The term “Muslim” is used to describe a religion, not a culture. This was one of the many topics highlighted in the Orangerie on May 2 as part of the panel discussion titled “Unveiled and Unimaginable? Uncovering and Discovering the Ways Islam is Lived.”

The discussion, which was moderated by Kenneth Sammond, senior lecturer in the Department of Literature, Language, Writing and Philosophy and associate director of the Honors Program, included four panelists. They were Fakhruddin Ahmed, member of the Islamic Society of New Jersey; Reza Aslan, associate professor of creative writing at University of California, Riverside; Titi Kazeem, member of Jam-e-Masjid Islamic Center in Boonton, N.J.; and Sana Mohayya, junior at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Sammond began by asking the panelists to describe one of their earliest memories of growing up in the Muslim religion. All members of the panel spoke about positive memories of their early experiences of Ramadan.

Ahmed was the first to speak about his experience as a child when he was first encouraged to fast for part of the day. He made it until 7 p.m. before he felt hungry and wanted to break his fast.

He said his family then wrapped a towel around his stomach to ease the hunger pains. It was from an early age that, with determination and pride in his religion, he could keep the fast.

Kazeem, who is originally from Nigeria, shared a powerful anecdote about growing up in the Muslim faith. Many of her family members and friends were part of the same religion.

From the age of 6 years old, she was taught how to properly fast. To this day, she cites this experience as “stimulating and formulating even in my early years.” The time of Ramadan was festive because of the array of food available to Kazeem and her family when the fast ended.

One of the more stimulating questions Sammond posed for the panelists was how it feels when some people classify Muslims by the way they look.

Kazeem spoke from personal experience that many people may not immediately assume she is a Muslim woman by looking at her. “Most people define Muslims by your outer wearings… not by your person,” she said.

She further emphasized that a person’s personal practice and beliefs, things we don’t normally see, are what truly classifies them as belonging to the religion.

As a student, Mohayya understood some of the current misconceptions relating to her religion. “If we don’t fit that image, it doesn’t fit into their heads that we aren’t Muslim,” she said.

She personally disagreed with the sentiment, citing her personal choice to not wear a hijab, which she does not feel comfortable wearing. This, according to Mohayya, does not make her any less proud of her religion or any less of a practicing Muslim.

When asked about how the Muslim religion affects women, Aslan said, “There is a problem in many majority states when concerning women.”

Kazeem further emphasized that, as a woman, she views the Qur’an as a book of guidelines. Someone’s culture helps to determine how to practice the faith, but overall the Qur’an is meant to steer people towards a general direction.

Mohayya spoke of the stereotypes and stigmas that came with being a part of the Muslim community. She is not scared or ashamed of her faith. She is proud to have her faith integrated in her life. “I know what the religion is,” said Mohayya. “You can’t get away from [stereotypes], you just have to live with them.”

After winning the Freedom Conference tournament, Fairleigh Dickinson University’s men’s golf team will compete in the NCAA III tournament on May 14 in Destin, Fla.

The Devils began the 2013 season with one goal in mind: To win the Freedom Conference tournament. They reached that goal on April 26 in Hershey, Pa., by dethroning Manhattanville College and overcoming the competition from DeSales University.

“I think it’s satisfying,” said senior Daniel Bentson.

“We’ve had this date circled on our calendar since our schedules came out in early March. To put all our hard work into it and finally achieve our goal, it’s very satisfying.”

The Devils were not given a chance heading into the tournament. The team was going against Manhattanville, who won the previous three Freedom Conference tournaments, and DeSales, who had a major transfer carry them to the top of the conference this year.

FDU didn’t listen to the critiques because the Devils knew they had the team that could be crowned champions.

“We were playing with them,” senior Billy King said. “No one picked us from the beginning so we had no pressure. I felt like we were the top dogs, but we were considered the underdogs. It was a lot easier; we had no pressure. We just went out there and played our game.”

The Devils shot a team score of 646 to secure their title as the kings of the Freedom Conference.

FDU shot well on the first day, but missed being on the top of the standings by two strokes, finishing with a combined score of 327.

Even with finishing day one in second place, the Devils had confidence and a positive dream that came true for a certain golfer on FDU’s roster.

Junior Matt Molinari said, “I actually had a dream the night before that I was going to birdie the first hole and I did.”

