Berman Ball is a Blast!

By: Mac Kilduff

As students got dressed up, full of excitement and butterflies in their stomachs,  the performers unpacked their instruments on the dance floor. Their dates prepared to escort them and as the music played ushering in the young men and women one thing went through some of their heads… “Wait… This isn’t prom!”

According to the Ursinus website, Saturday Dec. 12th, 8pm marked the opening of the Winter Ball at the Berman Museum. The website states it was $20 dollars to go single or $30 dollars for a couple. Thanks to the Art Exhibitionists at Ursinus, who were formerly known as the Berman Buddies, the night was filled with entertainment for all while helping a great cause: promoting awareness of V-Day and violence against women.

Lisa Hanover, museum director, called the ball “a great success.” She said, “The museum was involved to the extent of offering a location to host the event and support the cause.” Kayla Federline, representing the Art Exhibitionists at Ursinus, and Kristin Daly-Barnes representing V-Day, were the primary organizers. Kayla was happy to give us some information. She said that they were also assited by members of their organization as well as UC Bearitones, Escape Velocity, Students Together Against Rape, Student Activities, and WVOU. “The event was to create awareness of violence against women and art advocacy at Ursinus and benefited the Women’s Center of Montgomery County as well as the Women in the Democratic Republic of Congo.” Says Federline. Kayla was excited by the turnout, “Kristin and I were hoping for around 100 this year. It turns out that more than 200 guests showed up, students, professors, parents and representatives from the Women's Center of Montgomery County.”

Kayla gave a rundown of the events for the night. The Bearitones performed and the bar opened. There were some opening remarks from Kristin and Kayla followed by a DJ and speakers from the Women’s Center of Montgomery County. Escape velocity performed with Matt Whitman. Raffle ticket results were put up and the evening was closed at around 11pm with a jazz duet by Ethan Kuhn and Alex Niedman. “Throughout the entirety of the ball, there was an open bar, blackjack in the front galley and a DJ from WVOU, Nick Handford.” She said. Kayla also mentioned they want to turn the ball into an annual event.

Several campus wide emails were sent out after the event. Chris Aiken said, “As one of the faculty who attended, I was very impressed with the ‘Ball’ and the worthwhile causes that it supports. We had a wonderful time.” Carol Cirka sent out an email congratulating “the students involved” and took the time to tell everyone “that the Berman Ball originated with a BE 230 Management project last spring – several of the current organizers, Kayla Federline and Stephanie Brodish lead the 1st Berman Ball to benefit Ovarian Cancer and the Michele McLennan Scholarship Fund and this provided the model for what should be a premier annual event on campus.” Colette Trout spoke highly of the event in an email, “It was intelligently planned, elegant and entertaining.” And also said of the event promoting awareness of violence against women. “In my 30 years at Ursinus, I haven’t seen a student sponsored charity event so well attended.” It was followed up with the insightful comment, “women’s issues matter and can mobilize our students of both sexes, and show case, at the same time, how far along we have come in our appreciation of the arts on campus.” Kate Goddard also sent out an email with another congratulations, specifically thanking the performers.

MaryKate Sullivan was unable to attend due to “tremendous amounts of work” but wishes she could have attended. Ellen Bernhard, a senior who attended the Ball was glad she went. “It was great to see a diverse collection of people come together for a good cause,” she said, “and everyone had a great time.” Cathy Hauk, a senior who went with Ellen said, “I’m really glad there was an event organized for this cause and it made me happy to see it turn out well. I hope they do this again as soon as possible.”

"Modern Warfare 2" hits stores with an epic bang

The nuclear fear of last century was ended when the Soviet Union disbanded, marking the close of the cold war. That is until the war is brought to the living rooms of millions of people in 2009. This isn’t the news we’re talking about, it’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

The game, according to Telegraph, has broken sales records in US and Britain, selling 4.7 million copies on the first day alone, making $310 million dollars. Twenty some years ago they were burying copies of the Atari game “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” in the desert. Now they’re selling copies of their games with working night vision goggles, which sell out before the game is available. Video games have come a long way, and this game is a testament to that. The game has yielded positive critical reception garnering several five out of fives from game reviewers like X-Play but rarely, if at all, dropping below a 90% with other reviewers.

The new features are vast and numerous. Infinity Ward stuck true to the idea of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” but instead they just built on what worked. The graphics and character animations are so rich that other game companies should start looking into Infinity Ward’s process for making them. The storyline, as Greg Payton, who bought the game for the PS3, said is full of “unpredictable plot twists,” and gives it “a five out of five.” The storyline is helped if you’ve played the previous game, though it’s not necessary. Neighbors in UC residence halls have complained of the intense sounds that emanate from the game. The controls are easy to use and almost “flow” with the game play.

There have been some changes in multiplayer but none for the worse. The game gives you much more of what you didn’t have in the previous game, choices. You can choose to put a silencer on your sniper rifle, or you can choose to sacrifice aiming down the sight of a sub-machinegun by carrying two of them side by side. This all depends on if you unlock these options of course. But none of the added features are for the worse. You can mold your experience and change all those little aspects to help you win a match. They also got rid of the pesky lack of server switching which used to end games way too short. Local multiplayer has been improved too. Ron Stranix, a sophomore, was impressed by the co-op missions. You can now bring a friend into the mix, doing missions that aren’t short of stunning. Of course you need to unlock some of the better missions first but this is only something to look forward too.

The single player campaign is epic. There’s quite a bit more than simple running and gunning. The missions range from stealth to defense and everything in between. You’ll find yourself doing things that aren’t typical of a first person shooter but help to include you in the action, immersing you in the experience that is Modern Warfare 2. The game has also picked up the use of vehicles, making the fast paced action all the more fast paced. The single player has had some mixed reviews amongst UC players. Some have said it was too short which was a little upsetting, some beating it in 5-6 hours but the fact it was so epic helps to make up for it. So epic in fact, some disregard the length, Eddy Almonte, a senior, said, “It’s [really] amazing.”

Overall I’d be lying if I said the game deserved less than ten gold stars. Gold ones mind you, not cheap silver ones. This isn’t the Call of Duty of the past, this is the gaming of the future.


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