Niner Times - October 25, 2011

PAGE 1TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2011

A product of Student Niner Media • The University of North Carolina at Charlotte • Partially funded by Student Fees • Breaking News? Email us at [email protected] or call 704.687.7148

Tuesday, October 25, 2011 Publ ished twice weekly and onl ine at www.nineronline.com

NINERTIMESFE

ATU

RES

MYTHICAL CREATURES TAKE OVER POP CULTURE

THE NEW NORM REVEALED

SPO

RTS

Friday evening Niner Nation had the opportunity to witness the unveiling of the new Norm the Niner at Basketball Madness.

The new Norm is complete with a new hat, six-pack, muscles and a brand new pickax.

p.11

Once upon a time, there were two TV networks that desperately wanted to attract more viewers.

They huffed and puffed and fi nally came up with the idea to use fairy tales as the subject of their shows.

p. 8

New on NinerOnline.com: See a video of our “Super Senior” trying out to be the face behind Norm.

Police Blotter: Larceny through calls for services during the week of Oct. 16- Oct. 21.

Biotechnology: The Charlotte Biotechnology Conference returns to UNC Charlotte for the tenth year. The conference, which will begin at 8 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011, will be at the Barnhardt Student Activity Center (SAC).

DIVERSITY AT UNC CHARLOTTE

Read the fi rst part of a Niner Times’ series on diversity at UNC Charlotte. This week we introduce the series and talk about “The Things That Divide Us.”

p. 5

JOSHUA GOMEZ Q&A

Joshua Gomez stars in NBC’s “Chuck,” a spy-comedy primetime program produced by Warner Bros. Television.

Gomez plays the role of Morgan Grimes, the best friend of leading character Chuck (Zachary Levi).

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FIGHT FOR A-10 TOURNAMENT

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NEWS OPINION SPORTS A&E

Eden [email protected]

With registration approaching, students may begin turning to websites such as RateMyProfessors.com to create a schedule with professors they will enjoy. The UNC Charlotte page on RateMyProfessors pro-vides students with ratings for over 2,000 professors, some of which no longer teach here, but others who have been at the uni-versity for decades.

RateMyProfessors rates both the uni-versity as a whole and individual profes-sors. The university is rated on things such as the library, the reputation of the school, the dining options, organizations and the location of the campus. While students may like looking at how their school compares to other universities, the ratings of indi-vidual professors will possibly captivate students more.

Individual professors receive ratings based on overall quality, helpfulness, clar-ity, easiness, rater interest and attractive-ness, which is displayed as a chili pepper on the professor’s main page. Professors can be searched alphabetically or by de-partment and may also be sorted by their individual ratings.

UNC Charlotte has professors with high ratings, and those with low ratings, but there can only be one highest and one low-est. Amy Good, who teaches social studies in the College of Education, is the highest rated professor at UNC Charlotte.

“These make me blush. They are all very sweet,” said Good after reading her re-views. “I think anybody wants to hear that they’re doing well.”

Good has straight 5.0’s on RateMyPro-fessors, the highest average possible, and also has a chili pepper.

Her high ratings could come from her relationships with her students, she says.

Molly [email protected]

The University Career Center will host Majors Day Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011, in the Cone University Center’s Lucas Room. The event invites students to come learn more about the paths of study UNC Char-lotte has to offer.

“There will be a table for every under-graduate major offered,” said Rebecca Cody, assistant director for Publicity and Outreach at the University Career Center. “The tables will have faculty, academic ad-visors and even some upperclassmen ma-joring in each discipline to talk about the majors and any minors or concentrations that they offer.”

This event targets undergraduates. Stu-dents who have not declared a major or are considering double majoring or picking up a minor are especially encouraged to come and explore the different options available to them.

“In addition to hearing from represen-tatives from each department, students will be able to pick up ‘What Can I Do With A Major In’ forms that list examples of pos-sible jobs they can get with the major. Also, the forms will list websites and books where they can obtain more information,” said Cody.

“We recommend our ‘How To Get A Job In’ series, available online and in the Uni-

Ciera ChoateNEWS@NINERONL INE.COM

In addition to the Alcoholics Anony-mous program being brought to campus at the beginning of October, the Student Health Center will host their fi rst Narcot-ics Overdose Prevention and Education (NOPE) vigil Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011, at the Belk Tower from 5 until 7 p.m.

“The purpose of the vigil is to call atten-tion to people who are impacted by drug overdose and impacted by addiction and that sort of thing. It’s a vigil in memory of those who have overdosed and lost their life and also the support of those who have addiction issues that they are struggling with,” said Angela Allen, the BASICS coor-dinator for the Student Health Center.

The NOPE Vigil is a national event that takes place at different locations all over the U.S. on the same day every year. The event has been taking place for fi ve years.

During the event anyone is welcome to take the microphone and tell his or her

0 1 2 3 4 5

UNC Charlotte’s RateMyProfessors’ score

Source: RateMyProfessors.com Graphic by Karen Pierce

“I truly believe students will not care un-til they know you care,” said Good. “These comments are nice and everything, but I’m not going to turn around and be friends. I tell my students, it’s not their job to become the friend of their students. It’s their job to teach. I want it to be a powerful experi-ence.”

Students may also appreciate the way she works with them. She is training teach-ers, she says, so she is teaching students “to grade and how to support teaching.” Good loves this aspect of her job and appreciates that her assessments aren’t “a hidden ‘got-cha’ situation.” These elements of the way she assigns and grades material works in students’ favor.

She works with students one-on-one

and by email. She also sets her classes into teams, where they can work together if they have problems. “Since this is social studies, I think the most important part is setting up the classroom community. It’s not just me they can come to, they can come to their team,” said Good. “I can, in the almost 10 years that I have been a professor, count only maybe two people that have failed. And it takes an act of plagiarism, it has to be a rough situation for them to fail my course.”

Ellyn Ritterskamp, the second highest rated professor at UNC Charlotte, also has straight 5.0s. Ritterskamp, who teaches practical issues and philosophy, started at UNC Charlotte in 2002.

