Positives
  We’ve had pretty beautiful weather for it being November. We can only hope it stays around for a bit longer, though winter is inevitable.

  The programs over the past few weeks have been pretty awesome, along with some pretty good programs coming up soon. Between trips to Salem and Boston, hilarious comedians, awesome games like Deal or No Deal, and now a trip to see Cirque du Soleil–we have some awesome people planning fun events. So this is a thanks to everyone who’s involved on campus that helps to put on these events.  

  Some of our wonderful women in forensic science were featured on the news last week to debunk a few CSI myths about females in forensics. It’s nice to see our students get some acclaim for the work they do; congratulations, you’re almost famous!

Negatives
   I love how our tuition is going to a gigantic electric bill to pay for the lights at the new dorm that they leave on overnight. And for what reason? Our campus has murmurs of “going green” and of “sustainability.” Yeah, right. Leave the lights on in the building, waste money, waste electricity, and probably hurt the environment at the same time. And the poor Bixler kids–they stopped needing a night-light once they came to college; now they have the biggest one ever right outside their window!

   Did it send? Did it not send? Who knows! One of the most important communication pieces of our school was down for several days–how can we function without e-mail? It’s sad but it’s true–we just can’t do anything without it. And man, did it royally screw up some stuff. I love how fast it was fixed too–not. I won’t even mention the ambiguity of if it was actually working or not. Oh and right before registration.

Picture this: a presidential debate. The Democratic candidate: bright, young, charismatic; confident and poised with his statements, but not arrogant. He speaks of great hope about the future. The other candidate: a Republican, much older than his opponent, tense and nervous, whose comments demonstrate a great disconnect towards the current issues.
Such topics in the debates were a war, the economy, and future education of the American people. The public wondered “Which candidate, and which party, can meet the problems the United States is going to face?”

Any of this sound familiar? These statements and observations come directly from the John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon debates in 1960, but such things can also be clearly recalled from the presidential debates between Barack Obama and John McCain. Comparisons between John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama have been mentioned frequently throughout the race to the White House. Comedian Chris Rock mentions Obama in his new HBO special, Kill the Messenger.” Barack is so calm and cool, sometimes I think he doesn’t even realize he’s the black Kennedy!”

So why all the comparisons? Well, John F. Kennedy, and Barack Obama have many things in common.

Without turning this article into a full essay, here are just a few key points.

John F. Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States of America, is the youngest elected president at the age of 43. Barack Obama is quite young himself at 47.

They both attended Harvard University; Kennedy enrolled in Harvard’s undergraduate program, and Obama attended Harvard Law.

Obama and Kennedy are both published authors; John F. Kennedy wrote Profiles in Courage (1956), and Barack Obama published two best sellers: Dreams from My Father (1995), and The Audacity of Hope (2006).

Most notably, both Kennedy and Obama have been figures in America’s pop culture, almost emitting a rock star-like quality about them. To be said of the Kennedys, “Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline, were younger in comparison to presidents and first ladies that preceded them, and both were popular in ways more common to pop singers and movie stars than politicians, influencing fashion trends and becoming the subjects of numerous photo spreads in popular magazines.” The media is present in everyday events now more than ever. Barack Obama, his wife Michelle, and their two young children have been in photo spreads for Rolling Stone, Ok! Magazine, and People Magazine. Barack Obama has been featured on popular TV shows like Saturday Night Live, David Letterman, Conan O’ Brien, Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Colbert Report.

Similarities between Kennedy and Obama reach across the gender divide. It’s been said that behind every great man is a great woman. This statement certainly holds true for Jackie Kennedy and Michelle Obama. Kennedy was praised for being a timeless fashion icon, social figure, young woman, and mother of two young children (Caroline and JFK Jr.). This year, Michelle Obama was voted one of the ”Best Dressed” women by People Magazine’s 2008 poll. What does Michelle Obama think of the comparison to Jackie Kennedy? “Well, that’s very flattering.” In addition, only a few moments after Obama’s victory, comments were circulating about Michelle’s dress: “it’s actually fun to see what Michelle Obama is going to wear. You can tell she really loves clothes,” said Jennifer Romolini of Shine, “I predict that, along with a very charismatic president, we’re in for four years of impeccable, interesting style from our first lady the likes of which haven’t been seen since Jackie Kennedy.”

Besides fashion trends, the common family bonds between The Kennedys and The Obamas are strong. The dedication of Michelle Obama to her and Barack’s two young children (daughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7) is very apparent. “The campaign repeatedly said she never spent more than a night away from her children, and they never missed school or a soccer game because mom was helping dad run for president,” said Martha T. Moore of USA Today.

