Reporter Online | Author: John Howard

Revengineers and the 8-bit Revolution

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0400

A modern musical twist on retro gaming.


Revengineers, (clockwise from left) Jim DeWitt, B.C. Mostyn, Nick Maynard and Kolbe Resnick.
Meron Menghistab

“It’s a fun sound that you can do a lot with ... It’s definitely nostalgic,” said musician Jim DeWitt, a graduate of RIT’s Information Sciences and Technology program and current RIT web developer. DeWitt is the bass player in Revengineers, an instrumental electronic rock band new to the Rochester indie scene. The band’s unique sound that he is referring to comes not from a guitar or a bass, but from the inner workings of a handheld videogame console: a Nintendo Game Boy.

Such an abstract musical addition might deliver images of floormates beeping buttons in unison in a sweaty Computer Science floor lounge, but these guys aren’t fooling around. Though “Nintendo rock” is a simple tag that the Revegineers use, they also are self-described as basically, pop influenced rock with an upbeat tempo. Their music has surprising depth, layered in sheets of bold guitars and thumping synth beats that move.

“We’re not just making music with it a Game Boy. We’re making music with an element of it,” said DeWitt.

DeWitt sat alongside two of his guitarists, Nick Maynard, a Music Education graduate of SUNY Fredonia, and B.C. Mostyn, an MCC student studying Graphic Design, trying to figure out the words that would describe their style. Sporting tattoos and Marvel T-shirts, they seem a perfect blend of tech, punk and indie. Along with his contributions on the bass, DeWitt assists with the electronic components of live show appearances at venues like Bug Jar. Kolbe Resnick, a Political Science major at University of Rochester, rounds out the four-piece unit on drums. Each with good-sized histories already under their belts, the band found its way together through the common interests in musical approaches of DeWitt and Maynard.

Though it’s a group effort when it comes time to write new material, Maynard handles a lot of the programming responsibilities on the Game Boy. For complicated riffs, notes must be chosen from a screen-sized inventory and laid in one at a time.

The device itself - a modified original Nintendo Game Boy (circa 1989) - essentially acts as a portable, pocket-sized synthesizer. However, the amount of effort that went into pimping this gadget out is easily recognizable by the way Maynard cradles it. A fresh paint job and a new screen were a must, due to the age of the machine. Illuminating the screen is a custom backlight that glows a full red; a nice change from the sickly green blur that these devices are known for, and a necessity for playing live shows on dark stages.

The most important part is the audio. According to the group, the audio capacity of a Game Boy can be broken down into four sound channels. Two of these channels account for the “normal synths” - the reason Mario has a theme song. A WAV channel is available for loading and writing samples and the last channel is white noise, which can be used for a snare drum or symbol-type sounds. Though the limitation to only three tonal instruments at a time could be seen as an obstacle, the band sees it as a source of inspiration to become more creative. In order to channel that creativity properly, DeWitt and Maynard installed a professional audio output and rewired the electrical components of the Game Boy to bypass the factory installed default.

“The original sound output that’s on it is... it sounds awful,” said Maynard. “You install this the new output and it sounds a lot louder. It’s clearer; the tone is bassier. It sounds like a professional synthesizer.”

To write their music, Revengineers use software specifically designed for the Game Boy, known as Little Sound DJ (LSDJ for short). The software is recorded onto a writable game cartridge that loads with the Game Boy’s “on” switch (the same way original Tetris does). With the use of this software at their fingertips - literally - the band can log an entire song as if producing sheet music for immediate playback and even play live using control combos.

The band incorporates a modified computer keyboard with link cable attachment as a remote for the Game Boy. The device can also be operated through DeWitt’s laptop, which is always on stage running the show for their live performances. When it comes time for writing songs, though, the band links the same technology through a Super Nintendo Entertainment System for output to a larger, group-friendly screen.

“It’s a crazy thing when you’re writing music on it and then it reminds you of a game ... It can sound just like that one level or that one part in a game,” said Mostyn.

Despite such a unique approach to musical interpretation, the Revengineers weren’t in the dark when they started making Nintendo-produced music. The band’s style is part of a sub-genre of electronic music known as 8-bit, pulling its name from the 8-bit era of architecture in computer and gaming consoles. According to DeWitt and the rest of the band, the community within 8-bit music has a strong following, especially in San Francisco and New York, and it is very supportive and encouraging of new talent.

“It’s just such a cool scene for it online,” said Maynard. “It’s like this Venn diagram that overlaps between people who are independent musicians, people who are pseudo-computer programmers, and people who are into electrical engineering.”

Among the bands Revegineers look up to in the 8-bit community is a New York City based band called Anamanaguchi. With a similar sound and ensemble approach that the Revengineers take, the band, according to the website, “makes loud, fast music with a hacked NES Nitendo Entertainment System from 1985.” With Anamanaguchi providing the score for a new Scott Pilgrim-based video game that is set to drop soon, it seems that the influence games have on the 8-bit world has come full circle.

Looking ahead for the Revengineers, the band continues to progress, toying with the idea of adding vocals to their tracks and possibly including a projected visual aspect to their performances. Maynard has even considered starting up a video game instruction program for newcomers to the 8-bit genre interested in electronic music. Meanwhile, the band is planning out their next live performance and working on their first record. Futuristic-nostalgia may be uncharted territory for most musicians, but these artists are focused on creating new sounds, turning heads, and getting them to move to the beat.

For more information on 8-bit music, check out http://8bitcollective.com and http://chipmusic.org. To follow the Revengineers on Tumblr, go to http://revengineers.tumblr.com.

New Twilight: New Hollywood?

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0400

How to see Taylor Lautner and Robert Pattinson as an opportunity.

Women. They are the audience that any smart director would make a movie for. Or so Alfred Hitchcock alluded to in an interview with Huw Wheldon in 1964 on a BBC program called “Monitor.”

“Eighty percent of the audience in the cinema are women,” he went on. “Even if the house is 50-50 - half men, half women - a good percentage of the men has said to his girl ... what do you want to see, dear?”

More than 40 years later, with the release of “Twilight,” the studios have finally caught on.

As much as you’d like to argue, Hollywood sees you not as a consumer of art, but as a statistic. And that statistic is defined by your age and sex; you are either male or female, and you are either young or old - specifically, plus or minus 25 (sorry mid-life crisisers). To break it down more: quadrant A is male, 25; quadrant B is female, 25; quadrant C is male, 24 and under; and quadrant D is female, 24 and under.

Take a moment and absorb this information. It is all you need to become a big-budget Hollywood producer; that and a lot of sleeping around, of course. (Just kidding. Not really.)

For example, the “Saw” series is aimed at quadrant C, “Gran Torino” would fall in the quadrant A-ish area, and something like “Julie and Julia” would be more like B. There are also the Pixar hits like “Finding Nemo” and “Up,” which the whole family can get into. These little ditties are known as four-quadrant movies - “jackpot,” in Hollywood lingo, and a fat wallet for producers.

Movies have been made aiming at each of the aforementioned quadrants, but quadrant A has become the audience that producers turn to sell the tickets that bust blocks. The 2009 scene was streaked with such titles as “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra,” “Star Trek,” “Terminator Salvation,” and “Fast & Furious,” to name a few. These films are about three things: explosions, fast moving vehicles and tits; not necessarily topics teenage girls are filling up their MySpace posts about. The fact is that “Twilight” really did revolutionize the way things work. And yes, “Twilight” is 100 D quadrant.

The vampire-gone-romance flick has grossed a domestic total of 192,769,854, and a worldwide total of 384,997,808. Its sequel, “New Moon,” upped the bar further, bringing in a world total of 707,168,801. To give you some perspective, “Sherlock Holmes,” has brought in under 500 million worldwide; and it was “New Moon” that blew past “The Dark Knight’s” single-day sales record of 67.2 million, with 70 million worth of tickets sold on opening day.

It all boils down to one thing: asses in seats. People - girls - want to see these movies.

This little “Twilight” experiment that the production studio, Summit Entertainment, performed on the world proves that the system can change. And why not for the better?

“Twilight” spoke Hollywood’s language, and because of it, two more sequels are on slate for release: “Breaking Dawn” for 2011, and “Eclipse” for this year. And clearly other studios are taking note of Summit’s success: “The Last Song” (starring Miley Cyrus), “Letters to Juliet,” and “Sex in the City 2” are all quadrant D movies coming to a theatre near you in this year alone.

Though many of you read this hating that I used Hitchcock and “Twilight” references on the same page, why not take the success the “Twilight” series has experienced within the system and create positive changes? Let’s watch good movies, people. Less big studio productions at better quality: better stories, not just plugging “A” list star into tired script here. Support the indie scene. Get them some cred in the non-independent theaters (which many cities aren’t as lucky as Rochester to have).

