University of South Carolina Libraries
THEY SAID IT ALDOUS HUXLEY: “Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.” • ——““““““———^ I H IJhristmas International students plan winter break BY LAUREN VAUGHN THE GAMECOCK Home for the holidays. D.oes that mean visiting with Great Grandpa Louie, eating Aunt Linda’s “special” meatloaf or driving “over the hills and through the snow” to a family reunion of chaotic proportions? What about the students who have traveled from abroad to participate in an academic ex change in good ’ole South Carolina — just what are they up to for the winter break? According to international students living in NADA, not too many will be staying here, at least not for the entire time. Tina Hilbert, a business stu dent from Germany, will be spending her four-week break off-campus entirely. She will fol low her “post-exam” week with a scenic driving tour of the Northeast region. “The first week is more or less to fill the time between finals and my Christmas trip,” Hilbert said. “Besides Washington, I have nev er been in the New England states.” She’s not planning on stay ing there too long this time ei ther because she and a friend from home are heading to Puerto Rico to visit another friend who’s on exchange. When asked what she would do if she were to remain on cam pus for the holiday, she said: “I do not like this idea at all - and since probably no one else will be on campus anymore, I can imagine how boring it is going to be here during the break. The fact that I do not have a car to do at least some trips around Columbia would make that sit uation even worse.” Dolores Garcia Cuerva, on the other hand, will be travel ing the 5000 plus air miles home to Argentina for ten days. “I’m staying in my house with my family and will spend Christmas with them,” she said. “I was not going to go because of the prices of the tickets... but I guess they really miss me there so they’ve offered to pay for my ticket and be with me at least 10 days.” When asked about her opin ion of the length of the break, she said: “I think it is OK. It is long enough to allow travel, but not too long that it makes you lose contact with people.” Damien Jumelais, an inter national business major from France, however, will be enjoy ing his extra time off. “[The break] is quite long compared to France which is only 10 days,” Jumelais said. If he could do one thing over the break, he would like to get a car and travel around the South. But he will be traveling to Denver for the month, skiing and catching up with family friends. The NADA houses’ consen sus is that most people are heading out for the break, gen erally unafraid of the events of Sept. 11, just ready to experi ence something new or visit family and friends. Residents of the Nada Brick House, (left to right) Leon Whitham, Erica Dole, Alexia Gonzalez and Tina Hilbert look out the window at NADA. photo by regina goodwin Old, new actors join to make Orange County BY TUG BAKER THE GAMECOCK When reading the opening credits for the upcoming film Orange County, it seems as though they read like a history of great comedic actors — only backwards. The first names to appear are Colin Hanks, Schuyler Fisk and Jack Black. For Hanks and Fisk, both children of famous actors (Tom Hanks and Sissy Spacek, respectively), their appearances in Orange County are their first major film roles. Jack Black has seen a recent explosion of fame in his film career with films such as High Fidelity and Shallow Hal as well as the rising popularity of his comedic rock duo Tenacious D. The list continues on to in clude such notable names as Catherine O’Hara, John Lithgow, Harold Ramis, Lily Tomlin, Chevy Chase, Kevin Kline and Garry Marshall. With this mix of young and old comedic talent, one would think the director and writer would be Hollywood staples; in reality, they are one of the hottest young director/writer teams out there. Jake Kasden and Mike White, who’ve worked together before on their critically acclaimed tele vision series Freaks and Geeks. All of this talent combines to form a solid gem of a film that will delight teens and their par ents. White’s script tells the story of Shaun Brumder (Hanks), a typical teen growing up in the suburban squalor of Orange County who one day finds his true calling in the form of a book lying in the sand. After reading the book over and over, he puts up his surfboard and picks up a pen, dedicated to getting into Stanford so he can become a great writer. When his guidance counselor bungles his transcript and he doesn’t get in, he quickly looks to his family and friends for help; but there is little to be found. His over-emotional alcoholic mother (O’ Hara) cries at the thought of him leaving home. His “save-the planet” girlfriend (Fisk) doesn’t want him to leave home either. His brother (Black) is a drugged out loser, too high to bother putting on pants. His father (Lithgow), too concerned with his business, doesn’t take him seri ously. His repeated attempts at get ting into Stanford lead him on a journey