in October and name his successor in the Spring.
Natalia Maldonado can be contacted at n.maldonado@umiami.edu.
It was standing-room only as more than 250 students packed the UC Ballrooms Tuesday to unite in their Hurricane Katrina Relief efforts. In a meeting organized by the Volunteer Services Center (VSC), Keith Fletcher, director of the VSC, facilitated an endeavor to coordinate all of the student organization ideas to put together larger, more organized hurricane relief events.
Fletcher stressed that all relief efforts and money collecting must be coordinated through the VSC in order to keep credibility of the events and prevent misuse of funds.
“We will tally it and give the appropriate credit to your event,” Fletcher said. “We don’t want the right hand to not know what the left hand is doing.”
All fundraising initiatives will be done through the University’s United Way Campaign. The University is asking that all checks be made out to either United Way or American Red Cross, with “Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund” written in the memo line.
The biggest push for relief will come on Sept. 30, which is now being called “Hurricane Relief Day.” The whole day will be dedicated to raising money for hurricane victims, beginning with a bake sale and cultural show and ending with ‘Canes Night Live.
“I was overwhelmed [by the meeting],” Javier Del Busto, president of the Association of Commuter Students [ACS], said. “There was a huge turnout. I’m very pleased with the fact that there’s a lot of sharp ideas and we’re heading at it from a lot of different angles.”
Students formed tentative committees at the end of the meeting, with ideas pouring forth from students, ranging from benefit concerts to teddy bear collections.
“A lot of kids lost everything and we’re hoping we can give them some sort of comfort,” King De, Hurricane Relief evening chair, said.
There was also talk of a possible Alternative Fall Break trip to the disaster sites to help with relief efforts. A talked-about trip to Mississippi or Louisiana this weekend will not be sponsored by the University.
For more information on how to get involved with the ongoing relief efforts, please call the VSC at 305-284-GIVE, email kfletcher@miami.edu, or visit www.miami.edu/hurricanerelief.
Megha Garg can be contacted at m.garg2@umiami.edu.
There are many event and fundraising ideas already in the works, involving everyone from Greek life to athletics. Among the ideas are:
Via Satellite: A satellite image captures New Orleans as the flooding caused by Katrina begins to subside on Sept. 4. UM’s Center for Southeastern Tropical Advanced Remote Sensing (CSTARS) is playing a vital role in damage assessment from the hurricane. This imagery is being used in rescue and recovery efforts in the Gulf Coast.
TODAY
Students dropping a course by today will not receive a “W” on their transcripts. In order to drop a class, you must fill out an Add/Drop form with your advisor and have them sign it. Once the form is completed, bring it to the Office of the Registrar to update your schedule.
The Latin Beat mini-film festival begins today with What Sebastian Dreamt showing at 9:30 p.m. in the Bill Cosford Cinema.
SATURDAY
Habitat for Humanity Build from 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. will meet at the UC Rock.
The ‘Canes Night Live Foam party will be held from 8 p.m. to midnight at the UC Rock.
SUNDAY
Remembrance and candlelight vigil for 9/11 at 8 p.m. on the UC Rock.
Come watch Sunday football at the Rat in HDTV, sponsored by the Rathskeller Advisory Board. The event begins at noon.
MONDAY
Portraits for the Ibis Yearbook will be taken Sept. 12 through 16 and Sept. 19 through 23, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., in UC 233. Seniors must make an appointment at mcgrathstudios.com, password: ibis.
WEDNESDAY
An info session for Teach for America will be held at 7 p.m. in the UC Ballrooms. Find out how you can be a part of the national movement to eliminate educational inequities in the U.S. and speak with former Teach for America Corp members about their experiences.
