Catalyst

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Features American Beauty -page 5 Faculty Lecture Series -page 6 Opinion Editorial: Pei needs a makeover, Letter to The Editor: No to 'Leniency' -page 7 Volume X, Issue 4 Throw me a frickin' bone here! September 29, 1999 Betty Castor tenders full resignation from USF Betty Castor officially left her post as president of USF last Wednesday, September 22. by David Saunders After five and a half years of service as USF President Betty Castor an nounced her resignation this summer. Her last working day was Wednesday, September 22 when she left Provost Thomas Tighe to act in her place until Chancellor Adam Herbert can announce an interim presi dent. Castor left the position in order to chairthe National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. New College Professor Doug Langston said, "Out of the four or five USF presidents I've known, she took the most interest in this campus. She decided to change the dysfunctional structure of the two deans set up and has consistently supported New College's work to support its Admissions Office. I think we have lost a very good friend of New College with her departure and I hope another friend becomes the new president." Langston is the New College representative on the Search Advisory Committee that advises the Board of Regents Selection Committee. There are expected to be over 100 applicants to the position, most of which have already held posts as presidents or provosts at major universities. Consul tants hired for the search say that this is one of the prime jobs on the market. At the time there is also a search for a new president for the Univer s ity o f Fl orida, which may or may not hamper U S F's search. Langston said, "'Their search will be slightly behind ours. The desire is to name a new Photo courtesy of the University of South Florida Afte r fi ve and a half year s as pre s ident of USF, Betty Cas t or l e ft USF to h ea d up t h e N at ional Board o f T eac hi ng St a nd ards. The NORD proposal vetoed by Bassis In end, NORD w a s sh o t dow n b e c ause o f potential admin ist ra tive prob le ms. by Michael Sanderson The NORD proposal, a plan under discussion to extend a residential Eng lish language program to the entire academic year, is dead. Administrators nixed the idea after widespread discussion among students and faculty gave the message that it was infeasible. Initially, NORD approached Richard Ken(lrick, director of auxiliary services, abottt exte11dit1g their sutnmer program to tl1e entire year, witl1 a contract for two years, renewable annually .. NORD Academy, based in Virginia, runs English Language and Culture programs in various locations throughout the United States. Currently, 15 students occupy New Co1lege facilities during the summer. Students coming in would be between 17 and 22, housed in Viking, and fed through Marriott. Initially, NORD approached Richard Kendrick, director of auxiliary ser vices, about extending their summer program to the entire year, with a contract for two years, renewable annually. Beginning with a small number of students, it contained mention of the academy's possible plans to expand that number to 50 or 100, and possibly take over all of Viking's dorms. However, none of those projections were given the opportunity to come to fruition. After extensive discussions, Kindrich gave his recommendation to Campus Dean and Warden Michael Bassis, and Bassis vetoed the pro posal. Everyone, he said, "agreed that it didn't make sense to do it during the academic year." The proposal, announced at the first town meeting of the year, inspired a passionate response. Speakers came up with numerous questions: Would the NORD students be oriented to New College and would they have an RA from New College or from their own program? Would they would pay stu dent dues, and have access to A&S and SAC funds? Would they be a part of Student Affairs, and who would deal with misdemeanor issues between NORD and New College students? The town meeting passed a resolve that students would not sign until they had seen a contract and their had been fur ther discussion. Before that point could be reached, the issue went away in a tangle of its own flaws. The chief benefit of the NORD proposal would have been a substantial sum of money, which would have been earmarked for the renovation of the Pei donns. New ColJege gets no funds from the state towards housing, which took considerable funding with the construction of Dort and Gold stein. However, some students also suggested that international students would be an interesting group to have on campus. Nevertheless, the negatives outweighed the positives: issues of jurisdic tion, finance, shared facilities, and the instability of introducing another body of students to the campus. These students, unlike University Program stu dents, would become another residential body. Furthermore, faculty expressed a concern about classroom space, an issue related as the adminis tration sought input on the program. Student opposition played a role in :,f:?:':::'

