A Day in the Life of Daniela Gonzalez

Meet SPB’s President and the Legacy She’s Leaving Behind at UB

Daniela Gonzalez poses next to the large crowd that attended Accepted Students Day. Events like these motivate her to get as many students as possible to join SPB, the organization helped her become a leader. Her message to the future class of 2020? “Get involve with as many things as you can because…I didn’t really start SPB until sophomore year and had I done it as a freshman, I would’ve been able to do so much much.”

Gonzalez helps a visitor learn more about the events SPB organizes for the study body, work that is completely voluntary. Nevertheless, what brings her club joy is seeing people come to their events and having the time of their lives. When Voice Play (an acapella group) came to UB, people could not stop saying how amazing the show was. For Daniela hearing comments like that lets her know that SPB’s done its job.

Demonstrating her signature interest in the well-being of others, Daniela approaches parents and students, motivating them to learn more about SPB. As she offers novelty items, she also answered questions they had by giving the great advice she that comes with being a senior. For Gonzalez, her greatest reward for helping others “is seeing the smiles on their faces.”

“Her efforts have been incredible,” shared Edina Oestreicher (Dean of Students) as her, Akema Waller, and Max Altidor embrace Daniela during the Accepted Students event. After spending a day with her it’s clear that her hard work has earned her the respect of students and professors, who agree with Oestreicher, who says, “We will miss her.”

While volunteering to help a student ambassador, Daniela meets Graphic Design Chair Emily Larned, and gives future UB students tales about her experience and senior thesis. From someone who shuttered at the idea of even talking in front of a group of people, Larned is proud of her pupil for “taking a leadership position around campus.”

Holding up a project she’s worked with her classmates, Daniela proudly shows her passion for Graphic Design. Working on this year’s senior magazine Document, the class created a poster of the ying-yang symbol to represent the project’s theme of duality. This is simply just one piece of many that displays Gonzalez’s knack for good design.

Moving on to a campus tour, Daniela walks with prospective Purple Knights on a beautiful and sunny day in spring. As she walks, memories from the past come flooding back to her from all of her four years at UB. Even so, she still manages to help answer questions from students and show them the best spots on campus.

Together with her good friend and fellow SPB member Felicia, Daniela walks with a future UB student in the newly renovated Purple Knight’s Den. The student was eager to find out more about life at UB, with Daniela more than happy to share her wisdom on classes, campus activities, and responsible partying.

Contemplating UB’s campus, Gonzalez looks back at her college career during our one-on-one interview. UB was the perfect choice for her as it has given her the opportunity to work with people she loves, meet people from far away lands, and learn for exceptional professors.

As a perfect end to an eventful day, Daniela gives moral support to her friend Khristian Pereira who was one of the International Festival’s hosts.

By: Cristian Cuatzo

Waking up early at 7:00 on a Saturday morning is not necessarily the average college student’s idea of a perfect start to the weekend. But for Student Programming Board (SPB) President Daniela Gonzalez, (Dani, to friends and faculty), it is, as an eventful day awaits her.

This Bronx-native, graphic design senior at the Shintaro Akatsu School of Design (SASD) has dedicated the last two-and-a-half years to give University of Bridgeport’s (UB) student body the best college experience possible. The sincerity with which she does this work has won her the respect of students and professors alike. Curious to see Daniela in action for myself, I spent an entire day with her to learn more about her achievements.

It’s All In a Day’s Work

“I think she’s the greatest person ever.”

– Janice Ashton

  Friend

Entering into Wheeler Recreation Center, my day with Daniela Gonzalez began bright and early with preparations for Accepted Students Day, which took place on April 11. She welcomed me with her customary bright smile as she set up her table to invite prospective students to join SPB. I was introduced to her friends and fellow SPB members who were delighted to see her. When asked about her first impressions of Daniela, Janice Ashton, her friend said, “I didn’t think that someone who does so much and has so little time to interact with people would be so nice. She’s hilarious and cracks me up all the time… I think she’s the greatest person ever.”

As the event kicked into full gear, I soon lost sight of Daniela, which came as no surprise to SPB’s Vice President Felicia Louis-Thomas who shared that “she’s known to often disappear out of thin air and reappear after resolving problems that come up during events.” When I finally got a hold of her Felicia was right, since Daniela was occupied resolving a seating issue. It soon became very clear to me that it was going to be a busy day of activity with Gonzalez, whose has a long list of responsibilities which include, but are not limited to:

• Controlling budgets with a CFO: Allotting every committee chairperson a specific budget to carry out events through campus every semester
• Leading RE board meetings: Making sure everyone in SPB is on point with their events and money
• Making sure her club members are okay on a personal basis: Ensuring they are not overwhelmed with their job so they carry it out their responsibilties
• Leading weekly General Board meetings with General Board members: They are the heart and soul of SPB that goes out and help during events, create new ideas and make them happen

With so many expectations and tasks to accomplish, Daniela still manages to maintain a friendly composure as SPB president. Demonstrating a genuine interest for future students, she went around the gym to inform them of the opportunities SPB and UB can offer them, while answering questions parents had. She even encouraged a reserved club member to get involved and speak with those present at the event as well. “She’s really cool and genuine hearted…there’s no words to really describe her kindness,” said friend and President of SLAM (Sophisticated Lovers of the Artistic Mind), Samantha Simpson, who also mentioned how she doesn’t have to attend her club’s events, but does anyway to help.

CONNECT: Follow SPB on Facebook for more information about events on campus.

The Heart That Keeps On Giving

“The programming SPB has put on this year has been beyond anything it’s done in recent years.”

– Dean of Students

Edina Oestreicher, the Dean of students, even stopped by to greet Daniela, who she’s worked extensively with her as president of SPB. Oestreicher laughed and chatted with Gonzalez about future events, and share that Daniela’s efforts “have been incredible in terms of enhancing campus life…the programming SPB has put on this year has been beyond anything it’s done in recent years. I think that’s a real credit to Daniela’s energy, creativity, and most importantly her ability to motivate the rest of SPB to work together.”

