Happy hour: food and drinks

The cinema department is one of the most fortunate on campus, but it still faces hunger on the savannah. It cannot pay a T.A. to man the computer lab more than a few paltry hours a week. Pouting, I head to Cabell library's MRS stations after the cinema lab closes. Unfortunately, those computers don't offer the full range of applications I need, but I cope with the available resources. White-tail deer, after all, have been known to eat salmon in extreme cases.

I also have to swallow and deal in the English department, where my second major and creative writing minor lie. This semester, I have a whopping 50 students in my 300-level, discussionbased literature class, with just one professor and no T.A. Luckily, J have an entertaining, knowledgeable teacher and several articulate, well-read classmates. But still ... 50 people. I anticipate bookheaving herds in my literature courses next semester, too.

When I asked the English professor in charge of the VCU Glasgow Artist and Writer Workshop if the English department was offering scholarships for the summer program, he laughed. Then his face quickly assumed a helpless and pitiful expression. How could the answer not be "no"?

In my French minor, I know I only have a chance at enrolling in the classes I need because of priority registration (Thank you, Honors College). One of my friends, a declared French major since her freshman year, was not able to sign up for a single French class for two consecutive semesters. There were simply too few classes available.

Before I enrolled in the Honors College, all active students received a $500 stipend for studying abroad. That, too, is as dead as a dinosaur now. At least they haven't removed the 20-student cap on Honors classes yet. But does that also lie in the near future? This is not just a weakling's whine-a-thon, however. Everybody, in every department, graduate and undergraduate, is suffering at least a tad right now.

Bola Hanson is a student who belongs to the interdisciplinary studies program, which allows students to design their own majors if VCU does not already offer a similar program. "B.1.5 [majors] already have the problem of not belonging to the majors of the classes we register for," she said. "We end [up] having to get overrides. With fewer classes, it takes us B.I.S degree-seeking students even longer to graduate."

Hilary Stallings, a theatre major, said, "The budget cuts [have] a major impact on the theatre department. We had to use a track for Ain't Misbehavin' as opposed to a live band, which completely changes the atmosphere. It was still a great show, but it would've been better with a live band. Thankfully, we get to use a live band for Tommy, but they were talking about using a track for that, too. And they've cut back on the number of shows [we perform]. I have a feeling the reason we're collaborating with Barksdale [Theatre] on The Grapes of Wrath is because that's the only way we could get enough funding to [perform it]."

That's proof, then, that I'm not the only one frowning at the near-empty waterhole. From here on out, it's just "survival of the fittest."

" Everybody,

in every department, graduate and undergraduate, is suffering at least " a tad right now.

Mojo's

www.mojotogo.com 733 W. Cary St. If you're still craving tacos but it's not Monday, hit up Mojo's and quell your craving! Right down the street from the Cary Street Gym, Mojo's offers dollar tacos on Wednesdays as well as $4 7-inch cheeses teaks. If you come in on a Thursday, you can receive 10% off your entire order from 4 p.rn until closing time. Yeah. baby!

Cous COUS

www.couscous900.com

900 W. Franklin St.

Had enough Shafer for the week? Head right down Shafer St. to Cous Cous! Located in the same building as the Virginia Book Company, this Mediterranean restaurant has some awesome weekly specials, including vegetarian dishes every Wednesday and "Facebook Group" dinner specials every Tuesday, where deals vary weekly for their online friends. Come to Cous Cous on Mondays for Mystery Beer Night: a different beer for $1!

Little Mexico

www.littlemexicova.com

1328 W. Cary St. Located five blocks from Monroe Park campus, this unique restaurant provides a fun atmosphere along with weekly taco and enchilada specials, Mondays are dollar taco days, and every Wednesday you can head into Little Mexico for dollar enchiladas and PBRs. Eat Upl

Europa

www.europaricmond.com 1409 E. Cary St. Europa is a relaxed Italian cafe/bar located in Shockoe Bottom with a tapas menu featuring over 30 selections. Tapas are small, appetizer-sized dishes served together to make up an entire

Sticky Rice

www.ilovestickyrice.com 2232 W. Main St.

