2007_10_08 - Broward College

Index
Campus News......................................3-5
Collegewide............................................7
Features.................................................. 8
Entertainment...................................12-13
Sports...............................................14-15
Comics and Puzzle...........................16-17
Opinion........................................... 18-19
Volume 22, Number 4
Center spread
Check out the clubs
available to students
Pages 10-11
Sports
Www.broward.edu/observer
Dolphins have worst
season start ever
Page 14
Entertainment
PSP
Remodeled
Page 13
Directories
october 8, 2007
To Tase or Not
to Tase
Page 18
Busted on South Campus
Security and police chase laptop thief for several hours.
Heather Dulman and
Bruno Niccoli
Staff Writers
Police and BCC Security
searched the BCC South Campus.
A student was finishing her work
at the library, and in the moment
she got up to get more books,
her laptop was stolen. The crime
occurred on Tuesday, Oct. 2
around 10:25 a.m. The chase for
the criminal lasted two hours,
as the suspect kept hiding from
authorities.
The student who had her
computer
stolen
informed
authorities the moment she saw
her laptop being stolen. “I threw
my shoes out of the way and
immediately started chasing
him. I had my project, that is
due tomorrow, all saved on my
laptop.”
While chasing the suspect,
the student was able to spot two
members of the BCC Safety
Department. As she yelled for
help, one of the security officers
ran to assist her and the other
officer notified the Pembroke
Pines police by radio.
Officer Castillo, the member of
BCC Campus Safety that chased
after the accused
along with the
victim said, “I
was not going to
give up. I wanted
him bad.”
The suspect was
found in the South
Campus parking
lot
between
the student and
faculty parking.
Officer Castillo
also found the
laptop underneath
the
suspect’s
vehicle.
When
the
suspect
was
finally
caught,
police officers put
Photo By Hubert phanord
him in handcuffs.
The suspect tried to hide the stolen laptop under his car.
According to the
Pembroke Pines police officers, anger and relief after having her detectives to arrive, the laptop
the suspect has been identified laptop retrieved. “I’m blessed I remained under the accused’s
as an African American male and found my computer. The guy ran vehicle. Since the laptop is still
there is a possibility that he might from me twice. Why do you have considered evidence, it will not
be a BCC student.
to steal someone’s computer? be returned to its owner until the
With the suspect apprehended, Why can’t you buy one?”
entire legal procedures are over.
the student had a chance to talk
The suspect was taken to a
After the police investigation
to him. Despite all the evidence police car and questioned. As on South Campus was over and
against him, he immediately said, BCC safety officers awaited all evidence had been collected,
“are you sure it’s me that you for Pembroke Pines Crime the suspect was taken to the
saw?” The student expressed Scene Investigators and police police station to be charged and
New art exhibit on Central
By Heather Cooper
Layout Editor
The Fine Arts Gallery on
Central Campus will feature
a show called Two by Four:
Two New Works by Four
Artist from Sept. 27 through
Oct. 23. Artists Liliana
Crespi, William
Kidd,
Camilo Ramirez and Sean
Smith have each contributed
two new pieces to the
gallery.
Curated by Barbara
Ryan, the Fine Arts Gallery
Director, the exhibit is
to showcase artist from
different “generations, cultures
and stages in their careers,”
said Ryan. Artist Crespi, Kidd,
Ramirez and Smith all fit in that
description.
Liliana Crespi was born in
Italy and is an accomplished
textile and basket artist. She has
traveled to many countries and
studied in places like Chicago
So Much More, one of which
Crespi will continuously work
on through out the time of the
exhibit. About her piece So Much
More, Crespi said “It is
about life and everything
around us. It is about how
we are all connected.”
The second artist,
William
Kidd,
uses
irregularly cut geometric
shapes to assemble his
two pieces called Pete’s
Choice and Don Quixote.
Kidd was born in Alabama
and attended Florida
Atlantic University. He
Photo by Anthony Sedley
has won a number of
and Vancouver. Her works are awards through out his career
exhibited in places all over such as, the Award of Distinction
Florida while teaching at Nova at the Bonita Springs National
and Tequesta Trace Community
Schools. On display are her two
▪ Fine ArtS
sculptures named Sanctuary and
continued on page 3
finger printed.
Terri Justice, the Dean of
Academic
Resources
and
Technology, stated that “There
are a lot of people on campus and
I think safety is doing the best that
they can to keep things safe. Safety
is making sure that things like this
don’t happen. They did their job
today.” The fast reaction from the
BCC security officers prevented
a student from becoming another
crime statistic.
Sergeant Velez, from BCC
safety said “We are trying to
break down as much as we can, by
following rules and regulations,
even if they go to the library on
BCC premises.”
Unfortunately, this is not the
first time that a computer has
been stolen at the BCC South
Campus. The Learning Resource
Center, on Building 69, had three
computers stolen two weeks
ago. The computers were never
retrieved, but campus safety now
believes that these crimes might
have been committed by the same
suspect.
Campus safety is waiting for
the results from the investigation
to determine if these crimes are
connected.
DREAM IT. DO IT.
DISNEY.
Josseline Carbonare
Staff writer
Ever wonder what it would be
like to work at Disney World…
the happiest and most magical
image courtesy of disney.com
place on Earth? Well, listen up!
College students now have the
opportunity through the Walt
Disney College Program. Unlike
any other internship, the Walt
Disney College Program pays
you for interning and offers
classes that count towards college
credits.
Named one of the top 50 ideal
places to work from Business
Week, the Disney College
Program recruits college students
from all over the world to bring
diverse, friendly people into their
park to work. But there is more
reality to this dream job.
On Sept. 26, an Orientation
was held at Central Campus, on
FAU’S Liberal Arts building.
It was the first presentation of
the season and the outcome was
great. Around 45 to 50 students
showed up. In the orientation,
students got the chance to ask
▪ Disney
continued on page 7
The Observer
August 13, 2007
october 8, 2007
Fine Arts
▪ Continued from page 1
Exhibition and Best in Clay
at the Melbourne Festival of
Art. For the past two decades,
Kidd has been teaching art at
Miami-Dade public schools
and showing his work around
Florida.
Another contributing artist,
Camilo Ramirez, attended
Florida International University
and received his masters at
Massachusetts College of Art
in 2006. His pieces, Bus Stop
and Puddle, use photography
and video to show how urban
landscape
affect
society.”
This work explores a variety
of common urban
conventions as they
outline our public
space,” said Ramirez,
“Beneath the order is
the uncertainty and
wonder of a world that
is all too familiar.”
The fourth artist in
the exhibit is painter
Sean
Smith,
who
attended Texas State
University in 2006 and
is currently looking into
graduate school. Smith
was selected as the
Texas Emerging Artist
at the Texas State Fair.
The gallery is his first
art exhibit, and won’t
be the last. His large scale
paintings usually have a link
with landscape and he uses
alternative materials such as
tea bags. His life influences
a lot of his work, which was
his inspiration for the piece 3
Days in Central Texas about
his “college experiences in
Texas.”
It is encouraged that
all student come to see the
gallery, which is free and is
open to the public. For more
information on the gallery or
the artist, visit the Fine Arts
Gallery on Central Campus
Mon. through Fri. at 9 a.m. to
2 p.m. or check their website
at www.geocites.com.
Photo by of Anthony Sedley
Central
The Observer
Students say no to tobacco
By Frederick Grevenberg
Contributing Writer
Big tobacco companies are going to have their hands full thanks
to Professor Leo Stitsky’s Graphic
Design Classes; which are part of
the Visual and Performing Arts
Department on Central Campus.
On Sept. 19, one of Stitsky’s
classes made a presentation on
potential billboard ads to David
Ganim, the Health Educator with
Florida’s Department of Health
(FDH), and Candy Sims, the FDH
Public Information Officer.
Sims said “it was very impressive and well done.” Both her
and Ganim agreed that the state
of Florida, and not just Broward
County, “could utilize these ads.”
The Broward County Health
Department and Facilities for
Further Education, which includes BCC, have formed and alliance to develop this anti-smoking campaign specifically aimed
at discouraging college-aged
individuals. With a contribution
of research from Florida Atlantic
University and Nova Southeastern
University, this project has excelled. The ads consisted of angry
young adults yelling “Not Me!!!”
There are other ads with a depiction of the devil playing puppet
master and an evolutionary chart
that spans from an ape to a dead
caveman due to smoking. Though
photo by frederick grevenberg
Prof. Stitsky’s class that designed the ad campaign.
all were different and unique, they
were clear cut signs that smoking
posses a viable threat not just to
young people but to smokers in
general.
After Ganim approached
Professor Stitsky with the project, Stitsky decided to make it a
class assignment. “We always try
to make our assignments as reallife oriented as possible. When
this public service opportunity
presented itself we grabbed it,”
said Stitsky. He would later go
on to say, “They [his students]
have done an exemplary job.”
The quality of work produced by
the armature students is a feeling
strongly shared by Sims, who operated an ad agency in the past.
Strong reactions didn’t come
from just Ganim and Sims, students participating in the project
were excited and proud to do it.
Mary Roca said, “I can’t believe
how many young girls are smoking,” after attending a concert recently. Jessica Cuthbert, Roca’s
project partner, felt the same
way and is very upset at the fact
that Big Tobacco targets younger
people.
Roca is right in her concern.
According to SADD.com, about
50 percent of young Americans
have tried cigarettes by 12 grade
and young adults, ages 18-25, had
the highest rate of current use of a
tobacco product in 2005.
When faced with these statistics, students were more than
excited to participate in a project
such as this one. They’ve been
given an opportunity to reach out
and help steer their generation
into a different direction through
their ads, and away from the uncaring arms of “Big Tobacco.”
