2006 06 28

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WEEK OF JUNE 28-JULY 5, 2006

VOLUME 03, EDITION 04

George Reeves... shot in the head...

Christopher Reeves... fell off his horse...

Is Brandon Routh next?

PAGE 3

INSIDE: Urban Legends and Superstitions

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WEEK OF JUNE 28-JULY 5, 2006

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Irvine 22nd Annual Fourth of July Festival and Concert on the Green

Main Line: 714.278.3373 EDITORIAL Fax: 714.278.4473 news@dailytitan.com News Editor

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FOURTH OF JULY Fullerton Fireworks Show and Festival

Sunny / High: 85, Low: 60s

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CALENDAR

Costa Mesa resident Richard Miro, 22, took a flight on a wave at the Wedge in Newport Beach last Wednesday. The Wedge produced waves as large as 20 ft., due to a storm that originated in South America.

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$40 per family (2 adults and up to 4 children, not sold on the day of the event); $12 adults; $7 seniors and children (13 and under); children under 2 are free) From 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.

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rlsage@fullerton.edu The Summer Titan is a student publication, printed every Wednesday from June 8 through Aug 17.

The Summer Titan is a subsidiary of the Daily Titan, which operates independently of Associated Students, Inc., College of Communications, CSUF administration and the CSU system. The Daily Titan has functioned as a public forum since inception. Unless implied by advertising party or otherwise stated, advertising in The Daily Titan is inserted by commercial activities or ventures identified in the advertisements themselves and not by the university. Such printing is not to be construed as written or implied sponsorship, endorsement or investigation of such commercial enterprises. The Daily Titan allocates one issue to each student for free.. Copyright � 2006 Daily Titan

UNIVERSITY NEWS The films of Radio-TV-Film students Melissa Huddleson, Sarah Akkari and Victor Phan have been selected for screening as part of a CSUF showcase at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood at 8 p.m.

versity’s Human Relations Area Files Inc., a nonprofit consortium of universities, colleges and research institutions in the fields of cultural anthropology and archaeology. The group encourages worldwide comparative studies of human behavior, society and culture. Parman joined CSUF faculty in 1998 and earned her doctorate at Rice University.

Professor Elected Chair of Consortium at Yale

Staff and Employees Honored by University

Student Films to be Screened in Hollywood

Professor of anthropology Susan Parman has been elected chair of the board and vice president of Yale Uni-

The university honored three individuals with the its Outstanding Staff Employee Award at the annual Staff

Recognition and Appreciation Day event.

The honorees were Mary Aboud, an administrative analyst specialist in Kinesiology; Catherine Arthur, an information technology consultant in Telephone Services; and Jessica Schutte, the assistant director of financial aid.

Each recipient receives $1,500, season tickets to CSUF’s College of the Arts productions and sporting events, and a special parking permit, which is good for one year. The award is funded by the Presidents Associates, which is made up of community members who donate to the university.

LOCAL NEWS Public’s Assistance Sought in Traffic Collision

Fullerton Police Department investigators request the public’s assistance regarding a traffic collision that took place at the intersection of Euclid Street and Valencia Drive on June 6 at 7:22 a.m. The collision involved a white 1993 Chevy Corsica and a purple 1997 Honda Accord.

Anyone who witnessed the collision is urged to contact Laura Markowski of the Fullerton PD Traffic Bureau at (714) 738-6813.

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NEWS

WEEK OF JUNE 28-JULY 5, 2006

Superman Not Made of Steel

His character is fast, but is Brandon Routh fast enough to outrun the Superman curse

BY ADAM LEVY Summer Titan Asst. News Editor

It’s a strong visual paradox.

Dual images of Christopher Reeve flash, one soaring over Metropolis in his resplendent Superman uniform, the other a shell of his former self – destined to life in a wheelchair with tubes protruding from his person.

The “Superman Curse” is gaining steam as a pop-culture legend, fueled by a sequence of tragic events that have befallen many of the principle figures in the character’s storied history.

Keystone incidents that have marked the curse’s resonance include the pittance Superman creators were compensated with by DC Comics and the wretched fates of actors George Reeves and Christopher Reeves, who defined the character to worldwide audiences through the television and theatrical adaptations, respectively.

Surefire summer blockbuster “Superman Returns” casts Brandon Routh as the 2006 incarnation of the pop icon, though the actor didn’t seem to invest much stock into the curse when taking the part of a lifetime.

“To me it means nothing,” Routh told the masses at WonderCon, an annual comic book convention held in San Francisco. “There are a lot of things that happened to people, but I don’t think of it as a curse.”

The first instance of something fishy in Metropolis can be traced back to Cleveland, Ohio in the 1930s, where two Jewish high school boys, Jerry Siegel and Joel Shuster, concocted the blueprints for what would be one of the most popular and profitable characters of all time. The two suffered countless rejection from comic book publishers for the better part of the decade until 1938 when the sold the rights to Detective Comics for a sum of $130.

“What people don’t realize is that was huge sum of money during the Great Depression,” said Joel Block, a 43-year-old film historian, who sells movie memorabilia on EBay and at the Frank and Son’s Collectibles Show in City of Industry.

“These guys are two struggling writers, they never though to ask what could happen if they said ‘no,’” said Block.

The company aptly gained trade-

Christopher Reeves as the man of steel and, more recently, speaking to a crowd at Yale University

mark and licensing rights, leaving the hapless creators mortified as Superman promptly became a comic book sensation and cash cow which would set the stage for years of court battles between the creators and the DC comic book empire. Though awarded various sums throughout the years, the courts never compensated the embittered duo close to the financial windfall they expected from their design.

Actor Kirk Alyn brought the celebrated action hero to celluloid in two 1940s feature films but the role was something of a death knell to his career. The thespian was unable to find regular work thereafter, becoming a victim of Hollywood typecasting.

George Reeves enjoyed success on “The Adventures of Superman,” the syndicated television series that ran for six seasons from 1952 to 1958.

He eventually slipped into a state of despondence when, like Alyn before him, his career flamed out after he removed the red cape.

“Reeves went crazy going from a big shot TV star to opening up shopping malls after the series went off the air,” said Block.

The sting of the alleged curse resurfaced in 1959 when Reeves was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head three days before his wedding.

While reported as a suicide, many were skeptical this was not a murder, as Reeve’s personal life had been checkered by a publicized affair with the wife of Eddie Mannix, an MGM studio executive with ties to organized crime.

To this day the issue is largely unsettled in the public’s eye, remaining a topic of debate nearly 50 years after the fact. Reeve’s own story will be chronicled in “Truth, Justice and the American Way,” a feature film casting Ben Affleck as the fallen actor that begins filming this summer.

The revival of the Superman character in a series of feature films released in 1978, 1980, 1983 and 1987 brought

the man of steel to a whole new generation personified in the form of Christopher Reeve. The handsome 6-foot4 actor injected a fresh breath of life into the role and gained superstardom in the process, establishing himself as the new face of the franchise.

Reeve’s connection to the curse could be traced to a May 1995 horseback riding accident that resulted in a broken spinal cord, leaving him a quadriplegic, bound to a wheelchair and unable to breathe on his own. Reeves remained an inspirational public figure after the blow, establishing himself as a leading activist for the handicapped until his death from cardiac arrest in October 2004. He was ubiquitous at major social functions with supportive wife Dana, a non-smoker who passed away from lung cancer earlier this year by his side.

Almost all of Reeves’ major costars from the movie trilogy suffered comparably after their participation in the series. Margot Kidder, who adorned the screen as Superman’s chief love interest Lois Lane, battled bipolar disorder, which was widely publicized after an embarrassing series of 1996 incidents in which she was caught trespassing. She would later be committed to a psychiatric ward.

Richard Pryor, who played a heel in 1983’s Superman III, would be diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis three years later and like Reeves, remained a public face of his sickness until his death from a cardiac arrest in 2005.

Marlon Brando, who played Su-

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perman’s father Jor-El in the original, endured a litany of personal hardships, the apex of which being the 1990 murder of the boyfriend of his daughter, Cheyenne, at the hands of Brando’s son, Christian. A depressed Cheyenne would hang herself in 1995, compounding a number of sad and tragic episodes in Brando’s life before his 2004 death from lung cancer.

