Sophomore Lauren Arbogast played the role of hero this weekend against Farleigh Dickinson when she hit the game winning shot with 1.2 seconds left as CCSU won 51-49.

The Blue Devils (10-11, 4-6 NEC) were able to control the game in the first half. They went into the break with a 29-19 lead over the Knights.

However, during the second half, FDU trimmed into the lead. With 14:08 left in the game, the Knights had gotten the score within one point, at 31-30. The visitors appeared more physical coming out of the break and were able to disrupt the Blue Devil offense.

“Late in the game they were taking Kaley [Watras] away and not allowing her to catch the ball,” said CCSU Head Coach Beryl Piper. “We were not able to get into our offense as easy and for the kids’ sake we handled that pretty well. They’re a really athletic team and they rely on the steal.”

The Blue Devils only briefly relinquished the lead and that was, in part, due to their presence under the basket. They had a total of 50 rebounds in the game, half of which were on the offensive end of the court. Six players had more than five rebounds for CCSU.

With some stingy defense in the final three minutes, the Knights were able to go from down six to a tie game with 27-seconds left.

The game came down a final possession for the Blue Devils. They took a timeout with 22-seconds left to talk about the play that they would run to hopefully force a win. They did so thanks to a deep 2-point jump shot at the top of the arc by Arbogast. She finished with eight points and seven rebounds, but none were more important for the team than her final shot.

“That’s huge for us,” said Piper. “As a coach, for me to know that my players can make the plays when they need to make the plays, that’s when you’re a good team. Your best shooter is not always going to get the ball and someone else is going to need to step up and do something with it.”

The team is playing stronger as a whole on both ends of the court. They had nine blocks and six steals to go along with their 50 rebounds. With Jessica Babe out of the lineup due to injury and her sister Jaclyn Babe not having her best night, with 13 points on 6-for-18 shooting, it was up to the other starters to make the play when the time came.

“I’m glad I hit the shot, but I would have trusted any of my other teammates to make the shot too,” said Arbogast.

“That’s what the team is about,” said Piper. “Your opportunities are going to come. You might not play a lot and then all of a sudden we’re going to be relying on you to make big plays and do big things and that’s why practice is so important and that the kids work as hard as they do.”

During the game, junior center Kirsten Daamen set the CCSU women’s basketball career record for blocks. She entered with 114 and added five on Saturday. She will now continue to set the record with each block she gets. Daamen is the NEC leader in blocks this season. She also added eight points and seven rebounds.

However, despite the win the Blue Devils head to Long Island University and St. Francis (NY) at the end of this week with a loss on their minds. On Monday night CCSU fell to Monmouth by three, dropping the game 59-56.

It was nothing but hockey for CCSU’s club team this past weekend in which the team won its two home games before dropping the third on the road against Marist.

The weekend began with the 5-3 defeat of the eighth-ranked Bryant club team. The Blue Devils were coming into the weekend just six days removed from the 8-2 loss to the number one team in the Northeast, William Paterson.

“[William Paterson] seemed to couple their goals with us, when they get one they get three, so if we lapse for two minutes we’re down five, six goals like that, just real quick and we just did a better job of maintaining our composure after we gave up a goal tonight,” said defenseman Adam Goldstein.

The Blue Devils played a strong opening 20 minutes, controlling the puck and getting chances in their attack zone, unlike the game against William Paterson. In the first alone, CCSU outshot Bryant 16-6 and got on the board first with a goal from Dustin Rider. With John Palmieri in net the Bull Dogs were shut out until the second.

While the first and third periods were strong for CCSU, the team lapsed in the second. Andrew Mazurkiewicz managed to get CCSU on the board with a second goal, but penalties allowed Bryant to climb back and tie the game at two.

Both times Bryant scored the Blue Devils had managed a penalty kill, but broke down as the fifth player was coming back onto the ice. The first happened two seconds after Ryan Pereira’s penalty was cleared and the second came six seconds after Conor Stanley left the box.