Amongst facts and figures, the most important aspect of this year’s General Election is the high level of participation by American voters. Numbers like these (about a 67%) haven’t been seen since Kennedy ran against Nixon in 1960. USA Today reported, “Voting experts said turnout could match or exceed the high-water mark set in 1960, when Democrat John Kennedy faced Republican Richard Nixon and nearly 64% of eligible citizens voted.” The power of the people is what made the election possible. Barack Obama spoke to an elated crowd in downtown Chicago in the early morning hours of Wednesday, Nov. 5: “To the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you’ve sacrificed to get it done. But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you.” About the American Dream he stated, “If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.”

A time where many questioned whether a young, passionate Democrat was too inexperienced, whether this would be the right direction for our country, the famous words of John F. Kennedy still radiate today: “We observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom–symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning–signifying renewal, as well as change.. Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty…The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it–and the glow from that fire can truly light the world. And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you–ask what you can do for your country.” The answer? Barack Obama.

Electing Barack Obama is what we did for our country. Forty years later, the United States of America is proud to welcome home the new American family, the elected first family, and the new Kennedy: the forty-fourth President-elect Mr. Barack Obama. Change has finally come to America.

Have you see
the signs on campus and wondered what the following statements are about?

1. 
I will strive for academic
excellence.

2. 
I will assume responsibility for
my words and actions. 

3. 
I will respect the dignity,
rights and property of all persons.

4. 
I will strive to appreciate and learn from others whose experiences and

     opinions are different than mine.

5. 
I will conduct my academic and personal life with integrity.

6. 
I will strive to contribute positively
to the campus, local and global communities.

As a University community, there are values and expectations that we all
share which provide the framework for how we interact as individual members of
the community and speak to who we are and what we stand for as a community.

A committee of students, faculty and staff has been working since the fall
of 2007 to develop such a statement of values for UNH. Upon receiving the
support of the USGA, the committee looked at honor codes and campus creeds from
a number of colleges and universities and developed a set of statements for the
student body to consider. Focus groups which included athletes, club and
organization members and representatives from each residence hall met in
February and March 2008, to discuss and provide feedback on the statements.
After receiving the focus group responses, the committee then further refined
the statements to the six which you have seen on campus for the last few
weeks. 

We have named our statement of University values the Charger
Compact.  We invite students to
participate in student facilitated conversations about what the statements mean
to you.    It is our hope that the Charger Compact, once
completed, will define how we interact as a community. 

The committee invites your feedback and comments about the six
statements we have developed to date. Reply by email to: ChargerCompact@newhaven.edu.

WEST HAVEN–Congratulations to Red Army for being this week’s Participants of the Week. They’ve shown great sportsmanship and continue to be good competitors!

There have been many questions about RECSports, including who can play and how to sign up. So this week I am going to dedicate the article to explaining some of the finer details.
RECSports, being an intramural program for the UNH community, is all about participation. While winning is always great, it is more important to have fun and interact with different people in a positive way. To encourage participation and good sportsmanship RECSports offers a year-long competition called the Quest for the Charger Cup. The Quest is a cumulative points competition. Teams earn points for registering a team in any division of any sport, wining and losing games, completing the end of season survey, and for playoff standings. Teams lose points for forfeiting, player ejection, and a low REC rating. The REC rating is a performance assessment on a team’s sportsmanship. It is graded on a 4.0 scale at the end of each game. The team at the end of the academic year that has the highest point total wins the Charger Cup. The team name is put on the Charger Champions plaque and a banner.

Teams may join the Quest at any time. Any individual playing an individuals sport (like racquetball) on behalf of a Quest team may earn points for that team. Teams can earn multiple points for the same sport by registering a team for the different divisions of that sport. Quest teams can have a maximum roster of 35 individuals who play on the various teams that the overall Quest team organizes for each division in which the team decides to play. However, all of the teams fielded must have the same name as the overall Quest team and must keep it throughout the Quest competition. Example: the Kinky Bears have 20 players. Twelve players are playing in the team handball league and 15 are playing in the kickball league. The Kinky Bears field a co-rec kickball team and a men’s kickball team. The Kinky Bears would get points for the two kickball teams and the handball team. All the points go to the overall Kinky Bears team, but some players play multiple sports for the team and others only play one for the team. The final rule for being a Quest team is that a participant cannot play for two Quest teams.

To register as a team, the group of students, faculty, or staff need only do two things. First, a manager and assistant manager need to fill out the registration form which is located online at www.newhaven.edu/chargerrec or at the Equipment Issue Desk located within the Rec Center. Second, at least one manager needs to attend the pre-season managers’ meeting. The date, time and location of the meeting are available at the time of registration. If teams follow all the registration protocols they will be set to play in the season. Schedules will be emailed to the managers, but there will also be a master schedule posted on the RECSports bulletin board located across from the Equipment Issue Desk. Then team members just need to attend the scheduled matches.

