Bright Hall

Brown University Faculty Votes To Hijack History

Joshua Chaney — 2009-04-14T21:50:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Breaking News, News, Brown University, Microtrends on Campus, American University, Muskingum College

An obsession with political correctness at American universities has rapidly become a national phenomenon in recent years. A few colleges have really taken it too far.

Brown University's faculty voted last week to rename Columbus Day "Fall Weekend" on the University's calendar, a move that apparently was in step with the wishes of students according to a poll by the college newspaper The Brown Daily Herald. The poll revealed a majority of students disapproved of continuing to call the holiday Columbus Day.

The decision came after weeks of pressure from student groups proposing change.

American University's Undergraduate Senate passed a similar resolution a few years ago declaring the holiday "Indigenous People's Day" instead.

Columbus Day is named of course after Christopher Columbus, the man incorrectly attributed with discovering North America. As we know today, Columbus was tied to the enslavement and abuse of native inhabitants of the West Indies. Columbus Day has been celebrated since 1971.
But really, Columbus Day? It seems strange that academics would be so willing to hijack history for the sake of an extremist obsession to purify it. Owning a history book doesn't give one the right to rewrite it, however. Columbus Day still exists as does U.S. history in its entirety - dark spots as well as bright.

The faculty might have instead used the day instead to ... oh, I dunno, teach? Since when is it an acceptable standard in American academia to ignore history instead of use its errors as a basis to teach and educate?

"Brown University made itself an example to the nation by carefully exploring its ties to the slave trade and using that process to promote greater understanding," Providence mayor David Cicilline, a 1983 graduate of Brown, said in a press release last week. But the decision to "simply erase the celebration of an incredibly significant moment in world history and Italian-American culture for the sake of political correctness does just the opposite," he added.

While Columbus might not be credited now with being the first person to discover America, many Italian-American organizations still credit Columbus, an Italian explorer, as a major historical influence on western civilization's introduction to a new part of the world.

Providence newspaper columnist Bob Kerr called the decision "detached," especially because of the large number of Italian descendants residing in Providence. Rush Limbaugh also opined on the decision, attacking the students who urged for the change.

One Brown student said Columbus is "undeserving of a holiday." Another said "what they teach us in elementary school is misleading - hero worshiping."

The decision was "a progressive step," he added.

I couldn't disagree more. The most feasible part of the students' argument is that Columbus wasn't deserving of the holiday in the first place. But what is certain is that the holiday is also is a yearly reminder of how far we've come. It provides a basis on which teachers can educate their students.

A much greater injustice is done in ignoring the sacrifices made at the hands of the ignorant. Their story deserves to be told, not swept under the rug and the best way to do that is for Columbus Day to remain untouched. It is not an elementary teacher's place to go all philosophical on an 8-year-old, and I don't think children are educated to idolize Columbus - at least I wasn't.

At a higher level of learning, the flaws of such individuals need to be observed and critiqued.

The decisions by both American University and Brown University were more accurately in step with those attempting to censor historical scars, and call it cliche, but those who ignore history are, indeed, destined to repeat it.

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Air-Brushing Your Facebook Image

Catherine Cullen — 2009-01-10T10:48:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Featured Stories, Brown University

What's more important than having fun in college? Making sure everyone knows about it the next day. Oh yeah, and grades... but that kind of ruined the punchline.

The "oh man, guess what I did last weekend!" story has a long and colorful history, especially for the undergraduate crowd, but the Facebook-era has added a new wrinkle: visual aids. Now you can share your weekend adventures with 500 of your closest friends. And maybe your future employers and admissions committees.

By now everyone is pretty familiar with the drill: admissions directors and employers do look at social networking sites to check out candidates' backgrounds. So while you may want all your buddies from the frisbee team to see your keg stand from Saturday night, that picture won't make quite the same impression with your potential boss.
Pick your poison: whether you use Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Linkedin, the problem remains the same. Once an image is up there, no matter how private you may think your profile is, someone somewhere can stumble upon posted pictures. While this old news for many, this issue came up again last month involving a member of Barack Obama's staff.

The president-elect's speechwriter Jon Favreau was photographed at a party groping a life-size cutout of incoming Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. And where did this hilarious image show up? Facebook of course. Even though the images were only up for a few hours, the damage was done and the photos were all over news blogs soon after.

Clinton's camp made light of the photos, joking about Favreau's "obvious interest in the State Department," demonstrating not only the increasingly goodwill with Obama's team, but also possibly showing a developing understanding that an individual's private life may have very little to do with their public performance. Employers may develop an empathy towards Facebook-users, knowing that a little harmless fun never hurt anyone's job performance. However, when you're making a first impression, it's better to be safe than sorry. To that end, Slate e-magazine recently published some guidelines for Facebook profiles to protect the user's reputation.

Some of the more useful tips included using an abbreviated version of your name, for example a first initial and last name. Also, user's should really take advantage of the limited profile functions that Facebook offers to curb friends' access to profiles. It's not rude to limit someone's access: it may be self-preservation!

My personal rule for Facebook friends is that if I would pass someone on the street and not say hello, they probably don't need to be updated on my social life. It may feel rude to turn down someone's friendship request, but Miss Manners didn't really cover this particular subject, so for now the etiquette is open to interpretation. Limit your friends, limit your pictures to the non-incriminating and non-blush-worthy and when all else fails, start over. Deactivate your account and start from scratch: this makes an especially clean break for those moving from the college world into the "real" world.