We want you! Get involved on campus!!!! All positions are open!bring your dreams to life and be apart… http://t.co/fpSzOesSJK

— UBSPB (@UB_SPB) April 1, 2014

With the morning events over, I lost sight of Daniela again through the busy crowds of guests and faculty. Immediately, I received a message from her telling me she’s volunteered to help a student ambassador introduce future SASD students to the program; again out of her own will. It was at the ABC Building where Daniela encountered Prof. Emily Larned (graphic design program chair), who was briefing potential students. Prof. Larned invited Gonzalez to speak to them and she gladly spoke about how four years ago she sat in the same seats they were in and her growth since then.

When asked about her thoughts on Daniela, Prof. Larned stated, “She was always really attentive and hard working from the very beginning. I could tell that she was going to do great things…She’s always really helpful particularly to other students…Dani has always been really been focused on other people and is always full of suggestions.” After lunch, I saw these words in action when Daniela graciously took the time to help out with tours for prospective students, answering one student’s questions in particular about campus life as if she were a long-time friend, quelling her worries.

LEARN MORE: Check out Daniela’s design work on Behance.

Look at the interactive map below to view Daniela’s route around campus.

A Journey of Transformation

“Thank you to everyone whose helped me on this journey.”

– Daniela Gonzalez

One might say Daniela was born with a natural ability to lead and empower, but as we sat down for an afternoon chat she revealed that she wasn’t always that way. “I was a really shy person when I came to UB.I kept to myself. I didn’t really like public speaking… I could not be in a room of people and speak to them…I was really nervous when it came to things like that,” she explains.

But after joining SPB she was put at the “forefront”, interacting “with different people and became comfortable speaking to people she didn’t know and tell them about all the great things SPB does. With graduation only a few weeks away she looks back and calls it “a transformation.”Grateful to the school that saw her grow, she said, “Thank you to everyone whose helped me on this journey.”

Bringing my day with her to an end, Daniela decided to give moral support to her friends performing at the International Festival. Talking about her possible plans to move to the west coast, she invited me to join SPB and after a whole day of exciting events I understood the passion with which she does her job. She truly is the living embodiment of the UB spirit. To her, seeing the smiling faces of others at events and helping them is what motivates her to do amazing things. She can graduate knowing that she’s done just that, leaving behind an amazing legacy at UB.

Get Involved: Be active on campus. Click here for a list of clubs and organizations..

CTAUN Celebrates the UN at 70

Conference Promotes Education for a Globalized, yet Peaceful Future

By: Cristian Cuatzo

After decades of being at the forefront of global security and diplomacy, this year the United Nations (UN) marks 70 years of creating a better world for all mankind. The United Nations now looks back at its accomplishments while setting high standards for the future. In honor of this milestone, the Committee on Teaching about the United Nations (CTAUN) held its 16th annual conference, The UN at 70: Making a Difference, on January 30. The event reunited hundreds of teacher, scholars, and students from 23 countries to focus on promoting global citizenship and understanding in the classroom.

The morning began with a heartfelt summary on the origin of the United Nations by Bob Clark, Acting Director of the Franking Delano Roosevelt Presidential Library in New York. Going through a chronological series of events, Clark was able to picture the visionary spirit with which FDR established the organization. Although, FDR died before he could see the UN become a reality, his wife Eleanor demonstrated the same values with which her husband built the organization. Today the United Nations continues to work diligently, giving children like a young Clark, hope for a “bigger and better future.”

A MORNING OF PEACE

“The world is changing, and the UN is changing.”

– Henk-Jan Brinkman

Moving forward, the morning panel, Striving for Peace and Security, focused on how the UN continues to fight for the major issues the world faces today, regardless of its critics. Patience W. Stephens, Special Advisor on Education at the UN Entity for Gender, admitted that while efforts to maintain world peace face continuous attacks, truly sustainable peace lies in quality education for all. As we live in a more challenging world she shares that education “needs to prepare children for a world of peace” and motivating educators to assess if “their education builds of provides the basis for division or […] global citizenship.”

Sri Lanka’s UN ambassador, Palitha Kohona spoke to the audience of the United Nation’s hand in the advancement of his nation, and how the “small” changes made a huge impact in the lives of ordinary people. During years of inner conflict, the United Nations provided necessary supplies to Sri-Lankans, even those ripping the country apart. With a 98% literacy rate, a decreased morality rate, and industries growing, Kohona expressed his sincere gratitude to the UN and all of the work that often goes overlooked.

Bringing the panel to the end, Henk-Jan Brinkman, Chief of Policy, Planning and Application Branch of the Peacebuilding Support Office in The UN Secretariat, expressed that “the world is changing, and the UN is changing.” Since the political and technological revolutions of 1989 like the Fall of Berlin Wall and the invention of The World Wide Web, Brinkman explained the fragility of our times, where the problems the UN faces are now multipolar. Responding to this complexity, coupled with terrorism, the UN has rapidly changed its peacekeeping operations. He stressed how the United Nations has worked on integration by presenting a united front to prevent the relapse of war and that 2015 would be a year where peacekeeping would be highly important.

Dr. Stephen Schlesinger presented his spotlight, UN Heroes, extracting lessons learned from two extraordinary men: FDR and Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold. Elaborating to Clark’s presentation, he presented FDR’s commitment to the UN and his insight to make it the reality it is today. Hammarskjold was “undoubtedly the finest this organization has ever seen” according to Schlesinger; his marveling abilities as a leader shaped world events yet his life was cut short during a plane crash in modern-day Zambia in the name of diplomacy.

READ MORE: Visit Dr.Schlesinger’s own website here to learn more about his amazing career.

