On the bright and sunny Sunday afternoon ofSeptember 17th, twenty-thousand New Yorkersgathered in Central Park’s East Meadow todemand the end of genocide that has reportedlyclaimed 400,000 lives and left 2.5 million dis-placed in an African country few Americans canfind on a map.

The Central Park event was sponsored andcoordinated by the “Save Darfur Coalition.” Basedin Washington, D.C., it is an alliance of more than170 faith based, humanitarian and human rightorganizations.

The genocide taking place in Sudan is in aregion called Darfur. Sudan is located directlysouth of Egypt, and northwest of Ethiopia. It isapproximately the size of Texas. That so manyNew Yorkers came out to demand the end to thesuffering in Darfur speaks volumes about the seri-ousness of the situation. The United Nations hasdeclared it the greatest humanitarian crisis in theworld today.

The violence began roughly three years agowhen the non-Arab or African tribal groups look-

ing for freedom revolted against the Sudanesegovernment. In return, the ruling Islamic govern-ment gave orders to destroy all of the native peo-ple of Darfur. This mass slaughtering targetedmen, women and children. The orders of theSudanese government have been carried out by theJanjaweeds, a primarily Islamic militia made up ofAfrican Arabs.

The rally in New York City was one of manythat occurred globally on September 17th.Declared a worldwide day of action, there were 53events in 37 countries. One of the rally themeswas a call for U.N intervention: participants werewearing blue hats to symbolize the need for U.N.peacekeepers to be on the ground in Darfur to helpstem the violence.

Those in attendance shared Central Park’sEast Meadow with guest speakers, politicians andmusical groups. Noteworthy among the politicianswas Madeleine Albright, the former Secretary ofState under President Bill Clinton.

Secretary Albright, the United States’ firstfemale secretary of state, had some choice com-ments for the crowd. Citing America’s apparentreluctance to get involved in the internal politicsof the Sudanese, she stated, “George Bush is notfocusing on the rest of the world just on Iraq!” Shealso made it very clear that if there was oil inDarfur, she believes our president would be there.As Secretary Albright exited the stage she held herhead high, energetically chanting with the crowd,“Save Darfur! The Time Is Now!”

United States 2006 Olympic gold medalistspeed skater, Joey Cheek was also one of thespeakers at the rally. He asked the crowd if itwould be willing to spare 21,000 U.N. troops, the

approximate number it would take to possibly puta stop to the genocide. In comparison, he notedthat there are more than 140,000 American troopscurrently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr. Cheek believes the fight to stop the geno-cide in Darfur is not just an American responsibili-ty; it must be an international one. “It is apparentthat the Sudanese government can not stop what ishappening. Therefore, the rest of the world muststep in,” he said.

One of the more emotional points of the dayoccurred during Academy Award winning actressMira Sorvino’s speech. It was with tearful eyesthat she spoke of drinking wells intentionally poi-soned with dead bodies. Speaking of those inpower in Sudan she explained, “The governmentshould be like a family. It’s supposed to take careof their people and keep them safe. It is not sup-posed to kill and torture them.” In her closing, Ms.Sorvino begged, “Let the women of Darfur bemothers and the children be children.” Others whospoke at the rally were not as recognizable asAlbright or Sorvino, but their message was just asimportant. Simon Deng, a former slave of theSudanese government preached to the crowd “It istime to walk the walk, not talk the talk.” Rep.Charles Rangel (D-NY), Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ)and David Rubenstein of the Save DarfurCoalition also took turns speaking to the crowd.Musical performers included Citizen Cope, multi-platinum duo Big & Rich, and the musical phe-nomenon O.A.R.

I had the opportunity to interview JeffKovick, a spokesperson for the Save DarfurCoalition. Stressing the importance of college stu-dents being actively involved, he explained,“College students have historically been active inprogressive causes like this. It is very importantthat they recognize this as one of the most impor-tant issues of their day.”

While it was suggested that students can andshould call their elected representatives in theCongress, there are two websites for people whoare interested in taking part in stopping the geno-cide: the Save Darfur Coalition at www.savedar-fur.org, and the STAND (Students Taking ActionNow: Darfur) website at www.standnow.org.

P RO D U C E D B Y A N D F O R T H E S T U D E N T S O F Q U E E N S B O RO U G H C O M M U N I T Y C O L L E G E

Volume XV, No. 40 October 2006

INSIDE COMMUNIQUÉTo Be or Not to Be Present in Class

Journalistic Ethics

MySpace – Routine or Addiction

Interracial Relationships

Is McDonald’s to Blame?

Steroids and Personal Enhancement

What is Ramadan?

College Textbooks Cost too Much!

Looking for Parking at QCC

The Youth Vote

How Real is “Reality” TV?

Beyonce’s B’day

Samuel L. Jackson Gets Snaked

Why We Fight

Not Enough Help to Go Around

The “Manning” Bowl

QCC Sports News

And Much More Inside!

Save Darfur Now: Voices to Stop GenocideBY ANNA WINWOOD

MySpace AddictionPAGE 3

“Let the women of Darfur be mothers and the

children be children.”

Peace Rally Participants at the “Save DarfurNow” rally in NYC on September 17, 2006.

A teary-eyed Mira Sorvinospeaks to the crowd on theimportance of a U.N. intervention in Darfur.

2 Queensborough Communiqué, October 2006

These editorials represent the opinion of the Editorial Board of Communiqué, which is solely responsible for its contents. These are not necessarily the viewsof the Queensborough Community College administration and staff. Communiqué welcomes any letters or editorials for the population of QCC. Submit workto Communiqué, H-428. The Editorial Board reserves the right to edit letters for spatial needs and grammatical accuracy.

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CCCCOOOOMMMMMMMMUUUUNNNNIIIIQQQQUUUUÉÉÉÉHumanities Building, Room 42856th Ave. and Springfield Blvd.

Bayside, N.Y. 11364(718) 631-6302

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Claude CopelandRaymond DimlaMichael Edwards

Irfan FarmanJillian Gueits

Ormonde-Ann HacksawYongzhi Huang

Mohammad JamalNasratull Mir

Danielle MorgansternXinqi Qiao

Trisha RamdihalTiffany Seabrook

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Michael VillacresAnna Winwood

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Andrew Levy

A question that I would like to pose to thestudents, faculty and staff of QCC for debate iswhether or not it is important to be present inclass? Now, I wouldn’t recommend missing half asemester’s worth of classes, but why is it that weare limited to approximately four absences perclass and why it is that teachers have the authorityto fail or lower a student’s grade based uponattendance? Shouldn’t the grades received forone’s work in class determine the final coursegrade one receives rather than one’s attendancerecord?

There are many sides to this argument. Oneside can argue that grades are more importantthan attendance. With certain classes, teachers areexplaining to students’ things they may alreadyknow and understand. Oftentimes, the class isintended merely as prep time for tests. If you aredoing very well on all of your tests, participatingin class when present, and understanding thework, why do you have to come to every classsession? When the teacher is explaining work youalready know, why do you have to use your timewaiting for the rest of the students to catch up?

Another side of the debate is the argumentthat requiring attendance teaches students how toapply this behavior to the workplace, and to actresponsibly in the so-called real world. There’salso the risk that without an attendance require-ment the percentage of students failing classeswould increase, and that absences are highly dis-ruptive to other students who do attend classes ona regular basis. By being present in class, you canpractice the work which increases your abilitiesand understanding in the subject. The crux of thisargument is again that college students areresponsible for their own actions. Attending col-lege is an option and if a student wants to do wellshe will commit herself. If you don’t understand asubject, you should take the responsibility uponyourself to attend class and learn it. Students haveto experience the consequences for their actions,

whether positive or negative. However, studentsshould not be failed because of their attendancerecord.

The CUNY guidelines for academic institu-tions are similarly applied to all CUNY colleges.One of the CUNY schools, City College of NewYork, published its reasons for an attendance pol-icy. The primary reason why attendance is givensuch high priority is because the college is com-mitted to maintaining an institution of the highestacademic integrity. In order to keep that integrity,it depends in part upon the student’s full partici-pation in all aspects of the curriculum:

Your time in class is valuable and irre-placeable. It is your only chance to inter-act with your instructor and your fellowstudents. It is your only chance to beinvolved in learning activities that can-not be replicated out of class… You areallowed two weeks of absence because itis understood that unanticipated thingsoccasionally happen such as illness orfamily emergencies. It is unfortunate tomiss even that number of classes, but weunderstand that such unanticipated reali-ties of life are not usually under yourcontrol. Lateness also cuts into valuableclass time, and most instructors willcount late arrival, later return frombreaks and early departures as partialabsences.

The above statement represents CityUniversity’s reasoning for its attendance policy;however, is it one that is justified? Should therebe a mandated attendance policy for college stu-dents or should the decision to be or not to be inclass be left to the student’s discretion? Shouldstudents be allowed more absences without penal-ties?

Approaching QCC students on campus aboutthe above questions, a majority of the 25 studentsinterviewed answered that they would prefer tonot have an attendance policy, but if one must beinstated it should allow more absences. The stu-dents shared their thoughts on the topic and had alot of questions about how class grades would bedetermined without an attendance policy. Themost popular questions follow, with answers rep-resenting my personal perspective on this issue:

What happens if a majority of students don’tshow up?

It’s all up to the students. If the students aredoing well on exams and homework and prove itduring the sessions they do attend, then I don’tsee a problem with them not coming to class. Ifthe students make the wrong decisions and aredoing poorly in class, and as understanding thework was their responsibility but they didn’tmake it a high priority, then they have decided tofail. College is optional. If a student decides toattend college, they should be able to decidewhether or not they need to attend class sessions.

How will students know when to come to classfor exams?

It’s not hard for students to be informed ofimportant dates. We have Tigermail, a syllabus,and office hours for professors. If there’s achange in the syllabus, the teachers might inform

To Be or Not to Be Present in Class?BY TRISHA RAMDIHAL

Liars, lies, deceivers, deceit, manipulators,and manipulation. From the mid-1990s to the pre-sent, critics of journalism and journalists them-selves have called into question the practice, ifany, of ethics in journalism. Whether it is thepress, broadcast or internet journalism, criticshave called for a return to higher standards onlymade possible by following journalism’s profes-sional code of ethics. How can reporters, as mes-sengers of the good and the bad, as story tellers,be trusted if they do not report the truth? If theydo not uphold the highest standards of conductand professionalism?