With a preponderance of evidence at the very least presenting an argument for a developing trend, the public is still fairly split in its assessments of the presence of a curse.

“Look, every guy that plays him ends up in a mishap,” said Carl Garcia, a 31-year-old merchant who sells movie memorabilia at the trade show.

“I sure hope Brandon Routh doesn’t get into any accidents.”

Scott Zillner, a 33-year-old artist, had a more cynical perspective.

“It’s just alot of bad things, but certainly not a curse,” Zillner said.

“Christopher Reeves would have been fine if he wasn’t out running around on horses and George Reeve would still be alive if he didn’t get all caught up with the mob.”

At the heart of the curse is the contrast between the invincible figure who can deflect bullets with his glare and the chapters of the sad stories to those associated with the character. Time will tell if Routh and his costars are the next in line for a dose of kryptonite or if the string of incidents will be laid to rest as the string of incidents are exposed as mere coincidence.

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Tall tales of misplaced gerbils, cuckolded orioles and a pop princess’ privates

I think the stories that grow to legend status are the ones that we cannot dismiss – they could be true.”

They circulate like the children’s game “telephone,” the core of the story remaining consistent while the details morph a little more with each progressive account. The time has come to cut out a small slice of the urban legend pie and search for the truth within these present-day folk tales. With a virtual universe of them to choose from, let’s focus on celebrities, modern day icons of idolism whose reputations were almost besmirched by some wickedly juicy gossip.

NEWS

WEEK OF JUNE 28-JULY 5, 2006

Celebrity Rumors Have It

BY ADAM LEVY Summer Titan Asst. News Editor

We’ve all heard them countless times. Unconfirmed reports, heard through a friend of a friend, about some unusual, outrageous or grisly scenario that could only be described as stranger that fiction.

Or are they just that, fiction?

Some of these stories come and go in a New York minute while others have incredible staying power, even decades after they have been speculated on with little hard evidence to back the claims.

“I think they persist because we all like to ‘report’ something, to tell people something we think they don’t know yet,” said Cal State Fullerton American Studies Professor Arlene Ring in an e-mail interview. “We all like to ‘scoop’ someone. Think how excited you are when you can say to someone ‘You won’t believe what I just heard!’ So, in the interest of bringing something new to the table, we repeat things we hear, without always checking sources.”

Ring further elaborated as to why these stories inevitably take a turn for the bizarre.

“To grow into true legend status, stories have to be plausible. We’ve all heard things that are too ridiculous to be true, so we dismiss them.

***

Pretty Woman, Ugly Rumor

Richard Gere has weathered the test of time as a true leading man, sporting a resume spanning three decades strong with lead roles in blockbusters such as “An Officer and a Gentleman,” “Pretty Woman,” and “Chicago.” A malicious rumor began circulating over 20 years ago and has resonated to this day is that the actor was taken into the Emergency Room at Los Angeles’ Cedar-Sinai hospital to have a gerbil surgically removed from his anus.

“I have always suspected that the ‘gerbilling’ urban legend, which has had a number of variations over time, clearly speaks to larger social fears regarding imagined homosexual behavior,” said CSUF American Studies Professor Amanda Perez. “In this type of legend, the imagined behavior

– and by extension, the imagined homosexual – is viewed as sexually depraved or perverse.”

Perez hinted at jealousy for being a motivating factor for the wildfires spread of these tales.

“Yet what it also interesting is the way the Richard Gere rumor specifically cuts a celebrity down to size,” Perez said. “To use the vernacular, one could easily describe those who circulate this rumor as ‘haters,’ individuals expressing contempt for Gere’s good looks as well as his numerous accomplishments and talents.”

Gere has never publicly commented on the rumor, and has worked steadily in the face of such tomfoolery. Still to this day, many people often react with a sly smirk when his name is mentioned, as the idea of a hapless rodent crosses their threshold.

Field of Nightmares

A scandalous urban legend revolves around none other than CSUF’s most celebrated alumni, a baseball legend and a power outage. On the night of August 14, 1997, the Baltimore Orioles home game against the Seattle Mariners was cancelled due to a power outage at Camden Yards.

The rumor states the outage was merely a cover up to protect the consecutive games streak of Orioles third baseman Cal Ripken Jr., who was distraught over catching his wife Kelly in bed with houseguest and CSUF graduate Kevin Costner earlier in the day.

The story then dictates a livid Ripken pummeled Costner before contacting

the team to let them know he wasn’t going to make it to the ballpark that evening. The team, protective of their prodigal son and more importantly his illustrious streak, would then manufacture an excuse for the game’s cancellation, comparable to Costner’s classic “manmade rainout” scene in “Bull Durham.”

Naturally, the elements of an A-list movie star, future hall-of-fame ballplayer and one woman drew the press in like bees to a hive, though all parties vehemently denied such an appalling allegation. Costner told Fox Sports Radio commentators he would “take their heads off” should they report the rumor as truth again in a radio interview on the topic. History shows no such proof that Ripken was a frenzied cuckold on that day, as he was seen at the ballpark in uniform and stoically playing catch with his teammates until the game had been officially cancelled.

With no real evidence to the rumor, it eventually went away, as the Ripkens are still married while Costner continues to woo the hearts of middle-aged women everywhere in mediocre romantic comedies.

Prince or Princess of Crunk?

20-year-old R & B singer Ciara Harris exploded onto the music scene in 2004, topping the Billboard charts with charts with a sequence of sexy dance hits such as “Goodies,“ “1, 2 Step” and “Lose Control.” With the fame and attention however, came an ugly rumor that the athletic songstress

was of an ambiguous gender. Twists and variations of the rumor stated her to be a hermaphrodite or transgender, originally born a male but undergoing surgery to live with female genitalia instead. Some versions even had her publicly declaring such and posturing herself as a role model for those of the same sort.

“This urban legend surfaced last semester during a discussion on transgender issues in my American Studies 450 course,” Perez said. “Although the students in my course could not provide specific proof of her alleged transgender status, they articulated all the familiar tropes of urban legends, including allegations they had read about her status in a ‘certain’ paper, or heard her admit to her status on a ‘certain’ television show.”

The singer herself has effectively acknowledged the outrageous allegations with a sense of humor.

“You know what’s funny? The rumor that I used to be a man,” Ciara said in an interview with the New York Daily News. “They said Oprah said that on her show. I’ve never been on Oprah in my life – we all know I have years before I go on Oprah, so come on!”

This urban legend was not even an original one at that, as actress Jaime Lee Curtis has been dogged by similar allegations throughout her career, again with no actual evidence to base it

SEE CELEBRITY  PAGE 12

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NEWS

WEEK OF JUNE 28-JULY 5, 2006

9/11 Movies Get Mixed Reviews

go-ahead to exit the mourning period with the films. Still others wonder whether the studios are plotting a moneymaking scheme that exploits an American tragedy.

BY STEPHANIE STANIAN “I was driving in the car when I For the Summer Titan first heard about the United 93 movie, and it just made me sad all over The tagline of the movie reads: again,” said American Studies gradu“The world saw evil that day. ate student Melanie Pyles.

Two men saw something else.”

“I feel seeing these movies is a Touted as a “true story of courage personal choice – everyone has their and survival,” Oliver Stone’s latest own consensus, but for me it’s too cinematic effort, World Trade Center soon,” she said.

— to be released August 9 by Para“I think it’s more of Hollymount Pictures — seems to leave wood being motivated by profit.” potential audiences wondering, “is it However, the movies might be a useful means for too soon?” some Americans Unlike the re“I feel seeing these to process their cently released feelings about the United 93, which movies is a personal events in ways was written and diminish the directed by lesschoice...but for me it’s that sense of trauma er-known Paul while in the safety Greengrass, Partoo soon” of the movie theamount’s account ater, said Profesof the 9/11 tragsor Emeritus of edy is something of a triple threat, Melanie Pyles, CSUF Grad Student Sociology Myron starring Nicolas Orleans.

