Home Blog Page 1809

Throw caution to the wind: What is art?

The Miami Hurricane
-
0

French philosopher Benjamin Constant once said, “Art for art’s sake, with no purpose, for any purpose perverts art.” The works on display at Miami Art Central (MAC) in its current exhibit, How do we want to be governed? (Figure and Ground), have an absolute definitive purpose: to provoke thought; to spark in the minds and souls of the viewers the need to question the practices we, as members of civilization, apathetically allow our government to carry out within our own society.

At first the pieces seem haphazard, unconnected and not aesthetically pleasing. A simple mind, or at least a closed mind, might even question their capability to be considered artwork. They are not “traditional art” in any sense. They are in your face and different. True, there are paintings and photographs, but there are also clothing displays, slide shows and DVDs, including one entitled “Personal Cuts” by Sonja Ivekovic. It features the artist cutting holes in what seems to be her skin, interrupted by clips of war rallies and propaganda from the early 20th century. While some of the mediums are traditional, the theme and subject matter certainly are not.

Each piece centers on the question, How do we want to be governed? A better question might be “how are we governed, and are we OK with that?” The pieces focus on oppression, injustice and revolution; some are straightforward, others less direct. Many of the pieces are by artists from countries in which the people are in some way oppressed by their government. For example, there is a beautiful piece of documentary-style art, “Tucuman Arde,” which consists of photographs of the terrible conditions workers and farmers endure in Argentina. The piece on display at MAC is a montage of photographs of the original exhibition in 1968 (a picture within a picture, so to speak), hoping to rouse the same feelings of outrage at the injustices that prompted the creation of the exhibit over 30 years ago.

There is a thread through every piece of the exhibit, interconnecting them by acknowledging government not only in its definitive sense, as the state and its administration, but rather, as MAC curator Roger M. Buergel puts it, as “actions influencing the other actions…that the way and space in which a person moves affects the way and space in which others can move.” In that sense everyone is governing every other person purely by going about life.

This idea proposes even more questions. Not only how people want or should be governed, but exactly what government is and the lengths to which it is allowed to exist. All these questions are simply part of the process. A piece created by an artist that results in a provocation of thoughts and emotions in the viewer, who has the possibility to incite or not incite a movement. Go and see the exhibit. Answer the questions for yourself. And then, if you so choose, be the change you hope to see in the world.

Danielle McNally can be contacted at d.mcnally@umiami.edu.

Joe FRaNcis one WILD UNCENSORED!

The Miami Hurricane
-
0

Porn. Porn. And more Porn. America can’t seem to get enough of it these days as college males swap their economic books for explicit magazines and DVDs that crowd their shelves and bathroom floor.

For many, college would not be the same without those wild Spring Break parties where students parade around in nearly nothing, hooting and hollering as girls kiss girls and flash their breasts during infamous wet T-shirt contests. Thanks to video producer Joe Francis, 31, anyone can join these crazy college parties through a video series known as Girls Gone Wild. Francis, owner and founder of the video series, created five years ago, what he considers a product that “has forever changed the world.”

Girls Gone Wild, a prepackaged, reedited video series of predominately college girls taking off their clothes, has appealed to a large audience. Last year, the company sold 4.5 million videos for $19.95 a piece. This has made Francis, the sole creator, very rich, but more importantly to Francis, the most successful facet of Girls Gone Wild is the overall impact it has had on society – young, average women flaunting their imperfect bodies to the world. As a result, women of all types, regardless of their appearance, are “freer to express themselves,” believes Francis.

In 1995, Francis graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in Business and a minor in Film and Television. In 1997, Francis was working for Real TV when he grabbed “forbidden footage” that was sent to Real TV. He began licensing the footage and editing it into what became known as Banned From Television, in its first year, it made $10 million.

“I saw this footage and immediately became aroused,” said Francis. “Then I showed it to the rest of my guy friends and the responses were unbelievable. From then on, I continued licensing more footage like this, hired an editor to put it together and began marketing.”

“It did what Playboy never did,” said his college roommate and best friend Mark Russo. “He made nudity fun and exiting and not as risqu

‘Canes defeat Wake Forest 52-7 in race for ACC title and BCS Bowl bid

The Miami Hurricane
-
0

Brock Berlin wasted no time letting the Orange Bowl crowd know that it was not going to be Wake Forest’s afternoon.

