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You Stay Classy, San Diego

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ucsd18-2010feb18,0,5698009.story
 

UC San Diego condemns student party mocking Black History Month


Officials are probing the off-campus 'Compton Cookout' and its Facebook invitation to see if they violated the university's code of conduct and whether sponsors should be disciplined.

UC San Diego leaders and civil rights activists have condemned a student party that mocked Black History Month with a ghetto-themed "Compton Cookout."
 
Campus administrators said Wednesday that they were investigating whether the off-campus party, held Monday, and its Facebook invitation violated the university's code of conduct and whether its sponsors should be disciplined. Members of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity were identified as among the organizers, but the fraternity president has criticized the event and said his club did not sponsor it.
 
In an e-mail to students and staff, UC San Diego Chancellor Marye Anne Fox said the party showed "blatant disregard of our campus values." She said the university would hold a teach-in next Wednesday "to discuss the importance of mutual respect and civility."
 
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Penny Rue said the probe would examine whether the fraternity was involved and whether it should face sanctions. She said it was premature to discuss discipline for individual students but said she wanted partygoers to understand how much pain they had caused, especially to African American students.
 
Rue said she did not know how many people attended the event.
 
Promising a taste of "life in the ghetto," the Facebook invitation contained many racist stereotypes. For example, it urged women to dress as "ghetto chicks" who "usually have gold teeth, start fights and drama, and wear cheap clothes." It said the menu would include chicken and watermelon.
 
In an e-mail Wednesday, Garron Engstrom, president of Pi Kappa Alpha, emphasized that the party was neither planned nor endorsed by the social club.
 
"The fraternity regrets the display of ignorance and error-of-judgment made by any individual members who may have attended or were associated via social-media with the racially-offensive party," he wrote. "These actions are in direct violation of Pike's code of conduct, and appropriate disciplinary actions will be taken."
 
History professor Danny Widener, who directs the university's African American studies program, said he was outraged but not surprised by the party. He said African American students comprise less than 2% of undergraduates at UC San Diego, which he described as inhospitable to them.
 
"The campus climate is one in which you are constantly regarded as a statistical anomaly at best," he said.
 
Widener also criticized Fox's response as "tepid" and urged strong action against the party organizers, including expulsion if they are found to have used UC computers or facilities to send the invitation.
 
Chris Strudwick-Turner, vice president of the Los Angeles Urban League, also urged a tough response.
 
"If campus climate is important, a message needs to be sent that this is not acceptable," she said.
In Sacramento, Assemblyman Isadore Hall III (D-Compton) said leaders of the Legislature's black, Latino, Asian Pacific Islander, gay and women's caucuses would gather outside the Capitol on Thursday to condemn the party.

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82nd Annual Academy Awards - Nominations

In case you haven't seen them yet...
 
Best Picture

  • Avatar
  • The Blind Side
  • District 9
  • An Education
  • The Hurt Locker
  • Inglourious Basterds
  • Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
  • A Serious Man
  • Up
  • Up in the Air
 
Best Director
  • Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
  • James Cameron, Avatar
  • Lee Daniels, Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
  • Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
  • Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
 
Best Actor
  • Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
  • George Clooney, Up in the Air
  • Colin Firth, A Single Man
  • Morgan Freeman, Invictus
  • Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
 
Best Actress
  • Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
  • Helen Mirren, The Last Station
  • Carey Mulligan, An Education
  • Gabourey Sidibe, Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
  • Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
 
Best Supporting Actor
  • Matt Damon, Invictus
  • Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
  • Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
  • Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
  • Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
 
Best Supporting Actress
  • Penelope Cruz, Nine
  • Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
  • Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart
  • Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
  • Mo'Nique, Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
 
Best Original Screenplay
  • The Hurt Locker, Mark Boal
  • Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino
  • The Messenger, Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
  • A Serious Man, Joel & Ethan Coen
  • Up, Tom McCarty, Bob Peterson & Pete Docter
 
Best Adapted Screenplay
  • District 9, Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
  • An Education, Nick Hornby
  • In the Loop, Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Ianucci and Tony Roche
  • Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire, Geoffrey Fletcher
  • Up in the Air, Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner
 
Best Animated Feature
  • Coraline
  • Fantastic Mr. Fox
  • The Princess and the Frog
  • The Secret of Kells
  • Up
 
Best Foreign Language Film
  • Ajami
  • El Secreto de Sus Ojos
  • The Milk of Sorrow
  • Un Prophete
  • The White Ribbon
 
Best Documentary Feature
  • Burma VJ
  • The Cove
  • Food, Inc.
  • The Most Dangerous Ma in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
  • Which Way Home
 
Best Documentary Short
  • China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichaun Province
  • The Last Campaign for Governor Booth Gardner
  • The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant
  • Music by Prudence
  • Rabbit a la Berlin
 
Best Live Action Short
  • The Door
  • Instead of Abracadabra
  • Kavi
  • Miracle Fish
  • The New Tenants
 
Best Animated Short
  • French Roast
  • Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty
  • The Lady and the Reaper
  • Logorama
  • A Matter of Loaf and Death
 