We’ve become too easy as viewers. We’re like a ditched cheerleader captain on who has had two too many daiquiris and is lost on the wrong side of town. Go ahead, watch “Death at a Funeral” when it comes out on the 16th; laugh at Martin Lawrence’s jokes and Chris Rock’s goofy voice.

When you’re finished, pop in the British version with the same title from 2007 and tell me you don’t feel date-raped. It’s a shot-for-shot remake that Hollywood made “black” to score a couple bucks from you. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some Tracy Morgan on “30 Rock.” And who could tire of Chris Rock’s humor? But the fact is, we’re being cheated. Paying the same ticket price for a half-assed attempt at an already-existing story that Hollywood plopped familiar actors into? We deserve better.

So, stay in tonight. Watch some Netflix if the movies at the Regal aren’t up to par. Or maybe the Little, or the Dryden, or Cinema Rochester are playing something better. (Don’t forget about those little gems we have in our fair city.) Please, dear reader, don’t conform to Hollywood’s low quality product. After all, you wouldn’t pay for a double cheeseburger if it only had one patty.

Let the system know that you’re mad as hell, and you’re not going to take it anymore. And I hope you know what movie that’s from.

This entire paragraph is based on hearsay, mostly from what we see on Youtube and Facebook. If we really knew what it took to become a film producer in Hollywood, we’d be telling Sandra Bullock, not the Views section of Reporter.

The opinions expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect those of the magazine. Views submissions may be sent to views@reportermag.com.

Pulling the Big Switch

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0400

RIT’s Change to Semesters.


Lee Fitzgerald

On Feb. 10, in a lecture room filled with students, a psychology professor droned into the second hour of class. The students’ eyes had already started to glaze over when the professor looked up.

“I’m going to be bad,” the professor said, reading a message off her computer screen. “I just heard. RIT is switching to semesters. It’s official.”

From that point on, the campus was abuzz with news and protest. First year students expressed anxieties of not being able to finish college in time; alumni wrote letters; “5 by 3” became vernacular.

A little over one month later, the campus has begun to settle down. The RIT community has divided itself into three distinct groups. Some are hopeful and curious. Others are in downright denial. Many are apathetic, reasoning, “Well, I’ll graduate before then, so it doesn’t matter.” Regardless, the decision has been made. Change will happen, and with it will come a turning point in RIT’s history - for students, for faculty members, and for the Institute as a whole.

The Institute:

“I think the big concern was not so much semesters versus quarters,” explained Amit Ray, associate professor in the RIT’s English department and chair of the President William Destler’s ad hoc Committee on Semester Planning. “The big concern was having a quarter calendar that made sense. And frankly, the one that we have didn’t make sense for a number of reasons.”

One major concern with the current quarter system was the mid-winter holiday break. Having a two-week vacation after three weeks of class has a negative effect on student information retention. Although professors do take measures to accommodate for this problem, the number of withdrawals, D’s and F’s is significantly higher during the winter term. “For example,” said Ray, “What I’ve done is that I teach a sort of mini-course, and then I teach the rest of the course afterwards because it’s so hard to connect back in.”

In the midst of last year’s winter quarter, a series of revised quarter calendars went through governance with no resolution. The current system was not liked in the governance groups, but the alternatives were not well received, either.

“After this had all gone through, and there wasn’t any clear voice at the Institute Council, Bill President Destler decided to just throw out there ‘how many of you would vote for a semester option if it was on the table?’ and the majority of hands went up,” said Ray. The administration came to realize that with so many factors in play: RIT’s students, faculty, RIT’s interaction with other universities; it didn’t make sense not to give semesters serious consideration.

According to Ray, only four other institutions currently have a quarter calendar set up like RIT’s, and they are all small schools without RIT’s national profile.

The change from quarters to semesters is going to bring RIT into unchartered territory. “It’s a huge process,” admitted Ray. “It will be tough. It will be laborious. It will require people at every level thinking.” While Destler and Provost Jeremy Haefner have presented several broad initiatives to aid in the transition to semesters, the details are not yet set in stone. The next six months will be spent gathering feedback from the RIT community and working out the implementation plan.

On Nov. 1, 2009, the Committee on Semester Planning submitted the “RIT Semester Conversion Report” (available through RIT’s website), drafting a plan for RIT’s possible move to a semester-based academic calendar. Most notably, the committee suggested the creation of at least eight new ad hoc committees to work with pre-existing committees and governance groups to ensure that the transition is as smooth as possible. These committees will have responsibilities ranging from determining the roles of advisors and how they will help students with schedules impacted by the changeover, to modifications that must be made to SIS, to communicating the process to students and staff so that everyone is aware of each step taken.

The Student:


Lee Fitzgerald

Current freshmen in five-year majors, and every subsequent student who enrolls at RIT after 2013, the target date for conversion completion, will be impacted by the change. For those students, Ray offers some reassurance: In addition to lots of advising, the plan is to set up one-time transitional classes that will bridge the gap if you are, say, in the middle of a class sequence or need to take classes in your final year under the new system. Still, if RIT’s quarters are all one is familiar with, it may be difficult to imagine life under the semester system.

Dane Britcher is a senior at St. John Fisher College, majoring in Management with a concentration in General Business Management. He is currently enrolled in six classes, which, at three credits each, total 18 credit hours. He also works anywhere from two to 10 hours per week at his school’s admission office. Some weekends, he even has the time to go home and work 10 to 30 hours.

Students are able to choose from three different types of schedules at St. John Fisher: Classes that meet three times per week at 50 minutes each, classes that meet twice per week at 80 minutes each, or classes that meet once per week at three hours each. St. John Fisher only requires 12 credits to be considered a full-time student but, according to Britcher, the average student takes about 15 credits.

Even with these options, it can still become hectic. Britcher’s busiest days might be reminiscent of a typical RIT day on quarters:

9:30 a.m. Advertising
10:50 a.m. Buyer Behavior
12:30-3:00 p.m. Library time (studying, assignments, etc.)
3:30 p.m. Strategic Management
4:50 p.m. Psychology
6:15 p.m. Professional Selling
9:30 p.m. Done for the day

In regard to workload, Britcher said that each semester, his professors provide an appropriate amount of material, if not more. In the 100-200 course level, the first week is often introductions, but this is not the case in higher-level courses.

“Three hundred level and above, any course will get right into the material the first day,” Britcher said. Even with this quick start to the semester, Britcher finds the workload manageable. However, he said that the semester can feel quite long, especially toward the end. He thinks that quarters may have an advantage in this particular area by being able to break up the year more.

One aspect Britcher does enjoy with semesters at St. John Fisher is how his breaks match up with most other colleges. While he does have friends who attend RIT, he often finds it difficult to meet up with them due to different break schedules.

However, Britcher did point out that his friends at RIT do seem happy with the quarter system and voiced his concern with whether or not the switch to semesters is being done for the benefit of the students.

“If their RIT student body is hoping to stay with quarters, and they switch to semesters I think that kinda stinks,” Britcher said. “I hope they’re doing it for the students and not just for other reasons.”

“It’s a necessary and it’s a good switch, even though it won’t effect me,” said Jake Maynard, a second year New Media Marketing student, planning on graduating in 2012. Most of the concerns that he’s heard focus on classes and scheduling. “They my friends are worried about the number of classes they’ll have to take.”

The Professor:

With such a strong student response to the semester conversation, it’s easy to lose track of the other end of the classroom. And naturally, a new timeline lends itself to new ways of teaching.

Mary Lynn Broe has been RIT’s Caroline Werner Gannett Professor of Humanities since the position was created in 2006. The Caroline Werner Gannett Project brings a series of lecturers to RIT every year. Along with her dedication to the project, she regularly teaches the courses of “Auto/Biography” and “Maps, Spaces and Places.” Compared to the rest of her career as a college-level instructor, Broe is relatively new to the quarter system.

“For over 30 years, I only taught in semester systems, but at a range of different colleges and universities,” said Broe. Those universities include the likes of Notre Dame, SUNY Binghamton, and Grinnell College where she held the position of Louise Rosenfield Noun endowed chair from 1986 to 2002.

Though she admits to some skepticism within RIT’s faculty, which can vary from college to college, Broe welcomes the change.

“I see no problem and only gains,” Broe said.

She looks forward to using the extra classroom time to flesh out concepts and ideas, as well as add learning activities inside and outside of the RIT campus. To Broe, a ten-week term is limiting; courses examining writing across more than one century or even involved areas of psychology can only present a basic overview. In addition, the change would allow room to make use of the arts and cultural resources of Rochester community, bringing in experts for new areas of experience.

Broe is not unfamiliar with both sides of the argument. The quarter system can be beneficial in capturing students’ short attention spans and allowing them to explore other areas of study. However, a looser calendar will not only allow time for more in-class exploration and discussion, but also for personal development outside the classroom and more industry-standard co-op options. Though a quarter system allows time for a greater number of co-ops, most employees prefer more time than 10 weeks, forcing students to double-block co-op slots. However, one of the more overlooked points is the opportunity for cross-disciplinary ventures, which both Broe and Ray can agree is a key advantage.

