Tuesday, February 17, 2004 College Guy
by Christy Gray
Can I sell you my soul for a 4.0 GPA?
Sure! Let’s see...
Oh wait. It says here that I already own your soul.
AMUSEMENTS
Your Grandma sold it to me last Tuseday for a big win at Bingo.
My Grandma sold my soul?
The University Star - 7
Printing error produces black SpongeBob BY JIM SCHAEFER KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
DETROIT — American Greetings Corp. calls it a regrettable printing error. Somehow, boxes of SpongeBob SquarePants Valentine’s Day cards are popping up in Detroit Wal-Mart stores — but the popular cartoon character found inside isn’t his traditional yellow color. He’s black. And with his trademark big teeth and wide eyes, this SpongeBob seems similar to offensive images of blacks portrayed in minstrel shows decades ago. American Greetings officials said Thursday they were surprised and puzzled when the Detroit Free Press made them aware of a complaint about the product. “We absolutely fell out of our chairs when we saw it,” said Carol Miller, director of business development for the Clevelandbased company. “We’re obviously going to be talking to WalMart as well as Nickelodeon ... to offer our sincere apologies for
The 4th Dimension
this product making it to market.” Miller said the cards, which were printed and packaged in China, are mistakes, but she and other officials said they were trying to determine how it happened. David Blinderman, director of global product development for the company, said the printing facility is one of the company’s most reliable. “Culturally, the guys on press in China wouldn’t have the faintest idea of who a SpongeBob was or who a black SpongeBob was,” he said. Jemeka Garcia of Flint Township, Mich., was skeptical of the mistake, in part because the cards appear to be well made. Garcia and her husband, Scott, complained to the Detroit Free Press earlier this week after their 6-year-old daughter discovered the different SpongeBob. The family purchased the cards at a Wal-Mart near their home so their child could hand them out to her first-grade classmates. “I want to know why the person did it,” Jemeka Garcia said Thursday. “That’s kind of a horriBy Nick Tracy...
ble prank. And what if some kid gets it” as a valentine?” A Wal-Mart official said customers who want refunds can have them, but there were no plans to take the boxes off shelves. “It was a very popular item and there aren’t very many left out there,” said corporate spokeswoman Danette Thompson. She said the company had received no other complaints. The cards — branded as “Nickelodeon 34 Foil Valentines” and selling for $2.74 — are exclusive to Wal-Mart. Officials said they were widely distributed across the country, but they would not say how many had been produced. The Free Press checked a Wal-Mart in Roseville, Mich., and found the cards. There are 68 Wal-Mart stores in the state. SpongeBob stars on the Nickelodeon cable channel. Jemeka Garcia said she’s already gone out and replaced the offensive SpongeBobs for her daughter. “I went and bought her some Scooby-Doos,” she said.
T oday’s slang cu e the crickets Used when someone says something in an attempt to be witty or funny, but it goes sour, this cues people in on the fact that it sucked. Example: “So I said I’d love to be inside the Paris Hilton ...” “Cue the crickets.”
crop du sting (verb ) To put in simple terms, farting while walking. Example: “So I as I was crop dusting at H-E-B, I found out this hot girl was behind me.” “Rex, you still hungry boy? Where’d you go Rex?”