Cabralitics: Pirates, a threat to peace on campus
By: Chris Cabral / Staff Writer With all the talk about the economy in the news these days, America and its leaders have forgotten about the biggest threat facing the U.S. today: pirates. After years of being glamorized and glorified in film and television by the pirate sympathizers at Disney, our ocean dwelling enemies have struck us once again. Impressionable Somalis, likely influenced by the Pirates of the Caribbean films, have taken to the high seas to steal, kidnap and engage in various other shenanigans – deadly shenanigans. In these times of economic tribulation, rarely is the question asked: Are Disney films turning our children into murderous buccaneers? And are our leaders doing enough to…
Pulse: Promises to yourself are the first to go
By: Eddith Sevilla / Asst. Life! Editor As the weeks and months of this Spring semester diminished, my weight did not. At the start of the semester, I vowed to lose 30 pounds – 15 of which I had gained since the onset of my relationship with my boyfriend Charlie. I asked you, my readers, to join me as I embarked on this journey. I wrote about Web sites, exercises, health and more to keep us motivated. I read health articles, went to health fairs and even worked out at the University Park Campus gym – not a pleasant experience to say the least, but that’s a story for another day. And through it all,…
Green Group: Club promotes environmental action
By: Lauren Agosto / Staff Writer Going green isn’t the latest craze – it’s been the main focus of a small group of students on campus for more than ten years. Students for Environmental Action first began in the late 1990s, disbanded for several years after that and returned in Fall 2008. Since its return, the organization implemented a single stream recycling program on campus, which allows paper, plastic, glass and aluminum to be disposed of in the same bin. “We provide different opportunities for students to engage in environmental action, for example by going dumpster diving or having events open to FIU students to raise awareness for students who don’t know about issues that…
Moment of Clarity: April brings drought in hip-hop music, releases
It’s really hard to write this right now. Please, somebody give me something to say. This month may be the hardest month in hip-hop I can remember. I’m sure everybody is relieved that Mims’ Guilt hit the shelves a few days ago. I’m sure all 11 Mims fans in the nation are satisfied. But there are other fans that will be satisfied in the coming weeks. All 52 Asher Roth fans, most of who are college students, will be relieved to know his album is finally here. But that will probably flop as much as Vlade Divac did when he still played basketball. Wait, there is light at the end of the tunnel (cliché, but…
Pop & Circumstance: New remasters not so Fab for die-hard fans
By: Chris Towers / Asst. Life! Editor Sept. 9, 2009 will represent the biggest day for Beatles fanatics in quite some time. This is the day the long-awaited digital remastering of the Beatles’ original discography will be released, along with a special Beatles-only Rock Band. The remastering of the tracks is something that Beatles fans have been asking for since the day after the subpar quality 80’s CD transfers were released. The idea of hearing the original albums, in all of the hi-fi glory the Fab Four originally intended (in mono!) is enough to get any Beatlemaniac salivating, and I count myself among them. The Beatles were meticulous in the preparation of their albums, being…
Growing Up Greek: University’s first sorority celebrates 25th anniversary
By: Rebecca Burton / Contributing Writer FIU’s oldest sorority, Phi Sigma Sigma’s Delta Kappa chapter, celebrated its 25th anniversary on April 7. They were commemorated as the first social sorority at FIU. Founded in 1984, Phi Sigma Sigma started as a local sorority called Chi Delta Epsilon, according to a sorority press release. The first group of 15 women decided they wanted to become a national sorority, but, being in a new university, sororities on the national level were hesitant to invest in the new chapter. “We interviewed three organizations and based on their history, beliefs and commitment, we believed Phi Sigma Sigma embodied who we were as a group,” said Silvia Tomaselli, a founding…