“Transformative changes in technology, in science, in really any field of human endeavor ... are going to take place across disciplinary boundaries,” said Ray.


Lee Fitzgerald

Ray worries that RIT is currently producing alumni who are very knowledgeable about what they learned, but lack the interdisciplinary skills that the modern world demands. He hopes that as professors examine their classes and curricula, changing them to fit a semester schedule, they will work together and use this change as a paradigm shift making RIT a model university for a rapidly changing era. RIT’s current students are what Ray describes as “digital natives,” (adding that he doesn’t particularly like the vagueness of that term), integrating technology into our lives from an early age, and RIT needs to capitalize on the insights that technology gives us.

Broe emphasized this importance of keeping an eye on the “big picture” in the classroom. The move to semesters will allow a fresh look at how subjects are taught at RIT, and it is important to keep in mind what new techniques - including what is taught, with whom, and where - that were not possible before.

“Some of the ‘trim-the-fat’ diehards may be forced to become more contemplative, more rangy in looking at other disciplines and their impact on the subject being taught,” said Broe.

So is RIT really on track to change to semesters in 2013?

“We will be,” said Ray, “If we’re going to commit to this, we will be committing to it fully, and it will be institute wide.” Plus, he said, President Destler wouldn’t have it any other way. Ray assures the RIT community that the process will not fall behind schedule. Meetings within different programs of study are already taking place.

Commomn Misconceptions:

Ray addressed certain misconceptions students have since the early days of the debate, including:

The voice of the students was ignored.
The co-op program will be changed for the worse.
The expense of this changeover will cause tuition to increase.
This will ruin RIT’s reputation of producing young professionals used to working in a fast paced, rigorous environment.

Addressing them in the order listed above, Ray said the following: Said Ray, “Based on the comments that I saw, it’s sad to say this, but students were woefully ignorant about the change.” This is why, Going forward, Ray hopes for much clearer communication between the deciding committees and the rest of RIT.

According to Ray, there used to be five schools with co-ops and a quarter system, and that three of them have already switched to semesters, laying the groundwork for RIT’s change. According to Ray, employers generally also prefer longer co-ops. While students will not be able to schedule as many co-ops as in the past, they will still get the same or better experience.

“Cost will not increase.”

As far as the pace of RIT’s classes, Ray stated, “I don’t think the culture changes based on the calendar.” RIT students expect to be challenged; even with major scheduling changes, cultural precedents are already in place and will not shift overnight. I think that, ultimately, the cultural precedent for students demanding of faculty a pace of work, that doesn’t ebb and flow, but continues.” And of course, RIT’s faster pace is not always beneficial, as it tends to rob courses of depth.

5x3 model:

Students will take five, 3 credit courses per semester for a total of 15 credits. Some courses will vary number of credits, but the norm is 3.

History:

This will be the second academic calendar switch for RIT and the second time the institute uses a semester system. The academic year of 1954-1955 marked the initial change to a quarter system. Before that RIT ran on semesters. Until 1976 the institute moved from early to late starting quarters until arriving at the current early start system in effect today.

Get Your Shit Together

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500

How to manage your time


Nate Peyton

Clusterfuck. That’s one way to describe it. The amount of stress in your life has become so outrageous you’ve started making bets with floormates on who’s going to have the first panic attack. Cancerous piles of paper and clothes swell as you turn your nose to the symptoms of their presence. Even your schedule is weak; a 1 Walmart organizer that’s collected more dust than appointments controls it. This is your life.

Stress, mess and difficult schedules are the chaos that comes hand-in-hand with college living. Your life absorbs clutter like a fat kid absorbs carbohydrates. But there is good news: people do survive this madness of academia with only minor psychological damage. And no, we’re not going to throw any of that “a clean room is a happy room” nonsense at you. What with Facebook, Twitter, and spam email you get quite enough thrown at you already. You have to come and get this.

The Mind

While on vacation in California over spring break, you go for a hike on a small mountain. The heat overtakes your body, and you decide to cool off in a passing stream. As you splash water in your face, the sound of the raging rapids scream over the rest of nature’s musical score. But when you turn to leave, a mountain lion blocking your path back to civilization. Its teeth bared, you quickly scan through the past four season’s of “Man vs. Wild” to figure out your next step.

According to Sifu Austin Baddeley, an adjunct professor at RIT’s Center for Intercollegiate Athletics & Recreation, the mental process upon encountering the mountain lion is the same as when you run into a professor that you owe an overdue assignment to. It’s stress, and on a more biological level, a survival technique.

“Whether it is a physical, mental or emotional stressor that is affecting the person, the chemical response is what’s called fight or flight,”

said Baddeley.

Baddeley, or Sifu for short, is the head of the kung fu program at RIT. He has been at RIT since 1991, transitioning right from being a student to being a professor. Among the other classes he instructs, including self-defense and a massage therapy program that he is the assistant to, Baddeley teaches a wellness course in stress management.

He describes stress as the body’s natural reaction to outside influences that causes pressure. For students, the greatest pressure comes from academic stress, the pressure put on yourself and the perceived pressure of family and friends to achieve success. Social stress, especially with first year students transitioning to college life, also plays a role in this overall pressure.

“Stress is a very much an individual, or unique response to everyone,” said Baddeley. “You shouldn’t subscribe to the 12 step, buy these DVD’s you’ll be stress free ... Find something that works for you.”

Baddeley presents a variety of stress relieving activities to his class that may or may not help them. Students are presented with breathing techniques and relaxation exercises. In a dim-lit room, the class sits back absorbed by meditation music, while four-count breathing; in deep through the nose (one), hold (two), out through the mouth (three), hold (four).

Students are also introduced to things like Tai chi to release stress in joints, and the eastern way of thinking native to countries like India, China and Japan. He contrasts the eastern idea of taking ownership for one’s actions, with the mentality of the United States, passing the bucket and an imaginary “basket” where chores go when we put them off. The basket, once full, can itself become a stressor.

To Baddeley stress can be broken down into three categories: physical, mental and emotional. After breaking down the category of “stress,” he illustrates the importance of identifying where stress is coming from. This is accomplished by keeping a stress journal and looking for patterns. Lists of assignments and obligations in the form of PDAs, planners; immersing yourself in a creative activity, such as reading, drawing, or even playing video games; or simply “taking five” from something you’re working on all can reduce this stress.

If stress persists, Baddeley encourages students to seek help at the variety of resources RIT has to offer. Things like the Acadmeic Support Center, Financial Aid Office, the Woman’s Center, and the Smoking Cessation program that offers many of its resources and products for free to students trying to quit. When students are feeling overwhelmed, they are encouraged to seek help at the Counseling Center, which has a 24-hour hotline (585.295.3533).

Along with these techniques, however, Baddeley emphasizes the importance of getting active to avoid loneliness. Activities like club sports or outing club can be physically beneficial, but also mentally and emotionally relieving. Sports, clubs and organizations join students with common interests and gets them talking in a social setting, and any activity, be it going to the gym, taking a wellness class, or joining the Game Developers club, falls under this category.

“Humans like to be in social groups,” Baddeley said. “When they feel a part of something, they feel comfort from it, and if you’re stressed, comfort in any way is a great thing.”

“People who are procrastinating... they’re going to find anything to procrastinate with”

The Space Around You

Part of what’s stressing you out might very well be your drawer that’s so full it won’t close, the stack of papers on your desk that take flight every time you walk pass, or the stock pile of dirty laundry that starting to reach for air from underneath your bed.

For college students, organization is a category often shoved aside to make room for all-nighter study sessions and microwave food. But keeping things neat and tidy can be beneficial to your success at school, especially for students living in the close quarters of dorm life. And let’s face it, the magic clean up fairy that you be praying to come to take out your trash and fold your sweaters ain’t showing up. You’re going to have to take action.

Donna Goldberg, founder of The Organized Student, which is a firm based in New York City, has seen it all. Getting involved in the organization field when she found a series of assignments that her son, Noah, had completed and lost in his scattered room that she and her son’s teacher had assumed he hadn’t done. Throughout her career, Goldberg has organized junior high up to the graduate students and even some executives and professionals. And like stress management, Goldberg spotlights the importance of what will benefit each particular individual she is working with.

“It’s really important to structure your dorm room in the way that you work,” Goldberg said. “It functions as a sleeping area; you entertain, work, as well as groom in that area.”

Goldberg recommends thinking of your personal living space in terms of zones. Each zone has a different function and it is important to consider what you need to access while using in each space.

