The Carolinian [September 11, 2012]

              Follow Us
facebook.com/thecarolinian
twitter.com/thecarolinian
Opinions Page 4 A&E Page 6 Features Page 8 Sports Page 10
T H E C A R O L I N I A N
The student newspaper of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro Established 1919
Vol. XCIII No. 4 www.uncgcarolinian.com September 11-17, 2012
Is Ann Romney good for women?
Are Democrats hypocrites on
voter I.D. laws? Welfare: your
stereotype is showing.
The 80s Issue: Regan wins,
the U.S.S.R falls, and big
hair makes a comeback;
Science-fi ction of the 1980s;
fl ashback to musical greats.
Wolfpack tames Spartans in
home opener, UNCG claws
HPU, Drama at Flemming Gym,
Everyone rejoice: it’s football
time!
MTV’s 2012 VMA’s Recap, The
passing of a “Gentle Giant,”
Hopscotch Festival, What if the
Presidential elections were a
reality show?
see conservative, page 2
cHecK oUt oUr neW WeBPaGe! WWW.UncGcaroLinian.coM
Stephanie Cistrunk
Staff Writer
Alaina Monts
Staff Writer
Americans for Prosperity make a stop in Greensboro Sep. 5
“Obama’s Failing Agenda”
Conservative group Americans for
Prosperity balance DNC hype in NC
photo Courtesy markn3tel/fliCkr
nasa goddard photo and video/fliCkr
Hurricane Isaac crashes onto the Gulf Coast
Isaac echoes horrors of Katrina for Gulf residents
Hurricane Isaac started
as a tropical disturbance off
of the West African coast
on August 16 and traveled
roughly 5,600 miles into
the Gulf Coast.
On Aug. 29, the National
Hurricane Center classifi ed
it as a Category 1 hurricane
discovered on Aug. 28 and
its remnants continued into
the fi rst weekend of Sep-tember
in the Midwestern
states.
Th e storm killed seven
people and swamped many
of the lower areas of Louisi-ana.
It also left more than a
foot of rain in its trails as it
made its way north.
In Tampa, the GOP was
forced to postpone the start
of the Republican National
Convention due to threats
of Hurricane Isaac. Less
than two days before the
scheduled start of the con-vention,
RNC Chairman
Reince Priebus said there
was a possibility of “severe
transportation diffi culties
due to sustained wind and
rain” from the hurricane.
Th e Convention con-vened
on Monday and im-mediately
recessed until
Tuesday aft ernoon when
Tampa was deemed more
suitable to travel. Th e ac-tivities
scheduled for Mon-day
were mainly squeezed
into Tuesday’s schedule,
including the roll call votes
nominating Governor Mitt
Romney and Paul Ryan as a
presidential running team.
Both Romney and Presi-dent
Obama visited hurri-cane
survivors in the Gulf
Coast. Aft er accepting the
GOP presidential nomina-tion
in Tampa, Romney
headed to Louisiana that
Wednesday.
“Call it the Katrina ef-fect,”
writes Cain Burdeau
of weather.com.
“Presidents, and would-be
presidents, can’t aff ord to
get panned like George W.
Bush did in the days aft er
Hurricane Katrina crippled
New Orleans and the Mis-sissippi
and Alabama coasts
in 2005, killing more than
1,800.”
While the storm’s dam-age
was signifi cant, pre-Ka-trina,
some experts say that
two political fi gures would
never have visited the area
due to a Category 1 storm.
For many living in the
Gulf Coast however, seeing
two political fi gures did not
make them feel any more
secure that help is coming.
Electricity was out in parts
of New Orleans into the
weekend, even aft er Isaac
passed.
“We don’t care who gets
elected and who doesn’t.
We just want power,” said
Eddie Cooley, a 56-year old
warehouse worker.
Not all citizens agree with
Cooley however. To some,
seeing the president and
a presidential candidate
showed them that people
cared about New Orleans.
Barbara Melton, a citizen
of LaPlace said, “I think it’s
awesome to have a presi-dent
that cares and wants
to come out and see what
he can do. Having him here
and seeing the situation re-ally
helps people be able to
cope with what’s going on,
what’s happened here.”
While not as great as pre-vious
storms, Hurricane
Isaac caused signifi cant
damage to homes, especial-ly
in Louisiana. According
to an emergency offi cial,
at least 13,000 homes have
Rec center construction shows lack of transparency among students
Laura Brewer
News Editor
Chances are anyone that
has been on UNCG’s cam-pus
in the past two years
has at least heard the name
Glenwood. Maybe they
grew up in Greensboro and
live near the neighborhood.
Maybe they grab a coff ee
and enjoy a good read at the
local bookstore. Maybe they
know some people who live
there, or used to.
Hopefully they know
that UNCG will be expand-ing
its campus across Lee
Street into its neighbor-hood.
Hopefully they are
aware that $500 million dol-lars
is going into the recon-struction
of the Glenwood
neighborhood for a 100
acre expansion of UNCG.
Hopefully.
Th e community fears the
process lacks a large degree
of transparency that leaves
most students and commu-
While NC Democrats
fl ocked to Charlotte for their
convention, Conservatives
used it as an opportunity to
gather their own party in ef-forts
to ignite the party base.
Americans for Prosper-ity
(a rising Conservative
grassroots organization),
made a stop in Greensboro
on Wednesday, as part of
their coast to coast ‘Obama
Failing Agenda’ tour. From
the Greensboro Coliseum,
AFP organized a Town Hall
forum to discuss President
Obama’s ‘Failing’ policies.
Fox News commentator/
author Cal Th omas made
an appearance as the main
guest speaker of the night, as
well as other Conservative
speakers coming from AFP,
the John Locke Foundation;
a conservative radio host, as
well as the volunteers that
are involved with the con-servative
organizations.
Energetic conservatives
fi lled the atmosphere, with
ages ranging from high-school
students to middle-aged
adults, and older vot-ers.
A big screen television
sitting next to the stage had
been stationed to Fox News,
which showed commentary
and live footage from the
DNC.
Many people in the room
were not interested in the
Democratic Convention
and went on with their
conversation, sweet tea,
and hors d’oeuvres. Strik-ingly
so, a replica of the ac-tual
tour bus with the words
“Obama’s Failing Agenda”
sat behind the center stage,
where speakers who trav-eled
from as far as Califor-nia,
expressed their disap-pointments
in the current
administration.
Proud republican and
AFP organizer, Dallas
Woodhouse, started the
Town Hall on a much light-er
note, in hopes to rev up
the audience for Presiden-tial
nominee Mitt Romney.
Getting those in the audi-ence
involved, he makes a
few jabs and jokes about
the president and the op-position,
then continued to
shoot AFP shirts out of a
dart gun.
Following the host, a fi eld
coordinator for AFP, Don-ald
Bryson took the podium.
Bryson began his speech by
letting his fellow Conserva-tives
understand that the
GOP has failed to organize
their people, by stating AFP
is “not the GOP”. Instead the
GOP just wants Republicans
to vote for their leaders in
the polls, but fails to remind
voters how to volunteer and
actually get involved prior
nity members in the dark
and led community mem-bers
with an idea that turned
into an art of manipulation.
From May to November
2010, UNCG and contrac-tors
held meetings with the
Glenwood community in
an eff ort to gain feedback
about expanding across
Less Street. Th e feedback
intended to supply a basis of
boundaries from the neigh-borhood
in order to create
a fi nal blue print that would
benefi t each side. However,
the documented feedback
and the Master Plan look
very diff erent.
Plans for the Glenwood
community began as an ef-fort
to clean up crime ridden
streets and bring economic
prosperity back to the com-munity.
With high levels of
deterioration and corrup-tion
along certain streets,
the expansion hoped to re-vitalize
Lee Street into a safe
and productive area.
Th e neighborhood agreed
on residential expansion and
an addition of a mixed use
area that opened restaurants
and retail shops. Most ada-mantly,
though, the neigh-borhood
wanted discretion:
reasonably sized buildings,
limited parking, low impact
traffi c, boundaries between
certain streets to preserve
historical features, and pres-ervation
of greenery.
Almost four years later,
Glenwood and UNCG
seemed to have lost that lov-ing
feeling.
Th e expansion extends
much further South on
Lee Street than initially in-tended
aft er UNCG bought
houses foreclosed and lost
to bankruptcy. Th e Master
Plan includes the erection of
a massive parking deck and
expects to increase traffi c
within the neighborhood as
the infl ux of students cross-es
Lee Street and uses the
parking deck.
Even though the com-munity
expressed concern
that a new recreation center
would benefi t only the uni-versity
and not the commu-nity,
and that the size would
pose issues of traffi c and
intrusion, the university set-tled
on building a 225,000
square foot recreation cen-ter
which will take one year
to design and another two
to build, to be paid for by
students.
Th e size fl oored residents
who immediately decided at
workshops and forums that
it was too big.
Th e current recreation
center accommodates
10,000 students even though
there are 18,000 on campus.
Campus offi cials and
contractors explained
that*-9+63
. the current recreation
center receives complaints
and is unable to meet the
student needs. In response
to questions asking why not
tear down the old rec cen-ter
and build a better one
on top, offi cials said the size
would intrude on new ath-letic
fi elds.
Still, many community
members wonder why the
new rec center needs to be
nearly double the size and
double the cost, particularly
at a time when the universi-ty
needs to raise tuition and
cut academics. Construc-tion
for the new recreation
center will cost students
about $425 a year.
Th e Carolinian spoke with
Chancellor Brady about tu-ition
hikes last semester and
addressed the major cam-pus
reconstructions. At that
time, the Chancellor said
that campus expansions and
renovations were separate
state appropriations.
Th e university did hold
forums and meetings, simi-lar
to the early meetings that
asked for feedback, about
the rec center and costs. Th e
forums, however, (includ-ing
the revelation of stu-dent
costs) were held dur-ing
summer months, when
either students would not
be in Greensboro nor on
campus.
Community members ar-gue
that the students did not
provide enough feedback
for the university to fi nalize
costly construction on their
behalf and that the univer-sity
seems to be sweeping
details and discrepancies
under the rug with unusual
haste.
Th e biggest fear among
UNCG alumni involved in
the process lies in seeing the
construction as an ominous
sign of UNCG’s priorities
taking a dramatic shift away
from academic preservation
toward profi t, losing reputa-ble
integrity amongst its stu-dents
and community along
the way.
UNCG will hold a
groundbreaking ceremony
for the pedestrian under-pass
to Lee Street on Mon-day,
September 10 at 9 a.m.
Th e rec center is predicted
to be fi nished by 2014.
been damaged.
According to FEMA, if
the number of people re-questing
information is
an accurate guide, the fi -
nal count could be much
higher.
“Our preliminary assess-ments
are driven by condi-tions
on the ground, and in
some areas fl ooding limits
where the teams can go. We
do expect that this num-ber
could rise aft er FEMA
see isaac, page 2
News | The Carolinian
Box N1 EUC
UNCG
Greensboro, NC, 27413
Phone: (336) 334-5752
Fax: (336) 334-3518
Editorial Policy
Letters may be submitted
to:
The Carolinian
236 Elliot University
Center
Greensboro, NC 27413
Editor.Carolinian@gmail.
com
Letters submitted by 5
p.m. Friday may run in next
Tuesday’s edition. Word
limit is 250 for letters, 500
for guest columns. Sub-missions
may be edited for
length or clarity. No un-signed
submissions will be
accepted for publication. All
submissions come under
possession of The Carolin-ian.
The views expressed in
the Opinions section of The
Carolinian do not represent
the views of The Carolinian
staff unless otherwise stat-ed.
The Carolinian Edito-rial
Board is made up of the
Publisher, Editor-in-Chief,
and Section Editors.
Editorial and Business
Staff
Derrick Foust
Publisher
Publisher.Carolinian@gmail.
com
Kaycie Coy
Editor-in-Chief
Editor.Carolinian@gmail.com
Laura Brewer
News Editor
News.Carolinian@gmail.com
Ashley Northup
Opinions Editor
Opinions.Carolinian@gmail.
com
Arvé Byrd
Arts & Entertainment Editor
AE.Carolinian@gmail.com
Ian Foster
Sports Editor
Sports.Carolinian@gmail.com
Christopher McCracken
Features Editor
Features.Carolinian@gmail.
com
James Mieczkowski
Web Editor
Web.Carolinian@gmail.com
Autumn Wells
Advertising Manager
Ads.Carolinian@gmail.com
Corrections Policy
The Carolinian never
knowingly publishes any
mistakes. Please promptly
notify us of any errors by
e-mailing the Editor-in-
Chief at Editor.Carolinian@
gmail.com, or calling (336)
334-5752. Corrections will
be published on page 2 in
subsequent issues of The
Carolinian.
Mission Statement
The Carolinian is a teach-ing
newspaper that is or-ganized
and produced by
students of the University of
North Carolina at Greens-boro.
It is our objective to
teach young writers jour-nalistic
skills while em-phasizing
the importance
of honesty and integrity in
campus media.
2 | September 11-17, 2012
Olivia Cline
Staff Writer
Campaign Trail
Weekly
Obama accepts nomination in
Charlotte
With the Democratic
National Convention well
underway, the pieces of the
2012 election are starting to
fall together.
Incumbent president
Barack Obama formally
accepted the Democratic
nomination on Thursday,
cementing Romney and
Obama as the prime candi-dates
for the presidency.
Highlights of the conven-tion
included First Lady
Michelle Obama’s speech
on Tuesday night. She spoke
about her husband’s vision
for the country and praised
his values.
“He is still the same man
I fell in love with all those
years ago,” she said, and
spoke of the personal ex-periences
behind President
Obama’s lawmaking strate-gies,
including prioritizing
family and individuals over
material goods.
She also mentioned her
husband’s commitment to
continue and build upon his
policies regarding health-care,
women’s rights and the
economy.
Former president Bill
Clinton’s speech in sup-port
of President Obama
addressed issues in stark
contrast from Mrs. Obama’s
passionate message.