According to the Oxford AmericanDictionary, a journalist is a person who writes fornewspapers or magazines or prepares news to bebroadcast on radio or television. The next questionis: What are ethics? Ethics are the moral princi-ples that relate to a form of conduct. If youGoogle “ethics,” one web site keeps popping up:the Society of Professional Journalists. SPJbelieves it is a journalist’s duty to inform the pub-lic by being truthful and fair, honest and thorough,and that a journalist’s creditability is directly tiedto her personal integrity. These are the values SPJpromotes. The Society’s Code of Ethics consistsof the following ethical principles: (1) Seek truth

and report it; (2) Minimize harm; (3) Act indepen-dently; (4) and finally, be accountable. The firstprinciple means that journalists should be fairwhen gathering and reporting the news. In otherwords, journalists should be aware of their ownbiases so that they do not distort the credibility oftheir reporting. Second, ethical reporters shouldtreat sources, subjects, and colleagues as thosethat deserve respect. The third principle meansthat a journalist needs to be free of any interest orgroup. The only goal is to report honest and fairstories. And fourth, journalists are accountable totheir readers, listeners, viewers, and to each other.

Investigators who conducted research intoJohn Mark Karr’s life, to see if his claim of beingJonBenet Ramsey’s killer was true or not, hadsomeone in the journalism community to thankfor learning of this suspect’s identity. A Coloradojournalism professor named Michael Tracey com-municated with Karr by e-mail and telephone overa four year period. Professor Tracey’s communi-cations is what led the Boulder County DistrictAttorney’s office to track down Karr in Thailandand have him extradited to the United States ofAmerica. The District Attorney even had this tosay about Professor Tracey’s actions: “...he did agreat service.” However, educators criticized

JOURNALISTIC ETHICSBY MICHAEL VILLACRES

continued on page 7continued on page 14

3Queensborough Communiqué, October 2006

With an ABC7 news article of November2005, “Online Social Network An UndisputedGiant,” reporter Janelle Wong filed one of the firstmainstream news reports on the phenomenonknown as MySpace: “MySpace is a free websitewhere members sign on to see and be seen…Users create their own elaborate pages called pro-files with as much intimate detail as they want toshare. All you have to do is click on their pictureto learn about their life.” MySpace is a networkcreated for people to visit with friends, findromantic relationships, and also to meet and chatwith new people. By now, many of you haveheard of MySpace and possibly have your ownMySpace account. If you are a teen or in yourtwenties MySpace is the place to be. If you didn’tthink MySpace was popular, Ms. Wong reportedlast November that it got more views a day thanGoogle or America Online. Today, MySpace isalso used for advertisements. For example, a newcell phone called the “Helio” offers MySpaceMobile where you can sign on to MySpace directfrom your cell phone. The Helio/MySpace pack-age (with 1000 minutes, and free nights and week-ends) will run you around $800.

Wong has reported MySpace celebrated itssecond anniversary in 2005 with a sold out concertin Los Angeles. The bands that played had goodreason to be as more than 500,000 bands and per-formers are now using MySpace to promote them-selves. I also have a MySpace account; I heard

about it from a good friend who told me to checkit out. And I have friends that are MySpace crazy;at a family barbecue this past summer a friend wason MySpace from 10pm to 5am. I asked what hecould have possibly been doing for that long andhe told me, “I’m addicted to MySpace. I have tochange my profile everyday so I can get morefriends.” Janelle Wong interviewed Rada Iranovfrom San Francisco who said, “You start to getaddicted, and it’s almost like voyeurism. Youwant to see what everyone is doing, what kind ofnew pictures they have put up and you just can’tstop.”

There are some people who feel MySpaceisn’t addictive at all, a friend of mind from QCCtold me, “I’m not addicted to MySpace. I just goon to keep in touch with people I grew up withand also to check my mail.” I call that the “dailyroutine”. I have asked numerous people who havea MySpace account, “Is MySpace addictive?”There were comments have ranged from “Atfirst,” or “No, it’s just something new to do, sortof a fad for the moment kind of thing.” Still, Ihave observed friends arguing: “Why didn’t youleave me a comment on my page?”

Here are five ways to ascertain if you are aMySpace addict:

1) You go on MySpace two or more times aday.

2) You change your background page andpictures every week.

3) You add friends to compete with friends tosee who has the most friends.

4) You shake your head in disgust whensomeone says, “I don’t have a MySpace.”

5) You take pictures in a mirror to put on yourMySpace profile.

So tell me, are you addicted to MySpace?

Come Join Us!!!Wednesdays

Humanities Building Room H-1101pm – 3pm

Musicians _ Photographers _ Dee Jays _ PromotersDesigners _ Recording Engineers _ Writers _ You

Interracial relationships, since the late 60’s,have gained popularity in our generation, openingour minds and hearts to new, exciting, and differ-ent ways that we socialize with each other. Thejoining of two people, from two different cultures,has brought a new sense of awareness, giving ussuch phrases as “Love is Colorblind,” and “LoveKnows No Bias.” No matter which way you lookat it, interracial relationships have become analmost acceptable, tolerated, and sometimes wel-comed part of American society, perhaps especial-ly in New York City. No matter what borough youmay come from, or the neighborhood that youreside in, romantic unions of mixed races are cele-brating the love.

For me, being in an interracial relationshiphas opened my eyes to the matter of race, and howmy family, friends, and I have felt about it. Beforemeeting my boyfriend, I had primarily dated“white guys,” and had never considered datingoutside of my race. However, once I met Gabriel,my opinions changed drastically. Being in aninterracial relationship has helped end the stereo-types about different races that had over the yearsslowly taken root in my mind. I realize now, thatthe biggest mistake that we, as human beingsmake, is judging people based upon perceived dif-ferences.

When I met Gabriel, way back in 2004, whenI was sixteen, and he was eighteen, I neverexpected to fall in love with someone of Hispanicheritage. He comes from a beautiful Puerto Ricanfamily in the Bronx, whereas I come from a lovelyfamily of German descent from Queens. Thedivergence’s in our family’s lives that we haveexperienced are overshadowed by the strong lovethat continuously grows between us: How can Ipossibly judge him, or anyone, by the languagethat he speaks, the music that his family plays, orthe food that is served in his home? Although hisculture may be different than mine, everythingthat I learn from him builds up my own identity.Gabriel, who attends Queensborough CommunityCollege with me, says that, “I have an opportunity

to explore new things. Culture, language, food.It’s a new perspective, and it can be even morepriceless than dating someone of your own race.You don’t have to be of the same cultural back-ground to have love for someone.”

New York City houses one of the world’sbiggest proverbial melting pots. Everywhere youlook, on campus, on the street, in your neighbor-hood there is a diverse mixture of the peoples ofthe world. I wanted to know how other people ofmy generation felt about interracial relationships,whether they were in one or not, and their opinionas to whether or not society has become moreopen to mixed couples. I spoke to Giselle Castro,18, who attends St. John’s University. She is ofPeruvian and Colombian descent, and feels veryopen to interracial relationships. “I’m fine with it.As long as the guy and I are compatible, I have noproblems with race. He has to be open-minded aswell.” While on St. John’s University campus, Inoticed an interracial couple, Frankie Grima, 23,who is Maltese, and his girlfriend, StephaniePooran, 20, who is Guyanese. I asked them whatthe biggest differences and rewards were in aninterracial relationship. “It’s something different.We’re going to visit Frankie’s family in his homecountry to see relatives -- it’s an opportunity tolearn and experience a different culture.” The neg-ative aspect was how they are sometimes viewedwhen they step outside. “We notice it, but webrush it off. No one can do anything about it.”When asked why people have such biases, Frankiereplied, “They’re just miserable about them-selves.”

The problem that most couples face in aninterracial relationship is how society oftentimesviews racial diversity as something that divides,and not something that can and should unify us. Infact, prior to June 12, 1967, interracial marriageswere illegal. The Supreme Court decision of“Loving v. Virginia” changed state laws that out-lawed interracial relationships and made thempunishable by law. From that date forward, June12, became “Loving Day” to celebrate the love of

diversity between couples of different races.However, it’s hard to say that much has changedsince that date in 1967. Many people still basetheir judgment of people on skin color, class, cul-ture, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation andnot on the content of an individual’s character.

Maya Pearson-Faust, 21, who currentlyattends Queens College, is African American, andher fiancé is Italian. I asked her if she thinks soci-ety is more accepting of interracial relationships.“I don’t think so. Because we still get dirty lookswhen we are together, walking around. [They]look at us in a club, of if I go to a restaurant whereI’m the only black person there. People stare, butit doesn’t bother me. People need to understandit’s 2006.” Mike, 23, a senior at St. John’sUniversity, is half African American, and halfCaucasian. His girlfriend’s race is AfricanAmerican. He is passionate in arguing against thebiases people hold regarding those who date out-side of their race. “They think that people shouldstick to their own kind. They don’t want to be‘contaminated’ by another race.” He felt thatdespite race, “Loving and caring for the other per-son” is his biggest reward in his relationship.

However, sometimes it’s not bigotry thataffect’s people’s opinions on interracial relation-ships. Angelisa Persaud, 18, who also attends St.John’s University, cannot date outside of her eth-nicity of Indo-Caribbean due to her parent’s strictviews of tradition. “They wouldn’t accept it at all.Although I do find my race and other races attrac-tive, I have to tell myself to stop because our tra-ditions are too strict. Besides, he would have avery hard time adjusting to my culture and Hindureligion.” Josephine Tsang, 18, who attendsQueens College, is Chinese. He brought up theissue of a language barrier. “My dad would prefersomeone Chinese because he doesn’t speakEnglish. I also find more in common with some-one of my own race.”

