Free condoms, sex education games and raffles for free sex toys are just a few of the aspects of the Rutgers University Programming Association’s Latex Luau Tuesday evening
By Ariel Nagi Published: March 11, 2009
The RUPA Latex Luau Spring Break: Sun, Sand and STDs was designed to promote safe sex and drug abuse awareness in a fun way through a Hawaiian-style luau with food, music, games and prizes, said Mayank Patel, vice president of RUPA’s Arts and Issues Committee.
“It’s especially important before people go on spring break to know about safe-sex facts,” said Bayruns, a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore.
The event held in the Rutgers Student Center on the College Avenue campus featured a raffle to win prizes such as playing cards and whistles in the shape of a penis, lubricants, various sex toys, fishnet stockings and spring break beach gear like flip-flops, a beach umbrella, towels, sunscreen and candy.
“It’s usually always really popular,” said Castillo, a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore.
About 40 people attended the event, where even the food table had a glass sculpture of a woman’s breast and torso and bowls filled with free condoms.
Games included “Pin the Macho on the Man” and “Pin the Boobs on the Babe,” where a person was blindfolded, spun around to get dizzy and then asked to pin the breasts and penis on photos of a man and woman with bull’s-eye targets.
Another game highlighted the consequences of being intoxicated while having sex. Participants had to put on vision-impairment goggles and try to put a condom on a rubber penis to show how difficult it is to practice safe sex while intoxicated.
But it was not all fun and games.
Tables around the Multipurpose Room such as the “Guess the Disease” game table featured real-life pictures of symptoms of sexually transmitted diseases such as herpes, genital warts, gonorrhea and chlamydia. . . . --NewsHammer 3/24/2009
Campus groups address one another, York admin via press release
By Ryan Buchanan Published: March 18, 2009
The recent sanctions York imposed on the Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA), Hillel at York and Hasbara Fellowships at York were not enough to silence the groups. Less than a week after the conclusion of the controversial Israel Apartheid Week, the opposing organizations issued press releases condemning the other of harassment, intimidation and actions contrary to the sanctions recently imposed against them. On March 13, Hillel at York and Hasbara Fellowships at York issued a press release to ask the York administration why they continued to allow SAIA to operate on campus, despite the sanctions imposed against them.
“It is outrageous for York University to issue a news release announcing disciplinary actions while refusing to take action itself against a suspended group operating contrary to the sanctions against it,” stated Daniel Ferman, president of Hillel at York, in the March 13 press release. York University vice-president students Rob Tiffin said there is a difference between representing a group and sharing the group’s views. “I think what they [Hillel and Hasbara] might be referring to is Vari Hall, where we have a very liberal policy for people who come in to set up,” Tiffin said. “My understanding is that the people coming to set up are not members of SAIA per se, but may certainly be supportive of SAIA’s views.”. . .
Students and admin work to improve York University
By Scott McLean Published March 18, 2009
In an effort to prevent intimidation and harassment on campus, York University president Mamdouh Shoukri announced that he would set up a task force to review concerns about the student environment on campus. He, however, stopped short of potentially setting restrictions on the use of Vari Hall. The York president said he would be surprised if the task force resulted in tightened restrictions on the use of Vari Hall since he was proud of easing the restrictions last year when he saw peaceful demonstrations. He explained that there were only a few incidents where he “thought the dialogue was not at the level that one should expect.”
Shoukri didn’t cite a specific event that sparked the need for a task force but spoke in general terms about the environment on campus in recent weeks. “With all of these events, I feel that it is really important that we look at what we are doing, and we look at our current policies, whether they improve the learning environment or actually are creating hurdles for our students to learn,” he said. Shoukri released the names of seven faculty members of the task force. Among them were Patrick Monahan, the dean of Osgoode Law School and newly appointed vice-president academic, and Rob Tiffin, York vice-president students. The task force will also consist of seven students chosen through an application process.
Adonis El-Jamal, a spokesperson for the Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) – one of the groups recently fined by the university for recent events in Vari Hall – said he didn’t think the task force was independent. “We would be better served if this was an independent task force, absent from individuals such as Rob Tiffin, who just recently arbitrarily suspended and fined groups for participating in a political protest,” he said. . . .
York University began the winter term in a controversial fashion. Israel Apartheid Week (IAW) arrived on York’s Keele Campus, stirring the emotions of an often-divided student body.
