Brian Poliakoff, a junior majoring in media management and political science, has been elected the new editor-in-chief of The Miami Hurricane by the Board of Publications Committee.
“Brian is going to be a fantastic editor,” said Jordan Rodack, current editor-in-chief of The Miami Hurricane and member of the board. “He’s a passionate journalist who has the integrity and objectivity to make this a top-notch paper.”
Jorge Arauz, current Hurricane news editor, and Danielle Scott, Hurricane managing editor, were the other candidates for the position.
“This election was a very competitive one,” Rodack said. “We had three great candidates who would’ve done a tremendous job had any of them been elected- it’s a shame that only one of the candidates could win.”
Rodack said he decided not to run for the editor-in-chief position for the upcoming semester because he wanted to enjoy his final semester.
“Brian’s a great guy and I know he will be a good leader,” Arauz said. “Judging by the way he transformed the sports section, I know he’ll raise the level of professionalism of the paper.”
“My focus as editor-in-chief will be to continue Jordan Rodack’s vision,” Poliakoff said. “I feel that currently there is complete trust and camaraderie within the staff.”
“I can use the fact that we’re friends as a leadership tactic,” Poliakoff said. “If deadlines aren’t met, not only is the boss being betrayed, but friends are also being let down.”
Poliakoff graduated in 2000 from Lower Marion High School in Philadelphia. There he was sports editor and news writer for the Merionite, the school newspaper. Poliakoff has also written for the Main Line Life, a weekly newspaper that covered the suburban Philadelphia area.
Poliakoff started writing for the news and sports sections of the Hurricane his freshman year. Last fall, he held the position of assistant sports editor until he was promoted to sports editor in March.
“I walked in here as an eager, dorky freshman ready to become involved,” Poliakoff said. “I don’t think I’ve left the office ever since.”
“I feel that I have diversified the sports section by covering a wide range of varsity and intramural sports that were not as recognized in the past,” Poliakoff said.
“Brian’s done an excellent job with sports,” Scott said. “I firmly believe that he can extend what he’s done with sports to the other three sections of the paper.”
Poliakoff said that he has been contacted by several parents of student athletes who have requested clips of articles that have been printed.
“I felt that taking over the editor-in-chief position was the next step to take toward my professional goals,” Poliakoff said. “I felt I did all I could with the sports section and was ready to move on to improve upon the paper as a whole.”
Among the changes that Poliakoff plans to make are developing a camaraderie between the News section and Opinion and encouraging Life and Art and Sports to continue with the diversity and span of topics they have tried to cover throughout the year.
“Overall, we’ve done a great job this past semester,” Poliakoff said. “We just need to work on incorporating more on-campus events and continuing to reach out to our most important demographic, the students at UM.”
Poliakoff says he plans to meet with all the section editors and members of the staff on an individual basis before the beginning of the spring semester.
“I want to get feedback from everyone working with the paper,” Poliakoff said. “This is in no way going to be a dictatorship.”
Poliakoff believes that the Hurricane has the potential to win any award that’s out there at the collegiate level.
“I know that there are awards within the state of Florida and throughout the country that we are interested in submitting work to,” Poliakoff said. “There’s nothing more rewarding than getting our paper recognized.”
Poliakoff encourages all those who are interested in a staff position at The Miami Hurricane to stop by UC 221 and fill out an application.

Leigha Taber can be contacted at l.taber@umiami.edu.

The UM campus was filled with the sounds of frolicking fourth graders from Little River Elementary School of Liberty City last Friday.
The students visited UM after five weeks of learning about the benefits and realities of college life from UM students involved in the Kids and Culture program.
“Our goal is to reach inner-city kids in the Miami area and inform them about the possibilities of obtaining a higher education,” Jenn Haddok, co-president of Kids and Culture, said.
“Many of the students we visit haven’t had contact with college students and don’t realize their potential for attending college and their potential for success in college,” Haddock said.
During their visit, children were exposed to a variety of cultural dances, a magic show performed by a UM chemistry professor and a tour of the Lowe Art Museum, among other activities.
“We got to learn good science and go to the museum today,” said Craig Washington, one of the fourth graders. “We also saw a dorm room and a classroom with a big TV.”
Haddock says that organizers learned as much from the experience as the children did.
“I have really enjoyed the contact with the elementary school kids,” Haddock said. “The way they open up to us and really listen to what we have to say is amazing.”
“It’s so rewarding to bond with these kids,” Haddock said.
Kids and Culture began four years ago as a program under LINK.
This is their first year as an independent organization.
They are expanding the program to include events throughout the entire year and to encourage more UM students to become involved so that they can work with more inner-city schools in Miami-Dade County.
Currently, the organization has nine classroom instructors and six officers who are students at UM.
Those involved with the program say it has been a beneficial experience.
“It’s a wonderful program,” said Diana Vega, a classroom instructor. “They really look up to us.”
“It is a great program because it exposes the children to a new environment that they are unaware of,” said Ms. Church, a UM alumna and one of the participating elementary school teachers.
“The program gives these kids the encouragement they may not get at home, and they really respond well to having us in their classroom,” Haddock said.
For information, email Kidsnculture@hotmail.com or stop by UC 240, the Butler Volunteer Service Center, for more information.

