Amelia WaltersSenior Reporter

On Sunday, February 28 in the Bubble, students can participate in an indoor flea market between the hours of 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. to raise money to support the recent earthquake in Haiti.

There is a two dollar admission fee and a ten dollar table fee for people to sell items. The event will include a flea market, tag sale and craft fair.

This event is going to raise mon-ey for the organization Forward in Health, located in Gardner, Mass. Forward in Health is an organization of doctors and nurses that uses one hundred percent of their donations for medical relief in Haiti. The doc-tors and nurses pay their own way to Haiti and give care to those in need.

Kara Costin, the director of the “Hand for Haiti” event, chose this organization for a couple of reasons. According to Costin, other organiza-tions do not use all of their proceeds for the people of Haiti. They use some

of their donations to pay for admin-istrative expenses and other things, while that money should be going to those in need. Another reason Cos-tin chose this particular organization is because most others are requesting monetary donations due to problems with transporting items to Haiti.

The admission and table fees are both going to Haiti. People can buy a table to sell their items on, such as food and beverages. There have been fifteen tables sold as well as raffles.

“I think this fundraiser is a great way to bring both the students and the community together for a great cause...I believe this fundraiser is go-ing to be a tremendous help for those in Haiti,” said Costin.

If students and faculty are still in-terested in buying a table to sell items, contact Costin at 603-899-1134 or at costink@franklinpierce.edu.

Amelia Walters is a Pierce Ar-row reporter and can be reached at arrowreporter@gmail.com, subject line: “Hati.”

VOLUME XLV ISSUE 6 WWW.PIERCEARROWNEWS.COM FEBRUARY 11, 2010

CONTENTSCampus................... Pages 1 - 3 Opinion................... Page 4 Sports...................... Page 5A&E....................... Pages 6 - 8

Pierce Arrow Seven Day Weather Forecast

Pierce Arrow

uFind out if Elyse can help you

SEE PAGE 3

uGet some Food for Thought

SEE PAGE 4

Were the Grammys worth going “gaga” over?

u SEE PAGE 8

THURSDAY 2/11

SNOWHIGH: 30ºLOW: 12º

FRIDAY 2/12

MOSTLY SUNNYHIGH: 28ºLOW: 12º

SATURDAY 2/13

MOSTLY SUNNYHIGH: 28ºLOW: 15º

SUNDAY 2/14

PARTLY CLOUDYHIGH: 38ºLOW: 15º

MONDAY 2/15

PARTLY CLOUDYHIGH: 31ºLOW: 16º

TUESDAY 2/16

SNOWHIGH: 32ºLOW: 16º

WEDNESDAY 2/17

SUNNYHIGH: 32ºLOW: 17º

Franklin Pierce puts a hold on tuitionNick Vitukevich, Alyssa DandreaManaging Editor. News Editor

Franklin Pierce was the first col-lege in New Hampshire to announce that it would be freezing tuition for the 2010-2011 academic year, with the cost of tuition for undergraduate students remaining at $27,700.

According to Ken Ferreira, ex-ecutive director of Student Finan-cial Services (SFS), Franklin Pierce was determined to find some way to “keep our tuition dollars flat” so that a quality, private education could re-main within the grasp of prospective and current students.

“We recognize that the economy has not recovered and that unem-ployment remains significantly high,” said Ferreira.

According to Provost Kim

Mooney, the decision to freeze tu-ition was made at the senior staff level. “The Strategic Enrollment Management Council (SEMC) rec-ommended freezing tuition based on the economic circumstances of many of the students and their families.”

Although the university is freez-ing tuition, “we are also making sure that we are offering financial assis-tance to our capacity,” said Mooney.

There will be no drop in finan-cial aid during the 2010-2011 aca-demic year. A total of $18 million of the university’s own budget will be awarded to qualified students in the form of grants and scholar-ships. This includes newly accepted students, who will each be receiv-ing some form of aid from Franklin Pierce with amounts ranging from a minimum of $7,500 to a maximum

of $17,000.As a result of the economic crisis,

evaluation of the university budget has been a constant process. Tough decisions have been made with-out sacrificing jobs, according to Mooney. “We have not laid anyone off.”

Professor Mary Kelly believes that the faculty is making a strong contri-bution to help Franklin Pierce both retain current students and acquire new students.

“Faculty salaries have been frozen for the past year,” said Kelly. “Funds for faculty development purposes, such as books, conferences, and re-search, have been reduced.”

Despite this, Kelly supports the university’s decision to freeze tu-ition. “Anything that can help us re-tain our current students and recruit

next year’s class is good,” she said.In pursuing “green” initiatives,

Franklin Pierce has saved money, which has in part made the tuition freeze financially possible. The recent installation of the biomass thermal heating system has saved Franklin Pierce $20,000, which is, “according to facilities, 10 to 15 percent of the oil/propane budget,” said Mooney.

In addition, Franklin Pierce has been renegotiating contracts with a number of its vendors; a process that Mooney said has been very success-ful.

Currently, about 95 percent of students receive some type of schol-arship or grant from the university. During the past couple of years, there has typically been a three to five percent increase in tuition from year to year.

If affordability remains a factor

for students, Ferreira hopes that they will seek guidance at SFS.

“We really did think about these extraordinarily difficult economic times, and that we wanted to re-spond to those times by making sure that our cost for tuition remains flat,” Ferreira said. “We stress to the stu-dents if there are financial challenges that they work with us because we don’t want to lose students because of money, in an ideal world that should never be the case.”

Alyssa Dandrea is News Editor for the Pierce Arrow and can be reached at arrownews@gmail.com. Nick Vitukevich is Managing Editor for the Pierce Arrow and can be reached at arrowpublisher@gmail.com.

LEEDHAM PASSES LINDSEY AS ALL-TIME SCORER

Photo: Jay SennottFrom left to right Johana Leedham, Bruce Kirsh and Shelia Lindsey.

Franklin Pierce honored Johana Leedham for becoming the university’s all time scoring leader currently standing at 2,569 points, which is currently most in the Northeast-10 Conference and ranks eigth all time in NCAA Division II women’s bas-

ketball. The women’s basketball team is currently ranked number 1 in the Northeast-10 conference.

Pierce helps Haiti

Harmony GenschEditor-in-Chief

On February 1, the Class of 2010 informed the campus that they were not going to be financing and pro-ducing a yearbook for the 2009-2010 school year.

Will Clark, President of the Class of 2010, said that the decision not to make a yearbook was hard to make, and that it came down to the cost to produce a yearbook, and how many purchased the yearbook in the past.

“Personally, I’m uneasy about it,”

said Clark. “I’d want a yearbook.”Last year, the then-senior class

had budgeted and received $6,000 from the Student Government As-sociation to help defray the costs as an incentive to drive down the price of each individual yearbook. How-ever, according to Clark, only 100 yearbooks were sold, 70 of which were bought by seniors. Clark was told that the minimum order of yearbooks was 150, and would cost around $9,500.

“The money would be better spent elsewhere,” Clark said. The Class of

2010 voted against the allocation last year, and, according to Clark, couldn’t in good conscience ask for the same thing, especially since they would have needed to ask for more money than last year. In addition, Clark noted that the Student Gov-ernment is generally against approv-ing budgets for items that are not beneficial to the whole campus.

Clark said that the Class of 2010 is looking into trying to produce a cheaper, more cost-effective alterna-tive. The current options discussed are a memory book or a DVD. “The seniors will walk away with some-thing,” Clark said. A decision will be made most likely near the end of February and will be officially an-nounced to the campus once funds are secured.

Clark was surprised about the re-sponse to the campus-wide email.

Last semester, he had conducted a survey of seniors asking about wheth-er they would purchase a yearbook, and if they would mind not having one. The response was in favor of the ultimate decision not to have one. “I had about 20 email responses to the email,” Clark said. Many students had volunteered to help with an al-ternative, he said, including putting in hours to create something like a memory book.

According to Clark, the responses were surprising, since he didn’t ex-pect to have so many people reply to the email.

The Class of 2010 is focusing more on “Senior Week,” which Clark refers to as Senior Days. The budget is sub-mitted to be reviewed by the Student Government at their next meeting.

To contact the Class of 2010, email class10@franklinpierce.edu.

Class of 2010 seeks alternative to yearbook

Some believe that Facebook is one of the main contributors to the increasing lack of interest in yearbooks in the past few years.