She recalled one student that didn’t use drawers or a closet. If this student couldn’t see something it didn’t exist to him. In this particular case, in order to open up the living space of the dorm room, Goldberg turned the desk around and put it up against that closet to offer an additional wall to the room and close off the access to the drawers. Clear shoe bags, each with 24 compartments were then hung to for items like belts and underwear. Color coded hampers used for laundry, the clean clothes residing in the white hamper and the dirty clothes in the black hamper. A shelf above his bed acted as a grooming station.

“It doesn’t mean that it’s perfect on a daily basis,” said Goldberg. “You try to categorize things and put them together.”

Designating areas where things belong creates a structure to your room and eliminates the need for picking up every day. While deciding where things go, it’s important to remember vertical space to increase your floor area. Wall putty and hooks that don’t leave marks can be very useful for students in dorms. Once you have a place for all you stuff, Goldberg recommends organizing every Sunday. This not only allows you to feel prepared for the week to come, it can help you catch any task or assignment you may have forgotten about while cleaning up.

For students suffocating in papers on their desk, Goldberg recommends a desktop file box, available at Office Depot (item number 169664). Here you can store and organize everything for an entire year of school by folder; a folder should be assigned for each class you take, as well as each aspect of your personal life, be it resumes, bills, prescriptions or banking. Goldberg also stressed the importance of a physical sheet of paper, rather than having handouts “stored” online in places like MyCourses. As an additional reminder, students can leave the handouts of important assignments sticking up from their folder as a visual aid.

The problem of organization stems from the fact that, for most students, college is the first time away from their parents. A lot of the tasks they must think about are new to them, like planning meals and even doing laundry.

“There are messy people, and there are truly disorganized people,” said Goldberg.

For messy people, there’s good news. They know how to be organized. It’s an instinctual sense that they’ve obtained from being taught by their parents or siblings. The obstacle is only a matter of self-determination. For students who were not exposed to tasks like how to maintain their clothing, food and living space by growing up, they have to start for the beginning and learn the basics.

Your Time

Goldberg’s work extends from space management into the subject of time management, as the two are often related. For her, color coded grids according to class title are a good way of visually seeing the tasks at hand and it is important to keep in mind that 16 credit hours equals 38 study hours when planning ahead with your schedule.

Paula French, a study skills instructor and coach at the Academic Support Center, has a particularly strong grasp on how RIT students spend their time. She describes time management in terms of three categories: self-management, organization, and time management tools.

“168,” French proclaimed before I could even finish my question. She was referring to number of hours in a week, a number that all students should have in mind in order to maximize their productivity. To French, if it doesn’t feel like work, it probably isn’t productive.

“I have a project, I sit down to do it, and three hours later, five hours, six hours, ... I recognize that I’ve been gaming, or on Facebook, or texting,” said French, impersonating a common complaint of her students.

“People who are procrastinating... they’re going to find anything to procrastinate with,” said French. “Whatever it is that seems more interesting or less threatening than what they need to be doing.”

To French it’s easy to blame technology for students’ procrastinate, but procrastination is rooted in a psychological base; the fear of failure and the fear of success. Other not-so-obvious time wasters include things like studying in groups where, although everyone is having a good time, one hour’s worth of work becomes four because of socialization. To overcome these obstacles takes self-discipline.

In order to remove distraction, it is important to find your ideal study space. Even if working on your bed with Iron Maiden blaring is where you’re most comfortable, it isn’t exactly the place you’re most productive. And no, this doesn’t mean having to work in the library all the time. The goal is to not be distracted.

“If you’re someone that requires busy noise and you don’t like the silence, find a coffee shop or a cafeteria,” said French.

When creating a schedule it is important to keep in mind when and where you are losing time. To identify these slots, keep an hourly log of everything you do from wake up time to lights out. Having a layout in front of you will help reorganize your day-to-day. This includes important, but not necessarily obvious tasks like cooking, grocery shopping, sleeping, and travel to and from school.

In terms of big-picture planning, French suggests a quarter grid, or a quarter-at-a-glance sheet. This organizer, similar to Goldberg’s suggestion, is a color-coded system that marks all assignments for an entire quarter based on the syllabi you receive at the beginning from your instructors. You can make multiple copies of the grid and hang it where you can see it, however, French recommends a physical planner or agenda to carry around at all times for specifics on short-term projects. Both the weekly planner sheet and the quarter grid print outs are available at ASC’s website (http://rit.edu/asc).

“It does take some time upfront, but forming these habits is really going to save a lot of time, and it’s going to save on the stress and anxiety piece too,” said French. “It’s never too late to start and work on some of these things.”

The ASC offers a one-hour workshop on time management and study skills every Tuesday during the regular quarter and some wildly popular tutoring sessions that are open to the public during finals week. This quarter’s finals tutoring session are in the Bates Study Center (08-1200) from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday; and on Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. For tutoring action on the dorm side of campus visit the Sol Study Center (47-1016) on Monday and Tuesday from 7p.m. to 10 p.m. Visit http://rit.edu/asc for more details.

So there it is. Take a moment to absorb it all. It may seem like a lot, but baby steps... baby steps. These aren’t changes you have to make overnight. The more you implement them, the better you’ll get at maintaining an organized lifestyle. Encourage yourself along the way. Blow a train whistle like Michael Scott; whatever it takes. It only takes three weeks to form a habit; that’s only 21 days. Invest in yourself and start some good habits today.

Eustress = good stress; the force that causes you to achieve.
Distress = bad stress.

Steps to reduce stress:
Write schedule.
Identify stressor.
Take advantage of RIT: Become aware of what RIT has to offer in terms of classes and departments.

Steps to Manage Your Time

1. Identify a system that keeps your materials organized. Maintain it.
2. Don’t rely on your “memory.” Use a planner.
3. Plan ahead. Identify your “crazy” weeks and avoid getting swamped.
4. Structure your time! Schedule study hours and free time.
5. Break projects into manageable chunks. Set mini due dates.
6. Consider your long and short term goals. Write them down!
7. Reward your positive time management and study behaviors.
8. Identify your ideal study environment, free of distractions.
9. Keep tabs on your motivation. Consider how you can control or change your attitude toward your academics.
10. Evaluate your time management system. Finding the tools that work for you may take time.

Keeping it together

Categorize.
Structure what works for you.
Maintain.

Video: Body Issue

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:23:32 -0500

Body issue photo shoot out takes

Carnal Intelligence

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500

Sex robots! Whoa!


Courtesy of True Companion.com

“Do you want fries with that?” “How would you like that cooked?” “Which sides would you like?” These are all phrases one would describe food. When ordering, menus and options are designed for the customization of a dinner’s tastes. But really, sex and eating are not all that different. Everyone has their own preferences, different cultures have different styles, and you can enjoy it with a companion or make due by yourself... It’s an industry in it’s own. And like food, sex, whether you like to admit it or not, is a lot more involved than simple consumption.

Last week the sex robot, a product of True Companion, tantalized the media. Even CNN got a piece of the action. Roxxxy made her debut at this year’s Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada. Her synthetic arms and black lingerie stole the spotlight of the convention.

Roxxxy is 5 feet, 7 inches and weighs 120 pounds; her programming is complete with five pre-sets: from “Frigid Farrah” to “S&M Susan;” the rest is up to you. For a fee of 7,000 to 9,000, in addition to the base-model personalities and three entry points, Roxxxy has the ability to be adjusted to fit specific desires and physical traits. But don’t worry ladies, the male version of Roxxxy, Rocky, is in the works.

For something so in tune with what those involved with adult entertainment want to see, Douglas Hines, Roxxxy’s creator, is relatively new to the industry. Before his journey into the porn world, a voyage he completed with a wife to whom he is happily married, Hines worked with Bell labs as an engineer. The loss of a close friend in the September 11th attacks changed everything. Inspired by the tragic event, Hines decided to put his experience with artificial intelligence and data mining to work.

“What I decided to do was think about how to capture someone’s personality in a computer application,” said Hines.

Roxxxy’s roots go even further back to Hines’ first sex robot, Trudy, developed as a robotic hobby in 1993. Combined with this new personality aspect, Hines went to work on building, in effect, a personable android.

Hines noted that so far, his experience in the adult industry is not much unlike any other industry he has worked in. He is pleased with how Roxxxy has been received, working with some of the largest companies of the adult entertainment world that understand the product’s potential.

The original application for Roxxxy’s technology was health care. The goal was to aid patients suffering from Alzheimer’s or those who were bedridden. To alleviate the stress of someone requiring assisted living, robots would be able to find patients when they called out for help and family members could check in on them through the machine. However, when government Medicare approval and insurance support fell through due to liabilities, Hines decided to apply the same technology to other areas.

“The adult industry is a very large industry and is near recession proof. There are no requirements as to insurance reimbursement.” Hines said. “All that technology and work from designing healthcare products went into designing your perfect mate.”

Construction on a single robot takes about one to two months. Most of that time is dedicated to quality control and customization, from personality traits down to skin tone. Robotics technicians, animatronics specialists, electrical and software engineers are all competing for space in the 5-foot-7-inch frame.