Molinari added, “I actually birdied three out of my first seven holes so it was a good start. I hope to take that to Florida. If I can have a good start during the first nine, I know I can carry that the rest of the way.”

The Devils had a fast start and did not look back, finishing the day with a combined score of 319.

According to fdudevils.com, the next closest team in the field was 10 strokes behind FDU. King won the Freedom Conference Player of the Year honors for his performance during the Freedom Conference tournament. King finished day two with a 77 after posting a score of 79 on day one, for a tournament score of 156.

The Devils also had three golfers represent the team with Second Team All Freedom Conference honors. Juniors Kevin McCloskey and Molinari each tied for seventh, with scores of 163. Bentson finished tenth for the weekend, with a score of 164.

“Golf is a really weird sport. If you do well individually, you will do well as a team,” King said. “We had four players in the top ten and that alone gave us the opportunity to win it. A kid came up to me on the last hole and asked if I was five over or six over and I was like, ‘oh wow.’ I wasn’t even thinking about that. I think doing so well individually gave us a chance to get a trip to Florida.”

Head Coach Roger Kindel was named Freedom Conference Coach of the Year. According to the Fairleigh Dickinson University athletics website, this was the fifth time in eight seasons that Kindel has been given that honor.

The Manhattanville team was stripped of its title, after winning the Freedom Conference tournament for the past three seasons. The Devils had luck before that; King said FDU won four straight Freedom Conference tournaments before Manhattanville gained control of the conference.

King said, “(Andrew) Burke and I are the most experienced on the golf team being here four straight years.” He went on to explain, “Before our freshman year our team went to the NCAA tournament four straight years, so I came here to go straight there. Unfortunately, the first three years did not work out as planned. It’s just amazing how all this hard work paid off and it’s pretty surreal.”

The three senior captains – Bentson, Burke and King – led the way this season and provided an example of leadership for the team to follow. They would not settle for anything less than a Freedom Conference Championship. Molinari would like to continue their teachings past the Florida tournament.

Molinari said, “I am going to look at how they’ve done this season as captains and I’d like to replicate that as much as I can next year because they did a great job.”

The Devils were an older team heading into the tournament, only having juniors and seniors in their starting lineup.

The team showed its experience by regrouping after day one and coming out confident for the rest of the tournament.

The men’s golf program has now made a name for itself on campus and in Division III golf. They are starting to get the recognition the seniors have been fighting for since their first day at FDU.

“It’s definitely cool having the FDU golf program recognized,” Bentson said. “Going into class and having a teacher or student congratulate you or give you a pat on the back. It’s kind of like a big man on campus feel right now.”

Bentson said a successful NCAA III tournament would be a nice parting gift for the seniors who worked so hard to help rebuild the Devils program.

“Honestly, I don’t think it’s set in yet because we still have a lot of practicing to do,” King said. “We have a lot to look forward to. The next goal is to make the cut so that we can stay in Florida an extra four days.”

On April 28, Fairleigh Dickinson held its first-ever Twombly Awards. Similar to the Maddy Awards, this event recognized freshmen who stood out in several different categories.

The idea originated with Lindsay Grettner, a GA from last year, and current Resident Assistant, Jackie Radcliff. Radcliff was inspired by the Maddy Awards and decided to hold an awards ceremony for freshmen so they could see that others were noticing their actions as well.

Radcliff and Kaitlyn Pickerelli, another RA, explained that they get to know the freshmen well as a result of living with them for an entire academic year. They are proud of every accomplishment their residents have made, and felt this event would be the perfect way of showing them that.

There were multiple people involved in making the event happen. Radcliff and Pickerelli ran the program, but they had many people assisting them along the way.

They included GAs Kevin Herbert and Anthony Pace, Danushi Fernando, Dean of Students Jas Verem and multiple other RAs.

They began by choosing the categories for the awards. These ranged from talent-related ones such as best actor, vocal talent and best athlete, to personality-based awards like “Mr./Ms. Sunshine” and individuality. There were several quirky awards as well, including most clumsy, “movie guru” and “Jersey Shore” (which was for a student who is similar to the cast of that show).

The RAs could choose any freshman, not only the ones from their floor, or leave the category blank if they were uncertain, which led to some sections having more nominees than others.
From there, an email was sent out to all freshmen for them to select the winners from the nominees. Voting was online and anonymous.

Once the voting period ended, the votes were tallied to determine the winner of each category. An award video was then created to display at the event.