Cage and being He believes released and directed by well-known enough time has passed to allow Hollywood fixtures. movies like this to be shown.

Stone directs World Trade Cen“The outcome for most viewers ter, and is no stranger to making would have some cathartic benefit, at his political statements known via least temporarily, and perhaps even the big screen; he wrote and di- enhance their appreciation of sacrected Platoon, JFK and The Peo- rifice and dedication to the task of ple vs. Larry Flynt, among others. social and political reconstruction,” Now considered a classic, Platoon Orleans said. insinuated anti-war messages with However, Sociology Department a slice-of-life depiction of a young Chair Dennis Berg has a different recruit in Vietnam. However, Pla- view on the movies and the politics toon was released in 1986, almost 13 that surround their storylines. years after the United States began its “I have not seen United 93 and I do official withdrawal from Vietnam. not intend to see either [of the movEven though a few small documen- ies]. It’s too early for me,” he said. taries were made shortly after the Pearl The media perpetuates a storyline Harbor attack, it was 60 years later of the attacks that was fabricated from when Touchstone Pictures brought the beginning, Berg said, therefore together a star-laden cast to retell reinforcing “the fantasy this adminthis tragedy in 2001’s Pearl Harbor. istration has spun … we perpetuate Immediately after the 9/11 attacks, hatred through the characterizations patriotically themed songs flooded but never asked about the grievances the airways, but the media was still that led to the events, or attempted to sensitive to letting audiences see a address them.”

By consulting the survivors, prodramatization of the events.

Print ads were pulled, movies were viding them with a private screenpostponed, and even music videos ing and donating proceeds, Uniwith New York City skyline shots versal Studios gained audience were canned.

As the fifth-year anniversary approaches this fall, many wonder SEE 9/11 PAGE 12 whether Hollywood is giving the

Hollywood says “let’s roll” on World Trade Center motion pictures

RACHEL DOUGLASS/For the Summer Titan

Chris McCall sits before his five favorite boards at his home in Huntington Beach.

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

Fullerton’s Prince of Tides CSUF senior music major has rhythm in sound and on the waves

BY RACHEL DOUGLASS For the Summer Titan

It’s 5 a.m. and the summer sun is barely rising, but 24-year-old Chris McCall is already up preparing for the day.

A devout surfer, singer and Cal State Fullerton senior, McCall frequently arises before the sunrise and drives to the beach where he gets in a two-hour surf session before heading off to work.

McCall works for JC Hawaii, a surfboard company where he packages and ships newly shaped boards.

Sometimes he drives to San Diego to drop off a new shipment of boards and then returns home to get in an evening surf session.

After his second session in the water McCall cleans up and heads to Riverside for brand practice with his group “Making Eyes.”

“I don’t know when I sleep, I’m stoked when I get to bed by nine or ten,” McCall said.

Quenching his thirst for fresh ocean water and the waves hasn’t always been this easy. McCall, a Huntington Beach resident, grew up far from the lapping blue waters he now immerses himself in. He was raised in the town of Hemet, where it takes over an hour to get to the nearest beach.

The distance for McCall and his family was never an issue.

“My mother is from the Philippines and she couldn’t stand to be away from the water,” McCall said. “We were at the beach every week.”

At the age of nine, McCall experienced his first taste of surfing and has been hooked ever since. His uncle helped his enculturation with the waves by taking him out with a tandem board and teaching him the basics of the “paddle-out.”

Since his first day on a surfboard, McCall has been captivated by the enchantment of the sea. Earning his drivers license at the age of 16, he started commuting the long distance from Hemet to the beaches of San Diego twice a week.

With time and practice, his surfboard shrunk from a massive tandem

board to a short board. He kept a map in his room charting out all the good surfing locations, the type of waves that hit, and the direction of the swells coming in.

“I had to make the long drive worth it, so I would keep track of the ocean currents and record the types of swells I had been surfing,” McCall said.

“That way when I checked the surf report I would know if I was going to get in some good rides or not.”

In the spring of 2003, McCall’s long commute to the beach was considerably shortened when he enrolled at Cal State Fullerton to major in music.

He first lived in the dorms but then decided that even a thirty-minute commute was just too long. McCall then packed up and headed to Huntington Beach.

Now, in the place of a traditional dining table is McCall’s quiver of over ten surfboards. Each of these surfboards is symbolic of a different adventure, some of exciting days in the water while some of big heavy waves.

One such board is broken at the nose, telling the story of a good surf session cut short.

These reminders epitomize the surfer way of life, the constant “stoke” and hunger for more.

This day-in day-out hunger is one that McCall fully embraces, as he is clearly is not one of your everyday beach bums.

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ENTERTAINMENT

WEEK OF JUNE 28-JULY 5, 2006

The Bard Brings Bad Luck Shakespeare’s “The Play” — among others — is a harbinger of “star cross’d” fortune in the theater world

BY CARMELLIA MUNGUIA For the Summer Titan

An uninhibited group of young talent is heard socializing through the corridors of the performing arts building at Cal State Fullerton before class begins. Little do they know they are about to embark into a world of darkness and superstition.

Amidst darkness Professor Jim Volz, an author and theater consultant, leads a group of aspiring theater actors into medieval times and reflects on the origins of superstitions.

Volz explained superstitions helped people understand what was happening in the world around them.

For example, the phrase “what comes around goes around” was originally used to refer to the turn of the seasons. Meaning if one gave back to nature, “then good will come to us if we give back.”

Why discuss superstitions? Because while most people claim to be pragmatic, many believe in superstitions – especially theater people.

“I believe that we live in an imaginative world, as artists, and that we are open to superstitions because of it,” Evelyn Carol Case said. “I think too that actors have not had a traditionally secure or easy life, and that we are most likely always looking over our shoulders.”

Case, a professional stage actress and professor of core acting at CSUF, will play Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, at Shakespeare Orange County in Garden Grove starting July 6. She will not wear peacock feathers in hats, because she said she believes the eye is bad luck.

“It is a sort of ‘evil eye’ and bad spirits can be summoned,” Case wrote.

Petite 21-year-old brunette Kyle Dalla Torre, a musical theater major at CSUF, refrains from saying the “M word” when referring to Macbeth. Otherwise, the theater is cursed.

For those who are unfamiliar with Macbeth, it is a play about an ambitious Scottish general who befriends the king of Scotland and murders him to takeover the country.

Macbeth is not in it alone: his wife and three merciless witches

pressure him and convince him that he is invincible.

This brutal tale of infanticide, torture and stabbing ends with Macbeth’s death.

In fact, historically, many accidents have been associated with Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

According to the Washington Post, in 1606 the first boy to play Lady MacBeth, Hal Berridge, died of a fever. Abraham Lincoln was assassinated a few days after carrying a copy of “Macbeth” while on a cruise down the Potomac.

In 1942, three cast members died and a costume maker committed suicide during the production.

Case also has her share of experiences with productions “riddled with troubles.” She knows of an actor who played Hamlet and accidentally broke the sword that was part of his costume. At that moment the sword “flew off into the front row and stabbed a gentleman,” she said.

Case added her recollection of an event related with Macbeth.

“I was in a production where our lead witch, a 70-year-old grande dame, caught on fire as we carried her out our firepots to summon Macbeth. It was terrifying,” Case wrote.

While Case continues to rehearse and play Hamlet’s mother this summer, Volz’s class will move from superstition to theatre history, “There has to be a ghost light. A bad dress rehearsal means it is going to be a good opening night,” Dalla Torre said.

“The theater can never be dark.”

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ENTERTAINMENT

WEEK OF JUNE 28-JULY 5, 2006 7

Black Cats, Broken Mirrors and Rock ’n Roll In titles or in lyrics, superstition finds its way into popular music

BY SHAWN TRONDSEN For the Summer Titan

Whether you believe in them or not, superstitions and curses have been part of many aspects of American culture.

It is only human nature that our curiosities for these superstitious beliefs meld into songwriting and popular music.

Songs reference many everyday superstitions, from crossing black cats and passing under ladders to cursing and placing spells on other people.

Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” is arguably the most popular and bestselling song about superstition. In 1973 “Superstition,” from Wonder’s “Talking Book” album, hit the top of the Billboard charts.

