VIEWPOINTS
ENTERTAINMENT
THE QUICKIE
HEALTH & FITNESS
SPORTS
Selfies, anyone?
Hollywood films: Where originality goes to die
Tale of a Triton: Mickey Mittermeier
Save your skin
Wakeboarding team starts season, rides waves
The Current looks into this new trend. Is this revolution in photography emotionally healthy?
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Student bemoans lack of Hollywood originality.
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Student involved in production of potential TV series.
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Read about sunburn remedies that will save your skin during spring break.
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Read about Moomba Masters, one of the first big events of the page 15 season.
Vol. 5, Issue 10 March 21, 2014
AMT to perform at selective Chicago Improv Festival By Aaron Levy News Editor Another Man’s Trash (AMT), Eckerd’s improv comedy troupe, is taking their talents to the “windy city.” The group will travel to the Chicago Improv Festival to perform at the Playground Theater April 4. AMT is the only college-affiliated comedy troupe accepted into the entire event and will share a show with two other acts, Oklahoma City-based Heel Turn and Chicagobased Sand. Nearly 150 different groups and individual acts will perform during the week-long festival. The 17th annual festival is run by Chicago Improv Productions, a non-profit institution that sponsors year-round comedy, arts and educational outreach programs in Illinois. While all 11 AMT members plan to attend the festival, the four comics that joined this past fall will not be participating on-stage. Seniors Colton Thomas, Chris Higgins Cole Laddusaw and Geoffrey Fella, Juniors Jamie Auer and Thomas Ogg and Sophomore Andrea Petrucelli will entertain comedy fans. With a cover charge of $15, Ogg believes the audience is likely different than their usual college viewership. “They’re charging $15 admission so it’s going to be a more critical [audience] than your usual college audience which I think will only strengthen our team and our versatility,” he said. AMT was founded in 2008 by late alumnus Jake Huzenis and Associate Professor of Theater Gavin Hawk. For many of the club’s members, being accepted to the CIF provides a rare opportunity to learn from established comedians and get a glance inside the industry they hope to make a career out of. “When we look through the lineup of all the acts performing, it’s like people that we recognize from TV shows in some cases,” Thomas said. “It’s really cool because a good chunk of the team wants to do comedy, and/or improv, as a career right after college. It’s an incredible opportunity and event to have on your resume.” Among those hoping to pursue comedy after graduation is Higgins, who says he may move to Los Angeles and join a small contingent of AMT alumni chasing the same dream. “I’ll be pursuing comedy for sure,” he said. “I haven’t quite decided what to go after but I’m keeping my options open. Chicago, LA or possibly Denver.” AMT found its way to Chicago by way of taping and submitting their December showcase. “There was an application process where we filmed our December show, sent it to the Chicago See AMT, page 3
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NEWS
Winter Term photo and video contest winners announced
Tu r n t o p a g e 4 f o r f i r s t p r i z e w i n n e r s . F o r c o m p l e t e c o v e r a g e v i s i t T h e O n l i n e C u r r e n t . c o m courtesy of Henry Ashworth A still from Sophomore Henry Ashworth’s contest-winning video that he filmed in Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia.
Humanities Symposium to feature student research By Sydney Cavero Asst. News Editor Although Eckerd is known for its Natural Sciences and especially Marine Science programs, the Humanities Department, operating out of the Letters Collegium, is growing steadily. Eckerd’s first annual Humanities Symposium CPS event will feature original student research in the humanities and be open to Eckerd students, faculty and administrative staff as well as the general public. “We have students that are doing great work, really interesting work,” E. Leslie Peter Assistant Professor of East Asian Humanities Andrew Chittick said, “and I wanted a venue for them to show off what they do.” According to Chittick, who spearheaded the event, there is a regular showcase sponsored by the Natural Sciences Collegium that welcomes student works from other disciplines as well. The Humanities Symposium will differ from that one in that its specific focus is on the humanities and interaction with technology in an increasingly technological society. “We wanted to start one in the humanities,” Chittick said, “because we were interested in highlighting...approaches to visual information and web-based ways of presenting humanities information and research. We also wanted to emphasize what research in the humanities is.” Unlike scientific research, according to Chittick, humanities research is not quantified, but instead focuses on noting peoples’ past and present creations, in-
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terpreting that work and outlining its implications for the future. This event will deviate from the traditional student showcase format in which students display and present their information using posters. The Humanities Symposium will instead involve some students presenting their information from laptops that will be set up in the lobby while others present in the auditorium. According to the email, students may enter their work in three categories: a speech followed by a question-and-answer session, a technology-based presentation followed by a question-and-answer session or a web-based project. Applicants could submit individual pieces or collaborative work. The team or individual with the best work from each category will receive $100. Because the event lasts four hours, Chittick said he will likely break it up into about three rounds, each lasting roughly an hour and a half. It will be a come-and-go event, but students wanting to receive a CPS credit will probably have to attend at least one round. More details will follow as the event approaches. Chittick said he developed the idea last year when the Letters Collegium was discussing the initiative in digital humanities. He and Ramsey-Tobienne collaborated further outside of that discussion, eventually enlisting the help of Christian Nielson Endowed Chair and Assistant Professor of Film Studies Christina Peterson, Assistant Professor of Rhetoric Alexis Ramsey-Tobienne and Assistant Professor of Communication Michael Albrecht. These professors
then disseminated information about the event to the Letters, Communications, Religious Studies and other humanities-related Collegia, as well as students. Chittick, Ramsey-Tobienne and the aforementioned professors now comprise the selection committee, the body that will evaluate students’ applications and choose those to be featured in each of the event’s time slots. Chittick first emailed students in late February to inform them of the event and invite them to apply to have their work included. The application required a short abstract of their piece as
well as a faculty recommendation. Chittick said that 16 students had already applied by March 5. Senior Rachel Feinberg was among these applicants. She first developed an interest in technology her freshman year when she noticed the proliferation of smartphone usage among her peers. She chose to pursue her Bachelor’s of Science in psychology. “From then on I have been curious about the ways in which people and electronics have co-evolved,” she said, “and the impact this has See Symposium page 3
photo by Aaron Levy The first annual Humanities Symposium is being presented by the Letters Collegium.
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The Current is a free, biweekly student newspaper produced at Eckerd College. Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the