After a string of intellectual discussion, it was time to recognize the noble efforts of educators and students. The 2014 Best Practices Awards were presented to educators that proactively integrated the theme “promoting peace through education” (CTAUN’s 2014 conference theme) into their schools. Principal Lisa Fernandez and Kate Judge Patton (PS 119- The Amersfort School of Social Awareness, Brooklyn, NY) were praised for their “Day of Peace” along with Karen Ager and Charlotte Mourlot’s (United Nations International School) “Mindfulness and Peacekeeper Project.” Winners of CTAUN’s poster contest were also recognized, with graduate students from the University of Bridgeport receiving merit certificates from CTAUN’s chair, Anne-Marie Carlson.

REAL WORLD PROBLEMS. REAL SOLUTIONS

Returning after the midday-recess, the conference went into full gear on issues that made for many memorable speeches. United Nations Association of the USA, an organization that works to help Americans learn more about the UN were represented by Chris Whatley and Troy Wolfe (UNA/USA Director of Education programs) during their spotlight, The Economics of Globalization. Whatley shared the challenges traditional teaching methods and the Common Care have posed to UNA-USA’s Model UN. Working with these changes a new curriculum has been created to allow more students to experience the Model UN at the classroom level, as Wolfe explained. Named the Economics of Global Development, it aims at creating financial literate students who understand how communal activities affect the global economy.

LEARN MORE: Visit the UNA/USA’s app for more information on the model UN. Download it now here.

The afternoon panel, Advancing Human Dignity, and Social Justice, was a symposium of speeches that dealt with issues related towards the formation of a better future for newer generations to come. Palau’s ambassador to the United Nations, Dr. Caleb Otto, started with a his speech on how climate change has affected the livelihood of countries like the Marshall islands and Tuvalu, where rising sea levels and stronger storms every year have made the “loss of: 

• territories
• land
• people
• culture
• sovereignties

… a real threat. In other words the people of the Pacific islands are facing the possibility of having their lands being taken away. Otto addressed the position of these countries to initiate efforts towards conservation of costal and terrestrial area.

“The press is the guardian of freedom expression,” explains CBS UN Resident Correspondent and Hunter College Professor Pamela Falk during her vivid address in favor of protecting the press, “Freedom of expression is not an optional, but an inherent human right.” Even after a resolution was passed by all members of the General Assembly, Falk explained the press finds itself in a perilous situation with imprisonments, sexual assault, and death spiraling out of control. Nevertheless she explains that social media has the opportunity to challenge regimes and through humorous UN acronyms stressed the importance to get the message across to make a difference and influence the next generation.

#CTAUN @UN #TeachUN @cannon367 @UN_Women @ravikarkara @ImpactUN @UNAUSA pic.twitter.com/8Px1Ef4HOf

— Pamela Falk (@PamelaFalk) January 29, 2015

On the infamous subject of nuclear weapons, the President of the Lawyer’s Committee on Nuclear Policy (LCNP) and Program Coordinator for the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace and Security, Guy Quinlan brought surprising stories and facts on these weapons of mass destruction that continue to pose a serious threat to humanity. He shocked the audience by retelling how a Norwegian research rocket was misinterpreted by the Russian government as a ballistic missile and nearly brought about a nuclear war. That’s also why he was happy to report the cooperative effort of non-nuclear countries and their youth to bring an end to these weapons. Quinlan ended with a call for action to all educators to bring awareness to this topic and its severity to ensure other goals like human rights and ending poverty have a future.

The symposium ended with the tale of a true UN Hero that reflected the ideals the organization stands for. Ken Payumo working in South Sudan during the 2011 civil war. When government official approached his refugee camp ordering him to allow them to enter he rose to the occasion and closed off the camp. His stand paid off, and saved the lives of 12,000 refugees fleeing for their lives. Payumo attended the event and received a standing ovation for his incredible act of heroism.

LEARN MORE: Check out Payumo’s amazing tale of Heroism in the video below.

THE BIG PICTURE

“Think locally and act globally”

– Ramu Damodaran

Surely after a whole day of eye-opening talks and moving speeches that urged everyone (not just educators) to make a change, Ramu Damodaran’s (Chief of American Impact Secretariat and Deputy Director for Partnerships and Public Outreach) keynote speech engrained the conference into the minds of all of the 496 present. He began by commemorating FDR’s contributions in creating the UN were remarkably influential for the UN, but also his ability to avoid being seen as a “someone who lost his head or lost his temper.” He was referring to the UN as a sanctuary for embracing sustained peace, pushing arms and political ideologies aside. To truly demonstrate the different changes that have come about through UN he divided its 70-year lifespan into five eras of 14 years which coincidently come together to form the acronym CTAUN:

“Think locally and act globally”were Ramu Domodaran”s concluding words for the CTAUN conference, encapsulating its overall message. Attendants of the conference were delighted to have spent a day that both informed and empowered. The UN may be 70 years old but it seems that now, more than ever, it is presenting a collaborative effort to ensure the prosperity for all. With that in mind this conference has done its job in making that positive future a reality.

UB Coffee Hour Photo Blog : Weddings Around the World

By: Cristian Cuatzo

As part of the events leading up to the University of Bridgeport’s (UB) 39th annual International Festival this month’s Coffee Hour on April 7 gave students and guests an enriching experience by sharing different wedding customs from around the globe. The event was sponsored by the Department of Residential Life and Student Conduct, Student Programming Board and the International Student Services Office, all joining forces in the name of cultural awareness.

From Nigeria, to China, to Saudi Arabia, international representatives gladly shared the traditions and beliefs behind their wedding celebrations with one another, even holding an actual wedding in the process. Experience the celebration for yourself through the photo blog below and experience weddings around the world without all the travel.

As soon as the event began my eyes were attracted to the Saudi Arabian table with its exotic and festive decorations. They offered tradition teas and juices that would be offered during an actual wedding. Guests were given Saudi Arabian snacks, plump dates, and a look at ornaments used for weddings. One student behind the table even dabbed students with customary scented oils; truly luxurious scents for the bride and groom.