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The Most Insulting Names of 2008

Catherine Cullen — 2008-12-26T01:29:00+00:00

Filed under: Politics, Brown University, Odd News

In honor of the holiday season, the DC-based blog Wonkette is celebrating peace on earth and goodwill toward men. Or not.

As 2009 approaches, the site has published a top-10 list celebrating the most elaborate, offensive monikers for 2008's leading ladies and gentlemen. The so-called "Children's Treasury of Terms of Abuse" is worth a look and a laugh to see President Bush described as a "bellicose twat of a president" (when the situation with Russia was escalating) and to read about ol' "orange-skinned dog-torturing Scientology-loving Frenchman" Mitt Romney.

Harsh? Yes. Fair? Depends on who you ask. Orange-skinned is of course a matter of taste. Dog-torturing however evokes one of the more colorful stories dug up during Romney's bid for president. Apparently on a family vacation in 1983, Romney strapped the family dog in a kennel to the roof of the car for a 12-hour drive. Scientology-loving Frenchman is a bit of a stretch - according to Wonkette Romney paid a visit to the Scientology center while on the campaign trail and also, on an unrelated note, lived in France for two years.

You get the picture: the titles are hyperbolic to the point of overblown, but if you're in the mood for some witty and not-so-witty ("National Review" conservative columnist Kathryn Jean Lopez is called a "mouth-breathing fart-sack") reminders of the past year, it's a nice send-off into the new year. You may even learn a little something: I, for one, was unaware that Joe Lieberman was interchangeably referred to as the "mutilated carcass of a baby rat-child." Sarah Palin being a "barely functioning idiot" and a "Snowbilly dingbat" however, was hardly new news.

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Would You Trade Your Privacy for a Smartphone?

Catherine Cullen — 2008-11-30T17:58:00+00:00

Filed under: Brown University, Odd News

Yes, you say? Then you're in the same boat as the one hundred MIT students who voluntarily gave up their privacy for free smartphones.

The students are participating in new research project tracking a web of information called "collective intelligence." This data is comprised of all the digital interactions and linkages the students will make, tracked through their smartphones.

Every song they listen to, every Web site they visit, every file they download will be recorded and relayed to a central computer which will create a map of their activity.

The 100 students in the study are providing research fodder on a micro-level: demonstrating social and technological interaction within a college dorm. The data from their phones will create a dynamic look at the dorm's "social network."

Sound a little too Big Brother-y for your tastes? You're not the only one. Even the people who developed the software acknowledge that it has the potential to do some serious harm. Collective intelligence could potentially allow people to format profiles on individuals without ever tracking an individual directly. Technology now allows for the analysis of massive amounts of data that can show general trends, yielding results for an entire group of people, based off one person's activity.

Rather than relying on survey respondents to track trends, analysts can now use more reliable and accurate metrics from collective intelligence pools to predict things from the next hot night club to the future of the stock market. The field of collective intelligence also has potential implications for insurance coverage and response time to health epidemics.

Using the "PageRank" algorithm that made Google famous as a starting point, analysts can begin to predict people's wants and needs based on their usage of certain technologies. Smartphones, cell phones, and GPS systems are just the beginning, showing how, when, where and how often people are using their technology. By creating blanket analyses, researchers can begin to formulate a picture of people's general wants and needs, and what they will want and need next.

I'm not sure I'd be willing to let researchers track my every phone call and text message for a year... but I do want a new smartphone. Maybe THEY already knew that.

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Interior Decorator Obama?

Catherine Cullen — 2008-11-24T11:53:00+00:00

Filed under: Politics, Environment, Brown University

Now that Barack Obama is set to take over the presidency, he may soon find himself in another role: White House Interior Decorator.

After the Obamas tour of the White House on November 11, people are speculating about what changes they will make to the building. Last week Slate published an article on the changing decor of the White House over the years. Apparently there is a Congressional budget set aside every four years for the first family to redecorate their new digs. (Or not so. George and Laura Bush were given $100,000 to revamp the rooms for his second term.)

The presidential family has significant control over their private apartments, which comprise the top two floors of the White House. Everything from paint color to wallpaper and furnishings is subject to change.
Other rooms are another story. If the first family wants to change historic rooms (like the Lincoln Bedroom and the Blue Room) they must appeal to the Committee for the Preservation of the White House. State rooms are reportedly only refurbished once a decade to keep them usable.

Past additions to the White House have included many sports facilities. Franklin Roosevelt built an indoor pool, Gerald Ford added an outdoor one, the first President Bush commissioned a horseshoe pit and Bill Clinton had a running track installed. Obama has already spoken about plans to expand the current half-size basketball court to a full-sized one.

Designers have noted that the Obamas will face particular redecorating challenges in the current financial climate: with the economy in decline, the president can't afford to look flashy or ostentatious, spending lots of money on redecorating. Simple and elegant seems like the order of the day.

Others see the new political era of Obama as a chance for the White House to update as well. The Bush family made many green improvements to the White House during his term, adding low-flow shower heads, energy efficient lighting and solar panels. Obama's commitment to a green society should begin in his new home.

The last point of interest is the updating of the White House libraries. Much of the success of Obama's campaign can be attributed to his use of technology. Following the Obamas tour, the Associated Press asked several designers for their ideas to revamp the rooms. Lisa Laporta, from HGTV's "Designed to Sell," said she would like to see the library turned into an Internet lounge, with video conference capabilities.

Hopefully the White House's new look will mirror the innovative campaign we saw from Obama: going green and going digital in the coming years.

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New Word Enters Dictionary... Meh

Catherine Cullen — 2008-11-19T08:28:00+00:00

Filed under: Brown University, Odd News

While some may think that I'm merely expressing apathy at a new entry into the official lexicon, they're wrong. I'm expressing dictionary-sanctioned apathy.