“[Bryant is] a good gritty team,” said Head Coach Ben Adams. “They’re never gonna quit on a game and those teams are tough for us to play with because we’re used to either running away with a game or the team running away with a game against us … they’re ranked eighth for a reason and any time you take a penalty, unfortunately it’s not a two minute penalty, it’s about two minutes and five seconds once you get your fifth guy in the play and they used all two minutes and five seconds both times.”

Penalties were looking to become a problem again for CCSU, but the third period began and the Blue Devils were back on their game.

A pair of quick goals from Jon Knobloch and Matt Siracusa gave CCSU the two point advantage with less than 10 minutes left to play. Knobloch sealed the win for the Blue Devils when he slid the puck past the goalie that was down on the ice just away from the crease.

“It’s all about the first chance breakouts, we need to get the pucks out first and we had trouble with that in the second. The last five, ten minutes and after that in first and third it goes up from the D to the wingers and if we can get that puck out quick we’ll have success,” said Goldstein.

Less than 24 hours later the team was back in Newington, this time taking on in-state rivals, Western Connecticut. Against the Colonials the Blue Devils were on the winning side of an 8-2 final.

At the end of an explosive second period CCSU led WCSU 7-1, with multiple lines contributing to the score.

“After that second period the locker room was just really realized we knew we had the game we just had to finish the last 20,” said Brian Fay. Fay had the initial second period goals which gave the Blue Devils the 5-1 lead, he also finished the night with an assist.

With a six-goal advantage going into the third, things started to get chippy and more penalties were taken, but Mazurkiewicz still found the net in order to up the team’s lead to seven.

With less than eight minutes left to play, CCSU began to take multiple penalties including a slash from Matt Reckdenwald, tripping from Mazurkiewicz and a five-minute hitting from behind game misconduct which led to Ian Schwalenberg getting the gate early.

“Offensively it was nice to get on a roll, contributions from all the lines, good puck movement offensively. I would’ve liked to see us get a little bit tougher in front of the net, bury a little bit more but it was good,” said Adams. “…You know we got into penalty trouble and gave them a couple of windows where they actually could have crawled their way back in but luckily they did a great job at killing them.”

The next day CCSU travelled to Marist where they fell 5-4. The team will go back on the road on Friday before returning to Newington Saturday night to take on the University of Massachusetts.

The SGA President at this University has presented his ideas to the general education ad hoc committee. He seems to think that it needs to be broadened to give students more options. That is the opposite of most of the drafts from the committee itself. They seem to agree on the fact that the system should be reduced slightly to keep students moving through their education and out into the real world.

It seems that the major talking point for a system overhaul is the graduation rate. The concern makes sense. We should be pushing for students to get through the University in four years. Instead, some of us are struggling to get out of here in six. Adding two years of student loans to the pile of debt that a graduate has already accumulated is nothing to take lightly, but we might not be looking at the whole picture.

Is the general education program really to blame? Have we settled on that as a definitive cause or is that our scapegoat? The system might need a small tweak, but only if we are addressing the closely related issues, which assist in holding back students, as well.

Take, for example, our advising system. Too many students have no idea what they should be taking when the add/drop period rolls around. This isn’t due to the fact that they haven’t had a meeting with their advisor, but it seems that some of those doing the guidance might not have all the answers either.

The degree evaluation system is too screwy. It’s complicated enough to figure out that you’re supposed to be taking a course when you are, but telling whether or not you’ve fulfilled an entire study area is another. Then what happens when the advisor is correct in their suggestions, but the student cannot get into the desired class?

Block scheduling. This was supposed to happen a long time ago, but we’re still stuck. For some reason, people cannot get what they want when it comes time for them to register. Where that problem stems from is irrelevant; it needs to be fixed. Students still have courses during the “university hour”and classes are over booked. With a fix to an online system that controls scheduling, this could easily be avoided.

Even with all the systems in place, the students should be held responsible completely. It’s their education and if they want to get out of here, it would behoove them to research what it takes to do so.

General education has opened a lot of doors for many students at this University and a scalping of the system would certainly take away from the exposure that someone gets to a new major. It’s a program that can turn a communication major into a business major. Letting a student experience a new discipline should always be a priority.