FP Archeology club gets into “Parade” magazine

u SEE PAGE 3

Logo designed by Ryan Hulse

BREAKING NEWS

There will be no Spring concert

this year. Instead, PAC will be getting a DJ

scheduled for April 9. For more information, read the full story at

piercearrownews.com

Page 2 u Pierce Arrow t February 11, 2010 Campus

Pierce Arrow Editorial Staff

2009-2010

Editor-in-ChiefHarmony Gensch

Managing EditorNick Vitukevich

Production ManagerJay Sennott

Campus News EditorAlyssa Dandrea

Campus Features EditorsErica Jordan

Arts & Entertainment Editor

Abbie Tumbleson

Sports EditorAdam Stahl

Opinion EditorMichele Sellers

Copy EditorTawni Turcotte

Photo EditorHeather Modjesky

Layout Staff Jay Sennott

Harmony GenschNick Vitukevich

Heather Modjesky

Th e Pierce Arrow is a member of the Pierce Media Group and the Fitzwater Center for Communication at Franklin

Pierce University.

Opinions expressed in this newspaper do not necessarily

refl ect those of Franklin Pierce University or the Pierce Arrow

staff . Columns, letters, and poetry refl ect the opinions of

their authors only.

Th e editors welcome all articles, comments, opinions, and criticisms. Please send

them to piercearrow@franklinpierce.edu.

Th e Arrow will correct errors and clarify misunderstandings to news stories when brought to the attention of the editor.

Th e fi rst copy of the Pierce Arrow is distributed free of charge. Please contact the

editor to purchase additional copies.

Th e Pierce Arrow is a member of the Associated Collegiate

Press.

Erica JordanCampus Features Editor

Ever wonder how the glass studio came to be? Part-time faculty mem-ber Chris Salmon was the one who actually drew the plans for the glass-blowing hut in 1975. Salmon seems to be a very dedicated glass-blower.

Salmon is originally from Short Hills, NJ, but claims he moved around a lot. He graduated college from Goddard College, studied Bi-ology, and worked with the Bread & Puppet Th eater. From there, he went to Graduate School at the Rhode Is-land School of Design (RISD) and studied sculpture while working with a man named Dale Chihuly. Chihuly is a known American glass blower who also attended RISD. He has a glass exhibit at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. “After that experi-ence, Dale helped to get me a gradu-ate assistantship at RISD. With that help I could aff ord graduate school,” said Salmon. Th ough Salmon is not married, he has two boys. One of his sons just graduated from Emerson and his other is a sophomore at Keene State College.

Glass blowing has been an inter-est of Salmon’s since high school. “I started blowing glass in high school and never stopped. I have always had a glass studio of my own or been working in someone else’s,” he said. He has as-sisted diff erent places in building glass blowing studios including Franklin Pierce. He built studios for Millburn High School, Goddard College where he received his undergrad, and the Institute of American Indian Art. “I have built three of my own studios in

the Monadnock region. I even built a little shop of my own on Block Island while I taught biology at the Block Is-land School,” Salmon explained.

Dave McAllister drew Salmon to Franklin Pierce in 1976 when he asked Salmon to set up a glass blow-ing facility at the school and teach glassblowing. “Th e glass program is wonderful and the students and TA’s seem very focused on making great (mostly Italian) glass,” he said. Asking him what his favorite part of Franklin Pierce is easy. “Th e Glass Shop! What a great place,” he said.

Salmon has his own working glass furnace. It’s called the Old Hancock Glassworks and it’s on Route 9 in Antrim, NH. “I have developed a nice way to melt recycled glass. I use the recycled glass to press a glass tile that I patented,” he said.

Glassblowing is not the only thing that Salmon takes part in. He loves Contra dancing and goes to Nelson, NH every Monday night to dance. He has also been a volunteer EMT with the Antrim Ambulance for the past 26 years as well as a ski patrol at Crotched Mountain. He’s also in-terested in learning about types of religions and spiritual practices. “So many smart people all over the world have contributed to this quest for un-derstanding,” he said.

“I said: ‘You are Gods.’” from Psalm 82 is one of Salmon’s favorite quotes. If you’re ever interested in taking a glassblowing class or even learning more about the process of blowing glass, Salmon has had some very valuable experiences in his life dealing with glass and will be happy to share his thoughts with you.

Professor Spotlight: Chris Salmon

Erica JordanCampus Features Editor

How did you guys all meet?Caitlin Beagan: I met Alycia

freshman year, she lived next door to me. I met Michelle last year because she was Alycia’s roommate and they lived in my suite.

Alycia Brandt: I met Caitlin (Beags) freshman year. I met Mi-chelle in my journalism 1 class; we really didn’t know each other well until we randomly asked each other to be roommates.

Have any of you lived together in the past?

CB: Technically last year, in the same Cheshire suite.

AB: I lived with Michelle last year in Cheshire.

Which one of you is the smart-est?

CB: Michelle, hands down. AB: Well obviously that would be

me, with all of the homework and studying I do! Unfortunately I am going to have to give this one to Mi-chelle too.

MS: I would say that I am since I’m graduating a year early, but we’re all really smart

Who is the neatest?

CB: Also Michelle.AB: I suppose, MichelleMS: I would say it’s a tie between

Beags and me. Now that Beags has her own room she can do what she wants with her stuff , and it’s so spa-cious in there, I have to give this one to her.

Who is the messiest?CB: Alycia, defi nitely. AB: Me, at times. I do clean up af-

ter myself though!MS: Alycia.What do you guys do together for

fun? CB: Go to the bubble, cook to-

gether. AB: We gossip and chat together!

Beags and I sometimes go out on weekends together too

MS: We go to the bubble and we go on road trips to Walmart and Mar-ket Basket... every once in a while we splurge for a dinner/movie night.

What’s the coolest thing about your place?

CB: Well I have my own room now, so I have a king-sized bed. It’s pretty sweet.

AB: Hmm that’s a hard one. Umm it feels like home?

MS: I really like the Christmas lights in Beags’ room

Who is the best cook? CB: Ha... um, that’s a toss up.AB: I don’t think any of us is neces-

sarily the better cook. We do a lot of easy cooking in the oven, but Beags does tend to make yummier stuff .

MS: I would say Beags because she bakes a lot

Who is single and who is taken?CB: We’re all taken.Who is the quietest/loudest?CB: None of us, we’re all loud

mouths.AB: I agree we are all pretty equal

for this one. None of us are particu-larly shy or anything like that. We are just who we are.

MS: I’d say I’m the quietest and Alycia is the loudest

What was the funniest moment you’ve had together as roommates?

CB and MS: Well tonight we were all sitting down to dinner in our tower and Michelle and I had de-cided we wanted garlic bread. Well... we forgot we put it in the oven and we set off the fi re alarm and all of Northwoods had to be evacuated. Sorry everyone!

AB: I thought it was funny; they were embarrassed and to say the least our apartment still smells like smoke.

Meet the Roommates: Northwoods G6

Harmony Gensch, Ahmos DiazEditor-in-chief, Arrow Staff

Franklin Pierce upgraded the CampusWeb software from Jenzabar QX to Jenzabar EX over winter break with only a few minor glitches.

Assistant Registrar Eli Rood said that some graduation information got mixed up in the switch. Howev-er, Rood said that graduating seniors are being checked off according to the old software until the informa-tion matches.

“Th e switch wasn’t exactly right,” said Rood. “It switched majors to minors.”

According to Rood, the Jenzabar QX software had been in place since 2001. Both the Registrar offi ce and Student Financial Services rely on the CampusWeb software.

Instructional Technologist Tom Tulio was responsible for design-ing the layout of the new Campus-

Web. Tulio feels that new software is much more user-friendly. “Th e old system had fewer options to choose from,” Tulio said.

According to Rood, the migra-tion is just an update of the previous software. It will eventually be able to produce fi nancial reports, which was not available before.

Rood said that the new software will make advising easier for faculty as well, since the update allows ac-cess to student fi les much more ef-fi ciently.

Another positive change, accord-ing to Tulio, is to phase out the We-bCT software used by many courses on campus by Fall 2010. Instead, fac-ulty and students will use the Course Management functions in Jenzabar EX instead of the WebCT.

For more information, con-tact the Registrar offi ce at registrar@franklinpierce.edu.

CampusWeb mixups being fi xed

Photo: Heather Modjesky

Why Haiti Matters: Dr. Bradley White

An orthopedic surgeon who spent 5 days in Haiti caring for the injured.

Tuesday, February 16 11 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Fitzwater Center TV Studio

Tuesday Briefi ng

February 11, 2010 u Pierce Arrow t Page 3Campus

Molly BucciniSenior Reporter

Th e Franklin Pierce Anthropol-ogy Club is going to be featured in “Parade,” a national Sunday news-paper magazine.