Berlin threw for a career-high 361 yards and four touchdowns as the Hurricanes scored touchdowns on their first three possessions en route to a 52-7 blowout victory. With Florida upsetting Florida State late Saturday night, a Miami win over Virginia Tech would likely clinch an ACC title and a BCS berth, and Berlin is the favorite to be the ACC Offensive Player of the Year.

Roscoe Parrish led all receivers with 141 yards and five catches, his first 100-yard game as a Hurricane. Sinorice Moss added three catches for 82 yards.

After several dropped passes in last week’s win at Virginia, Moss said the receivers felt a sense of urgency to perform against Wake Forest.

“We took it personally as a receiving corps,” Moss said. “Staying out later, catching more balls, just going after balls harder. Just doing what we have to do to make plays.”

On the first offensive play of the game, Berlin found Moss for a 42-yard completion. After recovering a fumbled snap on the next play, Berlin connected with Parrish for a 39-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

A Demon Deacon three-and-out gave Miami the ball at its own 24-yard line, and Berlin completed a 24-yard pass to Kevin Everett and a 22-yard strike to Moss before finding the diminutive wide out again for an 18-yard touchdown to make the score 14-0.

Wake Forest began to mount a drive on its next possession before quarterback Ben Mauk fumbled the ball and Greg Threat recovered it for the Hurricanes. After a 29-yard reception by Parrish, running back Frank Gore took over, finishing the drive with a one-yard plunge into the end zone. Gore finished with 88 yards on 13 carries.

Miami’s scoring binge subsided until the 7:56 mark of the second quarter when Berlin hit Lance Leggett in stride for a 56-yard touchdown and a 28-0 lead. Wake Forest responded with its best drive of the afternoon, covering 80 yards in 13 plays, capped off by ACC-leading rusher Chris Barclay scoring a seven-yard touchdown to bring the Demon Deacons within 21 points.

That was as close as Wake Forest would get, as Rashaun Jones blocked Ryan Plackemeier’s punt and recovered it in the end zone to put Miami up 35-7. Berlin would add another touchdown pass, this time to Ryan Moore, before giving the ball to Derrick Crudup midway through the third quarter.

A 34-yard Jon Peattie field goal and Andrew Johnson’s three-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter made the final score 52-7, marking the first time the Demon Deacons have lost by more than seven points this season.

Head Coach Larry Coker said the Hurricanes focused on playing a complete game without letting up at any point in the contest.

“This was the type of game we needed,” Coker said. “Starters played very hard. I think offense, defense and special teams contributed. We have a saying that we want to finish. I think certainly we did a good job of finishing today.”

The Hurricanes have two weeks to prepare for Virginia Tech, who crushed Miami last season in Blacksburg, Va. Coker said the team will relax during Thanksgiving before getting back to work.

“Well, we’re going to work on ham and turkey,” Coker joked. “Not necessarily in that order… Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we’ll practice. We’ll have a normal week for Virginia Tech.”

Eric Kalis can be contacted at e.kalis@umiami.edu.

REPORT CARD

The Miami Hurricane
-
0

Offense: A
Any Miami fan that complains about any aspect of the offense’s performance should move to Tallahassee.

Quarterback: A+
I never thought this day would come, but he did it. No, I’m not talking about Brock Berlin’s 361 yards or four touchdowns; I’m talking about Berlin’s first-ever A+ on my report card.

Running Back: B+
Frank Gore was solid in a half of work. Seldom-used backs like Andrew Johnson got the chance to have some glory, which was nice to see.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends: A+
This unit has been up and down all season, but on Saturday the receivers were sure-handed and faster than anyone on the field. Even Ryan Moore caught a touchdown pass.

Offensive Line: A-
Another courageous performance for the o-line. Center Joel Rodriguez said there were several regrettable plays for the lineman, but in a 52-7 victory it’s hard to be overly upset.

Defense: A
It’s pretty easy to play defense when your offense spots you 21 points halfway through the first quarter.

Defensive Line: B
The d-line got some penetration, but Wake Forest’s quarterbacks were able to find some holes up the middle. Overall, it was a solid effort for the defensive line.

