2007_11_05 - Broward College

Www.broward.edu/observer
Index
Campus News.......................................3-5
Collegewide.............................................7
Entertainment...........................................8
Features....................................................9
Comics and Puzzle............................12-14
Opinion.............................................16-17
Sports................................................18-20
Volume 22, Number 6
November 5, 2007
Special Feature
Debate
How you can help
our world
Global Warming
Debate Continues
The Red Socks
Win It
Page 10-11
Page 16
Page 20
Sports
Pain in the pocket book Impasse Continues
By Buzz Lamb
Staff Writer
When presented with the
opportunity to raise tuition up
to five percent per credit hour
was approved by the Florida
Legislature, the members of the
BCC Board of Trustees who were
present at the October meeting
grappled with the prospect of
requiring students to dig even
deeper into their wallets next
semester.
Two members of the fivemember board were absent
from the meeting leaving the
three members in attendance
the arduous task of deciding
whether it is in the best interest
of the college to raise the cost of
tuition.
BCC President, J. David
Armstrong Jr. advised the board
that the legislature had also
approved, in special session, a
bill providing the state’s colleges
with non-recurring resources
to try to fill the gap created by
the budget cuts in addition to
approving the tuition increase.
“The
(College)
President’s
Council met with the governor
last week in Tallahassee and we
had a very good conversation
with him,” Armstrong said.
Board member and Vice
Chair, Paul Tanner, conducted the
meeting in the absence of current
chairperson Lourdes Garrido.
When Tanner introduced the
agenda Action Item regarding
tuition, he had trouble spitting
out the word “increase.” “I can’t
say the word,” he muttered as he
motioned to the President to take
over for him.
Last spring Gov. Christ
vetoed a tuition hike that had
been approved by the legislature.
Armstrong said the governor
related to the President’s Council
his reluctance to raise tuition.
“However, he made it clear that if
we would commit to take a strong
look at what we can do to help
students with financial aid needs
he would back the proposal,”
Armstrong said. “There is one
other important thing that got put
into the legislation, something
brand-new.
In order to get on a schedule
of sorts, rather than riding a
financial roller coaster …there
was a provision added to the
bill which will index the tuition
fees relative to inflation or the
consumer price index,” he said.
Armstrong said the provision is
significant because it would permit
community colleges which did
not raise tuition to their allowed
capacity to increase tuition as
needed, without having to wait
▪ board
continued on page 7
Costume social success
By Jessica Beans
Central Bureau chief
Students, friends, and even family showed up Oct. 26, for BCC’s Costume Social. The
event was set on Tigertail Lake, right in front of Bass Outdoor World. Everyone came
dressed in their spookiest and ready to party. Throughout the night the rain made itself
present, but it didn’t stop the monster mash.
This wasn’t your average Halloween shin-dig. As far as the costumes were concerned, the kids definitely gave the students a run for their money. Costumes of all kinds
could be found; particularly an aluminum robot that came equipped with a CD burner.
As people approached the social area, they were greeted by various faculty and S.G.A.
members in costume. The hungry guests were lured in by the smells of tasty food on the
grill. The barbeque, which was right on the water, was perfect for mingling.
Then, of course, there was the haunted party lounge. Beetle Juice, the movie, was
playing on a huge projection screen and with movie theatre style chairs lined up against
the walls, which made the viewing extra special. Not to mention the ice cold air conditioning that brought relief from the humidity outside. Strobe lights and black lights
gave the room that extra creepy touch. The hallway of the Tigertail Lake Center also
had an array of ghoulish goodies, devilish desserts and drinks. If you weren’t
able to make it this year, mark it down on your calendar for next year.
by Natalie Bobb
Staff Writer
students are the reason we’re here
and we don’t want to cut back on
the number of classes or faculty,”
The Broward Community she added.
College Board of Trustees
According
to
Lorenzo
has declared an impasse Harrison, member of the United
in its contract negotia- Faculty of Florida BCC chapter
tions with the Broward negotiating team and professor
Community College chap- of Nuclear Medical Assisting at
ter of the United Faculty of North Campus, in order to sucFlorida.
cessfully run the college’s proBCC administration and the grams, the employees that run
UFF, which represents full-time those programs need to be fairly
professors as well as librarians compensated.
and counselors, met 14 times
“A first-year professor with a
between April 12 and Sept. 17. Master’s degree gets paid $3,000
Neither party has been able to less than a first-year high school
come to an agreement on major teacher that has a Bachelor’s deissues such as compensation and gree,” said Harrison. “If the firstbenefits. Other issues that remain year professor has a Bachelor’s
unresolved
are
degree, the diffaculty evaluain salary
“We were very ference
tion, faculty prois $6,000,” he
surprised
fessional obligaadded.
tion and profesHarrison feels
after
sional developthat in order for
negotiations the college not
ment days.
While
em- began to learn to fall behind,
ployees
are
must make
that we had a itadjustments
signed to 3-year
to
state budget its faculty salcontracts, each
party can open
cut, said edna ary schedule on
three issues per
a yearly basis.
chun.”
year during yearBCC adminisly negotiations.
tration proposed
Compensation
a $1,000 base
and benefits are open for negotia- building salary increase for all
tion on a yearly basis.
full-time professors as well as
According to Edna Chun, chief full-time non-instructional emnegotiator of BCC administra- ployees. A base building salary
tion’s bargaining team and Vice increase is a permanent salary
President of Human Resources adjustment that will be used in
and Equity, this year’s negotia- calculating retirement salaries
tions were burdened by a decrease and future increases whereas a
in state appropriation of funds. non-base building adjustment is a
The 4 percent budget cut equals one-time-only adjustment. Some
$3 million.
faculty will also get an increase
“When we had initially begun based on length of employment
negotiations, we had certainly with BCC.
hoped to offer a much higher
“This is not optimal, we agree,
amount of money,” said Chun. but it is a very difficult budget
“We were very surprised after year,” said Chun.
negotiations began to learn that
According to Chun, the $1,000
we had a state budget cut,” she increase will especially help emadded.
ployees that are at the lower end
Due to the budget cut, BCC’s of the salary scale because a peroperating funds have been dimin- centage increase would in conished. As a result, the college has trast give employees who earn
made several adjustments, such lower amounts less money.
as, raising the temperature in the
Another major issue that BCC
buildings and cutting back on ad- administration and the UFF canministrative cell phones.
not agree on is the benefits pack
“We’ve done a number of
things to save money,” said Chun.
▪ contract
“But we have not frozen hiring
continued on page 7
nor have we laid anyone off. The
The Observer
August 13, 2007
Central
november 5, 2007
Get your paddles ready
By John Wilson
Staff Writer
On Oct. 25, 2007 in Building
19/ Activity Center of BCC’s
Central Campus a Ping-Pong tournament was held which became a
spectacular display of table tennis
toughness. The tournament was
held from 12 p.m. to about 2:30
p.m. and the winner’s prize was
a digital camera. To play in the
tournament, as in all other tournaments sponsored by Student
Programming, the participants
had to pay a $2 fee and show
proof that they were students of
BCC. The organizer of the event
is Sal Lutwak, the Program Chair
of Student Programming, and besides Ping-Pong he does Madden,
dominoes, and Billiards (Pool).
Before the tournament began,
questions were asked as to who is
expected to win it all, and although
many spectators and participants
answered, two names came frequently: Leonardo Resende and
Paul Perez. As far as practical advice and strategies for the games,
Israel Labarca, a Pre-Med major,
stated “play the corners, close to
net, and if possible, effectively
use spins.” Edwin Riofrio also
said that one has to be “physically
and mentally focused” and that
the return of the serve is “heavily
dependent on the wrist.”
Other players of interest in
the tournament included a former player of the Haitian national
soccer team and the proclaimed
“King Kong of Ping Pong.”
The Soccer Player, Edward
Saint Hilaire, currently an accounting major and tutor in economics. He started playing at 12
years old in school, he became
the high school champ for three
years. The team that he formerly
played soccer for is Don Bosco
De Petion-Ville.
“The King Kong of Ping
Pong,” Ahmad Hamze, and he’s
been playing for about 2 years.
Recently, he was in a tournament
in Lebanon where he won the
grand prize of $7,000 by defeating all the Arab states, including a
shutout of Syria, 3-0.
With the tournament beginning
now, it attracted a sizable crowd
of onlookers wanting to see feats
of unparalleled skill; others wanted to see something like Balls of
Fury. Each match was played as
best-of-three games, with players being swept quickly in the
first round. In the first round,
Hamze was eliminated by Saint
Hilaire, Aikiah Barclay by Edwin
Riofrio, Totoni by Paul Perez,
Peter Leyopold by Achyut Mehta,
and Israel Labarca by Leonardo
Tomasini.
