Media Convergence Initiative

Spring Break Culture: The desire for escape can lead to both terrible and amazing things

Posted on March 3, 2014 by lauren gould

The week is upon us UCF students to take a break form our studies and go out into the world and drink it’s fine spirits. By drink, I mean get blacked out drunk and do stuff you would never normally do that ends up on Facebook to haunt you for the rest of your life. Spring break is viewed in our popular culture as seven days of debauchery that all students must partake in to achieve that sought after ‘college experience’.

What’s interesting is the pattern that the student body seems to follow. People go to exotic places (exotic to them anyway) and try to experience that type of life, not realizing that that very party culture is changing the experience that the students would have were they not to go to these places. Daytona Beach for example is known as a popular party spot. Every spring break the city is overtaken by these people who have little respect for the people and culture that already exist there, which actually diminishes the experience for them.

On the other hand, spring break offers a plethora of experiences and opportunities to have them by freeing students of their weekly responsibilities and allowing them blow off the built up steam they have from rigid deadlines and all-nighters. While they do desire some time to decompress, this desire to do so can be detrimental to the students and damage their college careers and lives, either socially or physically. So, I say to the student body out there living it up, have fun, but make good decisions.

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A University of Central Florida Student Assaulted and Robbed at Gunpoint Walking Home from Knight’s Pub

Posted on March 2, 2014 by rboniniv

Two students were jumped walking home from Knight’s Pub, just behind Sterling Central. The victim said it happened in the middle of Aristotle Avenue, the road right next to Sterling Central. Two students were walking back to the Phi Delta Theta house from Knight’s Pub when they were approached from the right by four individuals.
One of the victims, UCF student Josiah Devine, described the event as he remembered it happening, stating that he heard the approaching four individuals talking towards himself and his friend, until one of them cocked a pistol while approaching them, and aimed it two feet from his friend’s face. Then the gunman proceeded to hit the student across the face with his pistol, as the other three attacked Devine. As the students were on the ground, the assaulters took their wallets and one of their cell phones, then ran the opposite direction. Josiah Devine was driven to the hospital shortly after the incident, requiring stitches. He described the aggressors as four males, around 6′ 1″ tall, the gunman being white with brown hair, and the other three as African-American males around 6′ 0″ tall.

Orlando in my opinion is a pretty sketchy area. I live on the back streets behind where this happened near the frat houses. I would not walk these streets at night because I am a female and I can’t really defend myself like that. If I had no other option than to walk, I would walk along Alafaya if i was heading to the frat houses. The main goal is to have protection so if you bring something like pepper spray then it will probably help you in a situation like that. I really urge individual to be safe while walking at night. It’s always better to get a ride to your destination than risk your safety.

Posted in Crime, Education, General, Odd News | Comments Off

Putin to world, give me the Black Sea!

Posted on March 2, 2014 by scsmith

Vladimir Putin is no slouch. He has orchestrated one of the more cleaver undertaken in the past decade over these last few years. It started when Russia were awarded the rights to host the 2014 Winter Olympics, and snowballed into effect from there. This whole time Putin has had a plan to take back the Ukraine, or does he? Does Vladimir Putin really want to put back together the USSR by invading the Ukraine, a country that divided itself from Russia back in 1991, over 20 years ago? Maybe, but I don’t think so.

Putin is a power kind of guy, he values his beloved Navy. Ukraine has dibs on part of the Black Sea and holds ground to the ports for the Sea of Azov. There is a lot of strategic military power to be had. See, I don’t think Vladimir Putin wants to invade all of Ukraine, but I do think he would like to invade the part that makes up the port near his Navy. Kerch, Feodosiya, Yalta, Simferopol, Eupatoria, and Sevastopol make up the part of Ukraine that takes hold of the western part of the Black Sea coastline and part of the port to the Sea of Azov.

There is something to be said for a man that wants to have such a Naval force. You almost wonder why? Maybe after he controls such a strategic vantage point, he might begin to invade the other nearby countries like Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, and Moldova and become the USSR again. You just never know. I say let the Europeans deal with it, personally. We have a President that casts no fear whatsoever in the eastern part of the world. Putin is a strong dictator, even if he is a evil man, he is still strong, and holds a lot of strategic power. He also casts fear into the the leader of the free world.