Linebackers: A-
For weeks I’ve been screaming for the linebackers to stay home and focus on stopping the run. ACC-leading rusher Chris Barclay only averaged 3.2 yards per carry. It’s nice to see my whining was finally acknowledged.

Secondary: A-
Wake Forest did absolutely nothing in the passing game. I don’t have anything to complain about.

Special Teams: A
Brian Monroe barely had to punt, Jon Peattie only had to attempt one field goal and Wake Forest refused to kick to Devin Hester. The blocked punt to open the second half basically ended the game.

Coaching: A
Offensive Coordinator Dan Werner did a great job of exposing Wake Forest’s weak and injury-riddled secondary. I can’t complain about the rest of the staff either.

Eric Kalis can be contacted at e.kalis@umiami.edu.

Men’s basketball escapes with opening win

The Miami Hurricane
-
0

After winning both exhibition games, the men’s basketball team secured its first win of the regular season against the Wofford Terriers.

Anthony King opened the scoring with the first basket of the night, which was promptly countered by Wofford’s starting forward Howard Wilkerson. The quick answers to every field goal led to the close scoring patterns of both teams, which stayed within four points of each other throughout most of the first half.

With the score at 10-10 after only the first minute, nonstarters Raymond Hicks and Brandon Okpalobi were brought into the action. Soon thereafter Eric Wilkins and Glenn Batemon saw time as well.

A crowd-pleasing dunk by starting guard Guillermo Diaz, who finished with 13 points, made the score 30-24 in favor of the ‘Canes. Wofford quickly responded with two put back shots and an assist courtesy of guard Greg Taylor followed by Wilkerson’s assist to take a three-point lead. Miami’s guards Robert Hite, who had 12 points, and Antoine Mayhand stepped up to end the half in their favor, combining for five points, giving the Hurricanes a marginal 35-33 lead.

The second half proved to be successful offensively for the ‘Canes, who never fell behind their opponents. However, the defense’s tactics had limited success, permitting the Terriers to closely trail Miami throughout the game.

Finishing the game was an eventful last minute in which neither team scored despite turnovers by Okpalobi and Wilkerson that led to a race against the clock between the ‘Canes’ defense and the Terriers’ offense.

King recorded 19 rebounds during the game, a feat that has not been accomplished since the birth of the UM basketball program. Hamilton contributed eight points and 15 rebounds as well

The 67-64 finish was not only important for the team as they start its first year in the Atlantic Coast Conference, but for ‘Canes new Head Coach Frank Haith.

“It was a win, but we know we still have work to do to become successful in the ACC,” Haith said. “We’re going to build on our offense and address the problems of lack of movement on the courts as well as turnovers.”

Stacey Arnold can be contacted at s.arnold@umiami.edu.

Women’s basketball overcomes sluggish start to win first game

The Miami Hurricane
-
0

Miami women’s basketball began its season Friday night with a 65-47 win over visiting Gardner-Webb in the opening round of the Miami Jam tournament.

The final score was a bit deceiving, as the Hurricanes came out extremely sluggish, falling behind 11-0 right out of the gate and 19-4 with 12 minutes to play in the half. Perhaps the 20-minute delay at the start of the game affected the Hurricanes. The first game of the tournament between TCU-UCLA ran long and forced Miami and GWU to wait in the wings.

Tamara James led Miami with 19 points and eight rebounds, although she struggled shooting the ball, going 7-for-19 from the field. Point guard Yalonda McCormick added 10 points and five steals. GWU’s Sequenta Blackman led all scorers with 22 points, including 15 in the first half.

Head Coach Ferne Labati said the Hurricanes have to play better.

“We definitely have to work on our defense, especially defending a team’s best player,” Labati said.

The ‘Canes cut their deficit to six at halftime, trailing the Bulldogs 30-24 after a 7-0 run to close out the half. The Hurricanes finally tied the game at 34-34 with two free throws from Katie Hayek four minutes into the second half and took the lead for good when James hit a three-pointer from the corner to go up 39-38.

The Hurricanes went on to outscore GWU 39-17 in the second half, leading by as many as 17.

Miami improved to 29-3 in season openers and moved on to face TCU in the second round of the season-opening tournament. After shooting only 30 percent in the first half, the Hurricanes dominated inside and wound up shooting 50 percent in the second half.