Despite her high rating among students,

Working to fi ght addiction

A major decision

Who’s hot and who’s notThe best and worst rated professors at UNC Charlotte talk

about their rating on RateMyProfessors

PROFESSOR p.3

MAJOR p.3

See more at NinerOnline.com

www.nineronline.com

TIMESTIMES

desperately wanted to attract

They huffed and puffed and fi nally came up with the idea to use fairy tales as the subject of their shows.

p. 8

TIMESTIMES

PAGE 2 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2011 NINERTIMES

PAGE 3TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2011NINERONLINE.COM

LARCENYOct. 16Rowe Arts Building, bicycle removed from bicycle rack.Moore Hall, subject cut cable and removed bicycle from bicycle rack.Oct. 18Student Union, property removed while unattended and unsecure.

VANDALISMOct. 16Football Complex, damaged car while parked and unattended.

MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTOct. 20West Deck, unknown subject removed vehicle without permission.

SIMPLE PHYSICAL ASSAULTOct. 16Cameron Blcd., victims physically as-saulted in roadway.

ASSAULT ON A FEMALE/CONCEALING WEAPONSOct. 20Moore Hall, domestic call involving two persons, female in possession of fi re arm.

MOLESTATION OF FIRE EQUIPMENTOct. 20Scott Hall, air freshener sprayed near fi re alarm.

ARRESTSOct. 16Lynch Hall, subject entered residence without permission and damaged property.Oct. 17Lot 6, driving while license revoked.Oct. 18Martin Village, outstanding warrant.Oct. 21Moore Hall, intoxicated and under-age.

CALLS FOR SERVICEOct. 20Lex Drive, assist CMPD with search warrant.

Police BlotterRitterskamp does not take much stock in RateMyProfessors.com. “I also don’t have a lot of ratings, so it’s not a large statistical category that we can examine. I don’t want to take it real seriously,” she said.

Not many students fail her class either, said Ritterskamp. “I usually fl unk about one student out of 40. It’s usually just peo-ple who drop or just stop coming to class. It’s usually very few,” she said. “It’s not that the material is hard. I try to contact people who stop attending, try to salvage their grade.”

Ritterskamp describes her class as “con-versation-based,” and often puts the stu-dents in groups or rearranges the desks so that they are facing each other. She doesn’t like to lecture during class. “Nobody wants to hear that. I don’t want to hear that,” said Ritterskamp.

The lowest rated professor with more than one rating at UNC Charlotte received a 1.4 in overall quality, accumulated over 38 reviews. Gyorgy Revesz, who has been at the university for over a decade, teaches programming courses.

“I do this as a hobby, and I want to do my best to produce quality students,” said Revesz. “I like to educate quality students with essential programming skills and sig-nifi cant abilities.”

Revesz is not surprised by his poor rat-ings on RateMyProfessors.com. He knows that students will say whatever they want, and he is not concerned by what they post online. “It is a good outlet for frustrated students, but I don’t care. Because it is in-deed a very diverse website,” said Revesz. “I get praises from good students, and I get terrible putdowns from poor students. And that is the way it is.”

The praises are something that Revesz is more than willing to share. He has nu-merous emails he has received from past students, thanking him for a job well done. “Here is one. She says ‘I would like to thank you for a great experience in your class. This being my last semester, I just wanted to let you know that it was a great learning experience. Commencement is Saturday. I am looking forward to it. I already accepted a job, which I look forward to starting. I think that the projects we did in class were very helpful for me getting this great op-

portunity.’ This is one, but I have more,” said Revesz.

In class, Revesz works with students to show them how to correctly program and code. His lessons are complex, as is the textbook, he says, but students are not without a guide. “Every time I post a home-work project, coding project, I also post the results of my solution, which means that they can look at the output which I gener-ated when they do their own program de-sign,” said Revesz. “So that they can com-pare what they have as a result to what I have posted.”

Despite posting solutions to every as-signment, Revesz still has students who struggle, which he says may be because they did not get enough out of prerequisite classes. “In my classes, too many students fail,” said Revesz. “Some students are not up to the task, and I can tell you that I am trying to help them survive. But I don’t give them high grades undeserved. I keep a higher standard than most professors.”

Revesz fi nds humor when he reads stu-dent evaluations and the end of each se-mester. “My graduate students think that I know my stuff better than the undergradu-ate students. [The undergraduate students] do not know enough to get a good grade, therefore they think that I don’t know enough about my subject,” he said. “I will probably teach at a higher level than what they expect.”

While some professors may benefi t from reading their reviews on RateMyPro-fessors.com, Ritterskamp does not think that reading these reviews is for everyone. “I remember when it fi rst came out, I had two colleagues who were female, and one of them got very upset because she didn’t get a chili pepper that said she was hot, and that’s just stupid. They need to take that out of the rating system. It was very hurtful to that person, who was young and didn’t know to ignore it,” said Ritterskamp.

Good doesn’t believe that professors should base their teaching performance on their online ratings. “We get peer reviewed here, which is really nice. We have the fac-ulty come in and review us, and the chair comes in and reviews us,” said Good. “And we have the student opinions on instruc-tion. And what I think is the most impor-tant, the self-refl ective.”

Ritterskamp even prefers the student

evaluations at the end of the course. “Each semester I encourage students to write stuff on those evaluations because each se-mester I learn something from them that I can use to make the next course better,” she said.

Chances are, the ratings on RateMyPro-fessors.com aren’t a completely accurate depiction of a professor, says Ritterskamp. “I feel like it is like any other statistical sur-vey. If you don’t have enough data points, it shouldn’t be relevant. And some teach-ers only have three or four ratings. I guess once you have 500 ratings on somebody, you have enough data for it to mean some-thing,” said Ritterskamp.

Good also believes that the online post-ings on RateMyProfessors.com is skewed, but not because of a lack of ratings. “I wouldn’t use it as the only piece of data. I think when people write online, you know, it’s anonymous so they can write whatever they want,” she said.

Despite the anonymous nature of the ratings, Revesz thinks that the posts on RateMyProfessors.com are valid, because they are public. “It is good, because it can been seen by everybody else. Students can fi nd out whether they want to take this course or not.”

Ritterskamp feels, however, that stu-dents shouldn’t select classes based solely on RateMyProfessors.com. “RateMyPro-fessor is similar to most rating systems, like Amazon, where people purchase prod-ucts. I think only people who are very ex-cited about a thing, or very upset about a thing, are going to rate. There’s not a ton of middle ratings on [sites like these],” said Ritterskamp.