Wonder’s song references a good amount of everyday superstitions, including the number 13, breaking mirrors, and seven years of bad luck.

Within the chorus, Wonder warns of believing in superstitions when he sings, “When you believe in things that you don’t understand, you suffer.

Superstition ain’t the way.”

Coldplay’s “Only Superstition” is another example of a song about superstitions that are open to interpretation.

The singer is unsure of what the out-

come of an unmentioned decision will be and within the chorus he is given advice from someone else.

The chorus of the song goes, “You say to me, it’s only superstition.

It’s only your imagination. It’s only your other things that you feel and the things from which you can’t explain.”

If hard rock or metal is more to your liking, you might like Megadeth’s “I Ain’t Superstitious.” Megadeth’s song, like the others, references many wellknown superstitions, but with a more apathetic attitude than Wonder’s hit.

The song says, “I ain’t superstitious when a black cat crosses my path. And I ain’t superstitious as I break the looking glass … I ain’t superstitious, under the ladder I go … I ain’t superstitious,

no such thing as bad luck.”

Some songs go beyond just simple superstitions and discuss curses placed on people. Yellowcard’s “Gifts and Curses,” from the “Spider-Man 2” soundtrack, discusses a situation where the singer cannot admit his love for a woman.

His gift does not allow him to openly express his feelings for the woman.

Until the time he safely can say he loves her, he sings “this gift is my curse for now.”

The song’s meanings can be applied metaphorically to Spiderman’s dilemma of revealing his identity to his paramour Mary Jane, or other issues of the heart.

Another popular and recent song hinting at curses is Fallout Boy’s “Chi-

cago is So Two Years Ago.” The song is about the singer trying to forget and get over an ex-girlfriend who cheated on him.

Instead of apologies, the singer says to his ex-girlfriend, “The only thing you’ll ever get is this curse on your lips. I hope they taste of me forever.”

Whether the track is completely about superstitions or just mentioning a simple curse, the song’s title could be shrewdly alluding to the wellknown 2003 Steve Bartman incident that prolonged the Chicago Cubs’ title drought.

These tracks were just a taste, as there are hundreds of other songs waiting to be discovered by today’s audience that discuss curses and superstitions.

Top Ten iPod Downloads 1) Promiscuous - Nelly Furtado and Timbaland 2) Ain’t No Other Man - Christina Aguilera 3) Hips Don’t Lie (featuring Wyclef Jean) - Shakira 4) Life is a Highway - Rascal Flatts 5) Crazy - Gnarls Barkley 6) Stars Are Blind - Paris Hilton 7) Over My Head (Cable Car) - The Fray 8) Me & U (Main) - Cassie 9) Unfaithful - Rihanna 10) Dani California - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Disney Pixar

Owen Wilson stars as Lightning McQueen (center) in Disney Pixar’s “Cars.” The movie’s theme that there’s more to life than being famous is driven home.

In Cars, Story Lags, Visuals Zoom Disney Pixar’s latest is easy on the eyes, but the ending can be seen from a mile away

BY CHRIS KIM For the Summer Titan

Cars provides a great story with morals and themes that all ages can learn from.

The visually stunning animation and an all-star cast of voice actors are what make this film another homerun for Pixar.

Director-writer John Lasseter has taken a unique way of telling a story from the perspective of an automobile, delivering the tale through the use of the highest quality CGI. Lasseter is able to tell a story that could easily be portrayed by real-life actors, but is able to provide the same type of emotion and attachment to the characters through animation.

The basic storyline for Cars is nothing new.

It can be broken down to the tale of an egotistical rookie that feels he

knows everything and does not need help from anyone around him.

The way Pixar delivers the story adds emotion and depth to the characters, allowing the viewers to become captivated with the story.

Cars takes the audience through a journey from the eyes of Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson), who is striving to become the youngest car to win the Piston Cup Championship. A three-way tie forces the contenders to race in a tie-breaker.

The race is set to take place in L.A., but a mishap strands McQueen in Radiator Springs, a deserted town where the people are all but out of business.

With the help of a rusty old tow truck named Mater (Larry the Cable Guy), a wise but stern judge known as Doc Hudson (Paul Newman) and a Porsche named Sally (Bonnie Hunt) teach McQueen the finer things in life, touching on themes of loyalty, sportsmanship and the realization that money and fame are not everything.

Pixar’s exceptional animation design makes this film a piece for the eyes to feast on.

Pixar used a technology known as ray tracing that requires spending 17 hours or more on each frame; the effect can be easily recognized from beginning to end.

From the stadium filled with 120,000 cars or the landscape cruising down Route 66, every shot can be taken as a photo and used as a magnificent visual piece.

The most notable drawback from this film was its lengthy runtime.

Clocking in at 1 hour 56 minutes, parts of the film tend to drag on.

The pace of action is also notably slower in this film than the Pixar predecessors, but has plenty of plot twists that keep the film fresh and intriguing.

This film is recommended for all ages and though the story may be all about cars, it’s not a testosteronedriven guy flick. The film is made for everyone.

Overall, this was a good film but not a great one.

It does not top some of the previous Pixar films, but still provides stellar visuals and classic story telling that makes it worth seeing.

10

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ENTERTAINMENT

WEEK OF JUNE 28-JULY 5, 2006

IN MOVIES

This Week

Compiled by Jackie Kimmel / Summer Titan

Superman Returns (PG-13)

Columbia Pictures

Adam Sandler stars as Michael Newman (right), a workaholic who receives a remote with special powers that allows him to control his career and personal life. Christopher Walken (left) also makes an appearance.

MOVIE REVIEW

New Adam Sandler Film Doesn’t Click Film is so bad it may make audiences want to change the channel

BY SHEENA DESAI For the Summer Titan

TiVo is quite primitive compared to Michael Newman’s (Adam Sandler) advanced remote control, which changes not only different channels of his mood, but also skips him to the most comfortable chapters in his life.

In Click, the audience gets sickness, divorce, gross obesity, cute girls: all the makings of a groovy summer comedy. The problem that it has is that it doesn’t quite, well, click.

Michael is an architect in New York with a lovely wife named Donna (Kate Beckinsale), a pair of cute kids (Julie Kavner and Henry Winkler) and a playboy boss (David Hasselhoff) who slowly, but surely, drives him to be a workaholic.

One day Michael is trying to watch television in peace, but he can’t with so many remotes hanging around.

So to fix a small part of his life, he decides to buy a Universal Remote Control.

And out of all the places he can get it, he goes to Bed, Bath & Beyond – happy shareholders I suppose. In

the “Beyond” section, the mysterious crank Morty (Christopher Walken) supplies him with a truly high-tech remote control that can freeze, fast forward or reverse the time of Michael’s life. Staring down loads of a work and with the Fourth of July weekend around the corner, Michael uses the new remote control to skip over the time-consuming and distracting bits of his personal life to focus on his work.

It’s such a successful tactic that his boss promises him a promotion. But Morty failed to reveal that the remote control adapts to the user’s preferences, and pretty soon it takes charge of Michael’s life in ways he doesn’t like.

Michael wishes the magic remote had a “return to sender” button, and many viewers may feel the same way about the movie.

The overworked screenplay owes several debts to It’s a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol. But don’t expect a dot of brilliance here.

The movie is sometimes kinda funny, sometimes sorta sweet but never completely satisfying.

However, Sandler’s performance as Michael makes the character likable, even when crazed with work.

Sandler makes Michael seem truly startled at this deviant version of

his personality. Michael’s children, played at different stages by three sets of actors, grow up believably. However, Beckinsale’s Donna isn’t given much of a role other than the unusual shift in her romantic affections.

The visual effects by Jim Rygiel and Pete Travers are part of the fun.

The various design elements pull you into the world of the universal remote, as well as a credible future complete with year 2016 cars.

It’s all expertly woven together by Dean Semler’s crisp cinematography.

The film’s soundtrack is pretty good to kill some time on iTunes.

Apart from all the little jokes in the film, there’s something inescapably melancholy about Click, as when Sandler wakes up in the hospital to find his suddenly gray-haired wife at his side. This movie also understands something about the way we notice our parents aging in what seems like a series of short bursts.