A well-rounded education is what differentiates a college from a trade school. Before we are quick to point the finger at general education, and subsequently wait to see if its reform changes anything, let’s make sure that we tackle any other existing issues as well. When the committees meet to decide what our programs should be, we hope that they take into account all sides. We should not just do what makes more sense financially, or somehow visually, for our university.

Central Connecticut men’s basketball team had a tough loss last Thursday night at home falling to in-conference rivals the Monmouth Hawks 58-56 in overtime.

Senior Ken Horton posted his ninth double-double of the season in a 16 point 11 rebound effort.  This marks CCSU’s first loss at home this season in Northeast Conference play.

The Blue Devils drop to and 9-10 overall record and 6-3 in-conference record while the Hawks improve to 5-17 and 3-6 overall record in the NEC.  CCSU went on to improve in both overall and conference records after Saturday’s win against Fairleigh Dickinson at home.

This was a defensive game from the start, with the Hawks defense just a bit better this night than the Blue Devils.  CCSU out-rebounded the Hawks 33-26, led by Horton’s 11 and nine on the defensive front,  but they turned the ball over 18 times, leading to 17 Monmouth points.

“We needed to make some good defensive stands, we didn’t.  That’s what it comes down to,” said Head coach Howie Dickenman.  “We have the best defensive team guarding the three.  We hold teams to 29 percent and they came in here and drilled us 11-24.”

Jesse Steele led the Hawks with a team-high 12 points and 4-10, 40 percent, from beyond the arc.  Dickenman said Steele was shooting about 26 percent from beyond the arc this year, so he would have one of those nights. Last year he shot 44 percent.

At the half the Hawks led the Blue Devils 22-20.  CCSU went to the locker room only down two but had some sloppy play in the first half.  Monmouth also had some trouble shooting but was able to stop CCSU during the first 20 minutes.

The Hawks in the first half shot 40 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from beyond the arc, while Central shot 31.8 % from the field and 28.6 % from the 3-point line.

The Blue Devils had some solid bench help going 3-5 from the field in their few minutes of play.  The bench didn’t get as many minutes as they did last home game against Bryant, but were still able to produce.  The Hawks bench played a much bigger role in their production outscoring CCSU 22-14.

The Blue Devils were able to take advantage of their fouls, going 90 percent from the line, while Monmouth was only 69.2 percent.

The second half was much stronger for CCSU, shooting 46.2 percent from the field while Monmouth only shot 36.4 percent.  The big thing, once again, was the three-point shooting where Monmouth 43.8 percent to CCSU’s 20 percent.

CCSU outscored Monmouth 28-26 in the second half.

Tensions were high with 0.5 seconds left on the clock with the Hawks inbounding with a tie game, but a full-court throw ended in a CCSU interception which sent the game into overtime all tied up at 48 apiece.

Heading into overtime, Monmouth led by four after a quick 6-0 run, taking a 54-50 lead.  Central fought back to tie the game at 56 with 46 seconds to play on a pair of free-throws by Horton.

The Hawks answered back with a pair of free-throws by Mike Myers Keitt with 14 seconds to play, taking the 58-56 lead, which ultimately finished the Blue-Devils.

Freshman Kyle Vinales missed a lay-up and the Hawks rebounded.  This forced CCSU to foul with 1.3 seconds remaining against Monmouth’s Austin Tillotson, who missed his free throw.

After a time-out CCSU threw the ball down court in hope of a last second shot, but was caught by Monmouth which sealed their victory.

Vinales added 15 points, three rebounds and four assists, while senior Robby Ptacek had 11 points, four rebounds and four assists in the loss. Ptacek went 5-5 from the free throw line, just adding to one of the nation’s best percentages of 93.7 percent in 95 attempts.

“We gotta put this behind us.  The past is the past,” said Dickenman.  “Everyone contributed to the loss, this is about a team loss, no individual lost this game,” he added.

The Blue Devils have a tough and challenging schedule ahead with eight conference games in a row.  CCSU will be back in action Thursday February 2 on the road against Saint Francis (N.Y.) at 7 p.m.