Indian weddings are renowned for their traditions founded in a rich culture. Anand Mahant (left) and Shelzia George (right) kindly went through these rituals with guests explaining the many preparations that go into their weddings. The spoke about the Haldi ceremony where turmeric is applied to the bride and groom’s face for a brighter complexion before the big day. The Indian table also offered beautiful henna designs, fully immersing students into the cultural exchange.

Decked out in a bright red, the Chinese table was full of traditional wedding favors and décor. Chinese student, Meng Lingqun (left) explained to guests that red is the color of luck in her culture and is always the main color used throughout weddings. After the ceremony, she shared that in Southern China the groom will often have to go through wacky ordeals created by the bridesmaids to meet his bride, making wedding a joyous time for all.

As one of the most culturally diverse nations on the planet, Nigerian weddings come with a wide range of traditions depending on the tribe. The weddings of the Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, and other tribes fascinated those present who were curious about the attire and endless options Nigerian couples have to plan their wedding. From the Igbo tribe, Chikezie Chibuike retold weddings he attended that perfectly match tradition with modernity.

The highlight of the event came as a surprise for some when an actual Saudi Arabian wedding took place live. The groom came in traditional attire as the bride walked the aisle in a breathtaking white dress as chants, cheers, and the traditional ululation filled the room. Due to cultural reasons photographs were not allowed but the newlywed’s seating and cake were captured, bringing a simple yet elegant end to the event

What’s a wedding without dancing? Following the wedding, Saudi students and guests joined in the celebration as they danced shoulder to shoulder in unity. The contagious energy put a smile on everyone’s faces, with the event successfully bringing cultures together in a melting pot of delight.

UB Open Mic Night – Live Blogging

Monologues. Slam poetry. Original music. Get ready for a night of UB talent at its best during UB’s first-ever Open Mic Night. I’m currently in the lower level of the Student Center waiting for the event to start. Talents from all parts of the school as well as former alumni and faculty have come together to show off their talents. Although I’m not completely sure about what I should expect, I have a strong feeling this is going to be a great event filled with surprises.

8:27

The event takes a brief intermission as new boxes of pizza and wings make their way and just in time for my ride back home. The whole night was a eye-opener to a commuter like me, seeing all this talent and creativity I had previously overlooked for so long. For sure it was something I’ll be talking to my friends about in the following days. I leave the room prouder than ever for attending a great school like UB with all its hidden gems  I Thank you to the Student Program Board and all there performers for such an amazing night that I hope to attend again very soon.

8:19

Before I decided to start heading back home, I managed to get a glimpse into Smoove Motion’s second performance. It has an edgier beat to it and as I look around the room everyone enjoys the break away from serious topic with fresh new beats.

8:14

Jasmine must really love slam poetry, and I mean loving and breathing it everyday! She has taken the stage again and is takes over the audience with her words that spark like fireworks through the air, bringing them into the reality of modern Hip Hop. Her entire approach to this is unforgiving, but that just adds to the dramatic and passionate air she is bringing to the event. Even though I rarely listen to Hip Hop, she even made me reflect on what my generation calls “music” and why we let it influence us. By all of the snaps and voice around me she’s shared her message with us, and what a message that is!

8:08

It seems like UB has been hiding all of its poets all this time because here comes another one, another employee who works at Marina. The hostess forgot to mention his name but no matter, he’s diving right into it. His poem is speaking the truth are he retells  his thoughts on the bus ride to work today.  Looking strait ahead he’s sharing his perspective on love and having standards. Truly an insightful piece I might add.

8:03

Nick we awesome! He really show off all the different parts of his personality through his poem. As he leaves the stage and receives his applause, another slam poet appears, Phoenix. Born and raised right here in Bridgeport he’s really speaking the truth with the poem he’s performing right now. The audience, although from different parts of the world have their eyes set on Phoenix as he tells the tale of a high school football star turned street bum after a “friend accidentally” shot him in the leg and ended his career. Yet another story so familiar to me and by the looks on the audience’s faces, one they know also all too well.

7:57

Topic, AKA, Nick from our class has begun his set of poems . He’s saying that he’s from West Haven and is speaks about gun violence communities like his face with difficulty. Man, I can really connect with this one a I have also heard those ” endless streams of gunshots” at least once or twice in Bridgeport. The audience is also connecting with a silence growing and filling up the entire room.  Apparently, Nick also has the solution for redeeming this world we all live in: doing the right thing. He’s also adding that  “imagination leads to great things.” His message must be true because the audiene’s comments are just full of positivity.

7:53

Is that who I think it is? It is! My fellow classmate Nick has appeared on the stage. I knew he was a slam poet, but now I finally get to see him in action. I’m curious to find out what he has written on the phone he’s got in his hands. He seems smooth and collected and he’s finally grabbing hold of the mic. He’s got this.

7:47

It seems that the next performers don’t need any introduction. Whispers are quickly filling the room as  Smoove Impact’s Sakorey ( to the left) and Josh (on the right) perform their original song, “Work of Art”. So far I’m hearing a very smooth beat matched with  great voices. You can listen to the original song here. This is an excellent display of musical talent here at UB. Sakorey’s vocals in particular show good range. Even I’m bobbing my head a bit; feeling the music in my soul.

7:43

A UB traffic guard known only as “Overdose Flow” has now taken the attention of everyone in the room. The spotlight is his now. He is really moving the audience who is going into a frenzy of snaps, cheers, and clapping. he is braking down all the stereotypes and stigmas the African American community still faces today, urging the newer generation to “let go of the shackles that tie them down.” His performance is yet another pleasant surprise to me.

7:42

Shazia is now reading through the perspective and thoughts of her friend. She’s reading a conversation one of her friend’s is having with themselves. Her piece seems to be covering different themes like the pain of love and “not letting society destroy our reality.” She’s even managed to add the heat of the room into her poem, I guess my prior worries are confirmed as the audience laughs.