By Ryan Buchanan Published: March 11, 2009
IAW is a controversial event; its goal is to raise awareness about the alleged Israeli apartheid system.[Alternate Video Link to Israel awareness at York University, above] “The overall goal of IAW is to raise awareness about the plight of the Palestinians and the state of Israeli apartheid,” said Adonis El-Jamal, SAIA media spokesperson. The protests were tamer this year compared to recent years. This is likely due to the sanctions that the university issued against SAIA and two of York’s Jewish student organizations – Hillel at York and Hasbara Fellowships at York – for disrupting classes in Vari Hall during protests last month.
Hillel at York president Daniel Ferman disagreed with the sanctions but said he wanted to see the university impose them more equally. “I think the university needs to take a closer look at how it’s applying the Student Code of Conduct,” he said. “What we are looking for is for it to be applied fairly to every incident and not just in isolated cases.” Aaron Rosenberg, president of Hasbara Fellowships at York, disagreed with the distribution of the sanctions to an even greater degree. “It’s obvious that these sanctions are not fair because they gave different sanctions to different groups,” he said. “It’s never fair when sanctions are handed out unevenly.” El-Jamal condemned the sanctions as oppressive.
“We condemn the use of the Student Code of Conduct and think it’s an illegitimate code used to repress student activity and political debates on campus,” said El-Jamal. . . .
Pro-Israeli students say university failed to properly defend their rights
By Alexandra Birukova Published: March 4, 2009
Over the past month, York University’s Keele Campus has seen a number of clashes between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian students, leading some groups to accuse the university of not doing enough to protect students from intimidation. The events that took place on Feb. 11, [Alternate Link to Excalibur Video, above] specifically the impromptu protest outside Hillel’s office in the Student Centre, have raised concern from some students. Daniel Ferman, the president of Hillel at York, said that the heated atmosphere on campus has left some students feeling intimidated. “I think the university should take its Code of Conduct and enforce it on a regular basis. [They should] apply it equally to all parties involved and ensure that it’s applied equally and fairly,” Ferman said.
Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) spokesperson Adrianna Boni said none of the events of the past few weeks have been ethnically or religiously directed toward the Jewish community. . . .
Statement: Jewish Canadians Concerned about Suppression of Criticism of Israel
We are Jewish Canadians concerned about all expressions of racism, anti-Semitism, and social injustice. We believe that the Holocaust legacy "Never again" means never again for all peoples. It is a tragic turn of history that the State of Israel, with its ideals of democracy and its dream of being a safe haven for Jewish people, causes immeasurable suffering and injustice to the Palestinian people.
We are appalled by recent attempts of prominent Jewish organizations and leading Canadian politicians to silence protest against the State of Israel. We are alarmed by the escalation of fear tactics. Charges that those organizing Israel Apartheid Week or supporting an academic boycott of Israel are anti-Semites promoting hatred bring the anti-Communist terror of the 1950s vividly to mind. We believe this serves to deflect attention from Israel's flagrant violations of international humanitarian law.
B'nai Brith and the Canadian Jewish Congress have pressured university presidents and administrations to silence debate and discussion specifically regarding Palestine/Israel. In a full-page ad in a national newspaper, B'nai Brith urged donors to withhold funds from universities because "anti-Semitic hate fests" were being allowed on campuses.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff have echoed these arguments. While university administrators have resisted demands to shut down Israel Apartheid week, some Ontario university presidents have bowed to this disinformation campaign by suspending and fining students, confiscating posters, and infringing on free speech. . . . --NewsHammer 3/21/2009
Three months ago, I eagerly anticipated my grades as I sought to boost my CGPA so that I might participate in the co-op program this fall
By Sarshar Hosseinnia Published: March 16, 2009
I was pleased with the outcome of three of my courses, but intrigued as to why it was taking so long to get a mark for Philosophy 241: Philosophy in Literature.
To be fair, I think the course was a joke; the professor barely showed up, and when he did, his teaching was questionable, to say the least.
A course that was supposed to be about literary icons such as Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Nietzsche, et cetera, soon turned into piffle about whether or not we should kill ourselves, and the role of apes in Early-Modern society.
Fair enough; the reason for debate about where humans originated is parallel to numerous theories regarding man’s existence. But really, the title of the course is, “in literature.”
As if the communication breakdown didn’t cause the class enough confusion, we were also subjected to films that most students were shown in high school.