On Tuesday February 2, the “Parade” reporter met with the Anthropology Club. According to Cory Atkinson, the club librarian, most questions by the magazine re-volved around the Atlatl throwing team.

Despite the frozen ground, the club went out on the softball fi eld to do a demonstration. “Th e report-er threw one, and he did pretty well for his fi rst time,” treasurer Liz Pe-trides said.

Although they aren’t sure when the piece is going to be published, the club is very excited for the pub-licity that they will receive from

being spotlighted in “Parade.” Ac-cording to Professor Bob Goodby, the Anthropology Club advisor, Parade Magazine has a circulation of 33 million readers all across the United States.

“We’ve been featured in archeo-logical magazines and newspapers but never a national publication like this,” said Petrides.

“We hope that this feature will give recognition to our twenty members, and also bring in pro-spective students,” said Atkinson.

According to Goodby, the club has been featured previously in the Keene Sentinel, Th e Union Lead-er, and the national Archaeology Magazine. Th is past July, they were shown in a television feature on Channel 5’s New England Chron-icle.

Last month, the club was invited to the National Archeological In-

stitute of America archeological fair in Anaheim California. Th e seven students who attended, along with Goodby, had a table at the fair where they had demonstrations, as well as posters about the history, uses, and physics of the Atlatl.

“Th e key thing is that it is the students in the Anthropology Club that have made this happen. Th ey do the work, arrange the logistics, raise the funds, and do such a good job that they get invited to travel across the country by the AIA, the largest archaeological organization in North America,” said Goodby.

“It was the best thing,” said Pe-trides. “We were presenting to kids and they were so interested, and the other presenters would try to compete with us.”

Th e fair took place at the Dana Point Ocean Institute, and the en-vironment allowed for very hands-on learning for children, according to club president Devin Batchel-der.

“Th e Anthropology Club has been an important force in educat-ing the public about archaeology and human history,” said Goodby. “Th e publicity they’ve received has also spread the word about the hands-on nature of the anthropol-ogy program at Pierce, where much of what we do takes place outside of the classroom. On archaeologi-cal digs, in museums, and in study-abroad programs.”

Anthropology Club parades into magazine

Elyse TourangeauArrow Staff

Just when you thought your day, week, or even month could not get any worse, you realize Valentine’s Day is coming up and you are sin-gle, and not by choice. Situations like Valentine’s Day and not being with the one who made you happy are the situations of life. However, this is our life, my life, and your life and luckily we are in control of our own happiness. Sound a bit cliché? Perhaps, and maybe you are not agreeing with me because the one thing that made you happy was stripped from beneath your feet and that was something you could not control. You are right, we have no control over why that relation-ship failed or why someone else is now happy with the one we used to wake up next to, but there are ways around the pain. We do not deserve to suff er and in order for this to pass, we need to want it to and we need to want to be happy again.

To start, the bigger the support group the better. Surround yourself with a group of friends that make you laugh and most importantly, make you forget. You can not con-trol those things that remind you of your ex wherever you go, but know-ing you have a friend or two that care so much about you, right by your side, will help soften the blow. Take a step back from life real quick, take a good look at it and recognize what you have accom-plished through the years without your ex and that have made you who are today. Go back, recollect, and start doing those things that made you shine, those talents and hobbies that you enjoyed so much. No one can take that away from you because that is who you really are. We were never anyone diff er-ent when we were with the one we loved, our identity was just glazed with happiness every second, ev-eryday, and therefore it is easiest to forget where we came from before we met this person. However, we

never lost who we truly were and by no means did that person make us who we are. We need to realize that we cannot fi nd happiness through someone else. In order to be happy, we need to fi nd it within ourselves. Never forget that you had a life be-fore him or her and when you are ready you can start living it again.

If you feel you need closure, write down how you feel instead. Closure is an excuse to keep dwell-ing on the past. Many of you may disagree and say closure is neces-sary to close, lock, and disregard the key that will re-open the past, but I feel that it works the opposite. One closure turns into two, which then turns into three, and then you keep trying to fi nd ways to save the relationship rather than end it. Your support group, your hobbies, and your writing could be the only closure you need. Th ese things are here to help you forget those last couple of words that you thought you needed so desperately to say, if you had any chance in saving the relationship, when realistically it was beyond your control. Everyone has a path in their life and perhaps he or she was on the wrong one. On the bright side, I believe that we are never given things that we cannot handle.

Lastly, whoever said Valentine’s Day is a real holiday? Did cupid sail the ocean blue or stand at a podium and share his dream? No, so if it makes you feel any better, you are also in control of how you want to spend this day. Whoever said you only had to send fl owers and candy in the mail? Some people will just always deserve coal.

Ask ElyseStuck on your ex? I can get you past it

Photo provided by Molly BucciniJunior Devin Batchelder throwing an Atlatl.

Photo provided by Molly BucciniThe medal winners from the 14th Annual Northeastern Open Atlatl Tournament that was held in Vermont last fall. From left to

right: Taber Morrell, Devin Batchelder, Bekka Milles, Celine Rainville, Julie Waxman, and Kelsey Keegan.

Ask Elyse is a column brought to you by the Peer Advocacy Group. “Have a problem...Give us a call. Listening is what we do!” Contact (603)381-1108 between the hours of 12 p.m. and 12 a.m. Monday through Th ursday and between the hours of 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Fridays or email them at fpupeeradvocacy@gmail.com.

Page 4 u Pierce Arrow t February 11, 2010 Opinion

Check out the NEW Pierce Arrow Online

Jeff Payne

Well, we’re back from break and I am proud to say that I am on a diet in order to succeed at my New Year’s Resolution of losing weight. I had no choice really. You see I picked up this nasty little habit over the holi-days where I would end up eating just about any piece of food that was put before me on a plate, napkin, or toothpick. So now I’m back to FPU and ready to kick those holiday pounds, and while I’m at it I’ll get rid of the pounds that I have planned on losing for the last seven years as well. Of course with this new diet comes a rigorous exercise plan which includes many trips to the Bubble. Now I have been going to the Bubble for years and there’s something that I’ve always noticed but never really brought up in conversation. Have you ever noticed how almost no one who goes to the Bubble needs to be at the Bubble?

Now this is just a little observation

of mine but every time I go to the Bubble and look around at the other people exercising, I can’t help but start to notice some strong compari-sons between my stomach and a hot air balloon. I can’t even step foot in the weight area anymore. All around there are men and women lifting barbells, pumping iron, maybe do-ing some kind of yoga move that if I tried would make it so I could never walk again. Th en there’s me strug-gling with a forty pound weight set-ting on one of the machines. Have you ever seen the size of the things that people lift in that area or bet-ter yet the size of the people who lift them? Let me tell you, my fi ne weight lifting friends, it’s very im-pressive but it’s also a little terrify-ing, not gonna lie.

Even my usual stomping ground, the track, isn’t safe anymore. I love running the track, I just turn up my iPod to full blast and off I go. It al-ways begins the same, a nice jog with some good tunes, endorphins are fl owing and overall times are good. Th en without fail, someone shows up out of nowhere and fl ies right by me. Th is is the point in which the sensible side of me goes out the window and the insane side kicks in. If you are one of these people who run past and hear me rapidly pick up speed, keep in mind that I could never catch up with you, never mind keep up with you. I apologize if my insanity may scare you. I’m large, yet harmless, so it’s okay.

I don’t know if it’s my inner com-petitor coming out or what, but every time I am passed on the track I inex-plicably pick up speed and run until I can’t go any farther, which usually amounts to maybe four or fi ve feet. After this happens I always look across the Bubble to see where the person is who blew past so I can be prepared to move when they pass me again yet I can never seem to fi gure out where they are. Th is is usually because in the time it takes me to start running and then stop dead they have already made it around the entire track and are right behind me about to lap me again. Meanwhile I’ve made it maybe a quarter of the way.

Where are my fellow out of shape people at? I want a level playing fi eld with my workouts! Don’t get me wrong I have endless respect for all of you ridiculously in shape people who I see at the Bubble. Believe me, if I was built like an eighteen wheeler and able to bench twice my own body weight while running six quick laps on the track, I would. However I am merely a man who needs to shave off a few pounds. So I’ll keep doing my thing and you keep doing yours and maybe one day I will be able to reach my personal fi tness goals of moving on up to the fi fty pound weight set-ting and jogging half of the track.