Good believes that it is important for students to learn a bit about the professor before signing up for their course, but does not think RateMyProfessors.com is the way for them to do that. Instead, she has a sug-gestion for students.

“Go by [the professor’s] offi ce and knock on the door, say ‘Hi, I’m considering taking your course.’ You know, we’re not big scary monsters. Come, and meet us,” said Good. “And if they turn you away, you probably don’t want to take that class. So I wouldn’t rely only on online data, I would go gather some yourself. Make an informed decision.”

versity Career Center’s resource library for details on how to prepare for specifi c careers in some of the most popular in-dustries, from banking to event planning.”

The event will run from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. Wednesday. Students do not have to pre-register, just dress casually and present their 800 numbers at the door.

The fair’s design caters to students already working on a major, but contemplating a double major or minor.

“Last year, I was an ac-counting major, but seriously considering picking up a mi-nor in economics,” said senior Adam Esmaeel. “I didn’t ever go through with it, but the fair can help you fi gure out the best path to take. Whether that’s a minor, major or double major, theres plenty of staff willing to help you fi gure it out.”

Department heads at Majors Day will assist students in map-ping out what additional cours-es will be required to complete a second major or minor.

“Faculty from the University Advising Center for undeclared

and transitioning students will be available for students who want to compare the academic path of multiple majors and mi-nors,” said Cody.

“We will also have an ‘Ad-vising Room’ with academic and career advisors that can help students begin the career exploration process in more de-tail.”

The event usually brings out over 500 students, rang-ing from undeclared freshmen, to those halfway through their junior year looking to graduate with a double major.

UNC Charlotte offers 90 un-

dergraduate degree programs and many more majors and concentrations.

Majors Day is a chance for students to utilize the resourc-es of our faculty to help them choose the path of study that suits them.

“Majors Day is also a great opportunity for students to learn more from department representatives about the stu-dent organizations, research opportunities and scholarships that go along with each depart-ment,” said Cody.

PROFESSOR from p.1

MAJOR from p.1


Eden [email protected]

The Charlotte Biotechnolo-gy Conference returns to UNC Charlotte for the tenth year. The conference, which will be-gin at 8 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011, will be at the Barnhardt Student Activity Center (SAC).

The conference, hosted in conjunction with UNC Char-lotte and the Charlotte Re-search Institute, allows people from all over the university area to learn about advance-ments and developments with-in biotechnology.

Clare Faggart, life scienc-es program manager for the Charlotte Research Institute, is the project manager for the Charlotte Biotechnology Con-ference. “I’ve been with Char-lotte Research Institute for four years, and before that I worked with the biotech con-ference, so [I have been in-volved] for really six years,” said Faggart. “This is a con-ference that started at UNC Charlotte years ago. It actually matriculated out of the Offi ce of Technology Transfer.”

There are no other events such as this readily available for UNC Charlotte students and faculty to attend, says Faggart. “Not in the Charlotte region.” Not only is the event unique to the area, the specifi c event changes each year, and the agenda is already available online. “It’s ever constantly

changing, you know, we al-ways want to make it bigger and better and more interest-ing for our participants and our attendees. So it is always changing, hopefully all for the better,” said Faggart. “There’s lots going on.”

This year, numerous panel discussions will be available for attendees of the conference to listen in on. These discussions include Biotechnology in the Charlotte Region – Past, Pres-ent and Future; Biotechnology Start-up Funding – Where to Find and How to Get It and A New Biology for the 21st Cen-tury. “We do several panel sessions for biotech start-ups, anything that might be of in-terest to life science students, faculty, business partners of the university, community life science organizations and businesses and, of course, any other service provider in that area,” said Faggart.

Speakers in these discus-sions come from the Hanmer Institute, the David H. Mur-dock Research Institute, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, Silicon Valley Bank and numerous faculty mem-bers from UNC Charlotte, among other locations. “The list goes on and on of incred-ible speakers we have,” said Faggart.

The speaker delivering the keynote speech this year will be Leroy Hood. Hood’s speech, titled “Proactive P4 Medicine

Art Pappas and Mike Luther, two speakers from the 2010 Charlotte Biotechnology Conference. Photo courtsey of the Charlotte Research Institute

Stake your biotechnological claim

(Predictive, Preventive, Personal-ized and Participatory): The Sci-ence behind P4 Medicine and What It Can Do for You and for Society,” will begin directly following the fi rst break in the conference.

Faggart encourages those inter-ested in biotechnology and life sci-ences attend the event. Everyone is invited to attend, she says, from UNC Charlotte faculty and students to local life science businesses. “It’s

a pretty extraordinary opportunity for our UNC Charlotte students and faculty,” said Faggart. “Just simply for them to come and take an op-portunity to hear world renowned speakers such as Dr. Hood.”

Leroy Hood focuses his re-search on molecular immunology, biotechnology,and genomics. He as-sisted in founding the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle in 2000. He has co-written numerous text-

books on the subjects he specializes inand has won several awards.

Registration for the event is re-quired and price is dependant upon when attendees register. Registra-tion will be accepted at the door the day of the conference.

For more information on reg-istration and the conference, visit www.charlottebiotechnology.com.


OPINION

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NINERTIMESVolume 24, Number 16

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Letters to the Editor

TIME TO STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD

Corey ConnerEDITOR@NINERONL INE.COM

Over the next few weeks, the Niner Times will be publishing a series on diver-sity at UNC Charlotte. This week we kick off the series with Part I, “The Things That Divide Us.”

Race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender, class, and sexuality are just a few of the things that divide us. However, what makes individuals different can also be what drives them.

Every student at UNC Charlotte has a background that informs who they are to-day and where they will be going.

Some students may have never expe-rienced life as a minority of any type. For others, making it through high school as a

gay student who was regularly bullied gives them strength to know that they can make it through hard times.

Regardless, the point is we’re different. Differences are what gives us culture, and though it may seem obvious, diversity.

The issue, though, is when we allow our differences to divide us.

The kid that was bullied, although he may have made it through high school, should never have had to deal with bully-ing in the fi rst place. The student who was made to think less of herself because of the color of her skin should never have been through that experience.

But, how can society deal with the things that divide us?

I believe that the answer is in shared experience. When people go through hard-ships together, or just hear the stories of others, they are more open and willing to accept a peer as they are.