Clinton outlined his full
approval of Obama’s eco-nomic
policy, and said that
the president’s current mea-sures
were working. He
called the economic situa-tion
that Obama inherited
from previous administra-tions
a “mess” and said that
“no president - not me, not
any of my predecessors -
no-one could have fully re-paired
all the damage that
he found in just four years.”
He said that Obama pro-vided
a “We’re all in it to-gether”
approach, in con-trast
to what he referred to
as the Republican Party’s
“You’re on your own, win-ner
take all” measure.
Clinton also attacked Vice
Presidential candidate Paul
Ryan, criticizing his speech
for being factually inaccu-rate
and misleading
isaac
from page 1
conservative
from page 1
completes house-by-house
inspections as residents
register for individual as-sistance,”
said Christina
Stephens, a spokesperson
for the Governor’s Office
of Homeland Security and
Emergency Preparedness.
Around 95,000 people
have applied for aid from
FEMA in order to help
them replace their storm-wrecked
belongings.
Assistance was available
for those living in the 10
most affected parishes.
Not all who registered
for aid will eligible how-ever.
Pollution also posed a
problem after the storm.
Authorities dealt with
about 90 problems, includ-ing
minor oil leaks from
various storage tanks and
November 4. He implied
there has not been the same
sense of party organization
as the Democrats.
Bryson laid out the pur-pose
of the AFP, which re-volves
around getting Con-servatives
volunteering, as
well as voting for their party.
“Just electing conserva-tives,
that’s just not the end
of the fight”, says Bryson.
Bryson said that can be
throughout the country or
state by doing phone banks
to undecided/ conservative/
or un-registered voters, or
door to door canvassing in
neighborhoods.
Along with the Bryson,
Kris Farr powerfully con-veys
the background of the
AFP. While the group par-ticipates
in canvassing and
phone banks, similar to the
President Obama’s cam-paign,
they do not want to
persuade people HOW to
vote, but to tell them about
the candidates’ policies. In
addition, Farr hits on early-voting.
She followed with a
hand count in the room, as
to who in the room are early
voters. Half the room raised
their hands, which can be
inferred Republicans as well
as Democrats know how
important voting is in the
upcoming election.
As the night progresses,
those around me were still
quite engaged as we near
to the main speaker. Before
Cal Thomas addresses the
attendees, and well before
the town hall starts, all per-sons
received packets filled
with flyers, newspapers, and
pens from AFP and the John
Locke Foundation.
The women who handed
out the packets, was the
next to approach the stage.
Becky Graham works for
the John Locke Founda-tion.
The foundation is
constitutionally based,
with its primary message
of “seeking a better balance
between the public sector
and private institutions of
family, faith, community,
and enterprises”(JLF).
Graham vented her frus-trations
with the attitude of
society today, saying that
the public no longer wants
to implement the teachings
of the Constitution.
“We think the Consti-tution
is a rulebook, not a
list of suggestions”, Graham
said. Graham hammered
that Democrats and the
media have created a ‘war’
on healthcare, with the new
‘Obama Care’, as well as a
‘war’ on women. With a
well-received reaction from
the audience, she defend-ed
the Republican Party,
which has lately been on
the offensive when regard-ing
their policies. Graham
ended her segment with a
commonly repeated phrase
of the night, “Are you bet-ter
off than you were four
years ago?”
Californian conserva-tive
radio host and political
commentator Tony took
the stage next, by warming
up the crowd with jokes
about his liberal surround-ings,
which draws boos
from the largely conserva-tive
audience; all in good
taste. Katz got straight to
the point when discussing
why Conservatives who
would like to keep Barack
Obama, a one-term Presi-dent,
namely by remind-ing
Republicans how much
National debt has been ac-quired
under the president,
and similar to Graham,
Ryan accused President
Obama of cutting crucial
funding for Medicare, but
neglected to mention that
his own budget plan includ-ed
the same cuts.
Additionally, several fact-check
websites indicate that
Obama’s plan does not cut
spending, but attempts to
slow spending growth in the
area.
Ryan also issued some
misleading statements re-garding
the closing of a
General Motors plant in
his hometown, which took
place during the adminis-tration
of President George
W. Bush.
Nonetheless, the speech
was well-received by the
convention audience.
Mitt Romney’s final
speech at the Republican
convention last week pro-vided
a personal insight
into the candidate’s life, and
hoped to show voters a soft-er
side.
He pledged to create 12
million American jobs in
the next four years, make
the United States energy-in-dependent
by the year 2020,
and to cut the national debt.
He also criticized Obama’s
foreign policy, including his
“leniency” with nations such
as Iran and Russia, and his
so-called “throwing allies
like Israel under the bus.”
Obama and Romney are
both working to gain sup-port
from critical swing
states such as Ohio, and
North Carolina is looking
to be a crucial area in this
election as well. To that end,
both candidates have made
recent stops in these states.
President Obama ap-pealed
to Toledo workers
with a promise of support
to the automotive indus-try,
and VP candidate Ryan
spoke to North Carolina
residents about the adminis-tration
of Jimmy Carter and
called the president’s term
“the good old days” in com-parison
to the current state
of the nation.
Currently, polls show
Obama with a slight edge
over Romney, due presum-ably
to higher likeability
ratings.
Civil war in Syria: A complicated
and neglected conflict
Aaron Bryant
Staff Writer
Syria is involved in an
ongoing civil war that has
killed tens of thousands of
people. The conflict began
in 2011 and developed into
an all-out civil war this year.
Many scholars note that the
conflict has roots in differ-ences
between the two fac-tion’s
political dominance,
religious beliefs, ethnic
background, economic
goals, and international
theory. The international
community has yet to act
on the conflict. The media
has ignored the humanitar-ian
crisis, while professors
at UNCG give differing rea-sons
as to the cause of the
conflict. Many citizens of
the United States have little
perspective as to what is ac-tually
happening, and how
it may impact us.
The conflict in Syria is
generally viewed as a part
of a greater movement
commonly referred to as
the Arab Spring, which in-cludes
a wave of revolution
and protests in mostly the
Arab World that began Dec.
18, 2010 in Tunisia. Libya,
Egypt and Yemen also expe-rienced
their governments
overthrown, while Algeria,
Morocco and Bahrain expe-rienced
clashes and major
protests.
Syria’s situation is both
unique and ongoing. Since
1963, the state was in a con-tinuous
state of emergency,
allowing the government
to round up and imprison
civilians at any time. The
society is seen as a failure of
human rights, and is tightly
controlled. Early protests
were first ignored by the
regime, and then met with
police brutality and eventu-ally
the murdering of un-armed
civilians.
The government passed
many laws that allowed for
indefinite detention and
torture of those impris-oned.
Soon after, President
Al Assad ordered the first
of a series of crackdowns
beginning in April 2011,
when police and members
of the military began gun-ning
down what Al-Assad
labeled as domestic terror-ists.
The international com-munity
condemned these
crackdowns, and the US
imposed harsh sanctions
against Syria.
The Syrian government
began censoring the con-flict,
while social network-ing
websites became the
sole source of news from
the country. A group of
defectors formed the Free
Syrian Army (FSA), and
civil war broke out in armed
clashes between the regime
and the FSA.
Religious conflict be-tween
the ruled and the rul-ing
underlies Syria’s strife.
Sunni Muslims make up
about seventy four percent
of Syria’s religious makeup.
President Bashar Al-Assad
is from the minority Ala-wite
sect, an offshoot of Shia
Islam that makes up only a
small portion of the Syrian
population, , which opposes
Sunni Muslim.
Syria however, is also
unique because of the cir-cumstances
surrounding its
human rights. Dr. Robert
Griffiths, an Associate pro-fessor
of the Political Sci-ence
department at UNCG,
specializes in international
and comparative politics.
Griffiths said the conflict
is less of a civil war, and more
about a “brutally oppressive
regime holding onto power.
State sovereignty is playing
a role here, with China and
Russia’s unwillingness to act
as prime example of this.
Now that human rights are
at the forefront of interna-tional
relations, the excuse
of state sovereignty is not as
valid, but is commonly used
by states to justify action, or
in this case, inaction.”
He said that the conflict
is unique because Syria’s
president, Bashar Al-Assad
is absolute in his intent on
holding onto power. While
Tunisia, Egypt and Libya
also had uprisings, none
of those countries cracked
down with such force and
authority that Syria has.
Libya attempted, but a co-alition
of countries stopped
Gaddafi.
Griffiths pointed out that
the United Nations (UN),
more specifically leading
members China and Russia
have been reluctant to in-tervene
because of failure to
reach unanimity in the UN.
The U.N. Security Council
must agree unanimously on
International intervention
In order to take action. Rus-sia
and China did not agree.
For Russia, reasons are
economic. Russia makes
money by selling arms to
Syria, meaning bringing an
end to the conflict could
decrease sales, especially if
Al Assad and his regime are
replaced. China’s reasons
are thought to be more the-oretical.
China is a big pro-ponent
of state sovereignty,
and believes states are au-tonomous
actors who can
determine what to do with
its own citizens. Regardless
of the reasoning, the U.N.
refused to act while the
number dead continue to
climb. The latest estimates
put the death toll some-where
between n 20,000
and 30,000.
One of the more over-looked
reasons as to why
the conflict became so
deadly can be blamed on
colonialism. A. Asa Eger,
an Assistant Professor and
archeologist at UNCG who
specializes in Early Islam-ic
History and spent the
summer on the boarder
of Syria and Turkey, said
that the Syria we know to-day
has only existed since
1946. Prior to that, the land
changed hands through the
centuries. Syria has been
a contentious area since
the beginning of civiliza-tion,
and has been in con-flict
roughly since the first
Islamic Caliphates estab-lished
themselves.
“As an archeologist, not
only does the loss of human
life trouble me, but, from a
purely historical standpoint
the loss of centuries of ar-chitecture
and artifacts this
conflict has caused is also
irreplaceable” said Eger
Both Eger and Griffiths
spoke on the spillover effect
this is having in the Mid-dle
East, where at least 1.5
million people have been
displaced and become ref-ugees.
Eger said Turkey be-gan
to build settlements for
these refugees to come for
those who have fled their
homes for safety elsewhere.
The possibility of the con-flict
becoming more wide
spread is a cause of con-cern
for many in the inter-national
community, and
has produced a variety of
responses.
The United States and
the West all condemn Al
Assad’s actions. Turkey
and the Mujahedeen have
helped the rebels and refu-gees.
Iran currently helps
the Syrian government. Is-rael
and Iran have strained
tensions, while Russia and
China refuse to act. Yet, the
civil war in Syria is not one
of the leading foreign poli-cy
debates of the 2012 U.S.
Presidential elections.
Incumbent President
Barack Obama’s adminis-tration
condemned the use
of force against the opposi-tion,
saying, “The United
States stands for a set of
universal rights, including
the freedom of expression
and assembly, and believes
that governments, includ-ing
the Syrian government,
must address the legitimate
aspirations of their people.”
The Romney campaign
has been mostly quite on
the issue. The have de-nounced
Obama’s handling
of the situation, but have
not yet discussed their po-tential
course of action. Af-ter
ceasing involvement in
Iraq and slowing withdraw-ing
from Afghanistan, most
in the country are tired of
war and are focused more
on the domestic economic
recovery.
The coverage of a civil
war, with so many variables
and dangerous possible out-comes,
has received little to
no coverage from the media.
In the United States, the fo-cus
of the national media is
on the presidential election
and economic recovery.
Foreign policy talk is
mostly geared toward Sec-retary
of State Hillary Clin-ton’s
latest visit, the latest
terrorist killed by a Drone
strike or Iran’s possible nu-clear
ambitions. Europe is
concerned with its econom-ic
problems as well.
Both Eger and Griffiths
agree that Syria is usually
lumped in with Iraq and Af-ghanistan
as a place too far
to care for, too conflicted to
help change and too similar
to its neighbors to help at
all.
“The whole of the Middle
East is incredibly diverse,
and to lump Syria or any
country with another as
a generalization is naïve,”
Said Eger.
So far, 30,850 people have
died in the conflict and 1.5
million people have become
refugees. The International
community has been un-able,
or in some cases un-willing,
to act.
Nearby states with roots
in religion, politics, the
transfer of power, human
rights, state sovereignty,
economic changes and eth-nic
differences have taken
sides in the conflict.
The media, whether con-sciously
or not, has not con-veyed
the truth of the Syria
conflict to the public. Peo-ple
around the world have
displayed an incredible act
of willful ignorance or sim-ply
do not know enough to
make an informed opinion
on the subject.
Griffiths believes every-one
agrees on one thing.
“So, now the conversation
has moved from whether or
not what is happening can
be stopped, to how do we
stop the violence? What is
happening is wrong. This
went from a protest, to an
uprising, to what some call a
civil war. This is now a mas-sacre.
Tens of thousands are
dead, over a million people
have fled and the interna-tional
community hasn’t
helped. So now the ques-tion
isn’t whether what Al-
Assad is doing is wrong, but
how many times will we let
human rights be violated?
And I think this is a ques-tion
that must be answered
sooner, rather than later.”
well heads. Those leaks that
contaminated 7-8 birds in
the Myrtle Grove area of
Plaquemines Parish report-edly
came from tanks at a
defunct oil terminal that
were damaged during the
storm.
Travelling into the Mid-west,
Hurricane Isaac
remnants produced nine
tornadoes in Illinois over
the weekend of August 31.
Instability and strong low
level wind shear primarily
caused the tornadoes, ac-cording
to Andrei Evbuoma
of the Examiner.
The tornadoes were all
very weak and caused little
damage during that week-end
period with maximum
wind speeds of 90 mph.
In Morgan County, a tor-nado
that touched down on
Friday evening injured one
person.
Democrats ‘seperation’ from
the Constitution. The high-energy
radio host repeatedly
showed his distaste about
the economic and social
programs implemented un-der
the President Obama.
How they hurt the Ameri-can
family, which is the
main core to Conservatism.
The town hall’s round
of speakers concludes with
Cal Thomas. The Fox News
contributor uses his roots
to relate with others in the
room about how we attain
opportunities from working
hard. In response to back-lash
from the Democratic
Party on raising taxes on
the wealthiest Americans,
he goes on the defense. He
thinks democrats are try-ing
to convince the public
that Republicans are evil
or selfish, because they do
not want to raise taxes on
wealthy workers, who also
Whether anyone agrees
with his statements or not,
Thomas responds with the
ease; “I’m not entitled to
your money, I’m entitled to
the liberties.”