"Meh," a word whose origins have been attributed to a 2001 episode of "The Simpsons" has been officially entered into the Collins English Dictionary after reportedly, "generating a surprising amount of enthusiasm among lexicographers."

Frankly, I would assume that any amount of enthusiasm among lexicographers would be a surprising amount, but that's beside the point.

As an English major I have to cringe at every expression popularized by the Internet making it into the dictionary because it completely degrades language and blah-blah-blah. However as a person with a scrap of a sense of humor, I can definitely appreciate the new Collins entry. One of their chosen examples is particularly spot-on: "The Candadian election was so meh." Perhaps this explains why Sarah Palin didn't follow Canadian politics.

Other potential good uses:

"The economy is so meh right now."

"How's the comatose guy doing today?"
"Meh."

"And in other news, the Israel-Palestine situation is a little meh this morning."

Add other examples as you see fit!

So in honor of this lexicographical expansion, go out and celebrate apathy. (Wait, can you do that?)

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A Day Without Gays

Catherine Cullen — 2008-11-16T10:53:00+00:00

Filed under: Breaking News, News, Brown University

In the wake of Proposition 8's passage, gays across the country are mobilizing. Following the example of Latino immigrants in 2006, there is a widespread gay boycott planned for December 10, 2008.

I first read about this protest in Joel Stein's column in the LA Times. I'm not sure how much truth is at the heart of Stein's actually coming up with this scheme, but that's irrelevant now. The protest is officially on.

JointheImpact.com, a Seattle-based site that was created after the election to organize protests, has enthusiastically offered their support. The strike's official site DayWithoutAGay.org is filled with tips and links for people to get involved.

The strike has reached out to social networking sites like Twitter and the all-important Facebook.

In his column Stein jokes, "People, we figure, will have no assistance at libraries or gym class and will madly butcher their hair. Subaru dealerships shouldn't bother opening. Entertainment journalism will take such a hit, TMZ will have to report hockey scores."

Despite the obvious jokes about hairdressers and fashionistas, Stein has a point. The entire philosophy behind the immigrant worker strike in 2006 was to show the public how much they relied on the services of the workers. Here, hopefully, America will realize how much of the economy is supported by LGBT dollars and efforts. This is an important step in the voting public recognizing just how significant a population they are marginalizing.

The gay-out organizers have taken into account some obvious concerns. For people not out at work, just call in sick. For people who absolutely positively canNOT miss one day of their job, okay fine, they can still do their part. Go to work, but don't take part in the rest of the national economy. Don't spend any money, don't buy anything, don't go to bars, the gym, or anywhere else for the matter. That said, December 10 will not be a day to disappear. Day Without A Gay has pages of available volunteer opportunities so people can put their time off to good use and high visibility.

So be ready for December 10. No only is it Day Without A Gay, coincidentally-- or not-- it's also International Human Rights Day. Whether you're calling in gay or going about your business as usual, take a moment to think about what others might be missing.

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Obama Mania, European Style

Catherine Cullen — 2008-11-15T07:05:00+00:00

Filed under: US Elections, Featured Stories, Brown University

Catherine Cullen is writing for Bright Hall from Galway, Ireland where she is completing a study abroad program and enriching herself in Anglo-European culture.

Barack Obama's historic presidential win means a lot for the United States and all Americans. The change in executive regime, the revitalization of the White House, the palpable change in public political perception: all good things.

Additionally, Obama's election has meant a lot to us Americans abroad. It also means a lot to Europeans in general, triggering what the New York Times dubbed a "European euphoria" over the election results. The imminent end of the Bush era has ushered Americans back into the good graces of our European counterparts.

There seems to be a sense throughout the EU that Americans have finally come to their senses. General goodwill now meets me in stores when the clerk hears my American accent. "Ah, American! How about that election, huh?" This is followed by big smiles all along, sometimes a fist-pumping in the air (by the clerk, not me) and a quick "Obama!" chant. The Irish students are even less subtle. At a house party the other night, I was standing with a group of other American students when a slightly... ahem... inebriated Irish guy comes over to our group, gives us the once-over and nods. "Americans!" he cried. And then, drawing the attention of everyone else in the crowded kitchen, he began to yell "Obama! Obama! Obama!" And people joined in. Enthusiastically.

Although the full-fledged fervor of the moment reminds me of the recent South Park episode parodying Obama's acceptance speech-- more accurately, it reminds me of the parody of the excited viewers running around shouting "Yeah! Obama! It's change!!"-- I'll take it. It's certainly a nice change (ha) from telling people I'm Canadian.

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How to Make the Econ Crisis Worse? Factor in the Exchange Rate

Catherine Cullen — 2008-11-10T19:06:00+00:00

Filed under: Money, Brown University

Catherine Cullen is writing for Bright Hall from Galway, Ireland where she is completing a study abroad program and enriching herself in Anglo-European culture.

The best advice I heard before studying abroad was to bring half as many clothes and twice as much money.

I listened-- or so I thought. I pared my wardrobe down to the bare essentials, converted my savings into traveler's checks and got on a plane to cross the Atlantic. Now, two and a half months later I have three dresses and a handful of shirts I haven't worn, two pairs of jeans that are on their last legs (pun intended) and 43 euro in my checking account to get me through the next three weeks. Oops.

The clothing issue is an obvious one: my idea of the bare essentials is a little too liberal. The money issue is a more complicated one.