As does everything in life, an interracial rela-tionship has its ups and downs. But regardless of

Interracial RelationshipsBY DANIELLE MORGANSTERN

MySpace — A Daily Routine orPure Addiction

BY MICHAEL EDWARDS

continued on page 16

4 Queensborough Communiqué, October 2006

Have you ever known a person who hasgained massive muscle mass within two monthsor less? This person is most likely on steroids.Everybody knows about steroids and if you followsports, you know who is taking steroids in a spe-cific professional sport. Barry Bonds from theSan Francisco Giants and Floyd Landis the pro-fessional bicyclist who recently won the Tour DeFrance have both been publicly identified as abus-ing steroids. Sports players and bodybuilders,however, aren’t the only ones to use steroids;young people who have no athletic aspirations arebeginning to take steroids, not because they are ina competitive field but to improve upon theirphysical appearance.

Everybody wants a good appearance; if any-one disagrees with that idea they’re most likelylying or unhappy with their own appearance.Many people take the natural path of a high pro-tein diet and daily exercise to achieve a goodlooking appearance. Others use steroids and cheattheir way to a better look. Androgenic AnabolicSteroids, for example, give you a muscular look.Dr. Anna-M. Wroblewska, in an article she wrotefor The Journal of Psychosomatic Research, Vol.42 No. 3 in 1997, writes that over half a millionsteroid users in the United States are in highschool or in college. There are many possibleexplanations for someone deciding to skip out onconventional exercise and healthy dieting toimprove upon their appearance. Many young peo-ple are possibly intimidated by others who havegone to the gym much longer. They are intimidat-

ed by their size and how much weight they canlift. Others feel that they want to get bigger andlook better immediately. Some realize that theirgenetics alone may not help them in attaining sta-ble muscle growth. Androgenic Anabolic Steroidsincrease the synthesis of protein into muscle andincreases body mass. With protein promotingmuscle growth and with the steroids to increasethe synthesis of protein into muscle, there is noeasier way to a muscular look.

Obtaining steroids is a simple task. GreggValentino, a bodybuilder and a former steroiduser, interviewed in a Learning Channel docu-mentary states, “… there isn’t anybody who hastaken steroids who hasn’t sold steroids”. If ateenager is on steroids, what will prevent this per-son from selling the product to friends? This isone way that steroid abuse spreads like wildfire.

Mike Greenberg from ESPN’s Mike andMike in the morning told everyone at his booksigning “When you look good, you feel good”which is true on many cases. After seeing resultsdue to taking steroids, this person must feel betterabout him or herself that they’ve gotten greatresults in no time. They can enjoy a better sociallife, a better sex life and just plain feel betterabout themselves. People will begin to notice youmore, even if it is from a positive or a negativeview. For the people that go to the gym, they willbe able to lift more and spend more time flexingin the mirror. Some of these things last for a whileor even shorter, because there are many great risksthat come with taking steroids and the younger

people wouldn’t know about them.They say that they will take a little, but they

never do that because they get addicted. Beingyoung and taking steroids is a big risk, especiallyfor a cosmetic look. Dr. Anna-M. Wroblewskastates that there are downsides of taking steroidsaffect you physically and mentally. When youtake steroids, only the muscle is affected forgrowth. The tendons and bones can be badly dam-aged due to an overload to the musculoskeletalsystems. Also when someone takes steroids, thisperson tends to be more violent and aggressive.Many use the term “roid rage” to describe this.Other bad side affects are hallucinations anddepression. If you’re reading this and takingsteroids and decide to quit right now, it won’t bethat easy. A person suddenly discontinuingsteroids will lose their mass that they have gainedin rapid time. Skin does not stick to the musclesquickly, so a person discontinuing steroids willhave sagging skin. The side effects are very scary,but even scarier when you are younger becausethe younger you are, the more it will affect you.

There are more and more steroid users everyyear, plenty of them being teenagers. By takingthis risk of using steroids they would be sacrific-ing well-being for muscular looks. This is a prob-lem that probably won’t go away because steroidsare banned in the United States and you cannotban a product or substance even more than it is. Ifyou want a better appearance, do it the hard waybecause it will pay off in the end. Steroids havebad side effects when being used long term.

Steroids: Uses other than PerformanceEnhancement

BY RAYMOND DIMLA

Eating at fast food restaurants has been anintegral part of American’s lifestyle for decades.Fast food restaurants are everywhere, and are con-venient when you want something to eat right thenand there, but there is a health risk that attends afast-food diet. McDonald’s, for example, is aworld wide corporation known for its Big Macs,Happy meals, fries and shakes. In New York Cityalone, there are over 80 conveniently locatedMcDonald’s. Many Americans who have gainedweight eating McDonald’s hamburgers and frieshave blamed the corporation for their weight gain,but is McDonald’s truly to blame? Is McDonald’s,along with other fast-food chains, responsible forAmerican’s obesity problem, or is it the individualconsumer that should be held accountable?

The McDonald’s corporation spends a vastfortune on media advertising. Advertisement isimportant to McDonald’s because it’s what con-vinces people to come in and try out the differentvariety of meals. In addition, it seems impossibleto walk around the city without running into aMcDonald’s, many of which are open 24 hours.But just how responsible is McDonald’s for thegrowing epidemic of obesity sweeping the nation?When entering a Mc Donald’s, for example, youare welcomed to ask for a nutritional fact sheetwith information on all the food items beingserved, and you also can obtain information onwhat ingredients are in the meals. Not even McDonald’s hides the fact that its food is not thehealthiest thing to eat, so why blame it for theindividual’s bad eating habits?

Americans today tend to blame others fortheir actions, rather than looking within them-selves. Many just have no will power and feel thateveryone else is to blame. In America over 60%of the population is overweight or obese; NewYork ranks 34th in the United States for adultobesity. Who is really to Blame? According to an

article published in 2004 by Roberta K. Glassner,Esq., two young girls tried to sue Mc Donald’s fortheir rapid weight gain and health related prob-lems. One of the plaintiffs, Jazlyn, who was 19years old, weighed 270 pounds at 5’6. Her dietconsisted of eating McDonald’s twice a day: She ate an EggMcMuffin for breakfast and a Big Mac, SuperSized fries and an apple pie for dinner. The othergirl, Ashley, was 14 years old who was 4’10 andweighed 170 pounds. She ate McDonald’s happymeals every chance she could get. Together theycharged McDonald’s for “misleading advertis-ing”, “deceptive advertising”, and “not providingnutritional and fat information”. Samuel Hirshrepresented Jazlyn and Ashley in their caseagainst McDonald’s; he stated that McDonald’sproduced advertisement that forced children intoover eating fast food through peer pressure.McDonald’s attorney Anne G. Kimball counteredwith “People don’t go to sleep thin, and wake upobese”. In the end, the judge ruled in favor ofMcDonald’s because Judge Sweet decided Jazlynand Ashley did not provide enough information toconnect Mc Donald’s to their recent weight gain.The case was then dismissed.

A number of people also criticizeMcDonald’s for their targeted advertisement.According to a recent 2006 MSNBC.com article,efforts to help obese children are floundering:“One in five children are predicted to be obese bythe end of the decade.” McDonald’s targets chil-dren in their advertisements, luring them to thenearest McDonald’s. In 2001 McDonald’s hadspent a total of 1.4 billion dollars on their adver-tisement, spent directly on media advertising. Asurvey of American school children also foundthat 96% could identify Ronald McDonald; “Theonly fictional character with a higher degree ofrecognition was Santa Claus,” states Eric

Schlosser author of Fast Food Nation. Delving into the obesity problem, Super Size

Me was a documentary that showed the dangers ofeating McDonald’s. Morgan Spurlock was theman that took the challenge, eating McDonald’sfor 30 days straight to see the impact McDonald’sfood would have on him. Interestingly, while onthis project he found that many Americans ateMcDonald’s more than twice a week. Spurlock’sbegan his project at 185 pounds with 11% bodyfat; at the end of his thirty day McDonald’ssplurge he weighed 210 pounds with 18% bodyfat. When eating this food he felt that it wasaddictive, without it he would often get headachesand felt his craving increasing everyday.

Blaming McDonald’s for being overweight isa decision that you would have to make for your-self. The facts are there, but there is a health riskthat follows. Don’t blame a corporation for theweight gain that one could have avoided. Blamethe individual that goes to McDonald’s.

Is McDonald’s to Blame for your Obesity?BY TIFFANY SEABROOK

5Queensborough Communiqué, October 2006

When Holidays arethought of most people think ofChristmas, Easter, YomKippur, Rosh Hashanah, andeven Kwanzaa, which is a holi-day one hears more about thanRamadan. Ramadan is themost “obscure” holiday inAmerica, the mysterious holi-

day you have heard of but don’t know any detailsabout. It is an unknown perhaps “forgotten” holi-day many people in America are completely igno-rant of; however, as more Muslims become furtherintegrated into the fabric of American society, itbecomes more important to understand whatRamadan is.

Growing up as a Muslim child in the UnitedStates the time of the year that seemed most con-fusing and alienating could be the Christmas holi-day season. The time of sharing gifts, drinkingeggnog, surrounded by children’s joy and laughter,and getting together with the family, not to men-tion Santa Claus, was something I could not revelin, being Muslim. I remember all my friends inschool bragging about what they were getting forChristmas, while I kept quiet and was grateful tobe receiving a vacation for a holiday I didn’t cele-brate. Something I failed to realize as a child wasthat as a Muslim I had my own holiday, Ramadan.

Though it is not a holiday in the sense ofChristmas, or Easter, the holy month of Ramadanis a time of intense prayer and serious self-reflec-tion. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslimcalendar, which uses a lunar calendar that marksthe new month with the sighting of a new moon.Because a lunar calendar is about 10 to 11 daysshorter than a solar calendar, Ramadan shifts to

different months and days every year, so unlikeChristmas, there is no fixed day Ramadan begins.The word “Ramadan” is a derivative of an Arabicword ramida or ar-ramad, which means scorchingheat and dryness. Celebrated by over a billion peo-ple all over the world, and some 8 to 10 millionpeople in the United States, Ramadan is definitelya holiday observed by more than a handful of peo-ple. It is a holiday, or I should say a month of seri-ous prayer and religious contemplation, that prac-tices and embraces prayer, fasting, and charity, andunlike its Jewish and Christian counterparts, it is aholiday that is yet to be compromised by the com-merciality of holidays in the present, and retains itsfaith and submission to God. Not to take anythingaway from any of other religion or holiday, it’s justthat you are not likely to findRamadan hats, plates, or cards ina Hallmark store. It is believedby Muslims that in 610 A.D., inthe month of Ramadan, Godrevealed the first passages of theQur’an to the prophetMuhammad. Muhammad hadbeen wandering the desert pon-dering his faith when in Mecca,which is located in Saudi Arabia, the voice of theangel Gabriel spoke to him, revealing that God hadchosen him to receive his word. Within days of hisrevelation, Muhammad found himself reciting sev-eral verses of the Qur’an.