Welfare and the National
debt are the key notes many
speakers focused on, while
Thomas emphasizes “We
cannot go on like this,” re-ferring
to the 46 million
Americans on food stamps.
Phrases like “groups” were
to a key point in getting
through to Republicans in
the room, as Thomas thinks
groups like minorities, gay,
women, transgender, lower
class, upper class, have been
made as a distraction to
not focus on the President’s
policies in the upcoming
election.
Thomas said that prior to
Nov. 4, Republicans need
to “stop debating taxes and
starts debating spending.”
Student starts petition to ban campus Chick-Fil-A
Devon Lail
Staff Writer
In light of recent contro-versy
surrounding Chick-
Fil-A’s fi nancial contri-butions
to organizations
opposing same sex mar-riage,
a petition to remove
the Chick-Fil-A on campus
began circulating, thanks to
student Anthony Stewart.
Stewart fi rst heard about
the donations a few years
ago.
“I have never bought
food from the place,” says
Stewart. “I had known
they were a Christian led
organization, so i was not
surprised. I’m sad to say
that far too oft en, I witness
the most opposition and
he most intolerance and
hatred and disgusted looks,
from those who claim to be
Christian.”
Chick-Fil-A is not the
fi rst to off end Stewart. “I
avoid Wal-Mart for various
reasons, most stemming
from their treatment of
employees, and other
companies with a history
of anti-LGBT rhetoric
or policies, while adding
monetary support to
companies that provide for
equality, like Kraft Foods, or
Girl Scouts and JC Penny’s.
In most cases, it’s enough for
me to not give that company
my money.”
Unfortunately for Stewart
and any other student not
wanting their money in the
hands of companies like
Chick-Fil-A, as long as the
restaurant is on campus, the
school is in control.
“Chick-Fil-A has the
right to their opinions, their
donations, etc. Th ey even
have the right to do business
here on this campus,”
says Stewart. “My hope
is to show the school that
enough students, faculty,
and staff don’t want them
here because of what they
represent.”
Th e petition already has
over half the number of
signatures it needs to be
eff ective. Stewart’s next step
is to meet with the Campus
Activities Board (CAB) to
see who he needs to meet
with and fi nd out what
paper work needs to be
done to shut down Chick-
Fil-A. He also needs to fi nd
sponsorship by a student
group.
Th rough the months of
June and July, Chick-Fil-A
President Dan Cathy made
several statements about
same-sex marriage that
left many people outraged.
Some of these statements
Graduate students showcase
NC authors in new exhibit
Stephanie Cistrunk
Staff Writer
When people think of
North Carolina, trees, sweet
tea, and NASCAR may pop
into their heads. Whether
from here or not, many
think they have a pretty tight
grasp on what they feel the
state is. In reality, they have
yet to know about the state’s
heritage. Signifi cant parts of
our heritage that have been
included in UNCG’s very
own, North Carolina Liter-ary
Map.
In January 2010, the li-brary
staff and the Literary
Studies (LIS) graduate stu-dents
at UNCG created the
NC Literary Map. Th e group
thinks since other states
had maps of their literary
culture, why not have one
here? Th e project had ini-tially
started with as few as
200 authors. Now, holding
an estimated 3000 authors,
the creators of this project
have partnered with the NC
Center for the Book to cre-ate
an exclusive online NC
Literary Map.
Th e online web tool in-cludes
novels, historical
writings and photos, genres
of books, poetry, plays, and
young adult literature. Of
course, all are to be connect-ed
to works of literature in
and about the great state of
North Carolina. Th is liter-ary
resource is a great place
for students, adults, and cu-rious
minds that yearn to
gain information about the
famous authors and liter-ary
fi gures that have lived
or were born in the state of
North Carolina.
Th e Literary Map includes
names like Nicholas Sparks,
who wrote many novels
turned fi lms like: “A Walk
to Remember,” “Th e Note-book,”
“Message in a Bottle,”
or “Dear John.” In relation
to North Carolina, Sparks
moved to New Bern aft er
writing his fi rst novel, and
still resides in the state. In
addition, many who would
want to know where certain
international authors come
from or reside in, can use
the literary map as a credible
source in fi nding out signifi -
cant information.
Th is quick and easy to
use site has become a step-ping
stone into other future
technological literary re-search.
Looking for an au-thor’s
name in the Google
browser, then hoping to get
an accurate response has be-come
tired and sometimes
unhelpful for many.
With the NC Literary
map, a student can fi nd a
NC bred author’s work with-in
seconds. It is broken into
three options.
Click “browse the map”
which leads you to NC’s
three geographical regions.
Clicking one, such as Pied-mont,
leads you to a page
with what and who were
the literary fi gures coming
from the specifi ed area. Fol-lowing
this, books or plays,
will then be listed under the
given name. Th e NC Liter-ary
Map is brief, yet very
informative.
While strictly based on a
database that generates the
online tool, this teaches the
community to really know
about their surroundings.
Th e map is recommended
for students who are in need
of a research tool for an
English, Education, or Th e-atre
class.
“NC is a very rich literary
state, “said Jennifer Motsz-ko,
a manuscripts archivist,
who is one of the key lead-ers
in the NC Literary Map
project.
Aft er a brief discussion
with Jennifer and another
key archivist, Kathelene
Smith, the uniqueness of
this Map, is that it “is in-clusive
to the community,”
spoke Kathleen.
So what did these two en-joy
most about the map?
For Jennifer, “Th e con-stant
changing,” she said,
while Kathleen nodded in
agreement.
As to why they tell about
the constant changing of the
site, the two archivists made
note of the Request Button.
By clicking the Contact Us
button, a person can sub-mit
a request for an author
or book they feel should be
added to the map.
“Who are we to tell some-one
what’s not important,”
remarked Kathelene aft er
asked about the request
form.
Th e form’s purpose is
an illustration of this team
wanting to get the com-munity
involved and edu-cated
on their fellow North
Carolinians.
Besides the NC Literary
Map making waves with the
public with an exhibit in the
Jackson Library, it has now
been taken down. In the
meantime, the next couple
of weeks will entail heavy
promotion for the NC Liter-ary
Map tool online. A new
web design will be in the
works, with more browser
options such as K-12 Plan-ning
guides for teachers,
Cultural Resources, Blogs,
Literary Magazines, and a
new and improved Map;
which entails all 100 NC
counties.
Simultaneously, the staff
will do a LIVE web launch
for all on Oct. 24, 2012 on
how use the site and inter-active
communication with
the public and recorded.
Public library events, con-ferences,
bookmark events,
and Literary Festivals are all
on the agenda, said Jennifer
Motszko.
Students interested in ex-ploring
North Carolina’s lit-erary
history can go online
and visit
http://library.uncg.edu/
dp/nclitmap.
Six injured in
shoot out and
high speed chase
Compiled by Elisabeth Wise
“Use it or lose it”
Bus stop dilemma
for Wake Co.
On Monday, Sept. 3, six
people were injured as the
result of a shootout and high
speed chase in Sampson
County.
According to Clinton
police, the occupants of two
vehicles were embroiled
in a dispute aft er leaving a
backyard club, leading to
a high speed chase where
gunshots were exchanged
between the two vehicles.
One vehicle, an Acura,
involved in the dispute
struck another vehicle, a
Ford pickup, not involved
in the dispute, causing the
truck to crash into a utility
pole and fl ip over, while the
Acura stopped dead from
damage.
Th e other vehicle involved
in the dispute, a Pontiac,
arrived at the scene of the
crash and exchanged more
gunfi re with the other
participant of the dispute
before fl eeing the scene.
Th e two occupants of
the Ford pickup, Ray and
Cassandra Cuvilje, of
Harrells, N.C., were taken to
Sampson Regional Medical
Center, Ray was treated
and released, however
Cassandra remains in
critical condition. Th ree of
the occupants in the Acura
were also taken the hospital
with two suff ering gunshot
wounds. A fourth occupant
later showed up at the
hospital by himself.
Police have recovered
the Pontiac but are still
searching for the driver.
“We are seeking the people
that were involved in the
other vehicle that we have
seized. We hope to have
some answers in a few days,”
Clinton Police Assistant
Chief Jay Tilley said.
Louisiana shelters
send dogs to
Guilford County
Th e Guilford County
Animal Shelter took in 17
dogs of various size, breed,
and age that were being held
for adoption in Louisiana
shelters, but were marooned
aft er the storm that swept
across the Gulf Coast. Th e
Louisiana shelters sent
these dogs and other pets to
various shelters throughout
the country so that they
would have room for pets
separated from their human
families aft er the storm.
Th e assortment of dogs
includes hound, shepherd,
and Labrador mixes, rat
terriers, and several other
breeds. Once shelter
offi cials have received all
the paperwork the dogs
will go up for adoption.
Shelter offi cials selected
the animals Sep. 1-2 in
Charlotte where Humane
Society representatives
had brought about 160
displaced pets, mostly cats
and dogs.
Because Guilford’s
shelter is already crowded
with felines they did not
select any cats and worked
to make sure they selected
dogs that would not harm
any of the others already in
the shelter.
“We took highly
adoptable dogs,” shelter
director Marsha Williams
said.
Making room in the
Louisiana shelters “boosts
the likelihood that pets
that actually fl ed Isaac
can be reunited with their
owners,” said Dana King, an
administrator at the shelter.
Th ese shelters now have
space for the animals who
were victims of the storm.
Parents and school of-fi
cials for Wake County
Public Schools have been
entangled in issues over the
buses and bus routes. In the
past couple weeks of school
parents have become angry
because of late, early, and
no show buses as well as
the fact that their children’s
wait and ride times (to
and from school) have
nearly dou-bled since last
year.
Th e school district
is threaten-ing to get rid
of bus stops if children are
not there, however par-ents
argue that there are
no children at the stops
because they are unreliable,
so parents do not want their
children on the buses.
One parent, Laura Sokol-
Meade pulled her children
from the buses last week
because of the unreliabil-ity.
On Sept. 4, the bus did
not reach their corner until
aft er 5 p.m. despite the fact
that they live two minutes
from the school. Th is is not
acceptable for parents who
do not want their children,
some as young as six, on
the bus that late. Another
parent, Sherri Bolton, will
not put her daughter back
on the bus until the route is
fi xed.
Th e dilemma however
is that the school cannot
maintain the route if no
one is riding the buses but
though parents need the use
of the buses, they need them
to run on time.
Offi cials said the school
system is training offi cials
on how to drive the busses
so as to be able to take over
the duties temporarily until
the school system is able to
recruit more drivers.
State News Briefs
included how same-sex
couples were those who
“have the audacity to defi ne
what marriage is about,” and
that they are “inviting God’s
judgment on our nation.”
Following these
statements, it was made
known that Chick-Fil-A
made donations of several
million dollars through
WinShape to several
organizations that promote
anti-gay agendas. Some
of these include Th e
Family Research Council,
Fellowship of Christian
Athletes, and Exodus
International. Exodus
International is known for
its support of what is called
the “Kill Th e Gays” bill in
Uganda which passed back
in 2009.
Following these state-ments
and the news about
the donations, several cit-ies
in the United States told
Chick-Fil-A they are not
allowed to have any res-taurants
within city limits.
Boston and Chicago are the
biggest to reject any future
business with the company.
Many petitions were also
circulated to shut down the
restaurants in cities and oth-er
college campuses.
Others rejoiced in Chick-
Fil-A’s love of “traditional
marriage,” especially former
Arkansas Governor Mike
Huckabee who proclaimed
that Aug. 1 would be known
as Chick-Fil-A Appreciation
Day. All stores across the
country saw a large increase
in business aft er the
statements were made, but
especially on this day.
For students here at
UNCG, many feel that the
Chick-Fil-A on campus
should go. “I don’t eat there,”
says Junior Emily Labosky.
“I heard about the petition
and I want to sign it. A lot
of restaurants have already
closed on college campuses.
I think it’s a shame we
have one when we have so
many gay people here at on
campus.”
Other students felt
opposed to the petition.
“You knew what you were
getting into when you asked
the leader of a Christian
company what his views
are,” says Junior Jordan
Nelson. “Th e chicken did
nothing wrong. I will not
sign it.”
For those interested in the
petition, it can be viewed
at http://www.change.org/
petitions/students-faculty-staff
-at-the-university-of-north-
carolina-greensboro-remove-
chick-fi l-a-from-the-
campus
Weekly
Forecast
Today
H: 79°
L:56°
H: 81°
L: 55°
H: 81°
L: 58°
H: 82°
L: 61°
Sunny
Weekend
H: 81°
L: 63°
Sunny Sunny Sunny Partly Cloudy
Wednesday Thursday Friday
News | The Carolinian September 11-17, 2012 |3
The Carolinian is always
seeking input and
perspective from the
university community. This
publication encourages
both faculty and students
to voice their opinions on
what is happening within
and around UNCG. Letters
to the Editor-in-Chief can
be submitted to editor.
carolinian@gmail.com.
Do your part. Keep it Green.
Live
Learn
Love
4 September 11-17, 2012 Opinions
Chris McCracken
Features Editor
Are democrats hypocrites on voter ID laws?
Is Obama’s security at the DNC a sign of hypocrisy in voter ID laws? Photo Courtesy donkeyhotey/flickr
This week in Charlotte,
throngs of Democratic
faithful sought to pack the
74,000-seat stadium where
President Barack Obama
was going to accept the
nomination to run for
President of the United
States.
Colleges and universities
from around North Caro-lina
planned to fill buses
with students eager to see
a moment that would go
down in history. Predomi-nantly
black churches in
neighboring South Caro-lina
also promised to send
attendees.
Several of the more shaky
facts surrounding the event
are excusable.
Let us forget for a moment
the fact that the Party’s
activists left thousands of
its own supporters out in
the cold – literally – when
they realized that they
could not fill the venue and
chose to switch to stadium
a fraction of the size. Maybe
they really were concerned
about the small chance of
rain that day. People that
came from far-out locations
like Boston and California
to see the President could,
after all, gotten wet.