Jeff Payne is a Pierce Arrow col-umnist and can be reached at arrowrepoter@gmail.com, subject line: “Bubble”

Payne in the PiercePop my bubble

Heather Modjesky, Michele Sellers

Ah, the straggler holiday of loneliness, Valentine’s Day, is approach-ing and you know what that means? Crap gifts. Th at’s right, forgettable forget-me-nots. Yes, it is that hallmark time of year. With it comes the most annoying gift sections of Wal-Mart, Target, and any other store you could possibly think of (yes, that includes Petsmart). Here is our list of our fi ve favorite Don’ts on Lovey-Dovey Day:

5. Th e Tween Valentine: Th ough we all love getting the novelty SpongeBob or Disney Princess card, it is not fun to believe you are a “Special” valentine when at least four other people you know received the same one. I mean, c’mon, they come with a bunch of diff erent say-ings for a reason. Don’t give out only one card from the set because you like all the other ones too much.

4. For risk-takers, the Mystery box o’ Chocolates can be a great gift. Filled with nougat goodness, or the mysterious orange meringue, and weird chunks of nut, the mystery box of Chocolate is the greatest gift in the world, and the most hated. However, the only way this gift gets worse is if there is not a little slip inside of the box actually telling you what these chocolaty concoctions are. Actually, scratch that, if you have a slip telling you, you lose the awesome reaction of the person who hates coconut biting into a coconut ball of Heaven. (I don’t know if we actu-ally hate it, but we’re sticking with it).

3. Never does a Valentine’s Day gift scream your one and only thinks you’re a child like the generic stuff animal. We get a soft, simple plushie if it’s your favorite animal, if it has special meaning, or hell--if it’s from somewhere more expensive than the 10 dollar shelf at Wal-Mart. Th e point is, no one wants a life-sized baby gorilla holding an obnoxious red heart with “Cutie 4-Life” emblazoned on its front. Worse than this? If it sings. And no, “Baby got back” is not an appropriate anthem to your love.

2. And now, for a sensitive twist to all you lovers out there: Th e kinky gift. We are not pooh-poohing the depth of your devotion to one an-other or the lengths you’d go for your love. But we are judgin’ some of your choices. Because in our hearts, we know that nothing says “Love” like some edible undies and some cheap handcuff s. Or if you’re truly classy, then sweet lacy underwear or boxers with hearts and kisses on them. We know you may think this is a great idea at the time, but when you look back, will you truly appreciate your signifi cant other for giving you a pair of satin panties that say “sweetie” on the butt? Fellas, would you feel like the man if your boys caught you with kissy face boxers and a matching tie? If you answered “yes” then by all means, kink-away.

1. Now, for the zenith of tacky gifts for V-day, Sweethearts: Con-versation Hearts. Nothing says love like tasteless, rock hard candy that says “Kiss Me” or “I <3 U.” In a world where texting is the communica-tion of choice, these abbreviated expressions of love say it all. What’s worse than tasteless? How about forbidden fruit fl avors? If the regular ones aren’t special enough, go ahead and get ones plastered with Twi-light characters. Whether it’s just Bella and Edward or the whole Cullen clan these sweethearts dazzle, bite, and call you your favorite brand of live stock (and by that, we mean they call you “Lamb”). And if you’re not sure whether or not your sweetie would like the taste, be bold and use the scratch and sniff option (which will probably smell like card-board). So, when you are staring at the candy section trying to make the decision to buy the regular Sweethearts or the Twilight ones, think to your self, could I spend an eternity with the person these are going to? If the answer is “no,” don’t go with the Twilight box.

Modjesky & Sellers’Top 5 Valentine’s don’ts

Photo: Heather Modjesky

The opinions expressed on this page are not necessarily the opinions of the Pierce Arrow, its staff, or of Franklin Pierce University. The opinions are

solely the property of each respective authors. Any comments, rebuttals, or other opinions can be addressed to arrowchief@gmail.com as a letter to

the editor, or sent online at www.piercearrownews.com/lettertoeditor

Michele Sellers

I, like every other college student I know, spend a ridiculous amount of time on the computer looking at Facebook’s live feed to see what my friends are up to or read one of the nine million bizarre things posted on the web each day to make myself chuckle. Th e one thing, however, I have yet to follow is the crazy of Facebook weeks (or months). Not too long ago there was a span of time where you were supposed to change your profi le picture to your favorite Pokémon character. Th is caught on quickly; it was astounding. I saw an array of older characters from the original set of Pokémon to ones that I’ve never seen before, nor would I be able to pronounce their names.

Th e next fad was a week where peo-ple changed their pictures to photos from their childhood. Th is week was awesome because we got to observe the diff erences in people from years ago to now. And some people just don’t change. But yet again, I missed this week. Mainly because the only picture I have on my Facebook from childhood isn’t one I took and I’m in the middle of a class of twenty. I thought it was pointless. And so, another trend slips by me.

But the best trend of all has been the Doppelganger week. Th is is the time where everyone put up photos of who they have been told they look like or photos from a generator that looks at faces and tells you who you look like. My favorites were those that were not of real people, but

of doppelgangers of a toy or car-toon variety. I, being someone who has never been told she looks like someone famous, found this week a little disappointing. And to top it off , when I fi nally decided to put my picture in the generator to fi nd my doppelganger, I was not pleased with the results. So, I have success-fully missed at least three Facebook Fads. But, rest assured, dear friends, that if there is a “Pick your favorite ‘70s band and change them to your profi le picture” I will most defi nitely be jumping on that band wagon!

Michele Sellers is Opinion Editor for the Pierce Arrow and can be reached at arrowopinion@gmail.com.

Sellers’ Scruples: Facebook Fads

Frangelica Odell

Remember as a kid when Valen-tine’s Day meant getting to pick out the best Valentine’s Day cards to give to everyone in class? For girls it meant putting an extra set of “XO’s” on the card for the cutest boy in class, and for the boys it meant get-ting free cupcakes and candy. Love was as simple as that. As we’ve got-ten older love is anything but easy, and we would be grateful to just have to give a card that says “Be My Val-entine” with a picture of a bee hold-ing up a heart. Now it’s mandatory to give fl owers, chocolates, sexy lin-gerie, jewelry etc. Th e holiday went from $1.99 to over $50.

I’d like to think I was a hopeless romantic, but I can’t help but won-der why Valentine’s Day is one of the most celebrated holidays along-side Christmas and Th anksgiving. Why do people cherish a holiday where men have to practically sell their souls to the devil? And if you don’t say “I love you” give or take fi ve thousand times you are considered to be someone with no heart and a loner?

As kids, saying “I love you” meant giving a card with Disney characters on it, and it meant everything to get one back from that special someone. Valentine’s Day is nothing like that anymore and it seems saying “I love you” has to include a receipt. What happened to saying “I love you” ev-

ery day and instead of buying a gift, making one? Now it seems Valen-tine’s Day is on crack with every bit of available space in the Hallmark store, Walmart, fl ower shops, the grocery store etc. completely covered in pink and red.

My boyfriend knows how much I hate this holiday for what it has be-come, but because he believes it is a romantic holiday I’ve made a deal with him. Th is year instead of buy-ing fl owers, chocolates, and other such gifts for each other we’ve decid-ed to make home-made gifts. It has truly meant more to me to make the gift instead of spending hours ago-nizing over whether to get him a gift card or a shirt he’ll never wear. Mak-ing the gift was actually fun and I’ll know he’ll appreciate it more even if it’s a house made out of popsicle sticks (don’t worry, it’s not). So I ask readers this, think back to when you were in elementary school and what Valentine’s Day meant to you and try and bring back those simplistic ways of saying “I love you.” After all didn’t the Beatles say love is all we need? Th ey didn’t say chocolates, jewelry, or sexy lingerie. Just good ol’ fash-ion love- the way it should be with a side of “Be My Valentine Charlie Brown.”

Frangelica Odell is a Pierce Ar-row Columnist and can be reached at arrowreporter@gmail.com, subject line: Red.

Food For Thought:The Red Scare (no, not that one)

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February 11, 2010 u Pierce Arrow t Page 5Sports

Nick VitukevichManaging Editor

Th e Boston Bruins are fi nding ways to lose by only winning three of their last 16 games since the start of the New Year. Th e team has taken the air and life out of the garden and out of the city that has instilled it-self over the past decade as the city of champions.

Problem:Th e problem at hand is simple

– injuries. Th roughout 2009-2010 season the B’s have suff ered from too many injuries including longterm problems with Patrice Bergeron, Milan Lucic, Marc Savard, Marco Sturm, Andrew Ference, and Mark Stuart. Th e team has not consistent-ly played with all their starters on a regular basis, which leads to not be-ing able to create solid line forma-tions and combinations.