Perhaps the most significant thing aboutRamadan is the fast that Muslims keep, alsoknown as Sawm, which is Arabic for “fast”. Noeating, drinking, smoking, or sexual activity is per-mitted during the fast between dawn and sunset,and any feelings or thoughts of violence, lust,

greed, anger, gossip, or envy is to be refrainedfrom. To be able to fast you need to be 12 yearsand older, partly why as a kid I knew next to noth-ing about Ramadan. Before sunrise Muslims areallowed to eat something when they get togetherfor Suhoor, which is a meal eaten before sunrise,and they are able to break that fast with Iftar,which is the meal that is eaten after sunset. Thebreaking of the fast at sunset is usually broken withfresh fruits, sweet drinks, and most notably sugardates. The sugar date was what the ProphetMuhammad broke his first fast with, and eversince then Muslims everywhere have been break-ing their fasts with dates. The end of Ramadan ismarked with Eid ul-fitr, the word fitr means tobreak in Arabic, and signifies not only the break-

ing of the fast, but is symbolic as itis also the breaking of all evilhabits and deeds. In the morningMuslim families attend specialmorning prayers in large gather-ings, areas such as mosques, stadi-ums, arenas, or any open areas. Aspecial prayer is said in themosques, which is the Takbir.These prayers, along with the Eid

holiday are all dependent on the sighting of themoon on the eve of the last day of Ramadan.Usually after morning prayers families visit friendsand relatives, have dinner together, and evenexchange gifts. The very first Eid was celebratedby the Prophet Muhammad, his relatives, follow-ers, and companions in 624 CE after the Battle ofBadr.

Fasting is both important and necessary forMuslims, it is one of the five pillars of Islam, the

What Exactly is Ramadan?BY IRFAN FARMAN

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Have you noticed how expensive college textbooks are this semester? Iam pretty sure that most students have asked this question every semester.While it is difficult to understand the exorbitant cost of textbooks it is impor-tant to understand why costs have risen, and if possible to find ways to makethem more affordable.

Studies of the high cost of college textbooks by the State Public InterestResearch Group, the National Association of College Stores, and We-Publish.com, among other institutions, have pinpointed a number of factorsthat contribute to the rise in cost. One of the most important factors is the spi-raling pattern of inflation that we have being living with the past severalyears. Another major factor is that many small publishing companies are buy-ing or merging with others. The monopoly that some big companies have hasdecreased the overall competition in the textbook market. In economics weknow that if there is a consumer there will always be a demand. The largercompanies take full advantage of their market share, extracting from theirconsumer base as much profit as possible. One more explanation for theincrease in prices of the textbooks is that most of the books have to be updat-ed on a regular basis, with new editions being marketed even when some newversions of old textbooks have only a few paragraph changes or minor varia-tions from one chapter to another. Any one of the above reasons can raise theprice of a textbook, and when all factors are at play at the same time the risein prices really begins to hurt.

The first thing that one needs to know is that many of the books availablethrough the campus bookstore are overpriced. For example, if NewsReporting and Writing is priced at $73.35 in the campus store, why not shopat Amazon.com where the same book could be purchased for $45.25 – a sig-nificant savings.

Textbooks are available on the internet through several different web-sites, as well as from traditional booksellers like The Strand in New YorkCity, which sells every book in the store (all 18 miles of them) at discountedand sale prices. In addition, many textbooks are used again and again everysemester. Students are better off talking with friends that have already taken acourse and either borrowing or buying used textbooks from one another. Oneof my classmates, Lorena, acquired her Italian class textbook in that way. It isalso a very good idea to find out prior to the start of the semester what booksyou are going to need. In this way you can purchase them in advance, and

save yourself time and money. Textbooks are not the only things that are becoming increasingly expen-

sive; tuition and the price of gas are also on the rise. Therefore, it’s importantto spend wisely so that you can have your textbooks when you need them,and not after assignments have already been handed out. What every studentknows is that textbooks will be required every semester, and sometimes onlya third of the required texts are used in class! When it comes to purchasingcollege textbooks it doesn’t pay to be penny-wise and pound foolish. Do yourresearch – you might save enough to afford a nice night out on the town!

Looking for Parking at QCCBY NASRATULLAH MIR

The day I came to register at Queensborough Community College, Icouldn’t find any place to park my car on the nearby streets. At that time Ithought that maybe next time I could park my car on campus, but I soon real-ized that this would be impossible. From the day that I enrolled on January 6,2005 up to the present, October 2006, I have found it to be nearly impossibleto find convenient parking at QCC. On more than one occasion, I have had topark my car one mile from the campus, which is why I am sometimes late toclass. I have noticed that nearly every student has a similar problem with park-ing. And when there is bad weather it is almost impossible to make it to classon time. To further exacerbate the problem, many streets in the surroundingneighborhood also have limited parking times and much of the available park-ing space is in front of garages. According to the campus security officers,most of the parking space on campus is reserved for faculty and staff membersonly. That means there are few parking spots for students inside the campus.

I have interviewed a professor, and a student in regard to the issue of stu-dent parking at QCC. Professor Laura Freedgood said, “The parking situationfor some students on this campus is woefully inadequate. There are clearly notenough parking spaces for the number of students who need them. I say thisbecause 1) I see cars lined up outside of parking lots, waiting for what seemsto be a long time to get in, and 2) students often come to my classes latebecause they were waiting to find parking”. A QCC student, Nhora Beltran,says that, “I always have problems looking for parking. I have to park my car7 or 8 blocks away from the college.” Nhora believes that the college mustpay further attention to and solve this matter so that prospective students, whodo not rely on public transportation, are not discouraged from attending QCC.

Ellen F. Hartigan, Vice President for Student Affairs, has been sympathet-ic to student concerns regarding parking and likes the idea that QCC considerconstruction of a parking garage. However, the Vice President explained theextremely long process necessary for Queensborough Community College toseek approval and funding for such a project.

As we know, each year the number of new students entering CUNYincreases and the available parking space decreases accordingly. Most col-leges have parking areas expressly for students. QCC is a very respectable col-lege and it is close to many other schools and institutions. These institutions,however, also take up public parking spaces. What I suggest is that QCC buildunderground parking lots or a parking building. The college should charge asmall fee for parking which would increase the school’s revenue. In responseto my proposal, Dr. Freedgood states that, “Certainly building a garage exclu-sively for students would alleviate this problem.” Developing further space forstudent parking would help pay for the expenses of the school and it wouldhelp the students immensely.

Why College Textbooks are so Expensive, and WhatStudents Can Do about It

BY NHORA BELTRAN

others being prayer 5 times a day (Salat), declaration of faith (Shahada), chari-ty (Zakat), and pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj). It also creates a feeling of empathytowards those without food or drink, and reinforces the suffering and plight ofthe poor, while at the same time gives praise, glory, and total submission toGod. Ramadan is more than a holiday; it is a time that Muslims everywhererepent and seek total absolution from God and only God. It is a time for a per-son to wash and cleanse the spirit from any wrong-doings and sins of theirpast. For example, if relatives have a family squabble Ramadan is the time toend it and make peace; if friends have a falling out it is a time to rekindle theirfriendship. The consciousness of the Muslim people comes together as a unitduring Ramadan, giving their faith, glory, and submission to the all-knowing,all mighty creator of all, Allah. Here in America, Ramadan is yet to be giventhe proper amount of attention and respect. People should be less ignorant, andmore knowledgeable when concerning Ramadan. In addition, Muslim studentsand workers should be given time off when it is necessary for them to take avacation, as during Eid-Al-Fitr. Muslim people are becoming more numerousin the United States, so to understand Ramadan as a holiday or a momentousholy month should be an imperative and an important part of bridging the gapthat non-Muslims and Muslims seem to have. This year Ramadan beganSeptember 23 and continues through October 23rd. For more information on Ramadan visit www.usc.edu/dept/msa/fundamen-tals/pillars/fasting/tajuddin/fast_1.html

Ramadancontinued from page 5

7Queensborough Communiqué, October 2006

Out of the nearly 300 million people in the US, 15% of all eligible votersare between the ages of 18 and 25. That’s almost 30 million votes! Yet lessthan half those numbers are registered to vote, and even less cast a ballotevery year — creating a vacuum that may decisively influence legislation tocut tuition costs. Now ask yourself this: would you vote if doing so couldeventually save you thousands of dollars?

College costs have soared over the last decade, with state governmentscutting college budgets and student aid, forcing tuitions to rise and families totake out larger loans; as a result, student debt has nearly doubled over thesame period. Will you be one of the nearly 40% of college graduates that findthemselves with a big federal loan to pay back after they graduate?

And it’s not getting any better: this past July, Congress approved yetanother interest raise, increasing almost two points from 4.75% to 6.54%, achange certainly better suited for banks than college students. So why are we,the would-be educated, the college age population, being shoved into a cor-ner? It’s simple: political analysts, the ones who tell politicians where tospend their time and money campaigning, often overlook or just outrightignore the youth population — because year after year, election after election,not enough of us vote.

Take a look at the senior citizens for a moment: every year they come outto vote in droves, maybe because they don’t have much else to do, butbecause they vote, politicians dare not mess with Medicare or Medicaid. Bycomparison, the 18-25 age group is woefully underrepresented.

But not all hope is lost: in the 2004 Presidential Election, the youth hadthe biggest turnout since we first earned the right to vote in 1971; and it’s par-ticularly important for us to continue the trend this year, as the result of theupcoming election can affect many of us directly.

