CULTURE
March 11, 2015
Page 17
Can New App WiGo Change âGoing Out?â By NICOLE HORTON CULTURE EDITOR
Who is Going Out (WiGo), an app that hit the market in September, is aimed at eliminating the guesswork for college studentsâ nightlife and weekend plans. Similar to Harvard-dropout Mark Zuckerberg, twenty-three-yearold Ben Kaplan dropped out of Holy Cross following his freshman year to pursue his entrepreneurial goals. He worked with programmers to launch the app at his school, and within three weeks, half the school was using it. WiGoâs website explains its purpose and functions, stating: âWith WiGo, you will always know who at your school is going out and where your friends are headed. Tap people you want to see out, or simply invite them to join you. WiGo resets every
morning, so everything from the night before is wiped clean. Every day on WiGo is a new day.â According to Business Insider, the app has only been widely available since September, but has been downloaded and requested on more than 1,200 campuses. It is in use at 73 schools and has more than 100,000 active users. Andrew Nelson, FCRH â18, is a campus ambassador for the app and will intern with the company over the summer. After hearing about the app from a friend on Facebook, he called WiGo and asked to be an ambassador. Kaplan called him back and talked to him about his own startup ideas. âIt was amazing to know that there was another college kid out there with big ideas who wanted to change something and succeed; it gave me a lot of confidence and hope,â Nelson told Business Insider.
Depending on the student population, hundreds to thousands of students must sign up on a waiting list in order for WiGo to âunlockâ the app at their school. According to Nelson, 162 Fordham students have signed up so far, but about 500 students are needed to unlock the app. âI think that WiGo will change the way we all interact, like technology has done for so many things,â said Nelson. âWiGo removes the need to send dozens of texts asking people if they are going out and where they are going.â WiGo definitely has the potential to impact Fordhamâs nightlife because, in addition to seeing where their friends are going, the appâs users will also know if a bar or party will be empty for most of the night before paying a cover to enter. However, not any bar or party
COURTESY OF WIGO
can be added to the list just because a few people mentioned it: there must be over 100 people attending. âWhat happens is that you register your party or it could be a bar on WiGo,â said Nelson. [The host of ] the bar or party takes a picture of the people there and sends it to WiGo, and they pay you to use their app to host people.â For those concerned about privacy in regards to their location, each WiGo user must have an
â.eduâ email address in order to be added to the schoolâs network of WiGo users. Additionally, students have the option to move to a private account, in which users must accept or decline anybody who wishes to follow them. We may not be able to review this app until it is activated at Fordham, but it is undeniably a useful idea from a fellow college student that seems to be an intriguing new development in social networking.
Review | Music
Clarkson Shines With Guests But Lacks Direction By ANNEMARIE MARCONI CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The âAmerican Idolâ kids are growing up, but when I first heard Kelly Clarksonâs latest chart-topper âHeartbeat Song,â I was not so sure the inaugural winner of the iconic show was growing up with them. If anything, the watered-down beat and uninspiring lyrics made me yearn for the good old days of âBreakaway.â Clarksonâs latest album Piece by Piece was released Feb. 27. I was looking forward to the album, but Clarkson just seemed so bland and tired on this track. I was disappointed and wanted my R&B pop princess back, complete with chunky highlights, some flare jeans and a sweet pair of ombrè sunglasses to top it all off. Piece by Piece is in fact Clarksonâs final contractually-obligated pop al-
COURTESY OF RCA RECORDS
Clarksonâs album has great vocal moments but not anthems.
bum. Her seventh studio endeavor seems to lack the powerhouse shoutalong anthems like âSince U Been Gone,â âBehind These Hazel Eyesâ and âStronger (What Doesnât Kill
You)â that made her famous. However, after digging past the lackluster lead single, I found her vocals still astounding even when she was not belting. Her delicate duet with John
Legend, âRun Run Run,â showcases Clarksonâs amazing range. She and Legend run together in perfect harmony through the winding piano melody and string accompaniment in this stunning track. In addition to Legend, Clarkson collaborated with Sia on this album. The widely acclaimed lyricist penned âTake You Highâ for Clarkson, and it shows. The piece feels like something more suited to the eccentric Sia than the pop princess Clarkson. Granted, the song features glittering lyrics like, âIf Iâm dreaming donât roll over yet/ Perfect like porcelain⌠Kiss the wind and hold on to me.â However, the stuttering, auto-tuned noises and syllables that punctuate each chorus do not feel authentic. It feels like Clarkson is trying on Siaâs famous white wig the way a toddler clunks around in her motherâs high heels. She thinks she
looks sophisticated, but she does not realize that they just do not fit her. After hearing âHeartbeat Song,â my concern was that Piece by Piece would not be mature enough. My fears were quelled when I heard the deeply touching title track âPiece by Piece.â Clarksonâs gorgeous timbre and an uplifting drumbeat accompanies lyrics that compare her absent father to her husband. Listening to the song, you can almost see Clarkson smiling as her husband, talent agent Brandon Blackstock, kisses their adorable eight-monthold daughter, River Rose. It is the kind of chills-inducing, raw autobiography only Clarkson can achieve. Some pieces of this album shine brighter than others, but they all fit together to create another surefire chart-topper for a singer my generation can be proud to have grown up with.
Review | Film
Solid Creativity and Presentation, But a Plot Full of Holes By EILEEN MCCLEAN STAFF WRITER
COURTESY OF COLUMBIA PICTURES
Chappie is flashy in presentation and sentimental, but lacks in plot and logic.
Chappie is a sci-fi thriller written and directed by Neill Blomkamp (District 9, Elysium). It stars Sharlto Copley (District 9) as the title character, Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire), Hugh Jackman (the X-Men films) and the members South African rap group Die Antwoord. After a robotic police force is put to use in Johannesburg, the creator of the robots, Patel tests his new artificial intelligence technology on one of the robots. District 9 (2009), Blonkampâs first film, is one of my all time favorite films. Because of this, I had high expectations for Elysium (2013), that were unfortunately did not meet. So going into Chappie, I was not sure what to expect; was it going to be another thought-provoking sci-fi master-
piece, or another heavy-handed, plot hole riddled mess? While Chappie is a slight improvement over Elysium, it definitely falls under the latter category. Chappie wears its heart on its sleeve, often becoming overly sentimental and failing to actually connect with the audienceâs emotion. There are interesting ideas behind the story, but the film is very heavy-handed in its presentation. The main fault of the film is the screenplay. Some of the dialogue is laughably bad. The story contains huge plot holes, and many of the decisions made by the characters do not make sense and some pivotal moments hinge on implausible coincidences. I spent much of the time being baffled at the sloppiness of the story. Ninja and Yolandi of Die Antwoord are not professional actors and it shows in their performanc-
es. Copley, who was excellent in District 9, does a decent job as the voice and the motion capture for Chappie, but he is limited because you cannot see his face. Jackman gives it his all as the movieâs main antagonist and is probably the most entertaining part of the film, despite his characterâs motivations being so vague and underdeveloped. Patel does his best to bring the film some humanity, but he can only do so much with such a poor story and bad dialogue. For me, Blomkamp is similar to directors James Cameron and M. Night Shyamalan; all three have a lot of creativity and directing ability, they just fail to execute them well in their screenplays. If stylish and thoughtful science fiction is your preferred film genre, Chappie may be worth a watch, but otherwise you can skip this film.