Along with injuries, selective play-ers have been under performing as a whole, mainly last season’s award winners. Tim Th omas has become a shell of the Vezina winner he was last season, with a 13-15-7 record through his fi rst 35 games of the sea-son. Zdeno Chara, while he has been solid defensively, has not produced off ensively has he did last season with just 4G, 25A, through the fi rst 55 games. Lastly, Michael Ryder has become a ghost on the ice, with only 22 points through his fi rst 55 games over the season, under producing for his large four million dollar contract this year.

Another problem is that a trade should have been made a long time ago, with the B’s struggling and the numerous injuries at hand, General Manager Peter Chiarelli should have made a move in mid-January to help the Bruins morals.

Solution and Trades:Th e solution really relies on Chi-

arelli. A trade has to be made, and more than one player transaction needs to happen. Chiarelli has to try to fi nd a solid defender to help the Bruins out off ensively; he failed to get Dion Phaneuff from Calgary, but he has to put together a package to try and get some off ensive on the back end.

Th e most obvious solution is to sign a goal scoring winger. Th e Bru-ins are solid down the middle, they’ve proven that, but have been lacking in goal production; frankly that’s due in part to not having Phil Kessel in the lineup this season, as much as it hurts to say, the Bruins are desper-ately hurting for a player like him at this time.

Chiarelli is going to have to look to teams in need; teams that are looking to build and make a move from there.

Tampa Bay, Carolina, even Ana-hiem are all teams that are looking for young talent and players. Th e Bruins have nine fi rst and second round draft picks over the next two seasons to make a package with some secondary players and make a trade for a player like Ray Whitney, Martin St. Louis, or even a Teemu Selanne.

Available players this season are limited, the best situation for the Bruins would be to get a package deal from a team. Specifi cally, the Anaheim Ducks. Along with Teemu Selanne they could also off er up de-fenseman Scott Neidermayer, or even a player like Saku Koivu to add depth in the B’s lineup.

If a package deal can’t be made a huge gain for the Bruins would be that in Ray Whitney. In essence Whitney is the poor man’s Kolval-chuck, but will add scoring to a top line and will be that key player that the B’s have been missing all season. Th e only problem with Whitney is he is a free agent at the end of the season, if the Bruins can get him for a low price they will go for it.

Also a possibility would be for the B’s to acquire Marek Svatos from the Colorado Avalanche. Th e Avalanche are looking for young talent and are trying to free up space in their roster. Svatos could be an addition to the B’s lineup that will add depth and that they could get without giving away one of their core players.

Untouchables:Th e untouchables when making a

trade for the Bruins would have to be its top three center men in Da-vid Krejci, Marc Savard, and Patrice Bergeron. All have extreme leader-ship capabilities and tremendous talent and all are locked in with the Bruins long term over the next four seasons.

In his sophomore year, Blake Wheeler is still growing. He is a un-restricted free agent at the end of the year but the B’s need to hold onto him for the remainder of this season and sign him in order to keep their core group of players for the years to come.

Th e 2010 Toronto draft pick is something that does not come around often to be able to draft a franchise player and build off of him, something teams like Chicago, Pitts-burgh, Washington, and Los Angles all have. Th e Bruins can not let this pick go to waste.

Lastly, Tuukka Rask. Th e future of the Bruins goaltending is simply the most valuable asset to the team’s fu-ture. A young player who can grow with a team and be successful for years to come has been something the B’s have lacked over the past de-cade.

Th e Bruins need to go into the upcoming Olympic freeze, recollect themselves and move forward into the season with the intensity, passion, and desire to play a productive game of hockey.

Note: all stats are as of Friday February 5, 2010.

Nick Vitukevich is Managing Editor of the Pierce Arrow and can be reached at arrowpublisher@gmail.com.

Vitt’s Voice:The city of blinding lights

INTERMURAL SEASON STARTS

Photos: Tom RempIntermural winter sports started up this past month with basketball and fl oor hockey. Games are held Tuesdays and Thurs-

days. For more information, contact Doug Carty at cartyd@franklinpierce.edu

Val ArmstrongArrow Staff

Th e women’s ice hockey team is the newest “extramural” sport to be introduced on campus.

Th e team’s creator, Jayme Bilafer, approached Doug Carty, the Di-rector of Adventure Recreation, in the hopes of starting a team. “Th e young ladies came to me somewhat late in the semester, around Octo-ber or November,” said Carty.

According to Carty, the team had initially started with fi f-teen women, but participation has slightly decreased since then. Eight members of the team recent-ly played against Harvard Business

School, which ended in a loss of 8-2. Th ey will continue to com-pete against other clubs, but fi rst must fi nd means of fi nancing their games and gear.

“Th e way these clubs are de-signed is that they are only as suc-cessful as the club membership makes them,” said Carty. “If the club membership doesn’t do any fundraising, practice, or seek out an advisor, they won’t be able to succeed.”

Th ere is talk of the team poten-tially being part of the NCAA as a Division II team. However, the new strategic plan that Franklin Pierce is putting in place may hold off that hope.

“It is a possibility,” said Athletic Director Bruce Kirsh. “Nothing is expected to happen over the next year, but personally, I would like to see women’s ice hockey at the University.”

“It will remain as a sport club team for now,” said Carty. “I will say the men’s ice hockey team did get their start as a club team, but it was a club team through Athletics whereas this is a club team through Campus Recreation.”

Th ose who have any interest in joining Women’s Hockey are en-couraged to contact Doug Carty at cartyd@franklinpierce.edu or to contact the executive board for the women’s ice hockey team.

Students start fi rst women’s hockey team

Adam StahlSports Editor

Th e NFL Pro Bowl is football ’s all star game that is typically played in Hawaii after the Super Bowl. Th is year however, there were many changes to the game, including a change in location from Hawaii to Florida and the time from after the Super Bowl to the week before Super Bowl. Re-gardless, perhaps the most note-worthy changes were those made in the rosters before the start of the game. In total, 34 players that were selected to the Pro Bowl did not play for various reasons.

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning was voted as the starting QB for the AFC team but as the Colts are in the Super Bowl, Manning did not play. Th e AFC’s

reserve QB selections were Phillip Rivers of the San Diego Chargers and Tom Brady of the New Eng-land Patriots, but neither played citing injuries. Before the rosters were released, it was reported that AFC North QBs Ben Roethlis-berger of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Carson Palmer of the Cin-cinnati Bengals would play, but both declined due to injury, giving Houston Texans QB Matt Schaub an alternate spot.

Who would have thought when the rosters were released that Schaub would not only end up getting the starting nod but also earn Most Valuable Player hon-ors at the conclusion of the game. He left no doubt in anyone’s mind when he was able to go airborne for two touchdown passes within fi ve minutes of one another. Th e fi rst of

those touchdowns passed to his fa-vorite target, Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson for 33 yards, looked as if Schaub and Johnson were sim-ply tossing a ball in a parking lot. Schaub ended the game 13 for 17 for 189 yards and two touchdowns. Th at was the second highest yard total in the game and was tied for most touchdowns with his NFC counterpart Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rogers, who put up 197 passing yards on 15 attempts. Schaub was poised and deliberate during his active time in the game despite a fumble, and certainly de-served his MVP honors to cap a mini-“Cinderella story,” and give this year’s Pro Bowl a little some-thing extra aside from its well pub-licized changes.

QB Schaub shines at Pro Bowl

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Page 6 u Pierce Arrow t February 11, 2010 A&E

Jay and I were in the mood for Chinese food, and I wanted to have a sit-down date instead of just pick-ing up something and eating it in our rooms. Marco Polo is a bit on its own on the outskirts of Keene, and it always intrigued me because of the name, which is named af-ter the explorer Marco Polo who brought back a lot of Chinese cul-ture. Another thing that I fi nd amusing is that it has my name in a Mandarin character on the side of the building.

Jay and I got there rather late, and we were the only ones in the restau-rant. We were promptly given a large squeeze bottle of what we assumed was sweet and sour sauce, and asked for our drinks. Although we didn’t order anything alcoholic, it is worth mentioning that the large variety of cocktails were priced between $4.50 and $6.50. My water and Jay’s Coke were even less expensive.

I was really hungry, and I had a craving for pork fried rice and bone-less spare ribs, and I also convinced Jay to share an order of steamed dumplings. I ended up ordering a dinner combination D16, which was pork fried rice, chicken fi ngers, beef teriyaki, and my boneless spare ribs. Jay ordered the Schezuen Beef combination, which had the fried rice and an egg roll.