I’m tired of being the policing force for a world who hates us to begin with. I feel bad for the people of Ukraine and the surrounding countries, naturally, but people of this world are selfish, just as we are. The only difference is we don’t go around pretending we aren’t, as they do. I hope Ukraine fights back, but it will and should be their fight.

The fact that we let Putin become president once again, illegally I might add, shows how much anybody cared. And when I say “we,” I mean the world. There is a sense of something going on behind closed doors if you ask me, how can a whole country as Russia elect such a dictator, illegally I say once more. How could the world let that happen under it’s nose? Can’t say I believe it was a coincidence that this is starting to unfold, but only time will tell.

Posted in Economy, Environment, General, Politics, War and Conflicts, World News | Comments Off

Stars of “Divergent” Set To Appear in Various Cites as part of US Tour!!!

Posted on March 1, 2014 by jmandel

Anticipation continues to build for the upcoming film release of the young adult novel “Divergent”. Based on the bestselling novel by Veronica Roth, the new YA novel adaption looks to become the next big thing since “The Hunger Games”. As the release of the film draws near, Summit entertainment has announced a nationwide tour of the US to help promote the film. The tour will take place in 14 cities across the country and consist of red carpet appearances, offer a chance to see the film before the public, and an exclusive Q&A session with members of the cast. Some of the cities include Atlanta, Orlando, Chicago (which is actually the setting of both the book and the movie), Dallas, and Detroit.

In addition to those cities, each one will feature stars from the movie. Stars such as Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Ansel Elgort, Maggie Q, Jai Courtney, Miles Teller, and even the author of the book Veronica Roth are all scheduled to make apperances at the listed cites. This gives fans the chance to get up close and personal with the stars of the film before its March 21st opening weekend.

The start of the tour is set to commence on March 3rd with the cities of Atlanta, Orlando, Washington DC, and Denver being the first stops. Atlanta will feature apperances by Shailene Woodley and Theo James, author Veronica Roth and Ansel Elgort set to appear in Orlando, Maggie Q and Mekhi Phifer in Washington DC, and Ben Lloyd-Hughes & Christian Madsen stopping in Denver. With eyes and pressure on this young adult blockbuster hopeful, Summit Entertainment is putting all their cards in the deck to make sure it is has the best chance to be the mega hit their hoping for.

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Should Society Look Up To Celebrities?

Posted on March 1, 2014 by marcelle.turner

Who are we, as a society, supposed to look up to?

The rich? The famous? The powerful?

As more and more negative light is shone upon these people, it is harder now than ever to view this select few as role models.

The recent death of Philip Seymour Hoffman affirms that the rich and famous should not be a group to look up to. The actor, like many others, died of an accidental drug overdose that included cocaine and heroine.

Celebrities such as Miley Cyrus and Wiz Kalifa rap and sing about using and abusing drugs and alcohol. These performers’ target audiences include high school and college age kids.

Artists are influencing the next leading generation. College aged youngsters are listening to these songs and start to think that drugs and alcohol mean success. The more money one earns, the more drugs and alcohol one can buy.

Drugs and alcohol are too easy to acquire for these influential people. Not all actors are negative influences but, a number of celebrities have recently passed away due to drug or alcohol abuse.

Many celebrities endorse charities and good causes. However, these efforts are seldom broadcasted as headlines. Stars like Angelina Jolie work closely with charities to better the lives of others.

So why then does the media focus on the negative aspect of the rich and famous?

As a society, we are more interested in negative news than positive news. Negative headlines sell more papers and stories.

Is it societies’ fault for idolizing this group of people?

Or is it this group of people that need to change for society to idolize them?

Posted in Entertainment, Odd News | Comments Off

The Many Benefits of Doing An Internship During Your College Years

Posted on February 27, 2014 by bosimpson

I personally have not started an internship yet but I do believe that it is a great opportunity that every college student should take advantage of. When you’re done with your General Education classes in the first two years of your college years, you will move onto classes that are more hands on and trust me, they are so much better! Gone were the days that you had to take pointless Math and Science classes. After all, we are Radio/Television Majors, we’re no good in Math. At least that’s what a wise professor once told me here at UCF. I have just started my first hands-on classes and I’m loving it.