Nick Tassone

Roxxxy is a completely self-contained robot. Inside her inner workings is a computer complete with I/O boards, motors, servos and sensors, all allowing her to interact and understand what is going on around and, ahem... inside her. Roxxxy can hear your voice, talk back to you and feel, as well as interact with your touch. (Yes fellas, she can have an orgasm).

The combined efforts of fine arts sculptors doing life casts, special effects technicians and makeup artists helped achieve the lifelike appearance of Hines’ robots. A machinist was also necessary to produce a skeleton running through the robot’s core in order to replicate authentic human-like positions. Roxxxy’s skin seals the deal, with its hypoallergenic silicone
construction that is both durable and safe for human contact.

Hines’ team even consulted a psychologist for Roxxxy’s development. Though sex was obviously a key component, the machine’s personality was what would revolutionize the product.

“What’s critical for a relationship is common beliefs, common goals, common outlooks on life,” said Hines. This was an element that Hines didn’t want to skim over. “What we’ve done is created an outlet for people to share their inner-most desires and fantasies.”

To Hines, this product is not just for the quiet and reserved, citing those interested in threesomes and the often darkly portrayed world of S&M. He quoted a study by Brett Kahr that brought out the startling fact that 85 percent of all adults keep their deepest sexual fantasies from their partners or spouses. “It’s not just sexual. It’s social — the bonding.”

Roxxxy has piqued interests in other fields. Sex therapists are among the 20,000 individuals seeking information on the sex robots. Their application of the product would be for patients suffering from performance anxiety, where mental worry impairs the ability of an individual to experience physical pleasure and release.

“Think of the Roxxxy as a surrogate. What she allows is the bridging or the transition from a person by themselves to working with another person and engaging that person,” said Hines.


Courtesy of True Companion.com

In addition to the adult industry and health care, Hines’ team is currently exploring ways to introduce the artificial intelligence elements of Roxxxy to areas of retail. One of the benefits of being among the few groups working with anthropomorphic or android technology is that Hines doesn’t have to go out looking for clients. They find him.

“Any time you have people talking to anyone else, there’s an opportunity for us to assist and curve the experience for customers,” he said.

Visit http://truecompanion.com to learn more about Hines’ robot. Preorders are available now. A portion of the sales will be donated to support a woman’s shelter.

Frigid Farrah: For those nights you don’t want to wake mom upstairs.
Wild Wendy: An adventurous chick that’ll do all the talking.
S&M Susan: She’ll hurt you so good.
Young Yoko: A ripe 18, and ready for the taking.
Mature Martha: For the Norman Bates types.

Roxxxy’s Measurements:

Bust 38”
Waist 30”
Hips 37”

Roxxxy’s languages:

English
Spanish
German
Japanese

Video: Swim and Dive Competition

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500

RIT vs SUNY Geneseo and New Paltz on January 16

Oh, How Beauty Has Changed

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500

Sex symbols of the past and present.

Marilyn vs. Lindsay in a no holds-barred looks cage match.


Lee Anne Fitzgerald


Lee Anne Fitzgerald

Good Breeder, Good Leader

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500

Do good looks get you elected?

If one day you’re feeling down, here’s a possible solution. Gaze over the nose and into the squinted set eyes scowling out of a profile picture of President Zachary Taylor (ladies, substitute his wife). Both of their faces are stuck in a permanent fit of anger.

We’ve had some ugly presidents in the U.S., and technology has created the unfortunate ability to look back at them. John Tyler’s face is boney; Martin Van Buren is a baldheaded Maltese; Andrew Jackson could double for Christopher Walken in “Sleepy Hollow”; and James Buchanan’s attempted faux hawk hopefully represents an artist’s mistake with the brush rather than a fashion choice.

Broadcast television changed all that. Our country’s politicians have become increasingly more attractive over the years, after television appearances became popular. A recent study in the psychology department of Princeton University suggests it’s no coincidence that one of our most charming Commanders in Chief (and not a bad-looking first lady, we might add) sits in office at a time when 1080i seems to be household vernacular.

The study, led by psychologist Alexander Todorov, revealed that subjects only needed 100 milliseconds (one tenth of a second) to form an opinion about the competence of an unfamiliar candidate for a governor’s position in 2006. And, if that isn’t scary enough, nearly 70 percent of the time, that opinion was a correct prediction of the winner for that election.

Now, it’s your turn. Which politician seems more competent? Take a look at each candidate campaigning for a gubernatorial position during the same year and compare your answers to the election results.

Answers:

1) A, Bill Ritter, beats B, Bob Beauprez, for Colorado.

2) A, Charlie Crist, beats B, Jim Davis, for Florida.

3) A, Jerry Brady, loses to B, C.L. Butch Otter, for Idaho.

4) A, Jim Nussle, loses to B, Chet Culver, for Iowa.

5) A, Jim Bryson, loses to B, Phil Bredesen, for Tennessee.

6) A, Brad Henry, beats B, Ernest Istook, for Oklahoma.

7) A, Robert Ehrlich, loses to B, Martin O’Malley, for Maryland.

8) A, Dave Heineman, beats B, David Hahn, for Nebraska.

9) A, Mike Beebe, beats B, Asa Hutchinson, for Arkansas.

10) A, Ken Blackwell B, Ted Strickland, for Ohio.

While you’re considering your answers, consider the fact that 17 of the 44 U.S. presidents were governors before they took office. How much does appearance really play into determining who runs our country anyways?

Movie Review: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:19:43 -0500

A weird little film that delivers.

Fantasy 122 min.

Rating: A-

It’s amazing how easily movies can get swept under the rug (or, in this case, shoved behind the mirror). For a movie that stars heartthrobs such as Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell, this film should have had its ads and trailers splattered all over Facebook and during commercial breaks for Jon Stewart and Conan... I mean Leno. There are probably some of you out there who didn't even know it’s screening locally. Other than a frustrating and difficult to pronounce title, how can this be?

For one thing, this is a weird little film; the kind of film that Hollywood views as risky because it’s different. But it's the same kind of weirdness that brings films like this into the limelight years after its DVD release. Many a cult classics have experienced the same phenomenon. Is this film a cult classic? Probably not, but it certainly is weird.

With classics including “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” “Twelve Monkeys,” and “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” under his belt, director Terry Gilliam is no stranger to the bizarre. In “Imaginarium,” his take on a childhood fantasy is both vivid and obscure. The chaotic visuals behind a magical mirror on a ragged stage all boil down to a wager that Doctor Parnassus, the star of a traveling theatre troupe, makes with Mr. Nick, the embodiment of the Devil. The bet? Who could win over five souls first. For Parnassus, it's the people who crave imagination; and for Mr. Nick, it's those who fell victim to temptation and addictions. If Parnassus loses, he must give up his soon-to-be 16-year-old daughter, the lovely Valentina (Lily Cole), to the unmentioned, but implied evil intentions of Mr. Nick. Ledger, who plays a man named Tony Anderson, gets involved as a barker bringing in customers to the traveling show after the troupe rescues him from a noose, dangling from supports of a looming bridge.

If this film were a Thanksgiving meal it would be heavy on the gravy. However, there is a satisfyingly slow-cooked bird and taters to fill you up underneath. “Imaginarium” has heart and a subtle message embedded within its structure, a concept that other big budget movies (ahem... “Avatar”) can’t grasp. Rather than feeling drained from the fight to stay interested, this film is energizing and conversation inspiring — a savior if you’re looking for a solution to first date awkwardness.

The computer-generated imagined worlds, though hardly “Lord of the Rings” standards, are freshly stylized. If you are a fan of Gilliam’s work, “Imaginarium” seems to build on all of his previous artistic directions. Handling the transitions between the “real world” and the imagination of Parnassus’ patrons with filmmaker guru abilities, Gilliam builds from a two-dimensional canvas developing the landscape along with the fantasies of the characters. Before long, rivers are morphing into serpents, and Tony is trudging over tumbling hills on skyscraper stilts.

If you’re unfamiliar with the back-story of the film’s production, Ledger died a third of the way through filming. His role was completed with a joint effort of Depp, Law and Farrell, who cleverly only appear inside the imagination portions of the film where people’s faces changing form can be considered the least of shocking things going on.

The performances of the supporting actors are relatively consistent, and Ledger is, as always, a joy to watch. In addition, stand out acting was provided by Andrew Garfield. His interpretation of Anton, a performer in Parnassus’ troupe, summersaults from his passion for the beautiful Valentina to the laugh-worthy wittiness of his bickering with Tony. For a film that was finished in Ledger’s honor, it is executed with professional taste rather than exploiting the artist’s death for a quick buck.

So, if you only have ten bucks in your wallet, you can journey downtown to The Little and give this imaginative film a chance. Or, you can succumb to the devilish draw of Hollywood films calling from Regal Henrietta Cinema 18 on Jefferson. What will you choose? Make Parnassus proud.