The video showed the names of the nominees and winners to a background of music and a voiceover by Verem himself, reading each name. Radcliff and Pickerelli gathered pictures from the nominees to display when they won, and selected songs specific to each category, such as “I’m Bringing Sexy Back” by Justin Timberlake for the category of “Best Dressed Male.”

The RAs also created a logo of the Devil in a tuxedo with a top hat for the show, which included refreshments, decorations and performers. For example, Alexandra Landau sang “All That Jazz” to open the event.

“Basically, we had to create and design the awards ceremony from scratch,” said Pickerelli.
Isaac Leggett, a senior at FDU, entertained students for about 15 minutes until the main event began.

After a few words by Verem and Landau’s performance, they moved on to announcing the winners.
Several categories in, technical problems occurred so that the video could no longer be viewed. Audience members could still hear the video and were able to cheer on the nominees they knew as their names were read off.

An RA opened each category with a statement and winners were announced in the style of the Academy Awards.

Winners received a trophy showing the year, “1st Annual Twombly Awards” and the name of their category. Time was allotted for speeches by the winners, but few freshmen actually chose to say anything.

Although there were students who were happy with the winners, there were some who were disappointed. Some students even left, but Radcliff believes that this just “showed that people were very invested in the awards and cared about them.”

“Although we were sad to see some of the freshmen leaving upset, they should keep in mind that the freshmen class voted for them. It won’t ever take away from the fact that they were nominated,” said Radcliff. She later added, “even if you didn’t win, there are people who see the great things you do.”

The Twombly Awards will continue each year. Despite some technical problems, Radcliff believes the show went well.

The recent selection of Sheldon Drucker as Fairleigh Dickinson University’s seventh president was a surprise to the FDU community – for some it was a pleasant one; for others it was a questionable one.

Drucker, who has been serving the university for 17 years, took on the role of interim president of the university after the former president, the late J. Michael Adams, announced his retirement. Drucker was not considered a candidate in the presidential search process, but was chosen to be the university’s next president on April 23.

The announcement was made via email to the FDU community from FDU Board of Trustees Chair Patrick Zenner.

Three days after Drucker’s appointment was announced, Anthony Mell, president emeritus of the Metropolitan campus’ Student Government Association, addressed his concerns regarding the decision in an open letter to the university’s Board of Trustees. The letter was emailed to the Board of Trustees and also posted on the FDU SGA Metropolitan Campus Facebook page.

Mell wrote that the letter “is not intended to be a criticism of [the Board of Trustees] or the process, rather it is only a statement of the current emotional atmosphere of the students of [the Metropolitan] campus … that is intended to better inform [the Board of Trustees] and to give voice to those students.”

After doing so, the committee suggested finalists to FDU’s entire Board of Trustees. Drucker was not one of the finalists.

As Drucker explained in an April 25 note to the FDU community, “I didn’t initially aspire to become the permanent University president, and I did not present myself as a candidate in the search process.”

Though the search committee spearheaded the effort to find the university’s next president, the final decision was left to the Board of Trustees. “The decision to name a new President was not the student body’s or [the] search committee’s, but entirely the Board’s decision as legal guardians of the University to make,” said Palmer.

The two finalists in the presidential search, Jorge Haddock, dean of the School of Management at George Mason University, and Javier Cevallos, current president of Kutztown University, spoke at town hall meetings on both New Jersey campuses on April 17 and April 18, respectively. Both candidates addressed their future plans for FDU and answered questions from the audiences, which consisted of students and other FDU community members.

Since Drucker was not considered a finalist, students did not have the opportunity to question him, as they had been able to with Haddock and Cevallos.

“While President Drucker has spent nearly two decades at FDU he is virtually unknown to the student population so I believe it is justifiable for the students to question the credentials of a candidate they have not had the chance to question themselves nor with which they have any level of familiarity,” Mell wrote in the letter. “It is obvious that the board found President Drucker to be qualified, but now that the decision has been made, the students were deprived of an opportunity to determine that for themselves.”

Palmer also felt that the student body should have had more of a voice in Drucker’s selection. “I did mention in my letter that the students on both FDU campuses had no input or even knowledge of Sheldon Drucker as a candidate,” said Palmer. “The student body should be appreciative to President Drucker for his time, service and commitment to the University during his 17 years at Fairleigh Dickinson. Still as students we should know more regarding the qualifications and credentials of our now current President.”