Kathleen Fordyce can be contacted at K4Dice@aol.com

UM students and Cane Records voted Matt Feld as their choice for the UM Idol winner this past Wednesday.
Feld was voted into the top spot after weeks of competing with over 50 singers who auditioned.
“I just started singing recently,” Feld said. “The first time I sang publicly was at my high school’s basketball game about a year ago.”
Originally from West Palm Beach, Feld attended Hofstra University in New York last year. He asked to sing a song with the house band at a club when he was home over the summer. The band happened to have two UM School of Music graduates in it who recognized potential in Feld.
They directed him to Professor Larry Lapin, the director of the jazz vocal program at UM.
“He sings great,” Lapin said. “And we always need guys in the program.”
Feld was accepted to the UM School of Music two days before classes began this fall.
Since the beginning of the semester, Feld has been performing at clubs and other venues, including Titanic, every weekend, perfecting his performance skills.
He sings with the Fifth Avenue Band, a professional wedding and social event band, and with his own R&B band.
“R&B is my main influence,” Feld said. “I love Musiq Soulchild, Brian McKnight and Ginuwine. I love hip-hop, too.”
As the first UM Idol, Feld received a year-long record contract with Cane Records. He will record a six-song CD to be released next year.
“I’ve got three originals ready to record,” he said. “Everybody keeps asking me what songs I want to cover. I’m not sure I want to cover any songs – I’m not sure yet what will be on the album.”
Feld says he’s not the type to hog the spotlight, but so far he is handling his new-found fame well.
“My best friend’s step-mom asked me for my autograph,” he said, “in case I make it really big.”
Feld is mostly excited about the prospect of having his own CD and getting to make music with other great musicians.
“I love singing,” he said. “I’m going to sing till I die.”
His advice to other performers: “If you love it, go do it. That’s all you can do.”

Jaclyn Lisenby can be contacted at jlisenby2001@yahoo.com.

For the first time in Cane Craze history, the two-day sports event that was to be held this past weekend was postponed because an insufficient number of teams signed up to participate.
“I’m very disappointed,” said Jason Carroll, assistant director of intramurals. “A lot of time and effort was put into planning this event, but I guess students just didn’t want to play this weekend.”
Cane Craze is an annual sports event organized by the Wellness Center in which teams composed of 20 people compete against each other in various sports and activities over a two-day period.
This year would have marked the ninth season of the event.
Jerry Prieto, supervisor at the Wellness Center and fifth-year student, said that by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov.19, the sign-up deadline for Cane Craze, only four teams had enlisted.
“After the deadline we had to take down all the old flyers and make and set up new ones extending the deadline until noon on Wednesday, hoping that more teams would sign up,” Prieto said.
But by noon on Wednesday only two more teams had enlisted, for a total of six teams, two short of the minimum required to hold a tournament.
“It is not feasible to hold the tournament with six teams,” said Carroll, explaining that six teams would not be able to cover the costs of staffing and organizing the event.
Carroll added that there is not an established limit for the number of teams that can enlist.
“Last year we had 13 teams sign up and we did more publicity this year,” he said.
Carroll explained that additional banners were hung up in the residential halls this year as opposed to advertising solely around the Wellness Center, as had been done in previous years.
Although the lack of participation did come as a surprise, Carroll attributed this to the fact that this year Cane Craze was scheduled in November.
“At this time of the year students are worn down, preparing for finals and getting ready for the semester to end,” he said.
Prieto agreed that the scheduling of the event might have been the problem.
“At the end of the semester freshmen have already formed their group of friends,” he said. “At the beginning of the semester they probably only know their roommates and the person next door, so they are more inclined to participate in events like Cane Craze. It’s a good way to meet people.”
Scheduling for Cane Craze was planned so that it would not coincide with football games or other events.
“We did a re-shuffling of the schedule this year, but when I was planning it, I thought this would be a good weekend for the event,” said Carroll.
Some students who participated in the event last year said that they would have done so this year had they been aware that the event was going to take place.
Junior Santiago Jaramillo, who headed the team LATAM in last year’s Cane Craze, said he would have participated in the event, but he did not receive any information about it in time to register.
“It seems to me that this event is mostly advertised to people on campus, in the residence halls,” he said. “I live off campus and did not hear about it, which is a shame because I had a lot of fun last year and would have liked to do it again.”
Organizers have decided to postpone Cane Craze until Mar. 1-2, exactly a month after Sports Fest.
“Hopefully Sports Fest will give us a good opportunity to promote the event,” Carroll said.
The activities include basketball, flag football, inner tube water polo, kickball, crazy soccer and volleyball. Board games and video game competitions are also included, as well as a mystery event that is unknown to the participants until the moment of the competition.
All full-time UM students, faculty and staff are eligible to participate. Each team is encouraged to have an equal number of men and women.