The Observer
South
october 8, 2007
Sprinkles of motivation Students walk out
to that is being away from loved
ones. “The tough part is being
away from home, but you have
to take the good with the bad,” he
Jonathan Sprinkles, a moti- said.
vational speaker, presented two
Luckily for him the good outworkshops at the Multi-Media weighs the bad, “The greatest
room at the South Regional thing is just speaking and helping
Library on Sept.
others. I’ve al20. He has been
ways been taught
in the business of
that you have
motivating peoresponsibilities
ple since he left
to help people
his top executive
to get to where
job working for
they wanna be. I
Dell Computer
felt that this was
Corporation.
my calling,” he
He makes his
stated.
life his motto
Being
paid
“teaching beautito speak did not
ful people to act
seem to hit him
Photo by Hubert Phanord
like it.” Not only
until his junior
did he have a great job but had year at the University of Texas,
enough ambition to go ahead and where a lady from the recruitmotivate others to realize their ing office in the Texas Business
fullest potential, which was the School asked him if he would like
catalyst for him being one of the to travel across the state along
privileged few to be named one of with peers to convince students to
the top entrepreneurs in Austin, come to Texas.
Texas under the age of 40.
From then on he kept on speakHe was also named the 2006 ing and did a Parents Weekend
College Speaker of the year, and presentation which drew more
has various products on sale, such people to him, getting him his
as Books, CD’s and DVD’s.
first speaking job. Although his
He is based in Houston, Texas payment was a free dinner and a
and just before he came to our certificate for speaking at a Future
school campus he was at a private Business Leaders of America
event in Johannesburg, South Banquet for a local high school,
Africa. He keeps a busy schedule he never looked back.
with his career, but the downside
Sprinkles has been involved
By Jasmine Grant
Staff Writer
in motivational speaking for the
past seven years and seems like
he will not be stopping anytime
in the near future.
During his presentation at
South Campus he spoke about
the main areas that need focus
on what will guarantee success
is your mind. “Look at what is in
your mentality creates your reality. What you believe is what you
will achieve. Fear is a negative
conclusion to something that is
going to happen,” he said.
The second pointer was to
watch what comes out of your
mouth. He said that what you focus on is going to happen.
And last but not least is association, which you might have
heard before, “If you want to do
better hang around people who
are doing good things. If you do
not grow mentally then you are
retarded, change is a good thing,”
Sprinkles said.
All the students who attended
the workshop where he spoke
left not only with new positive
thoughts, but also a signed copy
of his book, “You Were Born
an Original, Don’t Live Like a
Copy!”
This book and others from him
can be purchased at www.jsprinkles.com. If anyone missed out
on his great presentation and is in
need of a little motivation he can
be contacted via email at info@
jsprinkles.com.
By Kevin Rosenberg
South Bureau Chief
Natasha Abdin, a Political
Science and English major,
didn’t think she would be leaving her Monday ethics class with
Professor Bill Hunt early. But
things changed after an intense
class discussion on the Jena 6
situation.
Abdin and 31 classmates
walked out during a nation wide
“Walk Out Day” to show support for the Jena 6, who are being
denied their human rights by the
Louisiana criminal justice system.
“The whole class took a vote
and the vast majority agreed [to
walk out],”said Abdin, who first
learned about the occurrence
when a student brought it up in
class.
As an ethics professor, Hunt
supported the student’s decision
to “Walk Out.” “Don’t just walk
out. Make sure people know why
you did it,” he told his students.
Hunt believes in activism. He
thinks people should protest any
injustices that happen. “You can
tune it out if you want, but then
it will continue to happen,” said
Hunt.
The Malcolm X Grassroots
Movement and the National Hip
Hop Political Convention along
with other human rights activists and musicians called for the
“Walk Out,” which was scheduled for Oct. 1 at 12 p.m. (Central
Time).
Jena 6 refers to six black high
school students who got into a
physical altercation with a white
student in December 2006 at Jena,
La. The six black students have
all been charged with second-degree attempted murder. Later the
charges were dropped to aggravated second-degree battery.
Last month, one of the students, Mychal Bell, was tried as
an adult and convicted.
He faced 22 years in prison
until civil rights activists staged
rallies and protests to overturn
the judge’s ruling. The conviction
was thrown out by a Louisiana
appeals court, which ruled that he
had been mistakenly tried as an
adult.
Bell now faces the same charges in juvenile court, but instead of
a possible sentence of 15 years in
prison he can now be held only
until he is 21.
It started last fall when a couple of black students sat under
the tree where the white students
would hang out at lunch time. The
white students responded by hanging nooses from the tree. This act
sparked the racial tensions which
led to the beating of Justin Barker
by Bell and his co-defendants.
Bell got out of jail Sept. 27 on
$45,000 bail. Bell and his co-defendants are currently waiting for
their trial.
North
october 8, 2007
The Observer
North Campus plays host for most students
Anthony Perruci
North Bureau Chief
The first thing you notice on
your way into the job fair that was
held at North Campus on Sept. 27
was the parking lot. It was full; in
a way it never is once the second
week of classes is over and done
with.
For a dozen years now, North
Campus has played host to job
fairs, and the 2007 incarnation
was by all measures a rousing,
crowded success.
With nearly thirty employers manning tables and a steady
stream of students and non-students alike, numbering close to
the hundreds, BCC employee
and event coordinator Philana
Marshall said, “We might need to
go bigger next year.”
“Not only is [the job fair] a
service we provide to our students, it’s a service we provide to
the community,” she added.
The large crowd at the event-estimated to be split evenly among
students and non-students--was
attracted by pervasive advertising
around campus, as well as signs
on the nearby Florida Turnpike.
In addition to job opportunities, many students took advantage of help desks that included
resume assistance.
“The most common mistakes
are rushing, making the resume
too long, and being sloppy,”
Marshall said.
Sue Bryan, one of the resume
assistants, said that “we have information about things that you
shouldn’t do with a resume, and
things that would be good to include in a resume.”
Of the tables at the event, the
most heavily-trafficked ones appeared to be staffed by members
of the Broward Sheriff’s Office,
as well as the Broward County
Clerk of Court’s office.
Clerk of Courts staff member
Shirley Thomas said that she had
seen “a very overwhelming, positive response.”
“Eighty percent to 85 percent
of applicants are positive candi-
dates,” Thomas said.
Though the Clerk’s office did
not offer flexible scheduling for
full-time applicants, who work
from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., she did say
that there are part-time positions
for hours in the late afternoon
through the evening. The BSO
table next to her also hummed
with activity.
The possibility of flexible
scheduling “depends on your position [in the agency],” said
Deputy Taryn Martin.
Student Diana Calderon, in
her first year at BCC, expressed
interest in BSO.
She cited “the opportunities
they have” as a main interest,
saying that she was interested in
a position as a human resources
specialist.
Business Administration major Luckson Almanord, spent part
of his time at the job fair registering with Wyndham Vacation
Ownership.
“I’ve worked for vacation
companies before,” Almanord
said. Almanord was drawn to the
event by advertisements on campus. “I was hoping to see more
business [companies].”
Wyndham is a firm that specializes in selling time-shares,
though representative Christine
Snyder was quick to clarify that
“we consider it a little more upscale,” she said.
“I have a couple other prospects, but might be interested [in
Wyndham],” Almanord said.
A handful of companies made
the most of their $150 table fee
Students get help on their resumes.
and snapped up prime real estate
near the door. Babies “R” Us, a
retail chain geared toward expectant and recent parents, was one of
them.
Student Shinique Crawford,
a Graphic Design major, was
among those interested in a job
with the company.
“I’ve been a cashier, [but]
don’t like it,” she said. Crawford
added that she has no children
of her own, but likes kids. “The
ones that behave,” she said.
photo by anthony perrucci
Omni and Bailey will undergo new updates
Anthony Perrucci
North Bureau Chief
BCC campuses, county-wide,
will soon be undergoing a number
of updates and improvements to
facilities scheduled to run through
July 2008.
Robert DeCosmo, Director of
Health and Safety, Pointed out that
Bailey Hall on Central Campus
and the Omni Auditorium on
North Campus will be the main
focus of the improvements.
The campus improvements
come on the heels of a lawsuit
filed by Access for the Disabled,
Inc; that was filed in summer
2007 and settled out of court by
the college.
“The court dismissed the case
as long as we fulfill our part of the
bargain,” DeCosmo said.
As per the agreement between
BCC and Access for the Disabled,
the modifications to the facilities
include: expansion of doorways
from 32-inches to 36-inches,
upgrades to restrooms to make
them more handicap-accessible,
and the addition of handicapped
parking spaces in parking lots.
Additionally, a stage lift will
be put into place at the Omni
Auditiorium.
The total cost of improvements
to the campuses is expected to be
around $1 million, half of which
was allotted for campus upkeep
prior to the filing of the lawsuit.
The agreement covered “the
minimum
[requirements],”
said DeCosmo. “We’re going
above and beyond. We have to
make sure we do it correctly.”
The college is preparing
a number of improvements to
surpass the legally required
minimum standard.
“If it’s in the code now, I
bring it up to code and fix it,”
DeCosmo explained.
“It’s
the right thing to do, and we
gotta do it, and we gotta do it
right.”
photo by anthony perrucci
BCC and Access for the Disabled agreed to expand the doorway from 32 to
36 inches.
The Observer
JUNE 11, 2007
Collegewide
october 8, 2007
Disney
internship
▪ Continued from page 1
questions while recruiters were
there to answer.
Zackery Yarborough, a junior
and a Secondary Education major, had the opportunity to work
for Disney his freshman year and
discussed his experience in the
program. “The program is a great
opportunity for you to figure out
what you want to be when you
grow up,” said Yarborough.
Yarborough took one class at
Disney program. “I took marketing U, which is basically a class
to help you build your resume and
help you market yourself to the
public,” he said.
Yarborough also worked most
of the time in operation-attractions at Disney’s MGM studios
as an attraction star tour flight
attendant cast member. “Here at
Disney are all cast members, we
all play a role, it’s not just a job,
it’s a role that you play”, says
Yarborough.
According to Yarborough, he
had to work a lot of hours during
spring break. All other hours were
normal work hours. Any regrets
you ask? Yarborough has no regrets of being a part of the Disney
program. “The only thing I regret
is not doing the program longer. I
went for 5 months instead of 7,”
he said.
Yarborough stated that the
program is for students who “enjoy and are good at networking,
friendly and open to meeting all
kinds of people. It is also for undecided undergrads, and those
who just want to take part in the
experience are also welcome.”
