The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 21, 2001, Page 5, Image 5
This Week in USC History
March 20, 1996 —*To encourage students to go online,
The Gamecock Online was created, providing students
with extra features not found in the print version.
World Night:
a celebration
of cultures
by Kamille Bostick
The Gamecock
For one night, USC will be turned
into a center of international culture.
To conclude International Week,
World Night 2001 will be presented by
the International Student Association,
Student Government Association and
International Programs for Students.
World Night 2001 features students
from 120 different countries and gives
USC students the opportunity to become
acquainted with and gain exposure to
international customs and music.
The cultural jam will feature a
fashion show of traditional and
ceremonial dress from different countries
modeled by international students. The
World Beat party, a dance with the latest
music from every continent, will follow.
International cuisine will be
prepared by the Indian Student
Association and Friendship Association
of Chinese Scholars and Students.
“[Students can] experience exotic
tastes from different regions,” said newly
elected ISA President Rohit Bhatia.
“World Night 2001 is where ISA
brings the world to USC. This is a unique
opportunity for [the university] to
experience the various cultures out
there.”
Other organizations, such as the
Brazilian Student Association, Hellenic
Student Association, Indian Cultural
Exchange, Korean Student Association,
Organization of Africans at USC,
Students Associated for Latin America
and the Taiwanese Student Association,
will all make their own cultural
contributions to the event.
The diverse displays that World
Night 2001 provides and the future
communication it will foster makes it
the perfect stage for interaction and
education.
Jenny Patel, a third-year student in
the College of Pharmacy who helped
organize the Indian students for the
fashion show, said she feels the glimpse
into cultures is necessary for cultural
understanding and appreciation.
“World Night is amazing. As an
international student, you get asked a
lot of questions about your culture and
yourself. [It’s] a place to have many
of those questions answered as well as
find out more about others,” Patel said.
This will be the second annual World
Night celebration. Because the past
year’s celebration was very successful,
expectations for this year are high.
International student Saskia
Beighaeuser said she hopes everyone
takes advantage of World Night.
“I hope a lot of people attend and
participate, especially a lot of Americans.
It’s a great chance to be exposed to,
celebrate and experience the different
cultures [we] don’t always get to
see,” Betghaeuser said.
World Night 2001 will be held in
the Russell House ballroom from 7-11
p.m. Friday.
Admission is $2 with ID for USC
students and $4 for the general public.
The spotlight desk can be reached at
gamecockspotlight@hotmail.coni
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Wednesday, March 21
“Reforming Apartheid Education in
the Context of Globalization”
Brown Bag Lunch Series
12:00-1:15 p.m., RHUU 302
“Hispanic Women Behind The Camera”
3:30-5 p.m., Belk Auditorium
“Oblomov”
7 p.m., Gambrell 250
Thursday, March 22
“Beyond The King and I: The True
Thailand”
Brown Bag Lunch Series
12-1:15 p.m., RHUU 303
LETS GO! Travel Bus
11 a.m.-3 p.m., Greene Street
Let's Go Corporation focuses On the new breed of
traveler— the student on a budget. Its goal is to
provide student-written, up-to-date travel guides for
budget travelers. LET’S GO! will be giving away free
books, sponsoring contests with prizes and giving
students the chance to talk with editors and writers
about traveling.
“Building A Global Community at USC:
What You Need to Know About
Admitting & Advising International
Students”
3:30-4:45 p.m., Byrnes Building 704
Poetry Reading with Les Murray
3:30-4:45 p.m., Currell College Auditorium
Les Murray is Australia’s leading living poet and
one of the finest poets writing in English today. He
has won numerous awards: the Australian National
Poetry Award, the Australian Literary Society Gold
Medal, the T. S. Eliot Prize for the UK and the Queen's
Gold Medal for Poetry.
“The Many Faces of the Hispanic
Community”
4- 5 p.m., RHUU 302
“Let’s Go Travel: Safe and Cheap”
5- 6 p.m., RHUU 303
Friday, March 23
International Festival
11 a.m.-3 p.m., Greene Street
ISA World Cup Soccer Tournament
3-4 p.m., B/C Field Blatt PE Center
World Night 2001
7- 11 p.m., Russell House Ballroom
$2 admission
Jamaica Kincaid, writer
8- 9:30 p.m., Belk Auditorium ,
Jamaica Kincaid’s At the Bottom of the River (1984)
won the Morton Dauwen Zabel Award of the American
Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. Since then,
she has published numerous books including My
Brother (a finalist for the National Book Award) in
1997 and My Garden in 1999. A reception will
follow Jamaica Kincaid's reading.