7:37

The audience fills with whispers as Shazia, spoken word artist takes the stage. Around me I hear Jasmine next me talk to one of her friends, they look at her and have simultaneous uttered the word “Virgin” out. Apparently Shazia is new to the slam poetry scene and is introducing herself as a new poet, or as Jasmine put it, a virgin. She appears to be a bit nervous as she tightly holds her cellphone and whispers her poem. Let’s see what she’s got.

7:35

Up next from Harlem is another slam poet, Stylez. He is showing no shame in talking about the issues my generation faces. Right now he’s literally putting society into shame with his talk of a “lost generation” that’s being deprived of many opportunities. His voice is a machine and doesn’t seem to take a breath. The applause and snaps from the audience certainly shows their appreciation for his fine work.

7:31

Jasmine’s next monologue is stressing the importance of the community “to raise their seeds” or “the penitentiaries will institutionalize their babies.”To be honest I couldn’t agree anymore. She’s really hitting the tough issues Bridgeport faces, trust me I’ve seen first hand what she calls “single mothers who spend all their money dolling themselves up for one night stands at the club”, while their children are left neglected at home. Sad really, but true.

7:25

So the event is starting off on the right foot with UB alumna “Jasmine” performing her first piece of slam poetry called “The Women”. She is giving a fiery walk-though with audience about the sly techniques men use to seduce women into having sex with them. She is very vehemently shaking her fists in the air and calling women to be in control of their future, body, and emotions. Raise the bar girls…. raise it! Her shirt says iluvbpt.com and has asked the audience to check it out. The very liberal  woman is actually born and raised here in Bridgeport, CT and teaches  7th and 8th grade math at Roosevelt School. I wonder what her student think of her? She’s truly spectacular!

7:24

The event has started and I’m kind of surprised and excited at the same time by her announcement. She says that this is the University of Bridgeport’s first open mic night. Now i’m really excited for this event and appears that the large audience is too. Their claps and snaps are signal the performers that it’s show time.

7:20

So no performances yet as the order of performers is being made. It’s really getting a bit hot but at least I can feel that everyone is moving on from the winter blues we’ve had this year.

7:11

The event has not started yet but the hostess has invited everyone to help themselves to pizza and chicken. People are slowly starting to flow making for a good audience. Meanwhile I’m digging into this free food. Yum!

7:05

The event has been a bit delayed but Student Programming Board chair, Daniela González and her crew are eager to kick things off soon. I’m currently having a great conversation with her loyal friends Sam and Janice, who are also welcoming an alumna who is ” Happy for having a platform to express herself .” She’s tall, loud, proud, and definitely comes off as one of those slam artists with her style. I’m excited to see if she’s going to perform, although those boxes of pizza are definitely calling my name too!

Test 3

Fans take selfies during the unveiling of Benedict Cumberbatch’s wax figure in London

Germanwings said 72 Germans were killed in the first major air passenger disaster on French soil since the 2000 Concorde accident just outside Paris. Madrid revised down on Thursday the number of Spanish victims to 50 from 51 previously. As well as Germans and Spaniards, victims included three Americans, a Moroccan and citizens of Britain, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Iran and the Netherlands, officials said. However, DNA checks to identify them could take weeks, the French government said. The families of victims were being flown to Marseille on Thursday before being taken up to the zone close to the crash site. Chapels had been prepared for them with a view of the mountain where their loved ones died. (Additional reporting by bureaus in Paris, Berlin, Frankfurt and Madrid; Writing by Mark John; Editing by Peter Graff)

Lubitz gained sole control of the aircraft after the captain left the cockpit. He refused to re-open the door and sent plane into its fatal descent, Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said. He did this “for a reason we cannot fathom right now but which looks like intent to destroy this aircraft,” Robin told a news conference in Marseille broadcast live on national TV. Describing the final 10 minutes of the passengers on board as the plane hurtled towards a mountain range, Robin said sound recordings from one of its black boxes suggested most of them would not have been aware of their fate until the very end. “Only towards the end do you hear screams,” he said. “And bear in mind that death would have been instantaneous … the aircraft was literally smashed to bits.” The CEO of Lufthansa, parent company of Germanwings, said its air crew were picked carefully and subjected to psychological vetting.

Germanwings said 72 Germans were killed in the first major air passenger disaster on French soil since the 2000 Concorde accident just outside Paris. Madrid revised down on Thursday the number of Spanish victims to 50 from 51 previously. As well as Germans and Spaniards, victims included three Americans, a Moroccan and citizens of Britain, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Iran and the Netherlands, officials said. However, DNA checks to identify them could take weeks, the French government said. The families of victims were being flown to Marseille on Thursday before being taken up to the zone close to the crash site. Chapels had been prepared for them with a view of the mountain where their loved ones died. (Additional reporting by bureaus in Paris, Berlin, Frankfurt and Madrid; Writing by Mark John; Editing by Peter Graff)

“No matter your safety regulations, no matter how high you set the bar, and we have incredibly high standards, there is no way to rule out such an event,” CEO Carsten Spohr said. The world’s attention will now focus on the motivations of Lubitz, a German national who joined the budget carrier in September 2013 and had just 630 hours of flying time – compared with the 6,000 hours of the flight captain, named in German media only as “Patrick S.” in accordance with usual practice. Robin said there were no grounds to suspect that Lubitz was carrying out a terrorist attack. “Suicide” was also the wrong word to describe actions which killed so many other people, the prosecutor added: “I don’t necessarily call it suicide when you have responsibility for 100 or so lives.”