“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” is currently screening at The Little Theatre weeknights at 9:25 p.m.; weekend matinees are at 3:30 p.m.

FAIL: 01.29.10: The Office

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0500

How could you do us this way?

We gave it our attention, love and commitment. We poured hours into the relationship; waited patiently for its return; and this is how we’re treated?

Everyone’s favorite show, “The Office,” gets honored as the big FAIL this week for the clip show it ran on January 21, 2010. After over a month-long winter hiatus, what better way to piss fixated viewers off? Return with a highlight reel of moments they’ve already caught in reruns on TBS for the past five weeks to fill their Dunder Mifflin void. I do declare, Michael Scott. How could you do us this way?

At Your Leisure

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 02:00:00 -0500

Extra big, for your pleasure.


Ben Rubin, Jamie Douglas

Stream of Facts

In March of 1995, a Pennsylvania man was sentenced to 30 days in jail, according to the District Attorney of Harrisburg, PA; his crime: oinking repeatedly at his WIFE.

During the now 10-year-old North American WIFE Carrying Championship, a man carries a woman (or vise versa) and races to win a cash prize and the wife’s weight in BEER.

Munich’s beer festival, Oktoberfest, along with 10 million pints of BEER, accounts for 750,000 spit-roasted chickens and 800,000 wursts and SAUSAGES consumed every year.

Goat SAUSAGES are mentioned in a passage of “The Odyssey,” by Hmer; a story written hundreds of years before the Common ERA.

Along with surviving the Black Death ERA, Shakespeare managed to court and marry a woman eight years older than him, ANNE HATHAWAY, at the age of 18.

Recently cast as Black Cat in “Spiderman 4,” ANNE HATHAWAY is the Woman of the Year for Harvard Hasty Pudding Club, the oldest college theatrical group in the U.S.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average commute time to work in ROCHESTER is 19.3 minutes; about 12 minutes under the average for New York as a whole.

West of ROCHESTER, New York is Chittenango, where, in honor of “Wizard of Oz” author, L. Frank Baum’s hometown, a yellow sidewalk lines Genesee STREET.

“Sesame STREET” and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment have partnered up to produce a video game series, featuring Elmo, Oscar and the 8’2” tall Big BIRD.

A rare BIRD species known as the recurve-billed bushbird sports a sinister grin due to its curved beak.

Fill in the Lyrics

Classic Sitcom Theme Songs

“When I wake up in the morning / (six words) / I don’t think I’ll ever make it on time.”
“Saved by the Bell”

“What ever happened to predictability? / The milkman, the paper boy, (two words) / You miss your old familiar friends, but / waiting just around the bend. Everywhere you look (everywhere)...”
“Full House”

“Oh, It’s like I started breathing on the night we (one word) / And I can’t remember what I ever did before. / What would we do baby, Without Us?”
“Family Ties”

“Well then there must be some magic clue inside these (two words) / Cause all I see is a tower of dreams / real love burstin’ out of (two words).”
“Family Matters”

“Sometimes you want to go / (five words) / And they’re always glad you came / You want to be where you can see / Our troubles are all the same / You want to be (five words).”
“Cheers”

Winter Word Scramble

LOGEV - _ _ _ _ _
OFENRZ - _ _ _ _ _
STMRAHOTTE - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
DBLRIAZZ - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
RBHEAT - _ _ _ _ _ _

Unscramble the highlighted letters and solve the puzzle with this clue:

Both lakes and crows do this in the winter.

Answer: _ _ _ _ _ _

Solutions:
&477;z&477;&477;&633;&607; &1563;&613;&647;&592;&477;&633;q 'p&633;&592;zz&305;&1503;q '&647;&592;&647;so&623;&633;&477;&613;&647; 'u&477;zo&633;&607; '&477;&652;o&1503;&387;

Overseen and Overheard

Penis snow carving in field behind NRH.

Male NTID student gets pantsed, underwear and all, in crowded laundry room under Ellingson Hall.

“Who was that?”
“I don’t know, it looked like an Asian man-woman.”
- Confused students, referencing a waving driver by University Commons.

“If I was cold blooded, I’d be the hottest girl on campus right now ‘cause everyone looks fat in their puffy jackets.”
- Female student to male student, outside of SAU

“Have you guys even seen how many legos I have in my room?”
- Student to friends outside the third floor computer lab in Liberal Arts Building

“When the Saints Go Marching In” car alarm blaring from a car in L lot.

Send your Overseen and Overheads with the phrase “Overseen and Overheard” in the subject line to leisure@reportermag.com. Now accepting cell phone pics!

Reporter Reccomends

Staying Warm

We’re about a fourth of the way through Rochester’s harsh winter season, and you’ve finally realized that the threadbare hoodie and paper-thin windbreaker you’ve been sporting just ain’t going to cut it. Good news, staying warm really doesn’t take that much effort. Here’s a few simple solution to keep those vulnerable bits of you from turning rosy red as the wind blows down the Quarter Mile:

Ears: Heated headband. The makers of your favorite hand warmers now have a product designed to house one of those toasty pockets of joy over each ear. Probably the most difficult body parts to keep warm effectively just got a little easier. http://warmers.com

Fingers: Mittens. Why mittens? Because your fingers stay warmer when they’re next to each other. Black Diamond is a quality brand when facing the elements and BackCountryGear.Com features a variety of their products ranging from 11-200 dollars. Yes, it can get pricey, but so can hospital visits for frostbite. http://bcgear.com

Legs and arms: Long Johns. This is a great solution for all you hipsters trying to look cool out there. Just add another layer down there. Yeah, I know leggings are in, but you’re art kids. Get creative and find a solution to make it work. Outer Sports sells Genuine U.S. Military Issue Polypropylene Thermals for under 20! http://outersports.com

Word of the Week

Jetsam

n. the part of a ship, its equipment, or its cargo that is cast overboard to lighten the load in time of distress and that sinks or is washed ashore.

The captain looked on at the floating remnants of jetsam from the bow of his sinking ship; the wind so rough that night he could barely hear his first mate calling, “Help is on the way.”

Definition taken from http://merriam-webster.com.

University News Mad Lib

The following news clip, modified by you for your own reading pleasure.

Mahdi Nezamabadi and Mahnaz Mohammadi were (verb) ing (noun) in Iran when they became interested in (noun) .

That (verb) ed them to RIT’s Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science.

“We found RIT on (noun) ,” says Nezamabadi. His wife, Mahnaz, was first to apply and be accepted into the imaging science (noun) . They intended to move to Rochester in fall 2001. But it was (adjective) to get (noun) .

They finally received the (adjective) (noun) and Nezamabadi, Mahnaz and their four-year-old son Navid (verb) ed in the U.S. on January of 2002. As that was in the middle of RIT’s (noun) , they (verb) ed with her sister in Albany, N.Y., and (verb) ed to Rochester in time for spring quarter...

For the real story, visit http://rit.edu/news.

Quote

“May the wind always be at your back, and the sun always upon your face, and may the wings of destiny carry you aloft to dance with the stars.”
- Johnny Depp as George Jung in “Blow”

"Avatar's" Gonna Win the Golden Globes Anyways

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:02:00 -0500

A jaded film student's take on the big night.


Joanna Eberts

As you’re reading this, James Cameron is crossing the T’s of his acceptance speeches for the Golden Globe awards. He’s up for four: “Best Director,” “Best Motion Picture,” “Best Original Score,” and “Best Original Song.” Complain you may about how clich “Avatar” was, the fact remains that it will earn best picture at both the Golden Globes and the Oscars. The way we see it, you can bitch and moan or succumb to the downward spiral that is denial, slowly fading away into insanity where the boundaries of an organization-run award ceremony do not exist and resources for creating your own cognitive awards are endless.

So don your mental tuxedos and gowns, and join us for the inaugural Reporter Magazine Digital Award Show and Banquet. And the winners are:

Most Overrated Film - “Up In The Air”

Most Underrated Film - “Antichrist”

Conclusion Most Likely To Piss You Off - “A Serious Man”

Best Film With Contribution By a RIT Faculty Member - “Coraline” (Tom Gasek)

Best Horror Film - “Drag Me to Hell”

Best Independent Production - “Paranormal Activity”

Best Film to Exploit Death - “This Is It”

Most-likely to be Forgotten Within a Year - “Tyson”

Most-likely to Piss Republicans Off - “Green Zone” (Yeah, it’s a 2010 film, but it’s our ceremony!)