One of the important issues being debated is HR 5319, a.k.a. the“Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006.” This Act, if passed, would effec-tively ban all chat and social networking websites (MySpace, Friendster,Facebook, AIM, etc.) in public schools and libraries. Students are bound tohave differing opinions regarding this, so let your voice be heard, because asof this writing Congress has yet to hear testimony from anyone under the ageof 30 regarding a law designed to protect the youth!

And another, more financially important piece of legislation is HR 5150,the “Reverse the Raid on Student Aid Act of 2006.” If passed, interest rateson student loans would be cut in half — the typical student borrower, $17,500in debt, would instantly save over $5,000 in interest!

Finally, as you read these words the gubernatorial election is fastapproaching, with all three candidates bringing different ideas about taxes andschool budget reform that will affect college students directly. DemocratSpitzer promises to invest more in SUNY/CUNY and to lower tuition;Republican Faso wants to simplify the school funding formula and raise edu-cator quality; Libertarian John Clifton wants to eliminate taxes: income, sales,and everything else, completely. As you can see each of these candidatesstand by very different ideals, and it is crucial for us to get out and vote forthose we support the most.

If you still haven’t found your reason to vote, then I must urge you again,because every vote counts! The fiasco in Florida during the 2000 PresidentialElection (where Bush beat Gore by less than 600 votes) demonstrates justhow important each vote is. Remember that because college-aged peopledon’t vote, they don’t get the benefits they deserve. Remember that it is peo-ple your age risking their necks in Iraq — yet most of us don’t even bothercasting the vote that might bring them home. Even if you’re disinterested inpolitics, even if you don’t care about the world around you, cast your vote forthe good of others; after all, it is a right our forefathers earned in blood.

As Kahlil Gibran once said, “Safeguarding the rights of others is the mostnoble and beautiful end of a human being.” In this case, the only end youhave to be concerned about is the line in front of a voting machine.Resources:www.mobilize.org/sos Tell your representative what you think about HR 5319http://tomallen.house.gov/article.asp?id=714 Interesting facts about HR 5150http://www.johnfaso2006.com/ Fasohttp://www.spitzerpaterson.com/ Spitzerhttp://www.electclifton.org/ Clifton

The Youth VoteBY XINQI QIAO

Tracey for possibly crossing the “ethical line that keeps reporters independentfrom the government.” “To the extent he is acting as a journalist, he shouldabide by the ethical norms guiding that profession,” said Erik Ugland, anassistant professor at Marquette University and head of the Media EthicsDivision for the Association for Education in Journalism and MassCommunication, in an article available at CNEWS.CANOE.CA.

Professor Tracey is not the only member of the journalist community tocome under fire for appearing to cross the line between watching events andgetting involved in them. The host of Dateline NBC has also been criticizedfor the shows latest series about catching pedophiles. Basically, the show’shost and producers meet the pedophiles in online chat rooms, once they aresure of the person’s intentions they give the address to a camera laden housewhere the host waits for them to show. Once they enter the house he confrontsthe pedophile about his intentions, then the police make their arrest. But, fromthe standpoint of journalism’s professional code of ethics, did Dateline, andthe host, go too far by placing themselves in the story? Why didn’t they justobserve the police making the arrest, such as on the infamous show COPS?Have they crossed from being observers to enablers / players on the show?I’ve heard of the fashion police but is Dateline acting like the press police or isit the police press?

Most of us think that newspapers print whatever the writers want.According to an article in the British Medical Journal, editors are the oneswho pick and choose what goes into print. “We wanted to publish…” is whatthe editor wrote in regard to a new medical study involving blood veins. Theeditor goes on to say that they wanted to publish an editorial by an indepen-dent expert. Only that the opinion was too independent to publish so theymoved the expert’s piece to the Education section instead. To keep journaliststrue to the code of ethics newspapers use editors to enforce the ethical princi-ples of both the profession and the particular media outlet. “Editors try tothink ethically,” bold words from the editor of BMJ.

Is it as hard to find an ethical reporter as it is to find Mr. Right? Trust isearned, and then given after that. All doctors, service providers, and police-men/women take an oath that they live by a code of conduct. The President ofthe United States of America has to take an oath when he or she takes the pub-lic office. If a journalist tells the public that the tooth fairy is on strike, shouldwe believe her, just because she said so?

Journalistic Ethics continued from page 2

Nov. 7

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Adelphi University’s continued success with transfer students extendswell beyond our ease of transfer credits or wide-ranging programs of study. Nearly 80% of our transfers return for a second year or more, thanks to Adelphi’s faculty and staff who foster a supportive academic environment.

To learn more about the benefits of transferring to Adelphi, please call (516) 877-3050, email transfer@adelphi.edu, or speak with the Adelphi admissions counselor who will be attending the following event:

Fall Transfer College FairWednesday, October 18, 2006, 10:30 a.m.–7:00 p.m. Student Union Building

9Queensborough Communiqué, October 2006

May 24th, 2006. A seemingly regular Wednesday until the sun gets lowand people nationwide get ready for the SHOW. American Idol. The seasonfinale, Taylor Hicks vs. Katharine McPhee, not a Tuesday Night Fights box-ing match with two competitors going toe to toe, sending bruising blows toeach others head and body, but “real” people who get the nation’s spotlight.Taylor Hicks won the honor of being named Season 5’s American Idol afterhaving the majority of a 63 million vote tally that Wednesday night. Ofcourse, that number excludes votes that were lost or texts that could not makeit in time considering the huge voter response for this spectacular event.Fortunately, America was able to go to sleep knowing who their newAmerican Idol was for the year 2006.

Reality television is a phenomenon that has been around since the late1940s. Candid Camera, a show that has made several reappearances decadesafter its original conception, is considered by many to be the first “reality” TVshow. More recently, such shows as Cops, Real World, Survivor and RoadRules made reality TV a successful investment for the television industry. So,what is the real attraction of reality TV? One theory is that people like con-necting to something “real” when they watch television and not something“fake”. Another theory is that people enjoy the experience of voyeurism, seek-ing of sexual stimulation by watching others, which reality television pro-vides. These are both very debatable arguments but there is no questioning thepopularity of reality shows and the growing trend of new shows being pro-duced due to the consistent success of this TV genre.

As of late, however, people have started to grow disinterested in realityTV shows due to the predictability of the characters and outcome of certainshows. Older reality TV shows like Survivor have needed to come up withnew ideas to keep their audience. This year Survivor has a new format with 20contestants divided into four teams: the African-American, Asian, Caucasianand Hispanic tribes. Some critics fearing that television itself is a potentiallynegative influence on our society are concerned that this new format risks fur-thering racial and ethnic stereotypes, and that to see a certain teams win orlose may reiterate the idea that one race is better than another. Another factthat’s disturbing to the critics of the new Survivor show is that the publicoverall has not reacted negatively to the show’s new format. On the contrary,many fans of the show agree that it should have as many ethnicities represent-ed on the show as possible. Both sides make good arguments and it seems thatthe show has been successful with its target audience since airing onSeptember 14th. The fact, which most viewers of reality TV understand, thatproductions such as Survivor are setup and obsessively planned does notaccount for the real emotions, both good and bad, that viewers feel about thethings that they consider to be real, whether or not that reality is as “authentic”as the show might portray it to be.

Still, certain reality TV shows do not need to use such tactics for success.One thing people might forget about reality TV is even though it may make

the viewer feel good to see everyday people have a chance to be famous or getrich or meet the girl of their dream, these shows all have one goal: money.Your time spent watching their shows increases their ratings that allow themto cater to what they think you want to see more of which just amounts tomore dollars for them. Now, most people are aware of this fact but do themajority of television viewers realize how much certain shows have profitedfrom their dedicated audience? American Idol, for example, is now beingcompared to such events as the Oscars and the Super Bowl. On AmericanIdol’s season finale last May, they were able to charge $1.3 million dollars fora 30 second commercial during their season’s last show. The Oscars only beatthem by $400,000 dollars charging $1.7 million dollars for any commercialsaired during their event. In comparison, American Idol has been around forjust five seasons so far but events like the Oscars and the Super Bowl havebeen on for decades. Also, during the regular season, American Idol usuallycharges about $500,000 to $700,000 for 30 second commercial airings duringtheir shows. Now, the Winter Olympics this year competed with AmericanIdol for airtime, and lost badly. American Idol had 63% more viewer ratingsduring the nights they aired when the Olympics played during their time slots.All of this would not be possible without such a strong fan base as the oneAmerican Idol surely has now being not only one the top reality TV shows butbeing rated as two of the most popular shows, their Tuesday and Wednesdayshows count separately, held the first and second spot for the 2005-2006 sea-son with a combined viewer rating of over 60 million. So, has American Idolbeen just as reciprocating to their loyal viewers?

Television can be a great tool of communicating news, entertainment,learning, and other new uses for it that people seem to be finding out every-day. Still, television should be a part of life, not the center of it. Is it more sat-isfying to see these “real” guys and girls going out meeting the love of theirlife while you are at home on your couch? When did it become so satisfyingto watch other people do the things you should have more enjoyment doingfor yourself? Television allows for people to see the world and the thingsgoing on in it. When did the world lose its substance and the only world peo-ple want to see is Reality TV?

How Real is “Reality” TV?BY CLAUDE S. COPELAND, JR.

And What a B’day it is!BY JILLIAN GUEITS

Is anything impossible for the R&B artist Beyonce? The former Destiny’sChild member took the world by storm with the release of her solo debutalbum in 2003, Dangerously in Love. The album sold over 6 million copiesworldwide, launching Beyonce’s solo career. She also hit the big screencostarring in the hit movies Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) and ThePink Panther (2006). Her next film which is set to hit the movie theatres in2006 is the highly anticipated movie Dream Girls, where she plays the charac-ter Deena Jones. In addition, the Houston native has launched a fashion line,House of Dereon, with her mother Tina Knowles.

Even though Beyonce has several projects in development in addition toher recording and performance, music remains her 1st love. Following up onthe success of Dangerously in Love, Beyonce released B’day 24 hours afterher 25th birthday in 2006. Debuting at #1 on the albums chart and #12 on thesingles chart, B’day is Beyonce’s second #1 album. “De ja Vu”, the first singleoff the album, produced by Rodney Jerkins, is in many ways part 2 of her hitsingle “Crazy in Love”, with the same up beat tempo, horns and a cameo withher main man Jay-Z.

