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THURSDay, JANUARY 19, 2012
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NINERTIMES Thursday, Januar y 19, 2011
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When you give an omnivore a veggie burger
A night away from home Gwen Shearman g s h ea r ma @ uncc . e d u
Phi Beta Sigma will experience what it feels like to be homeless Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m. the next morning. Well not exactly, but that’s the idea behind the Sleepout for the Homeless event. The fraternity plans to spend the night outside in order to bring awareness to the issue of homelessness faced in the U.S. The event, being held in the courtyard between Wallis Hall and Lynch Hall, also collects clothes, canned good and other perishable items which will be donated to the Charlotte Men’s Shelter. The event started over twenty years ago and has grown into a national program for the fraternity. “From my understanding in the late 1980s some brothEvent ers from the chapter and North CarWhat: Sleepout for olina A&T decided the Homeless to stay all night in When: 6 p.m. until January, just to 6 a.m., Friday, Jan. see what homeless people go through 20, 2012 to an extent,” said Where: Courtyard Kamal Shaw of Phi between Wallis Beta Sigma. Hall and Lynch Hall The sleepout has seen increased support in recent years, and received the philanthropy of the year award from the Greek Life office on campus. “Last year we received four car loads full of clothes, canned goods and other perishable items. Years before we had decent results, but last year was the best I have seen in three years” said Shaw. Members of Rho Gamma Chapter, as well as chapters from Johnson C. Smith and surrounding areas will fair a night in the harsh winter weather to get a glimpse at what a homeless person goes through on a daily basis. “I encourage everybody to come out, support and donate to the event. It’s a real humbling experience,” said Shaw.
He’ll beg you for some meat. What is it like to be a vegetarian at UNC Charlotte? Take a first-hand look. Malcolm Carter mcarte72@uncc.edu
Monday, Jan. 9, 2012. The first day of classes, and my first day of being a vegetarian. Call it a resolution kicking in late, call it a burning curiosity to try the other side or call it my firebreathing dragon of an editor telling me I had no choice. Anyway you slice it, I was a vegetarian. It started off in the Residential Dining Hall (RDH). I took my normal ham, cheese and peppers, save the swine of course, wrapped in liquid egg with Cheerios, apple juice and an apple. I could tell after the first bite of the omelette it was going to be a rough week. Without the sweet thickness of pig, the item failed to satisfy. Lunch came, time to try my new veggie powers on Crown Commons. Rice, roll and green
peas, nothing special. Then the moment of truth, stir-fry tofu. It hurt just to put it on my plate, as the line to get stir-fry chicken was long like they were debuting the iPhone 5 instead of food. I sat down with my rainbow plate of food and started to chow down. As I sat back with that smug look of satisfaction on my face, I noticed I’d eaten everything except the stir-fry. Ah what the hell, you only live once. I ate the tofu. It was wellseasoned and tasted good with other vegetables in the concoction. The tofu was kind of hard and crunchy, though, a sensation I don’t normally associate with tofu. Nutrition accomplished. Dinner at RDH was a little upsetting. I don’t know how I made it through the night. The cheese pizza was as tasty as
A “hot salad.” A salad with lettuce, carrot, grilled tofu, corn and peppers. Photo courtsey of Malcolm Carter. hobo-sheltering cardboard, the red beans and rice was dry as sand fresh from the Sahara and the vegetarian chili was quite bland. It was almost as if the chefs were too concerned with having vitamins and nutrition enough to sustain vegetarians to cater to their flavor detection abilities. I absolutely couldn’t seem to bring myself to eat the food I’d put on my plate. Guess it was time to try a veggie burger. I walked up to the grill and asked for a veggie burger. “I’ll g0 check and see if we have any,” said the chef, and she retired to the back recesses of the kitchen. You don’t already know if you have any? Oh dear. In the back I imagine she
looked in the freezer, she looked in the fridge, in the trash can, in the garbage disposal and in the bathroom. Out back underneath the dumpster, I’m sure she shined a light. Rats and cockroaches alike scurried into the woods, and there in their place she found my veggie patty. Spongebob, the benefactor of the Krabby Patty, would be in tears. Meanwhile in front of the grill, I was getting cold feet. A line was forming behind me, the chef had been gone for four minutes. I had almost lost my nerve when I saw her returning, to my delightful surprise with no patty in her hand. “It’s cooking. It’ll be about five minutes.” VEGETARIAN p.4
The cheese quesadilla, cheese pizza and a veggie lentils burger from Crown Commons. Photo courtsey of Malcolm Carter.
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Watch for Pedestrians.
Album Reviews: Hello Handshake fuses rock and art and will play Amos’ Southend later this month
Both students walking and students driving on campus should pay closer attention to crosswalk signs and stop lights especially after a Wells Fargo executive was stuck in downtown Charlotte last week.
Golden Globes: Ricky
Gervais’ third year hosting the Golden Globe Awards way be his last after Jimmy Fallon steals the show in his “Moves Like Jagger” parody.
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