After voicing their concerns to the Board of Trustees, Mell, Palmer and current College at Florham SGA President Gina Giurastante met with Board Vice Chair Robert Hallenbeck, University Provost Christopher Capuano and Zenner.

“During the meeting they expressed their regret that the search committee was not notified earlier of the decision to name President Drucker,” said Palmer. “They also pledged to further communicate to the FDU community the merits and qualifications President Drucker possesses to lead the University.”

A set of questions-and-answers prepared in advance of the meeting was made available to The Pillar. That document indicates that “there was still no clear front runner” following Haddock and Cevallos’ campus visits. “At that point, the Board determined that appointing either candidate would not be in the best interests of the University, and that terminating the search was appropriate,” according to the document.

In his April 25 note, Drucker wrote that, “when the search process unfolded and didn’t provide what the board felt would be the right fit for our institution and when the opportunity arose for me to serve in this role on a permanent basis, I jumped at the chance.”

According to Palmer, the 54th Senate of the Student Government Association will invite Drucker to an open meeting next fall, where students can address any further concerns or questions they may have.

At the Metropolitan campus, Mell said, “I can only hope that the board takes a lesson about student involvement in these types of decisions.”

In the letter, Mell addressed a number of concerns about the selection process, which excluded input from the student body with regards to Drucker’s appointment.

Mell wrote that the students’ concern “is not being generated by any form of malice or contempt but rather out of deep held love of this university and concern for its future.”

Daniel Palmer, president emeritus of the College at Florham’s SGA, also addressed his concerns, but in a private letter.

Mell and Palmer were both members of the Presidential Search Committee that was formed shortly after Adams announced his retirement. The committee, which was also comprised of trustees, faculty members and administrators, was expected to narrow down the applicant pool.

Last week’s Hot Topics event went into deep philosophical territory, the type that goes from debt to taxes, and everything in between.

The event, “The Debt Crisis: How it Affects You,” was held at the Orangerie on April 30, which seemed fitting since income taxes were due on April 15.

The panel, which was moderated by political science professor Bruce Peabody, consisted of Tom Strowe, a junior political science major and board member of Fair Tax New Jersey; Burton Zwick, a professor of economics and finance; Dan Cassino, a professor of political science; and Joaquin Villanueva, a professor of geography.

Peabody posed the question, “Why are we talking about a debt crisis?” He also commented on why this “crisis” gets more press than others.

Peabody then asked the panelists to keep their opening statements short since “it is a relatively wonky conversation.”

That way, anyone who was not familiar with the topic would not get lost and the panelists would not go off on tangents.

Strowe, who went first, responded to Peabody’s question by using the “how it affects you” angle. He first pointed out that “long-term debt can harm the fiscal health of this country.” Adding factors such as slow economic growth and higher interest on that debt will limit investment, therefore adding to the problem and creating what is known as the “crowding out effect.”

According to Strowe, college students who are saddled with loans with high interest rates and with little to no job prospects are out of the loop.

Strowe pointed out that the Fair Tax Act could be used to help balance debt since it no longer taxes a person’s income; instead, it adds a sales tax, which everyone pays. Strowe advocates that the current complex tax code be thrown out. He also recommends removing the Internal Revenue Service.

Strowe expanded further by saying that, according to research he has done on the issue, doing this will allow G.D.P. to grow by 10.5 percent and capital spending will jump by a whopping 70 percent. He added that Social Security and Medicare, which are major contributors to the debt crisis, need reform in order to stay in existence.

Zwick, who went second, elaborated on how Social Security and Medicare are contributed to the debt. Zwick pointed out “that people are living too long” and joked that a “way to solve this problem is to reintroduce the smoking program,” which drew some laughter from the audience, some of whom were easily over 50 years old.

Some solutions he suggested would be to raise the age up to 69; use means testing, which gives less money to elderly people who are wealthier; and replace the rate at which Social Security is calculated.

Zwick then switched to Medicare, which is much trickier to solve. There is a bipartisan agreement that something has to change “otherwise it is going to consume us,” he explained. What Zwick found encouraging is that medical costs have stabilized so Medicare may survive; depending on which Medicare proposal – by either President Obama or Congressman Paul Ryan – gains traction. “Either way we are going to rein in the cost of Medicare,” he said.