Another bright spot for Miami was freshman Albrey Grimsley, who went 4-for-6 from the field for nine points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

After beating a Gardner-Webb team that went 5-22 a year ago, Labati knows that the Hurricanes have some kinks to work out.

“We came out with the win tonight and we’re happy about that,” Labati said. “We know we have to work on some things, but we are moving on.”

On Sunday the Hurricanes defeated TCU 68-57 to improve to 2-0 on the season.

Douglas C. Kroll can be contacted at d.kroll@umiami.edu.

Behind the scenes at the Orange Bowl with Shalala

The Miami Hurricane
-
0

While the football team may have broken out into a rendition of Garth Brooks’ “Friends in Low Places” in the locker room following the Wake Forest game, it is University of Miami President Donna Shalala that has a lot of friends, most of them in not-so-low places.

Whether she is greeting potential donors, politicians, fans or former football players, Shalala does everything but sit still during football games at the Orange Bowl.

“Donna, we got you a new Orange Bowl,” Miami City Manager, Joe Arriola jokingly told Shalala, referring to the bond that recently passed allocating over $50 million in taxes to renovations of the stadium.

Among the concerns of the renovations are that the capacity of the stadium will be cut from 74,000 to about 57,500. Shalala however, is not concerned.

“We will have seats for every student,” she said. “That’s all I care about.”

Shalala typically spends the first quarter or so walking through the stands greeting fans, students and cheerleaders.

As with any early game, the stands, particularly the student section, were rather empty.

“By halftime they’ll be here,” Shalala said. “I prefer the three o’clock games. They are the perfect time, not too late, not too early.”

She spent the first quarter of the game in the student section greeting various students and posing for pictures. She spent some time sitting with the Band of the Hour, as well as greeting members of the women’s rowing team.

“I got to fire the cannon once,” Shalala told the brothers of Sigma Chi, referring to Touchdown Tommy, the cannon fired by the fraternity after each UM score, while sitting with them.

To many, Shalala is a near-celebrity. While walking through the crowds, it’s not uncommon to hear “Let’s go, Donna” being chanted by fans. Nor is it uncommon for people to stop her and ask for autographs or to pose for pictures. Or the common question, at least for the Wake Forest game, “How was the opening of the Clinton library?” To which Shalala responded, every time she was asked, “cold and wet.”

The President has her own private box at the Orange Bowl, right next to the Hurricane Club box, where donors get season seats by donating $15,000, or one-half of a scholarship. They have a buffet of food during the game and also have TVs to watch the game.

Various members of the Board of Trustees, including Judi Prokop Newman, chair of the Student Affairs committee for the Board and Dean Colson, Chairman of the Board, joined Shalala for the game. Throughout the second half of the game Shalala spoke with potential donors about contributing to the University, as well as other Hurricanes fans.

While it may seem that a lot of her time during the game is spent on business, Shalala still cheers with the rest of the Hurricanes’ fans.

“They’re not dropping passes today,” she said. “They must have put some glue on their hands.”

She is quick to add that the team has worked hard.

“I’m happy for them,” she said. “I’m really happy about this game.”

Leigha Taber can be contacted at ltaber@miami.edu.

Berlin has career game against Wake Forest

The Miami Hurricane
-
0

Miami QB Brock Berlin had one of his best performances to date and made his case for ACC Offensive Player of the Year, throwing for a career-high 361 yards on only 13 completions. It was Berlin’s fifth 300-yard passing game of his career and his third of the season. Berlin completed 13 of 19 passes and has not been intercepted in 153 pass attempts, which dates back to the first quarter of the NC State game.

When teammate Joel Rodriguez was asked if Berlin should win the ACC Offensive Player of the Year award, Rodriguez said “No question. He is the best player on the best team in the ACC.”

Berlin also threw four touchdown passes, which moved him into a tie for eighth place on Miami’s single-season touchdown list with 21. Also, Berlin moved into ninth place all-time on Miami’s all-time completion list and in yards with 4, 789. He also moved into eighth place on Miami’s all-time touchdown pass list with 33, tying him with Jim Kelly.