Test 2

Fans take selfies during the unveiling of Benedict Cumberbatch’s wax figure in London

Germanwings said 72 Germans were killed in the first major air passenger disaster on French soil since the 2000 Concorde accident just outside Paris. Madrid revised down on Thursday the number of Spanish victims to 50 from 51 previously. As well as Germans and Spaniards, victims included three Americans, a Moroccan and citizens of Britain, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Iran and the Netherlands, officials said. However, DNA checks to identify them could take weeks, the French government said. The families of victims were being flown to Marseille on Thursday before being taken up to the zone close to the crash site. Chapels had been prepared for them with a view of the mountain where their loved ones died. (Additional reporting by bureaus in Paris, Berlin, Frankfurt and Madrid; Writing by Mark John; Editing by Peter Graff)

Germanwings said 72 Germans were killed in the first major air passenger disaster on French soil since the 2000 Concorde accident just outside Paris. Madrid revised down on Thursday the number of Spanish victims to 50 from 51 previously. As well as Germans and Spaniards, victims included three Americans, a Moroccan and citizens of Britain, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Iran and the Netherlands, officials said. However, DNA checks to identify them could take weeks, the French government said. The families of victims were being flown to Marseille on Thursday before being taken up to the zone close to the crash site. Chapels had been prepared for them with a view of the mountain where their loved ones died. (Additional reporting by bureaus in Paris, Berlin, Frankfurt and Madrid; Writing by Mark John; Editing by Peter Graff)

Germanwings said 72 Germans were killed in the first major air passenger disaster on French soil since the 2000 Concorde accident just outside Paris. Madrid revised down on Thursday the number of Spanish victims to 50 from 51 previously. As well as Germans and Spaniards, victims included three Americans, a Moroccan and citizens of Britain, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Iran and the Netherlands, officials said. However, DNA checks to identify them could take weeks, the French government said. The families of victims were being flown to Marseille on Thursday before being taken up to the zone close to the crash site. Chapels had been prepared for them with a view of the mountain where their loved ones died. (Additional reporting by bureaus in Paris, Berlin, Frankfurt and Madrid; Writing by Mark John; Editing by Peter Graff)

Germanwings said 72 Germans were killed in the first major air passenger disaster on French soil since the 2000 Concorde accident just outside Paris. Madrid revised down on Thursday the number of Spanish victims to 50 from 51 previously. As well as Germans and Spaniards, victims included three Americans, a Moroccan and citizens of Britain, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Iran and the Netherlands, officials said. However, DNA checks to identify them could take weeks, the French government said. The families of victims were being flown to Marseille on Thursday before being taken up to the zone close to the crash site. Chapels had been prepared for them with a view of the mountain where their loved ones died. (Additional reporting by bureaus in Paris, Berlin, Frankfurt and Madrid; Writing by Mark John; Editing by Peter Graff)

Germanwings said 72 Germans were killed in the first major air passenger disaster on French soil since the 2000 Concorde accident just outside Paris. Madrid revised down on Thursday the number of Spanish victims to 50 from 51 previously. As well as Germans and Spaniards, victims included three Americans, a Moroccan and citizens of Britain, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Iran and the Netherlands, officials said. However, DNA checks to identify them could take weeks, the French government said. The families of victims were being flown to Marseille on Thursday before being taken up to the zone close to the crash site. Chapels had been prepared for them with a view of the mountain where their loved ones died. (Additional reporting by bureaus in Paris, Berlin, Frankfurt and Madrid; Writing by Mark John; Editing by Peter Graff)

Photo Album Test

(Reuters) – A young German co-pilot locked himself alone in the cockpit of a Germanwings airliner and flew it into a mountain with what appears to have been the intent to destroy it, a French prosecutor said on Thursday. Investigators and grieving relatives were left struggling to explain what motivated Andreas Lubitz, 28, to kill all 150 people on board the

Lubitz gained sole control of the aircraft after the captain left the cockpit. He refused to re-open the door and sent plane into its fatal descent, Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said. He did this “for a reason we cannot fathom right now but which looks like intent to destroy this aircraft,” Robin told a news conference in Marseille broadcast live on national TV. Describing the final 10 minutes of the passengers on board as the plane hurtled towards a mountain range, Robin said sound recordings from one of its black boxes suggested most of them would not have been aware of their fate until the very end. “Only towards the end do you hear screams,” he said. “And bear in mind that death would have been instantaneous … the aircraft was literally smashed to bits.” The CEO of Lufthansa, parent company of Germanwings, said its air crew were picked carefully and subjected to psychological vetting.

“No matter your safety regulations, no matter how high you set the bar, and we have incredibly high standards, there is no way to rule out such an event,” CEO Carsten Spohr said. The world’s attention will now focus on the motivations of Lubitz, a German national who joined the budget carrier in September 2013 and had just 630 hours of flying time – compared with the 6,000 hours of the flight captain, named in German media only as “Patrick S.” in accordance with usual practice. Robin said there were no grounds to suspect that Lubitz was carrying out a terrorist attack. “Suicide” was also the wrong word to describe actions which killed so many other people, the prosecutor added: “I don’t necessarily call it suicide when you have responsibility for 100 or so lives.”

Police set up guard outside Lubitz’s house in Montabaur, Germany. Acquaintances in the town said they were stunned, describing him as an affable young man who gave no indication he was harbouring any harmful intent. “I’m just speechless. I don’t have any explanation for this. Knowing Andreas, this is just inconceivable for me,” said Peter Ruecker, a long-time member of the local flight club where Lubitz received his flying license years ago. “He was a lot of fun, even though he was perhaps sometimes a bit quiet. He was just another boy like so many others here.” A photo on Lubitz’s Facebook page, which was later taken down, shows a smiling young man posing in front of San Francisco’s Golden Gate bridge. Robin said the conversation between the two pilots before the captain left the cockpit started normally but that Lubitz’s replies became “laconic” as they started readying what would have been the normal descent to the airport of Duesseldorf. “His responses become very brief. There is no proper exchange as such,” he said. It was not clear why the captain had left the cockpit but it was probably to use the toilet, he said. Robin said the family of the co-pilot had arrived in France for a tribute alongside other those of the victims but was being kept apart from the others.