Two students competing in the ping-pong tournament.
Correction:
For the Computer Club
The Clubs advisor is
Professor Dhanasar
For more information on
the Computer club Email
[email protected]
(954) 201-2907
The next meeting will be
Nov.7 from 12:30 to
1:30
In Building 48 room
310.
In the second round, Saint
Hilaire eliminated Riofrio. During
this match up, Riofrio held is own
until Saint Hilaire paused the
game to take off his shoes, his
weights, and his warm up pants,
all to the amazement of the audience, who would have never conceived the thought of this happening at a time like this.
The other notable match of the
second round was with Achyut
Mehta and Paul Perez. Of all the
matches, this was the first one to
go all the way to the third game,
with Mehta finally succumbing to
the court coverage by Perez.
In the third round, Perez defeated Saint Hilaire while Leonardo
Resende defeated the winner between two late additions to the
tournament. With the final match
between these two, as predicted
by the onlookers and participants
in the beginning, the stage was set
for two at the apex of their skill
sets. The ball was moving with
intensity, paddles connecting and
releasing confident shots into the
opponents’ side, and through it
all, the winner of the tournament
was Leonardo Resende. All in all,
the Ping Pong tournament was an
interesting event sponsored by
the Student Programming organization of BCC’s Central Campus.
photo by john wilson
The Observer
Calendar of Events
November
Nov. 6 Evening Coffee House: The Lounge 6-8 p.m.,
Bldg. 17/ Circle
Nov. 7 Jim Bob’s Chilli Cook-Out: 11 a.m.- 2 p.m., Bldg.
19/patio and grass area.
Nov. 12 Toy for Tots Drive
Nov. 16 Turkey Shoot Out Bldg. 10/ Gym
Nov. 27 Evening Coffee House: The Lounge 6-8 p.m.
Bldg. 17/ Circle.
Nov. 29 Madden Tournament. Noon to 4 p.m. Bldg. 19/
Central Park Cafe.
December
Dec. 4 Yoga, Dance classes, Games. 11 a.m.- 2 p.m. Bldg.
19/ Patio/ Central Park Cafe.
Dec. 5 Cram Jam: 11 a.m.- 2 p.m. Bldg. 19/ Patio/ Central
Park Cafe.
Dec. 6 Yoga, Dance classes, Games. 11 a.m.- 2 p.m.
Bldg. 19/ Patio/ Central Park Cafe.
south
The Observer
Your habits up in smoke
By Kevin Rosenberg
Staff Writer
Dr. Daryl Miller’s honors
Biology class presented their
second annual Smoke Busters
Luncheon, an anti-smoking workshop, on Oct. 23 in the Southern
Breezeway located on the BCC
South Campus.
Over 100 students and faculty
members attended the workshop.
It began with a brief introduction by Pamela Chuy, a student in
Miller’s honors Biology class.
Andre Cuddihy, the South
Florida area program director for
the American Lung Association
(ALA), was the guest speaker for
this event.
Cuddihy, who has a master’s
degree in Public Health, has been
affiliated with the ALA for 15
years.
He began his presentation with
an introduction of the ALA and its
contributions to society.
The audience was then presented with some stunning statistics regarding tobacco use and its
devastating health effects.
One of the most astonishing
statistics provided by the ALA
shows that 1 out of 2 smokers
will die of a smoking related illness. More information, provided
from scientific studies, attest that
1 out of every 5 deaths is tobacco
related.
Tobacco related illnesses are
responsible for the deaths of
438,000 smokers and non-smokers every year. The effects of second hand smoke on the health of
non-smokers are almost parallel
to those who smoke.
During his speech, Cuddihy
also gave the audience some bad
news regarding smokers who try
to quit their addiction “only 7 out
of 100 people that try to quit actually do.”
According to the ALA, the average age a person will start using
tobacco is at the age of 11, seven
years before the legal age for use
of this product.
Cuddihy confirmed that lung
cancer kills more women than
breast, cervical and ovarian cancer combined.
To make it clear to everyone
at the workshop of how serious
the consumption of tobacco really
is, Cuddihy stated “Tobacco is the
number one cause of preventable
death in the United States.”
Cuddihy suggests that the best
way to quit is to use products intended to assist in the quitting of
tobacco, such as nicotine gum,
patches, and prescription drugs.
People who use these products
are 30 percent more likely to quit
than those who try to quit without
any sort of support.
Andre Cuddihy from the American Lung Association
speaks to students
november 5, 2007
Something’s cooking
From left to right: Rohan Myrie, Yovang
Kamgopaonl,Scott Bunnenberg, Paula Rios,
and Frank Rios.
Photo By John Wilson
photo by hubert phanord
One of the cafeteria workers, Scott Bunnenberg.
Photo By John Wilson
North
november 5, 2007
The Observer
Deca holds mini conference
PTK makes
many charitable
contributions
By Davidson Taylor
Contributing Writer
By Anthony Perrucci
North Bureau Chief
Phi
Theta
Kappa,
the
International Honor Society of the
two-year college system, has long
had a presence at BCC North.
Student Richard Schwartz,
Secretary and Historian of the
North Campus chapter of PTK,
recently outlined a number of activities the club is planning.
The last week of October, for
example, the group discussed the
plight of exploited children. The
discussion covered children serving as soldiers in armed conflicts,
as well as child prostitutes. The
discussion ended with the presentation of “awards” designed to call
to light such troubling events.
“It’s an ironic awards show,”
said Omega Phi chapter president
Patricio Gonzalez.
According to Gonzalez and
Schwartz, other future events will
include a discussion of Green
Business, aiming to examine the
ways the health of the planet can
be aided by private business.
Dr. Peggy Green, Professor
Jerry Schwartz, and Professor
James Amato are lined up to serve
on a panel discussion.
“It’s about how ecology meets
economy, on a global and individual scale,” Gonzalez elaborated.
On Nov. 16, a charity concert
is planned for North Campus as
well.
Gonzalez said that PTK aims
to help both members as well as
the community.
“We do a lot of volunteer service,” he said, “from beach cleanups to [working with] the Ronald
McDonald House [Charities].”
Phi Theta Kappa also offers
“$160 million in transfer scholarships to members,” Gonzales
said, as well as “the opportunity
to lead projects [that benefit] the
chapter to the campus to the community.”
Any students wishing to join
PTK must have a 3.5 GPA, and
have earned 12 college credits.
“The most important opportunity [PTK provides] is the opportunity to put your leadership
skills to the test,” Gonzalez says.
“It offers a small slice of what
real life is like.”
Old friends and newcomers to Florida Delta Epsilon Chi
came together for lots of fun and
food at the 2007 state Fall MiniConference at Tigertail Park.
BCC’s North Campus Chapter
hosted the event on Oct. 21, a
day that started out overcast but
steadily heated up
to scorching temperatures by early
afternoon.
More
than
two-dozen
students from Florida
Delta Epsilon Chi
chapters showed
up. Joining members of the BCC
North
Chapter
were representatives from chapters at Johnson &
Wales University, Florida State
University, Northwood University,
Florida Atlantic University’s Boca
Raton Campus, and University of
Central Florida.
This year’s annual canoe race
between chapters on Tigertail
Lake was filled with thrills and
spills – two of them, actually.
For the second year in a row,
FAU Boca Raton’s team won the
race with rowers Phillip Ricker,
state Reporter/Historian, and
Marc Kozlin. Second place was
won by the UCF team of Jeremiah
Leavelle and Will Alzamendi,
and third was taken by Johnson
& Wales’ Jewel Bateman and
Courtney Ezell.
Adding excitement to the race
were Northwood’s Rick Gubitosi
and Brian Brackbill, who capsized
their canoe early in the race, and
BCC North’s Lucianna Ladislau,
whose vessel flipped close to
shore in the final moments of the
competition to ensure the host
chapter team’s last place spot.
Following the race, Florida
Executive Director Jack Rose
made several announcements
about the forty third annual state
Career Development Conference,
Feb. 23-March 2, 2008, including
the addition of the pilot Financial
Statement Analysis Event. He also
addressed changes in the Human
Resources Management, Fashion
and International Marketing
events.
Also, Rose announced that
organizers of the International
Career Development Conference
in Atlanta, April 12-15, are hoping to treat participants to a
Georgia Institute of Technology
basketball game.
BCC North Adviser and state
Board Member Paul Ricker
thanked students and advisers for
attending the mini-conference,
explained various competitive
events to new
members and
encouraged
all students to
compete.
Adding to
the call for
members
to
compete was
state
Board
Chairperson Dr.