Let us also disregard the
fact that not a single drop
of rain was falling from
the sky as Obama began
his largely forgettable
speech. Even with the
major advancements of the
21st century, the weather is
still largely unpredictable.
Democratic organizers
had no way of planning
for unpredictable weather
when they planned the
speech to be held in Bank of
America Stadium in 2011.
While Democratic politi-cians
across several states
seek to crack down on ac-curacy
in the voter polls,
one fact is inexcusable:
Every single one of the
thousands of attendees to
the President’s speech was
required to provide photo
identification to enter the
venue.
According to a New
York Times article from
Aug 30, “A federal court
on Thursday struck down
a Texas law that would
have required voters to
show government-issued
photo identification before
casting their ballots in
November, ruling that the
law would hurt turnout
among minority voters and
impose “strict, unforgiving
burdens on the poor” by
charging those voters who
lack proper documentation
fees to obtain election ID
cards.”
Did the Democratic
Party believe that it
was imposing “strict,
unforgiving burdens on the
poor” when it barred those
without an identification
card from entering its
facility? Was the political
party of “segregation
now, segregation forever”
Alabama Governor George
Wallace and former Ku
Klux Klan member Senator
Robert Byrd seeking to
harm minority turnout at
its own convention?
The story quotes Obama’s
appointed Attorney Gener-al
as praising the decision,
stating that, “The court’s
decision today and the
decision earlier this week
on the Texas redistricting
plans not only reaffirm —
but help protect — the vital
role the Voting Rights Act
plays in our society to en-sure
that every American
has the right to vote and to
have that vote counted.”
The “party of the people”
did not even ensure its
own supporters the right
to see the President speak.
Not even the ones lucky
enough to have their Party-issued
tickets deemed valid
after the last-minute venue
change.
In reality, the entire
scenario is ridiculous.
The Democratic Party
is no longer the Party of
segregationist George
Wallace or of KKK-era
Robert Byrd. The Party also
was not seeking to harm
minority turnout or to
disenfranchise low-income
supporters when it sought
to protect the lives of the
President of the United
States and thousands of
attendees when it required
photo identification for
entry.
But this leaves an impor-tant
question for the curi-ous
voter: why will not the
Democratic Party guaran-tee
our voter rolls the same
level of security?
Joseph Winberry
Staff Writer
Should we sacrifice more during war?
I recently began an
internship at the Martha
Blakeney Hodges Special
Collections and University
Archives. My work consists
of looking across collections
for material related to World
War II. There have been
many interesting findings,
but two that have been
particularly eye-opening.
First, in a letter dated to
1942, the faculty and staff
of what was then called
the Women’s College of
North Carolina were asked
what they were doing to
help the war effort. Some
mentioned that they were
teaching additional classes
in the community; others
were knitting as part of
Bundles for Britain; a few
described their service to
the American Red Cross.
None admitted or described
their opposition to the war
and it is likely that few cared.
Chancellor Jackson made it
very clear that sacrifice was
necessary and mandatory.
Second, when reviewing
the contents of the rare book
collection, I was told that
the federal government’s
War Production Board
placed tight regulations on
book publishing during the
war. Books produced during
the period had smaller,
closer font so that less paper
would be used. This was a
pattern followed, of course,
in a variety of categories
including plastics, metals,
oil, etc. While rationing was
not a foreign concept to me,
it was quite another thing to
hold an example of the past’s
sacrifice in my hands.
This raises an important
question that is very relevant
considering our foreign
entanglements over the past
decade: should Americans
in the twenty-first century
sacrifice more during war?
America has long been one
of the wealthiest nations in
the world, but the material
prosperity of the modern
era is a level of affluence that
even members of the mid-century
upper middle class
could not have imagined.
Today, Americans have an
endless amount of ways to
spend their money. Wal-
Mart carries cheap goods
ranging from toys to cooking
Photo Courtesy michal hadassah/Flickr
Posters like this show the mindset of a past era.
supplies. Mega Malls house
thousands upon thousands
articles of clothing just
ready to be plucked from the
clearance rack. A plane ride
that can get you to the other
side of the world in less than
a day can cost as little as a few
hundred dollars. America is
rich and despite all the talk
from politicians about the
great economic divide, there
is an idea that all Americans
find themselves agreeing
on: we love the modern
capitalist state and the
affordable, plentiful goods
found within.
It makes sense then that
when the nation goes to war,
the president tells people to
go out and spend; there is
no political will for sacrifice.
There is even less social
acceptance of the s-word.
Americans want what we
want and we want it now,
period, end of story. See you
at the next shopping spree or
buffet. It makes you wonder
if there would have been so
much stomach for war after
the 9/11 attacks if President
Bush informed us that
winning would require the
fabrics from Victoria’s Secret
underwear, the microchips
found in entertainment
centers, and the rubber used
on our highway-speeding
vehicles. My guess is that had
sacrifice been a prerequisite
to launching a strike,
Saddam Hussein would still
be in power today.
It comes down to
nationalism. Are we in this
together as a nation, as one
people, or are we not? During
World War II, there was
much stronger support for
nationalism. It makes sense
that there is so much more
opposition to war today
than there was fifty years
ago; personal, individual
ideals have replaced
national identity and the
ideas of united sacrifice. As
a self-described libertarian,
of course I cannot help but
appreciate individuality
on any subject, including
war. As an American, and
as someone who remains
proud to identify as so, I
am beginning to wonder
if anything is really gained
for the individual when a
nation remains so heavily
divided on a matter as all-encompassing
as war.
The delegates to the Dem-ocratic
National Conven-tion
held in Charlotte this
past week heard impressive
speeches from both experi-enced
politicians and rising
stars. Michelle Obama and
keynote speaker San An-tonio
Mayor Julian Castro
headlined the first night.
The second night former
president Bill Clinton laid
out a forceful argument for
the president and against
the Romney-Ryan agen-da.
The final night Barack
Obama accepted the nomi-nation
with an honest as-sessment
of his first term
and by giving his case for
reelection. Throughout the
week progressive candidates
such a civil right icon John
Lewis, consumer advocate-turned-
US Senate candi-date
Elizabeth Warren, and
Tammy Baldwin addressed
the assembled delegates.
Typically the Democrat-ic
Party is less unified in
terms of party messaging.
However, the convention
in Charlotte was very well-focused
and unapologeti-
Caleb Patterson
Staff Writer
Democrats come out swinging for DNC
cally embraced President
Barack Obama’s record.
After losing the initial pub-lic
relations battle over the
Affordable Care Act, the
Democrats made a compel-ling
case for “Obamacare”
by highlighting the more
popular components of the
bill, such as prohibiting in-surance
companies from
providing coverage due to
a preexisting condition and
eliminating yearly and life-time
caps.
While Obama was mak-ing
the tough choice of
coming to the aid of auto
workers, Mitt Romney was
penning an op-ed in the
New York Times against
the auto bailout entitled
“Let Detroit Go Bankrupt”.
The first piece of legislation
signed during the Obama
administration was the
Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
which makes it easier for
women to fight challenges
in court for equal pay for
equal work. Lily Ledbetter,
the namesake of the act,
spoke on the first night of
the convention further con-trasting
Barack Obama’s
proven record on gender
equity against the harsh
policies of the potential
Romney administration.
Through convention speak-ers
and a well-produced
video the assembled Demo-crats
applauded the admin-istrations
work to repeal the
military’s discriminatory
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy.
In these areas, Obama has
a clear advantage over Rom-ney
whose extreme social
positions adopted during
his rightward lurch in the
Republican primary place
him outside of the Ameri-can
mainstream. However,
these issues will not be as
important as the economy
in the upcoming election.
Obama’s emergency mea-sures
after taking over in an
unraveling economy suc-ceeded
and prevented an-other
Great Depression. The
success of the Recovery Act
is in what it prevented, but
it is difficult to campaign on
a counterfactual point. The
difficult task of explaining
Obama’s economic mea-sures
and eviscerating the
recycled trickle-down poli-cies
of Romney-Ryan was
given to former President
Bill Clinton.
Clinton’s political genius
was on display in his im-pressive
48 minute speech.
He went through the charg-es
made by the Republicans
the previous week in Tampa,
and set the record straight.
Clinton’s genius has always
been his ability to explain
complex policy issues in
simple terms; he is a true
public educator. President
Clinton dismantled the
false claim from the Rom-ney
campaign that Obama
has ended the work require-ment
in welfare. In fact,
Obama has strengthened
the work requirement, of-fering
waivers to states who
could show that they had
plans to increase welfare-to-
work. The waivers were
requested by many Repub-lican
governors, including
former Governor Romney,
but once they were granted
the Romney campaign ran
dishonest ads saying that
Obama ended the work re-quirement.
President Clin-ton
signed the welfare-to-work
legislation into law,
and called the recent Re-publican
claims “untrue.”
Clinton also used the
speech to discuss Medicare.
In the health care law, $716
billion is taken out of the
Photo Courtesy marctasman/Flickr
Some say Bill Clinton’s biggest strength is bridging politics & people.
future growth of Medicare
spending over the next ten
years, resulting in an ex-tension
in the program’s
solvency. The $716 billion
savings come from cuts to
providers and hospital, and
cuts to subsidies to private
insurers through the inef-ficient
Medicare Advantage
program. No benefits were
cut. However, Mitt Romney
and his running mate Paul
Ryan have very scary plans
for Medicare, wanting to
turn the guaranteed benefit
into an insufficient voucher
that will shift costs onto se-niors.
To deflect criticism of
their Vouchercare scheme,
Romney-Ryan like to bring
up the $716 billion “cuts” to
Medicare; despite those sav-ings
being present in Paul
Ryan’s own budget.
If Democrats can un-apologetically
defend their
positions and remain uni-fied
in their messaging, they
can be successful in Novem-ber.
They need to draw stark
contrasts to provide voters
with a clear choice in the
election. It is time for them
to channel their inner Bill
Clinton.
Opinions | The Carolinian September 11-17, 2012 |5
Is Ann Romney good for women?
During her speech at
the Republican National
Convention, Ann Romney
exclaimed, “I LOVE
YOU WOMEN!” It begs
questioning - does Ann
Romney love the women of
America? This is not meant
as an attack of character, or as
an analysis of Ann’s speech,
but as a wake-up call to
the diverse members of the
group deemed “American
women.” Throughout Ann’s
speech it is clear that she is
attempting to bridge a gap
between herself and the
“ordinary” woman. The act
is noble in theory and could
be appreciated, but the idea
of the “ordinary” American
woman is narrow. There are
very real problems facing
women in America, and the
idea of a “War on Women”
has garnered ample media
attention. “Loving”
American women would
look radically different
than the attitudes and laws
currently in play.
Throughout the speech,
Ann appealed to mothers,
daughters, sisters, wives,
grandmothers, and
granddaughters of America.
Outlining the ways in
which women have to “do
a little bit more,” and “work
just a little bit hard.” She
says that “…if you listen
carefully, you’ll hear the
women sighing a little bit
more than the men.” She
praises the mothers of this
Emily Ritter
Staff Writer
country because they are
holding America together.
This brings the speech to a
political crossroads: not all
women are mothers, and
U.S. law does not do much
to protect or encourage
mothers. In an article
on paid maternity leave,
Think Progress states that
“in 2011, only 11 percent
of private sector workers
and 17 percent of public
workers reported that
they had access to paid
maternity leave through
their employer.”
Which means that less
than 30 percent of the
women who are “holding
America together” have
access to the resources
they need. Ann does not
address these issues. The
prices at the gas pump,
buying a home, and even
sending children to college
is addressed. Ann Romney
implores that through
her difficult hardships as
a mother and a wife she
knows what American
women face and that her
husband can help them.
Women, mothers or not,
need comprehensive health
care. Women, mothers
or not, need access to the
same job opportunities
and benefits that men
are afforded. Women,
mothers or not, should
not be grouped together
under an umbrella. It is
Photo Courtesy marcn/Flickr
Some question Ann Romney’s speech at the RNC.
incomprehensibly offensive
to use the terms “wife” and
“mother” so vehemently
when gay marriage is not
legal in most states in this
country.
To quote Ann Romney,
“We’re too smart to know
there aren’t easy answers.
But we’re not dumb enough
to accept that there aren’t
better answers.” It should
not be accepted that
LGBTQ women will be
left out of the discussion
of “women in America.” It
should be not be glossed
over that the mothers in
America do not have the
resources they deserve. It
should not be expected
that women will not receive
the same employment
benefits and opportunities.
The women of America
are not dumb enough to
settle for health care that
fits a political agenda, but
not their own needs. It is
important to raise these
questions, not because Ann
Romney mentioned women
in her speech, but because
her speech was centered
around love. Ann sought
out the support of women
everywhere, and called on
them to let her husband
help them. The “women in
America” are diverse and
unique in their needs and
challenges. If the broad
and exceptional differences
cannot be addressed in a
speech proclaiming love,
then how can they be
addressed politically?
If we can say Mitt Romney
has been consistent on one
issue, that issue would be
Welfare. As the governor
of Massachusetts, Romney
required single parents with
children one year old and
older to work if they could
obtain state-subsidized
child care. He was against
allowing training programs,
or education, to count
towards the required weekly
work quota. He pushed for
a five-year limit to welfare
benefits.
His inconsistency comes
in him running ads saying
Obama ended the work
requirement for Welfare.
These ads have been called
false, or misleading, by many
fact-checking organizations.
An article by Nate Cohn of the
The New Republic suggests
that the real reason Romney
aired these ads is to focus on
the middle class that already
doesn’t like Welfare, and to
turn them against Obama and
to Romney’s side. I think that
opinion holds a lot of truth.
A good amount of people
are opposed to Welfare.
According to Rassumen
Reports, 47 percent of people
think that the government
spends too much on poverty
programs. Welfare itself has
become a corrupted word, and
Romney is taking advantage
of that. Why, though, has
Welfare become so corrupted?
There is a huge divide seen
between the fact that most
people believe the poor should
Ashley Northup
Opinions Editor
be helped, yet a good chunk
of people are also opposed to
Welfare – a program to help
the poor.