of self-discovery every one can relate to. How did all these new faces deal with the pressure of being on screen with so many seasoned ac tors? In a press conference at tended by The Gamecock, direc tor Jake Kasden, only 26-years old, said: “There were moments when it was intimidating, but it was incredibly exciting mostly.” He went on to say Harold Ramis had written two-thirds of his fa vorite comedies. When asked about working with Ramis, Jack Black joked: “I wasn’t intimidat ed by any stretch of imagination. The man’s a rank amateur.” He later said, “I was worried that maybe I was annoying [him] with my questions.” Black also spoke highly of Catherine O’ Hara, saying: “[She’s] one of my heroes. It hurts me she’s so funny.” While Hanks and Fisk have grown up around famous actors, they both said they were a little star-struck, leaving Fisk to ask: “How am I so lucky to get to work with all these people?” She said the veterans “treated Colin and I just like equals.” Hanks echoed her sentiments, commenting, “There’s not a class I could have taken to get the knowledge I learned from them just by being in this movie.” When Rarnis, widely recog nized for writing, directing and starring in many Hollywood’s best comedies such as Animal House and Ghostbusters, was asked if he gave the director or writer any advice, he said he “re ally trusted Jake [Kasden]” and was “totally fascinated” by Mike White’s first film, Chuck and Buck. Lithgow also praised the duo. “[Jake] seemed unflappable on the set and created a wonderfully comfortable atmosphere. He also had a terrific partnership with Mike White because of their work on Freaks and Geeks, one of the most wonderful and un derestimated pieces of televi sion.” Ramis summed up the genera tion spanning dynamics of Orange County the best. “We were young once. But I still feel like I’m 24. I felt a great connec tion to these actors. I feel like I’ve been in the place they are now. I know they will one someday be in the place I am.” Orange County opens nation wide Jan. 11. Colin Hanks, son of famous actor Tom Hanks, stars as Shaun Brumder in Orange County, photo special to the gamecock Nothing escapes the lure of e-mail DENISE LEVEREAUX GAMECOCKMIXEDITOR@HOTMAIL.COM Procrastination. You know the feeling. It gets to be exam time, and you make this list of stuff you absolutely have to do. The list gets to be about 12 miles long, and with each thing added to the list, the less motivation you have to do anything. At least, that’s how it is with me. The more stuff I have to do, the more I want to sit on my butt and watch Dexter’s Laboratory reruns on Cartoon Network. The more papers I have to write, the more I surf the ‘Net for useless stuff I don’t need. I bid on completely useless junk on eBay, just to keep from doing work. I come up with clever away messages for my instant messenger program. And I check my e-mail. Oh, God, do I check my e-mail. I think there’s a definite correlation between checking e mail and that right-before finals laziness. The more important an assignment is, the more e-mail breaks I take. I’ll write a sentence, then check my e-mail. Write another sentence, check my e-mail again. It’s pathetic. At first, I wondered whether I was obsessive-compulsive about e-mail. Maybe I had a real problem, like those people who wash their hands all the time or have to lock doors six times before they can convince themselves they’re really locked. Maybe — ***** Sorry, I didn’t mean to leave you hanging. I got an e-mail from my best friend from high school. She’s doing well; she wants to get together when we’re home for Christmas. I just had to reply. Stufflike that’s too important to leave sitting in my inbox, you know. So, when I thought I was obsessive-compulsive about e mail, I thought about going to the doctor. “Doctor,” I imagined myself saying when he asked me what was wrong. “I can’t stop checking my e-mail!” Then I imagined the look he would give me, and I decided I didn’t need to go to the doctor after all. Maybe I need to see a psychiatrist — ***** Sorry, that time it was my boyfriend. He e-mailed me to say he’s having a tough time studying for his exams and is really stressed. I had to e-mail him back and let him know everything would be OK, of course. Back to the psychiatrist thing. Maybe I need Ritalin or Prozac to stop my e-mail compulsion. Maybe babbling on and on about my problems will cure my need to check my e-mail every five minutes. Maybe it has something to do with my relationship with my mother. But I don’t think so— ***** Speaking of my mother, I need to write her and let her know when I’ll be home. ***** If a doctor can’t help me; and a psychiatrist won’t do, then who else? Who else understands my drive, my addiction to e-mail? Am I alone in my illness? Am I the only one? This has to stop. This has to end here. I must finish writing and stop checking my e-mail. I need to focus and concentrate. Drown out all distractions. All I need is a couple more sent ences — Even columns aren’t safe from e-mail addiction.