Joanne Leoni,
of Johnson &
Wales. She said
file photo
the experience
of competition adds to students’
readiness for the workforce.
“Really compete,” Leoni said.
“You bring DECA with you in
your careers.”
Rose added that recent studies
have shown that college graduates nationwide have been shown
to lack skills in oral and written
communication, critical thinking
and teamwork.
“DECA addresses all of those
things,” Rose said, adding that
membership and experience “look
good on a resume.”
The Observer
JUNE 11, 2007
COLLEGEWIDE
november 5, 2007
The Observer
Contract Board wrestles with tuition
hits hard increase yet again...
The impasse has
been declared
and students
should not be
affected
▪ contract
Continued from page 1
age that is currently offered by
the college. BCC’ health plan differs from other health plans inthat
claims are paid out of a pool of
money that is supported by the
college as well as employee con
tributions.
According to Chun, BCC’s
Health Care Task Force recommended increasing employee copays in order to off-set the rising
cost of health care. The task force
consists of 12 members, four of
which are representatives from
the UFF.
“The increase in out of pocket
expenses for employees was expected because of increases in
health care costs,” said Harrison.
Chun feels that a resolution
needs to be made soon since the
health plan’s administrators need
to hold open enrollment.
“The college really needs to
move ahead with making the
changes that will keep the plan
healthy, particularly in years
“The college
really needs
to move ahead
with making the
changes that
will keep the
plan healthy, ”
said Chun.
where you could have catastrophic illnesses which happened five
or six years ago when the plan
was decimated,” said Chun.
Now that an impasse has been
declared, the UFF and BCC administration will meet to choose a
special magistrate from a list provided by the Public Employees
Relations Commission. If they
cannot agree on a magistrate, each
side will strike three names from
the list provided and PERC will
then choose the special magistrate
from the remaining names.
BCC students should not be
affected by the impasse. The contract between BCC and the UFF
explicitly forbids strikes, work
stoppages, or failure or refusal
to perform assigned work by faculty covered by the agreement.
However, informational picketing that does not interfere with
the college’s normal operations is
allowed.
“Our mutual goal [along with
the UFF] is to educate our students. We want to move forward
as quickly as possible in order to
reach that goal,” said Chun.
▪ Board
Continued from page 1
for the legislature to approve
additional increases. “None of
us like to increase tuition,” he
said.
Once the bill is signed by the
governor, the five percent increase
will raise a resident’s tuition and
fees $3.80 to $70.60 per credit
hour and a non-resident’s costs
by $11.64 to $250.69. Armstrong
said the average student at BCC
takes eight credit-hours per
semester. The new fees will be
implemented January 1, 2008
and will be reflected in the tuition
costs for the next semester.
After a motion was made by
Trustee Georgette Sosa
Douglas and seconded
by
newly
appointed
Trustee Sean Guerin, the
proposal received two
favorable votes and one
negative. According to
Board attorney, Kevin
Fernander, the tuition hike
requires a majority (three
out of five) of the Board
to vote in favor in order to
pass.
After much soulsearching and wrestling
with his personal views
regarding additional costs
to students, Vice Chair
Tanner realized his vote
was critical to the passage
of the tuition increase and
Photo courtesy of trippscott.com
Kevin Fernander is the general counsel for
Broward Community College.
eventually called for a second
vote, wherein the proposal passed
unanimously.
Karina Camarena, 22, an
architecture student at the WHC
Downtown Campus said the new
costs will probably have an effect
on students although she feels
it will be a modest one. “Three
dollars and eighty cents (per credit
hour) doesn’t sound that bad,” she
said. “I already make sacrifices
to attend college…I don’t go
to movies or go shopping,” she
said.
Camarena said with the price
of gasoline, food and housing
going up all the time it is of little
surprise to her that the tuition is
being raised. “I’m just glad it is
not a huge amount,” she said.
The Observer
entertainment
Brad Pitt plays the outlaw
ingly portrayed by Casey Affleck, ings and appreciate what it says
that events are set in motion about our tendency to bend the
leading to the titular incident. truth of history to our own ro The story of Jesse James has Both Pitt and Affleck offer out- mantic whims. Much like “The
been told so many times that it is standing performances, as do the Long Riders” and “The Great
a wonder that anyone could find rest of the cast. The principle Northfield, Minnesota Raid” this
something new to
weakness of the movie offers a fresh look at one
say. However, with A surreal and movie, however, is of America’s premier mythologi“The Assassination
its length. Too of- cal figures, one that isn’t afraid to
haunting
ten the plot seems peer beyond the veil of popular
of Jesse James by
look at the
the Coward Robert
aimless or insignifi- romanticism and penetrate into a
lives
of two
Ford” rookie dicant due primarily deeper, more psychological realm
rector
Andrew
to underdeveloped of consciousness.
men forced
Dominik has done
together by supporting
just that. A surreal
characters
fate.
and haunting look at
and a lack
the lives of two men
of experiforced together by
ence by
fate “The Assassination of Jesse director Dominik, “The
James” subverts the stereotypes Assassination of Jesse
of its own genre, creating a type James” being only his
of anti-western in the process. second feature film. Spanning the last year of his “The Assassination
life, the movie paints a portrait of of Jesse James by the
the notorious outlaw, played with Coward Robert Ford”
great depth and pathos by Brad is at once poignant
Pitt, as being a man controlled not and uneven; overlong
simply by the laws of civilization, and epic. It’s a flawed
but instead by a force greater than movie, but one that is
that of any man.
made with so much
Its when he meets the young love, care and raw talPhoto courtesy of warnerbros.com
idealist with a penchant for hero- ent that it is easy to
Brad Pitt as Jesse James.
worship Robert Ford, unnerv- overlook its shortcomCody McGowan
Contributing Writer
Upcoming Events and Releases
Concerts:
11/07 Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez will play at American Airlines Arena.
11/07 MySpace MusicTour featuring Hellogoodbye, Say Anything, and Polysics at the Revolution Live.
11/09
Badfish (Sublime tribute/cover band) at the Revolution Live.
11/11 The Bravery will play at the Culture Room.
11/13 Tegan & Sara at the Revolution Live.
11/29 Kelly Clarkson at Mizner Park in Miami.
11/08 Against Me! plays at the Revolution Photo courtesy of mtv.com
The folklore singers Tegan and Sara.
Live.
11/23 Streetlight Manifesto at the Culture Room.
11/25 Avenged Sevenfold at the Revolution.
Movies and Music:
11/06 “Ratatouille” will be released to DVD, along with “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.”
11/13 “Ocean’s 13” and “Shrek 3” come out on DVD.
11/06 Chris Brown’s new album “Exclusive” will be released, along with Jay-Z’s “American Ganster.”
11/13 Alicia Key’s album, “As I Am,” hits stores.
Photo courtesy of amazon.com
11/20 Amy Winehouse’s album “Frank,” is released.
The cover of “Frank.”
Arts & Theater:
Tickets on sale now for:
Monty Python’s “Spamalot,” and
“Rent” at the Ziff Ballet Opera House
Carnival Center for the Performing
Arts in Miami.
Ballet Etudes Presents the “Nutcracker” at the Miami Dade County Auditorium on Nov. 4 in Miami.
Photo courtesy of siteforent.com
november 5, 2007
Book of the Dead:
Kay Scarpetta series
Author Patricia Cornwell adds on to her
Scarpetta series.
Angela Osborne
Opinion Editor
Dr. Kay Scarpetta is back
on the case, and what a case
it turns out to be.
Patricia Cornwell has
brought back her famous
character for the fifteenth
book in the Scarpetta series,
the “Book of the Dead.” Just
like the rest of the books in
the series, this blood chilling tale will be flying off the
shelves into the hands of eager readers as it climbs the
bestsellers list. This book
has all the makings of a hit,
a serial killer that is nearly
impossible to figure out, in
Photo courtesy of partriciacornwell.com
depth forensics that allow the
“Book of the Dead” is Cornwell’s 15
reader to feel as if they are
book in the Scarpetta Series.
watching this unfold before
their eyes and the melodramatic Self is up to her old games again,
events that breathe life into the spreading high school rumors of
infidelities, altering secrets over
cast of characters.
Scarpetta, and the rest of the the internet, and assisting in the
usual team, have relocated to qui- mental breakdown of Scarpetta’s
et Charleston, North Carolina, and assistant, and friend Marino.
As the team fights the odds
opened a private forensic pathology consulting agency. Her case- against a serial killer armed with
load involves trying to identify a enough knowledge of forensics to
murdered young boy, but then she leave little clues, this book cauis hired to consult with the Italian tions that sometimes too much
police on the gruesome murder of knowledge is a bad thing. They
a rising American teenage tennis also have to deal with the implostar. When the trail of clues leads sion of their personal relationher back to Charleston, the story ships because everything had
come to the forefront.
becomes hard to put down.