Perhaps the answer can
be found in the call for drug
testing to Welfare recipients.
It is hard to miss the post
going around Facebook that
anyone seeking Welfare
should be tested, and even
harder to miss the supportive
comments the post, and
sentiments like it, have
received. It is a stereotype that
people on Welfare are also on
drugs, and one that seems to
only become more prevalent
with time. Many states already
have preventative measures to
stop drug users from receiving
Welfare, including 20 that do
not allow unemployment
payments for those fired
because of drug use, and
more than 12 that will not
allow Welfare payments to
those who have a drug-related
felony.
The fact is that some
states have already tried
drug-testing programs with
Welfare, and those have
been a resounding failure. In
Florida when such laws were
enacted just two percent of all
those tested were found to be
positive. They made Welfare
applicants pay for the tests
themselves, and reimbursed
those who passed. All-in-all
between the money saved by
not giving money to those
who did not pass versus the
money reimbursed, Florida
lost $200,000. Since then the
program has been halted, and
judged to violate the fourth
amendment. It is a common
argument that people working
have to submit to drug
tests, so why not Welfare
recipients? The fact is drug
testing is not required by all
companies. Congress, for
example, has no drug testing
Welfare: your stereotype is showing
Some would argue Mitt Romney’s attacks on Welfare play on stereotypes. Photo Courtesy gage skidmore/Flickr
requirements. It has been,
and should be, argued that
if we are so concerned about
drug users taking our tax
dollars in Welfare, why are we
not equally concerned with
congressmen using our tax
dollars for drugs?
The stereotype of Welfare
recipients being drug addicts
that pushes the demand to
have them tested. Perhaps we
should drug test everyone,
and have programs designed
to help those who test positive,
but the cost seems to be
something most people would
object to. The fact is that, all
this talk of drug testing is just
another way to know why it
is that people are for helping
the poor, and opposed to
one of the biggest programs
designed to help them.
Romney knew this, and
he chose to play off the idea
of drug addicts on Welfare
squandering away the hard-working
man’s money rather
than bothering to state the
actual facts of Obama’s Welfare
program. (It was Republican
senators who wanted freedom
in how they used Welfare
within their states, and Obama
who handed over the reigns to
them – so long as they found
some way to increase the
number of people working by
20 percent.)
At this point, that kind of
behavior is not surprising.
It is simply the way Romney
functions when it comes to
these topics, and it is how he
intendeds to get voters on
his side – with the same lack
of truth found in Welfare
stereotypes.
Technology can make or break us
Kaycie Coy
Editor-in-chief
There is something about
the bold punch of a type
writer against a thin scrap
of pulp wood that provides
satisfying warmth for my
soul. The effort put into
that release of information
is cathartic. Call me old
fashioned, but I enjoy it
much more than my laptop.
My father might call
that blasphemous. As the
daughter of an Information
Technologies Specialist, I
should be up to date on all the
latest technical do-dads and
thing-a-ma-bobs. I should
be walking around with and
iPhone attached to my hip,
a tablet in my hands, and
reclining in front of a plasma
TV with a Blu-ray player and
voice activated remote control.
I should be enjoying the
high life that inventors have
presented me.
In all honesty, I cannot
stand what technology has
done to our society. Notice, by
that statement, I mean to say
the additional results that have
piled on top of the progress
that technology has created for
us. Technology has given us
the basic number two pencil
and the touch screen. It has
taken us from uninformed,
primitive medical care to
stalled and reversed death
sentences. Technology has
its positives, but it has its
negative too.
Technology has made
us lazy, both mentally and
physically. Rather than ascend
stairs or walk two doors down
the road, people are found
more frequently than not
taking the alternative, passive
route. Instead of challenging
ourselves and delving into a
500 page novel, Sparknotes
gives us the option to
completely disregard the effort
put into a piece of art.
I personally believe
technology is to blame for
our society’s obsession with
instant gratification. Working
for something is frowned
upon in our society. The class
intellectual who spends his
or her free time learning and
creating is mocked for his
or her efforts. People would
rather wait until the last
minute to get something done
and find the easy way out
rather than make something
of their mental and physical
strengths.
What does this say about
the rest of our character? It
is one thing to appreciate the
opportunities and advantages
we have been given, but when
we start to compare ourselves
to others based off of what
advances people have and do
not have, we become selfish.
Society as a whole is
made up of extremely selfish
creatures. We demand
everything and anything we
can get. Advertising holds us
hostage with free offers and
huge savings that make us
feel like the real deal. We take
anything we can to benefit
ourselves and no one else.
When I make a decision or
a choice I try to keep in mind
how it will affect everyone
else. Before I vote I ask if my
decisions will harm anyone.
I try not to be self-centered
and avoid the temptations
that technology has thrown
at me. Instead, I embrace the
advances for a greater cause. I
use the laptop that creates this
article to extend a voice and
make a difference. I talk rather
than text on my phone to
promote closer relationships
rather than distanced
messages. I use my car to
transport toys for children,
food for the homeless, or travel
to expand my knowledge of
different cultures.
People need to start applying
a positive connotation to
the phrase “take advantage
of.” Maybe then we will see
technology put into good use.
Photo Courtesy jhaymesisviphotography/Flickr
Are we too enthralled with technology?
ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
6 | September 11-17, 2012 A&E| The Carolinian
PRESENTS: HOPPING THROUGH THE STREETS OF HOPSCOTCH
Camilo Perdomo
Special to The Carolinian
ioan opris/the Carolinian
ioan opris/the Carolinian ioan opris/the Carolinian
Delicate Steve’s guitarist makes you dance and make a fool of
yourself.
“All eyes were fi xated” on this member of Azura Ray.
“As a trained opera singer, Zola Jesus’ music fi nds something to latch on in the brains of people.”
William Tyler is a humble guitar virtuoso
ioan opris/the Carolinian
Autumn is upon us. Its
change of rhythm, colors
and weather transform
our lives, putting away our
summer skin and getting
on with our new selves for
the winter. Th e fi rst week of
September sets the platform
for Hopscotch, Raleigh’s
own city-wide music
festival that in its young two
years of age has managed to
ground itself in the heart
and ears of the Raleighnites
and visitors alike.
From Sept. 6 to 8, nineteen
diff erent stages set in the
heart of downtown to host
a plethora of musicians,
some hailing from remote
places in the world but
also a large number from
our very own North
Carolina—all bringing their
A-game to play for seas
of people all looking for a
memorable night wherever
it may be. Not all music
festivals are good, nor are
all cities made for them;
however Hopscotch seems
to exemplify how the city of
Raleigh wants to be seen in
the national stage: a place
that embraces growth and
most importantly knows
that it starts with its people.
And like a ring on a fi nger,
Hopscotch wraps around
the vast multicultural fi nger
of Raleigh.
Th e coordination
and arrangement of the
diff erent venues added a
sense that every stage is
a new world in of its own,
complementing the acts
of the musicians involved
and overall creating a
rich experience for the
attendees. Th e following
are the acts that made my
experience at Hopscotch.
ZOLA JESUS
I have to begin with this
Wisconsin native singer
and songwriter Ask anyone
who attended their show
to see if they can put into
words the trance and aura
that her voice generated
live. Standing at a proud
fi ve feet tall and looking
more like a singer of a
grunge band in the 90’s,
Nika Roza Danilova (born
in a Russian-American
family) possesses a voice
that transcends every genre
that played at Hopscotch.
As a trained opera singer,
Zola Jesus’ music fi nds
something to latch on in
the brains of people that
I simply cannot put into
words. It comes from a cold-dark
place that we all have
inside of us, mostly what
we try to forget in life. Like
she says “A lot of the songs
are cold but in the coldness
you fi nd warmth” and it is
that warmth carried inside
the vessel of her voice that
made the crowd stand in
awe in her presence: one of
those “Lion King” moments
if you will.
AZURE RAY
Th ese girls are the
type of duo that you can
never quite fi gure out,
yet somehow their songs
and melodies will remain
in your heart forever.
Originally from Athens,
Georgia, they have covered
it all throughout their
careers in the late nineties.
Th eir performance at the
Long View Center, which is
the auditorium of a church,
created an at home feel, that
could not nearly amount
to my years of attending a
Catholic Church. Th e level
of intimacy and connection
only enhanced the music
that this perfectly tuned duo
shared with the audience.
Th e audience could not
even attempt speak. All
voices were silenced and all
eyes fi xated on the music
blossoming in front of their
eyes.
DELICATE STEVE
Happy, jumpy and
intricate in its own way,
the music this group from
Brooklyn is all about letting
quirky guitar melodies
make you dance and
make a fool of yourself
amidst your friends and a
bunch of strangers. Mainly
instrumental and with
hardly any “heys” and “ohs,”
good music carries itself
almost eff ortlessly and this
is how this group’s set list
passes through you. Th eir
music is good anytime of
the day.
WILLIAM TYLER
A member from the New
York band, Th e Silver Jews,
William Tyler is a humble
guitar virtuoso that is quiet
in person, but on stage
carries a giant persona. Th e
audience is never fully sure
whether he is a roadie or just
the sound-man. But, once
he puts on that guitar and
begins his show there is no
one dared to talk, nor move
from their spots in front of
the packed stage at the Bee-
Hive. To lose any waking
moment of his marvelous
musician-ship would be a
shame. Th e story behind
William Tyler’s songwriting
is captivating and hilarious;
he stated before beginning
his performance: “I drink
coff ee at 10:30 at night,
(explicit) is going to get
crazy.” Melodically in
everyone’s heads it did get
insane.
If you have found yourself
at times indiff erent about
the state and city you live
in; If you ever think of the
little things there are to
do here in North Carolina
and perhaps wonder what
it would be like to live in
the cosmopolitan cities of
the North or the more “free
spirited” suns of the West,
worry no more. Truth is,
since I have lived in this
state I keep fi nding little
treasures in every one of
NC’s cities. While it is true
that the recent times may
make us a disappointment
in the eyes of the rest of
the country, there are also
great things enriching
and salvaging the name of
North Carolina. It is up to
fellow citizens like us to
spread and support festivals
like Hopscotch for years to
come!
Campus radio station
WUAG and local record
co-op CFBG are co-presenting
a ruckus of a
good time on Sept. 14:
a show featuring Jaill of
Sub Pop Records, Fergus
& Geronimo, and Naked
Gods at Th e Blind Tiger.
Imagine for a moment that
you have fallen behind
in the speedy highway
of indie-rock releases
and never caught on to
Jaill’s 2012 release of
“Traps.” Rather than sit in
ignorance and miss out on
a local commotion, allow
this concise recollection
of the strengths and
weaknesses of Jaill’s
second Sub Pop release
to serve as your crutch—
there is no need for shame
in the realm of Jaill, where
loose guitars and tongues
reign as kings over nearly
everything else.
Originally known under
the single-L moniker of Jail,
the additional consonant
was a superfl uous change
made for personal
amusement following
the national spotlight
the band garnered aft er
signing to Sub Pop
Records. As a garage-leaning,
psychedelic-infl
uenced trio, much of
“Traps” focuses on the
pure pleasure of sun-soaked
guitars and a
heft y presence of 70s pop
infl uence. Th ough the
term “garage” is a label
slapped on to nearly every
70s infl uenced indie-rock
band to grace the
national eye, Jaill should
attract fans of Tame
Impala and Unknown
Mortal Orchestra’s sugary
appeasement rather than
Ty Segall or King Tuff ’s
brand of punk-inspired
garage rock. Jaill’s smooth
pop-deliveries never edge
close to the fuzz-punk
realm of the music world,
choosing instead to stay
agreeable with infection
rather than impassioned
with coarseness.
“Traps,” released in the
heart of June, resonates
with sweat-soaked
weather Greensboro has
endured in past weeks: the
vocals smack of coastal-pop
infl uence, guitars
ring gaily, and the lyrics
bursting out are vignettes
lacking in substance
but serving decently in
delivering tone to Jaill’s
aesthetic. Fans will not
glean specifi c messages
from Jaill’s latest release,
but thankfully that will
not prevent listeners from
reveling in the jangly
guitar that makes it so
much fun to simply hear.
Not every band needs to
be an emotional ordeal,
capable of blurring the
lines between performance
and personal—Jaill serves
as the fun antibody for
indie-rock’s oft -expressed
gravitas, relatively
unconcerned with
anything except a uniform
sound that is as enjoyable
as it as nostalgia-tinted.
Navel-gazers need not
apply to Jaill’s appearance
at Th e Blind Tiger, as you
may fi nd your meditative
tendencies burst wide
open with a few rays of
gloriously-lit sunshine.
CONCERT PREVIEW:
A LOOK AT JAILL
Kyle Minton
Staff Writer Kyle Minton
Staff Writer
Th e quiet, innocuous
locale of 903 South
Chapman Street does not
instantly bring to mind
the musically-inclined
fervor that CFBG has
been ramping up since the
grand opening of its record
co-op, but the small,
quaint building houses a
wealth of products and
events for local music
fans. While the record
co-op boasts thousands
of used and new records
for casual consumers, the
venue’s weekly Wednesday
night jam sessions ensure
a consistent and wide
variety of performers for
potential attendees. Jack
Bonney, one of the major
suppliers for the record
co-op, says that he sells the
performances to bands as
more of an experimental
outing, but that most
performers treat it as a
typical live show. Potential
Wednesday-night concert
goers have already missed
the fi rst September
performance by PURP
Productions, but can still
attend the showcase of
Golden Hearted Songs and
their brand of crawling
shoegaze on the Sept. 19.
CFBG has also teamed
up with campus radio
station WUAG to co-represent
Jaill of Sub
Pop Records, Fergus &
Geronimo, and Naked
Gods on September, 14 at
Th e Blind Tiger. Tickets are
$6 if purchased in advance
and $8 at the door.
Additionally, CFBG
has the weight and
responsibility of
Greensborofest on its
shoulders, a four day string
of free concerts from
local artists across several
diff erent venues within the
city. As a celebration of
local business and artistry,
Greensborofest is in its
eleventh year of local galas.