Andrea Alegria can be contacted at nealegria@aol.com

UM officials and student leaders are in the process of gaining support from the student body via a petition and personal testimonials for University Village, scheduled to open in August 2004 and pending final approval from the City of Coral Gables.
“The University has been extremely excited about student reaction to the University Village,” Dr. Pat Whitely, vice-president for student affairs said. “Many student leaders have volunteered to help and approximately 1,000 students have signed the petition so far.”
“The Village plan will help create more of a sense of campus community and will give students more opportunities to enjoy lectures, theater, films and other activities,” Whitely said.
Many students have been showing support of the University Village since the student body became aware of the plans earlier this month.
“In supporting the University Village students are helping to continue building onto the evolution of the University into a truly first-class institution of higher learning,” senior Julio Barroso, student leader, said. “Additionally, such added features as the University Village only serve to make our University more popular to potential students, in turn making our degrees more valuable.”
“If UM is striving to be a top research school and wants to attract people from across the country, it needs to have a place to put those students,” Andrea Wagner, third year law student, said. “It is a great incentive for grad students to come to UM since they spend so much of their time at school doing research and studying.”
“As students we often don’t get the chance to help make such a tremendous contribution to our campus that will benefit generations to come,” Barroso said.
According to Barroso, student government and the student body agreed upon an increase in the student activity fee to help fund the building of the Wellness Center.
“It would be really hard to imagine the campus without the Wellness Center,” Barroso said. “It has truly improved campus life.”
Students can show that they are in support of University Village in several ways.
“I think the students can best show their support for University Village by both informing themselves and other students of the what the project entails, along with writing letters of support to the Coral Gables planning boards,” Alexis Martinez, second year law student, said. “While the petitions also show support, letters allow the planning board to hear more about why the students want and need University Village.”
“One could simply sign a petition, or you can become more involved and come to city meetings to show your support,” senior Mary Clark, student government secretary, said. “Every student needs to know that they are needed and that they have the power to make a difference.”
“There is no action too small,” Clark said.
The new residential community will house 1,091 undergraduate juniors and seniors, graduates and law students in 398 apartments and provide 1,058 on-site parking spaces.
Each apartment will have one, two or four bedrooms and each room will have a private bath for each resident and include a fully furnished living and dining room, a kitchen and a washer and dryer.
Other amenities may include a pool, a fitness room, study areas and computers.
“University Village will allow for hundreds to stay extremely close to campus and also help with the horrific parking problems that we all complain of,” Martinez said. “We all know that housing is a problem for the University; just think about students scrabbling to get roommates and secure their living arrangements every spring.”
Students have been asked to show their support of the University Village by sending an email to universityvillage@miami.edu.
Messages supporting the Village will be shared with Coral Gables City officials during the public hearing process.
The meetings with the City of Coral Gables have been postponed until December.
For more information contact 305-284-6728 or visit www.miami.edu/universityvillage.

Leigha Taber can be contacted at l.taber@umiami.edu

Enter the Elie Wiesel Prize in Ethics 2003 Essay Contest–first prize is $5000. This contest is open to undergraduate full-time juniors and seniors. Additional information, guidelines and an entry form can be found at www.eliewieselfoundation.org. Contest deadline for submission is Monday, Dec. 2, 2002. For more information contact the Honors Program at 305-284-5384.

With the recent re-opening of the second floor for parking in the Ponce de Leon Garage, all holders of current UM parking permits and temporary passes are welcome to these additional spaces. Stay tuned for future updates on the imminent completion of this expanded facility. As a reminder, the temporary parking lots located behind the Lowe Art and across from the Daystar Health Center are scheduled to close on Dec. 7.

FIU, UM and The Working Group for Pre-Modern Studies presents “Mouth of the River,” on Friday, Dec. 6 and Saturday, Dec. 7 at 8 p.m. at the Wertheim Performing Arts Center on the FIU University Park Campus. Tickets are $5 for students, $8 for faculty/staff and $10 general admission. Seating by reservation only. For reservations call 305-348-3789, or for more information call 305-348-3358.