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2 The Catalyst Floyd-The Aftermath: Cleaning up and re pairing lives as flood waters recede One of the most watched storms in history dropped heavy rains along the northeastern seaboard causing rivers to rise and flood large areas of land, ruining crops, and drowning mi l lions of chicken, and hundreds o f thousands of pigs and cows. Now residents are returning to find their homes destroyed, or waterlogged if they are lucky, and their farms rendered useless In total, sixty deaths have been attributed to the storm. Forty of the deaths were in North Carolina which took the majority of the damage. Water quality in the area is a concern as pesticides and animal wastes coming from flooded farmlands could infect drinking water and rivers New Jersey and New York were also hit hard. In New York City city streets and subway tracks flooded, bringing the city to a standstill. East Timorese return from forced exile to find their city, homes, and families in ruins Hundreds of thousands of East Timorese returned to the capital city of Dili with their spirits reconciled and hopes high only to find relatives missing, houses burned and looted, and a skeleton of the city they had fled in fear only two weeks ago. It appears, however, that safety and order News UN panel investigating the possibility of war crimes "My sentiments toward the Republic of Indonesia are the same as Jews to Nazi Ger many and the Kuwaitis toward Iraq ." Russia finds itself fighting Islamic insurgents In a similar way that the United States has been affected by a flurry of unexpected and random civilian attacks by gunman, five apart ment bombs in the l ast week in Ru s sia's major cities have directly terrorized the civilian popu lation. This comes during a time when Russia was invaded by r e bel Islamic fundamentalist forces in Daegstan a southern province in Rus sia and in an attempt to regain control of the area and disable the guerrillas, has bombed Grozny, Cbechnya's capital. In 1994, shortly after the USSR collapsed, Russia lost a civil war with Chechnya and was forced to concede the area to the rebels. There are suspicions that these terrorist ac tivities are backed by leadership in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. One name in particular suspected in orchestrating the attacks is not new to international terrorism Osama bin Ladin. He is currently wanted by the United States for the bombing of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania which killed 263 people, most of them Kenyans and Tanzanians. bas been reestablished throughout Dili 's streets Taiwan rattled and ransacked by earthby United Nations peacekeeping forces who ar-quake; Thrkey recovers from the devastation rived earlier in the week. Now the task is to Recovering from an earthquake that de rebuild the structure of the city; both for its stroyed Turkey and caused over two thousand buildings and for its inhabitants. deaths and thousands of injuries has beginning, The destruction of Dili and forced evacua-butrl'V)-.y anotbet tion of its residents was carried -out by atea 'to share focus on. i1ie earfn shoolC in Tai-' p ro-Indonesian militia after East Timor voted wan, and b ui ldings that were supposed l y by a 3/4 m ajori t y t o become indep endent from earthquake safe collapse d l eaving approxi Indonesia. It was suspected that the mi l i tia mately two th ou sand dead or m1ssmg were tied to certain factions of the Indonesian thousands hurt, and hundreds of thousands military. On Saturday student protests in more homeless. Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, over a bill Taiwan and Turkey both adopted the Cali signed by Indonesian President B.J. Hobbie fomia code which states that buildings have giving more power to the unpopular military required earthquake standards. Many officials turned violent and six people died. from Taiwan and other nations, however, quesOver 200,000 East Tunorese are suspected tion if the builders and inspectors had accepted to have taken refuge away from Dili. Many bribes to construct cheaper less safe buildings. have died in militia related violence, and others were injured. East Timorese rebel leader Jose Ramos Horta who won the 1996 Nobel Prize, told the September 29, 1999 The Bill Gates Foundation donates 1 biUion a year for minority scholarships In a move that promoted William H. Gray III, the head of the United Negro College Fund, to declare it "earth-shattering landscape chang ing," Bill Gates founder of Microsoft Inc and the richest man in the world allocated 1 billion dollars per year to go to minority scholarships for college. He and his wife announced that the program will guarantee recipients full financing for college and advanced degrees The program is expected to help at least 1000 students a year through college. In response to questions about whether the donation was politically motivated, Gates said be was making "nothing in the way of a politi cal statement," and that "the fact that private philanthropy can be part of making sure there is equal opportunity, I think you'd get every politician to feel like that s a very positive thing." The 1 billion dollar gift is one of the largest donations ever. North Korea agrees to halt ballistic missile tests during talks with US After