CCSU has settled a lawsuit in which they, along with President Jack Miller, were accused of gender discrimination.

Marsha Bednarski, Rathika Rajaravivarma and Barbara Nicholson were the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. They accused the university and Miller of denying them tenure or promotions based on their gender. Rajaravivarma also claimed her race came into play as well.

The plaintiffs also alleged that CCSU did not properly retain files that the American Association of University Professors union asked them to. The files that were to be preserved were in regards to all the 2005-2006 promotion and tenure information. The preliminary report, written by Judge Warren Eginton, claims that CCSU did not follow proper protocol in this matter.

“Despite their ability to control the preservation of documents, defendants failed to place a litigation hold over the portfolios or to instruct applicants to preserve the documents for potential litigation,” as stated in the preliminary report. “As a result, the portfolios were destroyed, lost or altered. Defendants’ conduct constitutes gross negligence or at least negligence.”

Associate Vice President of Marketing & Communications Mark McLaughlin was able to confirm that the state Board of Regents did okay the decision to settle in this particular lawsuit.

Bednarski and Nicholson claimed that they were unreasonably denied promotion in the academic year 2005-2006 from associate to full professor. President Miller denied both of their applications despite the Department Evaluation Committee, Dean Susan Pease and the Promotion and Tenure Committee recommending the plaintiffs.

Miller gave several reasons for his decision including Nicholson’s “student evaluations to be average” and her “teaching to be adequate but not very strong.” He also cited multiple reasons for Bednarski’s request being declined including “her teaching to be average at best” and “teaching evaluations that showed no evidence of excellence.”

Rajaravivarma, who applied for promotion and tenure, also received recommendations from the DEC, Dean Pease and the PTC. Miller did not however agree and declined her request citing “the quality of her work in the load credit category insufficient to justify tenure and promotion.”

After the plaintiff’s denials, the AAUP filed a grievance on behalf of them and one other female professor. Dean Pease was asked to review the portfolios and recommended promotion for Bednarski and Nicholson but not tenure or promotion for Rajaravivarma.

Miller reconsidered his prior decisions, he chose not to alter them except in the case of the other female professor who is not a member of the plaintiffs.

The CCSU Affirmative Action office conducted investigations into the plaintiffs’ discrimination accusations but did not find enough evidence to support their claims. However, Judge Eginton said otherwise in his report.

“In this instance, plaintiffs have satisfied their minimal burden to show prima facie case,” wrote Judge Eginton. “Plaintiffs have submitted statistical evidence that President Miller recommended significantly more male candidates for promotion than women; and evidence that he recommended for promotion and tenure certain Caucasian, male applicants who had not received favorable recommendation from the PTC or the relevant dean.”

Of the three plaintiffs, only Bednarski and Nicholson are still teaching at CCSU.

In the Judge Eginton’s conclusion in his report he denied the motion for summary judgement but however determined that the “spoliation of portfolio materials” was due to its content being unfavorable for the defendants.

Several summers ago, I needed a new book to read. One of my friends suggested the Stephanie Plum series. Eighteen books later, I’m still hooked. So I was quite excited to find out that One for the Money, the first book in the series, was being made into a movie.

Starring Katherine Heigl as main character Stephanie Plum, One for the Money was one of the more faithful book adaptations to make it to the big screen. The plot centers around Plum, an out-of-work lingerie buyer from an exceedingly Italian neighborhood in Trenton, New Jersey. At dinner, she tells her parents that she had been laid off- six months earlier. Having had her car repossessed and receiving an eviction notice, Plum is in serious need of cash. So her parents suggest she get a job with her cousin Vinny (John Leguizamo), a bail bondsman . Intending to get a filing job, Stephanie soon finds herself doing skip traces. Knowing nothing about the bounty hunting business, she sets her sights on the file that promises to bring in the most money- Joe Morelli (Jason O’Mara), her high school nemesis turned police officer, who is wanted for murder. It very quickly becomes apparent that catching Morelli is more than Plum can handle, so office manager Connie sends her looking for bounty hunger extraordinaire Ranger (Daniel Sunjata) for help.