Free agents are not guaranteed a chance to play in a sport. Free agents are individuals who do not have a team but would like to play. The free agent’s information is posted online for teams who don’t quite have enough players, or for teams who need to flush out the roster. It is the responsibility of free agent to find a team or a team to find participants. If the free agent is picked up by a team, it is the agent and team managers’ responsibility to inform RECSports. A participant may not play for two teams in the same division of the same sport. Procedure on free agents can be found, along with registration forms, at the Equipment Issue Desk or online at our website.

For information regarding RECSports, such as which sports are being offered and when, the number of students allowed on a roster, the rules of a sport, forms, etc., students may check out RECSports link on the ChargerRec webpage, check out the RECSports bulletin board, and/or speak with the Equipment Services Attendant at the Equipment Issue Desk.

Just two games into the Detroit Pistons’ season, Pistons president Joe Dumars made a drastic change to the look of his team. In a trade that shocked many people in the NBA Allen Iverson was traded to Detroit in exchange for long time Piston Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb.

Now if you are either a Nuggets fan or a Pistons fan, you have to look at the ramifications of this trade. If you are a Pistons fan, you can be both excited and nervous. Iverson is still one of the best players in the game today. He can give you 25 points every anight and he has proven himself to have a never-say-die attitude whenever he is on the court.

The concern comes in when you factor in that Iverson still handles the ball most of the time. Yes, he has dished the ball more since he was traded from the 76ers, but in a lot of people’s opinions it is still not enough. The Pistons have had success for one reason: team basketball. Iverson is going to enter an environment where team basketball is strongly stressed. The Pistons have had success not because of one player. They have done it with all five guys on the court playing together. A part of the problem in Denver was that both Iverson and Carmelo Anthony handled the ball the most of the time. It was something that did not really work in Denver, and if Iverson thinks he can do the same in Detroit, the Pistons are going to find themselves in for a long season.

The biggest acquisition in the trade on the Denver side is Chauncey Billups. Billups is a proven winner. Billups comes over to the Nuggets with plenty of playoff experience and a championship ring on his finger. Another positive side of the trade for the Nuggets is that Billups will more than likely help with the continued development of Carmelo Anthony. Billups is willing to pass more than Iverson ever did during his time in Denver, which will give the Nuggets franchise player more cracks at the hoop.

As of press time, Antonio McDyess expressed great disinterest in being traded to Denver. The Nuggets have verbally agreed to release McDyess of his current contract which would make him a free agent.

New York’s most popular zoo animals hit theaters in their new movie Madagascar:  Escape 2 Africa. Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer) and Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett-Smith) decide their vacation from the first move is over and head back to New York City. The mafia-like penguins prove to the world that they can actually fly, until the plane they rebuilt suddenly crash lands in Africa.

According to Variety Magazine, “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is the rare animated sequel that reps a notable improvement on its predecessor in every department. Lively and quite funny without being obnoxious, this follow-up smoothly mixes the original’s New York Zoo escapees with a number of engaging new characters they encounter upon crossing from Madagascar to the mother continent.”

The sequel is quite good, but it is very random at times. Each character has a separate, and serious, storyline. One of the characters will face a problem that they must work out, then the camera centers on the penguins whacking a human. I pity the DreamWorks boy fishing on the moon mascot, as he is their first victim. Some of the jokes and other scenes are not for small children.

All-in-all, Escape 2 Africa is worthwhile trip. Adults and children alike will enjoy this movie. This movie may actually be better than its predecessor. The plot itself is reminiscent of The Lion King. However, the secondary cast makes up for originality. The penguins play a bigger part in this picture, while King Julian the lemur goes on a mission to become King of Africa.

Its that time again people! The Charger Bulletin’s Gaming Guru himself has found a game worthy of his attention! For those who are dedicated readers (I hope you are), you know that I am a big fan of the RTS (Real Time Strategy) genre, and especially the Command and Conquer franchise. With that said, I have been generally disappointed with Electronic Arts since they took over the series in 1999. The major exception to the rule being Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, which showed great attention to detail, despite the obvious flaw of a seriously overpowered third faction. I had high hopes for the next installment of Red Alert, the second of Westwood Studios’ original powerhouse title sets.

In the Red Alert universe, Albert Einstein creates a time travel device, and eliminates Adolf Hitler before he rises to power in Germany. This backfires, causing a dominant Soviet power to rise up and fight with the Allied Forces of Europe and the United States. During the time of Red Alert 2, the Soviets use mind commanding technology to disable the United States’ nuclear arsenal and invade. In the newest installment, two Soviet military men go back in time and eliminate Albert Einstein before he kills Hitler, hoping to eradicate the Allies. This too backfires, and the world is drastically changed. This is especially true as a third power, the Empire of the Rising Sun, comes to claim its destiny as conquerors of the world.