Again, I agree that Lord of the Flies and The Lives of Others are key films in any argument of morality, but did it really need to take up 12 of our lectures? . . . --NewsHammer 3/19/2009
Bronwyn Cowell gets a check up with Dr Tim Green, director of the Emergency Department at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
By Bronwyn Cowell Published monthly: February 25, 2009
. . . Do you [Dr Green] or workers in your department notice a spike in student admissions on Wednesday nights (the traditional college party night) or on the night of big events, like college formals?
It’s funny you mention Wednesday night. Until recently I worked every Wednesday evening for many years and I couldn’t figure out why it was always me who was trying to hail a cab surrounded by people in togas or tennis outfits… I didn’t realize Wednesday was the college party night.
But to answer your question no significant spike of attendances, although I do recall a few ankle injuries following formals when the combination of a few drinks and high stiletto heels caused a few problems… I don’t know if that counts as a spike of admissions.
. . . How have you seen drug and alcohol related admissions change over time? For example, has the RPA ED seen the ugly end of the so called ice ‘epidemic’? Or are other party drugs like cocaine and pills still more prevalent?
There’s been a lot of changes. When people take too much ice they can get very aggressive, violent, even psychotic. They may hurt themselves, others and unfortunately we’ve had a run of nurses and doctors getting hit.
The other thing is that many young people think that using so called “party drugs” is pretty safe…The trouble is that you never know what you are taking and we’ve seen some pretty sick people. The worst offender is GBH. The margin of error with that drug is so small. We get a few cases every weekend of people who stop breathing. I’d hate to know how many people don’t make it to hospital. . . . --NewsHammer 3/04/2009
The whole capitalist system that controls the world is going through a mass extinction, and just like biological mass extinctions, something totally new will emerge
By Angus Miller Published monthly: February 9, 2009
The neo-liberal dream of a world run by the free market is as dead now as the socialist dream of a world run without any markets at all. China and India might just become real rivals to the power of the US. The power of governments everywhere will increase compared to the power of big corporations. Basic economic theory will be reassessed. So, you’re probably not as interested in that as me (an economics student), and in the meantime with this mass extinction, it’s our jobs, our opportunities and ultimately our lifestyle that could be on the line.
First there was the subprime crisis, which then became the credit crunch and now that is just referred to as the economic crisis, which has more recently become the recession. The scary truth is that no one knows when things will get better.
Debt has become quite a big thing over the last twenty years. Many large companies have been boosting their profits by operating with very high levels of debt. In other words they borrow lots of money, invest it and hope that what they earn is more than their interest costs. This is called leveraging. . . . --NewsHammer 3/01/2009
College Sucks? Unigo WebGuide To Party All The Time
Cult Of Less
U Florida For Gamers: 21st Century Skills In Starcraft
Watch Live NCAA Football / College Sports
For 2010 the easiest thing is to catch NCAA college games on network or cable/sat TV, on ABC, CBS, ESPN, and the dedicated college sports cable network ESPNU.
Your best bet on the Internet is the NCAA TV website with live streaming of many college games including CBS Feeds. If you qualify you can watch some live college games on the ESPN360 website. The BigTenNetwork covering the Big Ten Conference (11 Midwest colleges) has some free live streaming and broadcasts on cable and satellite.
In the US only, you can watch a few live college games and pro sports free on ESPN360 if you qualify. College kids qualify but other viewers need broadband service from major cable providers. Other ESPN links below have some video highlights only.
The Rolling Stones/ Exile On Main St/ Unreleased / Following The River
The Doors New Film: When You're Strange
New Hendrix 1969 Valleys Of Neptune
Remembering Michael Jackson A Year Later
LaToya 2009 Tribute to June 25, 2010
Still the best video to remember Michael Jackson. Don't miss the other XPLAY.FR Jackson uploads on Vimeo that follow this one.
Michael Jackson: Dead Like Elvis
A year later not much has changed. The Media has moved on to other disasters, without stopping for a reality check. Remember the endless roll of patchy, inconsistent and conflicting reports on the death of Michael Jackson, from the same TV and print people that were better at knocking him down while destroying his reputation in a similar frenzy not so long ago? Enough tabloid confusion left to spin out his tragic death for million$ more. Sorry Michael.
Though it sounds good and should look great in a thoughtful vacuous way, I'm not sure we want the Cirque du Soleil MegaMichael Project either. The Tour starts in 2011 and the Vegas Installation in 2012. What? No $100 Million hyperbolic oxygen theater?
A recent Newsweek retrospective is a better momento mori, an album of images and text that covers "What's Left Behind" though we're still nowhere near the truth.