After Plum makes several failed attempts to drag Morelli to the police station, he makes a deal with her- he’ll go to the police and let her collect the reward if she helps him prove his innocence. At first she’s not sure that Morelli realty is innocent, but agrees to entertain the idea as a possible way to make her rent. As they begin to piece things together, it becomes clear to her that Morelli really is innocent, and they begin to form an awkward sort of friendship that has the hints of physical attraction dating back to high school. Although it never gets that far, and they alternate between hating each other and cooperating to reach their shared goal, there is an underlying possibility that things will go further.

The actors in the movie are well-cast as their counterparts in the book, and for the most part felt familiar for anyone who has read the books. Heigl is a believable Plum, though at times she seems to move in and out of her Italian-girl-from-Jersey accent. At first, O’Mara doesn’t strike me as the best choice for Morelli, but he gets better as the film goes on. There is definitely chemistry between Heigl and O’Mara that goes a little bit past that of the first book, but alludes to events that take place later in the series. Sunjata is a good choice for Ranger, a tough guy who has a bit of a soft side. Though the movie never brings Ranger and Morelli face to face, it does set up their relationship as two men who don’t like each other but respect each other, and share the common goal of helping Plum stay safe as she stumbles upon information that makes her a target for the bad guys.

The main difference between the book and the film version is that the movie moves much more quickly, and there are definitely parts of the book that did not make it into the movie. At first the film shows Plum’s ineptitude as a bounty hunter, but has her developing skills like shooting a gun and picking a lock much sooner than she does in the book. Some of the humor that accompanies her follies in the book is lost in the film, though the film does have some of the same laugh-out-loud moments as the book. The characters are rather well represented in the film, though they lack some of the depth that they have in the book.

For me, one of the main drawbacks to books being made into movies is that they tend to be quite different from their original version. But all in all, One for the Money was an enjoyable film that stayed true to the book that made it possible. It had to be hard to fit all of the action that took place in the book into 106 minutes, but it stayed true to the book and to the characters that I have come to know. I’m still partial to the books, but I was sad when the movie ended, as I wanted to see the characters catch up to where they are 18 books later. I don’t know if there are any plans to make any more of the books in the series into movies, but if there are, I know I will be seeing them. If you are a Stephanie Plum fan, you have to see the movie.

Growing up I used to view the pro bowl as having two purposes. One would be the final chance to see my favorite Giants players play before the excruciatingly long six months until August preseason play and the second being the final marker to end the football season.

Now, a few years wiser and less than a handful of seasons since they moved the game to the week before the Super Bowl. I can’t find a reason to make me want to watch game, especially this year when my team is making an Indianapolis appearance.

I have absolutely no incentive to tune into the game other than there’s nothing else to watch on TV. However, the players voted into the game have all the reason in the world to play. Doesn’t matter to the athletes if the game is nothing more than a boring, backyard pickup game, they still get a free trip to Hawaii, $50,000 if they win and $25,000 if they lose … it’s a win-win for everyone, that is other than the fans.

Can we really call it a pro bowl if some of the best athletes in the game aren’t playing because the Super Bowl is next weekend? No we probably can’t.

I hate to keep bringing up the NHL in situations like this, but how can I not when the NHL All-Star weekend falls on the same two days as the pro bowl?

The NFL needs to take note of what the NHL does; maybe then the pro bowl would be worth the fans’ time.

All-Star Weekend events actually began on Thursday when the two teams were drafted. No, the teams aren’t divided by division or conference, instead, two captains are voted in and it’s up to them to draft their team. The last person drafted gets a new car, but it’s also entertaining for the fans to watch.

The rest of the weekend included a day full of skills competitions, some taken more seriously than others, and a final All-Star game, throw in a surprise performance by Drake and you’ve got something worth watching.

Don’t get me wrong, the game isn’t Stanley Cup caliber, but these athletes still have a good four months left to their season, what excuses do the football players have?

