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THE WRAP

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The Apprentice…
The Apprentice’s Katrina Campins and Ereka Vetrini hosted the official “Apprentice Girls” party at Mansion on Saturday night, April 3. Interestingly, there was no guest list, so either the party just wasn’t good enough to have one or something really strange was going on. Otherwise, as of late, South Beach hasn’t been matching up to its reputation.

Bounce Back
Walking away from the cash register is not always the greatest experience, especially at a store where money flies out of the wallet on very quick wings. However, Urban Outfitters has now added a complimentary sampler CD to every person’s graffiti adorned bag. The CD contains songs from The Thrills, Modest Mouse, The Walkmen, and Franz Ferdinand. Many golf claps to Urban for trying to get the word out about some amazing artists.

Still going…
So much for saying sayonara to Spring Break. South Beach was again packed this weekend with plenty of ghost like Northerners trying to add some color to their never-seen-the sun skin.

CD REVIEW BARING HIS SOUL ALONGSIDE HIS PIANO, BEN JELEN STANDS OUT FROM THE REST

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Writer, producer, and performer- newcomer to the mainstream music industry, Ben Jelen (pronounced Yellin) is a package deal, providing sweet sounds and intriguing lyrics. His CD titled Give it All Away, set to debut April 13, is a smooth mix of personally insightful songs, moving ballads and head bobbing beats. Evidently, like most male soloists, Ben is tailored to target the female crowd, and will probably send most typical men running away screaming about how they don’t like emotional topics that have anything to do with women. (Interesting how the opposite sex seems to be a man’s most loved and hated subject.) Anyways, the songster croons alongside an assortment of rather unexpected instruments, making many remarkably well-mixed songs that just grab onto the heart. While all the tracks begin with piano notes, songs such as, “She’ll Hear You” and “Every Step” have short and sweet resonance specific to the banjo and string instruments. The title track is bittersweet, with whisperings of “my world is swirling around…to feel the life, I’d give it all away,” Jelen talks of a special lady, but one only wonders what else Ben would give it all away for. Lacking the Broadway feel of singer Clay Aiken, the sexual healing provided by John Mayer a la “Your Body is a Wonderland,” and the remedies of Jason Mraz, Ben has a style of his own, singling him out from the rest of the lovelorn eye candy that comprise their own section in Virgin Megastore. Regardless of whether or not Ben’s single, “Come On” plays early in the morning on MTV or not, he is talented. And for now, Ben Jelen and his piano are here to “Stay.”

Joanna Davila can be contacted at j.davila1@umiami.edu.

RESTAURANT REVIEW Something smells fishy at appropriately named restaurant

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At Big Fish, the only thing more fishy than the entr

MUSIC CHILL OUT to music you probably haven’t heard but should’ve

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In a genre of its own, chill-out distinguishes itself from other musical art forms. Varying from world beats, techno, trip-hop, and electronica, to new age and international beats, chill-out is hard to pin down. Amassing fans from all over the globe, more and more are being drawn into the addictive yet mystifying take this style of music embraces. Below are some select few to start you on your path of fixation…

CafE del Mar- Volumen 8
“Caf

Good News For People Who Like Bad News: MODEST MOUSE’s second album doesn’t dissapoint

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Bred from the Pacific Northwest, the indie trio of Modest Mouse can reference their earlier days to both Calvin Johnson’s K Records and Chris Takino’s Up Records labels, home to a veritable oasis of rock in the late ’90s with bands like Beat Happening, Mirah, Quazi, and Built to Spill. Having left the indie labels behind in 2000, this is their second full-length album for Sony, the debut being the favorably received melancholic, abstract pop of Moon and Antarctica. With Good News for People Who like Bad News, they’ve taken the sound of their heritage and exposed it to the world. While the lyrics are colorfully painted abstract landscapes, they have decided to go against the tendency of despair that contemporary bands introspective in nature have and created a work that is an affirmation of all that we live with. It’s bittersweet at times, but so is life, and ultimately they are attempting to give people a realization of hope.