These days, twice as much money in Europe is just barely enough. With the exchange rates fluctuating every day, budgeting has become significantly more challenging. With a USD to euro exchange rate that has topped out 1.6 in the last two months (and that's not even factoring in the international ATM charges), twice as much money is just barely breaking even. Three or four times as much money is a more accurate figure.

Ireland in particular is one of the most expensive countries in the EU. Although cities like London, Moscow and Paris have consistently ranked at the top of the list, this is more indicative of average cost of living expenses. While property in these cities is at a premium, little things like groceries and coffee and tourist trinkets are price-adjusted. Here in Ireland, taxes are so high on these everyday items that the cost of "incidentals" adds up quickly.

So here's the revamped packing list for Americans studying abroad: bring two or three pairs of jeans, two weeks worth of assorted short and long-sleeved tshirts that you don't care about, enough underwear to bail you out if you don't feel like doing laundry (or can't afford it!), and a pair of sneakers. Fill the empty space in your luggage with as much cash as you can! I'm being sarcastic of course... you're going to want to go with traveler's checks.

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Zombies Attack Reality TV Stars. What More Could You Want?

Catherine Cullen — 2008-11-02T07:41:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Brown University

Catherine Cullen is writing for Bright Hall from Galway, Ireland where she is completing a study abroad program and enriching herself in Anglo-European culture.

As far as apocalyptic b-movie zombie flicks go-- and that's a tall order-- "Dead Set" is one of the best.

Despite being poorly acted, ridiculously premised, and peopled with characters so unsympathetic I found myself cheering aloud as one of them was torn into bite-size zombie snacks, the British miniseries was absolutely brilliantly conceived.

Maybe I've just been an English major for a little too long, but between the bloody and gore-y lines of the typical flesh-eating fare, there is a searing portrait of modern day pop culture. And it's entertaining, I swear!

The show follows the stereotypical zombie plot made popular by "Dawn of the Dead": humanity has been besieged by a zombie plague and no one knows where it came from or how to stop it. The only solution is to kill as many of the undead as you can and stay alive as long as possible. Now some genius British television producer must have considered this stock plot and noticed something eerily familiar. "Survivor" anyone?

And there's the twist that makes "Dead Set" so brilliant. Humanity has been besieged by a zombie infestations yadayadayada BUT they've all converged on what seems to be the last stronghold of the living: the closed set of the reality TV show "Big Brother."

As the undead feast on the living outside the walls, production assistant Kelly struggles to survive as her coworkers fall around her. When she finally makes it into the protected enclave of the "Big Brother" house-- zombies apparently are not good with door handles-- and reveals to the cast that humanity is collapsing around them, they don't believe her. Although Kelly's desperation is apparent, the scene is hard not to laugh at as the cast argue about how to deal with this latest production stunt.

When a dramatic zombie attack finally convinces the housemates that they are in fact dealing with reality, the real fun begins. The basic premise of the show seems to be that in order to survive a zombie attack, people must band together and work as a group. The difficulty of course is that reality TV casts are brought together specifically to annoy each other; team-building skills not required.

The "Big Brother" castmates and Kelly try to work together, eventually joined by Kelly's obnoxious boss Patrick and eliminated housemate Pippa. In the outside world, Kelly's boyfriend Riq joins forces with a heavily armed woman Alex and sets out to rescue his paramour. Rescue seems like a far-off concept though as everyone realizes there may be no escaping the zombies alive.

The series keeps you entertained with over-the-top standard zombie gore: skulls bashed in, the undead tearing strips of flesh off human bones, the usual. It it more than a little disturbing, so I give you fair warning before telling you that the series is available to watch on the British E4 web site for the next month.

Without giving too much away, the series is worth your while. Five hours of cringe-worthy acting are complete made up for by the eerie brilliance of the last five minutes.

Oh, and don't eat while watching this show. You've been duly warned.

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C'est La Vie Sarah Palin

Catherine Cullen — 2008-11-01T19:32:00+00:00

Filed under: US Elections, Brown University

Vice-presidential hopeful Sarah Palin got a phone call from French President Nicolas Sarkozy this morning. No. Not really.

Palin joined the long line of public figures who have fallen victim to prank phone calls in recent years. Or so the McCain campaign justified in a statement released several hours later.

As understandable as it may be that Palin was taken in by the comedians, a duo from Quebec who call themselves the "Justiciers masques," the phone call is still very funny. The ridiculously thick French accent of the "President" and several outrageous statements didn't seem to clue Palin in to the scheme.

The faux Sarkozy, played by Canadian comedian Marc Antoine Audette, led Palin through a series of ludicrous topics, from hunting out of helicopters-- "I just loving killing those animals. Taking life away, that is so fun," he said while Palin laughed-- to the President's similarities with the governor-- he can see Belgium from his house, apparently. (As opposed to Russia.)

Even telling Palin how "hot" his wife Carla Bruni was in bed did not unmask the pranksters. Audette told Palin how big a fan his new wife was of the governor and even said the French First Lady had written Palin a song. The song, called "De Rouge a Levre sur un Cochon," was translated by Audette as "Joe the Plumber: It's His Life, Joe the Plumber." To add insult to... well, insult, the French title actually translates to "Lipstick on a Pig."

After that, things devolved as Audette made increasingly outrageous jokes at Palin's expense. From a pretend misunderstanding that the infamous Joe the Plumber was Palin's husband to admiring the "edgy" documentary made about her, entitled "Hustler's Nailin' Paylin."

The comic finally gave up the game, telling Palin that she had been pranked by the Masked Avengers from Montreal. A long pause and some confusion followed before the line went dead.