Dullest Story - “Blind Side”

Best ‘College’ Sitcom - “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”

Best Visuals - “Inglourious Basterds”

Best Date Movie - “Sherlock Holmes”

Best to Drink To - "Hangover”

Most Timeless - “Public Enemies”

Most-likely to Need a Second Viewing - “Inglourious Basterds”

Best “Guy Film” - “Terminator Salvation”

Best Chick Flick - “500 Days of Summer”

Biggest Waste of Money - “2012”

Best Director - “District 9”

Film of the Year - “Up”

Everyone’s a critic, and everyone has his or her own tastes and opinions. The same thing that makes the world rich with diversity makes it impossible to dub a work in any particular art form as “the best.” Films like “Precious” and “The Hurt Locker” are great productions and definitely worth the recognition of your nine dollar ticket and time. If you prefer, “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel,” hey, that’s cool too. The fact that we live in a place and time where so much is available and totally optional is a beautiful thing.

When considering that option and how to invest your time in it, there are a few things to keep in mind:

First and foremost, everyone’s thoughts are valid. Respect and consider the opinions of others, but don’t let them dictate how you feel. It’s not high school; you don’t have to fit in with the big sunglasses or plaid shirts. Besides, in most films the best characters are the outcasts anyways.

Second: the all-important rule, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Be like a sponge &8213; absorb everything you can get in contact with and grow rich with the mildew of knowledge.

And finally, remember critics have the easiest job in the world. They get paid to watch movies and complain. Their reviews have about as much accuracy to your tastes as a Wikipedia article does to your research paper. Sometimes they get it right, but do you really want to take their word for it? If you want insightful advice on what art to indulge in, text your mother about what she’s seen lately. Otherwise, form your own opinions.

Yes, this is college; you have no time, you’re broke... We get it. If you are going to watch one film from 2009, however, check out “We Live In Public.” It’s a documentary (hey, remember no judging) highlighting Josh Harris’ webcam experiment where 100 human subjects lived in a 24-hour spotlight and commenting on the dangers and impact of the internet age. No four stars attached; just a friendly suggestion. We think you’ll, at the very least, find it interesting. Then again, maybe you’ll hate it, in which instance our case in point.

Video: Truth or Dare Dino Edition

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 18:52:31 -0500

If you were a dinosaur...

At Your Leisure

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 01:00:00 -0500

Winter driving hazards?


Ben Rubin, Jamie Douglas

Stream of Facts

A study on mice found that the effects of beta amyloid plaques, the culprit of Alzheimer’s disease, can be reduced by the microwave radiation exposure of cell phone use.

If you thought your BlackBerry phone was expensive, consider comparing it to the 20K diamond studded GoldVish ‘Le Million’ Piece Unique, which retails at 1.3 million.

Thirty-four percent of American men, with a net worth of 20 million or more, admit to having paid for sex in their lifetime; Twenty percent of similarly well-off women have done the same.

Women living within 32.5 degrees latitude of equator are more likely to give birth to females over males, which researchers attribute to the constant sunlight of the region.

The amount of sunlight hitting the Earth’s surface every second in pounds is more than the weight of a MacBook Air (4.3 lbs).

Research shows that a newborn’s weight is a key indicator for that person’s life success; babies born under 5.5 lbs are 15 percent more likely to drop out of high school.

One hundred percent of the West Virginia public school system offered “Dance Dance Revolution” as an option in their physical education classes in 2008.

An RIT education in the year 1886 cost 8 per term for students studying drawing and 12 per term for students studying painting and modeling.

Professional face painting is part of the eight clown commandments of the Clowns of America International, a gathering place for serious clown performers.

Then called Rochester Athenaeum and Mechanics Association.

Visit http://coia.org for more info.

Overseen and Overheard

Sticky note posted on Marketplace Mall map. “Today’s goals are tomorrow’s accomplishments.”

“Last time I sweat this much was when I saw my first boob.”
- Male student to female student, stairwell of Wallace Library.

“Uh... School bus crashed. Seven kids dead. Raptors.”
- Random editor in chief with fake police radio voice.

“I don’t really remember my first wife.”
- Faculty member near Visitor lot.

Send your Overseen and Overheads with the phrase “Overseen and Overheard” in the subject line to leisure@reportermag.com. Now accepting cell phone pics!

Reporter Reccomends

Wegman’s Online Shopping Lists
You know what the worst part of grocery shopping is? Realizing you forgot the eggs when you’re already halfway home. Enter curse word of the week. Wegman’s website has a shopping list feature that is quite possibly the best thing to happen to the supermarket since the leg holes in the pushcart baskets. Not only does this tool organize and sort your selections in terms of food departments, but it also offers a floor layout of your selected store location to maximize shopping productivity. What’s next? A Wegman’s iPhone app? Check out the “Shopping” link at http://wegmans.com and get your produce freak on.

Word of the Week

Ogress:
n. a female ogre.

The fourth installment of the “Shrek” series, “Shrek Forever After,” which features the familiar green face and his lovely ogress voiced by Cameron Diaz, is set to release late in May.

Definition taken from http://merriam-webster.com.

Quote

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
- Martin Luther King Jr.

At Your Leisure

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0500

How do Americans de-stress?


Jamie Douglas, Ben Rubin

Most Effective Stress Management Techniques

It might seem like the blissful rest of holiday break is now a distant memory and that the stress is piling up at an alarming rate, but Reporter has you covered. Here’s a list of some of the most beneficial stress relieving techniques according to Americans in 2009.

De-Stressing Methods:

Listening to music - 49
Exercise/going for a walk - 44
Reading - 41
Television and movies - 36
Spending time with friends and family - 36
Video games and Internet use - 33
Naps - 32
Prayer 32
Eating - 28
Hobbies - 27
Church/religious services - 19
Shopping - 15
Smoking - 14
Drinking - 14
Sports - 10
A massage or spa visit - 10
Meditation or yoga - 7
Gamble - 4
See a mental health professional - 4

Information according to a “Stress in America 2009” survey by the American Psychological Association.

Word of the Week

Graupel:
n. granular snow pellets — called also soft hail.

When you’re getting smacked in the face with some wintry graupel this season, stay positive by remembering it’s always better than getting sprinkled with R. Kelly’s urine.

Definition taken from http://merriam-webster.com.

Overseen and Overheard

Vintage RIT-branded Chevy.

“Apples have seeds. Therefore, you’re pregnant.” - female student in Bates Study Center.

“My whole life, my whole soul, my whole spirit is to blow that horn...” -a student’s tattoo.

“He asked me if I would shave his entire body, but I didn’t know what to say.”
- male student to female student.

Send your Overseen and Overheads with the phrase “Overseen and Overheard” in the subject line to leisure@reportermag.com. Now accepting cell phone pics!

Reporter Reccomends

flickchart.com
The last thing you probably need is another website to distract you from your ever-growing to-do list. However, this one is worth giving up Farmville for something somewhat productive. (Gasp!) Flickchart is most simply described as a more interactive IMDb or Rotten Tomatoes. Users are presented with two movie posters and are asked to choose the title they prefer. There is no skip button because, as the site states, “Skipping goes against our core belief that you must choose, no matter what.” If you haven’t seen a film, a new title will be presented. Your results are then ranked, both personally and site wide. You can compare and contrast your Flickchart friends, and with the site’s top results. So, which do users prefer? “The Dark Knight” or “Fight Club.” Check out http://flickchart.com to find out.

Quote

“Not only did I get an A in music, but I got an A in ladies.”
- R. Kelly on high school

At Your Leisure

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 02:33:00 -0500

Put your knowledge to the test with an AYL Pop Quiz.


Ben Rubin

Pop Quiz

1. Which of these inventions came first?
a) The zipper.
b) The electric vibrator.
c) Crayola crayons.
d) The sport of basketball.

2. The Alnwick Castle, located in Northumberland, England, was used as the setting for all of the following film productions except:
a) “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein” (1994).
b) “Becket” (1964).
c) “Elizabeth” (1998).
d) “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” (2001).

3. Who was the first president to ride in a submarine?
a) Woodrow Wilson
b) Calvin Coolidge
c) Franklin D. Roosevelt
d) Harry S. Truman

4. Last summer, researchers resorted to what tactic, resulting in the discovery of ten unknown colonies of emperor penguins in Antarctica?
a) Crossing penguins being hit by researchers’ snowmobiles.
b) Contents of blue fin whale vomit.
c) Penguin sex noises.
d) Feces stains on ice.

5. Which U.S. state has the most man-made lakes?
a) New York
b) Michigan
c) Oklahoma
d) Colorado

Study up and be on the look out for more Pop Quizzes, coming soon from Reporter.

Answers: 1, b; 2, a; 3, d; 4, d; 5, c.

Quote

“Everyone talks about rock these days; the problem is they forget about the roll.”
- Keith Richards

Overseen and Overheard

First blizzard of the year.

“Carbonate! Damn you!” - student in java’s.

“I like this purse ‘cause it goes over my shoulder. I could drive with it over my shoulder.” -woman in bausch & Lomb Building

“A DVD player? Now we’ll be able to watch Harry Potter!”
three excited female students in stairwell of the gannet building

Send your Overseen and Overheads with the phrase “Overseen and Overheard” in the subject line to leisure@reportermag.com. Now accepting cell phone pics!