“Book of the Dead” is very
An old foe, the manipulative
made for TV shrink, Dr. Self, is much alive and will captivate
back to cause more drama in the readers until the very last page,
lives of those Scarpetta holds dear. leaving them wanting more.
30 Days of Night
Andres Lopez
Staff Writer
They have existed throughout time in fictional and non fictional ways. The topic at hand:
vampires. In the small town of
Barrow, Alaska, these characters
mysteriously come to life in the
film called “30 Days of Night. “
The movie is based on the
graphic novel by Steve Niles
and Ben Templesmith. Niles also
worked on the screenplay of the
same name. This is just one of
many projects under the watchful eye of producers and directors, who are waiting for the next
big hit of films. Niles is currently
working on Wake The Dead and
Freaks Of The Heartland.
Director David Slade (Hard
Candy) continues with his wit
of directing out of the box movies that keep the viewer guessing
what will happen next. This is the
case for this film, that has already
grossed over 16 million dollars at
the box office according to boxofficemojo.com
The film begins with the last
day of dawn quickly approaching
and having the residents of Barrow
unaware of the suspense about to
hit their town. Josh Hartnett (The
Black Dahlia) plays the role of
Ebsen Oleson, one of the town’s
law enforcement officers married to Stella Oleson played by
Melissa George (Turistas). They
will have to face a massacre they
could have never imagined, not
even in their worst nightmares: A
massive spree of killings and the
conversion of everyday citizens
into vampires capable of taking
over mortals and changing them
into blood sucking immortals.
It is then that this duo, along
with a few of their mortal friends,
makes an attempt to bring down
the vampires. However, with the
cold wind blowing away the mortals minds for what will be for
most of them their final nights.
But with numerous days behind
and the count down of day light;
one must ask, what will happen?
Who will survive? Will this group
of strangers and friends make it
out in time for them to live another day, so they can see day light?
Those answers can only be
found out by taking a bite out
of time and going to see it at the
movie theatres. It must be asked,
will the thunderous bites of these
vampires prove to be stronger
than the fire, axes, bullets, and
light that disables them to continue their destruction of Barrow,
or will they prevail?
FEATURES
november 5, 2007
The Observer
Tony Hawk’s
Bar Review: The
Proving Ground Coral Springs Tap
Kevin Rosenberg
Staff Writer
“Tony
Hawk’s
Proving
Ground” (the latest add-on to the
series of Tony Hawk skateboarding games) is a very appealing
game. It has constantly improved
since the first Tony Hawk game,
and this is no exception. My interest was first sparked when the
commercial presented by proskater Mike Vallely aired.
In Proving Ground you are on
the east coast. So, you get a much
needed change of scenery. It has
a darker feel to it than the previous Tony Hawk games (which
have more of a California look to
them.)
You start off in Philadelphia,
and as you progress other cities are
unlocked (such as: Washington,
D.C, and Baltimore.)
There are 3 story lines you can
follow, which will show what kind
of skater you turn into. These are:
Rigger, Hardcore, and Career. In
each one of these story lines there
are 3 challenges.
In the rigger storyline you have
to prove to Jeff King that you are
worthy of a visit from him to your
lounge. Then you learn how to
climb objects with Bam Margera.
Finally, you need to modify
your environment for a contest
with pro-skaters Daewon Song,
Rodney Mullen, and Vanessa
Torres.
In the hardcore storyline, Mike
Vallely teaches you the aggro kick
(to gain speed) and how to skate
check people. First you have to
help a guy get his magazine online with videos of you skating.
Next you have to take FDR Skate
Park (located in philly) back from
a gang called “The Crazy 21”.
Lastly, you learn how to carve
and carve grind (2 new techniques
that are exclusive to this game) in
a swimming pool.
The career storyline starts
with you making a video with
Arto Saari. After Bob Burnquist
teaches you some skills, you enter
a competition. To finish you have
to take pictures of yourself for a
magazine with Stevie Williams.
There is never a dull moment.
In addition to the storylines, there
are plenty of extra missions that
you will run across as you skate
around the cities. Also, as each
new skater is introduced to you,
you are treated to videos of them
skating.
The game is both challenging and addictive. I found myself
stuck to the television trying to
perfect the challenges. I highly
recommend this game for any
fans of the Tony Hawk games.
Anthony Perrucci
North Bureau Cheif
What happened to the
American sports bar? Are you
tired of cheesy corporate brass and
wood rip-offs, like the Ale House
and Fridays, where drinks can run
you five bucks a pop and soccer
moms are eating with screaming
kids two feet away?
There is hope, the Coral
Springs Tap is a neighborhood
bar where drinks are cheap and
good old bar conversation is
plentiful. It’s a land mark that
has been in Coral Springs since
Sample Road was dirt and suburbia wasn’t creeping all the way to
the Everglades.
The owner,
Jeff Reter,
has been running the
bar for
f o u r
years
and is
s e e n
regularly
behind the
wood or keeping
score on dart games.
The Tap caters to
a wide variety of customers, but
BCC students frequent the establishment. Tim Powers, a BCC
student who plays for the Tap’s bartender remembers your drink,
dart team said, “It’s a cool place, if not your name.
everyone is friendly, the drinks
The Tap is big, with plenty
are cheap and there is always of seats at the bar and twelve
something going
tables around
“It ’s a cool
on here.”
the place. It’s
With two dol- place, everyone not just a bar
lar drafts, and
for
Friday
is friendly,
shot specials evand Saturday
the drinks
ery night of the
nights, Monday
week, it works
are cheap and Night Football
well with the
attracts
a
there is always crowd. Tuesday
budget you have
to party with afand Thursday
something
ter a long day
are dart
going on here.” nights
of studying and
league
night
writing papers.
and the house
It’s the ambigets
packed.
ence of the place that you feel. It’s Wednesdays is beer pong night,
an old school a college student favorite, with in
b a r , house DJ Elvis playing the hits.
The Tap has 18 televisions
with the NFL satellite package,
so you can catch every game
on Sundays. Every night
features different shot or
drink specials, and there
is an “In the Business” discount of 10 percent off every
check for restaurant employees.
The Coral Springs Tap is lowhere the cated on the southwest corner of
staff doesn’t Riverside dr. and Sample rd. in
wear corporate uniforms, and Coral Springs. For more informawhen you walk up to the smoky tion visit Coralspringstap.com or
bar and beer stained wood, the call 954-255-0711.
Funny Tales from India
Stacy Helmus
Contributing Writer
Photo courtesy of ps3.vggen.com
“Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground” is available for PS2, PS3, Xbox 360 and
Nintendo Wii.
Helmus (center) traveling on an elephant.
Photo provided Stacy Helmus
PART 1
Goa is a beautiful state on the
western shore of India, with the
Arabian Sea lapping her beaches. The Portuguese had a very
strong influence on this state in
the historic past, and it shows in
the architecture, handicrafts, and
overall layout of this small state.
It also has a very “hippie” feel to
it. I don’t mean the kind of “hippie” stage a lot of us go through
in our early 20s; I’m talking about
the ‘I’ve decided to be a “hippie”
for the rest of my life and never
assimilate into main-stream society’ type of “hippie.” Although
I could skip the “hippie” part,
the rest of Goa sounded beautiful. Besides, it was time for the
Ganesh festival, a ten-day festival celebrating Lord Ganesh, the
God of luck and overcoming obstacles. He has since become my
favorite of the Hindu Gods, partially because I have to participate
in one of the festivals. Some of
the locals were taking a statue of
Lord Ganesh down to the ocean to
submerge him in the water (part
of the ceremony), and I chanted
along with them, “Ganpati Bappa
Moreya,” which loosely translates into “May Lord Ganesh
bless your household and bring
you good luck in the upcoming
year.” The main reason Ganesh is
now my favorite is because there
always seems to be some obstacle
to overcome in life and I can use
all the luck I can get. This is the
Hindu God for me!
Let me back up in my story
for just a minute: I, along with
two of my dorm-mates, Gigi and
Alexandra (Alex), looked into a
tour package that was available:
Four days, three nights, right on
the beach, all meals included,
tours of north and south Goa all
for $90. This must be a typo, I’m
thinking. Do they mean $90 for
the entire package, or per day?
Once we realized it was for all
four days, we booked for an extended weekend on Sept. 9-12.
The back door of our room literally opened to the beach.
The beaches are beautiful and
all very different; some have huge
slabs of black rocks extending
way into the Arabian Sea, some
with lush green hills of pasture
right next to the beach with goats
grazing alongside the shore. And
of course, there were cows occasionally on the beach.
