NATIONAL CHAMPS PARADE PLANNED

The 2001 University of Miami National Football Champions will be honored in downtown Miami with a tickertape parade and courthouse rally at noon on Friday, January 25. The parade will begin at Bayfront Park and stretch west on Flagler Street where it will end on the steps of the Miami-Dade County Courthouse, 73 W. Flagler Street, in downtown Miami. Information on parking will be posted in e-Veritas and on http://hurricanesports.fansonly.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/010802aak.html as it becomes available. At 7 p.m. that evening a campus celebration will be held on the University’s Campus Green featuring the entire UM team and
coaching staff. Alumnus Roy Firestone, one of the nation’s best known sportscasters and ESPN show host, will act as Master of Ceremonies along with former player Don Bailey and “Voice of the Hurricanes” Marc Vandermeer.

Today
UM’s New Gallery presents Earth 2002, an exhibition featuring a showcase of 13 artists from around the country from today to February 15 at New Gallery in the Art Building, 1300 Campo Sano Drive. The artists featured in the show were chosen because their work deals with the ongoing changes in the environment and is in a variety of media, including photography, painting, prints, sculpture, video and installation.

There will be a special lecture “Artist as Activist” by Virginia artist Alexandria Searls, who will describe the potential interaction between art and politics, exemplified by her own experience, at 4:30 p.m., today, in Learning Center, Room 180. The show is free and open to the public. For more information call 305-284-2792.

Friday Grove on UC Patio from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.- Active Ingredients

Happy Hour at the Rathskeller from 4:30-8 p.m.

Sunday 20 January
WWF Royal Rumble at the Rathskeller from 7-9 p.m.

Monday 21 January
The Public Safety Department is holding a Rape Aggression Defense (R.A.D.) course. This 12-hour self-defense course offers basic education from risk reduction and avoidance to basic physical defense techniques designed for women of all ages. The course is from 6 – 9 p.m. on January 21, 23, 28 and 30 at the Wellness Center. For more information, call 954-699-7587.

Tuesday 22 January
The Sports and Recreational Interest Club Federation, made-up of 30 clubs, hosts an Open House from 5-7 p.m., where sports club officers staff information tables to promote their club’s activities.

CAC Movie- Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

Wednesday 23 January
Renown fashion photographer and filmmaker Bruce Weber and associate producer Nan Bush will hold a question and answer session following a screening of their 2001 film Chop Suey at 7:30 p.m. tonight at the Bill Cosford cinema.

Games night at Rathskeller from 7-9 p.m.

Thursday 24 January
Greek Life: Fraternity Forum.

Friday 25 January
The 2001 University of Miami National Football Champions will be honored in downtown Miami with a tickertape parade and courthouse rally today. The parade will begin at Bayfront Park and stretch west on Flagler Street where it will end on the steps of the Miami-Dade County Courthouse, 73 W. Flagler Street.

At 7 p.m. this evening a campus celebration will be held on the University’s Campus Green featuring the entire UM team and coaching staff. Alumnus Roy Firestone, one of the nation’s best known sportscasters and ESPN show host, will act as master of ceremonies along with former player Don Bailey and “Voice of the Hurricanes” Marc Vandermeer.

Friday Grove on UC Patio from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.- Shufly

Happy Hour at the Rathskeller from 4:30-8 p.m. -Rhumboogie

Monday 28 January
Seeking volunteers. Get Involved in the Community in 2002. Come speak one-on-one with 75 local non-profit agencies from 11 a.m. -1:30 p.m.today. Find out what they do and about possible volunteer opportunities at their agencies. For more information contact the Butler Volunteer Services Center at 305-284-GIVE.

Alpha Kappa Psi. Attention all business majors and minors Alpha Kappa Psi, The Professional Business Fraternity, will be having its spring recruiting from today to Feb. 7. If you are interested in networking with business professionals nationwide, please contact Valerie at 305-323-9230 or at Valeri004@hotmail.com.