Cassino, who went third, pointed out that, since the Fed is offering interest rates as low as zero percent, it is not affecting the economy. Rather, the debt crisis is a crisis in morality.
Cassino argued that people put “a level of morality into our discussion of the debt” and that, until the 19th century, many Christian countries actually banned charging interests. Cassino went further by pointing out negative connotations to having debt, such as “you obviously spent too much,” “you shouldn’t have done that” or “a sinner.”

Cassino then argued that, from an economic standpoint, there are some benefits to debt. For example, you should go into debt so you could be more productive in the future. So, according to Cassino, going into debt by buying that extra piece of equipment to help expand your business is considered a good thing.

Villanueva, who went last, agreed with Cassino, stating that it is more of a moral crisis rather than an economic one. He then pointed out that the debt crisis makes people feel as if they are “losing some form of sovereignty, as increasingly our debt is tied to foreign investors,” such as China. Due to this, tax and program cuts come into play, which hurts the economy and increases debt.

Villanueva then switched to how student loans affect students because they are “going to be tied to this economy for the rest of [their] life.” This is because all they will be doing is working to pay off their student loans This, according to Villanueva, affects the larger economy since, instead of creating a productive economy, we are creating an economy based on paying off their debt.

Villanueva also argued that debt is now making creditors and credit rating agencies too powerful both at personal and national levels since countries are losing credit statuses due to their debt.

After opening up discussion to the audience, the panel dynamic shifted. Much of the interaction was between panelists, rather than between the panelists and the audience, who seemed quite fixated on how the debate played out – with Villanueva and Cassino on one side and Zwick and Strowe on the other.

There were people who posed questions to the panel, but, for the most part, it was the panelists who held court. Either way, the event was civil: no one shouted at each other or called anyone names; and there was no booing or catcalling to the panel. Instead, there was some laughter from the audience due to some of the panelists’ comments.

Villanueva and Strowe both found common ground in terms of the need for cuts, such as in the military. Cassino agreed with Strowe in terms of the tax code and Cassino agreed with Zwick jokingly that we should start smoking again to reduce the burden on Social Security and Medicare.

There is only one band on this entire planet that I will stand almost five hours for, and that’s Vampire Weekend.

For the first time since the last time – September 2010 at Radio City Music Hall to be exact – Vampire Weekend returned to the New York City stage; this time at the Roseland Ballroom. Their performance was broadcasted on a live stream directed by Steve Buscemi and was part of AmexUNSTAGED and the TriBeCa Film Festival.

Before the band took the stage, comedian Fred Armisen warmed up the crowd. Armisen, complete with a wig and a British accent, transformed into Ian Rubbish from “Ian Rubbish and the Bizarros”- a “Saturday Night Live” sketch that recently aired. Armisen, or Rubbish, entertained the crowd with the skits “Maggie Thatcher,” “Sweet Iron Lady,” “Living in the Gutter” and “Hey Policeman!”

After Armisen’s set, there was a 25-minute wait before the live stream began and Vampire Weekend took the stage. When they did, the venue erupted into a cheers and applause.

The band opened with “Cousins” and “White Sky” from their second album, “Contra.”

“This is our first show in New York in years,” Ezra Koenig (vocals, guitar, lyrics) said before playing “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa,” a track from their 2008 self-titled debut album.

The band formed while Koenig, Chris Baio (bass guitar, backing vocals), Rostam Batmanglij (keyboards, guitar, backing vocals, lyrics) and Chris Tomson (drums, percussion) were students at Columbia University in New York City. Koenig made a reference to their Morningside Heights alma mater before the band played “One (Blake’s Got A New Face)” later on in the concert.

“I Stand Corrected” is a slower track from their 2008 album, but the average concert-goer may not pick up on its andante tempo due to the liveliness of the band – and that’s a good thing.
“This is a very special night for us, not just because we’re back in New York but also this show we’re at anybody can watch it live on the Internet,” Koenig said.

The first song from their new album, “Modern Vampires of the City,” that the band played was “Step,” which, like “I Stand Corrected,” surprisingly works well in a live setting. Batmanglij used a piece of equipment that modified his voice, to match how it sounds in the studio version. Batmanglij also operated the same equipment to modify Koenig’s voice for “Diane Young,” another song off their new album. “[Diane Young] was dedicated to Ian Rubbish,” Koenig said.

“Holiday,” which is from “Contra” and was used in a Honda Civic commercial during the 2010 holiday season, served as a segue to “Unbelievers.” The crowd clapped in time to Tomson’s drumming for the latter part of the song.