PART 2
The rest of the day was my
favorite; I played cricket with a
bunch of young Indian kids on the
beach all afternoon; at times chasing the ball into the Arabian Sea
until it was too dark to find the
ball anymore. I was still pumped
up about India making an incredible come back the day before
and winning the game against
Pakistan. The kids were great. I
couldn’t believe how well these
kids could bowl (that’s what they
call pitching the ball). The first
official cricket match that I’m
playing in will be at the ICMIS/
BIOZEEN campus on Sept. 22,
so I’m glad I got in a practice
game today.
Post-note: My team won the
cricket match on Sept. 22 and
India won the World Cup in cricket, beating Pakistan by five runs.
I have lost my voice from screaming at cricket games for the past
two weeks.
Photo provided Stacy Helmus
Helmus in tradition Indian saree
clothing.
10
Topic of the month
The Observer
Novemb
MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD
FROM YOUR
Justice for
Children
To Write Love On
Bendor Louis-Jean
Contributing Writer
By heather cooper
layout editor
We live in a world filled with harmful acts
of abuse. Today the maltreatment of children
has become one of the most common acts of
abuse.
The effects of child abuse can be devastating and traumatize a child for life. A study by
Dante Cicchetti found that 80% of abused and
maltreated infants exhibited symptoms of disorganized attachment.
The effects of child abuse have been very
severe and has caused most kids to act out.
They may display acts of depression, low
self-esteem, withdrawal, aggression, suicide,
and even substance abuse. It can become very
difficult for a child to trust or feel safe around
anyone again.
Justice For children is a non-profit organization that hears a child’s cries and works towards getting their voices heard. With chapters
in Texas, Arizona, Washington and Michigan,
the foundation raises awareness of our society’s governmental agencies failure of protecting victims of child abuse. They provide legal
support for abused children. They develop and
implement collaborative solutions to enhance
the quality of life for children.
Justice for Children has been saving the
lives of kids for 20 years. They advocate safety
and protect children when no one else will. If
you want to be apart a great organization and
help in making a difference in the lives of innocent children then log to www.justiceforchildren.org and select get involved to become a
volunteer.
The third leading cause of
death for those aged 15 to 24 in the
United States is suicide, according to a study by the Department
of Health and Human Services.
Many young adults today suffer
from depression, drug addiction,
self-injury, and suicide.
As a non-profit organization
based in central Florida, To Write
Love on Her Arms (TWLOHA)
aims to help young people struggling with these problems. Their
goals are to help connect the
youths to resources like treatment
centers, websites and support
The Amazon Conservation
Olga buitrago
Contributing writer
The Amazon Conservation
Team (ACT) is a non-profit organization located in Arlington
Virginia, dedicated to conserve biodiversity, health and
culture across the Amazon in
partnership with indigenous
people in this area.
ACT also works with local governments to make sure
their strategies are adopted
and validated by local authorities. “ACT helps the keepers
of the forest keep the forest.”
ACT was founded in
1995 by Mark Plotkin and his
wife Liliana Madrigal and since
then they have been working in
Brazil, Suriname and Colombia.
In Brazil their projects include
the protection of the Uwasu
Rainforest Reserve and the
mapping of the Xingu National
Indigenous Reserve. In Suriname
ACT has worked on Shamans and
Apprentices programs, mapping
over 30 percent of Suriname and
creating traditional medicine clinics.
One of the biggest achievements in Colombia was the creation in 2002 of Indi Wasi National
Park. The park is 197,960 acres
and it is consider a global priority
zone for biodiversity conservation.
ACT was selected by UNESCO
for best practices using indigenous knowledge. Also, in 2002
they received the United Nations
Environment Program Global
500 award in recognition of their
conservation achievements.
ACT has no volunteer programs. But their headquarters
office in Arlington occasionally
needs assistance in different projects. For more information about
this organization or to make donations, visit www. amazonteam.
org, or call at (703) 522-4684.
groups. A quarter of all TWLOHA
proceeds go directly to therapy
and recovery through a number
of organizations like National
Hopeline Network.
The organization was started by Jamie Tworkowski, after
a meeting a 19-year-old name
Renee Yohe, who fought with
drug addiction, self-injury and
depression. To fund Yohe’s treatment, shirts were sold in Orlando
and a Myspace was created to
act as a home base. Bands like
Switchfoot showed support
by wearing the shirts. In fact,
TWLOHA gets most of its exposure through musicians and bands
that wear the shirts during their
ber 5, 2007
D
R OWN HOME
Her Arm
performances. The organization
also had their own booth for all
of the stops during the 2007 Vans
Warped Tour.
After the website received
messages from other young
people facing the same issues,
TWLOHA soon transformed into
a nation-wide organization and
TWLOHA Inc. was established.
To get involved is as simple as
donating, buying a shirt, spreading the word or joining a street
team, which is a group of volunteers who help promote and get
involved with the organization.
TWLOHA will also be eventually
offering an intern program. For
more information, visit twloha.
com.
Invisible
Children
Natalie Bobb
Staff Writer
Invisible Children began in 2003
when three young filmmakers traveled
to Africa in search of a storyline for
a documentary. When they discovered that children in northern Uganda
were being used as “soldiers,” they
were compelled to do something to
help. Their film, “Invisible Children:
Rough Cut,” has brought attention to
the crisis that faces many children in
war-torn countries.
Invisible Children’s mission is to
improve the quality of life for waraffected children by providing access to quality education, enhanced
learning environments and innovative
economic opportunities for the community. As a non-profit organization,
Invisible Children hopes to turn apathy into activism.
For more information, visit
www.invisiblechildren.com or call
619-631-0362.
Topic of the month
The Observer
Operation Smile
Natalie Bobb
Staff Writer
Operation Smile is a world-wide medical charity that coordinates
more than 30 annual medical mission sites in over 25 different countries like Thailand, China and India. Operation Smile’s mission is to
repair childhood deformities while building public and private partnerships that advocate for sustainable healthcare systems for children
and families.
Based in Norfolk, Virginia, Operation Smile has Global Resource
Chapters that raise funds and awareness to support its programs. The
organization also provides a network of resources to assist families in
the United States with children born with facial deformities.
For more information, visit www.operationsmile.org or call 1-888OPSMILE (888-677-6453).
Save Darfur
By Jasmine Grant
Staff Writer
The different incidents of violence and genocide going on in
Darfur have brought on global responses due to celebrities putting
it on the map. Darfur is a little
township or city in the country of
Sudan in Africa that is gaining a
lot of media attention due to its
current situation.
The main goal of the Save
Darfur project is to pressure the
top law makers of the United
States Government to help the
people of Darfur by bringing more
attention to this country through
education and the media.
The stories of the injustice going on in Darfur have been depicted in such movies as “Hotel
Rwanda” and “Screamers.”
Along with other organizations
such as the Million Voices for
Darfur Campaign there is The
Save the Darfur Coalition which
raises money to help the million
civilians suffering from violence
and hunger.
If you feel touched and would
love to help out this needy country, then you can make a donation by going online to www.
savedarfur.org. If you do not feel
that is secure enough, then you
can send it to the address Save
Darfur Coalition P.O. Box 18176
Washington, DC 20036. Save
Darfur urges people to organize
thier communities and form protests, or send letters to their state
elected officials. To find out more
information about this movement and ways to contribute, you
can visit Savedarfur.org or go to
www.myspace.com/savedarfurcoalition.
11
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comics and puzzles
november 5, 2007
november 5, 2007
Comics and Puzzles
The Observer
13
14
The Observer
Comics and Puzzles
november 5, 2007
october 8, 2007
The Observer
15
16
The Observer
SPEACIAL DEBATE
november 5, 2007
Global Warming: Fact or Fake?
Global Warming: Fact
Global Warming: Fake
By: Nathan Phelps
Managing Editor
By Heather Cooper
Layout Editor
The science of studying climate
change is a slow and arduous task.
Scientists today have been closely
examining the earth’s climate and
what trends and patterns it is going
through. These studies have lead to
an almost universally single result,
the earth’s temperature is heating up
at an alarming rate and it appears that
we, human civilization, are the cause.
The Intergovernmental Panel for
Climate Change (IPCC) is the world’s
foremost authority on climate change.
Last February they released a report on
the state of the earth’s climate system
and how it has changed over time.
The report, focused on what drives
climate change, the cause and effect
relationship that the atmosphere operates
on and projecting what the climate will
become in the future based on how
the atmosphere is currently changing.
This massive investigation led to the
conclusion that human activity and
the production of greenhouse gases
are almost entirely responsible for the
changes we are seeing.
