Friday, March 18, 2005
Students moblize for political awareness
The new Behrend Political Science Society submitted its consti
tution to the Office of Student Affairs yesterday. The club is
designed for any student with an interest in politics or debate.
President Zaina Esoof, PoliSci 04, says that the society will
hopefully attract speakers such as alumni and political leaders that
will discuss the political field. Members could also have discus
sions following the viewing of political movies.
Debates that are being planned by members of the society are
not limited to discussions between the College Republicans and
Young Democrats. Esoof and the other charter members would
like to promote the interaction of students from all majors and all
ideological backgrounds.
The debate and political aspects of the Political Science Society
`ldol' finalist Vazquez
drops out; Nikko back in
By Daniel Fienberg
Zap2it.com
(KRT)
LOS ANGELES - "American Idol" will
begin its Final 12 on Tuesday with a differ
ent dozen than viewers saw unveiled
Wednesday night. In a surprising move,
Mario Vazquez has withdrawn from the
popular FOX talent show and will be
replaced by Nikko Smith.
Offering no explanation beyond the
always vague "personal reasons," FOX
announced Sunday (March 13) that
Vazquez would no longer be competing on
"Idol." A 27-year-old from New York City
with smooth dancing moves and a pure
voice, Vazquez had been one of the
favorites since his "Idol" audition in Las
Vegas.
A recent set of odds put out by an off
shore betting group had Vazquez as a third
betting choice, behind only Anwar
Robinson and Bo Bice.
Smith, son of Cardinals and Padres great
Ozzie Smith, will take the place in the Top
12 that many viewers had assumed would
be his before his unexpected departure last
week. Smith had been considered another
of the competition's favorites after strong
•••••••••••••••• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Top iTunes
downloads
Top 10 albums on iTunes Music Store for March 8,
"In Between Dreams," Jack Johnson
"The Massacre," 50 Cent
"Garden State," soundtrack
"Frances the Mute," The Mars Volta
"The Beekeeper," Tori Amos
"American Idiot," Green Day
"Rebirth" (iTunes version), Jennifer Lopez
"Songs About Jane," Maroon 5
•••••••• • • • • • • •
By Lacy Buzard
copy editor
Apple Computer Inc
(KRT)
"Hot Fuss," The Killers
"Amos Lee," Amos Lee
•••• • • •
el
)
Mario Vasquez suddenly quit "American
Idol" last week due to personal issues.
renditions of "Georgia on my Mind" and
"Let's Get It On" in the previous two weeks,
•••• • • •
should draw in non-majors according to Esoof.
The main objective for the society this semester is to grow.
Right now, the society has five core members, but Esoof hopes to
at least double that by the end of the semester. There will be
posters up around campus with more information.
The Political Science Society does not have a faculty advisor
yet. The students came up with the idea for the group by them
selves and proceeded to legitimize their organization without the
assistance of a staff member.
"I think one of the political science professors knows about,"
said Esoof.
Adult student Jane Speicher, SOSC 08, feels that a political
society on campus would be beneficial to younger students by
helping them become aware of issues such as social security and
others, that they may not think affect them.
New tech gadget guide puts plans in your hands
By Heather Newman
Knight Ridder Newspapers
(KRT)
There has been a flood of magazines on
the market lately that emphasize tech
gadgets you can buy (led by Conde Nast's
successful Cargo). But another new entry
focuses on gadgets you can build.
O'Reilly Media, publishers of the popu
lar series of Hacks instructional trade
paperbacks, is introducing Make, a quar
terly magazine that walks you through
complex home-electronics projects with
photos and step-by-step instructions.
The premiere issue, for example, teaches
you how to build a magnetic card reader, a
video camera stabilizer (for $l4) and a kite
rig so you can take aerial photographs.
The magazine itself is the size of
O'Reilly's books and nearly as expensive:
It carries a $14.99 cover price, and a year
ly subscription runs $34.95. Like most
newly launched magazines, it's fairly light
on ads, so its 192 pages are pretty much
uninterrupted.
If you think of the magazine as an even
geekier version of Popular Mechanics
how-to features, you'd be close. But even if
you don't plan on building a backyard
monorail (page 14), it's an interesting read.
For starters, all the instructions come
with O'Reilly's standard high-quality text
and illustrations. That means that even if
you don't want to make the perfect solder
joint (page 162), you'll get a really good
education on how the process works. And
for anyone who's stared at a favorite
but was not originally one of the six leading
votegetters among the "Idol" men.
In an interview that aired Monday on
"Extra," Vazquez remained cryptic.
"It was a very, very hard decision on my
part. ... 'American Idol' was only positive
and wonderful with me," Vazquez said.
"Overall, my intuition told me there was
things I really needed to take care of, per
sonal areas in my life that I'm trying to keep
private. ... To me that meant that I couldn't
continue on with the competition.
"Everything is great! I'll be expecting
some bad press and some good press, but
that's what comes with being in the public."
But other theories are certainly swirling.