Batmanglij invited the crowd to sing the “Ohh” with him during “Horchata,” and had them practice.
“Everlasting Arms” was another song from “Modern Vampires of the City” that the band played and the crowd quickly learned the chorus.

“I don’t need to tell you to move to this one,” Koenig said before the band played “A-Punk” from their first album. I still have a small bruise from when someone jumped on my foot (by accident, of course). Buscemi, who had been directing the live stream, walked onto the stage, took a picture with Baio and sang the rest of “A-Punk” with Koenig.

“I think they want to play more songs, but I’m happy to take some requests,” Buscemi said. “I can’t understand anyone. I think they’re saying, ‘Ya Hey.’ Is that a song?”

“Ya Hey” has more of an Afrobeat that is present in many Vampire Weekend songs and translates fantastically from the studio to the stage.

Batmanglij had the crowd clapping in 4/4 time with Tomson’s drums, as they played “Campus,” one of the songs written completely by Batmanglij. From there, they went right into “Oxford Comma.”
“Giving Up The Gun” was the next song they played and as soon as the first line of beats played, the crowd erupted.

The band thanked the crowd for coming out and left the stage for a moment before playing an encore. “We will play more than one song, okay?” Koenig said as he walked on stage. “You might not have heard this one before.”

The band debuted “Obvious Bicycle,” the first track off “Modern Vampires of the City.” It is a very somber song.

“That’s one of my favorite Vampire Weekend songs,” Batmanglij said.

One of the things I didn’t quite understand about the live stream at the time was why they didn’t make an effort to show what Buscemi was doing while the band was on stage. It seemed a bit odd to me that they didn’t show much of him during the concert and that was one of the main points of the concert. If I was going to shell out $63 for a ticket (those Ticketmaster fees are brutal), then I should get to see Buscemi in the flesh for more than five minutes. (Okay, he did shake my hand before Armisen opened up for the band so maybe I shouldn’t be complaining so much.)

In the encore they also played “Diplomat’s Son,” which is one of my personal favorites from “Contra.”

“Not only are you some of the best fans, you have very beautiful iPhone cases that I’ve been looking at all night,” Koenig said. “Hopefully we give you something good to look at.”

The band played “One (Blake’s Got A New Face),” and as Koenig told the crowd they played it differently than when they used to play “up on 114th Street.” Being someone who has an aversion to change, I thought it was a good different.

They band played their final song, “Walcott,” which is their standard “goodbye” song. “Walcott” is named after a town in Massachusetts. It is also the name of Koenig’s character in the short film he made freshman year of college with high school friend and Ra Ra Riot lead singer Wes Miles, called “Vampire Weekend.”

“Modern Vampires of the City” will be released in the U.S. on May 14, a week later than was originally announced due to “unforeseen delays in post-production,” according to the band.

They are also scheduled to play a show at Barclay’s in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Sept. 20.

It’s that time of the year again. School is winding down and kids are eagerly looking forward to summer vacation. More importantly, the summer movie season is once again upon us. As it has been since 2007, the summer movie season starts every first weekend of May with a superhero film.

This season, that film is “Iron Man 3,” the first film to kick off Marvel Studios’ “Phase Two” of their Cinematic Universe (after the culmination of “Phase One,” which was last summer’s box office smash “The Avengers”).

In “Iron Man 3,” we see how Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is haunted by what happened during the Battle of New York that was depicted in “The Avengers.” Because of this, he can’t sleep and suffers from anxiety attacks. He also now spends his days in his workshop making Iron Man suits, which puts a strain on his relationship with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow).

Despite how he is feeling, Stark must return to save the day once more when two new threats show up.

One is a scientist named Dr. Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), who has invented a deadly virus known as “Extremis” and has a past history with Stark.

The other is a terrorist known only as The Mandarin (Sir Ben Kingsley), who creates chaos throughout America. After Stark issues a threat to him, The Mandarin decides to destroy Stark’s home. Now, with the world believing him to be dead, Stark sets out to investigate the terror Mandarin is planning.

I was very excited going into this movie. This was the first Marvel movie in a post-Avengers world and I was extremely curious to see where the filmmakers would take Stark’s character after having him fly a nuclear missile through a wormhole into space. I mean, after all, who wouldn’t be curious?