Tuesday 29 January
CAC movie- Moulin Rouge

Wednesday 30 January
The next Smoking Cessation Program, free to all UM insurance holders, will begin today. Call Jennifer Pinto at 305-243-3209 for more information.

Once in a blue moon at the Rathskeller from 9-12 p.m.

Friday 1 February
Friday Grove on UC Patio from 11:30am-1 p.m.

Happy Hour at the Rathskeller from 4:30-8 p.m. – Erica Summers.

Monday 4 February
Guns N Violence Awareness Campaign

Students, administrators and gym-goers showed up at the George E. Smathers Wellness Center on Wednesday to “Catch the Wellness Wave,” the center’s sixth anniversary celebration.

Wellness Center director Norm Parsons kicked off the event.

“This is our sixth anniversary, however, it is also one of our open houses for the month,” Patty Swift, assistant director of Business and Marketing said.

The festivities included two-hour demonstrations on salsa dancing, belly dancing and hip-hop, some of the classes taught at the center. Members of Hui Aloha, the UM Hawaiian club, performed several hula dances.

It was like a luau with leis being provided to those who attended.

Food was also served, from low calorie fruit kabobs consisting of cantaloupe, watermelon, strawberries and grapes, to bruschetta and chicken tenders.

Mocktails were also provided, courtesy of BACCHUS.

The event also proved to be fun and worthwhile with a hula-hoop and limbo contest.

The hula-hoop contest seemed to go on forever with the last three contestants battling it out for the victory.

The gym’s oldest member, Richard Abarham, was also present to catch the last half of the celebration. He missed the first half because he was too busy doing his usual exercise regimen.

“I’m 91 years old, I’ve been here since the day it opened. I come here to swim every other day,” said Abraham, who is a UM professor emeritus.

“People here are so wonderful and the students are so polite, that’s why I love to come here,” he said. “Perhaps when I turn 95 they’ll give me a free membership.”

“I think the Wellness Center makes such a difference in the students lives,” said Patricia Whitely, Vice President for Student Affairs. “It makes them aware about how to live healthier lifestyles.”

“It also a way to bring the community together through educating them about nutrition and physical activity,” she added.

“This whole event was really a team effort,” she added. Whitely cutting and handing out the anniversary cake.

“It takes a lot of time, money, and student support to keep the Wellness Center looking in great condition. Thomas Reyes from UNICCO and his crew of six men clean the center from 10:30 at night until the next morning!” said Alan Rose, Assistant Director of Facilities.

“You don’t know they’re there, until they don’t do their job. They’re like the unsung heroes of the Center,” he added. The Wellness Center provides many opportunities for students and members of the community to stay healthy.

There are many programs and classes ranging from tai-chi, cooking, to aerobics.

For a small fee, students can even get a personal workout program by going through an assessment conducted by the Assistant Director of Fitness, Tony Musto.

“It’s impressive that a smaller school like UM could provide assessments like the one the Center provides,” Musto said.

Parsons reminisced about the time before the Wellness Center was built.

“In 1972 we raised $1.3 million to have the Lane Center Built here. In 1992 the students voted to allow the center fee to be included in their schedule of fees.”

In 1994, Parsons said, the Lane Center was torn down to build the Wellness Center.

“I’m just really happy that people are coming here to better themselves. From the day we opened, more than 2.5 million people have come through the Wellness Center doors.”

“I just want to emphasize how important it is to exercise and to establish good lifetime habits that directly affect our health,” he added.

Spring was in the air and out came all the nubile young Greeks recruiting on campus. The new and improved “Spring Recruitment 2002” began with a bang last Monday.

For all the male students at the University of Miami who took their time to ease into college life before deciding that Greek life is for them, spring recruitment came at just the right time.

“In the fall semester a lot of students just don’t know enough about Greek life or they want to take some time to adapt to the college atmosphere first,” said Mike Johnston, vice president for recruitment. “They don’t want to jump into a fraternity.”