Gore runs well again

Frank Gore had 13 carries for 88 yards, a 6.4-yard per carry average and one touchdown. With a 13-yard run on his first carry of the game, Gore moved into 10th place on Miami’s all-time rushing list, passing Eddie Dunn’s 1,778 yards from 1936-38. Also, Gore’s first quarter touchdown plunge moved him into a tie for 10th place for touchdown rushes with 17 rushing touchdowns in his career, tying Ottis Anderson and James Stewart.

Roscoe Parrish continues solid play

In the Hurricanes’ 52-7 victory, Roscoe Parrish recorded the first 100-yard receiving game of his career, catching five passes for 141 yards and a touchdown. His first quarter touchdown reception was his eighth of the season, which moves him into a tie for 10th place on Miami’s all-time single season touchdown reception list. He is tied with Santana Moss, Andre Brown and Kellen Winslow.

Perhaps most significant was the improvement of the wide receivers as a whole, who cut down on dropped passes and seemed to get open all day.

“It all starts in practice,” Parrish said. “We spent the week working on the patterns we missed last week. We also worked a lot after practice and it paid off big today.”

Significant team achievements against the Demon Deacons

Miami set a season high for total yards with 579, passing for 424 yards and rushing for 155. The team’s previous best was 431 against Louisville. The 579 yards was the most Miami has gained since having 601 yards against Temple last season.

The last time a Miami team scored more than 21 points in the first quarter was Oct. 22, 1988, against Cincinnati. The Hurricanes scored 24 first quarter points on their way to a 57-3 victory.

Greg Threat’s first-quarter fumble recovery was Miami’s 12th of the season and its 23rd takeaway this year compared to only nine turnovers. Rashaun Jones’s recovery of Santana Moss’s blocked punt was Miami’s eighth non-offensive touchdown of the season. It was the Hurricanes’ second blocked punt of the season. Anthony Reddick blocked one against Houston earlier this year.

More significantly, Miami’s blocked punt for a touchdown marks their sixth punt return for a touchdown this season. That mark is one shy of the NCAA record of seven set by Southern Mississippi in 1987.

Darren Grossman can be contacted at d.grossman@umiami.edu.

ETC. – UM

The Miami Hurricane
-
0

Dear V,

We love our roommate, but we have problems with her. When we started the year out, we really didn’t know her very well, but we all got along and we thought that it would be a good idea to live together. Since then, she has withdrawn completely from the group. She never opens up to us and disappears at random intervals, yet we know that she is having problems. How can we approach her to let her know that we care about her and more importantly, need to know what is going on?

Sincerely,

Three’s company, right now.

Dear Readers,

It is always unfortunate to run into roomie issues, yet there is bound to be conflict when you live with people who are basically strangers. I mean, you probably argue with your brothers and sisters, and even your mom and dad, and they’re family for God’s sake! You really can’t expect things to be golden all the time, because they’re not going to be.

Your specific situation is perhaps exceptionally more delicate than the common “she doesn’t clean the bathroom” crisis. Have you done anything to ostracize her? Or, perhaps somehow done something to inadvertently leave her out of the loop? Have you kids done any type of real bonding? You mentioned that you really didn’t know her at the beginning of the semester, but have you made an effort to get to know her beyond her bathroom habits? Likewise, just how much time do you spend with her?

If you’re going to approach her about the void between yourselves, you need to do it in a way that cannot be perceived as prying or as snooping; basically, you don’t want to offend her in any way. I would suggest sharing a meal with her and dwelling on common elements in your lives-school, love lives, family, holiday plans. Any subject where the two of you share something in common is safe territory, for it will automatically deepen the connection that you share. Furthermore, full bellies equal happy people!

After furthering the connection, I would then start to ask the tough questions. You need to be straightforward, not sneaky. Please remember though, that you can’t force her to tell you anything that she doesn’t want to tell, and that if you try to push her, she might withdraw farther away from you.

Good luck!

V.

Dear V,

My boyfriend is in graduate school, and will be graduating in May. The problem is, he has a job interview out of state, and I don’t do long-distance relationships. Everything between the two of us is really good right now, but I don’t know if it’s better to break things off now (if he gets the job) or wait until May.

Dear Reader,

First of all, he hasn’t gotten the job yet, so maybe your worrying is a tad premature. If, however, he is offered the position and chooses to accept it, leaving you here without him, there are a variety of options that might work for you two.