The Earth is truly in danger
right now. And if something isn’t
done soon it may be too late to
do anything about it. The amount
of Greenhouse gases, being Carbon
Dioxide (CO2), Methane, Nitrous
Oxide, and other Halo Carbons,
that are being pumped out into the
atmosphere are causing the earth
to heat up very rapidly. Heating of
the atmosphere is beginning to wreak
havoc on the delicate climate system of
t h e
planet. This
general pattern of heating is what is generally
referred
to as Global
Warming.
“The Earth is
It is no longer a question of whether or not
global
warming is real it is now a question of
truly in danger
how bad is it going to affect us and can we
right now.”
prevent it from getting worse. All current
predictions of future climate patterns show
that the earth is undergoing a strong warming to the point where the temperatures
around the earth could rise by four degrees worldwide, and even though this may
not sound like much this will be catastrophic to all ecosystems currently thriving
on the earth. Plants and animals the world round will struggle to adapt and survive
to these new atmospheric conditions. The real problem for mankind however; will
be with the polar ice caps which are already melting at an exponentially growing
rate.
Polar ice is what keeps our whole atmosphere running by providing a temperature
difference at the tips of the planet that cools our ocean waters and keeps them all
flowing. This works on the simple principle that hot water rises, just like air. As the
earth is heated by the sun, the heat is transferred around the planet by the oceans
and the air, but having polluted our air with greenhouse gases the earth is retaining
more heat than it normally should causing higher temperatures. These higher
temperatures are causing the polar ice, which normally would regulate the earth’s
temperature by cooling the air and
waters, to melt at alarming rates.
“it is no longer a
Another big problem with the ice
melting, besides the increasing question whether or
heat that can no longer be not global warming is
slowed down, is that ocean levels
real.”
worldwide will rise dramatically
forcing many people to be driven
from their homes because they are under water, this is especially important to us
living in Florida at sea level.
Global warming is the most significant problem we face in the 21st century, it
has the potential to change the face of the earth in our life time and definitely will
change the earth in our children’s lifetime. This debate about whether or not global
warming is real has been over for many years because the science has been proven.
This is not only real, but happening even as you read this sentence. Those who still
say that global warming is a hoax are simply grossly miss-informed on the subject.
We all need to take a closer look at this issue for if ever there is a chance to fix it
the time is now and we may not have another chance.
Concerns over global warming have enabled well paid politicians like Al Gore,
to pose as defenders of earth against the evil corporate alliance. Gore is the founder
and chairman of the environmental advice group called the Alliance of Climate
Protection (ACP). He has raised millions of dollars for the ACP through
donations and fundraisers, like the globally touring concert Live Earth.
While American citizens are pouring their hard
earned money into “stop global warming”
organizations, many do not know
where exactly their money goes
to. Aside from running cost,
the millions of dollars the
ACP raises directly funds
national or local media
projects aimed at
mass persuasion and
to
organizations
that also spread
the awareness.
However, Yale
University
conducted
a
study showing
that over 80
percent
of
citizens know
about
global
warming,
and
the
supposedly
large
human
contributions.
The
logic conclusion; there
is no point in wasting
millions of dollars to simply
tell the general public what
they are already aware of.
While Gore, along side his celebrity
side kicks, fronts as a hero leading the
ACP, his act is nothing more than money making
scam.
On the issue of humans causing
global warming, many scientists have
“There is no point
opposing opinions. Most countries,
wasting millions of
America included, have set up
dollars to simply
organizations of scientist to determine
the atmospheric effects of human gases.
tell the general
The United Nation’s organization
called the Intergovernmental Panel on public what they are
Climate Change (IPCC) conducted
aware of.”
crucial reports that gave evidence
saying humans are responsible for
global warming. The ACP uses these reports to support their cause, but what the IPCC
does not mention is that not the entire scientist
on the panel agreed on the data results. In the summary of the study, even the IPCC
admits,”The Earth’s atmosphere-ocean dynamics is chaotic: its evolution is sensitive
to small perturbations in initial conditions. This sensitivity limits our ability to predict
the detailed evolution of weather; inevitable errors and uncertainties in the starting
conditions of a weather forecast amplify through the forecast. As well as uncertainty
in initial conditions, such predictions are also degraded by errors and uncertainties in
out ability to represent accurately the significant climate processes.”
There are a number of reasons thousands of scientist disagree with the ICPP’s
findings. For example, the world’s most reliable sources of atmospheric temperature
data show no global warming trend. Some surface temperature stations show warming,
but these stations are not global wide and can be contaminated by heat generated from
nearby urban development or human error. Another loop hole in global warming is
ocean life absorbs a large amount of carbon dioxide, the highest human emitted gas
that contributes to global warming. BCC Oceanography professor Susan Grandson
commented, “While there are different opinions, some scientist also believe that at
least 50 percent of anthropogenic emissions are removed by entering the oceans.
Scientist is studding ways to increase the oceans capability to remove carbon dioxide
by adding iron to stimulate the growth of plankton.”
The “No Regrets” strategy, like that of the Bush Administration, may not be the
answer to the global warming scare. Instead research should continue to be conducted
so that the science of determining a change in atmospheric temperature can become
more concrete and compelling. In the meantime, throwing away millions of dollars on
an idea that has not yet been proven to be caused by humans is imprudent. Americans
need to become more knowledgeable rather than just listen to Kanye West and throw
all their money away.
Opinion
november 5, 2007
The Observer
17
Selling an
x
e
s
s
e
u
l
a
v
e
d
a
i
d
e
artist’s soul M
s
r
o
t
i
d
E
r
u
O
From
By John Wilson
Staff Writer
merits alone, it is what it is.
By adding the sales total of
their albums and singles and
other ventures into the mix,
what ends up happening
is that instead of speaking
and debating one another
as impassioned fans, the
words become corporate
talk and we become agents
without payment. On the
Internet and in blogs the
exchanges sound less like
dedicated fans and more
like the stock market.
Jackye Wesley, a
software
major,
states that “sales
have little to
do with the
actual talent
of the artist.
It is rather an
indication of
how effective
the marketing
division
is.”
Another aspect of
depending on sales
to gauge the popularity of
an artist is that with the
proliferation of “Web 2.0”
and general downturn of
the entertainment industry
itself, sales tends to hide
the fact of who’s buying it.
Thanks to rap music (got to
love it!) it is a commonly
known fact that if a record
is poorly selling, the label
itself will buy back enough
to twist the numbers to the
artist’s favor. Here’s an
Before I start this, let it
be known the focus is on
mainstream music, because
underground supports its
own.
As a fan, what are your
obligations to the artist? Are
you to be a devoted admirer,
the type to go to the limits to
know the artist who speaks
to/ of you through music? Or
are you to understand
the industry to
better represent
them? When it
comes to the
importance
of record
sales, that
is the main
w o r r y
of
the
i n d u s t r y,
with the artist
dependent
on
the outcome. But why
are sales so important to
fans nowadays when it’s
irrelevant as time marches
on? That shouldn’t be the
case, but it is.
There are people who
believe the amount sold
proves the quality of an
album. In a climate like now,
where selling albums isn’t as
lucrative for the industry as
selling ringtones, how can a
person tell by the numbers
sold how well
an
album
“If artists weren’t
is?
Albums
nowadays are
basically a 3-4 selling records then
hit singles with
filler.
they wouldn’t be
Another
reason record
sales themselves
making records”
should
be
irrelevant to fans
is that music is subjective easier way of seeing that:
and not objective. In other the sale total lies to you.
words, I like Lupe Fiasco
Justin James, business
for qualities that my friends major, says, “If artists
would find corny, as for weren’t selling records,
their reasons for liking Plies they wouldn’t be making
makes me disgusted at their records”.
Another
taste (in private). On those interesting point he makes
editor-in-chief
heather Dulman
Copy Editor
Alberto Sanchez
Sports Editor
Omar Torrijos
Opinion Editor
Angela Osborne
Broward
Community College
2006 FCCPA General
Excellence Award
Central Chief
Jessica Beans
North Chief
Anthony Perrucci
is that “(MC) Hammer
stopped making when it
stopped selling”. There
was a time when Hammer
was THE man as far as
record sales are concerned;
with over 17 million sold
in an 8-year period. In that
time, it was all about his
marketing with the dancing,
commercials, Hammerman
cartoon, MTV, all working
together to raise his profile.
(This was before the
Internet, too). After his fall
and bankruptcy, however,
he still made albums. While
they weren’t chart toppers,
they were still albums.