a test missile flew over Japan earlier this month, promoting the Japanese to cut all economic/food aid to North Korea's battered economy and hungry population, North Korea bas agreed to halt all tests; at least for the time being when the United States will conduct trade talks with them. North Korea bas been under economic sane tions from the US for not allowing international qQcle!lr to examioe all aspects of their nucfear program. S"ome of lite sanctions were lifted during the last set of talks between North Korea and the US. "It is fortunate that the US bas recently decided to partially lift economic sanctions," North Korea Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun said, "However, we look forward to the comprehensive and actual lifting of all economic sanctions." Information compiled by The Associated Press. Cli"talyst The Catalyst is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.sar.usfedu/-catalyst/ General Editor Shanon Ingles Managing Editor Ben Ruby Online Editors Nikki Kostyun and Dav i d Saunders Layout Editor Michael Jones Photography Heather Whitmore Stall' Writers The Catalyst is an academic tutorial spon sored by Professor Maria Vesperi. It is developed in the New College Publications Of fice using Ado_be Photoshop and Quark Xpres for PowerMacJ ntosh and printed at the Braden ton Herald with money provided by the New College Student Alliance. Direct submissions and inquiries to: The Catalyst Contributions may range in length from 250 to 500 words. Letters to the Editor should be no more than 250 words. Submissions should be labeled as either letters to the Editor or contributions and include name s and contact information Max Campell Kathryn Dow, Darren Guild Mich ae l Sanderson, Mario Rodriguez 5700 N. Tamiami Tr. Box #75 Sarasota, FL 34243 catalyst@virtu.sar. usfedu Submissions in "rtf' or "WriteNow format may saved to the Catalyst Contributions the Temp Directory on the Publications Office fde server, printed subm i ssions may be placed in campus box 75 and all other contributions may be to catal y st @virtu. No anonymous submissions will be accepted. Contributors Jeb Tennyson Lund
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3 The Catalyst News The NCSA revises its constitution September 29, 1999 Changes include the internal reorganization of the NCSA and the allocation of athletic fees by Darren Guild bt t 1 St d t t N C 11 o amm g con ro over athletic fees that students attract a certain type of student with certain exu en s a ew 0 e g e pay as part of their tuition pectations of how the school should function and amend New Colleges con s titution The concerns about New College 's status were how its resources should be utilized 'oell The result mdtcated high tudent confidence in the rooted in the idea that New College is an unique MacLean a second year student said ,;Swara 1 New College Studen! Alhance's new governmen academic community. Therefore students feel (Ghandi's' term for no rule) Bein involved a desne t? formally state tha t the that it needs to be represented at state wide gatb(USF's) stuff takes away our ou operate from the erings, like the Florida Student Association and A central concern about New Colle e's re reof South Flonda Student Government the State Council of Student Body Presidents. The sentation by USF is that New CoJiege h! not teen ystem. need to declare certain constitutional philosophies able to be present at the state level where le isla t out of thntee n amendment s and one became pressing when speci fic statewide propostion about such issues as financial aid t;ition re eren urn passed .. Amendment four, the only als were suggested t o these tw o groups such as the costs and student government s endin 'is often amendment that fatled, dealt with president.ial to tier the state universities. New Colmad;. "It is vital for Student to repvet? and JUSt barely missed the two-thud leges dtd not have a voice in this process. resent its constituency at the state level Morris maJonty needed for amendments to pass Three parts of campu s life will be effected b Th t and New. College can bring. a and the amendments passed: the NCSA's internal o!e execu IVe committee P,OSitions perspective to the State Umverstty Sysg anization the NCSA's a to d th are appointed the prestdent and tern, the ystem looses as much as New College u nomy an e include: does by our excJusion" allocation of athletic fees. The referendum passed allows the NCSA to join the United St t St d t -NCSA President -Rachael MorrJs amendment however, ts not a de Association. a es u en clarabon of mdependence for New College. It A majority of the amendments 11 out of 13, -Vice President of Academic Affairsstates that the NCSA will not allow repre en cover the internal restructuring of the NCSA. Deborah Herbtsman d' by o_therh The e amendments primarily define executive t et goa.l ts thhe powers and dele g ate responsibility to members of v "d t f St d ew 0 ege 0 Wit e the NCSA's exec f b h A 0 f S ICe presi en o u ent u.airs-umver s tty a s a whole by clanfymg Its po s thon u tve ranc s trector o tu-Robert Cooksey with re s pe c t t o USF. den t Acttvt hes Al e n a Sca ndur a sai d a b o u t the The th' d d t h b 