A flashback scene in which Michael revisits a childhood trip with his parents uses reverse-aging makeup to great effect, playing on the audience’s own associations with the characters on the screen.

There are far better movies than Click for viewers’ entertainment – both with comedy and melodrama.

This one would best be avoided.

Directed by Bryan Singer and starring Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, James Marsden, Kevin Spacey and Parker Posey Following a mysterious absence of several years, the Man of Steel, Superman, returns to Earth--but things have changed.

While an old enemy plots to render him powerless once and for all, Superman faces the heartbreaking realization that the woman he loves, Lois Lane, has moved on with her life. Or has she?

Superman’s bittersweet return challenges him to bridge the distance between them while finding a place in a society that has learned to survive without him.

In an attempt to protect the world he loves from cataclysmic destruction, Superman embarks on an epic journey of redemption that takes him from the depths of the ocean to the far reaches of outer space.

The Devil Wears Prada (Rated PG-13)

Directed by David Frankel and starring Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Tracie Thoms, Adrian Grenier In the dizzying world of New York fashion, where size zero is the new size two, six is the new 8 and a bad hair day can end a career, Runway Magazine is the Holy Grail. Overseen with a finely manicured fist by Miranda Priestly--the most powerful woman in fashion--Runway is a fearsome gauntlet for anyone who wants to make it in the industry.

Coming Soon Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (PG13) (Opening July 7th)

Directed by Gore Verbinski and starring Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Stellan Skarsgard and Bill Nighy Captain Jack Sparrow discovers he owes a blood debt to the legendary Davey Jones, captain of the ghostly Flying Dutchman.

With time running out, Jack must find a way out of his debt or else be doomed to eternal damnation and servitude in the afterlife. Making matters worse, Sparrow’s problems manage to interfere with the wedding plans of a certain Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann, who are forced to join Jack on yet another one of his misadventures.

Clerks II (Not yet rated) (Opening July 21st)

Directed by Kevin Smith and starring Jeff Anderson, Rosario Dawson, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith and Trevor Fehrman The continuing tale of Dante and Randal, two slackers who find that life must change now that they are in their 30s. It’s time to grow up and do something more than just sit around, dissect pop culture and talk about sex.

You, Me and Dupree (Opening July 14th)

Directed by Joe Russo & Anthony Russo and starring Owen Wilson, Kate Hudson, Matt Dillon, Michael Douglas and Amanda Detmer Carl and Molly Peterson are just starting their new life together—complete with a cute house, boring neighbors, stable jobs and the routines of newlywed existence. There’s just one unfortunate hitch in their perfectly constructed new world. And his name’s Dupree.

8

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When I go up I want to be a Japanese pop singer.

I want to become one because I love to sing in Japanese and I want to be noticed. Another reason is that I might get to travel the world.

-Ren I want to be a famous hip-hop and tap dancer.

I want to have my own concerts with lights and pyrotechnics. I’ll also have back-up dancers. I’ll make millions being famous.

-Dominic When I grow up I want to be an FBI undercover cop.

I want to be an undercover cop because it is fun to be chasing people.

-Moises Gomez When I get older I would like to be a medical doctor or a computer programmer.

I would like to be a doctor because I like to help others

KIDS TO COLLEGE ENTERTAINMENT

WEEKOF OFJUNE JUNE1-28JULY 5, 2006 WEEK 7, 2006 7

CSUF HOSTS

who are sick, have illnesses, and so on.

-Megan Keo

competing.

-Emily

I am planning to become an When I grow up I want to be aircraft pilot. I need to come a forecsic detective. I want to college to be an aircraft to do this because I think it pilot. I also need go eyesight for that career. Four years of is kind of cool and I enjoy college are required for this things that have mystery.

-Julio job!

-Luis Mora When I grow up all I want to do is travel. I want to When I grow up I want to travel because I get to see be an Elementary teacher. new places. Traveling is like I want to be an elementary an adventure for me. teacher because I would like -Erika Morales to teach students. I know teaching is hard but that’s I want to be a video game my major. designer. I want to be -Isela Nava a video game designer because I like video games. My favorite outdoor activity is soccer. Soccer is one of I want to create the best the most important things in game ever.

-Rafael my life besides education. I like soccer because there are My favorite activity is a lot of tricks you can do.

-Bert Lopez racing. I like to race because it is fun and I could see When I grow up I want to be whom is the fastest runner a famous basketball player because basketball is my favorite sport. I play every

day if I make it to the NBA I teach other people. want to be the best.

-Shawnee Lee -Roy I like to play football with When I grow up I want to my friends because I like to run and catch the ball. It is be a teacher. I want to be a teacher because I like also fun tackling my friends over and over. working with kids.

-Luis Orozoo -Star Bravo I want to be a nurse. I want to help people however I can either by giving them shots or anything else.

-Fabiola Rivera

My favorite outdoor activity is going to any place. I also like having sleepovers at my cousin’s house.

-Fernando Rodriguez

What I want to do when I grow is be a lawyer. I want to be a lawyer because of all the money I make.

-Edgar Bernal

When I grow up I want to be an actor. When I am at school I like to be in plays and change my voice. I never think about becoming anything else.

-Johnny

My favorite activities are baseball, tennis, basketball, and soccer.

-Eduardo Cardenas.

I want to be a dancer. I want to teach Hip-hop because I know how and I want to

When I grow up I want to be a fire fighter. I want to become a fire fighter because my uncle in Nevada inspired me to become one.

-Antonio Guerrero When I grow up I want to

6

KIDS TO COLLEGE ENTERTAINMENT

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WEEK 5, 2006 9 WEEKOF OFJUNE JUNE28-JULY 1- 7, 2006

KIDS TO COLLEGE animals and I like to take care of them.

-Yeslie Gonzalez

When I grow up I want to be a veterinarian. I would like to work with pets and help animals.

-Gabriela Gonzalez

be a pilot because I can travel to see all the cultures around the world.

-Nohia Nguyen

soccer player. I want to be on a team from Brazil so I can win the world cup.

-Alexis Cervantes

My favorite activity is soccer. I like to be the goalie because you don’t do much.

You stand there unless the ball is coming at you.

-Jose A. When I grow up I want to be a doctor, teacher, librarian, lawyer, and hip-hop teacher.

-Marleni

I want to be a singer/actress.

-Tamerisstar Jo Ortiz

When I grow up I want to be a veterinarian because I love working with animals especially dogs. I would like to save animals lives.

-Andrea Vargas When I go up I want to be a

My favorite outdoor activity is running. I am good at it, I enjoy it, and it’s fun.

-Brigitte Pfifer When I grow up I would like to work at Cal State Fullerton because I would like to work with students and encourage them to stay in school.

-Diana Vazquez When I grow up I would want to be a veterinarian because I love to play with

When I go up I want to be a police officer. I have always wanted to drive a police car.

I want to arrest people who don’t follow the laws.

-Ivan Regino When I grow up I want to be in the Navy. I want to be a pilot.

-Gilbert When I grow up I want to be a hair stylist because you get to make people feel better and look good.

-Maria Hernandez I want to be a Parole Officer because I want to show what is right and wrong. I also like to help people.

-Ashley Ibarra

The best thing I have learned so far is that students in college sometimes get free money for education.

-Yessica Camacho I would like to be a cop.

Cops need to study and get good grades.

-Brian Martinez So far today I have learned that if you have financial aid

you could to go college.

-Erick A.

can help people out.

-Janice Orozco

When I grow up I want o be president because I want to stop racism and we would have peace and care.

I would travel all over the world and help poor people.

-Deisy Nunez

When I grow up I want to be an actor in movies. I would like to make scary movies.

-Emmanuel Ordaz Gonzalez

I want to become a teacher because it would be very cool to spend more time with little kids.

-Swetty Menz.

The best thing I have learned today is the A-G requirements. When I grow up I want to be a doctor so I

OPINION SPORTS WORD ON THE STREET

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TITAN EDITORIAL Providing insight, analysis and perspective since

WEEK OF1-JUNE 28-JULY 5, 2006 WEEK OF JUNE 7, 2006

“What are you most superstitious of?”