While living near the Disney
Park, rent is deducted from student’s checks every week. Disney
is looking for exceptional, ambitious students who have genuine
enthusiasm for their professional
futures and who love to make
people smile.
The Disney program isn’t
recommended for students who
are sure of their major and who
want to graduate on time. “Even
though you lose a semester at
school, you gain the Disney experience for your resume which
is gold for later on in life, plus
you gain an additional 6 college
credits for attending the program”
said Yarborough.
There are various majors to
choose from, which include many
from Business Management to
Culinary Arts to Communications
and many more.
When asked if Yarborough
would go back again, he was
clear, “Oh yeah. Its one thing to
be a guest and feel the magic, it’s
another thing to be a cast member
and to actually create the magic.”
There are many jobs students
can get within different Disney
parks such as being a character,
operating rides, or hospitality and
so much more. If you’re interested and want more information on
the Disney College Program, visit
www.wdwcollegeprogram.com
And don’t forget to dream it
and do it Disney!
The Observer
Brain Bowl challenge continues
By John Wilson
Staff Writer
Professors Robert Fusco and
Ronnie Rothschild hosted the
Brain Bowl tryouts on Sept. 1920 in the Central Campus cafeteria from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. The purpose of the event was to encourage students, both old and new, to
build the roster for a new year of
academic competition.
Held in the café of the Central
Campus cafeteria, it was a lively
affair where difficult variants
of questions were asked and a
roundtable of excited scholars answered with verve.
Before the actual tryout began, Professor Fusco introduced
all to the new assistant coach of
the team, Professor of Psychology
Ronnie Rothschild. While the
place of the tryouts left much to
be desired, such as the moldy car-
peting and unclean tables, the actual two-day event went well.
The refreshments served
(soda and cookies) kept the energy levels at superfluous levels
throughout.
Among those trying out
were members of previous years’
teams, such as Civil Engineering
major Jonathan Ghassan and
2004 captain Bjorn Hare, who
became the second highest scorer
and had a third place finish in the
NAQT sectional held in Orlando
that year.
The questions asked during
the tryout were from last year’s
tournament and worded either
from vague to specific details
and vice versa. Question subjects
come from humanities, mathematics, natural sciences, and
social sciences. Some examples
are:
1. In Greek mythology, he was
the son of Zeus and Maia. Said to
have invented boxing and gymnastics and to be an aid to thieves.
He is also known as the messenger god. Who is this wing-footed
Greek deity who has since lent his
name to a French fashion house?
(Hermes)
2. What is the profit maximizing rule for all market structures?
(marginal cost= marginal revenue)
For the tryout, the buzzers
used were tested for sound and
learned some ways the actual
tournament goes. There are penalties if someone buzzes in before
the question is fully said. If the
answer for a question is not totally known, the educated guess
is encouraged.
In the tournament, there is
first a toss-up question for either
team, and for the team which answers correctly the bonus ques-
tion is quickly discussed by the
team before answered.
On the actual selection of
team members, Professor Fusco
said that, “usually there are people who have specialties that others may not have. It is usually a
long process in deciding who is
on the team, the main consideration being people who are most
able to travel to competitions,” he
said.
The Brain Bowl team is
under the wing of the Florida
Community Colleges Activities
Association, meaning that transportation and board are paid for.
For those still interested in
practices for Brain Bowl and
NAQT competition, they are
held Tuesdays and Thursdays at
Central Campus in Building 1
room 140 from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30
p.m.
Features
The Observer
october 8 2007
Columbia University Students Protest Guest Speaker
By Jessica Beans
Staff Writer
It was a day unlike any other
day at New York’s Columbia
University. Thousands of students
gathered outside Columbia’s
Roone Arledge Auditorium on
Monday Sept. 25.
The guest of so-called honor,
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
of Iran, arrived to a seemingly
unwelcome audience. 600 people,
to be exact, packed into the event
to hear what was to become a very
tense showdown. Ahmadinejad,
who is widely known for his
slick, side-stepping when it came
to answering questions about
himself and his country proved
extraordinarily adept at the “two
step.”
Lee C. Bollinger, the
president of Columbia University,
fell under attack for inviting the
controversial Iranian leader to
speak at his campus. The criticism
came not only from outside the
University, but the student body
as well. In an effort to deter the
attention from his invitation,
Bollinger surprised the masses
Photo Courtesy of heraldextra.com
with his opening speech.
“Mr. President, you exhibit
all the signs of a petty and
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cruel dictator.” Said Bollinger
and proceeded with “You are
either brazenly provocative or
astonishingly uneducated,” said
Bollinger. He concluded his
lengthy opening speech with,
“I doubt that you will have the
intellectual courage to answer
these questions.”
The crowd cheered through
various parts of the University
president’s speech, but it didn’t
seem to affect the accused
“dictator” one bit, as he wore a
constant grin.
Responding with a gentle
defiance, Ahmadinejad said, “In
Iran, tradition requires when you
invite a person to be a speaker,
we actually respect our students
enough to allow them to make
their own judgment, and don’t
think it’s necessary before the
speech is even given to come
in with a series of complaints
to provide vaccination to the
students and faculty. Nonetheless,
I shall not begin affected by this
unfriendly treatment.”
Ahmadinejad’s response to
Bollingers’ speech was followed
with a weak round of applause
from the audience. As the event
preceded, John H. Coatsworth,
discussion moderator and Dean
of the School of International and
Public Affairs, began a sort of
question-answer session.
Throughout the event, the
Iranian cancelled president did
what was expected of him. He
didn’t answer any questions
directly, but he did touch on
them.
The crowd outside the
auditorium was able to see
and hear the president of Iran
on a large video screen. Their
reactions were a range of all sorts,
as President Ahmedinejad spoke
on various issues.
In this two hour verbal
debate, he encouraged Columbia
University students to visit Iraq,
which was met with applause.
The hail of boos and outrage
came upon his explanation of the
Holocaust, and how he believes it
to be theory, not fact. Ahmadinejad
proceeded to the “fact” that there
are no homosexuals in Iran. Even
the mere discussion of religion
seemed to un-nerve the student
body.
Protesting continued as the
speech commenced. Posters of
support for the Iranian president
were ripped and walked on. One
student displayed a poster of
Ahmedinejad bent in the shape
of a swastika. As one student
said, “It was utterly disgraceful;
the man did not answer any of
the questions that were posed to
him.” Supporters of Ahmadinejad,
mainly Iranian-born students,
were on site to voluntarily offer
an explanation to fellow students
as to why he should be heard and
not ridiculed. But the majority
seemed to disagree with them.
Chanel Gonzalez: Radio Personality
by: Heather Dulman
Editor-In-Chief
Chanel Gonzalez may seem
just like an ordinary person, but
she is well known for her voice
on the radio. She works for a
popular Miami station at Clear
Channel, Mega 94.9. By having
this job people think of her as a
local celebrity.
“I live next door to you. I’m
a regular person, it’s not like I
live in Star Island. I’ve gone to
stores with no makeup, hair in a
bun and looking like I just died,.
I was embarrassed that someone
recognized me and my laugh,”
she said.
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT ON THE ISSUES: SCIENCE AND MORALS
Gonzalez has been one of the
last original DJs from Mega. She
started in 2002 and has been in
the radio business for two and a
half years.
“There are a lot of changes
that go in the background that
has to do with
stations changing formats and
jocks,” she explained.
Before having her breakthrough career
that she loves
to go to everyday, Gonzalez
says she started
out by chance
and
never
thought of being in the radio
field. She had
some college
and worked in
New York at
the Copa Cabana. She bartended
and was an assistant manager.
In 1990 Gonzalez started doing Voice Over’s. Then in 2000
she got her first job in the radio
business. Juan Arroyo, a mixed
disc jockey that worked at Latino
Mix, eventually became Program
Director. Then Arroyo offered
Gonzalez a job at a station called
Rumba 107.1, she worked there
for two years on the midday
“I was embarrassed
that
someone
rec-
ognized me and my
laugh,”
shift.
Gonzalez gave some pointers
on how to get in the business. The
person has to have hard skin and
be humble. Gonzalez explained
that if you go in this field you
should start by interning and networking. People come and go and
the station could have a fast turn
over; it could be the music or the
disc jockey.
“The stations goal is to make
money. They have constant
Photo courtesy of MEga949.com
changes and you have to go with
it and be the best you can be,”
she said. “When you think you
are good you are not good. There
are people that are willing to take
your job at any moment,” she
added.
Radio listeners can hear
Gonzalez in action on Mega 94.9
Monday through Saturday from
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It is also known
as the midday drive.
At the end, Gonzalez gave
some words of wisdom, “Radio
is very hard to work in. It only
has so many shifts. You need to
pay your dues, everything changes, it’s a dog eat dog world. At
the same time it is a lot of fun.
It’s better to start off young, get
in however you can. There are
people out there that want what
you want. Work hard, roll with
the punches; develop hard skin.
More than anything is to be happy
with what you are doing. As for
this goes, there is no where else I
would want to be,” she said.
October 8, 2007
The Observer
10
centerspread
The Observer
octob
Kenpo Club
BCC’s Kenpo Club is a BCC and FAU intramural sports club dedicated to promoting Kenpo,
which is a style of karate developed on the island
of Okinawa. The word Kenpo can be translated as
the “law of the fist”. In the class, the participant
will learn the basic principle of blocking, punching, kicking and self defense. The Kenpo club is
dedicated in teaching and assisting students to develop their martial arts skills. The benefits of joining are participating in exercises that contribute
to a healthier life recommended by the American
Heart Association. Any student is welcome and
should wear workout attire and not a full gi. For
safety reasons, no jewelry is allowed to be worn.
Kenpo Club meets on Monday, Tuesday and
Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the BCC Pavilion
on Central Campus.
Photo courtesy of broward.edu
Studen
Assoc
Photo courtesy of broward.edu
Left to Right: Sensei Nolan, Sensei Guillermo.
Clubs
Photo courtesy of broward.edu
How to start a club
A student may start their own club, however, there
are some rules and guidelines that must be followed.