I laughed when a friend of mine said, “Does any All-Star game matter? No, they just do it for the money,” because I don’t agree with that. Maybe the players in the NFL do it for the perks, but the NHL players? Some get monetary incentives built into their contract just in case, but nothing like the NFL’s level. As far as I can tell the All-Star break is literally just that, a few days mid-season for the players to relax and have fun, nothing to do with money.

For as long as professional sports are around there will be pros, but not many athletes can call themselves “All-Stars.”

The CCSU men’s basketball team rebounded from a tough overtime loss to Monmouth last week, beating Farleigh Dickinson 69-62 on Saturday.

In the latter half of a men’s and women’s doubleheader against the Knights (2-19, 1-9 NEC), the Blue Devils (10-10, 7-3 NEC) were able to outlast their opponent and hit shots late in the second period to clinch a conference victory.

Taking advantage of opportunities at the line and being aggressive on the defensive side of the ball helped CCSU break their short two-game losing streak.

The team’s effort can be summed up by a play that happened just over five-minutes into the second half. On a FDU possession, CCSU was able to stop the Knights from shooting the ball on several attempts. The ball was tipped out and then driven back in to the hoop where a final shot from FDU big man, George Goode, was contested by David Simmons resulting in a turnover. Goode played for Louisville last season, starting two games there.

“We never want to lose at home and coming off a home loss we knew we had to pick it up,” said senior guard Robby Ptacek. “… we were able to hold it together with poise.”

While they had no problems defensively early, the Blue Devils struggled to get their offensive game started in the first half, which allowed the Knights to go into the break with a 27-26 lead. Coming back out after halftime, the team took the lead and never looked back.

“We applied more ball pressure today,” said CCSU Head Coach Howie Dickenman. “[FDU] missed shots and I’ve got to give credit to the defense. They went out and challenged shots.”

The team hit 42-percent of their shots, which is about even with their season average, but were able to stay ahead by converting on 25-of-28 free throws.

“We just kept making free throws, which is probably discouraging for the other team,” said Dickenman. “All the time we spend shooting free throws, and I mean a lot of time, we got some pay back today.”

Kyle Vinales and Ptacek hit 16 of their combined 18 from the line, almost all of which came in the second half. Ptacek was able to successfully convert a four-point opportunity at the line, as he was fouled while shooting, a technical was then called on FDU’s Kinu Rochford.

“I was just going out there and playing,” said Ptacek. “I felt my foul shots were on and I knew that if I got to the line I was going to hit them.” Ptacek finished with 21 points and five rebounds all while playing the entire 40-minutes.

Vinales played 36 minutes and added 17-points, four rebounds and four assists. He was able to hit all six of his foul shot attempts in the final minute and a half, sealing the game for the Blue Devils.

The team showed discipline with 30-seconds left in the game on a series of inbounds attempts, something that contributed to their loss at Sacred Heart the previous weekend. They took back-to-back timeouts instead of forcing a pass with FDU playing a tight full-court press.

“At Sacred Heart, that cost us a big game, so coach has been harping on that,” said freshman guard Vinales. “Don’t force anything, don’t get rattled. He told us we had three timeouts at our previous timeout and Malcolm [McMillan] used them both instead of throwing it away.”

“I thought they did a good job of giving us problems inbounding the ball,” said Coach Dickenman. “The key word we used in the last five minutes was ‘poise’. Get it in safely, relax, don’t panic, we’re in good shape, but we’ve got to make sure we do the right things. I think they did.”

Senior forward Ken Horton finished the game with 12-points. He now has 1,808 career points, which puts him within two of the top-ten list of NEC scorers.

From here the Blue Devils will go on the road to face St. Francis (NY) on Feb. 2, Long Island University on Feb. 4 and Quinnipiac on Feb. 8.

“It’s going to be a grind,” said Ptacek. “Every conference game on the road is tough and we’re just going to go in there with positive attitudes and give it our all and hopefully come out on top.”

The Tuskegee Airmen are probably the most famous group of people that overcame racism and prejudice in the Second World War. Being black prohibited them to fight for their country in a big way. They were forced into menial tasks while the white pilots were given the big missions. However, through persistence they were eventually given the opportunity to fight. They were given new planes, to which the tails were painted red. They were known as the “Red Tails.”