Sticky Rice is a cool, urban sushi restaurant right down Main Street. This popular spot offers half-price sushi during "Sushi Heaven" from 10:30 p.m. - 12:30 a.m. Seats fill up pretty quickly. so you definitely want to get there early!

meal, and they're incredibly fun to order with friends! Come in on Sunday for tapas night and get half-off all tapas. On Monday night. all pasta dishes are $9. On Tuesday, take a date out for a three-course dinner for $16 per person, and for another $16, share a bottle of Wine. And on Thursday nights, ladies, starting at 5 p.m., get your girls together for a night out. Buon Apetito!

Strawberry Street Cafe

www.strawberrystcafe.com 421 Strawberry St. Tucked in the heart of the Fan, this cute cafe offers classIc American fare and the best buffets. Come In on a Monday for half-off burgers and qUiche. College students and professors can meet up (yeah, right!) on Tuesdays, and with a flash of your VCU ID, get 20% off the entire check! And don't miss the bathtub salad bar! It sounds strange but for only $8.95, you get endless salad, soup, fresh fruits and veggies daily.

Capital Ale House

www.capitalalehouse.com 623 E. Main St.

This original pub is located right in downtown Richmond, and offers a variety of beer from their "beer garden" and pub-style fare for reasonable prices. Head in on a Monday for a deal that can't be beat: dollar burgers (really!) starting at 5 p.m., and free parking after 4 p.m. at the 6th and Cary St. parking deck. Can't get much better than that!

Curbside Cafe

www.curbsiderichmond.com

2525 Hanover Ave.

Become a regular at this cozy neighborhood grill and cafe Located in the Fan. this locally owned restaurant offers weekly specials to die for. Monday night offers provides 35-cent wings and half-price quesadillas, Sick of tacos yet? Is that even a valid question? Hop on in on a Tuesday for 7S-cent tacos! Wednesday is burger night, where you can chow down on a half-price burger. On Saturdays and Sundays, you can order an appetizer for halfprice. All specials are offered from 5 p.m. - 10 p.m., and drink specials are served every day from 5 p.m. -9 p.m.

Many post-grads are head-on by participating in "the

big move," No, this isn't the facing the recession move to a college dorm or even a new apartment in Manhattan.

This is the move back into their childhood bedroom. For this reason, we're called "the Boomerang Generation,"

Some dread it, but regardless, the transition can be a smooth one jf made right. Truth is, many of us are graduating at one of the hardest economic times, so finding a job is difficult. to say the least.

The time between "occupation: student" and "occupation: dream job" is going to be longer than we may have planned.

Moving back home just might be the best solution. According to the Census Bureau's American Housing Survey conducted in 2003, post·grads and persons over the age of 18 living at home has risen to approximately 16 million families.

The benefits in many ways do outweigh the drawbacks, depending on how one looks at it. Moving home is a good way to save money, and a great way to start paying back the debt of college loans, which begin to haunt grads after the hat toss at graduation. Students nearing graduation as well as post-grads keep hearing it, and there are even dozens of websites dedicated to it: networking is the key to employment. But networking takes time, and having a familiar support system to help you out can make it that much easier. It'll be easier to settle back into your old community, and you never know: someone back home might just be well-connected.

Don't expect living at home to be just like it was before you left. Everyone - including health insurance companies consider you an official adult, and it's time to start acting like one. In the short time you've been away, you've all changed. Consider living with your parents to be the same as it would be with any other roommate. Offer to help around the house or with younger siblings. Be polite and respectful. If you are living there for free, be sure to discuss some ground rules to get off to the right start. Discuss things like guests, bills and how long you plan to stay.