Six currently enrolled students are required to petition
to start a new organization and all must be considered
in “good academic standing” according to BCC. A
petition for registration as a new student organization
form must be completed and include the student organization’s advisor. The advisor must be a full-time
employee. A student organization roster form must be
submitted and contain a list of all the members and
there must also be an organization constitution created. After all forms have been completed and signed
by the advisor, they must be submitted to the Student
Life director for review. Once the director has looked
over the documents, they will either return it for revisions or forward it to the Dean of Students. As soon
as the director and dean have signed the petition, the
club is now officially recognized as a BCC organization. All forms needed in this process can be found in
the Student Life Offices.
Photo courtesy of broward.edu
Students from the Computer Club participating in a Nerd Contest.
Computer
Club
Students interested in the
field of computer technology
should join the North Campus
Computer Club. Students in the
club have full access to the computer room that is complete with
advanced software and applications. Meetings are on North
Campus in Building 48 room
221. To join the club, applications are required and an annual $20 fee is required. During
the meetings there are activities such as computer jeopardy,
hardware and software demonstrations, computer nerd contest and pizza parties. Students
who join the club also have the
chance to travel to places like
Disney’s Computer Center, Bush
Garden’s Computer Center, and
Silicon’s Graphics. For more information contact Dr. Elwood
Jones at ejones@broward.edu.
The
Associatio
dents. SGA
cerns and
lems, actin
dent organ
trations.
The me
and all int
offers var
nities on
concerns,
and soluti
SGA in a
way so the
are kept up
students.
SGA ha
es, includ
Center. Th
Campus m
Friday at 1
133. For
broward.e
The 4th
Wall
The 4th Wall Club is
BCC’s student theatre
club. They meet on the
last Thursday of the month
at 3:30 p.m. on Central
Campus. The Advisor’s
name is Debbie Kondlik.
The benefits are learning
theatre, behind and front
scenes. There are a number of $600 scholarships
awarded. Anyone is welcome to join. For more
information e-mail dsanchez@broward.edu.
centerspread
ber 8, 2007
The Observer
Broadcasters
Club
Photo courtesy of broward.edu
For people who are interested
in broadcast from all aspects, the
Broadcaster club is here. They
meet Wednesdays from 12 to 1
p.m. and no previous experience
in the field is required. Benefits
of this club include working with
high-priced equipment, getting
on set, learning about filming, editing and what it’s like to direct.
Such things provide a valuable
experience for students who want
to pursue the field and a memorable one for even students who
do not go into the field. The club
meets on the Central Campus in
building 17.
nt Government
ciation
Phi Theta Kappa
Student
Government
on is the voice of the stuA researches students confinds ways to resolve probng as a liaison between stunizations and the adminis-
embership is open to any
terested students. SGA also
rious leadership opportumany different levels. All
suggestions, comments
ions are addressed by the
professional and powerful
e faculty and administration
p to date as to what affects
as chapters on all campusding the Willis Holcombe
he SGA chapter on South
meets twice a month every
12:30, in building 69 room
more information, check
edu.
Photo courtesy of broward.edu
Photo Courtesy of SGA
Phi Theta Kappa or PTK is also known as the
Honors Institute and has a wide variety of benefits both socially and academically.
The university transfer scholarship is probably the most sought after award. But there are
other grants that can help pay your BCC tuition.
To be accepted you must have at least a 3.5
GPA and be enrolled in a degree program at
BCC. Each campus has its own chapter, so you
must apply at your campus designated Student
Life office.
With the exception of the Pines and Weston
Center, who are still in the process of establishing their chapter, all BCC campuses have a PTK
Club. PTK is also featured on the BCC website
and offers basic information on the program.
For more info, go to: www.ptk.org or www.
broward.edu/honors
Ultimate
Frisbee
Ultimate Frisbee: It’s better
than regular Frisbee on several
counts. It’s more extreme, for
one. It’s on campus, for another;
and rather than fight your dog for
15 minutes to get the flying disc
back so you can throw it again,
you’re playing with other humans,
very few of whom will insist on
catching with their mouths.
Think of it almost like soccer,
or lacrosse, only with Frisbees.
Pass to your teammates, score
goals, and celebrate in an extreme manner, such as with a cold
Mountain Dew.
Contact Central Campus club
president Kristen Deffler or advisor Steven Obenaul at (954)
201-6674. Practices are held on
Fridays at 5 p.m. on the soccer
field.
Photo courtesy of broward.edu
Photo courtesy of broward.edu
The main headquarters for Phi Theta Kappa.
Photo courtesy of www.knox.com
11
12
The Observer
Entertainment
Across The Universe
A look into the potential cult classic musical “Across
the Universe” and interview with it ’s star Jim Sturgess.
october 8, 2007
Giving:How Each of Us
Can Change the World
particular efforts, but there is so
much more.
It goes on to highlight current
on-going issues and it’s amazing
how so many different issues are
detailed. From better drinking
water to college aid and going
into patient’s rights.
Of course, there is his most important priority, his wife Hillary
Clinton and her presidential campaign. A cause he takes very seriously and is most proud of.
The book follows not only
well-known people or heroes as
he refers, but the unknown personal struggles and inspirational
tales of humanity. And to me
what was very impressive about
this book is how much ground
was covered.
Clinton was able to breeze
through the details of his highly
profiled eight years in office and
capture basically every small to
large issue ailing this country and
the world, but more importantly
how we all can address them, one
Sharday Moshanko
Staff Writer
By Jessica Beans
Staff Writer
The movie musical
“Across the Universe”
is many things, but its’
most noticeable aspect
is that it allows viewers to see the music and
heart of the controversial
times in the 1960’s. The
movie follows a young
artistic painter named
Jude (Jim Sturgess) as
he travels to America,
meets his true love, and
makes friends along the
way.
Rather than random
characters grouped together, everyone has a story told through
different captivating and compelling styles. As events unfold,
“Giving”, as the title says, is
very much exactly what this book
is. But to be honest, I wasn’t terribly impressed with the first
couple of chapters. The author,
William Jefferson Clinton, or as
we all know him, President Bill
Clinton, doesn’t exactly project
an omnipresent effect of enlightenment. Reading the beginning chapters is nothing that you haven’t
seen or heard before. However,
through his personal experiences,
he gives us stories of a down-toearth account of what a lot of us
can be doing and just didn’t think
we could.
As I read through each part of
the book, I became fairly bored
with some of the stories. At times
I even thought that maybe this
book was a mistake and that I
wouldn’t have many good things
to pull from it.
To be perfectly frank, the
bland theme continues and never
really gets to an
exciting
point.
However, as I
read on, I found
myself earnestly
moved by the in
depth accounts of
his relief efforts
with the Tsunami
in 2004 and hurricane Katrina.
If you are the
good-Samaritan
type or maybe a
person just looking to find yourself through helping others, this
Photo Courtesy of viewimages.com
is definitely the Former President Bill Clinton as he signs copies of
novel for you. It his new book.
is apparent that Clinton spent a by one. Clear, concise, and singreat deal of time with those two cere. I enjoyed it, you might too.
Actually the entire soundtrack is
Beatles songs.
In a recent interview with
Jim Sturgess, he said there were
two scenes that really
touched his heart and
“The film kind of spans spoke to his soul. While
filming the scene with
off with this sort of innothe song “Strawberry
Fields Forever,” it was
cent Sixties, and that sort
the anniversary of John
Lennon’s death. The
of whole “bubblegum” director, July Taymor,
told him to sing with
era. And then as the charLennon in his mind,
heart and soul as the
acters change, they start song played on loop,
and Sturgess just do
becoming more experiwhat he felt.
The second scene
mental. So did the world was when he and his
co-stars, Evan Rachel
around them. So did the Wood (Lucy) and Joe
Anderson (Max), lead a
music of The Beatles.” peace march down 5th
Avenue after watching
said Jim Sturgess.
many documentaries of the sixties.
The fact that they were Jude’s best friend gets drafted in front of about 600 into the Vietnam War and his girl- people and as Strurgess
friend joins dangerous anti-war
describes, “When I arprotests.
rived on set it looked
Jude finds himself torn beexactly how tween taking action or continuing I remember it
to paint to voice his opinions. The
looking on the
movie starts off in a way remidocumenniscent to “Grease” with a high
school dance, however, rest assured this movie is in a league
of its’ own.
From war, love, trials
and tribulations of life,
this movie has a little bit
of everything which allows anyone to relate
“All My Loving”
to the characters and
“I Want to Hold Your Hand”
the feelings they go
“It Won’t Be Long”
through. Although
“I’ve Just Seen a Face”
the songs are a bit
“Let It Be”
dusty from not being
“Come Together”
heard for a while, the ac“I Am the Walrus”
tors pull off an amazing
“Something”
job of truly singing from
“Oh! Darling”
the heart.
“Strawberry Fields Forever”
In the end, the lyrics
“Across the Universe”
seem so sincere; its as if the
“Helter Skelter”
songs were made for the
“Happiness Is a Warm Gun”
movie and not the other way
“Blackbird”
around. That happens par“Hey Jude”
ticularly when Jude’s best friend
“Lucy in the Sky with
Max begins to sing The Beatles
Diamonds”
song, “Hey Jude.” And despite
the misleading commercial, “Hey
Jude” is not the only Beatles song
that emerges from the movie.
Photo Courtesy of acrosstheuniverse.com
taries and I thought, wow.” He
also added that when the music
kicked in, “I remember my knees
nearly buckling. Cause it was
such a powerful moment.”
Though it is true that the
song’s deeper meanings originally had nothing to do with most of
what they conveyed in the story,
this movie can still be appreciated
as a wonderful show for the eyes.
“Across the Universe” did indeed turn out to be much like a
piece of art. It’s hard to tell if it’s
a love it or hate it film until the
whole movie has been watched.
The beauty that can be found in
this film depends on how one perceives it. That is normally the way
it goes with films that win awards,
and it would be no surprise if this
one picks up a few of its’ own.
Sturgess shared his opinion
on what he thought the movie
was really about by saying “…I
think it shows a group of young
people living in a kind of New
York City East Village, in a time
where things are just changing
so dramatically for everybody.