The statement later released by the McCain campaign read: "Governor Palin was mildly amused to learn that she had joined the ranks of heads of state, including President Sarkozy and other celebrities, in being targeted by these pranksters. 'C'est la vie,' she said."

While this was a smooth handling of the embarassing situation, I would offer one minor correction: the stunt was VERY amusing, never mind "mildly."

Click here for the full transcript of the call.

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Prepping for the Election

Catherine Cullen — 2008-11-01T17:49:00+00:00

Filed under: US Elections, Brown University

Catherine Cullen is writing for Bright Hall from Galway, Ireland where she is completing a study abroad program and enriching herself in Anglo-European culture.

Election Day is looming. Just in case you haven't heard.

As big of deal this November 4th is shaping up to be in America, it's as big if not bigger of an event here in Ireland. Not for the whole country perhaps, but for those Americans studying abroad this is the event of the semester.

While this Tuesday may be a hugely divisive day for the majority of Americans, split nearly 50-50 along party lines, preparing for Election Day (or rather Night, with the time difference) has been a great source of unity of we temporary expatriates.

I have friends who are already rearranging their sleep schedules so that they are optimally prepared to be up all night on Tuesday. Anyone suggesting an activity for November 4th that doesn't include gluing their eyes to the nearest television tuned to a news channel is scoffed off as a lunatic. And if you cannot answer positively as to the status of your absentee ballot... persona non grata.

Even my Irish campus is accommodating the American patriotic fervor. The College Bar is hosting a late-night party devoted to the election, with news channels streaming on every big screen television. In a country devoted to the latest minutes changes in rugby and football standings, this is a huge concession.

Surrendering screen time isn't the only big event slated for Tuesday night. In the spirit of the event, the College Bar is also hosting "American-style" drinking games to help pass the time. Beer pong, flip cup and a complicated version of Kings that centers on states going Red or Blue are on the proposed agenda. In a country where the age to drink and the age to vote line up, apparently there is a lot of fun to be had.

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I Want My MTV!

Catherine Cullen — 2008-11-01T17:46:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Brown University

Catherine Cullen is writing for Bright Hall from Galway, Ireland where she is completing a study abroad program and enriching herself in Anglo-European culture.

I want my MTV! Well, not really. More like I want my ABC-NBC-CBS-and-local-affiliates! A slight modification of the 80s tag-line still works though: "I want my (m)TV!"

You don't realize what a TV-addicted culture we live in until you are yanked out of it. To be even more honest, I didn't realize what a TV addict I was until I had to quit cold turkey.

There are many things you miss out on as a study abroad student. Despite all of the amazing opportunities you have to explore a new country and cultures, there are certain things that just can't be replicated outside the good ol' US of A.

While some people might put serious occasions like grandma's birthday and on-campus frat parties on the top of the things-they-miss list and others might put more intellectual fare like real-time access to the election run-off, what I really miss is being keyed in to fall TV premieres.
There is nothing that brands you as an outsider over here in Europe quite so readily as being able to predict the fates of everyone's favorite American television casts. When my Irish friends sat down to watch the latest episode of "Grey's Anatomy" the other day, I happily joined them. I was ready to once again forgive the disappointments of last season and see what happened to Meredith and Derek and their happy house made of candles. Unfortunately for me I was tuned in to George and Izzie still trying to make their sham of relationship turn out all right.

As my friends watched in earnest, speculating on how the various entangled relationships would turn out, I sat there with all off the disillusionment of a modern-day Nostradamus.

The sad truth about European television is that although there are reruns aplenty of everyone's American favorites, from "Friends" to "Ugly Betty," the "new" season abroad applies to last season back at home. While the quick fix for this problem (if you'll allow me to call my television addiction a problem) should be watching the streaming episodes available on the network sites, unfortunately these services are not available to those serial enthusiasts residing outside of the US. The sad alternative is then illegal upload sites. I guiltily click through fifteen dead links to find one that works, only to wait an hour for it to "buffer" (whatever that means) and then watch a 20 minute episode of "The Office" in which the audio is a solid five seconds ahead of the video. If this doesn't seem like a big deal, try to imagine Michael saying "That's what she said," as the camera zooms in on Angela grimacing.

A friend studying abroad in London told me how to rewire my computer to reroute access to American sites from a foreign server through my home university's host server. Yeah. My eyes glazed over after "So you know what a VPN number is right?" (I did not.) Therefore other avenues must be explored!

Study-abroad-students of the world unite! Make your voices heard and maybe the media execs over at our favorite basic cable channels will take pity on we, the few, the proud, the expatriates. For god's sake, if we can't get regularly scheduled programming, we'll have to make do with... culture. Shudder.

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Rock, Paper... Obama!

Catherine Cullen — 2008-10-19T03:07:00+00:00

Filed under: US Elections, Featured Stories, Brown University

Catherine Cullen is writing for Bright Hall from Galway, Ireland where she is completing a study abroad program and enriching herself in Anglo-European culture.

There is a lot of advice given to American students abroad on how to fit in with the European culture. One popular bit is to say you're from Canada. Another is not to wear anything with an American flag on it. One British comic once joked that universal key to acceptance was mentioning Shaggy and Scooby-Doo, because who doesn't love them?

All of these methods may have been tried and true at one point, but right now there is only one sure-fire method of fitting in, especially here in the British Isles. Say that you support Obama.

There is a very strong anti-American sentiment out here in the world right now. This may seem like commenting that the water is particularly wet today, but I can say from experience that things are certainly much worse than most people would reasonably expect.