For a serious look back at his death and the legend that lives on see the original feature story in NewsHammerOnCampus with new updates and more video: Michael Jackson: Dead Like Elvis.
If you missed a lecture or you have a lousy prof, you could find replacement content on the Internet. The University of California at Berkeley was the first to launch its own podcasts and webcasts of lectures back in 1995 on webcast.berkeley.edu/ The Massachusetts Institute of Technology followed in 2002 with full and free access for anyone to theirMITOpenCourseWare. From course materials like required reading handouts, to the articles and books themselves you can read online, to video lectures you can watch from a vast Berkeley and MIT archive that goes way beyond science and tech. It's turned into a revolution in education with other major American universities joining like Yale, Stanford and a few other biggies. Now it's international with universities in 24 countries offering their courses online for free, about 8,000 courses you can take and some in foreign languages. The best guide to finding what's available and where, is through the OpenCourseWareConsortium.
Another 200 plus universities and colleges are making some of their material available on iTunes U and YouTube EDU. Besides taped lectures, you can find Campus Tours and other info as podcasts and webcasts. You can search through thousands of them, sexier and easier on iTunes U with clearly defined subject areas. YouTube EDU just started its own channel by collecting years of videos from all over YouTube. Searching by keywords as usual on YouTube is hit and miss. A key directory of contributing institutions is found on both, but that's all YouTube sorts for you.
Nearly all iTunes U and YouTube EDU materials are in English and from the U.S. Some UK, Canada, and Down Under sources, plus a few French universities so far. Check out the links above. Since it's all free, try it out. But remember you won't get course credits or a degree.
If you want course credit, you might be able to arrange it if your own university doesn't offer a particular course you want to take. See your faculty advisor who can find out if a prof at your university is willing to supervise and grade you, but then you will still have to pay your university a course fee. It's worth it if the online course is really important to you and you're willing to make a big effort to learn on your own. Putting your university through all this hassle and then trying to fake it, isn't going to work. You'll flunk ingloriously.
Of course if you want to get a degree entirely online you can do it, but it's not cheap or easy. As with bricks and mortar universities, be careful where you go. Some Internet Universities have set up shop to cash in on gullible students. Some are credible For-Profits, but are generally more expensive and their diplomas may be of little worth. Stick to conventional universities with an online degree program if you are obliged to study at home.
The Internet is a great place to skim for information. Finding something to read isn't easy. The Dear Diary explosion, basically the start of blogging, has produced some outstanding writing. One of the stars illuminating this overcrowded Twilight Zone since 2002 is DiamondGeezer. A bit of London slang for a decent bloke. A simple idea, to write a short story every day about living in London. To make it interesting, even fascinating, without resorting to fiction is really hard work. The result is a social document that archaeologists of the 21st Century will pore over like they would the Library of Alexandria had it survived. The hyperbole of our inflationary culture though is missing from DiamondGeezer's Social History. A spade is still a spade and the minutiae and boring nitpicking details of modern life are not dusted or deleted. What we have is honesty and candor from a friend in London who shares his ordinary life with us.
Laptop Travel
This is social networking for travellers, travel writers, and photographers on a grand scale. If you want to check out anyplace worldwide before you go, start here. Your travel buddies have been there and can show you around. No commercial hype and no bull. Go anyway you can, from backpacking to jetsetting, weekends to a summer long adventure, and plan to make it happen. A lot of students post their own blogs among thousands of others, so like in Harvard's Let's Go travel guides, you can find the perfect place and what not to miss, but in way more depth with lots of big pictures. You could spend a week happily reading up on just one country. A lot of the photos are simply great. Join and you can post your own trips and tips on your own blog at GLOBOsapiens.net
Laptop Book Reviews and Literati News
Not the racy Jane Austin Book Club. That too, pulp fiction and the classics. The focus is on serious contemporary writing in this dense and friendly book lovers' website. If you're a famed bookaholic or a backstabbing book critic on a mission to impress your friends, or a Sunday afternoon dilettante of heady books and literary magazines couching yourself to death, spend some webby time withBookslut.com/ Don't miss the companionBookslut Blog on its scramble through the literary news.
Get Ready For The Chernobyl Solution
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Summer. When the weather is off or on any day if local craft brewed beer is
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SO, AFTER A YEAR OF BEING ROYALY FUCKED ABOUT BY A SCENE WE HAVE NOTHING TO
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