This film was also directed and co-written by Shane Black, who directed Downey Jr. in 2005’s underrated “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.” He has written other films such as “Lethal Weapon.” I was eager to see what he could do with a movie on this scale. Plus, after the overstuffed, two-hour “Avengers” commercial that was “Iron Man 2,” I wanted this to be a good “Iron Man” movie. Thankfully, it was. For me, this is the second best “Iron Man” film; since it would be difficult to top the first one.

The performances in this movie are excellent.

At this point, after playing the character of Tony Stark for the fourth time, I was not expecting anything new from Robert Downey Jr.’s performance as the genius billionaire playboy philanthropist. And yet, I was pleasantly surprised at the changes made to Stark’s character in this movie.

Tony Stark seemed more disillusioned with the world, having seen things no mortal man has ever seen. There are still his wisecracks, but Downey Jr. also portrays the character almost as a shell of his former self. I also like that we get to see Stark have to rely on his wits and ingenuity in tough situations rather than the suit. This is something that can help audiences relate to Stark.

Paltrow as Pepper Potts also gave a stellar performance. I love that her role was different than in previous films and that her relationship with Tony was brought to the forefront. And quite honestly, who wouldn’t want to see more of Gwyneth Paltrow?

Don Cheadle as Stark’s friend James “Rhodey” Rhodes was great as well, giving him and Tony a nice buddy-buddy rapport.

The bad guys in this movie were fun to watch. Pearce seemed to be having a blast as Dr. Aldrich Killian. Pearce rarely takes on a villain role so it was nice to see him let loose a little bit and have some fun with his role. His connection to Stark is an interesting one, as it shows an example of Stark’s selfishness coming back to haunt him.

As for Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin, he was excellent. His portrayal of an extremely menacing and terrifying villain was superb. You will truly believe that he was someone who could terrorize the free world. Kingsley captured that perfectly. However, there is a change to the character of the Mandarin that is going to divide comic fans. You are either going to roll with this twist and love it or, if you’re a comic purist, you are going to hate it. Me, personally, I thought it was kind of clever – enough said about that without giving it away.

The direction and writing of this movie were extremely well handled. Considering this is Black’s second movie and his first major blockbuster film, I was impressed with its direction – especially with the action scenes, which are some of the best I’ve seen all year. Black’s strong point is his screenwriting abilities and they are on full display here. Black’s dialogue tends to be darkly humorous and perhaps a bit on the quirky side. From the first line of dialogue, you can tell that Black had a hand in helping write this (he shares screenwriting credit with Drew Pearce).

Another thing that struck me about the film was the tone of it. Ironically, this felt like the darkest “Iron Man” movie out of the three, but at the same time, it was also the funniest.

There were a few things about the film that I had issues with. One of those things was the use of Rebecca Hall’s character, Dr. Maya Hansen. I think Hall is a great actress and I loved her in “The Town;” however, she is incredibly underused here. I felt her character was almost insignificant within the plot. As previously mentioned, some comic purists will hate the change to The Mandarin in the movie. The other thing that confused me greatly was the ending. Without spoiling it completely, I will say that I am now very curious about what Joss Whedon is planning for 2015’s “The Avengers 2.”

Overall, “Iron Man 3” is an excellent way to kick off the 2013 summer movie season. If this is what the first movie of the summer brings, I can’t wait to see what else is in store.

Grade: A-

Two years ago, former Editor-in-Chief Melissa Hartz made the bold decision to give me a column in The Pillar. The subject: my life, the people I’ve met, both weird and way too normal, I drank with the best of them, so that I could wake up in the morning and tell you all about it.

I’ve thrown myself into fountains full of freezing water, so that I could no longer feel my body. It’s wonderful to hit golf balls off balconies, your target held in place by empty wine bottles that shatter. The sound of destruction has kissed my ears. Once, and only once, I cried myself all the way to the fifty yard line just to stare up at the sky, hoping that my soul would float away from me because there’s a story in everything we lose.

There were girls who liked to throw parties where the men sat on the sinks and the women collected money for the beer until they were too drunk to think straight. I always waited until they were too drunk, so that I could drink for free. I loved these beer goddesses, their heads always in the right place but unable to follow through, which is the condition of being young.

Jumping the fence in the middle of the night into the St. Elizabeth’s campus always offered me some sort of a painful punishment. My book bag would get caught at the top of the fence as I made the jump to the other side, which would send me flying into the leaves and dirt. I remember wanting to hold a girl’s hand, my pants soiled and my ass sore. She laughed and laughed and laughed. I’ve been looking for that happiness ever since.