11 11 tr ame n men a een es p ecta y cono v era res u l t of the v o!e, On e o f t he mo st imp or--Secretary-Gene Cassidy troversial: the allocation of t he athletic fee paid by t ant was to clanfy r esponsib i lity within the every student in his or her tuition. The proposition NCS A. -Historian Michael Shannon dealt specifically with the concern expressed by Concerns about the dispersal of roles within New College that it had no control over the 0.66 the arose la I When NCSA cents paid by each student per credit hour t at th re pon. 1 ties o he F'resldent were too broad and numerous for ju t one perso n "When I came in t o office, mos t of the res po nsibilities were the president's responsibility; there was too much to do, and this overload was contrary to the greater good of the student body," Morris said. A consti tutional revision committee was formed last Spring to address this problem in particular. Morri mentioned that past Student Government has suffered in part because no one was sure which s pecific duties were their s As a result, there were times when the Council of Student Affair and the Council of Academic Affairs failed to meet and address is ues that had a potential effect on the New College community. Worried about the lack of attention to pertinent i sues the constitutional committee propo ed cre ating several new positions in the NCSA. Those appointed to the new positions, along with the president, would make up an executive committee that would form the core of the NCSA. The com mittee's members would meet weekly to inform each other about issues concerning their depart ment. Morris stated, "The position I am most proud of i the historian; in the past the NCSA ha not been acquainted with the details of document and decisions. Michael (Shannon) will help educated us and the student body." The Historian's primary responsibility will be to create a detailed, well-or ganized archive that the New College community will be able to access. After the framework for the new structure of NCSA positions was developed, the constitutional revtsto committee discussed the NCSA's auton omy, presidential veto powers, and the question of to the New College Foundation-Patrick Vietri Currently New College, USF-Sarasota, USF Lakeland and USF-St.Petersberg are represented by USF-Tampa on the State Council of Student Body President New College is currently classi fied as a branch campu like the other USF locations. Morris i quick to point out that, New College is a part of US F s financial and adminis trative system, but i not a branch campus like the other USF campu First year student Bo Bentele proposed a solu tion to the problem o f N e w College being grouped with USF' branch campuse : "The State Council of Student Body Presidents should have a defini tion to discriminate what makes a school a epa rate school; even if it is a 'branch' campus." The most important distinction between USF's branch campuses and New College is that New College is a small, undergraduate, residential, lib eral arts college whereas the branch campuses of USF are mostly commuter schools with large uni versity curriculums and graduate programs. Stacia Mathis, a fourth year University Program Marketing major, said that her relationship to her school is a less active than a typical New College student's. "New College is a little more active in their school than the UP students," she said, adding that she is not even attending any clas es at her home Sarasota campus this semester; she has to travel to USF-St. Petersburg. These differences between the USF branch campuses and New College, make New College 15, dollars generated by New College students could be spent to support athletics at New C olle g e. M o ney used from the Activity and Ser vice (A+ S ) fees fo r athle tic en terpri s es such as improving the basketball courts and fitness center could be u ed for other things. According to Morris, The administration at ew College ha indicated their support for regaining control over the athletic fees. The fourth amendment, which failed, dealt with whether the NCSA pre ident should be al lowed to veto a decision made by the Student Allocations Committee (SAC). One po sibility of why it wa the only amendment to fail i that there was a mi understanding of what the bill had as an overall goal. Morris stated that she didn't think students were clear that "the purpo e of the veto was not to expand presidential power, but to limit it." As it stands, before any financial allocation i made by the NCSA, the p resident is required to sign it in order for it to be valid. If the president refuses to sign, the propo al fails completely. Under the presidential veto amendment, if the pre ident refuses to sign a proposal, it is sent to Town Meeting where a student vote can choose to override the president's veto. The referendum that passed allows the NCSA to join the USSA as long as the membership fees do not exceed 1000 dollars a year. The USSA op erates on a national level and posses es politica l sway with lawmakers about issues such as tuition costs, financial aid, and student government spending. For more information visit the NCSA's official website: www.sar.usf.edu/-ncsa.