The film kind of spans off with
this sort of innocent Sixties, and
that sort of whole “bubblegum”
era. And then as the characters
change, they start becoming more
experimental. So did the world
around them. So did the
music of The Beatles. So
did the music in general.
As the Vietnam War
is introduced
the characters become
more
politically
weighted
as did
the music.
I
think it’s
really kind
of a celebration of that
time…”
All and
all, it has to
be said that this is
movie a must see, and
although not everyone
has a taste for the arrangement of music and scenes
this movie brings together, it’s
hard not to agree with the main
statement of the movie, “All you
need is love.”
“Across the Universe” Play List
october 8, 2007
Entertainment
The Observer
13
A Lie of the Mind: BCC’s newest production
Daniel Dickey
Contributing Writer
For the past 15 years Deborah
Kondelik has been an active professor, mentor, and director at
BCC. She has directed 22 main
stage plays and has been awarded 20 superiors for her ability to
bring together young inspiring
actors and turn them into a flawless ensemble.
Her latest production, “A Lie
of the Mind,” written by Sam
Shepard, the winner of the New
York Drama Critics Award for
best play of the year (1985),
shows how destructive behaviors
emerge when basic human needs
go unmet.
The play is an American tragedy with dark sardonic humor.
It’s a story of eight complex characters, that all share strong primal
tendencies and equally find hardship in achieving basic needs.
The play is a dive into the hu-
man mind and
stuck in a disshows the psycholtorted reality and
ogy of human beuse lies to cope
havior. Kondelik
with their life’s
conveyed that the
frustrations. They
play contains vulare incapable of
nerable characters
higher levels of
with strong needs
thinking and it
for tenderness and
shows in their
nurturing. When
selfish ways.
their needs reAt times, the
main unsatisfied
play can reveal
and they are faced
itself as dark and
with extreme frusbrutal but overall
tration, they beit shows a realcome destructive
istic side of huthrough acts of
manity.
Photo by Daniel Dickey
rage, jealousy, re- Cast members from the play “A Lie of the Mind,” get together for a
As a Director,
venge, suspicion, group photo.
Kondelik
is
hostility, and control.
fashion, but are still common known for striving to incorporate
Due to the ineptitude and vul- enough for each of us to relate to. innovative ideas into her producnerability of the characters they Everyone strives to feel wanted. tions. She has accomplished her
feel compelled to hold on to one We all desperately desire to be task for this production with live
another. They are hopelessly loved and affirmed.
musicians. She feels the choice
codependent.
All of the characters lack the of bluegrass music shows that
The characters portray every- validation we require as humans America on the surface can seem
day flaws in the most extreme to feel fulfilled. Therefore, they’re happy, carefree, and healthy.
However, Shepard’s real message is that underneath the façade, the characters, representing
Middle America are primitive,
shallow and quite ignorant. In
truth, it will bring a lighter side to
the serious subject of the story.
The set, designed by Michael
Williams, is meant to reflect the
somber tone of the story. The
characters are existentially alone
and metaphorically out in the
middle of nowhere. The set looks
as if it is floating, to show how
none of the characters have found
the solid ground for which they
are so desperately searching for.
Overall, this theatrical production will easily satisfy your appetite for entertainment, while causing you to look deeper into the
psychology of human behavior.
The lives each character lives by
are the only truths they know. It is
“A Lie of the Mind,” but the truth
of the heart is what motivates the
actions of this potent play.
Silver is the new black Box office buzz
PlayStation Portable gets a new sleek design and
technology to match.
Angela Osborne
Opinion Editor
Forget
what
you’ve heard, silver is the new black.
Sony has released a
new; redesigned silver
PlayStation
Portable
(PSP).
This new PSP is 33 percent lighter and 19 percent slimmer than its
predecessor. Yet, Sony
didn’t make the LCD
screen any smaller, it’s
still 4.3 inches.
Also, something new
for PSP owners to enjoy
is a video-out port that
will
allow PSP players to link
their PSP to their television and
play the PSP games and movies
on their television. The only condition is the television has to have
a progressive scan at 480x272
resolution. The cables are sold
separately.
PSP’s new silver color doesn’t
get dirty as fast compared
to the glossy black
PSP released almost
three years ago.
No longer will its’
square button feel
like they are going
to fall off, they are
just as firm as the rest
of the buttons.
Photo Courtesy of superufo.com
Through T-Mobile
HotSpots, PSP owners can now
access the internet from more
then 7,000 T-Mobile HotSpot
locations, including Starbucks,
Borders and more than 70 major airports through the country.
After a six month period, T-mobile will offer PSP owners a special subscription rate.
PlayStation titles can be downloaded from the PlayStation store,
accessed from the PS3 system
and played on the PSP system and
these titles cost about $5.99.
There are two bundle packs:
the Daxter pack includes the ice
silver PSP system, Family Guy
– The Freakin’ Sweet Collection
on UMD, and a 1GB memory
stick pro.
On Oct. 9 Sony is releasing a limited edition Star Wars
Entertainment Pack that includes a special ceramic white
PSP with a silk screen image of
Darth Vader along with the PSP
exclusive Star Wars Battlefront:
Renegade Squadron. Both bundle
packs have a MSRP of $199.99.
Individual PSP’s have a MSRP of
$169.99.
Jerry Seinfeld comes to South Florida
to promote the movie “Bee Movie”
Andres Lopez
Entertainment Editor
lifestyle that brings fascinations
and how they produce their honey.” Annette Bening, Chris Rock,
Megan Mullally, Rene Zellweger,
Ray Liotta and Oprah Winfrey
are just some of the many people
that lend their voices to the Bee
Movie.
The success of choosing the
cast was based on, “just whoever
I think is funny.” It seems that this
movie is one of Seinfeld’s most
important moves. He has worked
hard at it and says that even if the
movie is not a hit he will still be
happy with his accomplishment
in making this film. However, he
On a sunny yet rainy day,
South Florida was able to witness
the humorous and sarcastic wit of
world renowned comedian Jerry
Seinfeld. Seinfeld was in town to
promote his upcoming, animated
feature titled the “Bee Movie,”
which comes out nation-wide Nov.
2. While there, he talked about
how this movie “took me four
years to create.” Seinfeld plays
the voice of Barry B. Benson.
Seinfeld is mainly known for his
hit sitcom “Seinfeld,” a sitcom
that talked about anything
that came up in everyday
life, but now everyday life
has been channeled to the
world of animated features, in which audiences
of all ages will enjoy.
During
this
day,
Seinfeld was able to see
the plethora of media that
was waiting for his morning arrival to Regal South
Beach Cinema, the location where he greeted
and answered questions
to media of all of types.
The media ranged from
high school and college
students, to main stream
media such as the show
Photo Courtesy of nypost.com
Deco Drive, and major
Jerry
Seinfeld
dressed
as a bee to promote
networks like CBS, NBC
his movie, “Bee Movie.”
and FOX. At that same location we got a glimpse of how says that he is unsure if he would
this future blockbuster will ca- ever want to make another movie,
ter to audiences this November. since it takes so much time of
Steve Hickner, the director of the your life and away from family.
“Bee Movie” was also there to It seems that this Nov. 2, when
offer insight into the brilliant cre- Seinfeld debuts his nation-wide
ativity that was needed to bring “Bee Movie” he will be left belife into the movie about the lives ing the No. 1 honey maker at the
of bees. The motivation Seinfeld box office and will have everyone
had to choose bees over all other buzzing like bees for their honey.
animals “was it’s their business
14
sports
The Observer
october 8, 2007
Seahawks steaming Another awful outcome
into season
the worst rushing defenses
in the NFL. Unable to stop
Culpepper and Raiders’ runThe Miami Dolphins have
ning backs Jason Vargas, the
lost their first four games, makDolphins allowed two touching it their worst season start in
downs in the first quarter.
franchise history.
Green finished the first half
After losing the first two
having surrender two turngames of the season, Miami
overs and gained only 97 passremained tied in last place with
ing yards. The offensive line
the New York Jets.
didn’t give Green much supThe game against the Jets
port as he has now been sacked
was a clear indication of how
7 times.
unbalanced the Dolphins’ really
Although getting another
are. Coach Cameron stated that
excellent performance from
“this is Ronnie Brown’s day.”
Ronnie Brown, who gained
And indeed it was, Brown ran
154 yards and scored a touchfor over 100 yards and scored 3
down, the Dolphins’ drives
touchdowns.
were mostly short lived and
This was the first game that
only two resulted in touchthe Dolphins offensive numdowns. The constant necessity
bers were outstanding. The ofof having the defense on the
fense scored 28 points, Green
field for most of the game is
passed for over 300 passing
starting to show the wear on
yards, Chris Chambers caught
the players. The second half
for 101 yards, and Brown had
is usually when the opponents
211 total yards.
are being able to either overWith the offense produccome small deficits, or to open
ing big numbers, it was the
the score wider.
always reliable defense that
QB Daunte Culpepper gave
gave it away this time. Zack
the Dolphins a taste of what
Thomas was sidelined due to
they lost, when he was cut
a concussion and as the game
from the team. Culpepper ran
progressed, the defense seemed
for 3 touchdowns, including
incapable of stopping the Jets
the last touchdown that catarunning offense.
pulted the Dolphins into a 0-4
The defense performance
season start.
was so terrible that Chad
Unable to have a scorPennington seemed like Tom
ing drive during the fourth
quarter, the Dolphins offense
finished the game with 17
points. The defeat brought
the few remaining fans to
boo Coach Cameron and his
play-calling, especially when
Cameron called a running
play in third down situation,
with the Dolphins trailing by
11 points. The final score was
Raiders 35, Dolphins 17.
The hopes of getting a
playoff spot for the Dolphins
are also looking awful, no
Photo courtesy of espn.com
team with a 0-4 start, has ever
Daunte Culpepper dives past Donnie Spragan for a touchdown
made into the playoffs.
By Bruno niccoli
staff writer
By Bruno niccoli
staff writer
The Seahawks took the court
against Indian River CC trying
to regain a winning record. The
home-match was also another
opportunity to stay undefeated at
Central Campus.
