N.V. Me.

UNCUT March 13th Edition

My first story concerns an American coffee giant…yes Starbucks…

Starbucks national wide took a 3 hour “coffee break” this past week to re-train their baristas how to brew a fine cup of joe and other customized drinks, but was the break necessary…or was all this just a publicity stunt? Personally, I havent noticed any changes in customer service or quality of coffee and this seems to be the overall reaction of starbuck customers nationwide. In fact most agree with me that the closing was a huge PR publicity stunt

If you would like to comment on this story or read what others had to say you can log on to

 starbucksgossip.typepad.com

Another controversial story which actually hits home for me is a recent incident at Marist college. Allegedly there was a raping on campus… as the story goes…a female was walking from an upper classmen residence area back to her own and en route was sexually assaulted a masked man. The young girl immediately notified police, and campus security and was taken to St. Francis for evaluation. When the rape test came back positive in suit the office of safety and security notified the community of the incident and increased area patrol. About ten days later, the Marist community received another e-mail stating that the rape was a cry wolf. According to office of safety security, the alleged victim made up the story and was arrested. My question is, how could a rape kit test come back positive, and an investigation be completed in solely 10 days? Is it more plausible that Marist compensated the student to cry wolf and ruin her own reputation in exchange for the Marists? Maybe… maybe not…think about it…

If you would like to comment, please visit the Marist Circle Website… at media.www. maristcircle.com

In other news, Jessica Simpson and Tony Romo seem to be seriously dating now that football season is over. What is convenient however is that Jessica is scheduled to release her country album at some point this year. Do you think that maybe the relationship has alternative purposes? Dating a Cowboy and releasing a country album is very co-incidental. I wonder if Romo has picked up on it?

And the final story of the day. The stars of Hollywood stand divided and many are using their fame to influence voters to support Democratic presidental candidates. Big names such as Jack Nicholson, 50 Cent, Donald Trump, and Glenn Close have endorsed Clinton where as George Clooney, Tom Hanks, Will Smith, Sharon Stone and Ellen Pompeo have jumped on the Obama band wagon. These stars have recruited themselves and all that is associated with them to support Hillary or Barack but whats the purpose? Are people supposed to choose who they vote for based on the preference of Tinsel Town or who they think would be best for this country?

Marist Rape

“All and all, the whole alleged rape case is left wide open for interpretation by those who are compelled to question. We shouldn’t always believe what we are being told, especially not through a series of rinky-dink e-mails. Just because information is being fed to us by authority, does not mean students should blindly swallow.” - Michelle DelBove, Marist Circle

Let’s face it, rapes happen at Marist. However, most of these cases are hidden from the Marist population, probably as an effort to “save face” of the unflawed Marist reputation. However, do you think that by concealing the fact that rapes do happen down the hall or one dorm over, may actually be hurting us? Can Providing a fake sense of security, make us more vulnerable? I know rapes do happen on this campus and the administration does what they can to conceal them. I know of multiple people have encountered this unfortunate situation at this college. Yes 90 percent of the time drugs and alcohol were involved but maybe if students were aware of the dangers that do lurk on our campus then they’d make a better effort to stay safe…People can learn from the mistakes of others..

Here’s a link for the article itself

http://media.www.maristcircle.com/media/storage/paper659/news/2008/02/21/Opinion/Marist.Too.Quick.To.Convict.Student.Before.Court.Date-3222897.shtml

Mary Flanagan - Adventures of Josie True

This web-based game is specifically designed for girls. It can be found at www.Josietrue.com. Mary Flanagan seems to be interested in developing interactive and educational games for younger girls. This specific program focuses on a young, Asian heroine who travels in space and time to try and find her teacher. Amongst the way contexts of math, science and history and integrated into her journey as a way to make the game educational. In addition this program seems to suggest role models for young girls as the characters that are encountered throughout Josie’s travels are amongst the famous and innovative women in history. In actually playing the game, scenes can be controlled by the click and direction of a mouse, each scene seems to last only a few seconds. The actual game is composed of bright colors and geometric figures. In addition, realistic motions are made by the characters. Josie’s communication and any communication between a character and the player is through a cartoon bubble. This program also includes audio under certain circumstances. In one instance clicking on a machine to use it and answer mathematical questions. It seems that this game resembles a puzzle and the only way to advance is through answering a series of questions that concern math or science. In addition, little facts of science and history are included in locations that the player is bound to find and with a click the images can be enlarged to be read and understood. I even learned a lot of information about science and history when playing this game. In the first level I encountered the Icat who takes Josie back in time and makes her record her experiences in a diary. Now that Josie has a diary, every detail of her experiences are recorded in this diary and the diary is made available for the player to read. In addition, by clicking on the Icat, options such as the use of a calculator, map, information for help, a database, and the journal are available. When using the map, if you click on a place that you have already been, you are immediately redirected back to that place. In using the right click option with the mouse, you also have the option to redirect your position in the game. The journal that is made available when clicking the Icat, allows the player to actually write in it any information that they please. Every time a question is answered correctly or a task is completed an award is given and the third time a sandwich is the prize. In returning to the main page, There are two different adventures for players to choose from. The first includes an experience with Bessie Coleman, while the second adventure is with Hatshepsut, and Josie and friends are once again in search for Mrs. Trombone, but this time in Ancient Egypt.