So, we want you, the readers of the Niner Times, to share your experience with others. Over the course of the year we will be publishing various student’s stories in

the paper, as well as in a special section of the Niner Times on November 15.

I don’t believe that this will cause every-one to come together in a campfi re kum-baya moment. However, with the current unrest in the economy and world, what’s the worst that getting to know your peers a lit-tle better could do?

Share how you feel about campus diver-sity by tweeting with hashtag #unccdiversity.

If you know any students, staff, or faculty whose story is worth telling, you can nominate them for the “What’s Your Story?” feature that will be published on November 15.

As a parting note I’ll say, life’s best mo-ments don’t come from the things that di-vide us, but the shared experiences that bring us together.

Part I

The Things That Divide Us

DIVERSITYat UNC Charlotte

Brandon [email protected]

Every year more people tend to adopt the persona of self-serving individuals, all the while running over and preying on the kindness of others.

Lately, this type of behavior has become particularly popular among the younger generations.

It just seems that the younger genera-tions receive less and less training from their parents. Then they come to school or go to work in the real world without having learned how to be a respectful member of society.

People want to know why the world is such a violent and corrupt place when all they have to do to fi nd the culprit is look in the mirror.

Every time you see someone doing something wrong, disruptive, or just mor-ally unacceptable, speak up. Let people know exactly what you and others think of them when they do wrong to others or to social order.

Kindness and discipline out shine the corrupt, so do you best to improve human-ity in the right way.

Continued on NinerOnline.com

The lost art of civility Do you want your voice to be heard?

Send your thoughts to [email protected] or give us a call at 704 - 687 - 7148.

What’s Your Story

Send your story to [email protected]

Please include your name, contact information, and a

summary of your story.


A&E TWEET OFF: Wednesday, Oct. 267:00 p.m.Student UnionRotunda

ON CAMPUS: Party in Pink ZumbathonTuesday, Oct. 255:30 p.m.Student Activity CenterHalton Arena

AROUND THE TOWN: Good vs. Evil: An evening with Anthony Bourdain and Eric RipertWednesday, Oct. 267:30 p.m.Blumenthal Performing Arts

Haley TwistAE@NINERONL INE.COM

The weather seems to have finally made up its mind, allow-ing girls around campus to dive back in to one of the best parts of fall: boots.I thought 2010

was one of the best boot seasons yet, but after shopping around the Char-lotte area over the past few weeks I have realized that there are so many new boot styles this year that I did not see last year.

I decided to make a list of my fa-vorite boots to wear around campus during the day and out around Char-lotte at night.DaytimeWedge boots:Boots with a wedge versus an actual heel are the perfect way to walk up and down the hundreds of campus stairs without breaking your neck. They are a stunning complement to any casual outfit. For a great head-ing-to-class look, tuck a pair of leg-gings into your wedge boots and add a long, loose shirt. Chilly? Loosely drape a scarf around your neck for an outfit that looks effortless.Combat boots:

Instead of going with the super predictable suede flat boots this sea-son, try a pair of combat boots. Ones that lace up and have multiple buck-les can be found for the more dar-ing, but for those who want a sim-pler look, try the flat boots that only have one buckle. These are just as cute as the louder ones. Running late for class? You’re in luck! Pull these boots on over any pair of jeans for a quick-and-easy substitute for the ba-sic ballet flats.NighttimeHigh-legged boots:Whether these are wedge-heel boots or have more of a basic heel, go for a pair that come up farther to your knee versus a pair of booties. As much as I love booties, there is no better ego-booster when you are heading Uptown and want to look your best than zipping up a pair of high-legged boots and knowing you look fierce. If you are in the mood to be noticed at night these are the per-fect boots to do the job.

Studded or embellished boots:Something I am noticing a lot more this year in magazines and in stores are the appearances of studded boots. Normally they are short boots with a platform that have tiny studs on the platform area. Some even have studs all over the boot or on the toe. The craziest pair I’ve seen, yet, that I fell in love with, were covered with cheetah print and studs. Those were definitely for the boldest of boot-wearers.

Not into the studs? Some other boots I’ve seen are embellished with other things, such as small buckles or tiny metal designs. These are an interesting take on the basic bootie.

Campus trend alert:

boots are back

Most anticipated video games of 2011

Above are two UNC Charlotte students playing newly released video games. Photo by Barry Falls Jr.

Barry [email protected]

Batman: Arkham CityAvailable exclusively for: Xbox 360,

PlayStation 3,and PC nowAccording to a new analysis of video

game anticipation and pre-orders of recent games, there seems to be a common under-lying factor with this year’s most desired video games - they all have a pre-existing fan base.

Arkham City, as well as the rest of the games on this list, are no exception. As the climax of seventh generation of video game systems winds down to a stop, game de-velopers and producers have an in-depth understanding of which video game fran-chises consumers are going to respond to positively.

Following its predecessor, Arkham Asy-lum, Arkham City follows Batman as the dangers in Gotham City steeply elevate. With Arkham Asylum deemed no longer safe to house the population of the crimi-nally insane, a new city is quarantined off for them to live. Needless to say a revolt is planned as Two-Face announces a plan to publically execute Catwoman in order to increase his notoriety with Gotham’s thugs.

Players have the choice between follow-ing this main mission or to wander around and solve smaller crimes. Batman is known in the comic book series as “the world’s greatest detective” for a reason. He uses high-tech gadgets like tracking devices, launchable zip-lines and grappling guns to solve the game’s many side missions. And because of the massive amount of well-developed side characters, these missions can sometimes be just as much fun as the primary objective.

Modern Warfare 3Available exclusively for: PlayStation 3,

Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, and PC Novem-ber 8th

Directly following Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the plot of Modern Warfare 3 revolves around the Russian Federation’s continued invasion into North America and now into Europe. The return of Task Force 141 has a lot of hardcore Call of Duty fans excited, but what many fans are most ex-cited about is the multiplayer.

In addition to local co-operative game-play, which brings back special ops as well as a new 2-player survival mode, Infi nity Ward is bringing gamers a lot of new on-line multi-player additions. Three different “strike packages” called Assault, Support and Specialist allow players to advance in each map to their choosing. A new game mode called “kill confi rmed” requires play-

ers to collect dog tags from downed en-emies in order for their kill to be registered, allowing enemies to collect the dog tags fi rst and deny the kill.