Prone to their occasional freak-outs of rock, Modest Mouse shows little restraint, holding nothing back. The production value here is near flawless as Dennis Herring, whose previous production credits include Buddy Guy, Counting Crows, and Camper Van Beethoven, blends together the full range of the trio’s talents with the assistance of Dave Fridmann of Flaming Lips notoriety on the mixing boards. Utilizing a cacophony of song techniques, the album moves through atmospheric soundscapes, lively pop chants, soft piano and string ballads, Dixie blues, wily horns courtesy of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, bluegrass focal banjos, grind organs, and of course some no wave indie.

Isaac Brock’s voice is still very disjointed a staccato at times, but combined with the layering of harmonies and the down-home, country twang in his voice it pulls the listener into the music. Furthermore, Brock’s catchy guitar riffs blend nicely with Eric Jud’s rhythms on bass and Jeremiah Green’s percussion that always give either an appropriate low key or shaking dance beat depending on what the song calls for.

The album follows together in a quite cohesive manner. The initial scene setter of “Horn Intro” sets the mood as Brock states that, “I moved on to another day / In a whole new town with a whole new way.” The album runs throughout the gambit of frustrations life may give us, foremost with the idea of change. It moves next to the first single “Float On.” Brock sings in a chant like manner trying to pry one’s soul out of their daydream haze, singing, “Don’t worry, even if things end up a bit too heavy, we’ll all float on alright.”

The album continues to pick up steam with “Dig Your Grave,” one of the more danceable tunes that has Brock relating, “Fads they come, fads they go, but god I love that rock and roll.” In “Bukowski” he tells of though he loves Charles’ writing, he wonders, “who would want to be such an asshole.” “The Devil’s Work Day” sounds lifted from a Tom Waits album with the Dirty Dozen Brass band lending a New Orleans horn sound much like Radiohead’s, “Life In a Glass House.” “The View” is another indie dance track with the romantic ponderings of, “If life’s not beautiful without the pain, well I would rather never see beauty again.” The bluesy “Satin in a Coffin” asks the listener, “Are you dead or are you sleeping?” “Blame It on the Tetons” is a sweet ballad that has a country feel to it making the observation, “everyone’s a burning building with no one to put the fire out.” “One Chance” is another track of hope where Brock tells how, “my friends, my habits, my family mean so much to me.” Finally in the conclusion to the album we are left with the thought that, “I guess the good times were just killing me.”

Like with any album, you may need to give it a little time before its impact sits in, though with the first listen it’s evident that this is a piece of magnificent, conscientious rock. Then with each additional replay, you can pick up the little bits of intricacies that make this album solid, with the various musical experiments and the ponderings of Brock’s lyrics.

Ross Whitsett can be contacted at r.whitsett@umiami.edu

Mulvaney finishs UM career on high note

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Senior Matt Mulvaney has emerged from an injury-stricken cross-country season and is enjoying success in what appears to be a quite promising track season, even with the many hurdles the team faces.

He placed first in the 3000-meter race at the Hurricane Invitational on March 20, with a time of 8:38.04, and shattered the school record in the 10,000-meter event by more than 22 seconds at the Raleigh Relays on March 26.

In his own modest way, however, Mulvaney never revels in personal glory for too long.

“By the time I got to four miles, I knew I had it. Afterward I jumped around for a while, but my legs [were tired],” he said.

Like everyone else on the team, Mulvaney has had to deal with the many obstacles caused by the lack of funding for the men’s track program. For him, it has oddly enough been both a curse and a blessing, as he insists that his ability level may not have allowed him to compete at a fully funded university track program.

“A lot of coaches wouldn’t have let me run coming out of high school,” Mulvaney said. “I was what you call slightly above average. But Coach Ward didn’t have a problem with it so he let me on the team, and I’m thankful he gave me the chance to run ’cause it opened a lot of doors for me.”