In 1995 an HBO movie, The Tuskegee Airmen, was made in honor of these brave men. It was met with positive reviews. About 16 years later, another movie was made called Red Tails. This movie, though inspiring, feels mediocre, leaving the feeling that it could have been much more.

The plot is a simple one: Tuskegee pilots are being discriminated against, so their commanding officer tries to make things right. He gets his wish; the airmen prove their worth and they are regarded as heroes. The problem is that they add two sub-plots, one being completely unnecessary and the other being under-developed.

The first sub-plot involved a romance between David Oyelowo’s character and a local Italian woman played by Daniela Ruah. I have nothing against romance plots, but this was an unnecessary addition. This added nothing to the struggles of the airmen.

The movie was about men overcoming adversity in the military, not mixing it up with the locals. If anything, the relationship between Oyelowo’s and Nate Parker’s character should have been explored more considering they were at odds with each other at times.

The other sub-plot involved Tristan Wilds’ character being shot down and captured by Germans. He was sent to a POW camp where he became part of an escape plan lead by some soldiers looking to escape the camp. There were only two scenes in this movie that depicted this and personally I felt it should have been explored more.

I liked the action scenes. They were rather well done. You get the feeling of being up in the midst of the fighting with the pilots themselves. Given it was produced by George Lucas, the dogfights portrayed have a Star Wars quality to them. The movie thrilled at the right moments and the visuals were well done and environments portrayed beautifully.

The acting did not impress. They played their parts competently enough to where they’re believable, but in the case of character development it was lacking.

Only three actors’ characters, Parker, Oyelowo  and Wilds, were examined deeper than at face value in the movie and ironically the two main actors, Terrance Howard and Cuba Gooding Jr., were not given any real development. Howard’s character focused mainly on getting equal representation and Gooding just made some hollow impassioned speeches and went over briefings.

The dialogue borders on plain. Grante,d during a dogfight it’s supposed to be short and sweet, that’s understandable. However, outside the dogfight scenario it’s pretty weak and at times cliché.

Red Tails attempted at inspiring the masses, but fell flat doing it. The action sequences and barely competent acting do not make up for the other flaws: the scarce character development, and unnecessary and underdeveloped sub-plots.

With campaign ads all around us, do college students know who’s running for the Republican Party and who has dropped out the race?

So far, five republican candidates have dropped out, leaving six candidates in the race. It seems as if only four of them matter with the spotlight they have been receiving.

Newt Gringrich and Mitt Romney have been pointing fingers at each other in interviews and campaign ads.

The other two Republican rivals are Rick Santorum and Ron Paul, who are getting less airtime.

Every election campaign seems to have something in common. Unless politics is your major or attracts your interest, most people don’t seem to acknowledge candidates in the run for presidency. This month will show us who is worthy and who has no chance in being elected.

Americans should want to know who is running for election because of our opportunity to vote in this country.

Candidates have their reason and goals for running. They will say anything to get elected, but voters should follow each candidate closely and do a little research on the candidates and get a better feeling for them.

With the job market being as it is, some feel it doesn’t matter who gets elected because no one person can change that. But who is saying what?

Rick Santorum wants to cut $5 billion of federal spending within five years. He would do so by cutting spending on defense and on social programs. Mitt Romney wants to repeal every Obama-era regulation, for example ‘Obamacare.’ Romney wants to open up new markets for American goods.

Newt Gringrich wants to convert America into an energy saving country by becoming less dependent on oil and using more natural resources. He also wants to eliminate the Obamacare and begin his own healthcare plan called “Patient Power” that will save money and be more affordable. Gringrich wants to improve education by giving parents the opportunity to choose their child’s school and future. He is also willing to work with a new immigration system that will let immigrants stay here through a program.

If Ron Paul becomes president, his goals are to cut $1 trillion in spending, lowering corporate taxes to 15 percent giving America the ability to compete in the global market and, like the rest of the Republican party, erase Obamacare.

We might not know what president will make the best decisions, but if you pay attention to what the candidates are saying you can help make an informed choice this coming fall that could help shape this country.