SMASH THE DOOR DOWN” The New York Times cited an unnamed investigator as saying the recording shed insight into the moment when it dawned on the captain that he had been shut out of the cockpit. “The guy outside is knocking lightly on the door and there is no answer,” it quoted an investigator described as a senior French military official as saying. “And then he hits the door stronger and no answer. There is never an answer.” “You can hear he is trying to smash the door down,” the investigator added. Investigators were still searching for the second of the two black boxes on Thursday in the ravine where the plane crashed, 100 km (65 miles) from Nice, which would contain data from the plane’s instruments. France’s BEA air investigation bureau had said on Wednesday it expected the first basic analysis of the voice recordings in days. Pilots may temporarily leave the cockpit at certain times and in certain circumstances, such as while the aircraft is cruising, according to German aviation law. Cockpit doors can be opened from the outside with a code, in line with regulations introduced after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, but the code can be overridden from inside the cockpit. Lufthansa’s CEO said that either the pilot had entered the code incorrectly, or the co-pilot inside had overridden it. The BEA on Wednesday already ruled out a mid-air explosion and said the scenario did not look like a depressurisation.

Germanwings said 72 Germans were killed in the first major air passenger disaster on French soil since the 2000 Concorde accident just outside Paris. Madrid revised down on Thursday the number of Spanish victims to 50 from 51 previously. As well as Germans and Spaniards, victims included three Americans, a Moroccan and citizens of Britain, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Iran and the Netherlands, officials said. However, DNA checks to identify them could take weeks, the French government said. The families of victims were being flown to Marseille on Thursday before being taken up to the zone close to the crash site. Chapels had been prepared for them with a view of the mountain where their loved ones died. (Additional reporting by bureaus in Paris, Berlin, Frankfurt and Madrid; Writing by Mark John; Editing by Peter Graff)

Live Blogging – First Attempt

Here I go into unknown territory again! I am a bit nervous yet excited at the same time to have my first go at live-blogging. I mean the majority of the university is in class right now, what exciting things could there ever be to live-blog about? Or is there? I shall soon find out what goes on in Whalstrom Library as everything appears to be quiet and still. I’m think of heading off to my favorite floor in the whole building, the third floor. I’ve got 30 minutes and I’m ready to go, let’s see what I find!

12:00 Well its time to go but not before giving thanks to this sunny day. A bit windy but I’ll take it anyday instead of all the snow we’ve had.

11:57 Okay I must really have super wandering abilities because somehow I managed to reach Carlson. Hmmm but I’m not done yet. But shhh class is still in session

11:55 Thinking of heading back to class so I’m taking the tunnel. Spooky huh? Maybe I’m just being too paranoid :’D

11:51 Just got to the garden level with just me and the sounds of a janitress’ vacuum. They also seem to be laughing a whole lot. I also get to admire all of the beautiful pictures. I mean look at this guy! Wow!

11:49 The elevator is packed. Oh now it emptied except for one that just got on

11:47 Want to go to the garden level but man is it taking so long. There someone else too. I Think he’s an accountant. Oh! I just saw Prof. Ward! He’s asking about the publicity methods campaign for CTAUN.

11:41 On the seventh floor noy much to see except for this exceptional view! Bridgeport’s my home town but sometimes I forget to juat take it all in. I love my city. Sure a bit rough around the edges but someone’s gotta love it!

11:39 Ok that enough quiet for me let’s go to the upper levels. Seventh floor it is. I just saw this asian student enter the elevator. She really has some bright red lipstick! It suits her though.

11:36 If you want quiet the third floor is the place to be. Sometimes it’s a little too quiet. And empty. It’s still an awesome place to study. And maybe to just watch a movie on your laptop.

11:31 I am such a nerd. Only I would be lokking at Russian literature and Soviet History books. However there was something a little out of place. Wonder who put this one up next to the Chinese History section!

11:27 Here’s the “reflexyion Area” which really is where UB’s muslim students come to pray. It akso means we’re facing mecca right now. I find the whole praying ritual pretty intresting. It’s nice to see the diversity at UB

11:25 I’m walkinh around the thrid floor and am looking fot something that catches my eye.

11:23 waiting fot an elevator righg now. Oh someone has some nice perfume on. Its really filling up the whole elevator. Its a pleseant scent for qhat I think will be a pleasant live blog. One of my classmates asked me a question right now. I feel guiltu for leaving him hanging

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Wax Museums Survive the Digital Age.

Fans take selfies during the unveiling of Benedict Cumberbatch’s wax figure in London

Maybe because you can’t put your arm around a retweet.

BY: DEVON MALONEY

On a recent weekday afternoon, in the dimly lit rooms of the Hollywood Wax Museum on Hollywood Boulevard, I saw, in no particular order: a girl wrap her arms around Elvis Presley, frozen with an acoustic guitar in mid-career form, a woman lounging in bed with a red-silk-robed Hugh Hefner, and a scrawny teenage boy pretending to twerk against a bizarrely inaccurate rendering of Beyoncé.

Each slightly abashed museum patron captured the moment via camera phone. It seemed strange at first, watching as they exercised this most Instagram era of impulses with the most analog of attractions. But it turns out their actions went a long way toward explaining how the celebrity wax museum still exists, and, arguably, flourishes as a business in 2015.

Scientists, artists, and those who fall somewhere in between have been obsessed with creating the perfect fake human for centuries. As early as the Middle Ages, wax figures representing deceased royals and clergymen were displayed to allow the living to pay their respects “in person” to the objects of their veneration.

Today, wax figures of Beyoncé and One Direction can appear so mortal that you might not have noticed they weren’t, if it wasn’t for their frozen-eyed stare. However such an archaic (not to mention a smidge macabre) conceit might be viewed in theory, the attractions are still a self-contained international industry, without having to change much since Marie Tussaud established her first museum on London’s Baker Street in 1835.

It’s Not a Museum.

“We’re not a wax museum, we’re a wax attraction,” says Petra van der Meer, U.S. figure maintenance manager (a fancy way of saying head artist) for Madame Tussauds, still the best-in-class purveyor of wax, ahem, attractions nearly two centuries after its founding.