I feel that I have already learned so much more in half of this semester than I did all last semester with my intro classes. I am a firm believer that you need to jump right in and do things in order to learn and progress. Hands on is the best method for me to learn with and it has sparked so much inspiration in me. I feel like I really needed that; it’s never a bad thing to be reminded that something you are working for is exactly what you want and enjoy. I think it’s hard for students to stick to their majors sometimes because at this point in our lives, every thing seems so temporary. It’s scary to think of a commitment that is going to be there for the rest of your life.

If hands-on classes have done so much for me, I can only imagine what I am going to feel when I start an internship. I feel like I am going to be over-loaded with so much interesting information and I think it’s really healthy to picture yourself in the positions of the people that you see or are working with at the internships because it motivates you to do better and look towards your future with excitement. Not only are internships a great tool for learning but if you’re good you can build so many connections with people who can get you a job when you graduate school. Not to mention that there are paid internships out there for people like you and me to take advantage of. Those are a little more rare but the point is that internships are great opportunities and nobody in college should graduate without participating in one because they have so much to offer you!

Posted in Business, Education | Tagged college, connections, Inspiration, Internships, learning | Comments Off

Recap: 2014 NBA All-Star Weekend in New Orleans, LA

Posted on February 26, 2014 by jordan hicks

NBA All-Star Weekend was held this year in the always festive New Orleans, LA home of the Pelicans. All-Star Weekend couldn’t have come at a greater time for me, just in time for basketball to fully capture my attention after I’ve been in Sports purgatory. Now that I am finally at peace with the fact that the NFL is no longer in my life, I can now avert all focus and attention to the NBA. My Los Angeles Lakers gave the fan in me a pulse with their near loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder before the break as well as Lebron’s dagger 3 against the Golden State Warriors.

The Weekend began with the celebrity game and it couldn’t have been more compelling. The band of characters weren’t the most star studded and Kevin Hart was plastered all over my screen which actually isn’t anything new. The Secretary of Education Arne Duncan stole the show with 20 pts, 11 rebs, and 6 asts on 8/14 shooting. His performance blew me away and he’s easily the greatest celebrity baller of all time. The Rising Stars game was phenomenally offensive and disastrously defensive as always, honorable mentions to Tim Hardaway Jr. WOO HOO! Palmetto Panther pride. The 3 point contest the following day was most certainly riveting, it went into overtime as the Italian Kobe Bryant, Marco Bellini took home the trophy over Bradley Beal. The dunk contest ended abruptly but left no question who the clear dunker of the night was. The East broke the West’s streak and Kyrie Irving from the Cavs took home the MVP.

The latter half of the season is set to be a wild one with teams jocking for seeding & playoff hopes being created and crushed. Will Kevin Durant win MVP? Will the Miami Heat three-peat? Are the Pacers title contenders? Questions like these and many others are set to be answered within the coming months.

Posted in General, Sports | Tagged NBA | Comments Off

Hennessey Venom GT becomes fastest car in the world.

Posted on February 24, 2014 by andrewray

The Hennessey Venom GT broke the record as the fastest car in the world hitting the 270.49 miles per hour mark this past Valentines Day at the Kennedy Space Center. The NASA landing strip in Cape Canaveral was the location selected to test the power of this lightning-fast Hennessey beast after one less successful attempt in 2013 didn’t allow the Venom to reach more than 265.7 mph as the 2.9 mile long runway at Naval Air Station Lemoore in California was too short for the task.

VBox reported that the Venom GT is powered by a 7.0-litre twin-turbo GM-sourced V8, and accelerated from 20mph to 120mph in just 7.71 seconds. Later, it went from 120mph to 220mph in a fraction of under ten seconds. The remaining 10 more mph were achieved in the next ten seconds. Although the numbers don’t lie, there are certain factors that make this record not accepted by Guinness, like the 30-unit-production quota Hennessey must meet for the the Venom GT (they only made 30), and also the fact that the 265.7mph record needed to be double checked by running the car on both directions to compensate for the wind.