Special to The Gamecock
Edward Bums (left) and Robert De Niro try to stop two murderers
_...M. A In -4 fZ Minirf/ac_
‘TyLoWn
by Oscar Avila
College Press Exchange
CHICAGO — Rocky Toomey used
to deliver bouquets of balloons to earn
a little extra money. Now Fortune 500
bigwigs fly him all over the country to
build sprawling balloon sculptures for
up to $15,000 a pop.
Once associated with the animals
that liven up children’s birthday parties’,
balloon art has gone corporate.
Clown gags have given way to
sophisticated installations, such as a giant
strand of DNA created for a recent
medical conference.
Their creators have turned pro, too
— the most lucrative gigs are going to
those who are titled Certified Balloon
Artists.
This high-flying combination of latex,
art and commerce came to Rosemont,
111., this past week as 1,000 delegates to
the International Balloon Arts
Convention showed their stuff.
Toomey led a team that assembled
about 80,000 balloons into a dragon
— a sculpture that hung in the Hyatt
Regency O’Hare, the site of the
convention.
The dragon is a far cry from
Toomey’s beginnings in the business.
“When I started, I thought it was
. just a fad, like a Pet Rock,” said Toomey,
owner of Ballooney Tunes in Honolulu.
“Now, look where we are.”
The public sampled some of the best
work at Sunday’s Festival of Balloons
at the Hyatt.
As part of the convention’s sculpture
competition, a Japanese artist created a
horned dinosaur. A California woman
built a tiara as “A Tribute to Princess
Diana.” And Bill McCormack of Glen
Ellyn created a space shuttle.
Teams worked for 27 straight hours
to create the sculptures, which towered
as high as 15 feet.
These creations have raised the
profile of balloons. At some point,
corporate America began viewing
balloons as stylish accessories, not
schmaltzy throwaways, while balloon
artists have pushed for their work to
be taken seriously.
'Ti__... *_a : „
1 he new trend in
balloon art isn’t a static
medium.
Artists combine
arrangements with lights,
music and flowers. Some
launch helium balloons.
Others let balloons fall.
Convention participants
learned about upscale decor
at classes, such as “Non
Round Balloons for the
Country Club Crowd,” for which the
program touts: “They’re in every city
and country around the world, and they
have money to spend!”
The instructor, Marvin Hardy of
Utah, has decorated more than 250
country clubs.
He builds golf sets with clubs,
balls and tees to display in pro shops. He
also creates champagne bottles for formal
events.
Marie Mandoli, owner of The
Balloon Lady in San Francisco, said,
“Instead of little Sammy’s birthday patty,
we’re working for the opera.”
Mandoli said some companies
“won’t even touch a job under $500,”
eschewing birthday parties for corporate
gigs. Her firm created a 10-foot DNA
strand for a medical convention.
A computer company paid Toomey’s
firm $15,000 to build an “Under the
Sea” motif, complete with crabs and
bubbles.
As befits that businesslike approach,
the mid-1990s saw the birth of CEAs,
Certified Balloon Artists. For $250,
applicants take written and oral tests to
add the title to their names.
Pioneer Balloon Co., a manufacturer
that oversees the certification, gives
CEAs priority when clients seek referrals
from the Wichita, Kan.
basedcompany.
Since 1996, the
number of CBAs has
tripled to almost 1,600
worldwide.
As balloon art
becomes more highbrow,
industry veterans say
smaller operators are also
thriving, with or without
certification.
Tony Wright, owner of Tony’s
Balloons in Evanston, started dabbling
in the field four years ago as a part-time
job.
Like Toorney before him, he hopes
to become certified and enter the
profession full time.”With balloons, there
is a lot of money to be made,” he said
‘When I started, I thought it was
just a fed, like a Pet Rock. Now,
look where we are.’
Rocky Toomey
Ballooney Tunes owner
Special to The Gamecock
Hiromi Isujimoto works on a large dragon created from balloons.
The artist was preparing the piece for the Balloon Art Convention.
What’s Happening
Wednesday, March 21
Live Music
Blue Martini Skipp Pearson and
Jazzology
Decisions Muddy Quarters
Delaney’s Kenny Floyd
Dianne’s on Divine Ross Holmes
Elbow Room Battle of the Bands -
w/Hurt Reynolds, Science Knows No
Sin, Love Apple (9 p.m.)
