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Special to THK (JAMKCOOK Dancers perform the traditional Hawaiian dance known as the hula, which emphasizes precision and grace. Hula combines tradition, exercise, fun Dancers participate for cultural interest, fitness concerns, unconventional workout Lisa Eisenhauer krtcampus; Vickie Knobbe says she fell in love with hula while visiting Hawaii. The quiet and soothing dance style intrigued her so much that she joined a couple of friends for a course at a local community college. After her second session, Knobbe admitted, “It’s harder than it looks.” As classmate Martha Muehlenfeld, 82, put . it: “It’s more than just making a grass skirt sway.” Staying with the flow of the moves and keeping in sync with the other dancers requires not only physical exertion,' but also balance, concentration and coordination. Knobbe also was surprised to discover that once hula moves are perfected and choreographed, they become a sort of language of their own. “I didn’t know about that part,” said Knobbe, 52. Instructor Dori Neumeier says she’s heard that before. Students come to her classes looking for a workout and end up getting an education on Hawaiian traditions as well. “Although this is an exercise class, it’s also an exercise in culture,” Neumeier says. As she leads students through basic hula moves, Neumeier tells them that when set to Hawaiian music, those same steps, hip sways and hand gestures tell tales about love, about waterfalls, about monarchies. The key is bringing the moves together with precision and grace and understanding what each tiny part is meant to convey. “That’s what hula is,” Neumeier says. “It’s a feeling. It’s an expression.” Neumeier’s student Ernie Joy knew that when he signed up. A native of Hawaii, Joy says he was well aware of the traditional and spiritual underpinnings of the dance form from his childhood. But he’d gotten away from hula when he moved to the mainland and took up less tradition-bound hobbies, such as baseball and golf. It was his non-Hawaiian wife, Dawn, who saw the community college course and suggested it might be a cultural connection for her, her husband and his two daughters. Joy, 49, is glad his wife reconnected him with hula. “For me, it’s something to perpetuate my Hawaiian culture.” In Neumeier’s classes, while female students follow the instructor’s sometimes-delicate moves, Joy does masculine variations with quick kicks and punch-like hand gestures. Joy says polishing hula moves, whether masculine or feminine, to the point where they become expressive is a workout. “You use a lot of your lower body, your leg muscles and stuff,” he says. GUIDES • COflTinUED FROm II Fantasy XI” in comparison with “World of Warcraft” is “the servers are all from Japan, and they have to use an ingrained translator.” He also said it’s harder to get groups at higher levels because you can’t speak the same language and communicate with higher-level players. Some players overcome the difficulty of playing with people they might not know who speak another language. Most online RPGs have what’s called an auto-translate function, which translates English into Japanese and vice versa. There is also some speculation about how trustworthy strangers in the game can be. “I don’t have a problem interacting with people I don’t know,” said fourth-year pharmacy student Renee Sandlak. “I just use common sense. People online have a reflection of people in real life. If you wouldn’t loan your Rolex watch to a complete stranger, then why would you loan your expensive game gear out to a stranger either?” Most people prefer to play with groups of people they know. “It’s a lot more fun playing with people you know,” said Dolinger, who plays with his brothers and father. “It is a little bit easier to communicate and to predict the actions of someone you do know,” Sandlak said, “but that doesn’t stop me from ‘meeting’ new people online.” Despite the growing popularity of RPGs in the gaming market, some criticize them, claiming they hinder social lives of players. Concern is widespread enough that developers of games such as “Final Fantasy XI” have even put a disclaimer in the game warning gamers not to forget family, friends, school or work and telling players they have no = desire to see their real lives suffer as a consequence of their playing. There’s even a Facebook.com group called “Girlfriends against Video Games” whose members claim they are tired of their boyfriends’ time being taken up by video games. Those who play the games, however, often feel they are expanding their social lives. “I disagree mostly because technically ‘Final Fantasy XI’ is a MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) which means the game is " | a social interaction,” Sandlak said. “Players of all ages, races and ethnicities are combined onto one server. You can’t help but socially interact.” Dolinger agreed. “You have social interactions with people, but it’s like talking to someone on the phone,” Dolinger said. “It’s probably not considered by most people to be the best of social interactions.” Online RPGs can be time consuming. Many games’ missions or quests take hours and multiple people to complete. Finding time to play is difficult for many student gamers. “If I find I have a free afternoon, then I can spend some time playing. If not, then maybe I can only spend 10 minutes on the game. While the main activities do require a few hours of devotion, there are several other activities to do that only take a few moments,” Sandlak said. “However, I find that if most people sit down to play a game — any game, not just ‘Final Fantasy XI’ — that they plan to play for a couple of' hours at least.” Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockfeatures@gwm. sc. edu TheSouthQroliraSemesteiProgram offersUSCstudentsthechanceto gainvaluableworkexperienceasa paidintemwrthSouthCarolinastate govemir^nt^ixleamsixhourscredit * for POLI379and a $2,000stipend. PartkdpatingstudentSAotesstaffwith theGeneralAssembiy.. .theGovemor's office.. .pofcyHT«king:ommittees... andkeystateagenciesStudentsalso attendoneclassaweekforfecturesand discussions^ittopstategovemrnent officials. Andstudentsintheprogramearn $2,000 for the semester! To be eligible, students must have junior status and a 3.000 GPA. 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