Modern Warfare 2 made $310 million its fi rst day, making Modern Warfare 2 the biggest entertainment launch in history, even beating out the critically acclaimed motion picture “The Dark Knight.”

According to a new analysis of video game anticipation by “Nielsen Wire”, Mod-

ern Warfare 3 is desired by over one quar-ter of active gamers. This time two years ago, people were getting ready to attend midnight releases of Modern Warfare 2.

Downing a dangerous amount of Red Bull and calling off work/school, these fans helped the Call of Duty franchise reach a rare feat that might be repeated Nov. 8. So if you notice an unusually low attendance in

class on this day, do not be overly-alarmed. Your classmates are prestiging.

New Modern Warfare 3 pre-made game modes:

• Infection- involves the “infected” killing enemies to recruit them to their team

• Drop Zone- you must hold a drop zone for points and care packages

• Team Juggernaut- each team plays alongside an AI Juggernaut character

• Gun Game- be the fi rst to get one kill with every gun in the game

• One in the Chamber- players are only allowed one pistol with one bullet and three lives

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward SwordAvailable exclusively for: Nintendo Wii

on Nov. 18Nostalgia plays a big role in this game’s

release. After the release of arguably the greatest video game of all time, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, there has not been a lot of games in or outside of the Zel-da franchise that has successfully captured the open-ranged adventure that Ocarina of Time did.

Skyward Sword is a prequel to Ocarina of Time and will also feature the game’s namesake to travel between the normal world and the “sky” world.

“I defi nitely want it to be massive, ad-venturous, with complex puzzles and an

awesome fi nal battle with a fi nal boss,” said UNC Charlotte communications major James Exum about how he expects Sky-ward Sword to live up to his favorite game in the franchise, Ocarina of Time.

“Hopefully it will have a better control system than the previous Zelda game [Twi-light Princess], so you don’t have to wave the Wii controller around to swing the sword.”

Exum explained that the release of the game would have affected his grades if it was released at a different time. But since the game’s release date will allow him to play the game only around Christmas break, his studies should remain consis-tent.

The Elder Scrolls V: SkyrimAvailable exclusively for: Xbox 360,

PlayStation 3, and PC on Nov. 11In 2007, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

was rated number one by PC Gamer mag-azine in their list of 100 top games of all time. And Skyrim is already getting simi-lar praise from critics for its gameplay and soundtrack from American composer Jer-emy Soule.

Set 200 years after its predecessor Oblivion, Skyrim’s story takes places in a land called “Skyrim” during a civil war. As with previous installments, players are put into a massive, open world and are given the choice between only following the pri-mary quest (to stop a dragon god from ful-fi lling prophecy and destroying the world) or going on side quests.

“I already pre-ordered it. I feel there are going to be a lot of much-warranted changes. The series was already good as it was,” UNC Charlotte computer science major Keith Sellers said about the changes to the new installment of the Elder Scrolls franchise.

“There are going to be a few changes from a graphical standpoint and probably some other changes as far as character cre-ation and customization. Also the new sto-ryline. Those are the main things that I’m anticipating from the new game.”

Sellers admitted that he does not expect the release of the game to affect his grades, though he did anticipate his relations with women to take a temporary hit.

Super Mario 3D Land /Mario Kart 7/ Paper Mario 3DS/ Luigi’s Mansion 2

Available exclusively for: Nintendo 3DS on Nov. 13, 2012 and Dec. 4, 2012 (respec-tively)

While these games are sure to be both critically and commercially successful, it is not diffi cult to see why they might be over-looked in the context of the anticipatory online conversation. Most fans of these games are children, and children do not typically spend a lot of time on the internet talking about how excited they are for the new Mario game to come out. Still, when the sales reports for these games are fi nally released the dollar signs should speak for themselves.

The familiarity of these games is a key part of their success. Fans know what to ex-pect and, to a degree, that is what they are going to get.

With Super Mario 3D Land, it is still go-ing to be a three-dimensional adventure as you take Mario from point A to point B with obstacles and baddies in between.

Mario Kart 7 is still going to be a fantasy racing game with a few new characters and kart customizations.

Paper Mario 3DS is still going to be a 2-D-meets-3-D role-playing game with turn-based battles and charmingly cute dialog and plot twists.

Luigi’s Mansion 2 is still going to revolve around Luigi taking down spiritual entities Ghost Busters-style and saving Mario. And all of this is exactly what fans want.

“I defi nitely want [Skyward Sword] to be massive, adven-turous, with complex puzzles and an awesome fi nal battle with a fi nal boss.”

- James Exum, Student


Lee PhamAsst. A&E Editor

Joshua Gomez stars in NBC’s “Chuck,” a spy-comedy primetime pro-gram produced by Warner Bros. Televi-sion.

3Grimes will play a bigger part in the upcoming final season of “Chuck,” as he downloads the Intersect in the finale of the prior season.

The Intersect is a U.S. government-created technology that stores and ana-lyzes encoded data.

It is possible for a human to down-load the Intersect to his or her brain, which Grimes has unknowingly done.

The Niner Times spoke with Gomez about the end of “Chuck” and his plans for the future.

As the new Intersect, how has your role for “Chuck” changed?

“My schedule has changed quite a bit. Character-wise, it’s a lot more physically demanding, and the size of the role has increased. The Intersect definitely has, let’s just say, an effect on Morgan’s personality.”

What is Morgan Grimes’ love life looking like this season?

“It was going OK, but the Intersect definitely puts a strain on his relation-ship with Alex. His feelings for her are for real, as hers are for him, but there are some serious hiccups along the way like in any relationship, I suppose.”

In what ways can you relate to your character?

“We both share the same love of Star Wars, love of video games and amount of body hair. I would say that Morgan is way more outgoing and impetuous - way more than I am. But in all the sort of geekier sides of comic books and sci-fi, I’m sure we share a lot of that in com-mon.”

How do you feel about season five being the final season for “Chuck”?

“Bummed. But I understand. All things must come to an end whether you’re ready for it to or not. I’m glad we get to know our future instead of guess-ing. It also gives us a chance to wrap things up and have a proper ending.”

Can you share any plot teasers?