Th e offi cial website (http://
www.greensborofest.
org) warns readers that
the current calendar is
subject to change, but lists
these events as the current
schedule:
CFBG’S WEEKLY
WEDNESDAY JAMS AND
UPCOMING EVENTS
Friday, September 28
features Th e Radio Reds,
Secret Message Machine,
and Kaleidoscope Death at
the Green Bean (341 South
Elm Street) from 8-10 p.m.
Th e Blind Tiger (1819
Spring Garden Street)
will continue from there,
hosting Th e Leeves, Th e
Brand New Life, Casual
Curious, Jenny Besetzt,
and Mutant League from
10 p.m.-2 a.m.
Saturday, Sept. 29 will
begin quietly with a poetry
reading at Tate Street
Coff ee (334 Tate Street)
from 7-9 p.m. with Laila
Nur joining the reading
from 9-10 p.m. CFBG will
then become the source
of the noise that night,
hosting Th e Old One-
Two, Albino Rhino, Matty
Sheets & Th e Blockheads,
and Th e Raving Knaves
from 10 p.m.2 a.m.
Sunday, Sept. 30,
Glenwood Coff ee & Books
(1310 Glenwood Avenue)
will host Th ree Brained
Robot, Jack Carter & Th e
Armory, Pistol Crash, and
Heralding from 8-12 p.m.
The Carolinian |A&E September 11-17, 2012 | 7
The first film in this year’s
Sustainability Film Series,
showcasing films highlight-ing
various environmental
issues, is “Chasing Ice,” a
visually stunning and some-times
riveting documentary
about National Geographic
photographer James Balog
and his quest to capture un-deniable
proof that global
warming exists.
Balog’s revolutionary
technique for doing this
is dubbed the Extreme Ice
Survey, an unprecedented
method wherein he and
a team of young environ-mental
enthusiasts travel
across the Arctic deploying
innovative time-lapse cam-eras,
designed to capture
a multi-year record of the
world’s changing glaciers.
Balog designed these cam-eras
himself. Though they
fail to work properly when
deployed the first time, an
event that the filmmakers
effectively play for pathos,
the cameras do eventually
work, providing some of the
most dazzling visual mo-ments
the film has to offer.
The documentary starts
off with a montage of news-outlets
debating the global
warming issue, a debate
which Balog says does not
even exist in the science
community,because it is
an accepted truth. Yet, it
would have been nice if Ba-log,
once gathering up his
undeniable proof (and it
is undeniable), confronted
the skeptics with his find-ings.
Throughout the movie
the detractors are heard, but
their point of view is never
fully fleshed out. The docu-mentary
is very one sided,
and it makes sense consid-ering
Balog captures photo-graphs
that prove beyond a
doubt that this is a serious
issue, but it would have been
even more convincing if the
film showed skeptics being
swayed by this evidence.
The film has various nar-rative
missteps, and though
they are minute, and are
not the film’s main aim,
they nevertheless mar what
could have been an emo-tionally
resonant documen-tary.
Make no mistake, the
film is emotional, but the
emotion mostly arises from
Balog’s evidence of the hor-rific
consequences of global
warming, and what this
could lead to. There is very
little human emotion in the
film, and that’s a shame,
since Balog is a sympathetic
character, one that faces
many hardships throughout
his travels.
Balog has severe knee
problems, and, after his
third knee surgery, faces the
potential of having to quit
his travels. This is a storyline
rife with emotional weight,
but director Jeff Orlowski
only interviews Balog’s
wife and daughters one,
maybe two times. Orlowski
misses many opportunities
throughout the film, and his
narrative arc, as far as the
human aspect goes, never
becomes clear, or leads to a
satisfying conclusion.
In any other documentary
these issues would doom the
piece to mediocrity, but here
they only slightly detract be-cause
the issue at hand is so
important. The filmmakers
also employ several visual
methods that successfully,
and entertainingly show the
impact of global warming
on these glaciers. Through
different animations, pho-tos,
videos, and time-lapse
photography, Balog un-leashes
definitive proof that
global warming is real, and
the repercussions of it could
be terrifying. The film’s
most successful narrative
through line is the one that
follows Balog’s attempts to
construct these time-lapse
cameras, deploy them, and
gather up the footage. The
payoff when Balog finally
gets the footage he wants is
astounding: the time-lapse
footage of the glaciers over
a series of many years is the
most undeniable proof of
global warming ever col-lected.
Where “Chasing
Ice” fails in storytelling, it
more than makes up for it’s
failure with its visual prow-ess,
and for those who don’t
know the seriousness of
this issue, this is a must see
documentary.
The Sustainability Film
Series screens films once a
month at the Weatherspoon
Art Museum. Next up is the
documentary “Terra Blight,”
screening on Oct. 4.
Brad Dillard
Staff Writer
Chasing ice hits the big
screen at weatherspoon
Megan Christy
Staff Writer
He was the 6-foot-5,
325-pound movie star of
“The Green Mile,” that we
all knew and loved. His
presence on and off screen
was comforting to anyone.
Michael Clarke Duncan was
an incredibly talented actor
whose life was tragically cut
short earlier last week.
On Monday, September 3,
the world was devastated to
hear the news of the passing
of Michael Clarke Duncan.
Duncan died at Cedars-Si-nai
Medical Center after his
admittance to intensive care
2 months previous after suf-fering
a severe heart attack.
“(He) suffered a myocardial
infarction on July 13 and
never fully recovered,” a rep-resentative
said.
His fiancée, Omarosa
Manigault, a reality TV star-let
(most notoriously known
from “The Apprentice”) and
Baptist minister, asked for
prayers and privacy during
this hard time. When she
found him unresponsive on
the day of his heart attack
back in July, she performed
CPR and sent him to inten-sive
care. “I am devastated,”
she told reporters, “He was
the love of my life.” Omarosa
was not in the hospital room
when he died after having
left the room momentarily.
It is rumored that only Dun-can’s
mother was present
when he died.
Duncan’s rise to fame
started as a bodyguard
for Will Smith and Jamie
Foxx. He was also hired as
a guard the night Brooklyn
rapper Christopher (No-torious
B.I.G) Wallace was
murdered. However, Dun-can
traded this assignment
with one of his friends and
quit his security job within
hours of the murder. After
this, he became a full-time
actor and began his rise to
fame with the role as Bear
in “Armageddon.” In 2012,
he was cast in his final role
in “From The Rough,” based
on the true story of a former
swimming coach who be-came
the first woman ever
to coach a college men’s golf
team.
Duncan’s role in “The
Green Mile” was the most
well-known role of his ca-reer,
winning him an Acad-emy
Award nomination for
Best Supporting Actor in
1999, but losing to Michael
Caine for his role in “The
Cider House Rules.” He
did, however, win the “Best
Supporting Actor” award at
less prestigious ceremonies,
like the Black Reel Award,
Broadcast Film Critics As-sociation
Award and Saturn
Awards. Many of Duncan’s
other credits included roles
the passing of a gentle giant
in “Planet of the Apes,” “The
Scorpion King,” and “The
Green Lantern.” His calming
presence on and off cam-era
gave him the nickname
“Gentle Giant,” and he will
forever be remembered by.
Co-Star of “The Green
Mile,” Tom Hanks, fondly
referred to Duncan as “Big
Mike” in his condolences to
Duncan’s family and friends.
“I am terribly saddened at
the loss of Big Mike. He
was the treasure we all dis-covered
on the set of The
Green Mile. He was magic.”
Director Frank Darabont
said “[He was] one of the
finest people I’ve ever had
the privilege to work with or
know. Michael was the gen-tlest
of souls—an exemplar
of decency, integrity and
kindness. The sadness I feel
is inexpressible.”
There is no doubt that we
have experienced a great loss
and Duncan will be forever
embedded in our memories.
Duncan was an inspiration
to many and continues to
inspire us through his im-mortality
in our favorite
films. He certainly fits the
expression “only the good
die young” and the world
mourns his loss. His casket
viewing took place on Sun-day,
Sept. 9, and a private
invitation-only ceremony
commemorated his life on
Monday.
Maria Perdomo
Special to The Carolinian
September is Hispanic
Heritage Month, a whole
month dedicated to the cel-ebration
of Hispanic heri-tage
and culture. Every year,
activities and events are
planned to not only show
Hispanic cultures but also
show what these have con-tributed
to the United States.
On Friday, Sept. 7, Earth-works
Gallery in downtown
Greensboro partnered with
Casa Azul (an organization
that promotes Hispanic cul-ture
through its art) to put
on the show called ”Latin
Roots/Raíces Latinas”. The
exhibition focused on artists
from Latin America whose
“Latin Roots” influence
their work. These artists
came from different coun-tries
including Argentina,
Colombia, and Mexico and
proudly filled the walls of
Earthworks with a variety of
works.
As one approached the
gallery on Elm St, they
could begin to hear a hint
of melodical sound. How-ever,
it was not just any type
of resonation, it was Latin
music. Salsa, merengue, reg-gaeton,
bachata and much
more filled the people with
eagerness to check out what
was going on. On top of
that, there were extravagant
dancers outside moving to
the rhythm and teaching
those who wanted to learn.
There were couples who did
twists and moved their feet
so rapidly that it was hard
to keep up. Nevertheless
the essence of Latin dancing
was portrayed beautifully.
Earthworks Gallery would
make one feel right at home,
as if you were visiting at
a friend’s room adorned
with posters on the walls.
The event was filled to ca-pacity
from beginning to
end. People of different
backgrounds—not only
Latin—were very interest-ed
in learning about His-panic
culture and looking
at the artwork. Artforms of
all sorts were represented,
from colorful paintings that
expressed the energy and
brightness of the Mexican
culture, to woodwork that
beautifully displayed im-maculate
craftsmanship
done by a Colombian artist.
The gallery was a complete
embodiment of the rich,
raw, and novel flavor of Lat-in
America.
Diana Dau, an artist
whose work was on display,
had much to say about her
showcase. Dau’s educational
and cultural background
molded and shaped the
style in which she delivers
her talent. She is a graduate
from High Point University
with Bachelor’s degrees in
Studio Arts, French and In-ternational
Studies. She was
born in Colombia and used
art to show the transition
of becoming accustomed to
the American culture when
she and her family arrived
in the United States. She ex-plored
the concept of shoes
using charcoal as her main
medium and used it to dis-play
their place in society. “I
was searching for who I was
when I first got here, trying
different things.”
Dau’s “charcoal motif ” is
expressed in her series of
drawings entitled “Colom-bian
Cinderella,” “French
Cinderella,” and “American
Cinderella,” which all dis-played
a single shoe in a sea
of beautifully found shades
of the dark black charcoal.
“It was a search of identity,”
she stated while elaborating
on the motivation behind
her artistry. Her smaller
pieces served as an entry to
the grand finale of the tap-estry
set: a large charcoal
drawing of a few different
shoes all together called
“Stand Up.” This piece de-picts
her realization that
“it didn’t matter what shoe
I wore, what mattered was
who I was.” Dau’s work
along with other artists’ will
be part of the exhibition for
the remainder of the month.
The members of Casa Azul
are the driving force behind
the “Latin Roots” showcase.
Board member Kathy Hin-shaw
stated, “This organiza-tion
works to promote new
upcoming Hispanic artists
looking to show their work.”
Hinshaw, who is very active
in the Hispanic community
also expressed: “One of our
goals is to get rid of stereo-types
society has placed on
the Hispanic culture and we
do that by having events like
this.”
The night undoubtedly
exceeded expectations
of many, not only from
Greensboro but those from
the surrounding areas other
cities, who gathered for a
great cause: to simply learn,
celebrate, and appreciate
Latin art.
Picture this. You have all
wondered what it would be
like. Well, do not keep it a
secret anymore. Your televi-sion
screen is turned on in
haste as you run briskly to
press your nose up against
the cool, slated screen. It is
time to watch your favorite
all star politicians in a battle
of wits, charisma and let’s be
honest, fabrication. Barrack
“Dwayne Johnson” Obama
and Mitt “Flip Flop” Rom-ney
square off on a stage set
before the entire country
with the help of their gal-livant
steeds Joe “Wrinkles”
Biden and Paul Davis Ryan
(Paul Ryan thinks that nick-names
are for poor people).
It is a Game of Podiums;
a suited up war of Pretty
Little Liars, all to keep us
from falling into the hands
of The Walking Dead com-ing
out in December. Is that
not what this whole debacle
is about?
Welcome to The Amazing
Debate hosted by Gordon
Ramsay of Kitchen Night-mares
and his furrowed
brow; a reality television
program designed to make
your brain buds tingle and
your heart strings twang
as you witness two men,
dressed to the nines, at-tempt
to harvest a win in
the Nation’s biggest popu-larity
contest. Obama says,
whilst sitting on a purple
plush couch in the “Da-bate
Dwelling” and sipping a
mug of hot cocoa, “Every-one’s
health is important to
me, not just my own…this
hot chocolate is laden with
antioxidants. My point be-ing
that the little girl with a
heart disorder in Phoenix,
Arizona should get that sur-gery
she deserves because
the insurance company
should not limit her cover-age.
Now…I’m getting in
the hot tub.”
Obama’s attitude, while
good at heart, is forever
constantly ridiculed by his
roommate in the mansion,
Mitt. Mitt speaks on camera
about Obama’s comment
while wearing a shirt and tie
and bower shorts. He is un
aware that the camera can
see below the belt “This guy
talks about his Affordable
Care Act with little to no de-tail…
what happened to all
the promises he made on his
audition tape? If last night
was the party, then today
is the hangover. And what
about jobs?! The American
public needs more jobs. I
guestimate I can create 12
million new jobs by the end
of my first term. Now I’m
gonna keep that promise
and the promise I made to
Paul about Sunday Brunch.
Two guys can enjoy brunch
together and IT’S NOT
WEIRD.” Paul Ryan steps
into the frame and places his
pale, gangly hand atop Mitt’s
silken shirted shoulder and
just nods with a creepy face.
The next day the “Da-Bate
Dwelling” is riddled with
feuds about dirty dishes, al-cohol
consumption, and of
course the next challenge in
the race towards America’s
affection. Streets are busy
with traffic, happy and cry-ing
infants, and palm trees.