First off, are you sure that you don’t do long distance relationships? Maybe you had a bad experience in the past with another boyfriend, but that shouldn’t hold you back from at least trying something long distance with him. Why would you want to lose out on something that is so good and has the potential to be lifelong? In my opinion, which is always humble, I think that you should at least give the long-distance thing a chance!

Think about it in this demented way-in a long-distance relationship, you have the opportunities to really expand your social horizons and spend a lot of time on yourself, yet you still have a boyfriend and everything that he has to offer (albeit, he won’t be offering it all the time, although when he does, whoa! will you appreciate him!). A nice balance, if you ask me.

If you do decide that you just can’t live within the confines of a long-distance relationship, which is understandably very taxing and stressful, more so than a close distance relationship, please don’t break things off with him right now. Why not suck the good out while you still can? I think that you would be making yourself needlessly miserable if you broke it off the day you heard of his departure. Likewise, waiting until he really has to leave would give the two of you a chance to really think everything out.

I know that every couple discusses these hypothetical situations that might face them in the future, and blah, blah, blah, but if you’re really faced with a split, your solutions to these situations might be vastly different than you once thought.

Good luck!

V.

Tuesday’s Factoid – The oldest sex manuals written in the world were authored by the Yellow Emperor Huang-Ti of China approximately 5,000 years ago. The Yellow Emperor is said to have had three female sex advisors, the Plain Girl (Su-nui), the Mystery Girl (Shuen- nui) and the Harvest Girl (Tsai- nui) to help him, ahem, practice his craft.

Happy Turkey Day!

Please submit all questions, comments or concerns to DearV@hotmail.com or to the Dear V box in the offices of the Hurricane. All submissions are strictly confidential. Dear V. is published on Tuesdays and Fridays, and yes, V will respond to almost (don’t push it) anything.

Editorial We give thanks

The Miami Hurricane
-
0

In the opinion pages, as in life, it’s easy to fall in the cycle of complaining and criticizing as much as possible, but seeing as Thanksgiving is two days away, we step back and take time to reflect on the good things in our lives and what we are thankful for.

We’re thankful that we can attend a university, and attend a university with so many resources, talented professors, groundbreaking researchers and an administration that continuously seeks to funds to improve our educational experience. Along those lines, we give thanks for having a presidential debate (and all the excitement and TV shows that come along with it) on campus. We are also glad that we had a presidential election without the stress of hanging chads and we already know who is getting inaugurated in January.

Despite our frequent criticisms, we’re also thankful for having a Student Government, and one that is relatively large and thus representative, where our president hasn’t been impeached in recent memory and where things like Napster and a Thanksgiving airport shuttle get accomplished for the student body.

Also on campus, we’re thankful for the Wellness Center, as we came to realize how much we missed it when it was closed for a few short days during the debate. We also appreciate having the Starbucks by the Richter Library, which has given us a new place to socialize and has made our mornings more tolerable with new levels of coffee and cake. In fact, we give thanks that we’re able to have that coffee and cake and don’t have to worry about where our next meal will come from.

We’re thankful that the Homecoming Executive Committee made changes to Homecoming so that it now lasts one week instead of three, which allows more alumni to attend the events and makes for a more exciting parade and Hurricane Howl.

We’re thankful for Greek life on campus, and not just because the fraternities and sororities have parties, but also because they carry out part in community service activities, raise money for important causes and take part in student organizations and leadership roles on campus.

We’re thankful for the Butler Volunteer Services Center and all the charitable, volunteer activities that go on at UM, from Locks of Love to Up ’til Dawn to Habitat for Humanity, that make students better people and help improve our community.

We’re thankful for the Ring Theater and its top-notch productions and for Quantum Entertainment’s plays and musicals that give non-theater majors an opportunity to audition and participate in shows.

Freshmen should give thanks that they are able to bring their cars and park on campus, unlike in other schools, and everyone with a car should be grateful that they could afford it.

In sports, we’re thankful that our football team still has a shot at a BCS bowl, that Brock Berlin has put up huge numbers that may earn him the ACC Offensive Player of the Year award, and, of course, that we were still able to beat FSU. We are also grateful that we still have college baseball season to look forward to.

We’re thankful for the Red Sox coming back 0-3 to beat the Yankees in the ALCS and go on to sweep the Cardinals in the World Series so that we can say we lived when the Curse of the Bambino was broken.