If your parents are asking for rent money, discuss exactly what that entails. Does paying rent allow you to throw parties in their basement every Saturday night? There are sample rental contracts available online that you and your family can use to create one together. Most of all, try not to be bitter about having to pay rent in your own home. After all, you could be paying a lot more. A one-bedroom apartment in Northern Virginia is somewhere between $900 per month and higher. In Norfolk, prices are less expensive, but rarely below $700 per month.

Whether you flock back to the nest or risk it on your own, know that you probably have a safe place to land postgraduation and that most likely, your family will be excited to have you back home. Above all else, don't look at it as a failure. Rather, view it is as transitioning to the rest of your life.

internet 2 and you

Matt Schmidt

Illustration Matt Schmidt

Could we say goodbye to Internet freedom in the name of cybersecurity?

There has been a lot of discussion from the U.N. and Internet providers about net neutrality and a greater control of cybersecurity. In late February, CNN ran a television special on cyber security, threatening that our nation could lose everything from transportation to electricity if one of our power grids were to fail.

Outside America, other countries have already implemented tactics on cyber security. Italy has implemented Internet licenses to upload video content, while Australia is currently setting up a licensing system for the Internet

Additionally, they are filtering websites, such as Wikileaks, a website that anonymously publishes sensitive governmental, corporate, organizational and religious documents for a limited time. Back in 2008, when the U.K. was complaining about China's web censorship, London's St. Pancras International, one of the biggest transport hubs in the West, blocked a large majority of mildly politically-alternative websites such as thinkprogressive.com.

So, what's happening in the United States?

There are many figureheads calling for Internet licenses in order to get online, such as Time Magazine, the New York Times, the United Nations, and even Bill Gates. Near the end of January, Bill Gates supported China's web censorship. Also, the Head Technology officer at Microsoft, during the Davos conference and UN and NIST (National Institute of Standards meetings, agreed with UN's suggestion to in Technology) would be in charge of sign in with an Internet 10.

With these licenses, "lnternet2," a new network, would be created. One would obtain a subdomain with a major carrier, and the new carrier would be able to shut down websites whenever it wanted. Essentially, it's like You Tube or Facebook, where one can register an account, but the site may delete the profile or videos that one has uploaded.

In addition to the licenses issued from Internet2, the U.S. Congress is voting to pass a cybersecurity bill that could affect citizens' Internet freedom.

With more than 400 votes for the cyber security bill in the House of Representatives, only five members were opposed to the bill. These five members were also the only ones to read the bill in its entirety. At opencongress.com, where the cybersecurity bill can be read in its entirety, 94% of the public has voted against it, which clearly isn't representative of what Congress has expressed.

As for what the bill specifically proposes, it gives the president of the United States the ability to "declare a cybersecurity emergency," and limit or even completely shut down Internet traffic in any "critical" information network "in the interest of national security." The bill does not define a critical information network or a cybersecurity emergency. That definition is left to the president's discretion.

The bill also states that the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) this new Internet. All software would be regulated through NIST standards. It also states the Department of Homeland Security would recruit students, from kindergarten to college, to join their "Federal Cyber Scholarship for Service" program to train the next generation of federal information and security managers. In this program, students would be certified in meeting federal information workforce standards, and would track American blogs and websites to filter disinformation and monitor all Internet activity.

What information might children consider disinformation?

In 2008, Cass Sunstein, President Obama's Advisor of Information and Regulatory Affairs, wrote in a paper that our government might ban conspiracy theories or impose a tax on conspiracy theorists. He stated multiple conspiracy theories such as "man-made global warming is a fraud." Even though a majority of the people are realizing global warming has lost its validity, may they still be labeled as "conspiracy theorists"? I thought the I nternet was about free speech no matter what your beliefs are. Although the government created the Internet, we pay enough taxes to use it freely. The government is slowly taking the Internet away from us by introducing these draconian laws. To learn more, research groups like "Save the Internet," which have been protesting this bill for a while. It's time to save net neutrality.

the death of dating

citizens of a new age

Dena Spruill Photo Jaime Barnett

Once upon a time, there was a custom called dating. When Cupid's arrow hit two unsuspecting souls, the ritual began. A male suitor would call on a young woman and ask her on a date. The typical rendezvous might involve a night on the town complete with dinner and a movie, or maybe even a night of dancing. Then, if all went well, the night would conclude with the goodnight kiss. Success! The dreaded first date is complete. However, it's been my experience that this is becoming a non-existent occurrence in today's society. Dating, as we perhaps never truly knew it, is becoming extinct. In its place, we're left with the hook-up culture.