Th e dumplings were amazing to a hungry stomach, and I’m pleased to note that the dumpling sauce had a nice balance of ginger so that you could sort of taste it without over-powering the dumpling. Th ere were six dumplings, which made it easy to share between the two of us. Since Marco Polo doesn’t serve any sort of accompaniment you don’t pay for, like rolls or crunchy noodles, we feasted on the dumplings. My actual dinner was great too. I do feel a bit ashamed ordering standard Chi-nese restaurant fare, but sometimes you need to have what you crave.

I’m glad I ordered it, though. Th e beef teriyaki, which Jay aff ection-ately calls beef-on-a-stick, was well seasoned and cooked perfectly. Th e chicken fi ngers weren’t greasy, which was surprising, since I normally can’t handle too many of them because they feel too heavy. But they were light and tasty. Th e boneless spare-ribs were amazing. I only started liking boneless spareribs after hav-ing the ones at Typhoon Asia, and most others cannot compare. But somehow, Marco Polo managed it. Th ey were sweet and savory and very tender. Jay did not seem so enthused with his meal, which was picked of all meat and the inner carcass of an egg roll. Jay’s avoidance of vegeta-bles made it almost appear that he didn’t eat anything, but he ate most of the mound of rice and the crispy outside of his egg roll.

It took a while for us to be noticed when we fi rst walked in, perhaps be-cause we arrived at such a late hour. Th e server appeared whenever we needed him, but he didn’t tell us that a refi ll on the Coke costs some-thing. Th ey also took some time getting us our food, which I took to mean that our meals were cooked to order. Since we were the only ones in the dining area, it wasn’t like the server had to worry about anyone else. Because of that, it is hard to re-ally judge the service.

Th e dinner combinations were around $10, which is a pretty good price for the amount of food, but not the greatest I’ve seen. Th e décor of the restaurant was really cheesy, with some leftover holiday deco-rations fi ghting with the normal Chinese good luck talismans and the Valentine’s decorations. Th ere are plenty of seats, but the seating area was really chilly. It wasn’t the most romantic date, but it worked. It wasn’t really sketchy like some places, but it wasn’t very classy ei-ther.

Dinner for Two: Marco Polo Garden601 Main Street Keene, NH

Harmony Gensch and Jay Sennott rate local restaurants for their date appeal

I could say that Marco Polo Garden had the best food I had ever eaten, but that’s just because I was very hungry at the time. Some nasty scheduling confl icts left Harmony and I with a very quick lunch, and no dinner until 8:00 p.m.

So that terrifi c food was actually just average Chinese food that you can get at any average Chinese restaurant anywhere. You know the kind, Ty-phoon Asia has it, and so does almost every other place in the area where meals cost less than $12 each. Now, that food may not be nice or fancy, but it is good; and you know the type of good I’m talking about: the unhealthy kind. I tried ordering something be-sides chicken fi ngers, beef-on-a-stick, boneless ribs, and rice, and frankly I regretted that when my Schezuan beef came out with Harmony’s meal of ev-erything I just listed off . It wasn’t that my meal was bad, I just knew that all the other stuff would have been much better. It’s also worth mentioning that they have a huge selection of cocktails, and some pretty great prices on beer.

I don’t know if I can accurately judge the service, because like I said, we didn’t get there until 8:00. Th e place was quite literally deserted, with just Harmony and I alone in the din-ing area. To be honest I’ve had better service in a packed restaurant, but maybe Marco Polo is more attentive

when there are other tables full.Like I mentioned before, almost all

of the meals were less than $12 for a pretty huge amount of food. Th is is pretty much standard for your average Chinese restaurant, so there isn’t any-thing really special about it. Like ev-ery other average Chinese restaurant, there are no free refi lls on any drinks, so that’s kind of terrible; however, like I said before, they had decent prices for beer. Th ere’s not much to say be-sides that.

Now the date appeal of the place is the reason to drive half an hour to get perfectly average Chinese food. Sure there are a lot of closer places, in particular Typhoon Asia, that serve the same basic food. However, few of them have a dining area like Marco Polo. Th at is, few of them have a din-ing area that can hold more than a dozen people. In particular, Typhoon Asia will have you seated practically in a living room if you choose to dine in. Marco Polo isn’t exactly the nic-est joint in the area (for Chinese food that would be either Cherry Garden or Lee & Mt. Fuji) but they at least have a real full-sized dining area.

In conclusion, Marco Polo isn’t go-ing to ever impress your date, but it does make for a nice quick meal; and it will feel more like a date than some other places around.

Hers

JAY’S RATINGS

Food: A-Service: B+

Price: A-Date Appeal: C-

HARMONY’S RATINGS

Food: A-Service: B+Price: B+

Date Appeal: C

His

Harmony and Jay feel like they’re running out of restaurants!

Tell us about your favorite LOCAL places, and it might just be the next Dinner for Two!

TOTAL AVERAGE RATING

B

“When in Rome” is quite the trip

Jeff PayneSenior Reporter

I am a big Romantic Comedy fan but I have to admit that a really good fi lm in this genre can be hard to fi nd. So many movies come out that claim to be the funniest/most romantic movie of the year when in reality they are mediocre fi lms with a couple of laughs that are all in-

cluded in the trailer to begin with. Th is is what I worried would happen with the new fi lm When In Rome starring Kristen Bell and Josh Du-hamel. However I think that both of these actors are excellent and fi g-ured I’d give the fi lm a try, hoping that they were both smart enough to pick a winner. Th ank God I did.

“When In Rome” tells the story of Beth (Bell) and how she is con-stantly unlucky in love. Beth ends up stealing coins from the “fountain of love” in Rome, which causes the men who threw the coins in to fall in love with her. She then ends up being constantly hounded by these men who try to woo her though she is only interested in Nick (Du-hamel), whom it is assumed also threw a coin into the fountain. Both actors manage to do an excellent job making their characters both enter-taining and relatable.

Th e one thing that I really loved about “When In Rome” is the fact that it relied more heavily on the funny than the cute. It’s a fi lm that a couple could go see on a date which

would keep both girl and boy enter-tained. While the primary concen-tration is on Beth and Nick’s rela-tionship, the other men whose coins Beth took from the fountain bring a nice hunk of comic gold to the fi lm. Probably the most welcome surprise is veteran actor Danny DeVito who plays Al Russo, the sausage king, one of Beth’s many suitors. DeVito brings that touch of comic class to the fi lm, by managing to play an outrageous and crazy character that you can’t help but adore no matter what ridiculous things he says or does.

However, of Beth’s suitors, the true scene stealer would have to be Gale played by Dax Shepard. Gale is a model who is fully convinced that the only person in the whole world more beautiful than himself is Beth. With characters who are a strong mix of vanity and stupidity, the usual result is someone who the viewer can’t stand and just wants off the screen. However Shepard’s por-trayal of the character is masterful, managing to keep the comic timing

perfect. Th e fi lm also boasts strong performances by Jon Heder and Will Arnett as Beth’s other pursu-ers.

Th e boys who are after Beth aren’t the only ones who make “When In Rome” a great fi lm. Possibly the funniest character in the whole fi lm would be Nate’s best friend Puck played by SNL cast member Bobby Moynihan. It is nearly impossible to keep from laughing at every word that comes out of Moynihan’s char-acter. While he may not be part of the primary cast, the fi lm just wouldn’t be as good without the laughs that his character brings.

“When In Rome” defi nitely is in that category of the few roman-tic comedies that are worth seeing. With excellent acting and fantastic writing, “When in Rome” delivers and makes you laugh throughout the whole fi lm while still managing to give you that warm feeling inside. It’s defi nitely worth the trip.

Photo: Touchstone Pictures

Handle With Care doesn’t disappoint

Frangelica OdellArrow Staff

Take a second and think of all the things that break: glass, cars, and relationships to just name a few. A break can be good like spring break or a break can be bad like a break-up. Jodi Picoult’s book Handle With Care addresses all of these breaks and especially bones that break. For six-year-old Willow, just walk-ing is a challenge because she could slip on the rug or trip over a toy and within that fl eeting second of being suspended in air, there is an acknowledgement to what is about to happen-bones are going to break. Willow was born with osteogenesis imperfecta also known as brittle-bones which forever keeps her con-fi ned to casts and wheelchairs trying to mend from the last fall.

However, her mother, Charlotte, wonders if her daughter should have to suff er through life with countless trips to the hospital and facing ago-nizing pain from breaking bone af-ter bone after bone. What if doctors were able to predict the disease be-fore Willow was ever born? Handle With Care asks the question that few dare to mutter, what if? What if her doctors were able to predict the dis-ease in time to abort the fetus end-ing all suff ering to Willow?