“They put a gag order on us, and they’ll flog me if I reveal any secrets.”

What’s next for you and your co-stars?

“For me, my goal is to try to keep working, to keep this momentum going. ‘Chuck’ has been a really amazing ex-perience for me. It’s a highly regarded show, and I’d love to parlay that into another job. I also have my hands in writing and producing my own stuff. I already have a few projects in the works. Maybe I’ll even get ridiculously lucky and sell something, and you guys will get a peek at the warped, degenerate side of my brain. As for everyone else, I think most of them are in the same boat as I am: They’re actors, and they want to try to keep working, whether it’s on the small screen or big screen.”

To stay up to date with the latest on Gomez, follow @JoshuaEGomez on Twitter.

Season five of “Chuck” was set to air on Oct. 21, but NBC has pushed the pre-miere back a week to Friday, Oct. 28 at 8:00 p.m. to promote the series as part of a two-night Halloween-themed line-

up. NBC is channel six on UNC Char-lotte campus cable.

Joshua Gomez: Q&A of NBC’s “Chuck”

Scarlett [email protected]

Much of the youth of this generation are not familiar with instant photogra-phy due to anything and everything be-ing digital or computerized.

The most commonly recognized camera with instant photography is the Polaroid camera, which was discontin-ued in February of 2008.

The Impossible Project (IP), which started in October 2008, is a project that is striving to keep instant photog-raphy alive regardless of it’s popular counterpart - digital photography.

The Impossible team started with a small team of 10 former Polaroid employees who shared a passion and a dream that some viewed as impos-sible. Now the company consists of 25 employees in its factory in The Nether-lands.

The Founders, Dr. Florian Kaps, An-dré Bosman and Marwan Saba, all have parallel views and share a deep aspira-tion of reinvention and revolution.

In 2010 the IP presented its first new instant film, the PX 100 and PX 600 sil-ver shade - two forms of black and white film.

Later that year the first flush edi-tion of the PX 70 color shade film was launched.

The Polaroid picture was such an iconic piece of pop culture history and to see its demise really upset many pho-tographers and general consumers.

Recently, the IP has partnered with popular store Urban Outfitters to assist them in their mission to bring instant photography back to life.

On the Urban Outfitters website (www.urbanoutfitters.com/features/polaroid) you are able to buy deadstock cameras and film separately or you can opt to buy a kit featuring them together.

An online gallery, or “group show,” displaying self portraits, landscapes and pop-art-inspired polaroid pictures from all over the world is available for viewing on the website and at “Space 15 Twenty,” an art inspired retail facility.

Nursing student and UNC Charlotte junior, Christina Villa, daughter of Ash-boro photographer Juan Villa, is really passionate about the IP, stating, “The Impossible Project is a brilliant way to get instant photography exposure to the younger generations who probably aren’t familiar of the unique art.”

An avid Urban Outfitters shopper, Villa was very excited about the col-laboration saying that “Polaroid will al-ways be cool, but now that an organiza-tion like this is teaming up with Urban, it will appeal to a broader spectrum of people.”

Villa is an avid photographer and is well-versed in the area.

Within the past couple of years there has been a high demand for instant photography as an artistic alternative to a digital photo.

In January 2010 pop-star Lady Gaga, who is now creative director of Polaroid, collaborated with the Polaroid company to create the “Polaroid Grey Label.” The Grey Label consists of three products designed and created by Lady Gag.

The GL10, an instant mobile printer that is compatible with bluetooth, the GL30, an instant digital camera paying tribute to Polaroid’s legacy with a digi-

tal form of the original instant camera and the GL20, stylish camera sunglass-es inspired by a costume piece Lady Gaga wore in her Fame Ball tour.

All of these products are digitally friendly, but the goal remains evident: keeping instant photography alive.

All photos are printed with the clas-sic white-rimmed boarder and operate the same as they did in the past.

As different or as similar all these projects may be, the passion for con-serving this particular division of pho-tography is a positive way to inspire artists of all ages and backgrounds to give instant photography another chance.

Different photography for different generations

Photo courtesy of Mitchell Haaseth/NBC

Photo courtesy of MCT Campus

BY THE NUMBERSIn 1972, Polaroid created the first film that was able to develop with-out the assistance of a photographer, leading to the Polaroid cam-eras that became

popular among consumers. In 2008 Polaroid announced that they would no longer be producing the instant film. However, other companies, such as Fuju, continue to produce instant film.

72


Photo courtesy of MCT Campus

FEATURESRick BentleyMCT CAMPUS

Once upon a time, there were two TV networks that desperately wanted to attract more viewers.

They huffed and puffed and fi nally came up with the idea to use fairy tales as the subject of their shows. But their approach-es were as different as Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf.

ABC’s “Once Upon a Time” looks at what happens when the Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla) decides to punish all of the fairy tale characters by sending them to live in a horrible place Maine. They’ve been stripped of their memories and only Snow White’s daughter, Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison), can save them.

The “Grimm” approach at NBC is to have fairy tales based on real-world crea-tures that now prowl the Pacifi c Northwest. It’s up to Portland homicide detective Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli), the last in the long line of creature fi ghters, to close the book on the evil creatures.

“Once Upon a Time” comes from “Lost” writers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz.“The idea for the show really started over eight years ago, and Eddie and I had just come off working on ‘Felicity.’ We had just been talking about why are we writers and what are the kinds of stories we like to tell. Fairy tales were these really formative things for us,” says Horowitz. “And then we sat down to write it and we didn’t know what the hell we were doing.”

Kitsis calls it eight years of writer’s block that didn’t break until after they started working on “Lost.”

There are no polar bears in the opening episode, but the show does have all the lay-ers of mysteries that made “Lost” so addic-tive. There’s the town where time has stood still for decades. Questions are plentiful about the characters, such as who remem-bers their fairy tale past. Even Emma Swan comes with her own set of mysteries.

The actors play traditional and mod-ernized versions of fairy tale characters. Gennifer Goodwin, as Snow White/Mary Margaret, welcomes the chance to play two different versions of the same character.

“It’s incredibly challenging and inspir-ing and certainly contributed to my want-ing to be a part of it. On ‘Big Love,’ we had an actress who played twins, and watching her process was very fascinating.” Goodwin says. “I thought that I was going to take from that in developing Snow White and Mary Margaret.