My Irish housemate and I had a conversation one night that literally, in the span of two questions, jumped from "So how are you liking Galway?" to "So what makes you Americans think you have the right to go around killing anyone you please?"Taken aback, I stammered through a few standard responses: that most people don't support the war, that supporting economic interests got a little carried away, that pulling out of Iraq is more complicated than it may seem, but it all fell on deaf ears. Everything I said was met with "Well, you voted for Bush! You people elected him! And look what happened!"

I didn't think that getting into an in-depth description of the electoral process was the right move at this point, so I simply rallied with the ever-mature response: "Well I didn't vote for him! I was 13 the first time around and 17 the next!"

While this was met with a dismissive wave of the hand, I knew I had one last chance to redeem myself and my apparently pitiable country. "I'm voting for Obama."

Silence. Discussion ended.

I had found the trump card. The ultimate apology one can make for being an American abroad is that you're an Obama supporter. As much as I admire the Democratic candidate for his policies, his oratorical skills, his platform, here I have found a practical application for my political leanings: social acceptance.

When I complained to my friend studying abroad in London about the difficulties of being an American over here, she had found a similar solution to the problem. "I tell people I'm from America," she said, "and they give me the 'judgment' look. The trick is to sneak in 'But I'm voting for Obama!' as quickly as possible. Then you're golden."

And she's right. Obama fans are in good company here in western Europe. The population is as election-geared as we seem to be back in the States and there seems to be, if this is possible, even more of an anti-Bush administration sentiment over here than can be found at home.

It's almost a little sad to hear the Irish students extol the virtues of Obama because for all of their good talking points and enthusiasm, they can't vote in November. Still, it's always nice to find a little common ground.

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Ireland Responds to the Presidential Debate

Catherine Cullen — 2008-10-18T20:21:00+00:00

Filed under: US Elections, Brown University

Catherine Cullen is writing for Bright Hall from Galway, Ireland where she is completing a study abroad program and enriching herself in Anglo-European culture.

Irish students and university faculty alike praised Barack Obama for his performance in the final presidential debate Wednesday night.

Some students praised Obama for simply being "awesome" while others articulated their interest in his debate points. One point of pride for an NUI Galway sociology professor was Obama's emphasis on "the family" in his talking points. "You could just feel the applause meter rising," she remarked before a lecture hall full of students.

The Irish Times proclaimed Obama the winner of the "tense debate," although the paper's coverage also focused on the much-discussed references to Joe the Plumber that John McCain brought in to score some points.

Although the Times article remained as unbiased as possible, the pro-Obama sentiment did manage to leap off the front page. The now infamous picture (see right) of McCain's exit gaffe was a nice little reminder of who the press thought came out on top in this professional exchange.Although for American students abroad-- who spent Wednesday night and the wee hours of Thursday morning glued to their television screens-- the highlight of the debate was the focus on finances and economic plans, the Irish media covered a debate point that was largely marginalized by the Stateside audience.

The Irish Times covered Obama's handling of questions on abortion law. This has been a particularly sensitive issue in Irish politics and one that figured in Ireland's decision NOT to approve an EU reform treaty this past summer. McCain compromised on this issue, saying he would not insist that Supreme Court justice nominees support overturning Roe v. Wade. Obama reiterated his pro-choice stance, that abortion should be a private decision between a woman and her doctor and one not subject to Constitutional referendum.

Although this last bit of coverage does undermine the position of the largely anti-abortion Irish legislature and population, it wasn't a killing blow. The Irish media has happily concurred with the rest of the globe that Obama soundly won the debate, and the pro-Obama masses over in the British Isles couldn't be more satisfied.

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Chaplain Labels Homosexuals a Health Hazard

Catherine Cullen — 2008-10-12T09:49:00+00:00

Filed under: Religion, Brown University

Catherine Cullen is writing for Bright Hall from Galway, Ireland where she is completing a study abroad program and enriching herself in Anglo-European culture.

An English clergyman has called for gay men to be labeled as health hazards in the same manner the government marks cartons of cigarettes. Seriously.

In place of prominent bold-print stick-on labels, Reverend Doctor Peter Mullen suggests tattoos. He debuted the plan on his blog, writing "Let us make it obligatory for homosexuals to have their backsides tattooed with the slogan SODOMY CAN SERIOUSLY DAMAGE YOUR HEALTH and their chins with FELLATIO KILLS."
The London bishop denounced Mullen's rant as "highly offensive" and the blog post has since been removed. However Mullen has defended himself against public outrage, claiming that his blog was a satirical work, in keeping with the English comic tradition.

What bothers me about this... well how does one begin to narrow it down? There's the sad irony of a reverend who is in touch enough with the modern public to make himself heard on a internet blog, only to be so out of touch as to not anticipate how that same public might respond to his "joke." There's the fact that a member of the clergy is no longer happy with simply damning homosexuals in the next life, but wants to brand them in this one. And of course, there's always the overwhelming stupidity of Mullen's wild accusations.

Sodomy can seriously damage your health? I'd love to see Mullen argue that point without being countered with any instance in which good old-fashioned, church-sanctioned, missionary position sex between heterosexuals isn't equally... ahem... damaging. Same goes for fatal fellatio. I frankly don't know anyone who died as the result of a good blow job. Or a bad one for that matter. Perhaps Mullen would like to clarify that point?

I'm all for free speech. Mr Mullen is a member of a private institution (albeit a public face) and he has a right to his opinion and the right to express it in any forum he sees fit. Thankfully, I enjoy the same rights and I can express my utter disgust at his unenlightened, unproductuve and frankly unChristian attitude. And did I mention unfunny? Of course, I might just be out of touch with Mullen's "tradition of English satire." Thank God for that.