The first game of the night
was mostly dominated by the
Seahawks, as they were able to
control the pace of the game and
gained many points from River’s
mistakes. Indian River tried to
put-up a challenge and regain control of the first game, but with the
scoreboard showing the Seahawks
leading 27-20, the game came to
an end with a final score
of 30-22.
Game 2 was one of
the most impressive,
exciting, and unbelievable games of the
season. The players
fought an incredible
battle on the court,
keeping everyone in
the stands at the top
of their feet. Every
single point had to
be deserved and even
minor mistakes were
costly.
With Lauren Hansen
serving, the Seahawks
overcame a 14-18 deficit,
tying the game at 20-20.
The Seahawks momentum took the game in to
an outstanding battle
for points. The score
was tied at 28 when
timeout was called
by Indian River.
The silence on
t h e
stands was a
clear
sign of how
hard the
game
had
been.
Indian River scored another
point and had the game-point in
their hands, but Nicole Corbett
tied the game. Amanda Danna
gave the lead back to the Seahawks
and after almost forty minutes of
game-time, the Seahawks won
33-31.
The third game marked the
first Seahawks’ defeat at a homematch. Trailing Indian River 2429, they were able to tie the game
by scoring 5 unanswered points;
however, Indian River won 3032.
It was two hours and twenty
minutes of impressive volleyball
skills, as the players finished the
match by winning the last game
of the night 30-25.
Jessica Kuperman’s impressive performance set the standards
for the match. Kuperman not only
assisted the players over and over
again, but also forced River players to adjust their blocking, as she
constantly surprised them with
second touch kills. Kuperman
is the team leader in assists and
aces.
Nicole Corbett’s fantastic season is another great contributor
for the Seahawks victory. She
finished the match with 19 kills.
Corbett’s power and awareness
have given her 147 kills and 265
digs.
Miami-Dade College was
the next challenge. The 8-time
NJCAA champion came to face
the Seahawks on September 27.
This match will be remembered for two distinctive points: it
became the first Seahawks loss at
home and it also became the most
entertaining match to date.
The Seahawks’ baseball players and the BCC mascot were able
to create an atmosphere similar to
any great college football game.
With an incredible support
coming from the stands, the players fought to keep Miami from
opening a large margin on the
scoreboard. The first game had
Miami with the lead for most
of the time, especially when
Rosa Medrano was the server. The final score was 2030.
The players’ performance was again outstanding. They all gave their best,
especially during the second
game, when the Seahawks
opened a five point lead.
Fighting for every ball,
including those which
seemed impossible to
save, the Seahawks managed to surprise Miami
and force them to work
really hard for the victory. Game 2 final
score was 27-30.
Taking in consideration that the Seahawks
players had only nine
matches as a team,
just to be able to putup a challenge against a
multi-champion team, it
is enough reason for
their efforts to be
praised.
Photo by Nathan Phelps
Brady on the field.
The Jets broke a 7-7 tie with
a 98 kick-of return by Leon
Washington, a player who had
never returned a kick in his career. Coach Cameron then decided to use the squib kick, which
was even more costly, as the Jets
recovered the ball at the 43 yard
line, with 1:28 left to play. The
great field position allowed by the
Dolphins, gave the Jets another
touchdown, as they finished the
half leading 21-13.
Miami scored 15 points in the
fourth quarter, but with the Jets
controlling the clock with their
running game, the Dolphins lost
the game 31-28.
On the following Sunday it
was time for the Dolphins to
face Daunte Culpepper and the
Oakland Raiders. The Raiders last
road victory was on November
12, 2005.
Daunte Culpepper said before
the game that “this is just another
game for me,” but Culpepper’s
performance showed how much
the game meant to him.
The game against the Raiders
was a clear sign of what happens
when both the offense and the defense fails to perform. During the
Dolphins first drive, Trent Green
had another interception to add to
his stats. The interception forced
the defense to take the field, and
show why they are now one of
Chasing the Cup under Caution
By Bruno niccoli
staff writer
After the completion of the
first three races in the Chase for
the Nextel Cup, the standings still
show a very competitive fight between the contestants.
Clint Bowyer, in his second
season in the Nextel series, chose
the best moment to get his first
career victory. Bowyer won the
Sylvania 300, the first race in the
Chase. With the victory, Bowyer
jumped from 12th in the standings
to 4th place.
Kurt Busch suffered the biggest upset during the first race,
as he dropped seven spots, being
placed in the last spot.
Jimmie Johnson remained the
leader, followed by Jeff Gordon,
and Tony Stewart.
On September 23, the drivers went to Dover International
Speedway, for the Dover Dealers
400. The race in Dover was
mostly dominated by an excessive use of caution flags, 11 in
total. At times it seemed that flags
were being pulled simply to slow
down the race. TV tried to give
the viewers some visualization of
the dangerous debris, but even in
the age of High-Definition, they
were incapable of doing it so.
Another caution flag came out
during Lap 355, and the surprised
reaction from the Crew Chiefs
and Race Commentators, showed
how absurd the decisions made
by Race Officials had become.
The race was so chaotic that only
6 drivers finished the race in the
lead lap.
The problems surrounding the
second race in the Chase were far
from over. Carl Edwards taking
full advantage of the excessive
cautions, took the lead and won
the race. But Edwards’ victory
was taken from him, as his COT
failed post-race inspections.
Officials
revealed
that
Edwards’ car was too low according to NASCAR rules. The penalty caused Edwards to drop from
third to sixth place in the standings.
After all the problems at
Dover, the NASCAR circuit
moved to Kansas Speedway for
the LifeLock 400, where more
problems came along.
The race first had a small rain
delay in its early laps, but as lap
148 was completed, a major storm
felt over the speedway, forcing a
two hours interruption and the
race to be shortened. When the
drivers got the green flag, the
crashes and car failures started.
The contestants in the Chase had
to pay the price for the problems,
seven of the twelve drivers finished in 29th or below.
At the restart of the race, Tony
Stewart had the left front tire of
his car hitting the front fender. He
tried to stay in the race, but when
the tire finally blew, Stewart lost
speed causing Kurt Busch to crash
against the back of the car.
With just 6 laps remaining in
the race, another caution brought
the race to an early end. Greg
Biffle had the lead, followed
by Clint Bowyer, and Jimmie
Johnson. Biffle’s victory seemed
guaranteed, but on the last lap his
car ran out of fuel, and he was
passed by Bowyer and Johnson.
NASCAR officials granted the
victory to Biffle, which didn’t go
well with Johnson, who said “if
you can’t keep-up with the pace
car, you shouldn’t win!”
After the completion of the
third race in the Chase, Jimmie
Johnson is the leader on the
stands, Jeff Gordon is 6 points
behind, and Clint Bowyer is now
9 points behind.
Sports
october 8, 2007
The Observer
15
USF... overrated? Breaking down the
By omar torrijos
sports editor
In a span of two weeks, the
USF Bulls went from being the
23 team in the nation and being
ranked for the first time in their
history to No. 6 as it shows in
the last AP Rankings Poll. Is
USF good enough to go up 17
positions in two weeks or are the
Bulls overrated?
After this past week the Big
East Conference that after the
first week of the season had
West Virginia as No. 3 in the nation, Louisville ranked eight and
Rutgers 15 does not seem as good
as four weeks ago, having West
Virginia [4-1, 0-1] down at the 13
position, Rutgers [3-1, 0-0] at No.
21 and Louisville [3-2, 0-1] gone
from the top 25.
As of today, the Big East is
being dominated by Connecticut
[5-0, 1-0], South Florida [4-0,
1-0] and Syracuse [1-4, 1-0]
(whose only win came against
Louisville).
The overall stats in the Big
East do not show favorable to
USF, being the third worst team
in the Conference, with only
112 points scored, just on top of
Syracuse and Pittsburg [2-3, 01], having the fifth best QB with
787 yards (almost 300 back of the
fourth), five TD passes and two
interceptions.
Where South Florida catches
a break is in their defense, where
they have only allowed 59 points
overall in their first 4 games creating turnovers and interceptions.
After the desertion of Miami,
Virginia Tech and Boston College
to the ACC, it took a couple of
years for the Big East to become
important in the national rankings
again.
However, for this season and
outside of the Conference games,
South Florida’s schedule is relatively easy. In paper, out of the
remaining of the opponents USF
will face, the toughest one is at
New Jersey against Rutgers on
Oct. 18.
There is a possibility that South
Florida will finish the season unbeaten even though I think they
will lose one or two games before
the season ends. Are they going to
have the chance to compete for a
National Championship? No.
The Big East is not that good
this year, teams like the West
Virginia Mountaineers, Rutgers
and Louisville are not that good. If
South Florida manages to play defense the way they have throughout the season the team will still
be in contention, otherwise the
USF Bulls are overrated.
MLB playoffs
By omar torrijos
sports editor
Right after one of the biggest
advantage blow outs in baseball
history and a NL Wild Card game
that went to the bottom of the 13
inning, the MLB regular season
has come to an end.
The first one being the New
York Mets, losing an advantage
of 7 games in the last 18 days
of the season to the Philadelphia
Phillies, and staying out of the
playoffs.
The second one being the alltime saves leader Trevor Hoffman,
who after 14 years of experience,
542 total saves and a two run advantage, wasn’t able to get the final three outs against the Rockies
to leave the San Diego Padres
watching the playoffs from home
losing the game 8-9.
Tim Kurkjian, senior writer for
ESPN The Magazine, formulated
a series of questions for each one
of the playoffs series, some of
them are:
NL Division Series:
Chicago Cubs vs. Arizona
Diamondbacks
“Will the Cubs’ recent power
surge continue?” The Cubs have
been hitting a homerun every
22.2 at-bats. Alfonso Soriano has
hit 14 homeruns in September,
followed by Aramis Ramirez [8]
and Derek Lee [7].
“Will the Diamondbacks hit
enough in the postseason?” The
D-Backs are only the fourth team
in history to make the playoffs
being outscored 712-732 during
the regular season.
“How much of an influence
has Lou Piniella had on the
Cubs?” Even though the payroll
for the Cubs is huge, Piniella has
brought immediate change to a
team that finished last in the NL
Central last year with 96 loses.