Currently, the men only have two scholarships available, despite the NCAA maximum allotment being 12 and a half. The scholarship money that is available is usually spread out among runners to try to alleviate expenses, but it is not enough to lure the finest track stars in the country to Coral Gables.

“It’s just hard to compete and get the athletes,” Mulvaney said. “If you’re asking every student-athlete to come up with 30,000 dollars out of their pocket, it’s just not going to happen.

“Title Nine is great because it elevated the status of women’s sports, but at the same time it killed the non-revenue men’s sports…It’s kind of disheartening when you go to the Big East [Championship] and you have to compete against teams that are fully funded and have 40 guys at the meet-and you’re there with 10.”

Still, Hurricane runners are largely a strong bunch, which doesn’t go unnoticed.

“You can’t be disappointed because you might go there with 10 guys and score 50 points…you look at these other teams and they’re beating you, but they’re not outscoring you per person,” he said.

Running 75 to 80 miles per week for training, Mulvaney admits that running cross-country and/or track is not for the faint of heart. However, even with the struggles he has endured running at UM, he encourages those who have an interest in pursuing the sport at any level.

“Running is a sport that you definitely can improve in,” he said. “If you work hard at it and you’re consistent, you’re going to get better. To anyone who’s in high school: if you are willing to work hard, then you can accomplish a lot…I came in pretty average and I’m pretty happy where I am right now relative to where I was.”

Melissa Teich can be contacted at m.teich1@umiami.edu.

Briefs

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Women’s track and field

The University of Miami women’s 4×100-meter relay finished first with an NCAA Regional qualifying time of 44.33 seconds to highlight the final day of competition at the 61st Annual Coca-Cola Florida Relays in Gainesville, FL.

The relay of sophomore All-American Dominique Darden, junior Chinela Davis, junior All-American Lauryn Williams and junior Wiande Moore improves to 2-0 this season.

The 4×400-meter relay of senior All-America Kitoya Carter, Darden, freshman Ginou Etienne, and sophomore All-American Charlette Greggs also qualified for the NCAA Regional Championships finishing third with at time 3:34.57.

Senior Adrienne Moss qualified for NCAA Regionals in the shot put finishing ninth with a mark of 14.69 meters. Teammate Jennifer Penrose finished 16th with a Big East qualifying mark of 13.91 meters.

Other Hurricanes recording Big East qualifying marks included freshman Debbie Estime in the high jump and junior Sichting Walker in the triple jump.

Miami returns to action this weekend at the Texas Relays in Austin, Texas

Intramurals

In the championship game of intramural basketball, the Professionals, the men’s open league champion, defeated Sigma Phi Epsilon, the Greek Champion. The Professionals had defeated G-Unit to win the Open League, while Sig Ep beat Pike to win the Greek Championship. In this game, it was tight early in the first half, but then the Professionals pulled away, eventually winning 68-59.

The Professionals were led by Hilton Napolean, who had 23 points and 14 rebounds to go along with five assists, 2 blocks, and a steal. Abeku Wilson had 19 points as well for the Professionals in a winning effort.

The game’s high scorer actually came from the Sig Ep side, as Dan Kaczmarek had 24 points. Micah Dawson had nine points and a team high six rebounds for Sig Ep as well.

The game marked the end of intramural basketball, and the intramural scene now turns to softball as the last major sport of the season.

Also over the weekend, the University of Miami won the Ultimate Challenge defeating other local schools in the area. The Ultimate Challenge is an annual event on the UM campus that brings together local colleges like FIU, FAU, Barry, Johnson and Wales, and Lynn to compete in a variety of intramural events.

Hurricanes put on pads, begin hitting during practice

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Tuesday’s spring practice lacked unexpected surprises or major injuries, but the full-contact drills provided entertainment for the reporters and privileged guests in attendance.

