The Lawn was transformed into a rare scene Saturday morning. Students and visitors who stumbled upon "Pancakes for Parkinson's" unaware may have felt like they were in a dream-like state, where the situation is recognizable, just somehow tweaked a bit.
Struggling through the crowds on the way to class, you try to push through a sea of people who want nothing more than to accomplish the same goal.
Just when students thought they had tried every restaurant and bar on the Corner, the Buffalo Wing Factory opened its doors Sept.
Does that girl sitting next to you in class look familiar? Think you've seen her before? Naked, perhaps? Maybe she's one of the three University students featured in the October issue of Playboy, which includes several pages of girls attending colleges in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Last semester Playboy sent modeling scouts to ACC schools to find girls for its October issue, and second-year College student Briana Timmons, third-year College student Paige Gellar and fourth-year College student Ariel Iverson* each made the cut. Introducing Briana Timmons The morning of her first autograph signing, Timmons shared some of her experiences from the past several months. The first step in becoming a model for Playboy was her audition, which consisted of taking trial photographs last April.
Friday afternoon around 3 p.m. or so, a friend and I went to the Lucky 7 to buy a 12-pack. Our plans were to watch some big screen television and wait out the torrential rain.
I spend a lot of time talking. I talk on the phone, I talk to roommates, I talk in class. I text message, I IM, I e-mail.
On an average day wandering around Grounds, a student could be overwhelmed trying to count all of the popped collars, pearls and number of times someone says "y'all." For many out-of-state first years, these common sights and sayings around the University come as an enormous culture shock.
From New York's thin crust to Chicago's deep dish -- people everywhere have their own (at times rabid) opinions about what pizza is the best.
While walking along the worn-brick paths of the Lawn, you may find yourself glancing down at a cute, fuzzy little critter gazing up at you quizzically, or a scruffy, devilish varmint, startling you with its penetrating gaze.
After receiving criticism about the quality of content in my columns last semester, this August I spent some precious free time at home reading back on two years' worth of my tirades against cold weather and glorifications of digital cable. Not surprisingly, I came to the same levelheaded conclusion as my critics: the intellectual level of this University community could be shamed if I continue to speak to my audience as if it actually cares about things like "The O.C." and "90210" when our country remains faced with terrorist threats, a weak economy and a little something called a presidential election.
It divides friends. It polarizes peers. It breaks up lovers. "It" is country music. And while it sometimes seems to set the record for drawing the most devout despisers, this brand of music has an equally powerful way of creeping into a person's listening regimen. After all, if the country haters won out, would the Recording Industry Association of America be able to declare country artist Garth Brooks the fourth best-selling artist of all time? A key to the spread of country listening is the phenomenon of conversion: one country aficionado introduces a non-fan to the music, and after a bit of listening, the latter becomes a self-proclaimed fan. First-year College student Francesca Tarant is responsible for at least one conversion. "My dad likes it now!" Tarant said. Tarant, however, wasn't always a follower of the cowboy hat-wearing, Southern twang-wielding world of country herself.
The University Bookstore's annual poster sale has attracted students for almost 20 years with posters ranging from John Belushi wearing the "COLLEGE" T-shirt to others featuring a scantily clad Anna Kournikova. "I personally have been here for the past 10 years, and it is usually very popular with the students," said Jeff Apostolou, the road manager of the poster sale. The first four days of the poster sale always take place at the Aquatic & Fitness Center before it is moved to the bookstore. "The sales at the AFC [are] usually higher because of its proximity to the dorms and the excitement about the first day of the sale," Apostolou said.
You know who's awesome? Prince. He's a music legend like Michael Jackson. Except without all that, let's call it, "tabloid appeal." I've had "Party like its 1999" on permanent loop since school started.
"Lights, camera, action!" You might expect these words to be uttered on a Hollywood set with fake trees and even faker breast implants, but on Monday evening, you could hear them at the University.
A tall guy outfitted with a snowboarder hat, a laidback pose and a mellow attitude, Adam* seemed perfectly cool and in control. But Adam didn't have everything under control.
I had a "real job" this summer working at a hedge fund. That is to say, I sat in front of three computer monitors all day and talked on Instant Messenger. Occasionally, I made copies. My conclusion after exactly 52 workdays (11 five-day weeks minus Memorial Day, July 5 and a day off to stay home and watch my dog -- not that I was counting) is that the world of finance is the most boring place in the universe. A Saturday night in Lincoln, Nebraska, would be more exciting.
On Saturday students flooded Scott Stadium to watch the Cavalier football team beat the University of North Carolina, but there was a subtler contest taking place in the stands.
Some people in the world don't believe tossing small balls into plastic cups can be a true sport.
All the trouble you may have had convincing your parents to let you have the car at school may seem like a waste the next time you find yourself entrenched in a complicated parallel parking situation on Grounds. Second-year College student Gauri Raval voiced the popular opinion that parking on or near Grounds has become such an endeavor that it's often easier to go the old-fashioned way: on two feet. "I honestly feel like it's more of a hassle [to drive in Charlottesville] with the traffic and the parking," she said. Raval said she is happy that she doesn't have a car at the University, especially because her five apartment-mates in Lambeth each brought cars and suffered through a parking predicament because they were only guaranteed one space to share. "The others were put in a lottery for extra spaces and two got them," Raval explained. Maybe three out of five ain't bad, but Raval's case is a fairly lucky one.
With classes indisputably in full swing and nights consisting more and more of reading assignments and problem sets, many students turn to an old study tool: the telephone.