In Roger Friedman's Fox News entertain
ment column, he speculates that Vazquez
may have wanted to avoid the risks of being
an "Idol" also-ran like Justin Guarini and
Diana DeGarmo. Then again, Friedman
mostly references unnamed sources, man
ages to repeatedly misspell Vazquez's name,
doesn't know that Nikko Smith was added
to the competition to keep a Final 12 and
thinks that Frenchie Davis' departure last
year opened the door for Fantasia Barrino to
win, even though Davis was briefly a con
testant two seasons ago.
household gadget and wondered how it
works, those make for addictive articles.
If you're not a hands-on person, there are
still plenty of geek-style computer and
gadget hack stories: how to get more from
your Gmail, speed up your typing, make
Excel more useful and so on. I especially
loved the stories profiling inventors of
nifty or popular gadgets that described
how they got their ideas or made their for
tunes, and the ones that put a MacGyver
like spin on making doodads. (One story
promo: "Imagine this: Your car battery is
dead, and you're stuck in the woods. Your
mission: Get home before you freeze to
death.")
There are reviews of books, gadgets,
gear and tools; reader-to-reader tips, which
presumably will become more valuable
when the magazine hits the stands; quick
hit how-tos on everything from home
entertainment to imaging to cars, and even
"life hacks," real-life tips for non-tech top
ics.
The premiere issue's "How-Toons" uses
a cartoon-style format to illustrate building
a motor, an idea that's done better in
Family Handiman magazine's "Wordless
Workshop," but it's good eye candy here.
The stories are illustrated either by pho
tos of the step-by-step instructions (as in
the card reader) or by rough pencil-style
drawings (as in a feature on how to create
a setup that would amplify a weak wireless
Internet signal). Both work well, although
the photos are more detailed and up to
O'Reilly's typical how-to standards.
There's a reason why their books are so
Fi l R
Incredibly better
than other ‘toons
Sure, "The Incredibles" won the Oscar a few weeks ago for
best animated feature. But consider the competition.
In the category, created for the 2002 awards, this stunning,
alages-delighting tale of a family of superheroes forced to
suppress their powers in an excessively litigious society was
up against only two other films: "Shrek 2" and "Shark Tale."
The former was funny and clever, yet wholly superficial, and
its first half-hour was relatively wretched. The latter was a
more urban, less enchanting gloss on "Finding Nemo,"
Despite its predecessor winning the very first animated
feature award three years ago, and both installments making
a gazillion dollars, "Shrek 2" wasn't any real competition io
'The Incredibles." And perhaps because it managed to attract
Martin Scorsest in a key supporting role - the man, it
appears, just can't catch a break at the Academy Awards -
'Shark Mile" certainly wasn't a threat, either.
So while it's great that "The Incredibles" got an award, it
really deserved to compete on a higher level. Because you
`know that gloomy, grimy boxing melodrama that won most
of the big prizes, including best picture? "The Incredibles"
'S IMMS it in both quality and durability.
•Nu haven't yet seen the best family film in years, DVD
Nat place to finally do so. Even on, say, a 27-inch
ter-director Brad Bird's unstoppable comic
' vividness and punch.
''*n with characters this well-drawn,
-tion "Nemo," never went quite
:spair over the lack of worthwhile
partB - I have taken a closer look at the
role of Helen Parr mother, wife, elasticized superhero.
As voiced by flinty Holly Hunter, Helen completely upsets
the ixtroeption that wife characters are there merely to pro
vide foils to the husbands. Sure, Bob Parr (Craig T. Nelson)
is the biggest thing in the movie, with his iceberg-sized jaw
but its Helen whose strength holds
movie together.
the intelligent, thoughtful family
Fen the thrilling action in tik movie,
• reaches out to more than just sugar~
tolerant parents. What other cartoon
iolet, the shy pro-teen Pan daughter,
essayist' and tegniar Nadeinettibl.t.
Radio 'commentator best knoWn for her wry yet squeaky
voice and obsession with Abraham Lincoln? The second disc
DVD provides a great 10-minute feature on
-ktneto be in the movie.
thoroughly diverse. For every
there's a more adult-themed tea
:oty, there's an all-new short show
home with deceptively cute baby
litter when the rest of the family
two making-of documentaries and
Bud Luckey, who created the win-
short film Toundinm (which pre
and is also included here, with
The Behrend Beacon
--By Phoebe Flowers
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
(KRT)
a f / Y , :** ol-11 *dolts Otto Writ
popular with the tech crowd, and this mag
azine speaks directly to that audience.
You don't have to be a hard-core nerd to
enjoy Make, but it helps. I can say with
confidence that I will build none of the
gadgets in the premiere issue (well, maybe
except that workaround for weak wireless
signals), but it was an engrossing read
from a "how it works" standpoint. If you've
ever considered doing something like
building your own PC, this is definitely the
magazine for you.
For more information, check out
http://www.makezine.com. The site has
more and different articles on the same
sorts of topics. You can also order the first
issue on Amazon.com or by calling 866-
289-8847.