These days, Tussauds’s parent company is Merlin Entertainments, the second-largest theme-attraction group in the world after Disney. Merlin acquired Madame Tussauds for $1.9 billion in 2007, about half a billion dollars more than its previous owners paid for it two years prior. According to Merlin’s 2013 earnings report, its “midway attractions,” which also include Legoland, saw a 12 percent increase in visitorship and a 14 percent increase in revenue, from 2012 to 2013.

I spoke with van der Meer in December, in the 32,000-square-foot exhibit hall of the company’s new San Francisco outpost. (The family-owned San Francisco Wax Museum that used to occupy the same space closed its doors on its 50th anniversary in 2013; it currently leases the building to Merlin and Tussauds.) She sat on a bench in a dimly lit, well air-conditioned hall between Jennifer Aniston, who had her back to us, and an adorable Betty White, posed and styled in a floor-length gown, as if she were walking the red carpet. Van der Meer, a 20-plus-year veteran artist of the wax-house world, was in town on her regular maintenance circuit around the company’s six American locations, about a third of the 19 it operates globally. It will open its 20th in Orlando this spring.

“Basically what we see in this room, there’s no ropes,” van der Meer says. “People can interact with the wax figures:

• you can stand close to them,
• you can take pictures,
• you can hug them

. . . . In a museum, you’ve got big signs [that say], ‘Don’t touch.’”

Ask those in the business the secret to their survival and they’ll invariably bring this up: after taking down the ropes that once separated wax figures from their admirers in the 1990s, the houses have become a tactile, interactive celebrity experience that counteracts our digital lives, in which @-replying Harry Styles a million times has the tendency to estrange one from the real world.

The appeal of wax figures thrives in the selfie age

The Art of Resemblance

“What makes this so special is that we’re still using the same technique as Madame Tussaud did 250 years ago, the painting and everything,” says van der Meer, echoing a sentiment several staffers repeat multiple times over the course of our visit. “The reason we have such high-quality figures is that most of the figures that you will see in this room, we had sittings with.”

The “celebrity sitting” is the linchpin to which the chain attributes its success as a business in the modern era. A team of Tussauds artists will:

1. Meet a celebrity wherever they are (the Dalai Lama had his at an airport)
2. Measure meticulously for two hours
3. Take color samples and more than 250 photos from as many angles as possible

As measurement-taking technology like digital photography and 3-D modeling has improved, so has the artists’ ability to make more accurate celebrity likenesses. Instead of being constructed on-site at any one location, these specifications are relayed to the company’s London headquarters—like Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, but for Lady Gagas and Morgan Freemans.

“These are fine-art sculptures, and we’re creating more art as we continue to grow, and as we bring new figures into the attraction, [we grow even more],” says Dalia Goldgor, the general manager of Madame Tussauds San Francisco.

LEARN MORE : Watch the wax figure making process below

The World’s Love For Wax Figures

But the success of the industry certainly does not hinge entirely on a painstaking, technologically advanced process. Celebrating its half-century mark this year, the family-owned Hollywood Wax Museum has four locations nationwide, two of which were opened in the last 10 years. (A much smaller, and quirkier outfit than Tussauds, Hollywood Wax declined to share its attendance numbers.)

Today, the museum displays roughly 180 figures at a time, rotating them regularly; most, if not all, seem to have been created freehand by in-house sculptors—which would explain the slightly inexact nature of sculptures like our aforementioned Beyoncé. Tej Sundher, co-owner and grandson of Spoony Singh, who founded Hollywood Wax in 1965, attributes its longevity to the public’s ever-growing fascination with fame.

“[The obsession with] celebrity, which was of interest when we opened and probably only growing since then,” Sundher says of his wax works, which occupy the end of the attraction spectrum opposite Tussauds’s sleek corporate-owned operation. While the press, including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Vice, has occasionally praised Hollywood Wax’s Hollywood Boulevard flagship for its camp factor, Sundher maintains a mostly all-press-is-good-press attitude. Like the Magic Castle or costumed characters in Times Square or outside TCL Chinese Theatre, even low-budget wax museums seem to fill a need for more tangible entertainment.

“Technology actually makes the [wax museum] experience even better,” Sundher said. “For example, Facebook: the ability to snap a picture next to your favorite star and show the world that you did that, it extends our brand and our experience even more.”

So really, why are we still so into these weird, vacant-eyed, skin-colored beeswax statues that don’t move? It’s not just foreign tourists keeping these oddities afloat; both Tussauds and Hollywood Wax describe their visitor demographics as ranging from school field trips to foreign tour groups, to average American families. (Also, journalists.)

The better question might be, what makes us so obsessed with celebrities that we would happily pay $40 to take selfies with fake versions of them?

“There is an identification with famous people as a substitute for the obscurity of one’s own existence, so knowing somebody famous somehow can lead one to share in that fame, if not the money,” said Dr. Mathieu Deflem, a sociologist at the University of South Carolina.

LEARN MORE: Professor Goes Gaga: Teaching Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame

In other words, even seeing replicas in a museum “establishes a connection—‘I saw Prince William!’—that transcends space and time,” Deflem said.

You can ‘meet’ people from far away and long ago. So being at such a museum is a liminal experience, an escape, a dream, that can be enjoyed, before one returns to the structures and normalcy of the every day.

Prof.Deflem

Besides, this is an era in which celebrities are proving themselves more and more fallible, more human than any idols in history. They’re online right alongside us, and symbolic celeb-fan interactions are more prominent than ever—a favorite or retweet from Nicki Minaj might be more exciting than a selfie with her statue, but you can’t put your arm around a tweet. These inanimate pillars allow us to aspire to the fiction of celebrity in peace (provided no one else walks in to stare, that is).

Wax figures are what they are: strange, simple statues, be they an art form or just remnants of a tacky past. Whatever it is, until someone starts selling A.I.-enabled robots that look and sound and make brunch like George Clooney, people will need to stage their fake-celeb selfies somewhere.

“We’ve been around for over 200 years,” says Tussauds’s Goldgor, “and [considering that most] people are not going to ever be able to get this close to celebrities, we’re going to be around that much longer.”