“The 2006 Cubs had 292 more
walks from their pitchers than
from their hitters. This year, that
margin dropped from 292 to 76.
That was the Piniella influence,”
said Kurkjian.
Prediction: Cubs in five.
Colorado
Rockies
vs.
Philadelphia Phillies
“Which team has more momentum going in?” It is impossible to say which team has the
momentum. The Phillies overcame a seven games deficit in
the month of Sept. to win the NL
East. In the other side of the coin,
the Colorado Rockies won 14 of
their last 15 games. Both of these
teams have amazing offensive
power.
“How good is the Rockies’
defense?” Somehow “it is the
best in the game. The Rockies
made only 68 errors, fewest in
the major leagues, 15 fewer than
any other National League team.
They made 180 double plays,
second most in the major leagues.
Their improved defense and their
speed are the biggest reasons the
Rockies made it to the playoffs,”
says Kurkjian.
Prediction: Phillies in five.
AL Division Series:
New York Yankees vs.
Cleveland Indians
“Which team has the best 1-2
pitching punch in the playoffs?”
Definitely the Indians. C.C.
Sabathia and Fausto Carmona
combined for 38 wins this season. Also, Sabathia is one of the
front runners to win the Cy Young
award this year for the AL.
“Will Alex Rodriguez’s recent postseason slump continue?
A-Rod is hitless in his past 12
at-bats in the postseason and has
six hits in his past 49 at-bats in
the playoffs with one homer and
three RBIs.” But this season has
been Rodriguez’ best in his career;
also, A-Rod played well against
the Indians during the regular
season so no reason to think his
slump will continue.
Prediction: Yankees in five.
Los Angeles Anaheim vs.
Boston Red Sox
“After Josh Beckett, what is
the state of the Boston rotation?”
Even though Curt Schilling has
not had one of his best years,
during the postseason there is
no doubt he is one of the best.
Daisuke Matsuzaka is a question
mark due to this one being his
first postseason in the MLB and
the average results of his first season.
“Will Manny be Manny? This
was the first year since 1994 that
he didn’t hit 25 home runs. It also
was the first year since 1997 that
he didn’t drove in 100 runs, and
his .493 slugging percentage is
more than 100 points lower than
his career .600 slugging percentage entering this season.”
Prediction: Red Sox in five.
Favre breaks the record
By Bruno niccoli
staff writer
“It would take a plane crash
for me to put Favre in the game.”
These are the words of Brett
Favre’s first NFL Coach, Jerry
Glanville of the Atlanta Falcons.
Luckily for the Packers’ fans the
plane crash never happened and
Favre was sidelined for the rest of
the 1991 season.
During the following off-season, the Green Bay Packers were
in desperate need for a QB and
new general manager Ron Wolf
decided to hire a young player,
someone that would bring youth
in to an aging team.
With a trade for a first round
pick, the Falcons sent Favre to
Green Bay and the rest is NFL
history.
He is the only player in history to be awarded the MVP three
times in a row. He holds the record for most consecutive starts
as a QB, 261. He completed 5,135
passes, also the NFL record. But
after Sunday’s game against the
Minnesota Vikings, Favre is now
the QB with most touchdown
passes.
With less than 5 minutes left
in the first quarter, Favre threw
the ball to Greg Jennings. The 16
yard touchdown pass opened the
scoreboard and became Favre’s
421st touchdown pass of his career.
Dan Marino, who held the
record with 420 touchdown
passes, had a pre-recorded message shown in the Metrodome.
Marino told Favre that, “I loved
holding the touchdown record for
the past 13 years, but if someone
was going to break it, I’m glad it
was someone like you, who has
always competed at the highest
level and always played to win.”
After the game Favre told the
press that, “It feels great but I’ve
never considered myself as good
a quarterback as Dan Marino.”
For the past three years, the focus surrounding Favre’s career in
the NFL had been when he would
finally retire. He was considered
too old to play, too old to perform at the same level as the new
Quarterbacks, and too old to last
an entire season. He proved they
were wrong.
Brett Lorenzo Favre is now a
legend. Favre will eventually retire and take his place in the Hall
photo courtesy of Espn.com
He’s number one, Favre after he
broke Marino’s record.
of Fame, joining other legendary
QBs such as Joe Montana and
Troy Aikman. But for the Green
Bay Packer fans, Bret Favre will
always be the greatest quarterback to have played in the NFL.
16
The Observer
Itsn’t it funny how History keeps repeating
itself ?
EVERYTHING IS MADE IN CHINA!
COMICS AND PUZZLE
october 8, 2007
October 8, 2007
comics and puzzle
The Observer
17
18
OPINION
The Observer
october 8, 2007
An Electrifing Debate
Don’t tase me bro,
even if I asked for it
Tased for the
wrong reason
By Sharday Moshanko
Staff Writer Tasers are coming to be a big
issue. They can make things easier. When fifteen police officers
can use batons against a crazed
criminal, a simple taser can take
him down and make him as obedient as an eight-year-old kid.
Yes, for those cases they make
sense, but where was the harm
in 21-year-old Andrew Meyer’s
questions on Monday, Sept. 17
during John Kerry’s appearance
at the University of Florida?
He was loud and rude to those
he skipped in line in order to
ask questions, but he was filled
with controversial ideas. He is
still a human. Since when does
a human deserve to be tased
for being unlikable, skipping
in a line, or being inquisitive?
As a person who likes to question things and not be part of the
crowd, this makes me worry as to
how far this will go? Will people
just accept that he was loud and
obnoxious, and that he probably
deserved it, just to shut him up?
Freedom of speech is something
we, as Americans, as people, cannot afford to lose. These aren’t
the darker days of our ancestors, when insulting someone
or creating an awkward situation could get you killed sooner
than you could say “I object.”
Aristotle once said, “The law
is reason free from passion.”
Shouldn’t officers of the law at
least have the passion of common
sense? He was a student, unarmed,
and as one could see in the videos
on the internet, he was harmless.
The only things this young
man had at hand were a book
and strong questions. He did not
curse, nor did he cry to revolt.
Could they not have had the
heart to tell him they weren’t
going to kill him when he lost
it as they started hauling him
away? When they finally told
him the charges, he did, in fact,
stop most of the fuss he was
in. It could have been handled
more professionally, if it was at
all necessary, and could have
even avoided the whole thing. Meyer was charged with resisting an officer and disturbing the
peace, both of which didn’t really
happen until after the struggle began. The blunt way they merely
took a student in the back of the
room and tased him disturbed
many viewers. People weren’t
just going to ignore it. John
Kerry was even going to answer the question and asked
everyone to settle down.
The best way to label this
situation is “over-reaction.”
The problem is, if we completely overlook this, it would
be forgetting it and giving
any other situations that could
happen in the future a thumbs up
for more screaming students to
get tased in the back of a room.
What kind of impression will this
give to future college students or
even little children? Violence is
better than patience or possibly if
you don’t want trouble don’t ask
questions. Talking and patience
can be equally as effective, perhaps not for all cases, but in this
case they are. If no one were to
ask questions for fear of being accused of disturbing the peace and
being tased, where will America
be? Let’s not forget our rights. As a last note, it should be
stated that the officers did what
they thought was best at that mo-
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By Anthony Perrucci
North Bureau Chief
ment. Though it was a bit excessive, mistakes happen and that
can’t be helped. Both parties
were wrong in their own way.
Meyer didn’t deserve to be tased.
No student would like this treatment on themselves. People need
to learn from this experience, and
hopefully history will not have
to repeat itself to make this clear
to everyone. Just the fact that the
chance of something like this
NOT happening again seems unlikely is saying something all on
its own. Regardless of which laws
were or were not followed by using tasers in this incident, it was
simply unjust and unfair.
The young man in a blue shirt
is face-down on the ground, struggling against the campus police
attempting to put handcuffs on
his wrists.
“Don’t Tase me, bro,” the kid
yells. “Don’t Tase me.” They do.
The kid screams. And I watch it
and laugh, over and over and over
again.
So what’s the deal with this
kid, a Weston native who refers
to himself as “THE” Andrew
Meyer?
He’s a global sensation, a bona
fide Internet superstar, and a martyr on college campuses coastto-coast; a hero to those with no
understanding of what the First
Amendment entitles you to say,
or do, when or where.
Here’s a quick blow-by-blow
of what happened. The kid runs
in the direction of the stage.
The stage has a U.S. Senator
on it. Understandably, the security team takes note of this,
since running towards an elected
official is one of those things you
Do Not Do.
So he gets to the microphone,
muscling the guy whose turn it was
to speak out of the way, he asks his
friend, “You rolling [the camera].”
Then he asks some crazy, tin-foil
hat questions about why President
George W. Bush hasn’t been impeached, and why Kerry didn’t
contest an election, the outcome
of which was never in doubt, and
if Kerry’s membership in the same
secret club while enrolled at Yale
represents a conflict of interest.
The cops come up behind him;
they cut his microphone and at-
tempt to escort him from the
room, which is fine; he’s being
asked to leave. When he refused
he was trespassing and therefore
subject to arrest.
So instead of complying, he
flips out. He shoves the cops. He
starts screaming: “Do you see
this. Do you see this.” The he goes
on. “Help. I’m being repressed.
Come see the violence inherit in
the system.”
And then, of course, he delivers the line that will echo through
the ages, “Don’t Tase me, bro.”
After he was Tased and cuffed
and led from the building— and
out of sight of the camera’s watchful eye, it must be noted— Meyer
calmed down considerably and
said to the police, “I’m not mad at
you. You’re just doing your job.”
Face it. The kid’s nothing but
an attention getter. He wanted
to cause a scene and he got his
scene.
And he is being championed
across the nation because if popular opinion is to be believed, his
rights were being trampled.
His right to do what? Act like a
moron and flail about like a spastic? His right to resist arrest?
I’m sure the University of
Florida
Police
Department
marches around like they’re the
Gestapo, crushing the student
body under their boot heels. But
let’s not give in to wild exaggeration.
Give me a break. He’s a 21year-old grown man. He acted
like a child and he got spanked.