It is impossible to place
yourselves in these mens’
shoes.
After going through nu-merous
challenges and in-finite
campaign speeches,
the stresses of the primaries,
and finally the Democratic
and Republican national
conventions, both offend-ers
are ready to box. Joe
Biden massages Obama’s
shoulders while sitting on
the edge of the rink in a
portable jacuzzi, while Paul
Ryan serves Mitt Romney
mystery fruity drinks. With
one last mention of their
plan, the candidates and
their aides quickly prepare
for the fight.
A jittery Ramsay, yells
at Obama to get out of the
hot tub or he will look like
a prune, and turns to Rom-ney
to ensure him one more
time that there is more than
one camera on and every-one
now knows he enjoys
a good apple-tini. Romney
and Obama carefully look
at the lens and say their fi-nal
words. Romney ends by
stating “Barrack claims that
he’s a rock.” “You know who
else likes rocks? Terrorists!”
Ryan follows with an opin-ionated
shout,“and poor
people!” Moreover, Obama
concludes with, “I know
the producers expect me to
say something clever here,
but I know that’s not what
America wants.” Obama
suddenly rips off his shirt
and takes out a saxophone.
A cacophony of smooth jazz
sounds plays over the air-waves
as America can now
breathe…well at least until
Nov. 6, 2012.
Brittany Cannino
Staff Writer
what if the presidential
elections were a reality show?
latin roots, “Latinas raices”
The MTV Video
Music Awards is known
for its outrageous and
unpredictable moments;
anything could happen.
This year the VMA’S showed
off their very inventive
double decker red carpet,
being the first in the world
to do this to display the
interaction between the
stars, photographers and
interviewers right as they
were happening on both
levels of the red carpet.
Music and pop culture’s
favorite stars walked the
red carpet before they made
their grand entrance into
the Staple Center.
Demi Lovato performed
her summer hit, “Give Your
Heart A Break” during
the Pre-Show. Her vocals
stunned the crowd, who
supported and reciprocated
her very happy vibe. After
announcing her struggle
with an eating disorder
within the past couple
years, it was good to see
her looking healthy and
beautiful. Miley Cyrus
showed off her new blonde
hair cut styled into a
Mohawk which looked very
similar to a style owned by
music Pink. The Disney
Channel Star confirmed
rumors that her boyfriend,
Hunger Game’s Liam
Hemsworth are engaged.
She stated that she had
not begun planning her
wedding because she is
working on a new album
and busy with trying to
make, “the biggest hit of
[her] career”.
Wiz Khalifa and fiancée
Amber Rose announced
on the red carpet that they
were expecting; it was not
as theatrical as Beyoncé’s
announcement at last year’s
awards as she threw her
microphone down during
her performance, opened
up her sequenced blazer,
and exposed her pregnant
belly. Neither Queen Bey,
Tom Gill
Staff Writer
2012 video music awards : a recap
nor her husband Jay Z, and
now eight month old Blue
Ivy made an appearance
at the awards, as they were
currently on vacation sailing
the Mediterranean Sea.
Funny man Kevin Hart
hosted the star studded
event and kept the crowd
entertained and laughing.
His comedic entry paid
homage to the DNC (that
featured President Obama’s
address that night) as he
strutted in to Young Jeezy’s
“My President is Black”
surrounded by an entourage
of sunglasses-wearing,
“secret service” midgets.
His motto for the night,
“Nobody’s off limits,” proved
to be true as he addressed
the Kristen Stewart scandal
and the Chris Brown and
Drake Beef.
Rihanna debuted her new
hairstyle (or rather took it
back) to her trademark cut
from the “Umbrella” days,
and made numerous best
dressed lists, for her pure
white backless gown. She
rocked the crowd with her
Egyptian-inspired opening
performance of “Cockiness”
and “We found Love”. Later
after snagging Video of the
Year, beating out Katy Perry,
Gotye, and Drake’s track
(that she is also featured
on) she gave Chris Brown
a celebratory kiss and hug.
The kiss “heard around the
world” sent rumor mills
swirling, especially after
months of reports that they
have been secretly seen
together. Host Kevin Hart’s
opening jokes about the
Chris Brown and Drake bar
brawl (which was allegedly
over Rihanna) can perhaps
be considered a preceding
aid to their first visible public
display of affection in years.
Even last month Rihanna
shared in an interview on
“Oprah’s Last Chapter” that
she forgave him, and they
are just friends, yet he will
always be the love of her life.
Alicia Keys performed her
new single, “Girl on Fire”
featuring Nikki Minaj. After
Nicki finished her lyrical
reference to Olympian
gymnast Gabby Douglas,
she appeared on stage
doing a short, very graceful
routine of cartwheels and
back-flips. Performances of
the night also included Pink,
One direction, Green Day,
and Two Chainz featuring
Lil Wayne.
Taylor Swift closed out the
show with her new hit “We
Are Never Ever Getting Back
Together.” Some wonder if
the twenty-two year old will
ever break away from the
“kid-like” love songs, while
others ask if the presence
Taylor’s ex-beau Taylor
Lautner, had anything to
do with the performance.
Critics took to Twitter to
describe her performance
as a“ Kmart commercial.”
Nevertheless the voices of
her fans echoed throughout
the arena in unison with the
performer.
The winners of the night
were: Video of the Year:
Rihanna, “We Found
Love;”Best New Artist:
One Direction, “What
Makes You Beautiful;” Best
Female Video: Nicki Minaj,
“Starships;” Best Hip-Hop
Video: Drake, featuring
Lil’ Wayne, “HYFR; “Best
Male Video: Chris Brown,
“Turn Up the Music;”
Best Pop Video: One
Direction, “What Makes
You Beautiful;” Best Rock
Video: Coldplay, “Paradise;
“Best Video With a Message:
Demi Lovato, “Skyscraper;”
Best Electronic Dance
Music Video: Calvin
Harris, “Feel So Close;”
Most Shareworthy Video:
One Direction, “What
Makes You Beautiful;”
Best Choreography:
Chris Brown, “Turn Up
the Music;” Best Editing:
Beyonce, “Countdown;”
Best Visual Effects: Skrillex,
“First of the Year (Equinox);
‘ Best Cinematography:
M.I.A., “Bad Girls;” Best Art
Direction: Katy Perry, “Wide
Awake;” and Best Direction:
M.I.A., “Bad Girls.”
pHOTO cOURTESY Rippie: Contra Censura!/Flickr
8 Features September 11 - 17, 2012
the 80’s issue: reagan wins, the u. s. s. r.
falls and big hair makes a comeback
U.S. immigration policy from the 1980’s to now
Bonnie Landaverdy
Staff Writer
The Soviet Union: the last great empire, and the
misunderstood irony of its collapse
Ashley Northup
Opinions Editor
photo courtesy of fLICKR/ USER boss tweed
A 2007 immigration rally.
Immigration in the
United States has always
been a tough issue to tackle
and as always, it can become
a racist issue for some.
We remember the stories
of Chinese immigrants
building the railroads or the
European wave that came
through into Ellis Island.
Newcomers to this country
are not always welcomed
right away, especially
when they arrive in large
numbers. Some may say
that it is because people may
feel as if their territories
are threatened or that there
might be lack of resources.
Whatever the reason, we
have not really come a long
way in regards to Hispanic
immigrants; it has been but
an incremental change in
both policy and attitudes.
There have been many acts
and pieces of legislation that
have restricted immigration
in the United States,
such as The Gentleman’s
Agreement of 1907
which restricted Japanese
migration, The quota Act
in 1947 which limited the
number of immigrants
allowed into the country,
and the Bracero Program
which allowed Mexicans
come to California and do
cheap agricultural labor.
The agriculture sector has
always benefited from the
cheap labor of immigrants.
Between 1939 and 1954,
despite different existing
programs, the INS deported
3 million undocumented
and documented Mexicans
and US citizens; this act
was done under the anti-
Mexican Campaign called
“Operation Wetback.”
Immigration has always
been an issue, especially in
the past twenty five years,
and even with past and
current practices, it is hard
to come up with solutions.
It can be argued that in the
past, some of the solutions
for immigration were very
anti-immigrant and racist.
The history of immigration
in the United States is a
long one, since immigrants
built this country. It can
be argued that immigration
was getting more and more
attention by the time the
80s rolled around. In the
later 60s and 70s, a lot of the
attention of the nation was
focused on post Civil Rights.
In 1986, Ronald
Reagan signed into law
the Immigration Reform
and Control Act; the act
cracked down on security
on the boarder between
the states and Mexico,
called for sanctions against
employers who hired illegal
immigrants, and probably
the most controversial,
amnesty was granted to
those in the United States if
they had been in the country
prior to 1982. The bill did
not demand deportation,
just made entry into the
country more difficult.
However, in the 90s and
between 2000 to 2004,
millions of immigrants
continued to pour in,
making the immigration
subject harder to address
and harder to act on. In
1996, there were three acts
that served to dissuade
people from migrating
to the United States. The
Antiterrorism and Effective
Death Penalty Act served
to target terrorism and
crime, allowing for the easy
deportation of immigrants
who commit crimes.
The Personal
Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Reconciliation
act of 1996 made changes
in what kind of government
benefits would be available
for legal immigrants. The
Act encouraged self-sufficiency
in hopes that
less people would want to
migrate here by lowering the
incentives for immigrants.
The final anti-immigration
law in 1996
was the Illegal Immigrant
Responsibility Act, which
allowed for expedited
removal of those who
commit crimes, broader
definitions for felonies,
and time limitations for
filing claims in court for
undocumented immigrants.
Today, there is still no clear,
consistent federal policy on
the topic of immigration.
States have taken it upon
themselves to act, and even
some counties have taken
action in the detainment of
undocumented immigrants.
As before, the issue of
enforcing immigration laws
sometimes turns into an
issue of race. Some states
and counties are allowed
to question those and stop
those that “look” as if they
are undocumented.
Recently, the president
gave an executive order
to allow for those
undocumented immigrants
who are under thirty and
in the United States before
The Soviet Union was,
very likely, the last great
empire of our time. It
covered 8.65 million
square miles. That means
it was almost two and one-half
times the size of the
United States, occupied
nearly one-sixth of the
Earth’s land, and covered
11 of the 24 time zones in
the world. There were 100
nationalities living within
the Soviet Union.
Although the Soviet
Union started in 1946, it
could be argued that it began
to fall apart at the seams
in 1985, when Mikhail
Gorbachev was appointed
General Secretary of the
Community Party of
the Soviet Union. At 56,
Gorbachev was relatively
young to take such a high
ranking position.
When Gorbachev in-troduced
glasnost (liter-ally
meaning “openness”
in English), he never could
have foreseen the way the
policy would take hold and
change the Soviet Union
forever. Glasnost was a
policy of honesty in a place
where previously the truth
was bent to best serve who-ever
was in charge at the
time. Entire chunks of So-viet
history were rewritten
under glasnost, repaint-ing
leaders like Stalin and
Chernenko to include all
of their history – brutal op-pression
included. Further,
with this policy the press
was allowed the right to
speak freely. This speak-ing
did sometimes lead to
suppression, but once the
right was given it would
not be easily given back.
The economy of the
Soviet Union, by the time
1980 came around, was
absolutely stagnant. This
was in no small part to the
large amount of money
the Soviet Union spent on
their military, instead of on
things like food. Although
the arms race was long
since lost, the Soviet Union
never stopped trying to
catch up to America.
Gorbachev introduced
the policy of perestroika
to try to jump start an
economy on the edge
of failing. This policy
introduced the legalization
of co-ops and semi-private
business ventures, as well
as a loosening of price
controls. It was a small
breath of capitalism into a
communist society to try to
revitalize a dying economy.
However, it failed. In 1991
the failed attempt to change
the economy through
perestroika would show
when prices spiked up, and
the panic of raised prices
caused a massive buy out
and eventually, with other
factors, the collapse of the
economy and the Soviet
Union with it.
It is likely that the
introduction of glasnost
was intended to rile some
support for perestroika,
but that too failed. Instead,
glasnost had people
talking about things
they never would have
dreamed about discussing
before – including their
current political leaders.
Perestroika, communism,
and Gorbachev himself
were openly criticized
in the press. With this
discussion came a distrust
in the Soviet Union
leadership, and instead
of backing perestroika,
glasnost undermined it.
There were other
problems in the Soviet
Union, too, but glasnost is
very much the hole in the
bottom of the Soviet ship.
The Soviet Union believed
that the 100 nationalities
within it would fade away
and mesh together in favor
of communism, but this
proved not to be the case.
Many of these territories
wished for expansion, and
opposing ethnic groups
often fought one another.
Gorbachev mostly sat back
during these conflicts,
because fights for more
land, if handled, would
require he look at all of
their conquered territories
to consider their land
disputes. He would,
sixteen for five continuous
years, have a high school
diploma, no criminal
history, or has served in
the military, to apply for a
two year work permit. The
executive order is the closest
we have come to in anything
that resembles amnesty
since 1986.
Immigration has been a
difficult topic for the United
States throughout its history,
and from the 1980s to now
several different steps of
varying effectiveness and
ideology have been taken
to addresses complications
associated with it.
however, step in if any
territory began to fight for
independence. That was the
case in Baku, when he sent
in the military and left over
100 dead. With glasnost
in place, this decision was
not as easily covered as it
would have been in Stalin’s
time and could only add
to the distrust the people
were building toward their
government.
It was later in 1991 that
the Soviet Union collapsed,
but it was 1985 when
Gorbachev enacted laws
that would, in hindsight,
greatly help its collapse.
So it was, the same year
that Madonna first sang
Material Girl, and that the
NES was released, the last
great empire of our time
began its downward slope
into collapse.
The music of the All-American decade
Chris McCracken
Features Editor
From head-banging,
to big hair, to take-no-prisoners
attitudes, and
risqué lyrics that seem
like they were designed to
piss off mom and dad, the
1980’s was a magical time
in American history. The
United States was entering
a new period of prosperity
where the lassaiez-faire
attitude of American
capitalism seemed to be
at a high. The country’s
greatest enemy, the once-threatening
Soviet Union,
was a falling giant. And
the nation’s ever-oppressed
teenagers were once again
being royally screwed by
“the man” – this time in
the form of the country’s
prevailing rightward-shift.