Both the offensive and defensive units suited up in pads and football pants, as opposed to the shorts and jerseys worn a week ago. The Hurricanes simulated goal-line situations and worked on running and short passing plays with light tackling.

The highlight of the afternoon was the offensive line drills, which featured Offensive Line Coach Art Kehoe jokingly taunting players as they attempted to run through tires. Center Joel Rodriguez decided to dive headfirst under the tires, much to the chagrin of Kehoe.

Head Coach Larry Coker said that he liked what he saw from the unit as a whole.

“The first-team offensive line is doing really well,” Coker said. “I really like what I have seen from those guys. Obviously they are getting better. A guy who really stands out as a backup right now is Andrew Bain. He’ll be an awfully good football player.”

There could be a mini-fullback controversy for the Hurricanes, as both Talib Humphrey and Kyle Cobia have had success since Quad Hill was moved to the tailback position for the second consecutive spring.

“Both [Kyle Cobia and Talib Humphrey] will get looks, and we see both as starters,” Coker said. “Both have looked very good, but they need to stay healthy. That has been the key for both of those guys, because they are good but they have had their share of injuries.”

There were no substantial casualties for the ‘Canes, but wide receiver Roscoe Parrish sat out with a sprained ankle, which could keep him out of action for the entire spring.

Despite Parrish’s ankle problems and injuries from last season, Coker said he was not concerned with the 5’9″ speedster’s ability to perform when the season starts.

“With Roscoe, you know what you are getting,” he said. “We don’t need to beat on him a lot. We know we have a good player there. We will make his injury a positive by giving other players more looks.”

One of those players benefiting from Parrish’s injury is sophomore Darnell Jenkins, who has worked with each quarterback throughout the week.

Jenkins said that he is much improved from last year and hopes to be a major factor in the offensive game plan.

“I feel good,” Jenkins said. “I am getting a lot of reps and I am becoming better. I am getting into better shape and feeling more comfortable about the position I am at.”

Running back Tyrone Moss, who was demoted from the starting spot last week by Running Backs Coach Don Soldinger, was in good spirits after practice. Moss was sick during the first week of practice, which may have affected his performance.

“I was surprised [about being demoted], but it was no big deal to me,” Moss said. “When I come out here I try to make the best of it. I am not the type of guy who holds his head down.”

The Hurricanes will be practicing Friday night at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.

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

Jay has success in freshman campaign for Hurricanes

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When many casual Hurricane baseball fans think of who would be leading the team in batting average thus far, names like Ryan Braun or Jim Burt would likely come to mind. This year, however, an unknown youngster has surprisingly set the pace for the rest of the team’s sluggers.

Freshman Jon Jay has quietly earned the title with a .390 average after 27 games. Jay has played an integral role in leading the ‘Canes to a 22-5 record.

The Miami native out of Christopher Columbus High School impressed Head Coach Jim Morris so much during fall practice that he was inserted into the starting lineup on opening night against the Florida Gators.

“It was a great feeling to start opening night,” Jay said. “That’s what I had been working hard for, so it was nice to see it pay off.”

Ranked in the top five, playing the rival Florida Gators, and having just about everyone back from last year’s squad, the odds of a freshman starting would normally be pretty slim. But Jay was prepared for it.

“Coming in here, I knew ahead of time [that the team was the same] so I prepared myself for that,” Jay said. “I just came in here trying to contribute as much as possible.”

Jay had a tough start to the season, getting only two hits in his first 11 at-bats, but since then Jay has been red hot. His teammates made sure the freshman kept his head up when he was struggling.

“The guys told me to have fun out there,” Jay said. “[They said] it’s the same game that I’ve been playing since I’m 10 years old and all I had to do was get used to the atmosphere and I would be fine.”

Like many Miami natives, Jay knew that playing at Mark Light Field was where he wanted to be. He had many offers from other schools, but he decided to follow his dream and play for the Hurricanes.