Following “De ja Vu” is “Ring the Alarm”, the Swizz Beats producedtrack first grabs your attention with the sound of a siren. Beyonce’s aggressiveyet vulnerable vocal track had some people questioning whether the song isautobiographical. She has stated the song was inspired from her Dreamgirlscharacter “Deena Jones”. Producer Rich Harrison puts his magic to work withthe single, “Suga Mama” with lyrics like, “Come sit on my lap, I’ll do any-thing to keep you home,” and the Neptunes produced “Greenlight” gives offsexual energy with lyrics including, “For some strange reason you donepleasin me like its okay.”

On B’day, Beyonce is a self- aware woman who knows what she wantsand knows how to demand it. In “Upgrade U”, produced by Cameron Wallacefeaturing Jay-Z for the second time, she asserts her primacy, “your dynastyaint complete without a chief like me/ and I can do for you what Marvin didfor the people.” Many female artists such as Amerie and Rihanna attempt towalk in the footsteps of Ms. Knowles. But she proves she isn’t replaceable andwith the release of B’day, her fashion line House of Dereon, and Dreamgirlsshe remains on top.

“Your dynasty ain’t complete without a chief like me / and I can do for you what

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11Queensborough Communiqué, October 2006

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JOB 9-068A9 X 7

QUEENSBORO COMMUNIQUE (WED OCT 11)

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This summer a bunch of snakes slithered intotheaters, with hype up the whazoo. Snakes on aPlane was on the Internet, TV and bus shelters,receiving the royalty treatment most mega-hypedmovies get, and seemed all set to be the summer’smemorable blockbuster. But it takes a little morethan a bunch of potential belts and handbags withvenomous fangs piled into a plane to get a place inthe hallowed halls of movie goodness.

This horror/thriller/comedy is about onething: snakes on a plane. If you’ve read the title,you’ve pretty much seen it. But you’re also miss-ing out on some the fun this movie has to offer,and plenty of the bad.

Snakes starts off with a simple plot in mind:Some no-brain motocross hooligan, named SeanCombs, played by no-name new comer NathanPhillips, witnesses a Yakuza mob hit and soonmeets up with FBI detective Neville Flynn, whooffers to take him to Los Angeles to testify incourt against one of the crime syndicate’s bossesin a murder case.

After agreeing to go to court, Jackson and themotocross moron board a plane to their destina-tion, but the baddies are one step ahead of them.They plant deadly snakes in the cargo hold andprogram an explosive device to explode 2-hoursinto the flight and unleash the snakes from theirprisons upon the unsuspecting passengers. Buthere’s an interesting twist: the snakes have beenexposed to pheromones, which were sprayed onthe flowers given to the passengers, leading themto believe its mating season, and these snakes arenot just vicious, but they’re sex-driven insanesnakes! And all this is done to eliminate one man,the witness, mind you.

These big, bad Asian mobsters were able tosmuggle a small, minimally powerful explosivedevice aboard the plane, that would only blow upthe containers that held the snakes. So why notjust smuggle an explosive device on board thatcould just blow up the whole plane, and forgetabout the snakes? This reminds me of those overlydevised and quite theatrical diabolical plans thatonly a villain in a cape could concoct.

Like tying somebody to the railroad tracks.

Just shoot the guy and be done with it. It’s pre-dictable in that the plan is so far-fetched, it’salmost doomed for failure.

And I find it a bit funny that such large cargowouldn’t be inspected. How the heck can youmiss a dozen containers containing a bunch ofhissing reptiles? Is this director Robert Ellis’thoughts on airport security? Snakes is going tostir up as much controversy as Pearl Harbor andDog Day Afternoon!

This movie never lets you breathe for aminute, like a boa constrictor that has the squeezeon its prey, which, by the way, is featured amongthe quite large cast of reptilian stowaways. Snakesmoves along at a pace that is pretty exhausting,and that’s not a good thing. It’s one outrageousevent after another. Snakes are biting passengersleft and right. People are running for their lives.Sickening and disturbing images are placed beforethe audience’s eyes at every twist and turn. It’s alltoo much, and after a while I started to detest thenonstop fun (and some of the gross-out momentsreally grossed me out, a bit too much). I’m notgoing to spoil any film for you you, but let’s justsay that there are some places a snake should notbe.

Clearly, this slice of snake insanity is not ahigh-concept film, and it’s off in its own world asfar as structure is concerned. Famed director,Martin Scorsese would cringe at the sight of thisblasphemous picture, as it defiles everything thatmakes a good movie, from enthralling characterdevelopment to keen scene placement. Snakesbecomes the victim of its own layout, as it losesitself in the crowd of snakes and ultimately doomsitself with its own pulse-pounding brand of enter-tainment.

It’s a fun 1-time ride, that lets your brain goon holiday for an hour and a half, but you’re notgoing to want to return to this one afterwards,because all the shock-value is sucked dry after oneviewing. Which is the case with most forays intothe horror and thriller genres.

Speaking of being sucked dry, Ellis must be avery unimaginative man. As he has outrightadmitted to taking suggestions from message

boards users on various Snakes on a Plane fansites. It’s admirable Ellis wanted to make a moviewhere the fans had ample input, but he didn’t evencredit any of them in the film, so it’s pretty muchcreative theft. And if you really need to consultthose outside the film industry for scene ideas,you probably shouldn’t be in a director’s chair, asit borders on desperation.

In the performances realm, Jackson steals theshow, as expected, playing his usual cool andlevel headed character, who’s not afraid to get hisfeet dirty and get everybody out of a jam. Thefunny thing about the performances is nearlyeverybody, except Jackson, portrays a characterlacking in intelligence. Ellis most likely followedthe idea that has been used by most directors inrecent horror flicks; the audience wants to seemorons killed. Movies like the remake of Houseof Wax and Freddy vs. Jason, best support thisidea. As viewers can’t wait until whiny, worthlesscharacters, like Paris Hilton in Wax, are nixed.Considering that the snakes are seemingly smarterthan the majority of the passengers, it’s under-standable who got the upper hand. Survival of thefittest, right?

The movie wants to get a rise out you, and itgoes to silly extremes to get you to react, whetherit is through fear, laughter or shock. This moviewill certainly lose its impact when watched onDVD, since seeing it with a crowd of others, in atheater, with boos, hisses and laughter is the mostsatisfying way to enjoy this piece of candy.

Rating *1/2

Rating system:**** Brilliant, perfect or near-perfect film***1/2 Excellent*** Very good**1/2 Above average** Middle of the road*1/2 Not so good* Bad1/2* Terrible, how does this stuff even getreleased?No stars: Horrid, despicable film that has noregard for humanity.

13Queensborough Communiqué, October 2006

Samuel L. Jackson Gets SnakedBY BRAD COLOMBI

Snakes on a Plane. Directed by Robert R. Ellis. Rated: R. New Line Cinema.

Why do we fight? Why has America beeninvolved in so many different conflicts sinceWorld War II? Why We Fight, by Eugene Jarecki,is a documentary film that dissects America’s rea-sons for engaging in a half century of militaryconflict around the globe, from World War II tothe present day war in Iraq. This film was thewinner of the Grand Jury Award at the SundanceFilm Festival in 2005 and was recently releasedon DVD.

The title, Why We Fight, was derived fromthe 1940s documentary series by director FrankCapra on America’s reasons for entering WorldWar II. Capra’s films were shown throughout theEuropean/Mediterranean and Pacific theaters ofWWII wherever U.S soldiers were stationed. Hisfilms were designed to be “educational, inspira-tional, and recreational” and later distributed toAmerica’s public theaters to serve as a propagan-da tool to boost the morale in the war front and athome.

In Jarecki’s Why We Fight, the director doesan excellent job questioning many politicians andgovernment officials on the huge military spend-ing and build up that took place following WorldWar II. The filmmaker interviews manyWashington insiders, and evaluates public opinionon why America engages in war. One of the

researchers in the film explains the process of mil-itary spending, the buildup of military contractors,and why Congress members tolerate shady dealsin their home states. While our elected representa-tives should be leading the movement to reducethe size and influence of the military industrialcomplex, they are in fact more often protecting it.

In Why We Fight, the director claims that theUnited States, the most powerful nation in theworld, has gone off course from the original prin-ciples of our founding fathers. The U.SConstitution is not being upheld to its full extent,and the balances of power are being tipped by thecurrent administration. The United States hasbecome a military nation heading towards thesame path of the ancient Roman Empire. One ofthe interviewees in Why We Fight is an ex-CIAagent who had witnessed the destruction ofNazism, Japanese militarism, Dutch Indies, andFrench colonialism. He warned that United Statesshould be more vigilant in preventing the govern-ment from abusing its power.

Through many personal stories, this film alsoexamines political and economic interests and ide-ological factors, past and present, behindAmerica’s militarism since World War II. Someof the stories include several Iraqi civilians. Theyexpress how they felt about United States after

Operation Iraqi Freedom and what they think U.Sis heading towards. There is an eerie reminderfrom former President Eisenhower in his FarewellAddress to the Nation on January 17, 1961 onmilitary-industrial complex which serves as anironic prophecy to this nation.

Eisenhower, in his Farewell Address, stated:In the councils of government, we must guard

against the acquisition of unwarranted influence,whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disas-trous rise of misplaced power exists and will per-sist. We must never let the weight of this combina-tion endanger our liberties or democraticprocesses. We should take nothing for granted.Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry cancompel the proper meshing of the huge industrialand military machinery of defense with our peace-ful methods and goals so that security and libertymay prosper together.