I feel no pity. When you’re doing the civil disobedience thing,
do it like an adult, and when the
cops grab you, go limp. Arguing
is what the judge is there for.
Oops he did it again...
Natalie Bobb
Contributing Writer
When we think of O.J.
Simpson, we think of tight black
gloves, a white Ford Bronco and
a gruesome double homicide. We
rarely think of the man Simpson
used to be. He used to be a
Heisman Trophy winning, Hall of
Fame running-back. Now all we
see is a 60-year-old man with bad
judgment who continues to baffle
us with his strange behavior.
In 2001, Simpson was accused
of stealing satellite signals from
DirecTV, after federal agents
searched his Miami home in connection with an alleged ecstasy
and satellite theft-ring.
Twelve years after being acquitted of murdering his ex-wife,
Nicole Brown, and her friend
Ronald Goldman, Simpson has
written a book describing how
he would have killed Brown and
Goldman if he was the killer. A
bankruptcy judge has ordered that
the rights to the book be given to
the Goldman family.
Now Simpson has been arrested again. This time he is accused
of breaking into a Las Vegas hotel
room and taking memorabilia that
he says belonged to him. Did I
mention that this was all allegedly done at gun-point? However,
Simpson says that it was a “sting
operation” not a robbery. Yet, no
police were involved.
As the story unfolds, it sounds
more like a circus. For example,
Simpson knew the men that he is
accused of robbing. One of the
men even thought of Simpson
as a close friend at one point.
According to Simpson, Tom
Riccio called him several weeks
ago saying that he was aware of
some people that were secretly
selling items that belonged to
Simpson.
Simpson also says that Riccio
set up the meeting at the Las
Vegas hotel under the pretext that
he had a private collector that was
interested in buying the memorabilia. That is when Simpson
allegedly stormed into the hotel
room with several men and demanded that they return his property. Incidentally, Riccio allegedly caught the entire ordeal on
▪ o.j. Simpson
continued on page 19
OPINION
october 8, 2007
The Observer
19
The Dictionary:
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Remixed
S
ussion on
Angela Osborne
Opinion Editor
Everyone knows George W.
Bush isn’t quite eloquent in his
speaking. This doesn’t seem to
bother most people anymore,
we have grown tolerant of our
President’s short comings, and
after all, it gives the late night
comedians something for their
monologues.
It might be fine if he can’t
speak English, but he should at
least understand it, right? Well it
seems that the President is looking up to Merriam and Webster
because he is trying to make his
own dictionary, starting with the
word victory.
Victory, it isn’t that hard of
a word to grasp the meaning of.
Simply put, it means that you
won something, and by winning
something it means that it’s over.
Call me crazy but I read newspapers, and watch CNN, but I don’t
recall a headline that says war in
Iraq over, troops coming home.
Did I miss something?
Does Bush’s new definition
have that over 3,800 American
lives have been lost? Or that
nearly 37,000 soldiers have been
injured? That doesn’t even cover
the over 80,000 Iraqis that have
died since the beginning of this
war. But apparently this all spells
out a victory for Bush.
Does anyone even know the
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an import
as attacked as sh
oes the constan
Let’s face it, d Last year, a female student w m. Where was campus
9 a.
safe?
make you feel rth Campus going to class at safety officers are more
o
us
ay or
of her car on N incident happened? Camp
scare them aw
to
an
is
th
th
et
en
ck
h
er a ti
safety w
would-be attack
a
te
ri
w
to
y
el
l, students
lik
d them.
part of its appea classes:
en
’s
h
at
re
th
p
l,
o
ap
o
h
ly
al
sc
ht
ter
actu
te. As a commu
roblem with nig ation, a
BCC is open la ight. There is just one little p
tu
si
g
in
current park
s at n
can take classe asses let out. And with our e to walk there with little
cl
av
it’s dark when e parked in Timbuktu and h und in the darkness.
o
av
ar
h
student could nows what could be lurking students have given up on
k
st
light. And who aying a parking fee now. Mo ey graduate. The school
th
p
e
e
m
ar
e
ti
ts
e
Studen
parking by th
e parking lots ar
e
th
at
u
re
su
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e
ad
ak
g
m
in
to
g fund
actually hav
into this parkin
ip
d
t
as
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at
oming
ld
u
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ol shootings bec ion?
o
h
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h
it
W
.
er
t.
at
rg
well li
ething a little la BCC officials handle the situ days
m
so
f
o
k
in
th
Now
would
at just
ause of a thre
e ordinary, how
something of th mpuses were evacuated bec was utter chaos. Central
ss
l ca
Last Spring al e at Virginia Tech. This proce last to know. Employees
e
cr
th
after the massa est of all the campuses, was ion from people on other
at
rg
Campus, the la to find out about the evacu
ad
h
ts
y
and studen
The email ever
?
n
ai
ag
s
en
p
ap
case this h
campuses.
ngency plans in much is for sure.
ti
n
co
e
er
th
udents
re
A
would let the st ents
n’t work, that
ey
es
o
th
d
if
e
em
ic
st
n
e
sy
b
t
d
studen
ideas. It would get into contact with other stu the
ew
n
e
b
to
as
h
There
how to
lans on
ey might know should be going over these p us.
th
l,
al
er
ft
A
.
w
o
rs
o
kn
llab
dition to the sy
. Maybe profess
and themselves It would make an exciting ad rotect the elevator from
p
s.
first day of clas Campus safety can’t even mething that should wait
But seriously, urination. Our safety isn’t so be one of the college’s
ts of
, it should
nonrandom ac
be voted upon
to
g
n
ti
ee
m
t
until the nex
top priorities.
real reason why we went to Iraq?
I would like to suggest no one
really knows. They say for oil,
weapons of mass destruction,
or al Qaeda, or because Bush
thought he would finally win a
game of “Risk” if he played with
living armies. But does it really
matter anymore?
Everyday there is more violence in Iraq. Even if we could
help the people of Iraq, they don’t
want our help; after all they keep
trying to kill our soldiers. People
don’t watch the news anymore
because like clock work, you can
hear the tales from the frontline
that usually involve a bomb or
two, of the car or roadside variety.
Everyday, this so called war
is becoming increasingly more
unpopular with not only the
American people but the people
of the world. Let’s face it, a lot
of other countries hate Americans
as it is, do we really need more
distaste of Americans? It’s really
no wonder why so many people
want to kill us off.
Bush should cut his losses already, and bring our troops home
and try to leave a smaller mess for
the next president to clean up. For
once in his life he has to think,
if he continues on this campaign
of unpopularity, his presidential
library might be big enough to
hold the dictionary that he plans
to write.
OJ Simpson arrested in Las Vegas, Nevada:
For stealing his own memorabilia
▪ Continued from page 18
audiotape and sold it to TMZ.
The story gets even crazier
when Alfred Beardsley, one of
the men Simpson is accused of
robbing, said that he does not
want Simpson to be prosecuted.
Beardsley says that he only called
the police so that he would not be
held accountable for the missing
items.
Why didn’t Simpson call
the police if he felt that these
items had been stolen from him?
Simpson says that he did not call
the police because he has found
that they have been slow to re-
spond to him ever since he was
acquitted in 1995.
Even if Simpson feels that the
police do not treat him fairly, it
does not explain why a 60-yearold man, who has had run-ins
with the law in the past, would
take such a chance. Maybe he
did honestly believe that he was
just taking back what was rightfully his. Perhaps the police do
treat him like a convicted murderer. But Simpson should know
better.
Whatever the reason for
Simpson’s bizarre behavior, he
is at a point in his life where
maintaining a low profile would
have benefited him greatly. It
Photo Courtesy of 570news.com
OJ Simpson arrested in Las Vegas
Editorial Staff
Editor-in-Chief
Heather Dulman
Managing Editor
Nathan Phelps
Layout Editor
Heather Cooper
Copy Editor
Alberto Sanchez
Entertainment Editor
Andres Lopez
Sports Editor
Omar Torrijos
Broward
Community College
2006 FCCPA General
Excellence Award
Opinion Editor
Angela Osborne
Central Chief
Katrina Ward
South Chief
Kevin Rosenberg
North Chief
Anthony Perrucci
STAFF WRITERS
CONTRIBUTING
photographer
Jessica Beans
Hubert Phanord
Josseline Carbonare
Anthony Sedley
Jasmine Grant
Sharday Moshanko
ILLUSTRATIOr
Bruno Niccoli
Eleazar Soriano
John Wilson
Advisor
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Jennifer Shapiro
Issabelle M. Barbu
Natalie Bobb
Advisor’s assistant
Daniel Dickey
Chris Cutro
Frederick Grevenberg
may seem unfair to those who
believe that a 60-year-old man
should be able to live the rest
of his life in peace and that the
media and the police are blowing the whole event out of proportion, but that only applies to
everyone who is not named O.J.
Simpson.
For some people, this is
Simpson’s third strike. Never
mind that a jury found him not
guilty of double-homicide and
that he may have actually believed that he was performing a
sting operation to retrieve stolen
goods. He is already guilty in the
eyes of many.
If Simpson continues to do
things that make people question
his ability to decipher right from
wrong, he will continue to have
legal problems. It may seem unjust, but Simpson has to be more
thorough in evaluating the consequences of his actions than the
average person.
He should have realized a long
time ago that he cannot even afford to jay-walk without being
subject to jail-time. Is it fair? No,
but it is the reality of the situation.
Even Simpson realizes his state of
affairs. “I’m O.J. Simpson. How
am I going to think that I’m going
to rob somebody and get a way
with it,” he told the Los Angeles
Times.
The Observer is a bi-weekly consolidated newspaper produced by students of Broward Community College. The editorial office is located at South Campus, Bldg. 68-268, 7200 Pines
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,
Davie, FL. The Observer can also be reached by phone at 954-201-8877 or e-mail at
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Letters to the editor are encouraged. The writer’s name and phone number must be included and the letter signed. Unsigned letters will not be accepted, but requests for anonymity
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For information concerning editorial policy or advertising rates, call 954-201-8035.
Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect
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20
The Observer
october 8, 2007
Campus life in focus