Due to an expected high turnout of students for the Virginia Tech vs. UM football game, the entire regular student section will be reserved for UM students only. However, tickets in a special East End Zone section will be sold to UM students (for their guests) before the general public can purchase them, and the students will be allowed to sit in that East End Zone with their guests by simply showing their valid UM ID.

Global Spectrum is proud to be the exclusive provider of food and beverage for the University of Miami Convocation Center. Global Spectrum seeks to provide qualified non-profit groups and civic organizations a unique fundraising opportunity. Providing volunteers to assist with concession stand operations as cashiers, vendors and stand workers can help groups meet and exceed their fundraising goals while ensuring the best possible service to our patrons. The program provides community exposure for the groups as well as community service experience for student volunteers. For more information contact University of Miami Convocation Center, Global Spectrum, PO Box 248281, Coral Gables, FL 33124. Phone: 305-284-8246 or email:eshoup@miami.edu.

UM mascot Sebastian the Ibis needs your vote for Capital One’s All American Mascot Challenge. Make Sebastian the National Mascot of the Year. Your vote counts! Check out the 12 mascots in the race and vote now for your favorite! Polls close Dec. 20, 2002 at 11:59 p.m. ET. The winner will be announced Jan. 1, 2003. Go to www.capitalonebowl.com/ to vote.

Thanksgiving Day is a time to offer thanks, but some would say being thankful shouldn’t be limited to just one day. According to the latest scientific research, gratitude might be something we ought to practice throughout the rest of the year.
“Religions and philosophies have long embraced gratitude as an indispensable manifestation of virtue, and an integral component of health, wholeness and well-being,” says Michael McCullough, associate professor of psychology at the University of Miami and one of the investigators on the Research Project on Gratitude and Thankfulness: Dimensions and Perspectives of Gratitude.
So far, several gratitude studies conducted by McCullough, co-investigator Robert Emmons of the University of California, Davis and colleagues have found compelling evidence that being grateful had a positive impact on people’s psychological and physical well being.
The long-term research project, which is supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation, entails three main areas: (1) developing methods to cultivate gratitude in daily life, (2) developing a measure to reliably assess differences in an individual’s disposition towards gratefulness and (3) designing experimental studies to distinguish the causes and consequences of gratitude and indebtedness.

TODAY
From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., the University of Miami School of Law will host an open house for prospective law students. The event will provide students an opportunity to tour the law school complex and to attend panel discussions featuring members of the law school’s faculty, student body and administration. Check-in begins at 8:15 a.m. and the first panel is scheduled for 9 a.m. For further information or to register for the open house, visit the School of Law’s webpage at www.law.miami.edu/admissions/reccalendar.html or call the Office of Admissions and Recruiting at 305-284-6746.

Signs, 8 & 10 p.m. @ Cosford Cinema. Sponsored by CAC.

Underclassmen, today’s your last chance to get your yearbook photo taken. There’s no sitting fee or appointment needed–first come, first served. Stop by UC 229 between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Ten Spot at the Rat @ 10 p.m. Join us at the Rat for Casino Night and catch MTV’s Real World Las Vegas.

NOVEMBER 27
The Wellness Center will be open from 6:30 a.m. – 9 p.m. today.

Organizations must RSVP online at www.miami.edu/coso by today to be a part of the C.O.S.O Spring Involvement Fair on Thursday, Jan. 23 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the UC patio.

NOVEMBER 28
The Wellness Center will be closed today.

Second Thursdays are Gallery Night on Miami Beach from 6 – 9 p.m. Tour Miami Beach art galleries via shuttle bus, free of charge, the second Thursday of every month. Call 305-673-7500 for more information.

NOVEMBER 29
The Wellness Center will be open from 8 a.m. – 9 p.m. today.

The Bank will be premiering at Cosford Cinema at 7:30 p.m. A brilliant young mathematician (David Wenham) is on the verge of discovering a formula that could predict fluctuations of the stock market when he is taken under the wing of Slick Banker Simon O’Reilley (Anthony La Paglia). In this world ripe for avarice and corruption, these two men will initiate one of the biggest banking scandals in decades.

NOVEMBER 30
The Wellness Center will be open from 8 a.m. – 9 p.m. today.

DECEMBER 1
The first Friday of each month, art lovers are toured via mini-bus limousine to Coral Gables art galleries and Books & Books bookstore from 7 – 10 p.m. Buses run continuously throughout the evening, allowing guests to spend as much time at each stop as they like. Call 305-444-4493 for details and more information.