What President Eisenhower meant by themilitary-industrial complex was a close and code-pendent relationship between a nation’s armedforces, its arms industry, and associated politicaland commercial interests of United States. In thissystem, the military is dependent on industry tosupply materiel and other support, while the

Why We Fight: A Documentary Film that’s Worth MentioningBY KO WEI CHEN

continued on page 16

14 Queensborough Communiqué, October 2006

On September 11, 2001 New York City facedan unspeakable act of terrorism which left thou-sands of people wounded, dead or with serious ill-nesses. For the duration of time following theattack rescue workers, volunteers, N.Y.C. Policeofficers and Firefighters unconcern for their well-being dug through heaps of dirt, sand and debristrying to find any survivors. On September 18,2001 The Environmental Protection Agency’s(EPA) press release stated, “The air is safe enoughto breath”. After weeks of working at what is nowcalled Ground Zero employees started to developheadaches, asthma, excessive coughs and prob-lems in the lungs among other health associatedtroubles. Nearly 15,000 fire fighters, police offi-cers and workers endure health problems andmany of them would continue with the problemsfor the rest of their lives.

The New York Committee on OccupationalSafety and Health has been a supporter for thefirst response rescue workers without health insur-ance. A report from N.Y.C. Department of Healthdiscussed a host of possibilities to help with the9/11-health crisis. Months after September 11ththe E.P.A. offered a complimentary programcleansing many occupants’s apartments in closeproximity to the former towers in downtownManhattan hoping to remove a large volume ofdamaging chemicals. Unfortunately the programwas unsuccessful, similar programs five yearslater have yet to be created. The U.S. Governmentgranted fifty-two million dollars to help withtreatment for the persons with health issues direct-ly related to Sept. 11, 2001. In addition, millionsof dollars contributed by the Red Cross havehelped thousands of people get medical attention

and treatment. Mayor Bloomberg has announced The

Bellevue Hospital World Trade Center TreatmentProgram, along with providing extra cash to helptenants in Brooklyn and Manhattan who were vul-nerable to the elements near the Ground Zero site.The Outreach program supplies information tothose living close to the fallen towers and sets upa line of communication between them and NewYork City officials. The program has agreed towork with other organizations in order to enlight-en the public about obtaining services andresources. In addition, a bill was signed byGovernor Pataki to guarantee responders be giventhe Line-of Duty death benefit, which states if anyresponder’s death resulted from particular ail-ments, cancer or lung disease due to contamina-tion or exposure at Ground Zero their familiesobtain the benefits. Also, the New York CityDepartment of Mental Health provides counsel-ing, outreach and instruction services to personseffected by the 9/11 tragedy.

Despite the help from New York City offi-cials many people will not receive benefits or anymedical assistance, leaving them to think the cityfailed them in their time of need. There are arange of paramedics, firefighters, rescue workersand police officers who served at Ground Zeroand attained respiratory problems. The passing offormer N.Y.P.D. detective James Zadroga hasbeen associated to lung disease acquired from thetoxins at Ground Zero, validated by an autopsy.Numerous city employees have pursued legalaction against N.Y.C. and the service providersemployed by the city stating that they ignored theworkers health in the rescue and recovery opera-

tions. N.Y.C. officials declared a cause for delayintervention is the requirement of proof relatingthe pollutants to precise indications and illnessesdeveloped by the workers. Many children whohave lost a parent on September 11, 2001 will takedelivery of health benefits, counseling and othersources of support until their 18th birthday, butthe scars from that day may never completelyheal.

Many community hospitals in or near down-town Manhattan offers aid to federal workers, vol-unteers and city employees involved in 9/11recovery, clean-up or rescue that complain of anyhealth problems acquired after Sept.11, 2001. Thefollowing are some important programs andagencies to contact regarding post-9/11 questions,assistance and concerns. The World Trade CenterMedical Monitoring program at Mount SinaiMedical Center provides confidential and freemedical exams, information on programs and ben-efit along with other medical service, 1-888-702-0630 (www.wtcexams.org). Bellevue HospitalWorld Trade Center Health Impacts TreatmentProgram 1-212-358-0295, tests and ministers tolower Manhattan residents exposed to substancesafter 9/11. The World Trade Center FederalResponder Medical Screening Program offers nocost private screenings and test results for any pre-sent, previous or retired federal worker includedwith search and rescue near the vicinity of the for-mer W.T.C. location, 1-866-214-2040(www.wtcophep.rti.org). The American RedCross Recovery Program 1-800-662-1220(www.redcross.org) gives support to those whoneed continuing care.

Not Enough Help to Go AroundBY ORMONDE-ANN HACKSHAW

This year the New York Public InterestResearch Group (NYPIRG) has a new face. Youmay recognize him as the voter registration guy, orthe person trying to keep you informed aboutimportant social issues. Jason Chin-Fatt, the newProject Coordinator, has taken the helm at theNYPIRG office here at QCC. He has come to ourcampus with a certain swagger, to reinstate theNYPIRG mission in Building Student Power.

With the new direction at the NYPIRG officethis year, we can expect a few changes. This year,the NYPIRG office is planning events that appealsto you the students, to bolster the sense of commu-nity that we have here. Even though this is a two-year school, there should be a sense of camaraderiethat others experience while going away to school.We are all here to learn and get ahead in life, butwe are also here to make friends, have fun, andmost importantly strive for change.

NYPIRG is a non-profit organization that isalso non-partisan. Whether you are republican ordemocrat, liberal or conservative, NYPIRG willfight for what we believe is right on a specificissue. NYPIRG has a reputation for being lean andaggressive. We are pluralistic, difficult to pigeon-hole, and tolerant. It is for these reasons that wecontinue to be successful at what we do. Our com-mitment to you the student is to put our resourcesinto public education, organizing, agency interven-tion, litigation, and advocacy. Most other groupsemphasize on one or two of these, and don’t use theothers at all. Through all of our projects, events,and campaigns, one factor that remains a constantto our mission – NYPIRG is committed to educat-ing students.

The concept of the Public Interest ResearchGroup (PIRG) grew out of two important socialdevelopments in the 1960’s – the student move-ment and the consumer movement. From thesemovements emerged a growing awareness fromstudent bodies. These student bodies felt that theyhad a special role to play on important issues con-

cerning students. Students across the nation soonfollowed suit after seeing the positive impact thatthese student groups could have on a range ofsocial problems to which they were invested. Forthis reason, PIRG’s now exist in over 20 statesacross the nation. The New York Public InterestResearch Group was founded in 1973 and has beenunquestionably the leading PIRG in the nationsince 1976.

In 1978, Queensborough Community Collegebecame the first two-year institution with aNYPIRG chapter. This chapter was founded on theprinciple that young people could have a realimpact on society if provided with the resourcesand skills to organize and take action. It is throughthe students that NYPIRG has been able to make adifference on this campus specifically. As in thepast, NYPIRG worked with students on the campusto help get the Q27 bus routes to stop on campus.Also in the past we have organized students fromour campus to go to a lobby day in Albany to helpprevent an increase in CUNY Tuition and cuts tofinancial aid that were proposed by the Governor ofNew York.

This year the NYPIRG office at QCC hopes tocontinue our success in fighting for social justice,advocacy, and the environment in our local com-munity as well as across the state. There are manylevels in which you the student can get involvedand NYPIRG can help. We offer internships, possi-bilities for volunteer work, and programming thatwill provide students with the tools they need tosucceed on any path that their life might take them.

The NYPIRG office is located in the StudentUnion Building on the Lower Level, directly nextto the arcade room. All students are welcome tocome and find out more information about ourorganization, internships, events, and campaigns.We hope that you all will support our aim this yearto reinstate a sense of community here at QCC aswell as Building Student Power on our campus.

Introducing the new NYPIRG ProjectCoordinator at QCC everyone via e-mail and if there are questions, the

professor can be easily contacted.Wouldn’t it be bad if only a small number ofstudents attend class per session?

Who said it’s a bad thing with a smaller num-ber of students in the classroom? I believe it’s agood thing. Isn’t there always a conflict concern-ing classes that are overpopulated and studentsnot receiving the personal attention they need?Without attendance requirements, teachers willhave fewer students to work with. If the studentsthat are behind in their coursework attend classes,they will be able to receive the extra personaltime they need. Consequently, students who dounderstand won’t have to wait in class feelingbored because the teacher is taking extra time toelucidate further. How are students going to know what’s goingon in class if attending the class will be for stu-dents who need extra time? How will weknow what topic we are on?

There could be specific days when the teach-ers will make it important, but not mandatory forstudents to attend. On these days, the professor willexplain a topic, hand out a syllabus for that week,and go over what the class will be studying. Shewill explain what will be on the next exam andwhat the students should know by the next manda-tory session. This is one example. Another optionis e-mail. The professor can send out all this infor-mation to the students via e-mail. It’ll be easier forall students to be notified and be up-to-date.

Mandatory or voluntary attendance – whichidea is most fair? It’s up to each student to decide.As a responsible college student and mature adult,I personally find attendance requirements degrad-ing. I’m old enough to make my own decisions,and if I feel I am doing so well in the class that Idon’t have to attend a session, then that should bemy decision to make. On the other hand, if I amdoing poorly I have to make it my responsibilityto attend to get extra help.

To Be or Not to Be continued from page 2

15Queensborough Communiqué, October 2006

ATTENTION POETS & FANS !!!!

THE NEXT

INTERCOLLEGIATE POETRYSLAM

AT THE BOWERY POETRY CLUB WILL BE

Saturday October 14th FROM 6P.M. TO 7:30 P.M.

(IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO READ, YOU SHOULD GET THERE AT 5:30)

The Bowery Poetry Club 308 Bowery, New York, NY 10012

212.614.0505 WWW.BOWERYPOETRY.COM

foot of First Street, between Houston & Bleecker across the street from CBGBs

F train to Second Ave, or 6 train to Bleecker

If you’re interested in coming to the slams and/or would like to participate butwant more information, please contact

Professors Joel Kuszai at jkuszai@qcc.cuny.edu or Joan Dupre at jdupre@qcc.cuny.edu

Faculty Advisors to the QCC Slam Team

QUEENSBOROUGH COMMUNITY COLLEGE

7th BI-ANNUAL MULTI-LINGUALOPEN MIC READING

Wednesday, Oct. 181:00 - 3:00 PM

Humanitites Quad

read your work or share another’s

TO SIGN UP IN ADVANCE, CONTACT PROF. JOAN DUPREJDUPRE@QCC.CUNY.EDU A SIGNUP SHEET WILL ALSO BE AVAILABLE

ON THE QUAD ON THE DAY OF THE READING

THERE IS A 5 MINUTE TIME LIMIT PER READER SO EVERYONE CAN PARTICIPATE

SPONSORED BY THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT, THE WRITER’S CLUB, THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND QCC’S STUDENT GOVERNMENT

From the FDR Drive• Take the FDR to Houston Street exit, go west on

Houston (it’s only direction you can go)• After passing the Bowery, the next “major” street is

Lafayette• Turn right (north) onto Lafayette and go one short

block to Bleecker• Turn right onto Bleecker, and a few short blocks later

make a right onto the Bowery• The club is a few doors down on the right side of

Bowery

From Broadway/7th Avenue• Go south until you hit Bleecker Street (start watching

for it after 14th Street)• Turn east onto Bleecker Street. Bleecker dead-ends on

the Bowery &• The club is a few doors down.

