Page 2 - LIONS EYE - Pantopia joins the ranks of elite clubs By Sarah Stover Lion's Eye Staff Writer One of the newest clubs be- ing advertised on scattered fliers across campus is the Pantopia Soci- ety. The fliers, however, tell little about what this club actually repre- sents. : The Pantopia Society was founded and named by a fellow stu- dent, Harry G. Charalabidis at the beginning of last semester. As Charalabidis explained it, the name “pantopia” was intended to be an elaborate play on words. The word “utopia” derives from the ancient Greek language. In translation, the prefix “u”=noand “topos(ia)”’=place. In other words, utopia is the Greek “ .. beneath all of our sometimes harsh and rigid exteriors, lies an individual kind of utopia.” word for perfection, a flawless soci- ety or “place” that could never re- ally exist. Because Charalabidis is an admirer of the novel Utopia by Sir Thomas Moore, and more impor- tantly, Plato’s Republic, he admits that such works influenced him on the originality of the club’s name. Adding some modern Greek to the old, Harry created the word “pantopia” from “pantos’=always attached to “topia.” The prefix “pan” also has the added benefit of meaning “everywhere.” So, the pre- fix of utopia initially meaning “no- place” was replaced with the prefix “pan” meaning “always/every- place.” This complicated and clever combination of language is meant to symbolize a very simple concept: that beneath all of our sometimes harsh and rigid exteriors, lies a indi- vidual kind of utopia. Even though all this may sound confusing, the club itself is not. What Charalabidis did was ac- tually restart the old philosophy club and revise and ratify its dated con- stitution. The nature of the club has been widely expanded. “The Pantopia Society is a discussion group kind of club for all students and faculty who want to talk about any- thing from philosophy to current events to entertainment, Plato to Party of Five.” stated Charalabidis. “We’re an updated version of the in- timidating philosophy club, and at our meetings we talk about anything from the Lewinsky Sex Scandal to Jerry Springer to our relationships with our friends and teachers to en- tering the adult world.” In addition, the Pantopia So- ciety has joined with the Penn In Hand Organization, which puts out the campus literary booklet. The goal is to publish a bigger, bolder, better magazine which will include every- thing the older publication had and much more. The magazine will be about 7” x 10” larger and will con- tain 40 pages of everything from po- etry to artwork. This improved magazine is dedicated solely for the purpose of giving a voice to anyone at Penn State who wants one. To date, the magazine is filling up quickly with contributions. The deadline for such contributions was Friday, the 13th, but this issue should not be the last. The Pantopia Society meets every other Thursday at 11:30 dur- ing common hour in room 320 main. The president and founder of the club is Harry G. Charalabidis and he can be reached at hxc170@psu.edu. Re- maining meeting dates are Novem- ber 12th, 26th and December 10th. Students interested in learn- ing more about the new literary magazine should also contact Charalabidis or Aaron Mixon at ham147@psu.edu. Importantly, Charalabidis emphasizes that the Pantopia Soci- ety is open to all students. He hopes to see the club grow and expand once the campus is introduced to what the Pantopia Society has to offer. As Harry Charalabidis stated, “We’re really a club for everyone.” SGA President Martin Ranalli and Vice President of Lion Ambassadors Matt Clower, strut their stuff at the Halloween Ball. Jenna Montgomery November 18, 1998 Bobbing for apples claims two more lives. . Jenna Montgomery Hispanic Pride Shines with Gregory Nava By Jim McGovern Lions Eye Staff Writer November is Hispanic Heri- tage Month, and to commemorate this on the 18% at 12:00 in the lounge in the Main building, the Penn State Speaker Series will welcome Gre- gory Nava, a director of Mexican- Basque descent. A San Diego native, Nava attended UCLA film school. While there he wrote and directed a half- hour dramatic film, based on the life of Garcia Lorca entitled “The Jour- nal of Rodriguez Silvia”. The film won him the award for Best Dra- matic Film at the National Student Film Festival. His next movie was “The Confession of Aman”, which garnered him the award for Best First Feature at the Chicago International Film Festival. Since then Nava has gone on. to write and direct several more film, including the Academy Award nomi- nated “El Norte”, “Mi Familia”, “Selena”, and the recent “Why do Fools Fall in Love”. His talents don’t end with writing and directing. He also has experience as a cinematog- rapher, a skill he demonstrated on his wife Anna Thomas’ 1977 feature “The Haunting of M”. Most of his films deal with the struggle of Latino Americans as the attempt to assimilate into Ameri- can culture. What Nava strives to do is make films that overcome the ste- reotypes of Latino Americans, giv- ing the audience an honest portrayal of these people and their lives. In an interview he gave at the Sundance Film Festival Nava said, “The key to me is to tell the truth. In our culture, the center is the family, not the gang. You can deal with ev- erything as long as you know the family is the center, everything else can change. That’s how we as Latinos see it, and if others see it, they will understand us.” Although most of Nava’s films may focus mostly on Latino * Americans, he does not believe that they speak to only a Hispanic audi- ence. While discussing his film “Mi Familia” in a 1995 interview with the Houston Chronicle, Nava said, “In making a film like this, I felt we could be who we are, and at the same time it could cross over to ev- erybody. Everybody who comes from a family can relate to this film.” The future looks very prom- ising for Nava. Along with more films, he was also one of seven di- rectors asked by Showtime to work on a documentary about American film in the Twentieth century. Along with directors such as Robert Zemeckis, Norman Jewison, and Penny Marshall, Nava will be asked to explore a topic that has defined American film during the past cen- tury. Mother and child go for “the greatest pumpkin ever” contest. | Regis Fields
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