With mainstream music
equaling pop music, and rap
being part of the pop music
spectrum, the question
of sales themselves are
Managing Editor
Nathan Phelps
Section Editors
Layout Editor
Heather Cooper
. Their portrayal
need to be sexy
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th
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d
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edia uses to
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e
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CONTRIBUTING writers
STAFF WRITERS
David Aron
Natalie Bobb
Olga Buitrago
Jasmine Grant
Bendor Louis-Jean
Buzz Lamb
Cody McGowan
Andres Lopez
Anna Rot
Sharday Moshanko
Anthony Sedly
Bruno Niccoli
Kevin Rosenberg
Adviser
John Wilson
Jennifer Shapiro
Adviser’s assistant
Chris Cutro
asked by those who are not
independent.
South Florida beat maker
Name Brand of INOE
said “If you as a fan listen
to enough of the artist to
know the artist and trust
their work, then buying
the album that artist made
is your way of supporting
the foundation laid.” With
most mainstream acts,
the foundation isn’t there,
making the buy an impulse
rather than an investment.
With music stores also
allowing trades for cash
and credit, the amount of
albums brought back should
detract from the amount
sold. That would prove the
lack of staying power of
an act totally dependent on
the album sale. If the act
went on tour, and were very
successful with the tours,
the revenue generated from
those benefits those acts.
In some cases, tour sales
supercede album sales.
The overall reason why
record sales shouldn’t
matter to fans is quality over
quantity. For every hot item
sold and forgotten, there are
those which last lifetimes
which don’t hit those sales
plateaus until years later.
For every Fall Out Boy
there’s a Grateful Dead, and
for every Rich Boy there’s a
Talib kweli. People like all,
some, or neither, because it’s
all about individual taste.
Besides, it’s just music,
right?
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Blvd., Pembroke Pines, FL 33024. Bureau Offices are located at North Campus, 1000 Coconut Creek Blvd., Coconut Creek, FL, 33066, and Central Campus, 3501 SW Davie Rd,
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18
sports
The Observer
november 5, 2007
The Brady Bunch Show strikes again
By Bruno Niccoli
Staff Writer
The Miami Dolphins are half
way into a record that has never
been achieved before. Thirty five
years after the 1972 Dolphins had
the perfect season, the ‘07 squad
is in the path of holding the first
perfect losing season.
The 2007 season started with
the usual promises of reaching
the playoffs and possibly winning
the division, but after nine weeks
and eight games, the season is already over.
This shameful performance
must be used as an example of
what happens when a person
with a big ego is granted too
much power. Head Coach Cam
Cameron has turned the Dolphins
into the biggest joke in the NFL.
Cameron joined the Dolphins
at beginning of the year and immediately started changing the
entire structure of the team. After
dismissing players and refusing
to give new players a real opportunity to compete for positions,
Cameron’s single-minded personality has completely destroyed
the Miami Dolphins.
The Dolphins are a one-dimensional team, guided by a me-
diocre coach who’s backed up by
the worst administration in the
history of the NFL.
Dolphins’ managers have allowed Cameron to maintain his
unsuccessful game plan, without
even questioning his choices.
They have stood behind im this
entire time, giving him the power
to lead the team into a 0-8 record.
Miami had been playing poorly for the entire season, but when
Tom Brady and Randy Moss came
to town, the joke started.
Double coverage? Triple coverage? Maybe full team coverage? That’s probably what
Cameron was thinking in order to
stop Moss from scoring.
Brady first found Moss for a
38-yard touchdown. The touchdown set the stage for the Brady
Show over Miami. The second
pass to Moss was just the result of
the Patriots incredible season, in a
third down play from the 50 yard
line, Brady threw to Moss and in
some magical way, he caught the
ball with double coverage in the
end-zone.
Moss’ catch wasn’t just amazing because of the players around
him, but because he was able to
secure the ball under his right
Renaldo Hill fails to block Randy Moss.
photo courtesy of Sunsentinel.com
Heat’s new players
By David Aron
Contributing writer
On Oct. 24, the Miami Heat
completed a five-player trade with
the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Heat acquired small forward
Ricky Davis and forward / center Mark Blount in exchange for
Antoine Walker, Wayne Simien,
Michael Doleac, and a conditional first round draft pick.
The acquisition of Davis fills
the Heat’s need for a perimeter
scorer. With Dwyane Wade expected to miss at least the first
three weeks of the regular season
while recovering from off-season
knee surgery, there were questions about where much of the
scoring would come from.
Davis is an excellent shooter who possesses the ability to
drive to the basket. He’s also a
very good finisher in transition.
Heat head coach Pat Riley says
Davis will start at the shooting
guard position on opening night
and move to small forward once
Wade returns.
The other player acquired in
the deal, Mark Blount, is expected to back up Udonis Haslem at
power forward. Blount is a 7footer known for his good outside
shooting.
Most Heat players liked the
move. “I think they are definitely
going to help us,” said Heat center
Shaquille O’Neal. “Ricky Davis
is a known scorer in this league.
Mark Blount is a consistent shooter — if he is in the game with me
and if they continue to double off
the [power forward], I expect him
to have his career year.”
The trade means that Dwyane
Wade will finally have an athletic, versatile swingman as a partner for the first time since Caron
Butler was traded for O’Neal
in 2004. “It was a good move,”
Wade said of the deal.
Eli Manning steps over Jason Taylor for a Touchdown in London.
shoulder. Immediately after the
touchdown, the crowd at Dolphins
Stadium started chanting Brady’s
name.
With the game over even before the half, the Patriots’ defense
played easy and allowed the
Dolphins to score its 28 points.
But anyone who saw the game
knows that if it wasn’t for the
Patriots relaxed approach for most
of the second half, the Dolphins
wouldn’t have scored more than
10 points in the game.
Ronnie Brown was again the
offensive weapon of the day. QB
Cleo Lemon used Brown for most
of the first half, but when Brown
fell on the field with an injured
ankle, the offense finally became
desperate. They would have to
rely on Lemon, WR Ted Gin Jr.
and rookie RB Jessy Chatman
and Patrick Cobbs.
Lemon passed for 236 yards
and no touchdowns, Gin had just
three receptions for only 37 yards
and Chatman ran for 73 yards
in seven attempts and scored a
touchdown.
The following week the
Dolphins traveled to London,
England to face the New York
Giants in a game intended to
increase the NFL revenue in
Europe. Wembley Stadium hosted the purely commercial match
that counted as a regular season
game.
Miami lost the game 10-13,
scoring its only touchdown with
less than two minutes left to play.
The great example of the joke
the Dolphins are happened when
Lemon set his arm for a pass, and
as his right arm got behind his
back, the ball fell off his hand and
was recovered by Giant’s defense
player Michael Strahan.
A field-goal was the Dolphins
only offensive production for
most of the game. Without Chris
Chambers and Ronnie Brown, the
offense fell short of what could be
referred as productive.
Cleo Lemon finished the game
with 149 passing yards, Lemon’s
longest pass was a short 21 yards
photo courtesy of Sunsentinel.com
to Ted Ginn Jr. Chatman had only
79 rushing yard in 16 attempts.
Dolphins’ defense once again
could not stop the running game
during key moments. Giants
Quarterback Eli Manning didn’t
have much trouble moving his
team on the field. Despite the low
score, the Giants were far superior to the Dolphins. The Giants
finished the game with 189 rushing yards; Brandon Jacobs had
131 yards in 23 attempts.
In eight games the Dolphins
defense have allowed their opponents to gain 1,284 rushing
yards and 1,510 passing yards.
They also allowed them to get 28
touchdowns and score 244 points,
making the Dolphins the team
with the most points against in
the NFL.
There is no salvation for this
year’s season and if the Dolphins
win all of their next games, they
would only be disguising the
worst roster and coaching staff in
the history of the franchise.
Love
Like Sports?
Then the Observer
wants you! The Observer
is looking for writers.
Scholarships may be avalible.
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sports
november 5, 2007
The Observer
19
Chase between Johnson and Gordon
Bruno Niccoli
Staff writer
After
back-to-back
wins
from Jeff Gordon, it was Jimmie
Johnson’s turn to get two victories in the Chase for the Cup.
Johnson first won the Subway
500 at Martinsville Speedway,
with Gordon finishing the race
in second. A week later, Johnson
took away the Pep Boys Auto 500
at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Sunday’s race at Martinsville
marked Kyle Petty’s 810th cup
start, the fifth-most in the history
of NASCAR.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. had engine
problems once again, making this
the thirteenth time on the season
that Earnhardt didn’t finish a race.
Earnhardt led 24 laps of the race
and during the last restart of the
race his engine blew once again.