Collegiate hook-up culture is rampant. It used to be that you met someone you liked, and then went on a few dates to get to know them. Now you hook-up first. and maybe go on a few dates afterward. Does anyone else see this as a little backwards? It seems we've lost the ability to simply ask someone out and get to know them.

So what's the cause of the dating culture's slow demise? A writer for the New York Times attributed it to "the collapse of advanced planning, lopsided gender ratios on campus, delaying marriage, relaxing values and sheer momentum," all of which make for significant contributing factors. However, the writer failed to factor in the effects technology has also had on this phenomenon. One of the major contributing factors in the growth of this new social norm is the technology that we love and hold so dear: Facebook, Twitter, SMS messaging ... all of these forms of social media and communication provide us with more and more ways to disconnect from personal contact. We are thus gifted the inability to deal with life face-to-face.

Don't get me wrong, I text just as much as the next person, but using this as the main means of communication with someone we're interested in dating is probably not the best idea. We've become too addicted to put the phone down! In 2008, Vibes Media, a company that helps businesses market themselves through SMS, reported that since 2001, the number of text messages sent in the United States has risen from about a million a month to 75 billion.

While texting has become an extremely useful tool, SMS can be impersonal and leaves way too much room for misinterpretation. Think about it. Can you really get to know someone through a text message? Granted, texting has its advantages in relationships. It's useful for flirting and connecting when you really can't talk. It's great for making plans, quick confirmations, and great for throwing out a short message to someone.

Nevertheless, when this form of communication is abused, it mostly just gets in the way. Whereas we used to "drunk dial", there is now the "drunk text," and in place of the "booty call" we have late-night "booty texts." And due to the difficulty of interpreting a person's tone through text, it can be hard to tell who's looking to get to know you and who's just looking to get some. Be classy in your approach. Texting is all about short conversations; it's not a total replacement for phone conversations. When it comes time to setup a date, be brave. Pick up the phone and call!

Dating in this new age is a complex process, arguably even more difficult than in the past. With all the games we play and all the ways we can communicate, the dating realm can be a murky, thorny underworld of confusion. However, one thing is for sure. In our society where constant contact is a necessity, texting as a form of communication is here to stay. But don't throw your love life out the window by inadvertently showing that you're uneducated in the sphere of texting.

a few tips for proper texting etiquette

Asking Someone Out: So, you met someone at Friday night's art gallery show, you exchanged numbers. and now you're thinking it's time to ask for a date. It may be easier on the nerves to shoot someone a request via text, but oftentimes, this just sends out the wrong message. Save the date plans for those traditional phone conversations that we seem to increasingly avoid. Cancellation: Texting is not an excuse to be rude. If you don't want to see someone, call them to cancel plans. Date Etiquette: You're hanging out with someone you're interested in. and you're so excited you decide to text your friend every detail of your date. It should go without saying, this is a big no-no. Never text while you're on a date if you want the person to think you're interested! And even if you're not interested, don·t be rude. At least run off to the restroom and text privately! Playing It Safe: Texting is one of the most widely misinterpreted forms of communication out there. It's hard to decipher the tone of someone's message through simply reading words on a screen. To be safe, save the jokes for face-to-face interaction. Constant Contact: Ever had someone blow up your phone