Word of the Week

Renitent:
n. adj. resisting physical pressure; resisting constraint or compulsion.

If your company for the evening is a little renitent on the first date it’s probably because you told her you were an IT major at RIT.

Definition taken from http://merriam-webster.com.

Reporter Reccomends

(Not) Stealing Chairs

Perhaps you were inspired by last week’s Kleptomania feature. While we are not suggesting you start a career in theft, if you are in the business of gathering loot, chairs may be good to invest in. For example, the orange chairs outside the new Reporter office, Room A710 in the new campus center, aside from being a fine example of seat engineering duel swivel action these cub scouts retail at a grand total of 1,289. Forget laptops, two of these scores can earn you a cheap, reliable car! The second floor library arm rest loungers are worth even more. If RIT has such big-ticket furniture, other local colleges must too. Wait, wait, wait. That’s right you shouldn’t steal. From RIT or anyone else. But it is tempting isn’t it?

Holiday At Your Leisure

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0500


Jamie Douglas, Ben Rubin

Stream of Facts

According to the Farmington Hills Fire Department in Michigan, it only takes 32 seconds for a faux Christmas tree to burn.

The largest living Christmas tree is located in the soil of a little town called Coeur d’Alene, in northern Idaho, standing 161 feet tall and holding 30,000 lights.

Electric lights were used for the first time during President Grover Cleveland’s second administration (from 1893-1897) on a White House Christmas tree as decoration.

Mistletoe, the canoodle-inspiring decoration is actually a parasitic plant for trees that requires pruning and, sometimes, even cutting off light by wrapping an infected area.

In 1917, the wrapping paper industry started when Hallmark marketed French envelope lining paper the company’s first deviation from the greeting card.

A Chistmas card signed by Adolf Hitler was auctioned off in 1992 for a grand total of 3,025, 50 years after the season in which it was originally signed.

During the holiday season of 1997 in Latrun, Jerusalem, a rabbi was hoisted via crane to light an over 60-foot tall menorah, a candle holder which weighed 17 metric tons.

Candle shipments for the holiday season sustain U.S. manufactures; 1.3 billion in shipments during 2002 were fueled by Hanukkah and Kwanzaa celebrations.

Along with New Year celebrations, drunkenness, and countless resolutions, January 1, 2010 will be greeting an approximate U.S. population of 308 million.

The abbreviated greeting, “Merry X-Mas,” contrary to the sacrilegious belief of taking Christ out of Christmas, is rooted in the original Greek language of the New Testament.

Twice the height of Rockefeller’s tree.

Overseen and Overheard

Hat reads “Independent Mind.”

“I don’t know what happened; we did it fast, and in the dark.”
Group of male students on the Quarter Mile.

“The problem with vampire hunting with wooden stakes is that it kills everybody.”
Student in Riverknoll area, 1:30 a.m.

“You’ve got plenty of time. You could take a dump and still be on time.”
Male student on Quarter Mile.

“If your crotch is on the handle bars, it can be very difficult.”
Passerby at the Student Life Center desk.

Send your Overseen and Overheads with the phrase “Overseen and Overheard” in the subject line to leisure@reportermag.com. Now accepting cell phone pics!

Word of the Week

Kinara:
n. a candelabra with seven candlesticks used in celebrating Kwanzaa.

The kinara features a single black candle in the center with three red candles representing African American’s struggles on the left and three green candles representing their future and hope on the right.

Definition taken from http://merriam-webster.com.

Quote

“Everyone’s dancing merrily in a new old fashioned way.”
- Lyrics from Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree.”

At Your Leisure

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 01:00:00 -0500

Reporter recommends: Sporcle. The dude abides.

Stream of Facts

The Mekong Giant Catfish lives up to its name with records including the nine-foot specimen netted in Thailand in 2005, weighing in at 646 pounds.

In 2008’s “Seven Pounds,” the character of Ben Thomas, played by Will Smith, stays in the same hotel featured in “Memento”, a Travel Inn in Los Angeles.

Travel in the United States, both residentially and internationally, accounts for the spending of 23,500 daily; the worldwide daily number equals 2 billion.

One billion frogs, according to rising United Nations data, are harvested annually as human food; among the leading populations for this demand are the U.S., France and Asia.

In Southern Asia, the riel is the root of Cambodia’s currency, a country whose economy is based on agriculture and consists of 75 percent of the workforce.

The workforce portion of males over the age of 65 in America during 1950 was 46 percent, which has dropped to just over half that amount a half-century later.

The phrases, “later, alligator” and “in a while crocodile” started catching on when Bill Haley’s lyrics lit up the radio waves with his 1956 hit, “See You Later, Alligator.”

The female alligator, according to a study at Louisiana’s Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge, when it comes time for mating season, will likely return to the same sexual partner.

During football season, despite the name “pigskin,” 3,000 cows are sacrificed to supply the 22,000 cowhide-covered footballs that the NFL goes through each year.

Beginning at the age of 13, Xie Qiuping has been growing her hair out since 1973 and has set the record for hair length in 2004 when her locks stretched out 18 feet, 5.54 inches.

Numbers as of December 2007.

Quote

“The Dude abides.”
- Jeff Brides, as “The Dude” in The Big Lebowski

Reporter Recommends

sporcle
If you have yet to be de-virginized to this massive time-wasting website device, the best thing you can possibly do for yourself (and for your grades) is to stay the hell away. But, at the same time, what harm could one little game do, right? Wrong. They said it couldn’t be done, but the creators of this fiend-forming site managed to transfer the cocaine-esque addictive nature of the contents in a Cheetos bag to pixel form. No, you can’t just have one. You’ll be playing the endless, timed trivia fill-in-the-blank-list styled games over and over. The categories range from entertainment, to geography, to religion, to literature, with a variety of time limits for quick or long-lasting highs... I mean games. At the end of the day, when your time seems as absent as Steve Tyler’s drug money, their slogan “mentally stimulating diversions” will offer you some piece of mind. Try it today! The first hit is free, and so are the rest.

You’ve been warned. Visit http://sporcle.com.

Overseen and Overheard

New bike rack at Perkins.

“You wikipedia’d walking!?”
Student to friend in ASL lab.

“You have fake boobs, and I hate you.”
Frustrated girl at the Idea Factory in Wallace Library.

“They thought I was lying when I told them I’ve made love to this song.” Student in reference to Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the USA” playing on the speakers at Java Wally’s.

Send your Overseen and Overheads with the phrase “Overseen and Overheard” in the subject line to leisure@reportermag.com. Now accepting cell phone pics!

Word of the Week

quoin:
n. a solid exterior angle (as of a building).

Because of the sculpture’s intense quoins and lack of edges to grip, few RIT students have claimed the honor of successfully climbing the Sentinel.

Definition taken from http://merriam-webster.com.

Movie Review: A Serious Man

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:00:00 -0500

Another good Coen Brother's movie.

Drama 105 mins

Dig It

“When the truth is found to be lies, and all the joy within you dies...”

Bleeding through a single earbud into Danny Gopnik’s skull, the Jefferson Airplane lyrics not only set the timeline for this story, they set the tone for the tale that unfolds.

It’s 1967 in Minnesota. Danny (Aaron Wolff) is a young teenager growing up in a Jewish family. Approaching his Bar Mitzvah, Danny attends a Hebrew school, watches “F Troop” on the static ridden television in his bedroom and has a slightly concerning obsession with marijuana. His father, Larry, (Michael Stuhlbarg) is who you would call the main character of the story. Other than being a professor of physics, you can describe this poor fellow simply by listing his problems. Meanwhile, he’s trying desperately to keep his composure to earn tenure at his university. When Larry turns to his religion for guidance, he finds little more than comic relief. This is a story about men. Larry and Danny take us to the place and time of the filmmakers’ childhood and show us what growing up Jewish in Minnesota meant.

As the 15th installment to their legacy, this story seems a bit unorthodox for the Coen brothers’ style. For one thing, there are no handguns and little blood is shed. Yet somehow, it is authentic Coen brothers. Maybe it’s the subtle, dark humor cross-stitched throughout the exposition, or the planned randomness of scenes tirelessly working at a common theme that signals their collaborative seal. And this review would not be complete without mentioning the dynamic imagery of cinematographer Roger Deakins; a match made in heaven with the Coen brothers brand.

A serious film? After getting a lot of beef for moving away from the “serious” tone of “No Country” with “Burn After Reading,” “A Serious Man” would certainly appear to be a shift to what the critics want. But everything in “Burn After Reading” is in attendance for “A Serious Man.” The balance between the comedy and seriousness of storytelling is simply shifted. “A Serious Man” proves that the Coen Brothers are masters of both. More importantly, they are masters of cinema, and no film of theirs should be overlooked.