The program is revamped this semester, Johnston said. Shuttles now take recruitees back and forth from the housing tours from the Panhellenic Building to Fraternity Row.

“Now they don’t have to trek all the way to and from [where they go]. It’s a big difference,” Johnston said.

Recruitment officially began last Monday, but students are still able to join in the program, which lasts until Feb. 1st, Bid Day.

The only caveat is, Johnston said, is that students must have a 2.3 G.P.A. or higher to participate. Recruitment is a time-intensive program and the Office of the Dean of Students, which runs the program, wants to ensure that academics do not suffer.

Although under university regulations fraternity recruitment is year-round all 10 fraternities, Alpha Epsilon Pi, Alpha Sigma Pi, Kappa Sigma, Lambda Chi Alpha, Pi Kappa Alpha, Sigma Chi, Sigma Phi Epsilon and Zeta Beta Tau, are participating in recruitment this semester.

“Spring Recruitment is usually smaller because there is not the influx of freshmen…there is more opportunity for bonding,” Johnston explained.

Interested students can sign up in the Breezeway today and Monday, where organizers will also have the schedules of all the different chapters and any other information needed.

Next Tuesday is the Greek Forum, which will be held in the University Center Flamingo Ballrooms.

Watching the events of Sept. 11 from over a thousand miles away distanced many University of Miami students from the sheer magnitude of the event.

However, some students were forced to witness then deal with the sadness personally as they went home, to New York for winter break.

“Flying over the site was the first time I thought of it as a national tragedy,” said Billy Bludgus, a student from Bayonne, N.J.

Bayonne, which sits across the river from Manhattan, looks straight out at the New York City skyline-a skyline now eerily devoid of the twin towers.

“I came to the realization that I was looking down on a graveyard,” Bludgus said.

Driving to high school every day, Bludgus would cross the New Jersey turnpike, giving him an unobstructed view of what was once the World Trade Center.

“Every day, without fail,” Bludgus said, “someone would make the comment that we were looking at the greatest site in the world. Now that’s not there anymore.”

They simply weren’t there anymore. This feeling of loss was common amongst New Yorkers and New Jersey residents.

“From a high point in my town,” said Don Dangler, a student from Morristown, N.J., “you could see a far distance. But the only thing you could see of New York were the twin towers.”

During his winter break, Dangler made the hour-long trip to Manhattan to see the crushed ruins of his former reminder of New York City.

“Lower Manhattan was a very depressing place,” Dangler said. “Knowing what happened there and looking at people’s faces…”

Dangler walked around Ground Zero, taking in all the different angles when he saw what he thought was a flower stand.

“After a second, I realized it was a memorial,” Dangler said.

Depression began to sink in as Dangler skimmed past flowers, stuffed animals and pictures of people lost in the disaster.

A moment later, Dangler said, Port Authority Police asked people to stand aside and a group of people in yellow hardhats were ushered past them.

“At first I didn’t know who they were,” Dangler recalled. “I thought maybe they were there to help in the clean up. But when they got closer to me, I saw the depressed looks on their faces.”

It was then that Dangler noticed the tags they were wearing. The tags read: “family.”

“Right then and there,” Dangler said, “it hit home as it didn’t in New Jersey or Miami. Bystanders who saw the looks on these people’s faces began crying. That’s when I said to myself, ‘I got to get out of here.'”

The feeling around Manhattan, despite the tragedy, has been a lot friendlier in the months since the devastation, some students said.

“I went into a caf

Dorsey drops back to pass. Has plenty of time. Sees Johnson in the end zone. Touchdown!

Sound familiar.

It was a recurring theme in a season that saw the Hurricanes’ offense put up a record 475 points – provide protection for the talent and let them overwhelm the competition.

Miami’s dominant offensive line allowed Ken Dorsey to be sacked four times all season. Four sacks – Miami’s defensive line is capable of that feat in one quarter.