In entertainment, we’re thankful that we’re able to spend Halloween night in the Grove. We give thanks for having Fantasy Fest in Key West and Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando, both just a four-hour drive away.

We’re thankful that we got to live the excitement of hosting MTV’s Video Music Awards in Miami. We’re glad that the Source awards didn’t get out of control, and we appreciate that Miami’s Fashion Week gets bigger every year.

This semester in particular, we’re very thankful that hurricane season is finally over, even though the names of Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne will always trigger lockdown and shutters memories.

And, as we go home for the long weekend and wish we could stay there until January, and we come back complaining about the last week of the semester and final exams, it will do us well to be thankful that the temperature in November in Miami hovers around 72˚ F.

At this point in my college career, I hate school

The Miami Hurricane
-
0

It is not as if I do not enjoy my education, but I have come to realize that my working hard now will not matter much in the near future. Sure, I am required to possess a degree for all the jobs that I am applying for but it seems as if recruiters are less interested in the knowledge I possess and more interested in how I perform on the job – a skill not taught in college. I can write a paper on any topic but the jobs I am applying for do not require them.

How beneficial are some of the classes I have to take? I am a history major who is horrible at both math and science. Do I really need to take something so difficult to make me a well-rounded person? I can move through life with superficial knowledge of both of these.

In my history classes I feel that I am just going through the motions so that I will reach my goal in May and I am not motivated to work as hard as I can. You can call it senioritis, but I call it boredom. I enjoy being educated but I am a little disillusioned when I have to write papers on meaningless topics. In my classes I rather draw and come up with article ideas then pay attention. I am lucky because I worked hard the first years of college so that my G.P.A. is solid because now I only have to deal with passing. I even figured how low my grades can be this semester so that my G.P.A. doesn’t take much of a hit.

Laziness is not wanting to do something because you don’t want to do it. I don’t want to work as hard as possible because it really won’t matter because I am not attending graduate school. I am more dedicated to finding a job this year than to studying. I rather watch UM football games, Champions League soccer, Adult Swim or raunchy videos on BET Uncut than utilize all of the time I have available to do homework, and I think many of us feel the same way about school.

Vontilla Steven can be contacted at v.steven@umiami.edu.

TheFacebook.com: I went to UM and got poked

The Miami Hurricane
-
0

It appears that today’s technological devices are inhibiting person-to-person interaction in today’s society. From digital media players to PDAs to Blackberrys to instant messaging to the new TheFacebook.com (“An online directory that connects people through social networks at college,” according to its website), we block out the world on the streets and hide in he shadows of our computers and digital messaging devices.

The creation of these new communication devices have brought new ways of communicating with the world, while taking away a large amount of the person-to-person interaction we experience on a daily basis. Removing face-to-face contact, we gain the courage to talk with members we may be sexual attracted to on thefacebook.com, whom we otherwise would have only admired from afar. Instant messaging gives us the freedom to say things that otherwise would not be said in public, and the ability to cover ourselves when we have stepped over personal boundaries by replying “J/K” (just kidding). This non-emotional, non-face-to-face communication has its benefits but also creates some difficulties.

Instant messaging and digital media devices take over our primary attention and make public interaction secondary. Digital devices allow us to bring our music, books, and lectures with us at all times as we walk to class or work. Now that we have all of these new tech devices that allow instantaneous communication, will they eventually cause a disruption of physical human interaction? Will this instant text messaging cause us to lose our ability to approach someone we may be attracted to or stunt out ability to communicate on a professional level? Is TheFacebook.com an aid in forming relationships or is it the beginning of socially acceptable internet relationships? Is this impersonalizing human interaction or are we witnessing an evolution in human communication?

These impersonal tech communication devices allow us to worry less about rejections and bad conversations. However, part of the human experience is the ups and downs that go along with communicating with people. How do we learn from our verbal mistakes and triumphs when we are becoming dependent on devices that require non-emotional communication?

These new tech devices enhance our communication process but should not become our primary means of communication. We seem to be isolating ourselves more by using them and becoming less daring to approach other human beings. Until tech devices can reveal our emotions, emoticons will have to suffice for now.

Sam Rega can be contacted at s.rega@umiami.edu.

1...1,8081,8091,810...2,128Page 1,809 of 2,128