The decade was culturally
different from any other,
and its music helped to
jumpstart the careers of
some of the most well-known
artists of all time.
VH1’s website features a
list of the top 100 songs of
the 1980’s, and at the very
bottom sits a song that
helped to jumpstart the
decade called, “Working
for the Weekend,” by a band
called Loverboy. A photo of
the band reveals a motley-looking
crew of misfits.
Each of the five members
had “big,” poofed up hair,
of varying styles and colors.
They wore decade-inspired
items like bandanas,
button-up shirts, sleeveless
leather jackets, and tank-tops.
Some look stoic and
cultured. Others look goofy
and immature.
Their featured song
describes the lives of people
that are young and single.
“Everyone’s watching,
to see what you will do/
Everyone’s looking at you,
oh/ Everyone’s wondering,
will you come out tonight/
Everyone’s trying to get it
right, get it right,” it starts
off. It goes on to describe
“working” to find love on
the weekends. The ballad
hit the number seven spot
on the Billboard 200 charts
in 1982 and was no-doubt a
great appeal to the younger
generation of the time.
Later in the decade,
Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”
was released. This was one
of the most progressive
and influential songs ever
recorded. According to
Mike Celizac of MSNBC,
“If you were young then,
the “Thriller” video and
Jackson’s music became part
of your DNA. But even if you
were older, you knew when
you turned on MTV and
saw Jackson’s breathtaking
performance that you were
seeing something that had
never been seen before.
Many arguably say the likes
of “Thriller” haven’t been
seen since, either.”
A copy of the video posted
to YouTube has more than
17 million views, attesting
to the song’s popularity.
The introduction starts
with a young and sleek
looking Michael Jackson
confessing his love to a
date. Suddenly, his love
interest begins to scream as
the artist announces that he
is “not like other guys,” and
then begins to shake. His
ears start to protrude. He
suddenly grows whiskers
and then, once handsome
Jackson takes the form
of a werewolf. Following
this transformation, the
werewolf Michael struts
through a graveyard
to summon his dead
comrades for the infamous
chorographical segment.
It is later revealed in the
plot that the segment is a
movie that Jackson and his
companion are viewing in
a theater; it then cuts to the
unforgettable disco-esque
beat of the song.
By the late 1980’s, hip hop
music began to increase in
popularity. The Beastie
Boys hit the music scene
around this time, and
their song “Fight for Your
Right (to Party)” served as
an anthem for oppressed
teenagers everywhere.
“You wake up late for
school man you don’t
wanna go/ You ask you
mom, “Please?” but she still
says, “No!”/ You missed two
classes and no homework/
But your teacher preaches
class like you’re some kind
of jerk.” The song was a
testament to the stresses
of everyday life for high
school students, and the
album cover featuring three
young males in urban-looking
outfits next to a
boom box helped to sell the
image.
Ironically, the song was
originally written as a satire
of other “attitude” songs.
In an interview from NPR,
singer Adam Yauch of the
group was asked if a satire
was what he originally had
in mind when creating the
song. “Yeah, basically that.
I think you saw - it was
just kind of like, just one of
those, like, “Smokin’ In the
Boys Room” type things,
just thought it was kind of
funny,” he responded.
Life in the 1980’s was very
different depending on who
you were. And the stresses
placed on young people
during the period helped
to create music that was
interesting, timeless, and
in many ways, pioneering.
Songs like “Working for the
Weekend,” “Thriller,” and
“Fight for Your Right” are a
true testament to this.
The Carolinian |Features September 11-17, 2012 | 9
“Members Only” jackets and other 1980’s trends
Charlena Wynn
Staff Writer
photo courtesy of fLICKR/ USER capt’ gorgeous
A man in the 1980’s wearing a typical outfit.
Bold color. Members
Only Jackets. Big hair.
Fashion choices that parents
and older siblings may
have worn in the 1980s are
making a comeback into the
21st century. Much of the
fashion during this time was
experimental and influenced
by the music and popular
culture at the time. With
movies like Purple Rain and
Flashdance dominating the
screen, many young adults
emulated those fashions.
Artists like Michael Jackson,
Madonna, Run DMC, and
many others began trends
of members only jackets,
hair drenched in Aqua Net,
the love of gold jewelry
and tracksuits. Here are a
few categories for men and
women’s 1980s fashion.
Makeup and hair in the
1980s, like all things, were
loud and eye catching.
Women used chemical
perms to curl their hair
and had spray such as
Aqua Net to tease their
roots and secure it in its
place. The spoken mantra
was the bigger, the better.
Hair accessories such as
headbands and clips were
used to finish off desired
styles. In addition, men
wore elaborate hairstyles
as well. For African-
American men, the jheri
curl became popular. The
mullet hairstyle, a-la Jon
Bon Jovi, was also trendy.
Makeup included purple,
teal and blue eyeshadow
and heavy liner for women
and men alike, taking on
the stereotypical punk rock
look. Brooke Shields’ thick
eyebrows set a trend in the
1980s, especially when she
graced the cover of Time
magazine with the headline:
The 80s Look.
For shirts and blouses,
women often wore over-sized
sweatshirts that were
Flashdance inspired. These
tops generally were belted
to create a slicker silhouette.
Shoulder pads were very
popular during the 1980s
which allowed women to
have a more structured look.
For men, members only
jackets were a hit. According
to MTV’s recollection
television show, “Like Totally
80s,” imitations of the brand
were unacceptable. Popular
colors included black and
brown, though neon colors
like purple, green and
orange were considered to
be cool as well. In addition,
t-shirts and cut off muscle
shirts and tank tops were in
style for men.
Parachute pants came on
the scene during the 1980s.
These pants, typically worn
by men, began more fitted
near the top and relaxed
at the bottom of each leg.
Women donned stretched
stirrup pants in a number of
colors. Skin tight mini skirts
and shorts were fashionable
as well. Tights and leggings
were used in addition to
this look, in some cases,
completed with leg warmers
as well.
With the success of
music artist Run DMC, the
sneaker Adidas became a
staple among young people.
The iconic stripes of these
shoes determine whether or
not you were a part of the
in crowd or not. Jelly shoes
and pumps were trendy
among young women. Jelly
shoes came in a number of
colors and styles, ranging
from flats to sandal and
greens, yellow, and clear. In
colder months, women wore
pleather and leather booties
and tall boots. Shoes were
very important to creating
an overall look even in the
80s.
Accessories could make
or break an outfit. Fingerless
gloves were a hit among
punk rock teens. These
were made of mostly black
lace. In addition to belts for
securing an over-sized shirt,
some women wore t shirt
ties to add a dramatic shape
to their outfit. Chunky over-sized
plastic bangles in
multiple colors were used to
accent or highlight a style.
Sunglasses, like today, were
important to teens’ look as
well. Aviators and Ray Ban
brand sunglasses became
staples to complete a spring
or summer look. For young
men, they looked to Tom
Cruise’s characters in Risky
Business and Top Gun for
inspiration.
Very much like today,
young people look to
popular culture such as
magazines, celebrities,
music and movies for
fashion inspiration. All the
looks and trends discussed
can be traced back to famous
people and media outlets of
the 1980s.
Forgotten nuances in the re-election of Reagan
Chris McCracken
Features Editor
photo courtesy of fLICKR/ USER wayne’s eye view
A statue paying homage to President Reagan.
The 1984 re-election of
President Ronald Reagan
is widely seen as one of the
biggest presidential sweeps
in United States history.
A look at an electoral
map from the election
reveals a country that is
almost solidly Republican.
With the exception of
Minnesota, the incumbent
carried every single state in
the Union and won a solid
mandate to continue the
policies of his first term.
Very few Americans are
informed about the path
that Reagan took to get
to this victory, or about
the uncertainty of his re-election
in the months
preceding that November.
In the 1980s, the concept
of supply-side economics
was new to the American
people. It was a theory
that was widely built-upon
in the 1970s by
academics studying in
the field of economics at
schools like the University
of Chicago. The theory
held that by cutting taxes,
governments could actually
raise more revenue from
taxation. It was a bizarre
concept, addressed in the
1980 election by George
H.W. Bush as “voodoo
economics.” However,
Ronald Reagan embraced
the theory, went on to
win the Republican
nomination, and later the
presidency.
Reagan won in the
midst of a period known
as “stagflation,” where
the economy remained
stagnant, but inflation was
spiraling out of control.
Americans were seeking
new economic answers
when they elected a new
president.
Unfortunately, according
to an excerpt from the
University of California at
Berkeley’s library webpage,
“Between 1980 and 1982 the
U.S. economy experienced
a deep recession, the
primary cause of which
was the disinflationary
monetary policy adopted
by the Federal Reserve.
The recession coincided
with U.S. President Ronald
Reagan’s steep cuts in
domestic spending and led
to minor political fallout
for the Republican Party.”
A documentary called
“Reagan’s Re-election,”
found on the History
Channel webpage,
describes Reagan’s re-election
prospects at the
time as “threatened.” Video
clips reveal a candidate
who stumbles over words,
and who seems to be aloof.
His age was also noted as a
factor, as Reagan was in his
70s.
“Reagan was doing
well until they came to
the presidential debates.
In the first debate, he was
just awful… he seemed
to not have the facts
at his fingertips, and it
immediately set off this
round of speculation; “”has
the old man lost it?,”” asked
Bob Scheiffer of CBS News
in clip.
According to
unemployment data
from the Bureau of
Labor and Statistics, the
unemployment rate also
did not bode well for the
incumbent president.
When Reagan took office
in 1980, the unemployment
rate was about 6.2 percent.
It quickly jumped to
nearly 8 percent, and then
skyrocketed to almost
11 percent in 1983.
Fortunately for Reagan, it
was hovering at just a little
over 7 percent by the time
of the election.
While Reagan initially
ran into trouble getting
re-elected, he eventually
went on to handily win a
second term. Part of this
was due to the shifting
political current of the era.
The formerly “big tent”
Democratic Party that had
housed both conservative
southerners and
progressive northerners
started to collapse. “Reagan
Democrats” in the South
started to support a
Republican nominee for
the first time in history. A
page of statistics found on
the webpage of the Roper
Center of Public Opinion
Statistics at the University
of Connecticut reveals that
26 percent of Democratic
voters defected from their
own political party in
that election, while only
7 percent of Republicans
voted for Mondale.
While the 1984 continues
to be remembered today
as a blowout in support of
Ronald Reagan, very little
seems to be discussed of
the difficulties that the
President had in getting
there. This classic election
is just another all-too-familiar
case study of how
unpredictable national
politics can often be.
“Blade Runner”: Science fiction of the 1980s
Jonathan Waye
Staff Writer
Although the 80’s is
more widely known for its
infamous fashion trends,
it also marks a decade of
incredible science fiction
films. From Alien to Star
Wars, the film industry
continuously released
sci-fi epics, dazzling
audiences nationwide with
extraterrestrial beings and
alien worlds.
Director Ridley Scott,
however, offered movie
goers the chance to
experience their own
future. In his critically
acclaimed film “Blade
Runner,” Scott produces a
harsh look into the World’s
fate, as pollution saturated
skies hover above the city
of Los Angeles. It is the
year 2019, and Humans
have created sentient AI’s
and robots, known as
replicants, abusing them
ever since their creation.
Forcing replicants into
slavery on colony worlds,
bitter resentment has built
up among them, and have
since staged riots and
uprisings. A recent replicant
uprising lead to banning
them from the planet earth
entirely, warning that if
any are to be found, they
will be executed on sight.
And so, our adventure into
this dark, futuristic world
begins.
“Blade Runner” is a mix
between neo-noir crime
classics and dystopian
science fiction, and it works
beautifully. Scott’s dismal
urban jungle becomes a
tattered maze of markets
and neon lights as Deckard,
played by Harrison Ford,
searches for rouge, criminal
replicants. As a blade
runner, it is Deckard’s
responsibility to hunt
down these replicants and
destroy them. The search
stretches across the entirety
of the city: from the dimly
lit bars and strip clubs of
the lower city to the top
of the monumental Tyrell
Corp building. The setting
could not have been better
suited for an intense and
suspenseful game of cat and
mouse.
The incessant suspense,
however, is often interlaced
with elements of romance.
Deckard falls in love with
the beautiful Rachael (Sean
Young), Tyrell’s assistant.
Throughout the film,
the two encounter each
other in quick, darting
moments, even adding
suspense to their own
dynamic relationship.
The rogue replicants, as
well, try and deal with
their birth into emotional
intelligence through close,
intimate relationships.
They express utter sorrow
at some moments, flashes of
understanding and wisdom
at others, and everything
else in between. The film
owes a large amount of
its success to its replicant
actors, Rutger Hauer,
Joanna Cassidy, and Daryl
Hannah. Their emotional
range is incredible.
Beyond the acting
and romance, the action
scenes are also notable.
Scott accentuates “Blade
Runner’s” suspenseful
atmosphere with brief,
violent excursions between
Deckard and the replicants.
The brevity of these scenes
is what gives them their
appeal, as the action is
simply short and sweet. The
replicants offer Deckard
more than a challenge, and
ultimately, hold his life in
the balance.
Deckard’s progress
throughout the film
itself is one of repressed
misery. Often shot with a
glass of liquor, Deckard
explores the law’s own
dark and corrupt facets.
How can one be assigned
to simply exterminate a
living, thinking being?
Deckard struggles with this
throughout, and drowns
his miseries and questions
in hard alcohol. His moral
apprehensiveness develops
further and further and,
by movie’s end, forces him
to make a decision about
his own future. Will he
continue exterminating
replicants on the run, or
will he spark the overhaul
that allows them to live
peacefully in contact with
humans?
All in all, I would highly
recommend Ridley Scott’s
“Blade Runner,” as it
sports lively action, dark
mystery and suspense, as
well as solid, quality acting
performances. The setting
couldn’t complement
the storyline any better,
and the atmosphere that
results is both poignant
and evocative. If you have
not already, it is a movie
definitely worth