Red Alert 3 brings a lot of balance to game play, even with the inclusion of the new faction.  One of the best features, in my opinion, is that each faction plays differently, and it isn’t just because the Soviet Conscript is different than an Allied Peacekeeper. The entire way you build your base, gain technology, and use your units changes based on your faction. Buildings are built differently for the Allies, the Soviets, and the EotRS, which completely changes how you play, especially if you are building while being attacked.

Furthermore, the units themselves all have toggle functions. In other words, they have two functions, or a special ability. Whether it is a tank that turns in to an air superiority fighter, or just an increase in firing range or speed, every single unit has a secondary function, allowing players to mix and match. Red Alert 3 also sees the triumphant return of naval combat, of which I have always been a fan. It is great because a lot of the missions allow for use of ships, and most of the buildings are amphibious. You literally can build an entire base on water!

Besides the game itself, RA3 allows players a whole other realm of control with co-commanders. In every mission, another commander is there to back you up. They can attack objectives, hold positions, and even save your butt if you get in a bind. If you connect to the internet, you can even play co-op missions with a friend as your co-commander! This was incredibly awesome, as I spend the first six soviet missions co-oping with a friend. It was great to not limit Internet play to just skirmishes. All in all, Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 is a must have for all strategy fans. Plus, there are some really famous names on the list of characters, but this article is too short to go in to all the perks. I would highly recommend this game, and if you buy it, drop me a line…conquering the world never felt so good.

The film Role Models hit theaters Friday, Nov. 7, and I have to say that it was a blast. The movie performed better than expected and I never felt bored throughout the entire 99 minutes. Role Models is like a cross between Daddy Day Care and Superbad (which means that it’s definitely not a kid movie), but in all honestly it works. The movie is written extremely well and the acting is more than satisfactory.

Paul Rudd (Knocked Up) plays Danny Donahue and Shawn William Scott (American Pie) plays Wheeler Gunders. Together they make a great combination and have amazing chemistry, which shows on the big screen. Rudd gives a great performance, and William Scott seems to have moved up in his acting career to broaden his talents to more serious and less immature comedic roles. To be quite honest, I think that the film is one of William Scott’s best performances. Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad’s McLovin’) who plays Augie Farks and Bobb’e J. Thompson who plays Ronnie, also deserve applause for their comedic acting. All actors in the movie pull their own weight, and in the end, create a fantastic movie. Goes to show how good acting can go a long way.

There is a laugh written into almost every scene, which helps keeps the film entertaining, but the aspect of morals and lessons is also well established in the movie. The way the film mixes both comedy and morals is incredible, and there seems to be no flaws to point out about it.

Another aspect of the movie that I give credit to is its ability to blend. For example, no matter how awkward or corny the movie seems to be heading, once the awkward part arrives, it does not feel out of place, and fits right in.

In the end, the movie is highly exciting and funny, and is now on my DVD list. Role Models is one of the best comedies that I have seen in a while and leaves its audience happy in the end. I highly recommend watching the film in theaters; it truly deserves your money. Role Models is definitely getting an “A” grade in my book. Definitely a must-see!

December is approaching and we all know what that means: the Oscar movie season! The most buzzed-about films hold on for a late release to take advantage of the late publicity. Winning movies that followed this example were titles such as The Departed, Dreamgirls, and Atonement. Here’s a preview of the Oscar-worthy titles you can look forward to in the next month.

Starting off the season with a Nov. 28 release is the new Baz Luhrmann movie, Australia. Starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, this love story takes place in Australia before World War II. Since Luhrmann and Kidman have already found a winning chemistry in Moulin Rouge, it is expecting that this moving tale will win over a lot of Oscar hearts.

Next in the lineup is the Sean Penn drama Milk, due for release on Dec. 5. This film tells the story of California’s first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk. A little too late to influence California’s Proposition 8, this film is full of praise for its sensitive plot and Penn’s supposed best role ever.

Opening the same day, Dec. 12, are Doubt, which stars Meryl Streep, and The Argentine, which stars Benicio Del Toro as legendary historical figure Che Guevara. Both intense roles are sure to bring their actors recognition.

Kate Winslet is sure to rule December with roles in The Reader and Revolutionary Road. Critics claim she may be up against herself for Best Supporting Actress.
Lastly, the most talked-about film of the year is certainly The Curious Case of Benjamin Button starring Brad Pitt. The plot is so original, you’ll just have to look it up yourself.
Happy Oscar season!