COMPILED BY ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR ADAM LEVY The Sumsamer Titan

Let Freedom Burn The Senate voted down a pro- pressing, tangible issues includposed constitutional amendment ing immigration, the war in Iraq to ban the desecration of the and domestic poverty that they American flag yesterday. Sen. Or- can’t make bold John Wayne rin Hatch’s proposal fell short of statements about. the necessary 67 votes by one. In Focusing on overturning a law the wake of the amendment’s de- that has been well on the back feat, and with Independence Day burner of public consciousness right around the corner, the Daily does nothing more than provide Titan would like to commend the a few sound bites for FOX news 34 Senators that cast their votes in to trumpet as Republican leaders the name of liberty. “hard at work” proOnce again, the “Once again, the right tecting our nation’s right wing is chargiconographic pride, wing is charging hard whereas in reality ing hard with a virtual nonissue in at- with a virtual nonissue it is just a poorly tempts to muster up contrived distracin attempts to muster up tion technique. It support for a party that has proved inis akin to yelling support.” ept at handling the “look over there!” issues that do matin regards to the ter. Hatch’s amendment proposal true issues they don’t have bold was summated, “The Congress statements for as they flash their shall have the power to prohibit Colgate smiles to in front of the the physical desecration of the flag camera. of the United States.” The attempt In reality, the privilege of burnat overturning Supreme Court rul- ing our flag as a form of protected ings in 1989 and 1990 that protect political speech makes us the flag desecration as free speech land of the free and the home of under our First Amendment was the brave. In America, we have nothing more than a thinly veiled the right to express ourselves lepolitical trick to portray the GOP gally in most any way we choose as the defenders of all things fit, which distinguishes us as the most progressive bastion of free Americana.

In reality, there are far more thought in the universe.

11 9

Jin Kim, 23 ELS Program “ In South Korea, the number four is very bad luck, we don’t have the fourth floor in any of our buildings.”

Lali Shemi, 21 Accounting “In my family I have heard that sneezing before you leave the house is bad luck.”

Shaoib Bhatti, 27 Finance

Stephanie Calhoon, 22 Finance

“In my culture, you have to turn on the lights around 6:30 p.m. or you will have bad luck the following day.”

“I have heard black cats are bad luck, but I think they are cute if they don’t cross in front of you.”

James Sandoval, 28 Finance “I don’t think about that stuff, it is just for crackedout weirdos.”

James Sandoval, 28 Psychology/ Criminal Justice “I have to throw the salt over my shoulder if i spill it. It’s a family custom..”

Religion Can’t Lead Tomorrow’s World Moving past church-based myth and superstition is a must for the future

BY JOE SIMMONS For the Summer Titan

Some superstitions: breaking a mirror results in seven years’ bad luck; walking under a ladder will make something bad happen; a wish on a shooting star will come true.

It’s pretty commonly accepted that these are just traditions or beliefs left

over from a less-scientific time.

Still, superstition and dogma are so central to our society that we often don’t recognize them.

Take, for instance, the idea that prayer helps people overcome disease and surgical complications.

It’s a common belief, but literally thousands of studies haven’t been able to come to a conclusion about prayer’s effects.

Conflicting studies on the issue have attracted charlatans and intellectual thugs; in 2001, two doctors and a lawyer published a story that claimed

a 26 percent increase in success rates of in vitro pregnancy operations when prayer was involved.

It later turned out that the peer-reviewed study, which was conducted with funds from Columbia and published in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine, was a total wash.

It had all been fabricated. According to Time magazine, Daniel Wirth, the lawyer who participated in the study, was on trial in 2004 for 13 counts of mail fraud and 12 counts of interstate transportation of stolen money.

If modern superstitions can fool

Columbia University and a medical journal, maybe it’s not surprising that everyday people continue to believe in them.

What’s disheartening is that these modern superstitions continue to cloud our judgment.

It’s easy to point out reactionary and almost universally hated pundits screaming “fags doom nations” in front of Matthew Shepard’s funeral, and it’s easy to note how their beliefs have, at best, a tenuous hold on reality.

But it’s harder to nail down the dan-

12 8

OPINION SPORTS “Sticking It” With Their Superstitions WWW.DAILYTITAN.COM WWW.DAILYTITAN.COM

Gymnasts use repetitive rituals to relieve stress, improve meet performance

BY AMANDA VAN HORN For the Summer Titan

Almost every sport has athletes that perform rituals to some degree, but one sport that is particularly superstitious is gymnastics. There really is no scientific evidence for this madness except that it gives the athlete a psychological security blanket in times of stress.

Superstitions for a gymnast can start from the first meet and last throughout their entire careers.

Often there is not only one superstition, as they tend to multiply. When a gymnast does well at a meet, they see something new that he or she did that day and with that comes a dependence that dictates yet another ritual. Now, that ritual has to be done before every meet.

One superstition I had growing up was I had to eat oatmeal the morning of my meet when I was in club gymnastics. Before my first collegiate meet, I happened to get coffee right before I got to the competition. That was a triumphant meet for me and now every time I go, I have to get my coffee.

9/11 FROM PAGE 1 Dr. Edward Fink, RadioTV-Film Department chair.

Additionally, Universal’s actions helped the survivors realize that the producers of the film were not out to simply exploit their losses.

“Film is one of many ways to memorialize this type of event, and it becomes an element of honoring, not necessarily capitalizing [on it], when a first class, A-level movie is able to tell the story,” Fink said.

“The cynic in me says Hollywood has one objective, but on the human level I think they are sen-

WEEK OF 28-JULY 5, 2006 WEEK OF JUNE 1-JUNE 7, 2006

Superstitions are not only in the competing athlete’s mind; they can also be in a teammate’s mind. The first meet of this past season I went up to my teammate, Jessica Tait, before she competed on beam. I was encouraging her and telling her some last-minute pointers. Her routine that day happened to be the best I had ever seen her do. It was from that day on that I felt I had to go up to her before her routine and say the exact same thing right before she competed.

If you ever look at a gymnast on the gym floor, you can see exactly what rituals they do. Some listen to a certain song, some pace around the event, and some will visualize their routines in their head.

The rituals and routines are not only limited to the high beam, but transcend nearly all athletic arenas, from wrestling mats to swimming pools.

“There was a certain warm-up routine I did, it was really more like cartwheels, flips, kind of like gymnastics stuff,” said Juan Mora, a former Cal State Fullerton wrestler. “For some reason, I’ve done that since I can remember back in high school, and it works.” Mora explained.

Some of these observances are obviously physically, and subsequently emotionally stirring, while others veer into bizarre territory.

“I would always put a lucky penny I found on the

sitive to what happened and want to do more than just make money off telling the story,” he continued.

Communications major Kevin Mayberry agreed.

“I think the movies will respark support for the country and government,” he said.

There may be some capitalism involved, but the movies are another way for “Americans to remember the event and the survivors to remember their loved ones as heroes,” Mayberry said.

Paramount has not yet announced whether it will follow in the footsteps of United 93 and donate a portion of the ticket sales to a 9/11-related charitable organization.

CELEBRITY FROM PAGE 4 it upon. All in all, the moral of the story is that regardless of age, beauty or talent, ugly buzz of this nature can strike like a viper at anyone at any time.

The common bond throughout these and many other similar rumors is their targets are high-profile people in the first place. This is further heightened by the disconcertingly lewd nature of the claims and dead-end conclusions attempting to either prove or more importantly, disprove the claims. Perez pointed to the public’s own hunger for self placation via scintillating fodder.

“By circulating these types of nasty rumors about celebrities, non-celebrities can bring the celeb not only down to their level, but to an imagined morass of moral and sexual depravity,” she said.

ground that day in my suit,” s a i d G r e g Goble, a former Fallbrook h i g h school water polo player.

“It had to be heads up too.”

We, as athletes, know that the ritual is not the reason we performed well, it is our talent and our hours of extensive training that make us perform to the best of our ability.

Even though we all know the rituals don’t really help our performance, we still feel it necessary to do them every time.