From Canal Street• Take Canal to Lafayette and turn north: (that will be a

left if you’re coming from the west side, a right ifyou’re coming from the east side)

• Just past Houston Street, turn right onto Bleecker• A few short blocks later make a right onto the Bowery• The club is a few doors down Bowery

From Williamsburg Bridge/Delancey St.• Continue West on Delancey St. until you hit the

Bowery• Turn right (north) on Bowery• You’ll see the club on your left shortly after crossing

Houston Street

ParkingSince the surrounding blocks are quite short, you mightwant to start looking for parking before you actually getto the club. The area is pretty safe for parking on thestreet. If you can find a space, that is.

Food @ this club?Sandwiches, soup, salads -- fresh, homemade. Deliciouspastries and desserts. Truly excellent coffee! Unusualsoft drinks. Juice, beer, wine, booze at the bar. Plenty ofupscale restaurants nearby, if your heart desires more.

defense industry depends on the government as arevenue provider. Interdependency of the mili-tary, government, weapons manufactures andtheir power become out of control. This results inunnecessary money being spent and wasted thatresults in the U.S government being against thepublic interest, and driven by profiteering for thearms industry.

The film ends with a retired Lieutenant-Colonel in the Air Force working for theDepartment of Defense expressing her disappoint-ment with the campaign of misinformation thatlead to the invasion of Iraq. She felt that our gov-ernment is on the path towards a disastrous rise ofmisplaced power within the system. She express-es her hope that American citizens will startrefusing military activity that engages in unneces-sary conflicts and be aware of our current situa-tions around the world.

You will find the many “Special Features”feature in this DVD to be helpful and very infor-mative. Some questions you might have might beanswered in some of the interviews. That includesinterviews with the directors and additional inter-views and clips that were not show in the theater.For more information about Why We Fight, youcould visit www.sonyclassics.com/whywefight/.

Another documentary by Jarecki is TheTrials of Henry Kissinger based on journalistChristopher Hitchens’s book which argues thatthe former U.S. Secretary of State HenryKissinger was a militarist who was responsiblefor massive military cover-ups in Vietnam,Cambodia and East Timor, as well as the assassi-nation of a Chilean leader in 1970. Also, anotherdocumentary film related to this topic is The Fogof War by Errol Morris, with interviews from for-mer Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara whoworked for both President Kennedy and Johnson,playing a key role in shaping both administra-tions’ approaches in the Vietnam War.

On Sunday, September Tenth in EastRutherford, New Jersey, brothers Eli and PeytonManning played the opening football game of theNFL season against each other. The “ManningBowl,” as it became called, gained a lot of mediaattention and hype. Eli played for the New YorkGiants as quarterback rivaling his own brother,Peyton, who also grabbed the quarterback positionfor the Indianapolis Colts.

This season opener made history with a bang.For the first time in NFL history two brothers hadfaced off against one another. Peyton and EliManning both played their hearts out and both had

outstanding numbers. Eli completed 20 out of 34passes to New York Giants receivers and had atotal of 247 passing yards, two touchdown passes,one interception, and one fumble. On the otherteam we had arguably the best quarterback in theleague today, Peyton Manning. Peyton completed25 out of 41 of his passes to Indianapolis Coltsreceivers and had a total of 276 passing yardsthrowing one touchdown and one interception.

The game was a huge success in ratings. Thisgame had higher ratings than the 9/11 documen-tary on CBS, or the new 9/11 mini-series accord-ing to ESPN.com. Two huge fans of both brothers

were Peyton and Eli’s parents. Their parents werevery proud of their sons but were obviously tornand refused to take sides. Eli and Peyton are notthe first in their family to join the NFL. Theirfather Archie Manning was an outstanding quar-terback for the New Orleans Saints. It seems thatexcellent quarterback skills run in the family.

The outcome of the game was as expected.The Colts and future “hall of famer” PeytonManning beat his little brother Eli Manning. Thefinal score was 26 to 21. At the end of the gamePeyton walked up to his younger brother and isreported to have said in his ear, “I love you.”

16 Queensborough Communiqué, October 2006

“THE MANNING BOWL”BY NINO TIBURZI

Why We Fightcontinued from page 13

So I just found out, I’m in this writing-inten-sive (WI) course, in electrical engineering (ET).However, I didn’t even know I was in a writing-intensive course. In fact, I didn’t really know whatwriting-intensive meant, that there are a certainnumber of pages of writing I have to do as part ofthe course, and as it turns out I need to take two ofthese writing-intensive courses somewhere duringmy time at QCC in order to graduate. So ok, Iguess it all works out. But I certainly didn’t meanto do it.

I mean, I’m in ET. I like math and electron-ics, because it seems to make sense. There’s aproblem, you solve it, it works. I like fixing andbuilding things, with my hands, you know? If Iwanted to take a writing course, I would have justregistered for one.

But you know what I realized? Yeah, it’swriting – no doubt – but that’s not what it’s reallyabout. It’s about more than just writing. It’s aboutcritical thinking, and literacy, and it’s not just incollege, it’s everywhere. Take my brother, Kyle,who’s 11 and just started middle school. He takesmath and science and for both of them he keeps adaily log, and his teachers tell him that it’s veryimportant that he be able to write and talk aboutwhat he knows, and that it’s not enough to just getan answer right but he has to be able to discusshow he solves problems.

I told him, get out! That’s pretty much whatI’m doing, and I’m in my third semester in col-lege! For me, I think of it as something I can usewhen I’m interviewing for jobs. I keep hearingthat the two things employers really look for innew hires is their ability to problem-solve and towork well in groups. I guess what that means isthat the critical thinking and literacy ideas behindthese WI classes is something we all need to pre-pare for.

And you know what else I found out? There’sactually a lot of these WI classes throughout allthe different majors. Someone told me that therewere about 140 being taught this semester alone! Ifigure, if there’s 25 students in every class, thatmeans that about 3,500 of us are taking thesecourses right now. Do you even know if you are inone or not? By this time you should, becauseyou’ve probably already gotten writing assign-ments.

So now that the big surprise is over, wherecan you go for help, if you’re like me, and you’rein a course where you don’t expect there to bewriting, and suddenly there’s a lot of it?

I thought of going for tutoring to get help, butthen I found a lot of things changed over the sum-mer. I went to the ISSC Building over by the Q27bus stop looking for Instructional SupportServices, but now it’s become the QCC TestingServices Center. I was told I could go to theTechnology Building for help with ET, which Idid. But that was for the course content.

Finally, I went to the first floor of the Library,where I was told the new Campus Learning Center

just opened. As soon as I got there, someoneasked me if I needed some help, and I explained Iwanted help for my ET course, but not the con-tent. I explained that I was in a writing-intensivecourse, and I wanted help with the writing assign-ments.

I was immediately directed to Joe, who itturns out is the Tutor Coordinator for the QCCWriting Center. He explained to me that theWriting Center was exactly the right place to go,because the tutors were trained to work with stu-dents in WI courses. He was also very careful toexplain to me that the writing tutor would workwith me with my writing, only, by helping me toorganize and explain what I knew about thecourse. The writing tutor wasn’t going to be an ETexpert. And I guess that makes sense, becausethat’s what the ET tutors in the TechnologyBuilding are for. This way, I can get help from theET tutors when I don’t understand informationfrom the course, and then I can get help from writ-ing tutors when I need to explain on paper what Ido understand.

I’m thinking, I bet writing about it and maybeeven explaining it a little to the writing tutor willhelp me see what I need to study a little bit more.

So if you are in writing-intensive courses thissemester, or even the next, and you want help withyour writing assignments, the place you should gois to the Writing Center, in the Library, first floor.

Oh, and one more thing: I was talking aboutmy WI experience with the writing tutor who washelping me with my writing-intensive course, andshe mentioned that maybe it would make an inter-esting article for the Communiqué. In fact, she’sthe person who helped me to organize mythoughts so I could get them down on paper!Thanks!

Why oh WIBY ODIN UPSCIN

how such couples are viewed, there seems to benothing more rewarding then loving someone,regardless of perceived initial differences, andexperiencing something wonderfully new. Itshould be the discovery of common interests, thebasis of character, and the individual’s ownactions that speak for a particular person, andnever cultural stereotyping that determines anindividual’s worth. Giselle reminds us that peoplewith biases against interracial relationships “areafraid of exploring new territory and possibly los-ing their own identity if they experience change .if they date someone of a different background.”

Despite negative views on interracial couplesby some members of society, interracial relation-ships are on the rise. Since 1990, they’ve grown5%, and currently, according to an article onBuzzle.com, almost half of all North Americancollege students would be willing to enter an

interracial relationship, while one quarter of col-lege students have already been involved in one.Being on the Queensborough Community Collegecampus, we’re exposed to a tremendous group ofpeople, of all different cultures. College life pro-vides an increase in the daily exposure and inter-action between diverse cultural and racial groups.Alexander Lee, 18, who attends QueensboroughCommunity College, is half African Americanand half Chinese, and his girlfriend is Caucasian.When I asked him about how society views inter-racial relationships, he replied, “Society needs tounderstand that, when it comes down to it, we areall humans that just differ on account of some-thing called pigment.” Hopefully, as Americansociety continues to progress and New York Citycontinues to grow, we can learn to accept peo-ple’s differences and embrace them with accep-tance and love.

Interracial Relationshipscontinued from page 3