Once again, Jodi Picoult, author of Nineteen Minutes, Mercy, and Perfect Match, brings readers on an unexpected journey that catches them by surprise at teach turn of the page. You will not be disappointed by this book and what it has to of-fer. Just keep a pack of tissues close by because like all her books Picoult leaves readers in tears from charac-ters that you can’t help but fall in love with. Th eir triumphs and falls become real and readers will be ask-ing for more upon reading the last page.

Yes things break, but that is why there is tape, glue, friends, and fam-ily in life to help mend what has been broken. If nothing else friends and family off er what glue and tape cannot-love. You will not be disap-pointed by this novel and will learn from one little girl who loves life and hopes others can see past the bad and into the good.

Movies on FPTV

25

February

District 9

Inglourious

Basterds

Weekdays

•9pm •12pm

Weekends

•11am •3pm

•9pm •12pm

February 11, 2010 u Pierce Arrow t Page 7A EA E&A EAssistant Music Director’s Mailbox:

Ke$ha: Animal

Jeff PayneSenior Reporter

Long time no discuss, every-one! I f igured I would kick off this semester’s CDs reviews with a big one. I decided to begin with the person who managed to knock Susan Boyle out of number one and take over the airwaves with her single “Tik Tok.” I’m talk-ing about Ke$ha and I’m here to review her debut album Animal. This album is full of fun and f ilthy club bangers along with some rather awkward ballads.

From the rock out number “Party at A Rich Dude’s House,” to the opening dance track “Your Love Is My Drug,” Ke$ha man-ages to mix a healthy combination of singing and rapping to make some pretty impressive dance pop tracks. However her dance pop formula can’t make every song work, especially the track “Back-

stabber” which is a half singing, half senseless, yelling mess that only manages to make the track irritating. However the hypnotic “Take It Off ” more than makes up for it as it mixes a ridiculously catchy beat with endlessly enter-taining lyrics.

The thing about Ke$ha is that even though her CD does not hold a “Parental Advisory” warn-ing, you still can’t help but feel a little dirty while listening to her album. For example her second single “Blah Blah Blah” featuring 3OH!3, which has already reached the top ten on billboard, is an ac-count of her relating her sexual fantasies to a man who she wants to stop talking and dance with her. The way in which she offers up that she wants to “dance with no pants on” doesn’t do much for the classy level of the album, but does wonders for the entertain-ment level. This does make her a little hard to accept as a serious artist though. Even her big ballad “Hungover” is hard to take seri-ously as she compares her broken heart with the broken bottles on the f loor. This coupled with the track “D.I.N.O.S.A.U.R.” where she sings/raps about an old man trying to put the moves on her while she tells him that he needs a CAT Scan and ends with her hit-ting a cow bell, makes for a good laugh but nothing too serious in

the realm of emotional depth.The only song which appears

to be one where Ke$ha really gets serious is on the track “Dancing with Tears in My Eyes.” While it’s rather up-tempo for a song about being broken hearted, it makes much more of an impact with the dance music as the background to reinforce the message of the song. Of course this song is immedi-ately followed by the track “Boots & Boys,” where she describes her two addictions which are fore mentioned in the song title. It completely kills the moment of emotional awareness which is never to be seen again.

Overall, this is a really great pop debut but it does have one hit wonder written all over it. If she can keep up the great dance tracks and keep her obnoxious lyrics from crossing the border from entertaining to annoying, Ke$ha could be around for a long time. Since it’s a great album that could use a little work I’m going to give it a solid eight out of ten pop tarts.

8 of 10 Pop Tarts

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Photo: RCA

Bosstones make a good impression

Jay SennottProduction Manager

In Boston, Christmas is the time for punk rock. Th e Mighty Mighty Bosstones, a Boston ska-core band best known for the 90’s hit “Th e Im-pression Th at I Get,” hold an annual concert series during the days after Christmas called the Hometown Th rowdown. Th is year, Hometown Th rowdown #12 featured reunions by two Boston bands: Darkbuster and Bim Skala Bim. I went to Night II of the four-night event, a year to the day from the same show I at-tended in 2008. Because of money issues I was planning on skipping this year, but when my brother told me Darkbuster was getting together again to open for the Bosstones, I had to buy the ticket.

Th is year’s Th rowdown was dif-ferent than past years, because it was held at Boston’s new House of Blues rather than past year’s venue Th e Middle East, a local club which can hold less than 700 people. I was un-easy about the new House of Blues, because I was very fond of two of the clubs that it replaced, the Avalon and the Axis. However, I thought it was one of the best venues I had seen. First off , the place is huge; with 3 stories and a bigger dance fl oor than the Avalon and Axis combined. My brother and I were on the fi rst fl oor, which was general admission, while the second fl oor was standing room only, and the third had seats. At fi rst I thought it would be ter-rible to get stuck on the upper fl oor, but I realized that if you’re a fan of the music, but don’t like the rowdy crowd on the dance fl oor, it would be a great place to be. I honestly would like to be on the second fl oor with my camera, because it would give a great view of the stage. Last but not least, the huge stage let the Bosstones do a great stage setup. At

the Middle East, they would hang up some Christmas lights; here they had a whole faux living room with a fi replace, stockings for each band member, and of course a Christmas tree.

Each show had two openers, and Night II had Th e Void Union and Darkbuster. Unfortunately Th e Void Union was the worst part of the show. It’s not that they were bad, but they were so incredibly out of place at the show. Darkbuster and the Bosstones are both ska-punk bands, with more punk in Darkbuster’s case and even some hardcore for the Bosstones. Th e Void Union was a really mellow, fi rst-wave ska group. Ska has been divided into waves, with third-wave (Reel Big Fish, Less Th an Jake, and others) being faster, with more infl uences from punk and pop, sec-ond-wave, which is something I’m completely unfamiliar with, and fi rst-wave, which is almost reggae. Nobody in that audience wanted to sway to some feel-good almost-reggae, they wanted to run around and look like idiots. Needless to say, Th e Void Union wasn’t very well-re-ceived.

After that however, the show was all kinds of amazing. Fans were wor-ried about Darkbuster, because dur-ing their hiatus their lead singer went into rehab and sobered up; the band has a lot of songs about alcohol, and there were questions about whether or not they would play their classics. All fears were put aside however, and the band played a great set. Th e only thing I wish was that they were able to have a longer set list for their reunion, maybe if Th e Void Union weren’t there. I know the majority of the campus probably hasn’t heard of Darkbuster (or either of the other bands) but if you’re a fan of punk or ska, I cannot recommend them enough. Most of their songs are just plain silly fun, while some have deep

meaning. Later in the night Dicky Barrett, the lead singer of the Boss-tones, called them the “punkest (sic) band in Boston.”

Initially I have to admit that I was mostly excited to see Darkbuster, but on December 8, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones released their fi rst album in seven years, “Pin Points and Gin Joints.” Th e CD was a lot diff erent for the band, focusing mostly on ska songs similar to their hit “Th e Impression Th at I Get” rather than their punk and hardcore infl uences. Out of all the CDs I bought in 2009 (which is admittedly only four), I have to say that it was my favorite of the year. Almost every song on it is great, so I became very eager to see the band to see what new material they played, and they did not dis-appoint. While they didn’t play ev-ery song I wanted to hear from the new album (read: every single one of them), they did make a good se-lection. Th ey also didn’t play a lot of what some fans would call staples of their live shows in favor of perform-ing some new material and some old classics. In this case it was a song called “Toxic Toast” which the band does perform live, however this was the fi rst time in years they could do it with a piano as it’s recorded be-cause of the addition of a keyboard player to their lineup. It’s also im-portant to note that if this review somehow encourages you to see the Bosstones, be aware that their man-ager is a member of the band, and his role is to dance on stage during the entire set.

For more information and mu-sic samples on the bands, visit their Myspace pages at www.myspace.com/thevoidunion, www.myspace.com/darkbuster, www.myspace.com/themightymightybosstones Or the Mighty Mighty Bosstones homepage at www.bosstonesmusic.com

Page 8 u Pierce Arrow t February 11, 2010 A EA E&A EA new kind of brother:

Super Mash Bros.

Nick VitukevichManaging Editor

Super Mash Bros. is a musical ex-periment based out of Los Angeles, California made up of three friends: Dick Fink, Nicolas Fenmore, and Ethan Dawes who have been quickly basing themselves in the club scene across the country.

