The University of Central Florida’s Pegasus Ballroom was about as patriotic as it could get. Famous Actress America Ferrera gave an inspirational speech on the importance of voting and being politically informed.

America began her presentation with personal stories about her upbringing; she spoke about how she never felt different although she grew up as a minority. Touching on her professional career as an actress, she began to go into detail about her decision to stray away from the “typical” Hispanic roles. “I wanted to be without labels like ethnic, or the real girl or the role model. I really didn’t want to be a role model for Latinas, young women or otherwise. I just wanted to be an actress.”  After giving her testimony and forming a connection with the audience, she pushed the importance of young minorities becoming involved in the upcoming elections. “The biggest loss in this election will be if the morning after the headlines is Young people didn’t show up, again”. America Ferrera is not only an incredible speaker, but an inspiration for the young generation.

            

This year’s “Wild n’ Out” event hosted by The Iota Rho Chapter of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity was everything the title suggested! The event is based off of MTV’s Original television series “Wild n’ Out (hosted by Nick Cannon), which consists of two teams competing against each other in "improvisational" comedy games.

This rendition of the television show consisted of the “Blue squad” and the “White squad” going head to head in categories such as “Props”, where both teams are given a portable object and are asked to use it in as many scenarios as possible. “Taxi driver”, in which members from the audience volunteer to go on stage and act as a taxi driver, while team members pose as well-known public figures in the back seat. “Dictionary”, where each team is given a word from the dictionary and one member from each squad has to use that word in a misconstrued sentence. Ex: The white squad was given the word”lettuce”; in reference to a previous joke made, said “…then she gotta Lettuce (let us) hit”. “Pick-up Lines”, which is pretty self-explanatory, and more!

Although there were some discrepancies about who won, the “White squad” (led by Brandon Payne) took home the victory title! The event was not only entertaining, but succeeded in bringing well over a hundred minorities together for a great time. Looking forward to “Wild n’Out 2k13”!

BULLET! Wa’ppun! 

Jus begin fi dead.

Haven’t you heard? The Caribbean Student Association is back at it again! It’s been an ‘Island Vybez’ and ‘Big Tunes’ type of fun all week! Get with the program, please. Their theme for this year’s CSA Week was announced as ‘Hues of the Caribbean’. We already know 
the whinin’ was taken place.

Here are their list of events:

·       September 22nd, 2012 ‘Beauty in Shades Fashion Show’

·       September 23rd, 2012 ‘Colors of Praise’

·       September 24th, 2012 ‘Freshman Friends Mixer’

·       September 25th, 2012 ‘Caribbean U.N.I.T.E’

·       September 26th, 2012 ‘Caribbean Identity: Shades of Self Hatred  2—Deeper Than Skin Forum

·       September 27th, 2012 ‘Scavenger Hunt in de Bush’

·       September 28th, 2012 ‘RAM JAM: Let’s Party Till Mawnin’

·       September 29th, 2012 ‘Taste of The Caribbean’

‘Beauty in Shades Fashion Show’ showcased  a variety of costumes that represent an island. ‘Colors of Praise’ was held Sunday morning at Antioch Baptist Church. ‘Freshman Friends Mixer’ included students getting to know their E-Board, as well as other members to create long lasting friendships. ‘Caribbean U.N.I.T.E’ was a hands-on learning experience between students and business leaders on how to market themselves by polishing their resume, as well as their resume.

The Caribbean Student’s Association’s Green Team Leader, Tyri Travis stated, “We wanted to show that we are about having our members succeed, which is why we had the networking event.”“We also wanted to show that we can have fun as well as incorporate the Caribbean experience into our event. So far, CSA week was a success. We’d like to thank everyone who came out and joined in on the fun,” Travis continued.

 ‘Caribbean Identity: Shades of Self Hatred 2—Deeper Than Skin Forum’ was a deep, engaging forum that included a panel to discuss the tension between ‘light skin’ and ‘dark skin’ individuals, and how to improve the ignorance of our society, today.  ‘RAM JAM: Let’s Party Till Mawnin’ was a hot, blowout shindig that took place at the Roxy Penthouse. There was absolutely no dress code, which enabled the attendees to get down and dirty. Last, but not least, ‘Taste of the Caribbean wrapped up the week with cuisines from the different islands in the Caribbean. Members, as well as non-members were allowed to attend the festivity.

                   “This week was a week to help cultivate the minds of the black population at UCF. We wanted to show that the Caribbean has more to offer than is what is seen in the vacation ads. All of our ideas to involve people came through. However, there were times when events did surprise us, but we prepared for the unexpected. Overall, we had a fantastic, positive, empowering, fun week … with more to come!” announced Danielle Matthews, the current president of The Caribbean Student’s Association.

                  If anyone attended the events, I’m sure they know what the hype was all about this week. If you missed anything, well, just don’t make that into a habit. Stay informed and make sure to participate!