I heard critics in the preseason say that Dorsey’s 200-pound frame was too fragile to handle the weekly bodily punishment of football. Maybe they’re right, but you sure couldn’t tell this season.

Dorsey could have drank a cup of coffee on the field and still not be touched behind this offensive line.

In what’s considered one of the most underrated positions in football, UM’s O-line made headline news each week.

Consider Bryant McKinnie, a 6-9, 335-pound junior college transfer, whose name I believe means “big mama jama”. When he stepped off the plane in Los Angeles, locals thought they were experiencing another shift in the fault lines. And this guy’s protecting Dorsey’s blindside.

McKinnie entered this season with the reputation of never giving up a sack in his collegiate career. So week after week, some ignorant young man would spout off about how the left tackle really wasn’t that good, and how he was going to make it onto ESPN’s Sports Center after he got by McKinnie.

I recall one such pass rusher – Syracuse’s sack machine Dwight Freeney – who was totally shut down that he didn’t even record a tackle against Miami.

That was after Freeney was named a finalist for the Lombardi Award (given to the nation’s best lineman), while McKinnie was not.

McKinnie ended up winning the Outland Trophy (given to the best interior lineman) and finished his collegiate career without giving up a single sack.

At the other tackle spot, there isn’t much of a drop off, except for about 30 or 40 pounds. Joaquin Gonzalez, a former walk-on who happens to be one of the most intelligent football players you’ll ever meet, passed on Harvard for an academic scholarship at UM.

Five years later he’s been the most durable player in Hurricane history, starting all 49 games he has played in.

A projected first or second round NFL pick, Gonzalez has given up only one sack in that span.

The man in the middle is Brett Romberg, calling most of the blocking signals on the line. Romberg has developed into a great center after previously playing guard and tackle during his UM career. Romberg was recognized as one of the best after being named as a finalist for the Rimington Award, given to the nation’s top center.

He is another lineman who has not given up a single sack in his collegiate career. Not bad for one of the few returning starters on UM’s offense.

Then there’s Martin Bibla – a guard that fits right into the underrated nature of an offensive line. Bibla has amazing offensive lineman skills, but wasn’t on any award list.

‘Canes O-line coach Art Kehoe considers him the best player on the line and Bibla figures to be the first guard taken in the NFL Draft. His run-blocking helped pave the way for Clinton Portis and his 1200 yards.

Bibla also has never given up a quarterback sack in his collegiate career.

So we’re down to the left guard position, one that was housed by Greg Laffere in 2000 and was a question mark entering this season.

Sherko Haji-Rasouli was the answer, picking up where Laffere left off, while starting the first seven games. An injury suffered in practice ended his season abruptly, and questions resurfaced about left guard.

Enter Ed Wilkins.

Wilkins started the final four games and the Rose Bowl, and the O-line did not miss a beat. Wilkins came back himself from an injury in 2000 that caused him to miss the majority of that year.

That’s the type of line Miami threw at opponents this year. Nothing could faze these guys – not even injuries, questions, all the hype and especially not opposing defensive linemen. Even McKinnie’s severely sprained knee couldn’t keep him from the Rose Bowl and protecting Dorsey.

The O-line plus Laffere held a streak of 12 games without allowing Dorsey to be sacked – 12 games – a streak that is as unfathomable as it is a testament to their talent and character.

And what transpired when they actually did give up the first sack? It was Nov. 3 against the lowly Temple Owls, and the ‘Canes were cruising along. Maybe it was a missed assignment, maybe it was one of the backs’ faults … maybe both.

Whatever the case, the sack was so monumental to Temple that you might’ve thought they had just won the national championship. Players danced and jumped up and down at the sight of Dorsey on the ground. Temple lost that game 38-0.

That’s how good this line was – it may go down as the best in college football history. Dorsey, Portis and the rest of Miami’s weapons flourished behind the massive unit on their way to the school’s first national crown in 10 years.

There were many reasons for Miami reaching college football’s pinnacle, and the offensive line was a big one.

Like Bryant McKinnie big.