“What was really exciting was creating a character in Mary Margaret that is based on what we assume are the characteristics the Evil Queen would have wanted to put upon this woman.”

That the actors are having a good time with their characters is a blessing to Kitsis.

“The show at its core is a character show. We are much more interested in the character than the mythology. We are much more interested in why does the Evil Queen hate Snow White? Why is Grumpy grumpy? Why does Geppetto want a boy so badly he made one out of wood? We love

New shows recast fairy tales for modern viewersthe idea of going back and forth and kind of informing what the character is missing in their life, and that’s what going back and forth does for us,” Kitsis says.While “Once Upon a Time” will bounce be-tween real and fairy tale settings, “Grimm” is rooted in the modern world. This will be a familiar format for executive producers Da-vid Greenwalt and Jim Kouf, who worked on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel.”

Greenwalt says that while there are sim-ilarities between “Grimm” and “Buffy” _ such as a chosen one who fi ghts evil _ there is a big difference.

“This show is probably for a broader au-

dience than ‘Buffy’ was for. It takes a police procedural and kind of turns it on its head. It takes a storybook fairy tale every week and fractures that. So I think it’s a new be-ginning for us, for sure,” Greenwalt says.

“Our notion is that the Grimm brothers are actually profi lers of criminal events. In other words, the stories they told are real, and there’s no separate world. They live in our world, and our guy can see them. He can see the big bad wolf and the child mo-lester, for example.”

There won’t be any shortage of villains with more than 200 Grimm fairy tales that can serve as story ideas. The producers are

also willing to go outside the Grimm world to other fairy tales such as “The Three Little Pigs.”

Despite using fairy tales as a basis, the creative team behind “Grimm” doesn’t ex-pect viewers will get the show confused with “Once Upon a Time.”

“There’s a lot of movies and a lot of TV shows, but ours is so not about the fairy tale. It’s a police procedural with a hint of fairy tale,” says executive producer Todd Milliner.

Both series look to live happily ever af-ter.

We are much more interested in the character than the mythology. We are much more interested in why does the Evil Queen hate Snow White? Why is Grumpy grumpy? Why does Geppetto want a boy so badly he made one out of wood?

“

“Writer Edward Kitsis


Popular modern fairytales

ABC’s “Once Upon a Time” stars a fairytale cast trapped in the real world by the Evil Queen in her quest to maintan power. The show airs on Sunday nights at 8 p.m.

The “Twilight” crazy took hold of pop culture when they were fi rst written as books. Since they made the transition to the silver screen “Twilight” has consitently been box offi ce hits.

Disney’s “Wizards of Waverly Place” is the channel’s top show starring Selena Gomez. The wizarding family solves issues both with and without magic.

CW’s “Vampire Diaries” aired after the HBO’s smash hit “True Blood”. Both of these prime-time shows follow vampires who are trying to assimilate into society, while falling in love with humans.

Photos courtesy of MCT CampusCompiled by Dana Nigro


DOWNTIME 25 Tuesday 26 Wednesday 27 Thursday 28 Friday 29 Saturday 30 Sunday

Party in Pink Zumbathon

Ditch the workout, and join the party! Giveaways, prizes, food, & more.

Student Activity CenterHalton Arena5:30pm - 6:30pm

Hafla-ween

Feel free to dress up in your Halloween costume or belly dance gear, and to bring food or refresh-ments, as the event will be a potluck.

After Hours in Cone Center7:00pm - 10:00pm

NOPE Vigil

NOPE will hosts its 5th Annual National Candle Light Vigil in memory of 28000 U.S. citizens who die from accidental drug poisonings each year.

Belk Tower5:00pm - 7:00pm

Union Take Over - Haunted Union

The Union will be trans-formed into a haunted house. Will you dare enter the Haunted Union?

Student Union8:00pm - 11:45pm

Cloud Nine

This play, set in Victorian Africa and contemporary London, confronts sexual taboos and gender stereo-types head on. For mature audiences.

Robinson Hall2:00pm*Cloud Nine can also be seen on other days.

Rock Bottom Boot CampSAC Group Fitness Studio4:00pm - 5:00pm

A new Boot Camp to help prepare for the holidays. Praticipate in an intense total body workout that will target mucsles you didn’t know you had.

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis

FOR RELEASE NOVEMBER 7, 2011

ACROSS1 Magician’s bird of

choice5 Seattle’s Best

product, slangily9 Fall faller

13 Pub picks14 Special Forces

cap15 Fairy tale starter16 Strike gold18 Give __ to:

approve19 Canadian coin

nicknamed forthe bird on it

20 Hand-waving orfinger-pointing

22 For each23 Mythical Egyptian

riddler25 Cornfield bird27 Smallest prime

number28 27-Across plus

one, in Italy29 Lines of theater

seats30 Goes down in the

west32 Debatable point36 Encouragement

for a matador37 Lane straddler39 LAX hrs.40 Welsh dog42 Screwball43 Dalai __44 A bit amiss46 “Milk” director

Van Sant47 Oval segments48 Guy “nipping at

your nose,” in aholiday song

52 Inquire53 Rand McNally

references54 Takes home from

the pound57 Yogi, for one58 Singer of the

1961 #1 songfound in the startsof 16-, 23-, 37-and 48-Across

61 Can of worms,e.g.

62 “Drat!”63 Brooks’s country

music partner64 Sources of

immediate cash:Abbr.