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Cannes Ad Festival 2008

Catherine Cullen — 2008-07-01T12:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Brown University, Media

The 55th annual Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival was held over the past week. Almost 26,000 entries were reviewed by delegates from 85 countries in what is called "the world's only truly global meeting place for those interested in creativity in communications."

Some of the highlights from the Press category:

These ads for Australian beer may be the most sexist print ads I've ever seen. They're also hilarious. Selling Cooper's Premium Light Lager, the ads boast the beer contains "only 2.9% alcohol" so men won't fail to notice that the seemingly attractive woman at the party is actually fat. Scary fat. Or that the well-endowed girl they're chatting up at the bar is actually a crooked-toothed, bespectacled, freckled mess. The ads won bronze recognition.

This ad promoting awareness of female foeticide in India is downright disturbing. Using stark black-on-white newspaper print, the ad boasts "How to carry on the family name," and then describes, in excruciating and graphic detail, how to perform an abortion. The print ad was awarded gold.

These AIDS-prevention ads from France also won bronze. Although the female print is more inventive than the male, the ads demonstrate a refreshing attitude towards sex. The girl-oriented ad shows a naked woman afloat in a sea of penises and tongues (as anemones, octopuses, clams and even sea turtles) while the male ad shows naked man flying through space, with breasts, vaginas and mouths featured as interstellar orbs. Both explorers are ensheathed in condoms, hence the note-perfect tagline: "Explore. Just protect yourself." Vive la (Sexual) Revolution!

Other stand-outs:

The 6-ad spread campaign for Volkswagen, celebrating the 60 year anniversary of "the Van." A tribute to the 60s, free love and sexual nostalgia, the ads are stark shots of VW vans atop surprisingly poignant and lyrical vignettes. The bottom-line? Times change, the Van didn't and it's all good.

These eerie ads promoting the Cu Chi Tunnels Museum in Vietnam are worth a look. A morbid edge to the humour and the anti-empire sentiment stand out to the coddled American consumer and it's effectively unsettling to view the ads as the American outsider.

Amnesty International ran a very powerful print campaign protesting the human rights violations committed by the Chinese government against the Tibetan population and other political prisoners. Paralleling Olympic sporting equipment and venues with instruments and mediums of torture, Amnesty's brutal print ads remind the public that after the Olympics things will go back to grim business as usual.

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The Case for Books

Aaron Hedge — 2008-06-09T16:02:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Brown University

The newest trend in literature? Movies.

Publishers are turning increasingly often to new and innovative marketing efforts, including "book trailers." As their name would suggest, these short films broadcasted over the Internet are designed like movie trailers, meant to build excitement and interest for upcoming books.
Some, like David Wellington's vampire horror "Thirteen Bullets" act as a sneak peek for an upcoming novel. Wellington, whose book came out in 2007, created a mini-movie in which a man is transformed into a vampire with makeup and then attacks. Meant to foreshadow the thrill of his novel, he saw the trailer as an effective alternative to a "regular old book tour."

While Wellington's effort was novel (pun intended), now making a book trailer is par for the course for most publishers. In a recent newscast posted on the Wall Street Journal's site, publishers estimated that 1/4 of authors are broadcasting some kind of promotional material via the Internet.

Book trailers, found on sites from HarperCollins to small independent agencies, have a range of styles. Some, like Wellington's, are short film sequences while others feature simplistic author interviews.

Although it's too early to tell what impact these advertising efforts are making on book sales, according the WSJ, that's "not the point." Trailers are designed to build hype and a brand image centered around an author.

The book publishing industry's foray into mass-mediated technology may be good for business, but it gives me pause. With the recent introduction of technologies like Amazon.com's Kindle and the Sony Reader, handheld devices to read digitized books, it seems like books are disappearing from the pages.

Forgive me for being a luddite, but I can't seem to surrender the experience of reading so easily as others. For me a book is an escape, the smell of pages and bindings, the paper softened in my hands as I flip through chapters, folding pages, making notes so that by the end I've imbued a little of myself and my reading experience onto the book. While my defense of the sanctity of books will have to be reserved for another time, I do feel that the advent of book trailers only further degrades real reading.

It has seemed unavoidable since the Harry Potter craze that the literary world would want a piece of the PR pie being devoured by the other elements of the entertainment industry. When the lines of summer customers vying to purchase the latest installment of the wizarding series rivaled those for Pirates of the Caribbean, I knew we had entered a new era. Books, which has so long been seen as the playthings of intellectuals were now fair game as entertainment.

The possibility of successfully spinning out an entire conglomerate brand from a book has further reinforced efforts to aggressively market popular literature. One need only to look at the success of the aforementioned Harry Potter series to see the results of PR campaigns which hinge on getting an audience hooked in and constantly stimulated. Once you have an audience for a book, you have a market for the movie, the soundtrack, the video game, the tshirt line, the theme park ride and the line of organic perfumes. All right, maybe not the perfumes. But it's not exactly a stretch.

If you need further evidence of books have spawned booming business, look at J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series. Or the hype surrounding Stephenie Meyers' Twilight saga. Or just look at the big blockbusters and award-winners of the movie industry. The Cider House Rules. The Devil Wears Prada. Atonement. Book. Book. Book.

There's nothing wrong with an author making some money. I would also never begrudge anyone the opportunity to be be exposed to some of my favorite books. But somehow I feel like the experience of enjoying a book is degraded by smothering a story in advance chapters, spoilers, product lines and media enhancements. Maybe it's an elitist perspective, but I enjoy reading in part to get away from movies and television, not to be mired back into the visual culture.