with text messages all day long that have no real significance? Do not text every facet of your day to someone you're dating, or anyone for that matter. Keep your texts to a minimum. Patiently Waiting: So, you've been engaging in a text-a-thon with that new girl you met on Saturday. She stopped texting you mid-conversation and now it's Thursday and you're still waiting for a reply. Just because you text someone, it doesn't mean they're going to reply. Not everyone keeps constant track of their text messages. Sometimes, there are simply not enough hours in the day (something college students should be well aware of). Left in the Dark: If you haven't heard from someone you texted in a few days, don't immediately panic. They may have forgotten to text you back in the midst

a call! Whatever the reason, you'll get your answer, allowing you and your friends to rest from worrying. All in Your Feelings: As much as you may feel the need to gush about your inner-most feelings through SMS, leave the heart-to-heart conversation for face-to-face contact (or at least ear-to-ear). of late-night studying for final And the Number One exams. Instead of pondering why Rule: Break-ups are hard, you haven't heard from them, uncomfortable, and messy. pick up the phone and give them If the time has come to end a relationship, be classy about your approach. Texting is not an avenue for breaking up with someone! It's cowardly. The same goes for email, Facebook messages and Twitter tweets. None of these methods will passably end ties with someone. As much as we may not want to, sometimes we've got to swallow that grown-up pill and do the right thing.

Smells like Green Spirit ... and Deceit

Matt Schmidt

Illustration Matt Schmidt

With one of the coldest winters upon us in 25 years, more people have become very skeptic about the "science" behind global warming.

On Nov. 19 2009, two hackers of adding in the real temps (sic) to each obtained thousands of emails series for the last 20 years (ie from 1981 and documents from the Climate onwards) and from 1961 for Keith's to Research Unit at East Anglia University hide the decline." in Norwich, England. Several emails Another email describes the CRU's exposed that the scientists had cooked effort to hide other scientific research the numbers to show an extreme inconclusive to global warming trends: incline in temperature since the "We will keep [skeptics' research] out Industrial Revolution. somehow-even if we have to redefine

Phil Jones, director of the Climate what the peer-review literature is!" Research Unit (CRU) and a professor in The exposure of these emails is also the School of Environmental Sciences the smoking gun for the many criminal at the University of East Anglia, wrote attempts to fix temperature trends. an email to his colleague which stated: Some may remember Michael Mann's "I've just completed Mike's Nature trick "hockey stick" graph, shown in AI Gore's film An Inconvenient Truth. The graph depicted a strong increase in temperature beginning in the mid-1800s. However, the "hockey stick" formed on this graph by the increase is dwarfed when presented with the greater temperatures of the "Medieval Warming Period" from around 850 - 1200 A.D.

With 31,000 scientists or more who oppose global warming, people can no longer deny that this email scandal has brought to light the global warming hoax. Why would they attempt to make up this hoax?

The United Nations documents and

the Club of Rome documents from 1991 state a private group of banks, including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and others are financing this movement. In the mid 90·s. Ken Lay of EN RON and AI Gore came up with a new form of derivatives based on carbon credits. By creating a system of carbon credits, a global treaty would essentially place a 2% tax on every country's gross domestic product (GOP). On Jan. 24 2010. the Daily Mail published an interview with Dr. Murari Lal, the coordinating lead author of the report's chapter on Asia. The interview proved the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) had lied about global warming predictions to put political pressure on world leaders.

Dr. Lal said: "It related to several countries in this region and their water sources. We thought that if we can highlight it, it will impact and politicians and encourage them to take some concrete action."

Recently, Jones admitted there hasn't been a significant increase in temperatures to prove global warming since 1995.

Declared by the U.N. as "the most important meeting in history," leaders gathered at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference in early December of 2009. Secretary General of the U.N .. Ban Ki Moon, said this meeting would establish "global governance."

Former U.S. Vice President AI Gore, referring to climate change, proclaimed, "It is the awareness itself that will drive the change. And, one of the ways it will drive the change is through global governance."

Even though nothing concrete was decided at the conference, the leaders of the world all believe that we must form a global governance structure to help our planet Earth.