Mac’s on Main Mac's Jazz Showcase
Road Runner's Open jam w/Steve
Kemp
Performing Arts
Comey House Theatre Gary Conrad
Town Theatre The Rainmaker
Art Bar NUVIBE
Billy G’s Beach & Boogie Night w/DJ
Butch Davidson
Crocodile Rocks Ladies Night
Eddy Ho’s Pool Tournament
Rafter's Temptation Island College
Night
Road Runner's Ladies Night
Tavern on Greene Listening Party
Thursday, March 22
Live Music
Art Bar The Motion Rotation with
WUSC’s DJ Keane
Crocodile Rocks Dueling Pianos
Delaney’s Woody Rogers
Elbow Room The Recipe
New Brookland Tavern Thomas Reed
Band w/ Stand and Be Counted
The Sundance Grill The Whatever
Band
In The News
■ Nonworking toilets
halt ’N Sync tour
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) - N
Sync fans can blame nonfunctioning
toilets as a reason why the popular boy
band won’t perform at Lambeau Field
this summer.
Promotion Management Inc.
announced Monday that ’N Sync
won’t make Lambeau Field part of its
“2001 Pop Odyssey” stadium tour,
despite reports that had listed a Green
Bay stop on June 26.
Bob Sullivan, PMI’s vice president
of venue operations, said construction
at the stadium — part of a $295
million renovation to be completed by
the 2003 NFL season — caused SFX
to look at other options.
Two of the biggest worries
involved sanitation facilities, because
the stadium’s toilets are currently out
of service, and keeping a potential
crowd of 60,000 away from dangerous
construction areas, Sullivan said.
■ Costume Designers
Guild gives awards
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The racy
wardrobe Julia Roberts wore in Erin
Brockovich helped the film win best
costume design from Hollywood’s
Costume Designers Guild.
Erin Brockovich costume designer
Jeffrey Kurland won the guild’s honor
for contemporary films.
The guild gave its award for period
or fantasy films to Rita Ryack, costume
designer for Dr. Seuss’How the
Grinch Stole Christmas.
Patricia Field won best costume
design for contemporary television for
Sex and the City. The TV period or
fantasy honor went to Hope Hanafin,
costume designer for the television
movie Geppetto.
Good acting can’t save warmed-over 15 Minutes
by Tug Baker
The Gamecock
1 REVIEW
MOVIE: 15 Minutes
STARRING: Robert De Niro,
Edward Bums, Kelsey Grammer
GRADE: ☆ out of ☆☆☆☆
There are a few tilings to do in America
to claim the 15 minutes of fame Andy
Warhol predicted everyone would have
in the future.
If having sexual relations with the
president isn’t up your alley, you can always
try to kill someone or, preferably, lots of
DeoDle. Americans tend to glorify violent
aggressors, especially serial killers. It’s not
that they’re seen as heroes — instead,
they’re seen as misguided mistakes of
nature.
15 Minutes writer/director John
Herzfeld decides to take the idea he
originated in 2 Days in the Valley, the
famous 15 minutes of fame line, and run
it into the ground for all it’s worth.
15 Minutes follows Emil (Karel
Rodin), a Czech criminal, and his Russian
partner Oleg (OlegTaktarov) as they visit
America to recover money owed to them
by another criminal.
When they find their associate has
spent all their money, Emil kills the man
and his wife and sets their apartment on
fire. Oleg, who is obsessed with films and
wants to document their journey to
America, films the entire murder.
Arson investigator Jordy Warsaw
(Edward Burns) and famous homicide
detective Eddie Fleming (Robert De Niro)
team up to bring the killers to justice.
Eventually, Emil and Oleg get enough
murders filmed on camera that they have
the idea to sell them to a seedy television
journalist (Kelsey Grammer), use the
money to hire expensive lawyers, claim
they were crazy and sell the story rights
to the highest bidder.
The acting isn’t the problem in 15
Minutes, De Niro and Bums are both
accomplished actors with many great films
under their belts. Even Rodin and Taktarov
do fine jobs. But the audience gets the
feeling that all these actors are struggling
with the confines of the script and flat
characters.
The characters also have unmotivated
actions, such as Jordy’s unfounded
fascination with a girl who’s the only
witness to the murders. In fact, it’s in
Jordy’s role that most of the problems lie
— the film doesn’t let the audience know
what he’s thinking often enough.
15 Minutes is dull for a so-called
“thriller,” and the message it’s trying to
send has been done and warmed over time
and time again in such great movies as the
dark comedy To Die For and the even
darker Natural Bom Killers.
Do yourself a favor and go rent those
instead of paying admission to see ,15
Minutes.
The spotlight desk can be reached at
gamecockspotiight@hotmail.com