Best Original Score
  • Avatar, James Horner
  • Fantastic Mr. Fox, Alexandre Desplat
  • The Hurt Locker, Marco Beltrami
  • Sherlock Holmes, Hans Zimmer
  • Up, Michael Giacchino
 
Best Original Song
  • "Almost There" from The Princess and the Frog, Randy Newman
  • "Down in New Orleans" from The Princess and the Frog, Randy Newman
  • "Loin de Paname" from Paris 36, Reinhardt Wagner and Frank Thomas
  • "Take it All" from Nine, Maury Yetson
  • "Weary King" from Crazy Heart, Ryan Bingham and T-Bone Burnett
 
Best Sound Editing
  • Avatar, Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
  • The Hurt Locker, Paul N. J. Ottosson
  • Inglourious Basterds, Wylie Stateman
  • Star Trek, Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
  • Up, Michael Silvers and Tom Myers
 
Best Sound Mixing
  • Avatar, Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
  • The Hurt Locker, Pal N. J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
  • Inglourious Basterds, Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
  • Star Trek, Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Delvin
  • Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Greg P. Russel, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson
 
Best Art Direction
  • Avatar, Rick Carter ad Robert Stromberg (Art Direction); Kim Sinclair (Set Decoration)
  • The Imaginarium of Dr. Panassus, Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro (Art Decoration); Carolina Smith (Set Decoration)
  • Nine, John Myhre (Art Decoration); Gordon Sim (Set Decoration)
  • Sherlock Holmes, Sarah Greenwood (Art Decoration); Katie Spencer (Set Decoration)
  • The Young Victoria, Patrice Vernette (Art Decoration); Maggie Gray (Set Decoration)
 
Best Cinematography
  • Avatar, Mauro Fiore
  • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Bruno Delbonnel
  • The Hurt Locker, Barry Ackroyd
  • Inglourious Basterds, Robert Richardson
  • The White Ribbon, Christian Berger
 
Best Makeup
  • Il Divo, Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
  • Star Trek, Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
  • The Young Victoria, Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Sircore
 
Best Costume Design
  • Bright Star, Janet Patterson
  • Coco Before Chanel, Catherine Leterrier
  • The Imaginarium of Dr. Panassus, Monique Prudhomme
  • Nine, Colleen Atwood
  • The Young Victoria, Sandy Powell
 
Best Film Editing
  • Avatar, James Cameron, John Refoua and Stephen E. Rivkin
  • District 9, Juliana Clarke
  • The Hurt Locker, Chris Innis and Bob Murwaski
  • Inglrourious Basterds, Sally Menke
  • Precious: Based of the Novel "Push" by Sapphire, Joe Klotz
 
Best Visual Effects
  • Avatar, Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
  • District 9, Dan Kauffman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
  • Star Trek, Robert Guyett, Russel Earl, Paul Kavanaugh and Burt Dalton
 
 
 
What are you thoughts of the nominees this year?  About the expansion of Best Picture to 10 films?  Who should and/or will win the awards?
 
Speak your mind!
9 Comments

Still Winding the Clock Back to 2009.


I didn't get to play as many games as I would like to in 2009, so I am still using January as time to play those games that I missed with my new GameFly account(I still don't know why I didn't start this account a long time ago). 
 
I just finished and sent back(well, I turned it back in before I could technically finish it)  Batman: Arkham Asylum and will now venture into the Uncharted series(first Drake's Fortune and then Among Thieves, obviously).  After that, I have God of War Collection and inFamous lined up.  I would have Borderlands in my GameQ, but since I'll have to dedicate a lot of time to it, I'll wait to rent it after I upgrade to the 2 games out plan.  I should probably add Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time to my list as well.
 
Once I complete all of those, I will finally venture forth into 2010 with Army of Two: The 40th Day, Dark Void( both GameFly) and Mass Effect 2(buying).
 
Hopefully with my new GameFly account I can finally have a year where I get to play all of the games I want to that same year(which, as you can see by my Wishlist, is a lot of games in 2010).
4 Comments

My First S Rank!

So, I have finally achieved what I thought I would probably never do, get an S Rank here on Giant Bomb.  It won't show up until probably Sunday, but earlier this afternoon I got my last few achievements for Assassin's Creed II.  
 
I usually don't have the urge to try to get all 1000 points.  I don't have enough time in the day and even without this adventure I still don't have enough to even being to play all of the games I want to.  But, Assassin's Creed II had me hooked when I got a vast majority of them just by going through the campaign(not having to collect 500 flags this time helped a lot, too).  While only my first, this one will probably be my last for a while do the sheer amount of games coming out early this year and possibly a new chapter of my life beginning in the summer/fall.
 
Even though I have been a big part of the community since the blog days of March 2008 and moderator since Day One of the full site that July, I finally now feel like a complete member of Giant Bomb with this S Rank!
 
Anyways, thanks to all of the people in the Achievements comments who helped me out with great maps and tutorials.  I'm sorry that I don't remember all of your names right now, but you guys know who you are!