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4 The Catalyst News September 29, 1999 Faculty lecture series kicks off with Kant Michalson discusses Kant and the Problem of God. It's out just in time for Christmas, kids. by Heather Whitmore Professor of Humanities Gordon "Mike" Michalson's dtscusston, "Kant's Place in Modem Religious Thought: A Revisionist View," kicked off the newly instated faculty lecture series with a down-to-earth perspective on the problems of Malena Car rasco, Associate Dean and Warden, mtroduced the senes as product of the blueprint committee, designed to provide "a more oppor tunity for student and faculty to share ongoing research of the classroom." Upcoming lectures will include rang1ng from the natural sciences to literature. All the lectures wtll mclude refresh ments. Like most New College appointments, Michalson's lecture in Su dakoff last Wednesday began 20 minutes behind schedule as students and staff casually enjoyed free sodas and snacks over intellectual chat ter. Once the dust settled and everyone found a seat, Car:asco enthusiastically recounted MichaJson's credentials to a mixed audience of approximately 50 students and faculty. The Yale undergraduate, Princeton graduate of and reh gion, former religion professor at Oberlin and Dean and Warden of New College jovially took the podmm. MtchaJson pr? ceeded to deliver an in-depth analysis of the theological posed m his newly published book, Kant and the Problem of God, which, as he remarked, "is out just in time for Christmas The discussion focused on Kant's efforts to med1ate the relatiOnship between religion and scientific philosophy. Michalson's cogent kept tbe audience both entertained and scholastic Michalson energ.t.Zed the lecture with knee-slapping images of "ontological Pac-Men" and a God that enters Kant's theory "through the back door." Tracing a lineage of influence from Kant, to Hegel, to Frobach, and finally to Marx, Michalson argued that "Kant is the father .modern at?e ism." Michalson went on to suggest Kant's Rossea1an obsession enly m issio n of immortality into q u estions of worldly morality. Micbalson offered tbe n otion o f "categorical impe r a t ives" as a crown e x ample of Kant's preoccupation with historical ethics. Michalson concluded, "God turns out to be dispensable in Kant's vision of divine transcendence." Mter that weighty remark, Michalson closed his 45-minute discus sion and opened the floor to que s tions. It only took Professor Doug Bergerren moments to deconstruct the lecture and stab a post-modem proposition into the side of Michalson's argument. The two we.nt on t? battle it out over a tangle Kantian quotes and matters of perspective until the subject grew tired and other questions to be heard The inaugural talk of the faculty lecture senes was a success for stu-Mike Michalson was the first speaker in the faculty lecture series. dents and faculty. "Professor Michalson is a d.ynamic He. d.rew together many thinkers and made me reahze that Kant s. rehgtous thought is not a back ally of his philosophical system, but IS actually f t h ht," re a ked rt" Sarles over cookies and Sprite. Upcom ing s p e akers and dates in the faculty lecture series are as fol lows: Gordon Bauer (October 27), Sandra Gilchrist (November 17), Mac Miller (February 23), and Pat McDonald (March 22). Refreshments will be provided. New College Bright Futures recipients have nothing to fear The Bright Futures program will be readjusted to cover eight semesters at New College. By Max Campbell semesters enroll for 140 credit hours. When the USF Tampa office down loaded state information on all Bright Futures recipients, along with the amount of credit hours they bad remaining, New College students were grouped in with other students who would only receive 132 credit hours of financial aid coverage by that program. "It wasn't a mistake," Arnold said, "I believe that this is the first year we downloaded the hour eligibility infor mation. When the state designed the program, they set the 132 hours as the standard-some students had their award amounts adjusted and received a revised award letter showing reduced amounts." New College recipients of Florida Bright Futures scholarships may rest easy, knowing that their financial futures will remain bright. Although sev eral students received ominous letters indicating that their Bright Futures scholarships would run out after seven semesters at New College, their fi nancial aid status will soon be readjusted. According to Mona Arnold, the New College Coordinator of Financial Aid, "We'll update the eligibility information for New College students, and they'll get the full value of their scholarship." The Bright Futures program is a Florida-based financial aid program which includes both the Florida Academic Scholars and the Florida Merit Scholars programs. Arnold estimated that 184 New College students, not in cluding first-years, are currently receiving a Bright