“This season has been a lot of fun,” Jay said. “It’s been overwhelming at times, but it’s everything that I imagined it would be.”

The next few weeks will be a true test for Jay and the rest of his teammates as the Hurricanes hit their toughest part of their schedule with consecutive trips to Georgia Tech and Florida State.

Jay has proven time and time again that he not only belongs in the Miami lineup, but at the first or second spot in the batting order. He makes an already dangerous lineup even more potent as he hits in front of Burt and Brian Barton.

Jay’s success has been critical for the Hurricanes, especially since there have been key injuries to a number of the team’s outfielders throughout the season. Injuries to Danny and Paco Figueroa and Barton at different points in the season gave Jay the chance to shine, and he has taken full advantage of his opportunity.

“Jon Jay has been great for us this year,” Morris said. “He’s a great kid who always has that smile on his face. If we had a MVP award for fall practice, it would have been given to him.”

Doug Kroll can be contacted at d.kroll@umiami.edu

Baseball faces toughest road challenge of season

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April will certainly be the toughest month of the baseball team’s season.

The ‘Canes go on the road for their first six games of the month, traveling to Georgia Tech and Florida State. After that, they return home to face the Seminoles once again and Virginia.

It won’t get any easier after that for the Hurricanes with North Carolina and Long Beach State still on the schedule.

“April is an important month and a challenging month,” Head Coach Jim Morris said. “If we don’t play as well as we want to, we need to be able to make adjustments.”

This weekend, the Hurricanes will be in Georgia on their longest road trip of the season. The Hurricanes do not play many games on the road and Georgia Tech is the only team they play out of the state of Florida. The Hurricanes previously went on the road to South Florida for two games and to Florida International for a game. The Hurricanes are 22-5 on the season entering the six game road trip. However, they are just 1-2 on the road thus far.

“It’s always more challenging playing on the road because of the hostile environment,” shortstop Ryan Braun said. “Beating a good team on the road would make a huge statement for our team.”

Georgia Tech is traditionally one of the top teams in the country, but it has struggled this year, posting just a 16-11 record entering the weekend series against Miami. However, the Yellow Jackets have won seven of their last nine contests, including a 20-5 victory over No. 13 Auburn Tuesday, which shows that they may be returning back to their old form.

“When we go on the road, I like to play good teams to be challenged. Georgia Tech has not played as well as expected, but they have a lot of talent,” Morris said. “All their guys are good players.”

The Yellow Jackets boast five regular starters who are hitting better than .333 and all three of their regular starting pitchers have an earned run average under four. In addition, leading hitter Micah Owings hit two home runs and drove in six runs against Auburn, increasing his team-leading numbers to nine homeruns and 31 runs batted in. Along with being a force in the middle of Tech’s lineup, Owings is also one of their regular starting pitchers, posting a 3-2 record in seven appearances this season, six of which he started.

For the Hurricanes to beat the Yellow Jackets, they will need to continue to play well and get quality outings from their starting pitchers.

“We have a really tough schedule and for us to have a good record, we need to pitch well and get timely hitting,” Morris said. “I thought we played really well last week against Penn State, so if we play that way, we should be fine.”

The next six road games should be an indication to Hurricane fans on how well this team can play. If they win these next two road series, it will show skeptics that they are going to be a major postseason threat. If they lose, they will need to come home and rebound in the friendly confines of Mark Light Field.

“We can’t let these next six games affect us,” Braun said. “If we lose, we will put it behind us and move on.”

The Hurricanes will look to ace Dan Touchet to start Friday night against the Yellow Jackets.

“Our rotation will be Touchet, Carrillo, and Camardese,” Morris said. “All three have been throwing well lately.”

Winning on the road is never easy. Winning on the road against good teams is an even harder task.

“We are playing better competition now, so the guys need to step up,” Morris said. “If we are 44-10 going into the post season, I’ll be happy.”