39 Comments

67th Annuel Golden Globe Awards - Nominations

Best Motion Picture - Drama
  • Avatar
  • The Hurt Locker
  • Inglourious Basterds
  • Precious
  • Up in the Air
 
Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
  • (500) Days of Summer
  • The Hangover
  • It's Complicated
  • Julie & Julia
  • Nine
 
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
  • Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
  • George Clooney, Up in the Air
  • Colin Firth, A Single Man
  • Morgan Freeman, Invictus
  • Tobey Maguire, Brothers
 
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
  • Emily Blunt, The Young Victoria
  • Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
  • Helen Mirren, The Last Station
  • Carey Mulligan, An Education
  • Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
 
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
  • Matt Damon, The Informant!
  • Daniel Day-Lewis, Nine
  • Robert Downey Jr., Sherlock Holmes
  • Joseph Gordon-Levitt, (500) Days of Summer
  • Michael Stuhlbarg, A Serious Man
 
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical Comedy
  • Sandra Bullock, The Proposal
  • Marion Cotillard, Nine
  • Julia Roberts, Duplicity
  • Meryl Streep, It's Complication
  • Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
 
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
  • Matt Damon, Invictus
  • Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
  • Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
  • Stanly Tucci, The Lovely Bones
  • Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
 
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
  • Penelope Cruz, Nine
  • Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
  • Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
  • Mo'Nique, Precious
  • Julianne Moore, A Single Man
 
Best Director - Motion Picture
  • Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
  • James Cameron, Avatar
  • Clint Eastwood, Invictus
  • Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
  • Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
 
Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
  • District 9, Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell
  • The Hurt Locker, Mark Boal
  • Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino
  • It's Complicated, Nancy Meyers
  • Up in the Air, Jason Reitman  Sheldon Turner
 
Best Original Song - Motion Picture
  • Avatar - "I Will See You", James Horner, Simon Franglen & Kuk Harrell
  • Brothers - "Winter", U2
  • Crazy Heart - "The Weary Kind", T-Bone Burnett & Ryan Bingham
  • Everybody's Fine - "(I Want to) Come Home", Paul McCartney
  • Nine - "Cinema Italiano", Maury Yeston
 
Best Original Score - Motion Picture
  • Avatar, James Horner
  • The Informant!, Marvin Hamlisch
  • A Single Man, Abel Korzeniowski
  • Up, Michael Giacchino
  • Where the Wild Things Are, Carter Burwell & Karen Orzolek
 
Best Animated Film
  • Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
  • Coraline
  • Fantastic Mr. Fox
  • The Princess and the Frog
  • Up
 
Best Foreign Language Film
  • Los abrazos rotos
  • Baaria
  • Das weisse Band
  • La nana
  • Un prophete
 
Best Television Series - Drama
  • Big Love
  • Dexter
  • House M.D.
  • Mad Men
  • True Blood
 
Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy
  • Entourage
  • Glee
  • The Office
  • Modern Family
  • 30 Rock
 
Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
  • Georgia o'Keeffe
  • Grey Gardens
  • Into the Storm
  • Little Dorrit
  • Taking Chance
 
Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television 
  • Kevin Bacon, Taking Chance
  • Kenneth Branagh, Wallander
  • Chiwetel Ejiofor, Endgame
  • Brendan Gleeson, Into the Storm
  • Jeremy Irons, Georgia O'Keeffe
 
Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television
  • Joan Allen, Georgia O'Keeffe
  • Drew Barrymore, Grey Gardens
  • Jessica Lange, Grey Gardens
  • Anna Paquin, The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler
  • Sigourney Weaver, Prayers for Bobby

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy
  • Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
  • Steve Carell, The Office
  • David Duchovny, Californication
  • Thomas Jane, Hung
  • Matthew Morrison, Glee
 
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy
  • Toni Collette, United States of Tara
  • Courtney Cox, Cougar Town
  • Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
  • Tina Fey, 30 Rock
  • Lea Michele, Glee
 
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama
  • Simon Baker, The Mentalist
  • Michael C. Hall, Dexter
  • Jon Hamm, Mad Men
  • Hugh Laurie, House M.D.
  • Bill Paxton, Big Love
 
Best Performance by an Actress in Television Series - Drama
  • Glenn Close, Damages
  • January Jones, Mad Men
  • Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
  • Anna Paquin, True Blood
  • Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer
 
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
  • Michael Emerson, Lost
  • Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother
  • William Hurt, Damages
  • John Lithgow, Damages
  • Jeremy Piven, Entourage
 
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
  • Jane Adams, Hung
  • Rose Byrne, Damages
  • Jane Lynch, Glee
  • Janet McTeer, Into the Storm
  • Chloe Sevigny, Big Love
 
 
I am glad to see Glee get some nominations, especially Jane Lynch.  I am happy as well to see The Hurt Locker gets some of the big nominations, though I would have liked to see Jeremy Renner get a nod for Best Actor.
 
Also, if Christoph Waltz doesn't win the Golden Globe and the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Col. Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds, I will create a hit list of all the voters responsible for the tragedy.
33 Comments