Futures Scholarship. State law indicates that a Bright Futures scholarship will remain active for up to seven years after high school graduation, until the completion of a stu dent's first baccalaureate, or for up to 132 semester hours. The law also says that students may receive up to 110% of the credit hours necessary for at taining their degree. "The way they came up with the number of 132 credit hours," Arnold explained, "is because most baccalaureate programs require 120 hoursit's the state average." According to Anorld, "The minimum degree requirements for New Col lege students are 7 semesters and three ISPs, which comes to a total of 124 credit hours. But, more than 85% of New College students take the final 8th semester. So, New College is requesting that the Bright Futures program in crease coverage to 140 credit hours, which would cover 8th semester." The problem was that students who attend New College for a full eight The result was that alarming letters were delivered to several New College seniors, prompting some to go to the Financial Aid office and ask about the change. However concerned parties may now save themselves the trip as Arnold has spoken to the Director of the Bright Futures program, Sue Jones, and explained New College students' situation. "Jones said that there was no problem," Arnold declared. "They have told me that they can change it for New College students to allow up to 154 credit hours .... In the Bright Futures system, students are coded by the institutions that they attend. That's how we will identify our students to make our update." So far, the state has not yet provided the Financial Aid office with the required documentation tu accommodate New College students' needs, but Arnold said that the students' eligibility will be updated once the process has been completed. She expected the Financial Aid office to have the needed information by Monday, September 27. "I've been here for five years, and I've never seen any conflict with other programs," Arnold said. The state has been very cooperative with us ... it's my understanding that we are not the only program who requires more than 120 semester hours."

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5 The Catalyst Entertainment September 29, 1999 American Beauty is definitely a must see Despite over-dramatization, American Beauty is one of the most interesting movies in a long time. by Ben Ruby It is very difficult to review a movie like American Beauty. The plot cen ters around Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey). Lester is a miserable suburbanite who has grown apart from his wife and daughter and feels in creasingly disconnected from the world around him. Lester is also the narrator and he tells us at the beginning of the movie that, "in less than a year, I'll be dead." One of the immensely clever aspects of American Beauty is the way it uses our knowledge of Lester's imminent demi e. The fact that we know Lester is going to die gives every cene a tension that many of them might otherwise lack. Throughout the movie there is a constant mental sub text, who, why, how, and when. By the end of the movie I had developed several explanations for Lester's demise. The implication is that he is murdered. Is it the drug dealing 18 year old Ricky Fitts who lives next door and is court ing Lester's daughter, Jane? Is it Ricky's abusive, homophobic father, the marine colonel? Is it Lester's increasingly estranged wife, Carolyn, who has begun an affair with a local businessman? That is not to say American Beauty is a mystery movie. Far from it. However as Lester becomes more likable, the audience become intently fo cused on every scene which evenly remotely involves him. It is not a coincidence that Lester dies at the point when he is most sympathetic. The plot, of course, includes other important and sympathetic characters. In fact, in a linear sense, the movie begins by showing of how damaged these lost suburban souls really are, and then proceeds to show us who is irrepara ble. The movie does suggest a distinction between those who can help themselves, and those whose spirits have been irrevocably cru bed by this soulless hellhole. Perhaps one of the only criticisms I have of American Beauty is in the way it develops its characters. All the charac ters are portrayed with impressive depth. Not only that, but the film makers show compassion for even the most unpleasant characte U c aracters from two dimenslbria ca catures into "'al people by no means as as impressive. For example, Ricky Fitts was not only abused by his father, he was put in an asylum for two years. There is a tendency to use the extreme example and as a result the character development lacks any real subtly. In fact characters are often so over-dramatized that the movie could be accused of melodrama. This is especially true of the portrayal of Carolyn Burnham (Annette Benning). The only time in the movie when Carolyn is