I guess it was just a matter of time before the publishing industry decided they wanted to get theirs and in the age of YouTube, I'm hardly surprised that authors are going from literal to viral. But I'm still having a hard time taking the hit.

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Immortal Hollywood

Catherine Cullen — 2008-06-04T13:10:00+00:00

Filed under: Pop Culture, News, Brown University

Hearing about the recent fire that destroyed much of a Universal Studios backlot, I was saddened to learn what had been lost to the flames. The laundry list of iconic casualties included the clocktower from "Back to the Future" and the courthouse from "To Kill A Mockingbird" as well as a New York street scene that has been used in various films.

Imagining the worlds of Marty McFly and Atticus Finch consumed by roaring flames may be a bit melodramatic, but it is the natural consequence of iconography: destroying a thing destroys the idea. Except not anymore. In the age of digitization, the legacy of something has very little to do with its physical existence. With the advent of computers, software has pretty effectively replaced hardware in most arenas.
The Universal Studios' sets are a bit like Fort Knox: exciting to look at or think about, but really not worth all that much. Perhaps back in the days when America adhered to the gold standard and the value of every dollar was literally correlated to gold bars locked away safely in Kentucky, Fort Knox meant something. But now we have an economy based on fiat currency, likewise for our popular culture. The dollars circulating around the country, buying everything from a stick of gum to a penthouse, have value because society has dictated it, not because they are backed by a physical commodity. So too with movie icons.

Although it's fun to visit places like Universal Studios and Disney World and marvel over the artifacts of pop culture that so permeate our lives, in truth the movie sets and props and costumes and scripts have become largely irrelevant to sustaining the influence of entertainment. (Shh, no one tell Planet Hollywood!)

That is the genius of film isn't it? The reason people pursue fame with perhaps even more ferocity than they pursue money, sex and power? Capturing something on film creates a new reality, one that seems more permanent than so-called "real life."

In the movies, Michael J Fox will always be time-traveling Marty McFly, cruising in his DeLorean and getting zapped with lightning conducted by the clock tower. It doesn't have to matter than in real life Fox is a man all grown up and suffering from debilitating Parkinson's Disease. It doesn't have to matter that the clock tower burned down because we can see it again and again and again with the click of a DVD remote.

Even as technology develops and films have to be transferred from reels to VHS to DVDs to iTunes' M4Vs, the movies survive because of the luxury of making copies, an relative impossibility when considering reconstructing a century's worth of movie memorabilia.

So it's okay that movie sets burn down because it was never really about them anyway. Their illusion lives on in celluloid.

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'I'm So Excited... I'm So Scared!'

Aaron Hedge — 2008-06-02T15:38:00+00:00

Filed under: Pop Culture, Brown University

In the immortal words of "Saved By The Bell's" resident perfectionist, Jessie Spano, "I'm So Excited... I'm So Scared!"

Scared of what you ask? Elizabeth Berkley, the actress who played Spano for the four years of SBTB's television reign, has started her own advice site for teenage girls. While there is certainly nothing wrong with wanting to help America's youth, Berkley is perhaps the last person I would think of when it comes to self-fashioning. Well, I guess that's not true. Amy Winehouse hasn't exactly been having a banner year...

Besides playing Jessie "Type-A" Spano on SBTB, Berkley is best known for her very...ahem... revealing role in the 1995 movie "Showgirls." Without going into the specifics of the soft-core porn film, suffice it to say that Berkley played an aspiring Las Vegas showgirl who scrapes by as a stripper while chasing her stage dreams. Seriously.
The film bombed and has historically been included on lists of worst films of all time, holding the record for receiving the most Razzie awards (for the worst in bad entertainment) until it was usurped in 2008 by Lindsay Lohan's horrifying horror film "I Know Who Killed Me." The fallout from the film ruined Berkley's career and only recently has she clawed her way back into legitimacy on the small screen, hosting Bravo's reality show "Step It Up and Dance" and accepting a recurring role on CSI.

Despite these career advances, I was skeptical of Berkley's abilities to counsel young girls regarding their life decisions, unless she was acting in a "cautionary tale" capacity. (It seemed a bit like Henry VIII giving out marriage advice.)

Checking out her website though, I was impressed. While I clearly don't fall into Berkley's target market -- I'd guess 11 to 14 year-old girls based on the site's color scheme-- I can appreciate the effort she's put into creating what can best be described as an online self-esteem workshop. Tween girls will be instantly attracted to the layout of the site, designed like a stereotypical girl's diary, covered in doodles of hearts and clouds and navigated by a fairy version of Berkley, complete with Tinkerbell-green wings and a magic wand. No saccharine detail has been spared and everything is bathed in pink so that one gets the impression that someone vomited Pepto Bismol all over the server. Not that that's a bad thing.

Looking beyond the cutesy details and the irritating refrain of Corrine Bailey Rae's pseudoinspirational "Like A Star" playing in the background, Berkley may be onto something. Not that the website is anything particularly innovative (how many different ways are there to tell teenage girls to eat healthily, to apply "natural" makeup and to put their girlfriends before boys?) but Berkley's story could be. Evolving from a failed teen star to a motivational figure for young girls is a tough turnaround and I'd like to give Berkley the benefit of the doubt.

If nothing else, the actress has hopefully learned a lot from her professional journey. She should at least have some solid advice to offer and I imagine she knows a thing or two about what movie offers to turn down.

However, news recently broke that Berkley will be co-starring in the upcoming "S Darko," the sequel to the 2001 cult hit "Donnie Darko." So maybe not.

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