65 Mends withthread

66 FBI personnel

DOWN1 Author Roald2 Assortment3 President’s

weapon4 Station with

game reportsand highlights

5 Clampettpatriarch

6 Onassis patriarch7 Brink8 Declare to be true9 Despises

10 Boredom11 Piece of the sky,

to Chicken Little12 Shipping giant14 “Sayonara!”17 It’s roughly 21%

oxygen21 Unit of parsley23 Tinker with24 Franks25 Hook nemesis,

for short26 Cylindrical

caramel candy27 General of

Chinese cuisine31 Loud call

33 Auto tune-up item34 Camp Pendleton

letters35 LAX incoming hrs.37 Jazz licks38 Approves41 Amusement park

racers43 Longtime Dodger

skipper Tommy45 Brittany brothers48 Sluglike “Star

Wars” crime boss

49 Persistentlybothered

50 Allegation51 Missouri river or

tribe52 Cavity filler’s org.54 Blissful sighs55 Camping

shelter56 9-digit IDs59 Deviate from a

course60 DJ’s stack

Saturday’s Puzzle SolvedBy Jeff Chen 11/7/11

(c)2011 Tribune Media Services, Inc. 11/7/11

The answers:

See

the

answ

er to

the

sudo

ku

puzz

le b

y sc

anni

ng th

e co

de

with

you

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artp

hone

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Get the answers at www.nineronline.com/downtime


SPORTS Men’s Soccer vs XavierFri. 7pm, Charlotte, NC

Women’s Soccer @ XavierFri. 7pm, Cincinnati, OH

Men’s Soccer vs DaytonSun. 1pm, Charlotte, NC

Women’s Volleyball vs La SalleSun. 1pm, Charlotte, NC

Women’s Soccer @ DaytonSun. 1pm, Dayton, OH

Cross Country vs. A10 ChampSat. TBA, Concord, NC

Joel [email protected]

Friday evening Niner Nation had the opportunity to witness the unveiling of the new Norm the Niner at Basketball Madness.

As the lights went off, fans crowded on the fl oor and in the stands of Halton Arena cheered with anticipation of the unveiling.

Green colored smoke covered the stage as the music grew in intensity. Soon, the outline of his fi gure could be seen through the backdrop as a green light projected behind him.

Seconds later, the curtain was moved, and the new Norm fi nally revealed his face to the excited Halton Arena crowd.

The new Norm, complete with a new hat, six-pack and muscles carrying a brand new pickax, ran towards the fl oor, showing off his new attitude.

“Bad Ass!” said senior Lewis Morgan, known to many as the “white board guy,” and avid Charlotte 49er fan. “I was afraid he was going to lose the beard, but he just got a bit of a trim, once again, Bad Ass!”

Before Basketball Madness, the rumor that a new Norm was going to appear had been circulating for a while, but rumors were validated when several short videos were released prior to the event.

In the fi rst video, the old Norm was seen waking early and starting his new work-out routine to the theme from “Rocky.”

In the second video, Norm was featured working out in the Charlotte 49ers weight room, lifting weights and riding the stationary bike.

In the third video, Norm ran the bleachers of Halton Arena.

In the fourth video, Norm works on his appearance, getting a trim and cleaning up his beard.

Finally, in the fi fth video, Norm hits the books and

studies organic chemistry in the academic center.After Basketball Madness, students still had a lot to

say about the new Norm. Student Body President Dave Craven said that the new Norm is, “awesome, ‘turn of the century’ and a much-needed change.”

“The new Norm makes us proud to be Niners,” said sophomores Kaitlyn Spencer and Vanessa Loszko.

Several Niners were impressed by Norm’s new

muscles and wanted to know more. “I want to know what work-out plan he’s on,”

said sophomore Ryan Benson, “but I’m pretty sure its P90X.”

Junior Matt Murrow said, “I’m pretty sure Norm can beat up App. State’s Yosef any day. The new Norm makes Yosef look like he hasn’t hit puberty yet.”

Norm packs added muscle

Ed [email protected]

C harlotte went 1-1 on Senior weekend, as they fell to A-10 powerhouse No. 19 LaSalle 2-1 Friday evening, despite a goal in the 59th minute by defensive player Carie Dail, her second of the season. The Explorers remain undefeated at 14-0-1, as Charlotte would have loved to pick up a draw.

The remaining portion of the season is do-or-die for the 49ers as they managed to sneak out a 1-0 win over Fordham, who coming into the match was up three points in the conference standings. Senior goal keeper, Natalie Lavigne picked up the shutout between the woodwork for the 49ers, in the win, she made six saves.

A set piece by Jonna Handra from about 35 yards out was the difference maker on Sunday, as her ball eneded up at the feet of Amanda Jones, who crossed it with her left foot to the awaiting cleats of senior Macky Wingo, right into the back right corner of the net. Jones was returing from a lower body injury, and was expected to miss the remainder of the 2011 season, made an immediate impact for Charlotte coming off the bench in the second half.

It was a fi tting end to the home career for the Wingo, who leads the team with six goals to score the game winner at a crucial point of the season.

Charlotte now heads to the Buckeye state to take on conference foes in Dayton and Xavier in the coming weeks, the 49ers need to win out in order to secure a birth in the conference tournament hosted by the St. Louis Bilikens this year, come November.

The 49ers have been showing signs of promise in the later weeks of the season, they seem to have corrected the problems they were having controlling the ball at the

midfi eld and the senior leaders are starting to sense that if their play does not improve, the books on their careers at Charlotte will slam shut.

Charlotte will have to look to keep riding the hot foot of Wingo on the offensive side of the pitch and also try to fi nd Oni Bernard, who while silent this past weekend, has come alive for the 49ers in recent weeks.

On the defensive side of the pitch, Charlotte has been pretty stingy in Atlantic 10 play as their losses in the conference have only been by just one or two goals. Stellar play from defensive back four has kept the 49ers close in their conference matchups.

Sophomore defender Sarah Ann Waugh has opened some eyes this season, with her ability to mark her offensive player and challenge any attempt an opponent may have. Freshman Taylor Rovito has also earned her stripes on the defensive side of the ball for Charlotte, making some crucial sliding tackles in the 18 yard box, if she had not have done so, Fordham may have been able to take the advantage.

Pushing forward Charlotte will have to rely on their strong defensive play, as goals have been at a bit of a premium this year.

At this point in the 2010 season, Charlotte’s leading scorer then senior Whitney Weinraub had eight goals for Charlotte, leading them to their third consecutive A-10 title game, where they met Dayton and fell.

While next Friday’s game does not have conference title implications on the line, it does have a trip to the A-10 tournament, if you are the Charlotte 49ers. Expect the 49ers to come out with a sense of urgency from the opening kickoff, as they push to fi nish the season 3-0, and secure the six seed in the A-10 conference tournament.

Charlotte stays alive in fi ght for fi nal spot in the A-10 tournament

Bernard and fellow seniors were honored Sunday. File Photo

Old Norm. File photo New Norm. Photo courtesy of Charlotte Athletics

SPORTS SCHEDULE


Documents

Niner Times - October 25, 2011