svmoathetic comes when Lester starts talkim1: to her about their earlier life together, "Whatever happened to that women I knew who used to run up to the roof to flash the traffic helicopters." During one after Carolyn has failed to sell a house, she slaps herself three or four times, berating herself for her weakness. Knowing that Carolyn wasn't always bitter, materially obsessed, desperate, anti-maternal, and otherwise can be easily contrasted with that scene, which is one of the most d1sturbmg and least impres ive scenes in the movie. One can only imagine the con trast is supposed to give her character depth. It works, but only m a broad 'g. 0 s (jl '< 0 .... R (1) I '1 ,.. IJ) U> cey andAnnette play miserable marned couple for tlze 90s. a Jane Burnham videotapes her voyeuristic boyfriend. and unrealistic way. i .. C/l All of this, however, illustrates an important point. American Beauty is a gothic movie. Although it is not particularly dark, American Beauty has less to do with realism than with an almost gothic romanticism. The entire movie is structured similarly. All the divergent story lines come together in one night, late during a stormy evening. The cinematography is very evocative, de igned to create a haunting atmosphere filled with extreme;y vivid colors. In part, the movie's lingering romanticism save it from falling into an in creasingly common cliche: Hollywood movies that poke fun at the meaninglessness of suburban consumer existence. Of course, American Beauty is a hollywood movie that pokes fun at the meaning ....... n ....... of suburban consumer existence. It avoids becoming one of those movies not only because its clever, but its not about suburbia. Its characte:-> would be a one. are product placements in American Beauty, and that Amen Beauty is not a more sophisticated version of easantville. To be fair, American Beauty does have some incredibly moments. Not a few of them involve Angela Jane's nubile girlfriend whose effect on Lester is the for his transformation. One of the most startling in the movie is Lester's fantasy of finding Angela wait in!! for him in the bathtub. When An!!ela savs. "Could vou wash me? ... .l'm dirty." it is disturbing, but also sad. Lester is so jaded, so corrupted and alone in life, that the only fulfilling relationship he can con ceive of is with a depraved women-child. The scene not only shows us that he has forgotten what it was like to have someone care for him, but how des perate he is to be reconnected to the world. It is one of the scenes that make American Beauty a plea ure to watch. Overall, American Beauty is a good movie. It is beautiful, it is complex, and it is certainly worth it, whatever problems you might eventually have with it. Well my friend Sweet Jay took me to that video arcade in town, right, and they dont speak English there, so Jay got into a fight and hes all, .. Hey quit hassi in me cuz I dont speak French .. or whatever! And then the guy said something in Paris talk, and 1m like, .. Just back off! .. And theyre all, .. Get out! .. And were like, .. Make me! .. It was cool.

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6 The Catalyst News September 29, 1999 Search begins to for a new president of USF jFROM"CASTOR" ON PAGE 1 I "I think we have lost a very good friend of New College with her departure and I hope another friend becomes the new president." Professor Doug Langston USF president by the middle of March. The plan is to name a UF presi dent at the beginning of the summer. I would not be surprised that there will be people applying to both positions. Whether this fact will cause someone not to accept the job so as to remain a candidate for the UF posi tion is something that is possible. I do not think it likely, however." Warden Bassis hopes the Search Advisory Committee finds "someone who values this campus as a part of USF, and a part of the University Sys tem as a whole... Betty Castor was wonderfully understanding and supportive of [New College.] She will be missed." NORD be looking to nest during ISPs IFRoM "NORD" ON PAGE J jthe numerous objections that led to NORD's death. By brainstorming specific concerns at the town andre__________ ___,porting them, pitfalls not immediately apparent to those making the decisions came out. "The students ratsed some important concerns," Bassis said, and those concerns reached the ears of those ultimately considering and finalizing the The academy remains interested in continuing its summer program, and possibly beginning some limited dunng the January penod. That is just an idea, advocated by NORD and cannot go beyond an idea without student consultation. For the time bemg, the NORD academy will not be nesting at New ColJege for the academic year. I I I I I I Online Orders www.sub24.com 4034 N .. M:lifl"f.Jm !l. Cuban $2.59 Sammi, Baked Ham. Cuban spiQed Prk. Swiss Cheese, Gutden's Mustard. OoiontJ & Pickles. Pressed. Atlantic $1.95 Ott&p fried North AUtmlio with our