Earnhardt told reporter Joe
Menzer that “We broke a valve
spring somewhere in the first 50
laps and were running on seven
cylinders all day. We were just so
good anyhow that we were still
better than most of the field with
seven cylinders.” Earnhardt also
announced he will be running in
the 88 car next season.
Martinsville had a total of 21
caution flags and the pit strategy
from Hendricks Motorsports gave
Gordon and Johnson the lead at
the end of the race. Because of
a caution flag at the last restart,
there wasn’t a battle for first place
in the last laps of the race.
Gordon finished the race with
6,055 points with Johnson just 53
points behind.
Johnson closed the point gap
on Gordon after the victory at
Atlanta. Johnson moved to just
nine points behind Gordon and
with just three races remaining in
the Chase, the Hendricks duo has
distanced themselves from the
rest of the Chase contestants.
“We took a good bite out of
Jeff’s points lead [Sunday] and
it’s going to come down to a position or two in the next three,” said
Johnson after the race.
The Pep Boys Auto 500 at
Atlanta Motor Speedway was
once again decided by pit-strategy. A caution flag with less than 20
laps remaining forced the drivers
to go back to the pits. Johnson’s
Crew Chief Chad Knaus decided
to change just two tires instead of
four, helping Johnson jump from
fifth to second place. After the
race, Knaus explained that “We
were fortunate enough to see
some guys taking two tires and
we kind of called an audible right
there and went with two tires.”
When the race restarted,
Denny Hamlin, who was in first
because he didn’t stop in pit-road,
ran out of fuel. Johnson passed
Hamlin and took the lead. The
drivers behind Johnson tried to
avoid crashing against Hamlin’s
car, but Martin Truex Jr. wasn’t
able to stop in time and created
the chain-reaction that forced another caution.
With just three laps remaining the green flag was given and
Johnson maintained the lead. Just
a few seconds after the last restart,
Earnhardt’s tire flew from his car
and the race was forced into another early finish.
Johnson is still concerned
about the next three races, as he
told the press. “We were able to
capitalize on a great pit call, but
we need to make the most of every race because I know it’s going
to be a shootout to the end.”
Johnson announced after the
race that his earnings at Atlanta
will go to the wild-fire relief effort in California.
Multi car collision takes nine cars out of the race.
photo courtesy of speedtv.com
Curlin: Horse of the Year
Heather Dulman
Editor-in-chief
“They’re in the gate… and
they’re off.” One of the biggest
races in horse racing was held
during the weekend of Oct. 27
and 28. The Breeders Cup started
Nov.10, 1984 at Hollywood Park
this was the 23rd annual Breeders
Cup. The Cup has established itself as the season-ending championship of Thoroughbred racing.
The Breeders Cup has the best
3-year-old horses compete against
each other to be crowned Horse
of the Year at the Breeders Cup
Classics. More than 150 horses
have been crowned. Last year
Pleasantly Perfect won the 2006
Classics at Churchill Downs. Skip
Away won in 1997 at Hollywood
Park. Cigar will always be remembered by the call from an-
nouncer Tom Durkin, “Here he is,
the incomparable, the invincible,
the unbeatable Cigar!” Cigar won
the Cup in 1995 at Belmont Park.
This year was the first Breeders
Cup to be held at Monmouth Park
in New Jersey. It was also the first
time in Breeders Cup history to
have 11 races splitting up for two
days. Only three races happened
on Friday and Saturday had the
remaining eight including one of
the biggest race of the year.
The contestants were Lawyer
Ron, Street Sense, Any Given
Saturday,
Curlin,
George
Washington, Awesome Gem,
Hard Spun and Tiago.
Street Sense entered the race
as the favorite with odds showing him at 3-1. With the odds
at 4-1 Any Given Saturday was
second favorite to win the race.
Awesome Gem was the long shot
with 30-1.
The conditions on the track
kept getting worse throughout the
two days of racing due to constant
rain showers. The turf became
muddy which caused some horses, such as Lawyer Ron to not
perform at the top of their game.
The total amount of earnings
just for the Classics was $5 million, making it the richest race in
the country.
Hard Spun had the lead at the
beginning of the race, followed
by George Washington, and Any
Given Saturday. Race favorite
Street Sense held back for most
of the race on the rail and waited
patiently for a last minute sprint
shootout, but he was not able to
make the top three.
George Washington began
to lose position as the race progressed. Coming from the back
stretch with half-a-mile left,
Curlin began his sprint to the top.
Back in May of ‘07, Curlin defeated Street Sense by a head and
last month, Curlin beat Lawyer
Ron by a neck.
Curlin took the lead from
Hard Spun as they came down
the stretch. The last moment efforts from Curlin’s jockey Robby
Albarado gave him the championship and crowned Curlin Horse of
the Year. The runner up was Hard
Spun, followed by Awesome Gem
and Street Sense.
George Washington, who was
retired after the 2006 Breeders
Cup, was brought back by his
owner to run one more time at
this year’s Classic. The long shot
injured his right front leg, which
caused him to lose the blood circulation in the leg. Because of
the injury, Washington was euthanized right after the race was
over.
The next Breeders Cup will be
on Oct. 24-25, 2008 at Oak Tree
at Santa Anita Park, in Arcadia,
California.
Curlin after his victory at the Breeders cup.
Photo courtsey of msnbc.com
20
The Observer
Red Sox
november 5, 2007
2007 World Champions
4-2 vs White Sox
The Babe Ruth Curse began after the Red Sox won the World Series
in 1918. It was their last championship for 86 years.
4-0 vs Rockies
photo courtesy of sports.yahoo.com
The Babe Ruth Curse was finally broken in 2004 with this being the
second World Series Championship in 4 years.
Red Sox Nation
Omar Torrijos
Sports Editor
“The Red Sox can have their Nation. The Yankees have the universe.”
-- Hank Steinbrenner, New York Yankees senior vice president
photo courtesy of sports.yahoo.com
photo courtesy of sports.yahoo.com
As Gene Wojciechowski said in a recent ESPN.com article, “not anymore, they don’t.” Between
the teams with high payrolls, the Red Sox are the ones who have spent the money with more wisdom.
Although they are second in the majors with $143 million, just behind the Yankees with $195 million, the
type of players they’ve got have given the results the Red Sox organization has been looking for.
“When I first came here in ‘03, it was like the most impossible thing to get done,” said Ortiz of Boston’s
winning a world championship. Now, in 2007, the Boston Red Sox have won two World Series in four
years. The first one in 2004 defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 4-0 and now, in 2007, winning against the
Colorado Rockies by the same margin.
The Sox have won eight straight World Series’ games and are ready for more to come. “This team is
built well,” said veteran reliever Mike Timlin. “You can’t predict what’s going to happen, but this team
is built extremely well.”
“I think if you look at who the stars were of this Series, it’s not all about payroll,” said Red Sox owner
John Henry. “It’s never all about payroll. … But it takes 25 guys to win. The guys at the bottom of this
pay scale were just as important to this team … [pause for Henry getting champagne-sprayed by shortstop
Julio Lugo] … as the guys at the top.”
“The Red Sox are the Warren Buffetts of baseball. They invest and trade well,” says Wojciechowski in
his article. Theo Epstein has had the best vision and great resources to get the players he’s got.
In 2003, the Red Sox went and got Big Papi discarded by the Minnesota Twins for only $1.25 million,
while the Yankees had committed to Jason Giambi for $120 million just the year before.
The Yankees signed Carl Pavano while the Sox got Josh Beckett. Pavano has been injured the whole
time he’s been with the Yankees, Beckett went undefeated in the playoffs this year.
The Red Sox acquired Daisuke Matsuzaka outbidding New York, so the Yankees had to settle with Kei
Igawa. Although Matsuzaka wasn’t completely sharp during the regular season, he did win game three of
the World Series. Igawa finished 2-3 with a 6.25 ERA.
Money itself doesn’t get you anywhere, a big payroll not necessarily means World Series contention, sometimes not even playoff contention. Out of the New York Yankees [$195 million], New York
Mets [$116 million payroll], Los Angeles Angels and Chicago White Sox [$109 million], Los Angeles
Dodgers [$108 million], Seattle Mariners [$106 million], Chicago Cubs [$99 million], Detroit Tigers and
Baltimore Orioles [$95 million], only the Yankees, Angels and Cubs made the playoffs, all of them losing
in the first round.
photo courtesy of sports.yahoo.com
photo courtesy of sports.yahoo.com
World Series Recap
photo courtesy of sports.yahoo.com
Game 1Rockies 1 - Red Sox 13
Game 2Rockies 1 - Red Sox 2
Game 3Red Sox 10 - Rockies 5
Game 4Red Sox 4 - Rockies 3
photo courtesy of sports.yahoo.com