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

The undeniable presence of apathy overwhelms UM

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In my ill-fated campaign for Student Government president, I ran on the idea that most students on campus feel that SG is irrelevant. In my conversations with former President Sadowski as well as with more than one senator on this issue, I’ve come to realize that this is not a problem of which SG is unaware. In fact, this isn’t even a problem that is unique to UM.

According to Sadowski, “This is a problem that student governments across this country grapple with.” I believe he’s right, which perhaps says more about the average college student than it does about student government.

On the final day of the runoff election this year, I had some time to help the candidate I was supporting hand out flyers. I was surprised by what appeared to be general hostility that we were being so impolite as to actually attempt to hand out campaign literature to potential voters. Some people were downright resentful. I mean, how dare we? Judging by the attitudes of some, you might have thought we were trying to sell these people insurance or something. Some people even made ridiculous comments, like the girl who said she didn’t vote in SG elections because she was “an anarchist.” Ah, yes, only on a college campus! I guess if somebody stole all her books and money she’d be all right with that since she doesn’t believe there should be any enforcement of rules (of course she probably doesn’t believe in books or money anyway). Then there was the guy in the guise of a hippie-wannabe who said he didn’t vote in the election because he was opposed to Greeks controlling Student Government. As if the preponderance of Greeks in Student Government is a conspiracy or something. HELLO! Greeks are the ones that come out and vote, you putz!

The great wise man Peter Maki said it best during the un-debate we all attended (and what a joke that event was): “If you’re going to complain about SG, get up and do something about it” – which I would remind you he did, as did I. The point is, if you really think SG is not doing its job, get up off your well-fed posterior and do something about it. There are many good people in SG. If they’re not doing what you want… it’s probably because you haven’t told them what you want. The Senate meets every Wednesday from 4 – 6 p.m., and the SG office is up in the I-Lounge. All it takes is putting one foot in front of the other. What’s the worst that can happen? You may surprise yourself and actually make a difference. It’s up to you.

Scott Wacholtz can be contacted at s.wacholtz@umiami.edu

INS scam: inter-office politics over international politics

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The abolition of the Department of International Studies [INS] is a sham.

If Dean Wyche approves the new proposal penned by the INS student-faculty transition team, a virtually identical program of international study will be implemented at UM. Absolutely zero will have been gained after the degrees of faithful INS graduate and undergraduate students have been devalued, the reputation of the Arts and Sciences department scarred and the teachers of INS surrounded by controversy. The ordeal will have done nothing more than discredit the University of Miami and disenfranchise the tuition-paying students who blindly signed on to the INS bandwagon.

The transition team would not have sent the proposal to the Dean unless they had reasonable grounds to believe that it would be approved. So the question remains as to why Wyche is looking to simply replace the curriculum he so clumsily canned at the beginning of the semester.

The answer to the question comes from the fact that the original INS catastrophe is entirely the product of inter-office politics and petulant professors. Tenure issues, clashing personalities, and poor administrative decisions led to the ordeal. So a perfectly fine department is killed, the credibility of UM’s College of Arts and Sciences is irrevocably damaged and unassuming students are shortchanged out of a reputable degree because our administration falls woefully short in its office management abilities.

Wyche, Shalala and the rest of the administration should have taken responsibility for the situation two years ago when the School of International Studies was shut down. Restructuring in the department – which is all the new proposal does – should have taken place through methods that would not affect the academic integrity of the College.

Now my fellow INS scholars and I are left to choose between the new program that is formulated through the transition team or the old INS curriculum that we originally signed up for. Neither degree is credible, in my opinion, and I’m thinking about dropping my international relations aspirations altogether. If UM’s inter-office politics are more important than the actual international politics in a department of international study, I can’t see how I’ll end up with an even halfway decent education.

Jillian Bandes can be contacted at j.bandes@umiami.edu.

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