Some people call us freaks, but we will do whatever it takes to ease our stress the day of a meet. When you’re standing front and center with your teammates in victory, it’s all worth it.

Top 10 Superstitions Friday the 13th is unlucky, especially for teenage campers.

A rabbit’s foot brings good luck (well, not for the rabbit).

Four-leaf clovers bring good luck (again, not for the clover).

If a black cat crosses your path, you’ll have bad luck.

Opening an umbrella indoors brings bad luck.

If you break a mirror, that’s seven years’ worth of bad luck. That’s like a black cat and an umbrella in one.

Garlic protects from evil spirits and vampires. So does Buffy.

At the end of a rainbow is a pot of gold. Or a tree full of cookie-making elves.

If you blow out the candles on your birthday cake, your wish will come true.

An itchy palm means money will come your way. Or you’ve got a rash.

RELIGION FROM PAGE 11 ger of beliefs that seem more urbane and harmless. What harm can come of putting the Ten Commandments in a courthouse, for example? Or setting aside federal funds specifically for faith-based charities?

The danger lies in the fact that religion requires faith. Like superstition, religion is nothing without a fervent belief in the unprovable.

When we create laws and ordinances based on the unprovable – based, essentially, on nothing more than the hope and belief that the law will work – we are dismantling our democratic system.

Democracy flourishes only in societies where the populace is knowledgeable; well-versed in the laws, government and politics of their region; and where the impact of decisions is carefully weighed.

Every time we pass a bill or take an action simply because we believe it will work, we dilute the power of law.

Without evidence, without scientific tests performed in an impartial way, we constantly run the risk of creating bad law. Bad law inevitably creates victims.

When members of Congress invoke the sacred traditions of the Bible as the justification for a law or a resolution, they are asking us to simply believe in the law, the same way some of us believe in God. When Justice Antonin Scalia says that all law is ultimately derived from God, he is telling us that we must simply assume that our government’s wisdom is greater than any evidence, that it is above reproach.

Superstition of all sorts must be banned from not only our judicial process, not only from our body of laws, but also from out electoral and legislative processes.

If we continue to rely on antiquated relics of a more brutal, less compassionate past, then we will inevitably come to resemble that past.

That’s a terrifying thought in the day and age of on-demand worldwide travel and easily acquired weapons of devastating power.

SPORTS SPORTS

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CARLOS DELGADO / For the Summer Titan

Titan Justin Turner can’t make the tag as the ball bounces of a Tar Heel’s helmet.

World Series Through the Lens

by Carlos Delgado CARLOS DELGADO/ For the Summer Titan

The Titan dugout reacts to the final out of the 2006 College World Series, which took place in Omaha, Nebraska

WORLD SERIES FROM PAGE 16 there is a lot of chips on your shoulder when you play with guys from September all the way to June,” Gunderson said. “To be able to stick it out with these guys and do it, sitting up here with the national championship, sounds pretty good.”

For much of the game, a pitching match up between 13-game winner Nickerson and first-round pick Bard would live up to expectations.

Bard (9-4), who was the 28th overall draft pick by the Boston Red Sox, was tagged for the loss, pitching 7 2/3 innings, allowing three runs (one earned) on six hits.

“After the fourth inning, I threw 100 percent fastballs,” Bard said.

“The coaching staff and I had talked about it. The slider was off and the change-up wasn’t working. I just carried the groove through to the next few innings.”

Nickerson, who was named the most outstanding player of the series, didn’t get a decision, but in his third start of the series, came out firing against the Tarheels.

He struck out seven hitters, while walking only one in 6 2/3 innings pitched and allowed only two unearned runs.

In his last 16 1/3 innings of work at the series, he hadn’t allowed an earned run.

MADDEN FROM PAGE 16 Donovan McNabb of the Philadelphia Eagles who appeared on the cover of Madden NFL 06.

The star quarterback lost in Super Bowl XXXIX and had a spectacular season with a career high of 31 passing touchdowns and threw for a career high of 3,875 yards.

McNabb would suffer a season plagued with injury, controversy and drama. His curse began with the drama between wide receiver Terrell Owens which would gain excessive mediacoverage.

The curse took a turn for the worse when McNabb suffered an injury that would plague him for the rest of the season during the first regular game against the Atlanta Falcons.

McNabb suffered a sports hernia that needed surgery but continued to

CARLOS DELGADO / For the Summer Titan

Oregon State starting pitcher Jonah Nickerson holds up the National Championship trophy after the Beavers beat the North Carolina Tar Heels to win the 2006 College World Series.

“Jonah felt like he had a day off outfielder Danny Dorn, designated hitwith three days of rest instead of two,” ter David Cooper and second baseman Casey said. “They all wanted to pitch Justin Turner were named to the CWS and get in the game. It’s appropriate all-tournament team. that it went Jonah, Buck and Gundy.

Turner was named to the team in I can’t tell you how proud I am of 2003 as a shortstop. them.”

Oregon State becomes the 10th team in College World Series history to lose its first game and come back to win a national title. The last team to previously do so was USC in 1998.“I told them at the beginning of the year, if you give 100 percent and never allow your opponent to be tougher than you, we’ll win a lot of games,” Casey said.

For the Cal State Fullerton Titans, play hoping to make the playoffs.

In the tenth game of the season, McNabb re-injured his groin and played one more game with horrendous results and had surgery on his sports hernia that sat him out for the rest of the season after his team was out of reach for the playoffs.

On April, 20 2006, it was announced that Shaun Alexander is expected to appear on the cover of Madden NFL 07. Alexander had a spectacular season during 2005-2006 where he was named the NFL MVP, broke the NFL record for rushing touchdowns with 28 and would also post an NFL-high of 1,880 rushing yards. He led his team to Super Bowl XL but lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Will the curse be broken this year with Shaun Alexander? No one knows for sure but Alexander missed the NFL Pro Bowl with a sprained right foot and is expected to have a decline in his performance with the trade of left

guard Steven Hutchinson to the Minnesota Vikings. Various gambling outlets are even taking bets if Alexander will suffer from the Madden curse this year.

With the history of occurrences from the past, this looks like a sure bet though only time will be able to determine if the Madden curse lives on.

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Famed Journalist Undergoes Surgery BOSTON (AP) - Peter Gammons, an ESPN analyst and a member of the writer’s wing of the baseball Hall of Fame, underwent brain surgery Tuesday after he was stricken with an aneurysm near his Cape Cod home.

The 61-year-old Gammons was resting in intensive care Tuesday night following the operation, The Boston Globe reported on its Web site.Gammons was taken to a Cape Cod hospital Tuesday morning and then airlifted to the Boston area.

The newspaper said he’s expected to be in intensive care for 10 to 12 days.Several ballplayers called the press box during Boston’s game against the New York Mets for updates on Gammons’ condition.

“Peter is one of the Hall of Famers we have on TV, and everybody has a lot of respect for him,” Mets pitcher Pedro Martinez said in the visitor’s clubhouse after the game. “I wish him well.”

Gammons has been a regular on ESPN’s Sunday night telecasts this season, working the Braves-Yankees game in New York on Monday night.

“Our thoughts and best wishes are with Peter and his family at this time,” ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said.

At the Globe in the 1970s, Gammons popularized the baseball notes columns that have become staples in Sunday newspapers.

He also wrote for Sports Illustrated twice _ and the Globe in between

_ before joining ESPN full-time in 1990.

More recently, Gammons has dabbled in music and next week is scheduled to release his first CD, “Never Slow Down, Never Grow Old.” The proceeds are designated for the foundation established by Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein, who appears on the album along with several ballplayers and professional musicians.

“He and his wife know our thoughts are with them,” Epstein said Tuesday. “We’re hoping for good news.”

Gammons was honored with the 2004 J.G. Taylor Spink Award for outstanding baseball writing by the Baseball Writers Association of America.A Boston native who grew up in nearby Groton, Gammons attended the University of North Carolina and started at the Globe as an intern in 1969.

He covered the NHL, baseball and college basketball for Sports Illustrated from 1976-78 and 1986-90, working a second stint at the Globe in between.

