INSIDE
SMU’s newest Oscar nominee Athlete’s best pick-up lines Are gay rights inevitable?
Remembering Whitney
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MONDAY
FEBRUARY 13, 2012 MONDAY High 51, Low 40 TUESDAY High 64, Low 53
VOLUME 96 ISSUE 59 FIRST COPY FREE, ADDITIONAL COPIES 50 CENTS
FOOD
Campus eateries look to unite student body ALISSA FITZPATRICK Contributing Writer afitzpatrick@smu.edu
SPENCER J EGGERS/The Daily Campus
A florist arranges roses at Mockingbird Lane Florists, located next to Campisi’s Pizza on Mockingbird Lane, in preperation for the Valentine’s Day rush.
Local businesses show some love ALISSA FITZPATRICK Contributing writer afitzpatrick@smu.edu Valentine’s Day. For some it may be about love, candy and flowers, but for several local shops it means one thing: money. More than $13 billion is spent on Valentine’s Day annually, with nearly half of that being spent on chocolate and candy. The holiday helps to support locally owned businesses like Dude, Sweet Chocolate by providing a substantial increase in revenue and customers. “Valentine’s is very fast and furious,” co-owner of Dude, Sweet Chocolate Katherine Clapner said. “You do two weeks worth of business in six days.” While both men and women frequent the shop, Clapner said
the buying pattern of men is very different. “Valentine’s is hilarious because come Saturday, Sunday and Monday the guys are going to be in and they’re not going to care what they’re buying,” she said. “They just need to get some chocolate and leave with it so they don’t look like a jerk.” Luckily for the last-minute shopper, Clapner and her team will be serving quality Valentine’s chocolates through Tuesday. “I have a particular style,” Clapner said. “We believe it’s more about what’s inside the box than the ribbon and bows.” All of the chocolates in Dude, Sweet Chocolate are made inside the 350-square-foot storefront using quality dark chocolate. Clapner also tries to incorporate many local products into the chocolate.
“I use a lot of local produce. I use very good cream, I don’t use corn syrup,” she said. “It’s all about the ingredients — it all starts here.” While chocolate and candy are always a big hit, some may be surprised to learn that cards make up for more than half of the revenue during the holiday. Although many customers turn to their local Hallmark for greeting cards, NUVO, which is located in Oak Cliff, offers a wide variety of cards and specialty gifts. “Since we opened, we’ve always had a great card selection,” co-owner of NUVO Jeff Wright said. “We have more than 2,000 different cards.” Supporting local stores like NUVO is important to many customers who enjoy the creative products sold in the store.
“Hallmarks are great for buying cards for Mom…but we’re just a little bit more sophisticated and upperend,” Wright said. The store opened 23 years ago, and according to Wright, aims to sell well-designed gifts, home furnishings, jewelry and books. While searching for the perfect card, customers can also find the perfect gift for their loved ones as the store sells an eclectic mix of jewelry, candy, home goods, artwork, candles and books. “There are a lot of stores that are really high-end, or not as high-end, but we do a little bit of both,” Wright said. For NUVO, Valentine’s Day means big business and the store stocks up on all the necessities, giving customers an array of products to
See VALENTINES page 6
CAMPUS
Real Food on Campus (RFoC) serves approximately 3,000 meals a day, with the number of freshmen diners far surpassing upperclassmen. Over the years, RFoC, located in the basement of the Umphrey Lee Center, has taken on the reputation of being the freshman food hall, a status that Michael Marr, the senior director of dining services at SMU, is working to change. “We want to create a community space where students feel like it’s a place they can go interact with one another, get involved with other students … but at the same time have a good meal,” Marr said. “What we’re trying to get away from is it’s viewed by upperclassmen as a freshman dining hall.” Since its renovation in 2007, RFoC has made many changes and improvements to try and grab the attention of upperclassmen. The addition of gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian options, along with “Wild Wednesdays,” “Healthy on the Hilltop,” theme nights and “International Street Fair” are popular with current diners. First years Meredith Carey and Kenna Rood like the theme nights and said that state fair night was “awesome.” Marr is also trying to stay up to date with the trends, bringing such concepts as the food truck to SMU.