The Venom GT stands above of the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport which prevailed as the fastest production car in the world with a record of 269.86 mph, a title that the Volkswagen company will certainly try to win back.

Posted in Sports, World News | Tagged cars, hennessey, venom | Comments Off

PGA: Day wins Match Play Championship in a thriller

Posted on February 24, 2014 by College of Sciences

Jason Day (Australia) moved to No. 4 in the World Golf rankings following his victory over Victor Dubuisson (France). This match play tournament, unique in its own right compared to traditional stroke play tourney’s, was held at the always pristine Golf club at Dove Mountain. The field included notable names such as Stenson, Furyk, Fowler, Mcllroy, Walker, Garcia, Watson, Mahan, Westwood, and McDowell to name a few. The turnout of the pros-pros was phenomenal, but when it was time to tee off Sunday, the final four for the semi-finals matches had been set with Ernie Els v Victor Dubuisson and Ricky Fowler v Jason Day. Ernie Els, a golfer who is not unfamiliar with winning tournaments was ousted by Dubuisson after he took down rising star Jordan Speith. Ricky Fowler would find himself playing for third place against Els after losing to Day.

As for the final, Day had a comfortable lead through 12 holes of three strokes, but after 18 holes the scores were tied leaving the decision to the always entertaining playoff holes. Typically in this situation, the victor is decided by sudden death, where the golfer with the lowest score on the hole will win the tournament; if tied, then they will continue through more playoff holes until it was decided. An easy correlation of playoff golf would be to that of overtime periods in most professional sports. Although, this playoff would continue on for 5 holes until the eventual winner had his ‘Day’.

Dubuisson did not go down without a fight, grinding back on the first playoff hole from a seemingly impossible lie. His ball was at the base of a cactus, and without a sweat on his brow Dubuisson chipped within a few feet to secure an easy par. On the 20^th hole, Dubuisson coincidentally hit another ball that found its way directly under a cactus setting up another difficult chip. Dubuisson would go on to stun the crowd again with a great shot and finish for par. Fast-forward to playoff hole 5 (23 overall), they would play hole 15 on the course, typically a short par 4 with the benefit of being able to drive the green. Both players went on to drive to the right of the green; but Day went on to finish in 3 to Dubuisson’s 4.

This was Day’s 2^nd career PGA Tour win, moving him into 11^th in the FedEx Cup Rankings and moving him to $1,909,200 earnings on the year so far.

Posted in Entertainment, Sports | Tagged Day, Golf, PGA, Sports, WGC Matchplay | Comments Off

For The Sixth Year The Downtown Food and Wine Festival Was Another Success

Posted on February 24, 2014 by brittany

The sixth annual food and wine Festival was another success. Hundreds of people gathered at the heart of downtown Orlando at Lake Eola along Robinson street for a fun filled fest. The festival took place this past Saturday and Sunday at noon and was an all day event. The Fest was presented and produced by CBS RADIO Orlando, led by Orlando favorites MIX 105.1, 1059 SUNNY FM, and 101.9 AMP RADIO in partnership with the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association.

Admission was $20 at the door but all-weekend Fest fans a two day pass was available for pre-sale and of course children under 12 were free. Guest were then able to purchase food and beverage tickets. Some of the Top Forty restaurants gathered for samples of their most exquisite foods. VIP Bottle Service at The Liquid Lounge hosted by Team Market Group was the place to remix, relax, and refresh during the Fest on Broadway Street. Featuring beer, wine, and specialty drinks for purchase, guests were able to meet and mingle with 101.9 AMP RADIO Weekend On-air Mixers to enjoy remixes of today’s hottest hit music. “The Fest is the perfect combination of divine food, unique wines, and headliner entertainment right in the heart of downtown,” said Leigh Doyle, president-elect, Central Florida Chapter, FRLA.

Not only were the food and beverages the buzz but the entertainment was magnificent. Fans gathered for Matt Nathanson Saturday and the very much anticipated Three Dog Night Sunday band of one of the country’s most popular songs “Jeremiah was a bull frog” as well as other great artists. I was lucky enough to experience the energy and good vibes Orlando has to offer, It truly was an eventful Weekend.

Posted in Audio/Video, Entertainment | Comments Off