He joined ESPN full-time in 1990 and is a studio analyst for “Baseball Tonight,” as well as a regular contributor for “SportsCenter,” ESPNEWS, ESPN Radio and ESPN The Magazine.

His column and Weblog can be found on ESPN.com.

He also has written a book, “Beyond the Sixth Game,” about free agency.

OF JUNE 28-JULY 5, 2006 WEEKWEEK OF JUNE 1- 7, 2006

Baseball Superstitions Raise Averages, Lower ERAs Quirky rituals add to folklore of America’s favorite pastime

BY ELVIRA RIVAS For the Summer Titan

In between arguments as to how and why Titans baseball had a winning season this year, in spite of their elimination, fits a little taboo subject called superstitions.

How does Titans Baseball do it?

Some say defense and offence was instrumental in their success, and some may say luck.

Superstitions are not only found in professional baseball – they are also found in college baseball.

The Titans baseball team, much like other college teams, performs the ritual of rubbing the brim of their hats with their fingers and flipping their caps over while the ball is crossing the plate.

This is done when a batter has a full count or when they have two balls and two strikes with two outs.

“They do this in hopes that the batter will get a hit or get on base.

This only happens a couple of times a game, so when it does happen it’s pretty amusing to watch,” said Jesse Sarabia, an assistant coach at A.B. Miller High School in Fontana.

It could be anything as simple as the way they tie their shoes or the way they get dressed in the morning.

Baseball has been known to produce some pretty wild characters.

Former New York Mets and Cubs relief pitcher Turk Wendell would actually brush his teeth in between innings, hoping that it would give him a certain edge over the batters.

A well-known example of superstition in baseball today is the Los Angeles Dodgers’ first baseman Nomar Garciaparra.

While batting, he will go through a routine of 30 or more different ac- Rubbing the brim of tions in between pitches. hats fingers.

Thesewith actions range from tapping his cleats on the dirt, to tugging on his batting gloves, wristbands and re- Flipping caps over arranging his batting helmet to make the ball is crossing it while feel just right.

“I think he does this because aththe plate. letes begin to believe and want to believe and that their particular rou- Wearing something tine will enhance their performance …special the superstition a certain duringcreates the game. level of confidence inside the player,” Sarabia said.

-It’s Repeating a series of some not that hard to believe moves. baseball players will go to certain extremes to help them perform better.

So it’s no wonder that ball players will do almost anything no mat-

Some Baseball Superstitions

Some athletes would say it’s not that big a deal.

Superstitions, some say, have no room in the game of baseball, but others claim superstitions are a huge part of their baseball career as well as their everyday lives.

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OF JUNE 28-JULY 5, 2006 WEEKWEEK OF JUNE 1- 7, 2006

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MADDEN Curse

BY CHRIS KIM Gracing the cover of the acFor the Summer Titan

claimed Madden football video game series arguably marks an NFL athlete’s pinnacle achievement in popularity and fame surpassed only by winning the Super Bowl.

The price to pay for a hefty check and an increase in popularity is a debacle in season performance the following year or in some cases an entire career.

The Madden football game consistently tops the charts in sales every August when it is released.

Each year, the feature “cover-boy” for the video game has been an athlete who has had an amazing performance the previous year.

Since 2000, there have been eight different athletes to grace the cover of the Madden series. Subsequently, all eight of those athletes have had unusual events or horrific game performances upon the following season. Some of the athletes have

had their “kiss-of-death” after gracing the cover, marking it their last great achievement before finishing their career.

Barry Sanders was the inaugural NFL athlete to appear on a Madden cover for Madden 2000. Sanders had a remarkable career prior to appearing on the cover on the way to break the record for most rushing yards set by Walter Payton. Sanders abruptly retired from the Detroit Lions a week before training camp.

Dorsey Levens shared the cover in another version of Madden 2000.

He was cut by the Green Bay Packers in 2001 and finished his career in 2004 with the Philadelphia Eagles as a quarterback who wandered from team-to-team as a backup.

Eddie George, the star runningback from the Tennessee Titans, took the cover in Madden 2001.

George’s curse took place during a playoff game against the Balti-

more Ravens when he bobbled a pass which was intercepted by linebacker Ray Lewis who ran it in for a touchdown.

George was also plagued with injury the next season despite the fact that he was known for his extraordinary durability. His performance also dropped dramatically after appearing on the cover. George averaged four yards per carry in his first five seasons and rushed for over 1,300 yards each season. He would rush for career lows of 939 yards and five touchdowns during the 2001 season and never averaged higher than 3.5 yards per carry for the rest of his career.

Daunte Culpepper was featured on Madden 2002 coming off a spectacular year and making it to the NFC Championship in the 20002001 season. The former Minnesota Vikings quarterback would suffer a distressing season finishing with

a team record of 4-7 until having a season-ending injury that would send him to the bench.

The next athlete to be featured on the cover was Marshall Faulk of the St. Louis Rams for Madden 2003.

Faulk would appear on the cover after losing Super Bowl XXXVI. The St. Louis Rams missed the playoffs that year and Faulk suffered an injury coupled with an atrocious season after appearing on the cover.

Faulk has yet to exceed 1,000 yards rushing in a season and has been relieved of his starting position.

Quarterback Michael Vick of the Atlanta Falcons was featured on the cover for Madden 2004. Known for his quickness, speed and agility, Vick was expected to have an exceptional season and give his a team a run for the playoffs. A preseason game injury would force him to sit on the bench after suffering a fracture to his right fibula.

Vick played in the team’s last five regular season games when the team was already eliminated from playoff contention. He would finish the 2003-2004 season with 585 yards passing and passed for four touchdowns. The team finished the season five wins and 11 losses.

The first defensive player to be featured on the cover came in Madden 2005. Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens graced the cover and would suffer the least ramifications from the curse. Lewis suffered a injury that would force him to sit out in the last regular season game and would not have an interception that season after coming off with a career-high of six the previous season and getting at least one every season prior to the cover.

The Ravens would also fail to make the playoffs after winning the division the previous season.

SEE MADDEN  PAGE 13 The most recent cover-boy was

Oregon State Wins World Series With just enough moxie and inThe Beavers baseball team spired pitching performances, the beats North Carolina Oregon back State Beavers baseball team captured their program’s Tarhells in Omaha first College

CARLOS DELGADO For the Summer Titan

For more College World Series photographs from Summer Titan contributor Carlos Delgado, go to www. dailytitan.com

World Series title. team won 3-2, taking two out of BYThe LAURENS ONG Summer Titan Sports Editor three games over the North Carolina Tarheels in the championship round of the 2006 College World Series.

“I really don’t know what to say. It’s an unbelievable feeling,” Beaver Head Coach Pat Casey said. “These young men worked their fannies off.”

With two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning in a tie game for designated home team Oregon State, the Beavers would get two runners on base on a walk by first baseman Bill Rowe and a single by centerfielder Tyler Graham off Tarheel starting pitcher

Daniel Bard.

With runners at first and second, the Tarheels decided to call on ace Andrew Miller to come out from the bullpen. The Beavers sent pinch-hitter Ryan Gipson up to the plate and it looked as if a routine groundball hit to Tarheel second baseman Bryan Steed would end the inning.

A bad throw by Steed would allow Rowe to advance past third base and score what would be the decisive run.

Gipson would be the only batter Miller would face.

“This is not ever about one player, it is never about one pitch, this is a team sport,” said North Carolina Head Coach Mike Fox, on the error by Steed.

Dallas Buck (13-3), who entered

the game to relieve Beaver starting pitcher Jonah Nickerson, pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings before giving way to closer Kevin Gunderson.

“Don’t let them score [was the game plan entering the eighth inning],” Buck said. “I can’t say I was surprised because I knew I could do it. That fired the team up. It got a little [momentum] on our side.”

For the Beavers, their run for a CWS title was nearly complete entering the top of the ninth inning in Omaha.

After getting the win, pitching five innings of relief in a Beavers 11-7 comeback win Sunday, Gunderson would come in to record the last two outs and get his 20th save of the year. He is tied for the best in the SEE WORLD SERIES  PAGE nation.“Whether you know it or not,