Th e trio of DJ’s embrace all styles of music, mixing modern day rap hits with ‘80s and ‘90s pop and rock fl u-ently and eff ectively. Th ey often end up improving on the original versions.

Th e band emerged onto the scene in the summer of 2008 with their fi rst album release, F*ck B*tches. Get Eu-ros, and quickly followed that up the following summer with the album All About the Scrillions.

Super Mash Bros. makes old and overplayed songs sound fresh, new, and vibrant in ways one couldn’t imag-ine by combining Jay-Z’s “99 Prob-lems” with Vanessa Carlton’s “1000 Miles,” Nelly’s “Country Grammar” with Blink 182’s “Always,” and even combining Solja Boy’s “Crank Th at” with DJ Darude’s “Sandstorm.”

Popular songs include, “Th is is Defi nitely Not Th e 405,” “Bruce Willis Was Dead Th e Whole Time,” “D.G.A.F.L.Y.F.,” and “Living On A Float.”

Th e band describes themselves on their website as, “Super Mash Bros. is a musical project taking all of your favorite hits from the past few decades and combining them with today’s chart topping rap hits in ways scientifi cally proven to make you shake your [booty]. We’re like Girltalk’s hot cousin.”

Similar artists include “Girltalk,” “E-603,” and “Easter Egg.”

Th e band is currently on tour play-ing at several colleges and universi-ties across the country and has begun opening up for larger artists, most recently opening for Pharrell Wil-liams’ band N.E.R.D.

Th e band has intentions to release a third album in the summer of 2010, though they have not released details as to what will be on the upcoming album.

Super Mash Bros. allow fans to download both of their albums in their entirety for free by visiting www.myspace.com/sprmshbros.

Photo: Super Mash Bros.

Award Season Rundown: The Grammys

Heather ModjeskyPhoto Editor

Th e Hollywood awards season isn’t fast approaching, it’s here. Th e 67th Golden Globes kicked us off in January, beginning what will be Ava-tar’s grand winning streak; however, the latest in fashion and statuesque drama occurred at the 52nd annual Grammy Awards. While the red carpet is always—and I do mean al-ways—my favorite part of the awards season, this year’s Grammy show was by far stranger, weirder, and annoy-ingly more lack-luster than any of the designer garbs worn that night.

Take for example Lady Gaga: her Armani haute couture red carpet gown was inspired. Both beauti-ful and shockingly unique, Beyoncé and Taylor Swift’s red carpet wear paled in comparison. However, Gaga’s opening performance with Sir Elton John, a performance her-alded to be something even bigger than the Michael Jackson tribute, fell slightly fl at. Maybe it was the monstrous teal, hunchback outfi t, or the soot everywhere, or the fact that most of the performance was her ballad, “Speechless,” but something about the pop star’s montage left me speechless.

Gaga’s opening number began what felt like a never-ending series of performances constantly trying to top the last. In fact, an award was

given once every two performances or more, equaling to only thirty minutes of the whole awards show. Less, considering all the accepting performer’s speeches were cut short by the customary “wrap-it-up” music and over half the winners weren’t al-lowed to give speeches.

Everyone and their idol performed at this year’s Grammys. Gaga and Elton John, Taylor Swift and Stevie Nicks, Bon Jovi (performing a hor-rifi c version of Livin’ On a Prayer), a team of stars led by Celine Dion with a Michael Jackson track and 3D scenes playing behind them: while all the performances were entertaining, many seemed forced and conceptu-ally lazy. Pink, however, needed nei-ther an idol to accompany her nor a legion of soldiers. Her high-fl ying acrobatics during “Glitter in the Air” was stunning, interesting, and achieved a level of creativity no other performance that night achieved.

And as for people who actually

won Grammys that evening, well, most performers had won before the Grammys even started. In what has become a Grammy tradition, Song of the Year was an upset with Kings of Leon snagging the award away from Swift, Beyoncé, Gaga, and Th e Black Eyed Peas. By the end of the show, it felt like everyone slated to win a Grammy won one (all but the Black Eyed Peas who should have), everyone who won a Grammy per-formed, and Taylor Swift dropped her statuesque “fairytales” on the fl oor backstage.

Grammys, take a page out of the Golden Globes: get a smaller venue, serve champagne, and have fewer performances with more awards. It is an awards show after all; we’re in it for the bad speeches, the annoyed losers, and awkward monologues from hosts and presenters. If not, call it the Grammy concert and let us enjoy the show as one.

Photo: National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences

Photo: National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences

Avatar looks amazing but the plot falls fl at

Harmony GenschEditor-in-Chief

Th e fi rst I heard about James Cam-eron’s new movie “Avatar” was hear-ing my boyfriend complain about people obsessing about it. My parents had seen a preview for it while seeing another movie in IMAX 3D, and were suitably amazed. So amazed that my father proclaimed that he would see it only in IMAX.

I went to see it in a theater near my hometown, which for a premium will show IMAX 3D movies that use

an entire wall to screen the movie. Because of this (expensive) luxury, I was able to see the movie as realisti-cally as possible.

What I found to be the most amazing part about “Avatar” has nothing to do with the plot lines but with how amazingly beautiful it was. Very few people haven’t heard about Cameron’s “new technology” that uses the actual actors in the CGI, but it was quite realistic. If it weren’t for the fact that I was wearing a pair of glasses and I was sitting in a movie theater, it seemed like I could visit Pandora, the moon featured in the movie, on Spring Break.

Th at being said, while I gazed in wonder at foliage, glowing tree trunks, fantastic animals, fl oating mountains, and awe-inspiring scen-ery, there was an actual point to the movie. My boyfriend always scoff s at Unobtanium, the mineral being mined in the fi lm, citing that Cam-eron must have taken the seven years waiting for the technology to catch up with his idea thinking up the term. However, I fi nd it interesting that an engineering joke was being used in a mainstream block bluster.

Th e actual plot focuses on Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a para-plegic ex-Marine who took over for

his murdered identical twin scientist brother on Pandora, a lush moon in the Alpha Centuri system. At fi rst, his supervisor Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) is upset at hav-ing a soldier instead of a brilliant sci-entist, and Jake tells Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), the head of the militant American force on the moon, that he could scope out the landscape and natives in his ava-tar body. Jake fi nds confl ict when he is taken to the local tribe of the native Na’vi by Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and starts to be a member of the tribe.

Th e need for avatars in the movie is not really addressed. Th e air on the moon is poisonous to humans, so they need to wear gas masks whenever they leave air locked ar-eas. Th e avatars, the movie watcher is told, are grown on the fi ve-year trek from Earth to Pandora by splic-ing the DNA of the person and the native Na’vi. Th e main delineations are the presence of eyebrows and fi ve fi ngers and toes on the avatars. Weaver’s character is the only excep-tion, since her avatar keeps a human nose instead of the cat-like noses of the Na’vi, which I felt made her look more like a Smurf than a Na’vi. I per-sonally felt like it was just a means to need to have realistic CGI.

I was able to guess the ending about 45 minutes before it happened, but I have to admit that many scenes were pretty epic. Th e overall movie looked fantastic, and many of the customs and culture of the Na’vi were well thought out and beauti-fully executed. I just didn’t feel like the plot stood out. I feel like James Cameron should have had enough time to think of something a little less simplistic.

One major point for the movie, however, was the amazing use of the 3D medium. It was used to give a life-like appearance, rather than silly gags. Case in point: one of the

previews before the movie was of a 3D movie of the Hubble Telescope videos. A shot of an interior of the room made my head hurt putting the background too far back and the foreground way too forward. “Ava-tar” used it mainly to enhance depth, not to exaggerate anything.

Final conclusion: If you want to see a beautiful, fantastical movie, see it in 3D in the theaters. Th e plot isn’t enough to want to see it, but the ef-fects are worth it. However, I’m not sure it will translate well to DVD/Blu-ray when it eventually gets re-leased. So, make up your mind soon before it’s out of theaters.

Photo: 20th Century Fox

STUDENTS ATTEND SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL

Photo: Ian McGinnes, Adam Stahl, Natalya WayeFranklin Pierce students participating in an independent study recently went on a trip to the Sundance Film Festival. From left to right: FPU “Sundancers” in line at the Yarrow Hotel Theatre to see the New Afri-

can Cinema showcase, the sign at the Eccles Theatre Venue, and senior Natalya Waye with Super Size Me star Morgan Spurlock.

Photo: 20th Century Fox

To listen to some Super Mash Bros. songs you can also visit our website, www.piercearrownews.com, and click on this article under Arts & Entertainment.