RFoC is “trying to do things that are trendy, that appeal to students, faculty and staff and meet the needs of the community,” Marr said. Marr is also hoping to get contracts with other food trucks to bring more variety to SMU. “We want to educate you but provide the variety and also make it exciting,” he said. Marr is currently working on a marketing plan, which includes giving free RFoC dining passes to upperclassmen to make them aware of the changes that have taken place. And, making them aware is no easy feat. “The grad students and upper class students that come love it, but how do we get the message out?” Marr asked. It is no surprise that he wants to see more students utilize RFoC as his staff and team work to bring improvements to the dining scene at SMU. However, some SMU students believe that more options and changes are still needed. “There are some days when I’m looking around and I actually can’t think of anything that’s there that I want to eat,” Carey said. “There are more stations that stay the same than there are that change.” Among the dining changes that Carey would like to see implemented is an improvement in healthy foods. “It would be nice to have a wide variety of vegetables
See RFOC page 6
PROGR AM COUNCIL
Fashion media launches website HILLARY HIRSCHFIELD Contributing Writer hhirschfield@smu.edu Calling all fashionistas: the fashion media program at SMU is introducing a new website that will feature all the latest fashion news. The website will be officially up and running as of Monday. At smufashionmedia.com, viewers can expect to find “all sorts of content related to fashion with an SMU-in-Dallas twist,” Camille Kraeplin, director of the fashion media program, said. The website will be regularly updated with various content ranging from feature stories to blogs and little fashion finds or current trends and obsessions. “Many of the pieces will go much more in-depth with the subject matter and have information students can use to educate themselves about what’s going on in the fashion industry,” SMU senior and student editor of the website Grace Davis said. Ultimately, the idea of the website is for students to learn about the fashion community, not just at SMU, but beyond. Another noteworthy feature of the website will be a piece called “On the Boulevard.” This section will be modeled after “On the Street,” the weekly piece in The New York Times by Bill Cunningham in which he captures candid shots of the latest fashion trends on the streets of New York City. “We are going to be photographing all kinds of
people who we think are fashionably dressed,” Kraeplin said. “Something that’s cool, something that’s creative.” Students in Kraeplin’s fashion journalism class are responsible for 100 percent of the content published on the website. “I wanted the fashion journalism course to be a place where students were really applying their skills,” Kraeplin said about the capstone course for one of SMU’s newest minors. “They were doing fashion media, fashion journalism, and it’s not as real if you don’t have an outlet for your work.” With that in mind, Kraeplin modeled the entire course around the addition of the website. Luckily for Kraeplin, she was given a very knowledgeable group of students during her first time offering and instructing the course. “Most of the students in this class have had a wealth of experience,” she said. Kraeplin is thrilled to have a class with members who have already obtained experience in fashion journalism. From established bloggers to girls who have had internships with fashion companies and publications, these skilled students help create and contribute to all that goes into the website. “The talent and amount of fashion knowledge in this class is significant, so I’m just really excited about the level of ability we have in this class,” Kraeplin said. Kraeplin is also excited about
having Kristie Ramirez, a fashion writer for Texas Monthly, on board. Ramirez serves as an editorial consultant, in which she helps by attending story and editorial meetings and helping students in any other ways they might need. “It’s very beneficial for me to be around this next generation of journalists,” Ramirez said. “I want to hear what they think, see how they work with social media and understand their world just as much as they want to understand mine.” Kraeplin said that with the help of Ramirez comes a “really good eye for fashion writing and for helping us judge the quality of stories.” While many students are already familiar with the style section of The Daily Campus — as the coursework for a specific class — the fashion media website will be somewhat different for just that reason. “The site’s purpose and mission might even change from class to class depending upon who is in the class,” Davis said. “Our current class is very up to date with the national fashion news and social media trends, and I think that will shape what you see on the site.” Students who are interested in taking the course can easily go and see what sort of things they could expect to do once enrolled in the class simply by visiting the website. To stay updated with fashion in and outside of SMU, visit smufashionmedia.com.
SIDNEY HOLLINGSWORTH/The Daily Campus
Program Council set up an ice rink at the flag pole Friday evening, allowing students to skate free on campus.
Ice, Ice Baby heats up campus LAUREN ADAMS Contributing Writer ladams@smu.edu Students skated and danced around on a plastic polymer rink in front of Dedman College Friday night for Program Council’s Ice, Ice, Baby. As a DJ blared music ranging from Top 40 to — you guessed it—Vanilla Ice, the lively atmosphere heated up a usually dull weekend spot on campus. In an effort to provide students with fun and unique on-campus entertainment, Program Council fleshed out an idea that had been circulating around the group for years, according to Program Council President
Elise McDonald. The event, which had an overwhelmingly positive student response when it was first announced, was originally on the calendar for December. Postponed due to inclement weather, Ice, Ice, Baby took over the flagpole Friday evening. Students could rent their skates onsite and warm up with some hot cocoa and cookies while they unwound. First year Ellen Handa was surprised by the transformation and said she enjoyed the dancing and good music. With other fun surprises, like free tickets to the newly released film, “The Vow,” students had
plenty to celebrate. Roughly 200 people stopped by throughout the night, according to Event Chair Kevin Hess, who said the turnout would have likely been better on it’s original date, the same week as Celebration of Lights. And though Friday’s freezingby-Dallas-standards weather had the potential to pose a threat to the event, the rink started to heat up later in the night as students ditched their skates in favor of a dance party. Ice skating rinks usually evoke thoughts of Christmas and bonechilling temperatures, but this Program Council event warmed students up for more fun to come this semester.