A classic excuse, but it holds true: trouble often finds me.

For example, one time I was walking down the street with a flask full of gin and too many bad memories when my associate, The Colonel, appeared out of thin air with a group of girls I was in love with. One was very skinny and she had long toes like fingers, the longest hair I’d ever touched and a smile that attached itself to everything I said. A writer. But I couldn’t talk to her.

The Colonel told me all about it: they’d taken a couple shots and had a race across a field ruined by weeds. The loser would have to dive into a freezing pool naked. The girl lost and was ready to slip off her clothes in between laughter and an amusing thought – The Colonel would like what he saw.

Every young person hopes that they will be groped in a desperate love. Arms will shake and lips will quickly come to know the taste of skin. “I love you, I love you, I love you.” That’s the way we all want our nights to sound.

Somewhere down the line, a friend stopped the girl from stripping off what little clothes she had on – no more than a t-shirt and gym shorts – and told her they needed to go.

“Thank God she stopped me,” she’ll whisper to me later, but I’m not so sure. It’s sad to feel the breath of potential blow past you and be unable to breathe it in.

Well, The Colonel tells me to go upstairs with him and I say okay because it’s 2 a.m. and nothing good could possibly happen. A writer looks for that kind of thing, the point at which everything becomes irrevocably wrong… Like a knock at your door, a skirt that’s worn too high, a soft kiss on your neck that will lead to more angry phone calls, tears after lovemaking, the letters I write my ex-girlfriend over and over after too much booze.

Things go wrong. Soon I’m stumbling out of The Colonel’s apartment and into the cold of night. I call someone I shouldn’t.

“What are we doing?” I ask a girl I’d broken up with a few nights before. “Are we really doing this?”

I have dreams where the women I love are dancing in the moonlight, linking arms and singing the most beautiful song. I’m lying down in the middle of their circle and they spin around me so quickly that I can no longer tell their faces apart. I try to get up, but I can’t.

The grass is wet underneath me and the ants are trying to crawl into my ears. I beg the women to help me. They keep spinning and singing.

I can’t decipher what they’re saying, but I know how it feels. It feels like I’ve lost. These endings frighten me.

But the real moment isn’t singing, it’s firecrackers. The Colonel lights them all around the girl and me like a ritual, but I don’t know what’s being sacrificed. Our bodies on the grass, drenched from the pool and howling in the dark. Making love isn’t what we call it when in nature. It’s called being human.

Sophomore year of college, my roommate Hillary Brewer and I decided to take our relationship to the next level… and get a hamster.

It seemed like the perfect kind of a pet for the broke, irresponsible, still-wet-behind-the-ears college students that we were, and the kind of lifestyle that we were living.

A lifestyle that I can’t share all of the details of, but that I will say included copious amounts of gin and seltzer (flavored). The Roots. Samantha Reba. The phrase “Cheers, Gov’na!” Beds pushed together. Legs crossed, Indian style on the floor, on beds, on the grass. Leah Heffernan. Chinese food. Laughter. College sweatshirts with the hood up, indoors. Empty water bottles. Rosy cheeks. A whole lot of love.

Olive, our hamster, was loved by many. There wasn’t a single visitor to our room who wasn’t immediately enamored with her. She was a very special hamster.

When she died that May, we held a funeral in the woods behind the basketball courts. Kind words about her were exchanged and together, we said goodbye to our furry little friend. We found a rock with a flat side, and placed it on top of the freshly-filled hole in the ground where she lay. In all its puffy-painted glory, the rock read “Here lies, Olive: a free hamster.”

A few weeks ago, coincidentally nearly two years after Olive’s passing, I found myself awake before sunrise on a Sunday morning, and decided to go for a walk. I ended up in the woods behind the basketball courts; wandering, but with a purpose. The rock was gone.
*

This year, my senior year of college, I was asked to select and fundraise for the 2013 Senior Class Gift, a task that seems much easier than it actually is. Not solely because my partner, SaKarra Fite, and I found ourselves unable to please everyone or unable to find a gift that satisfied the wishes of faculty, staff and students. Or, because it was difficult to select a gift that was exactly what the university needed, amidst a long-list of necessary improvements.

Not solely because of the general unwillingness of most people to donate money to any cause, no matter how sentimental or how close to home it may be. Or, because of my peers’ general sense of apathy towards all things “FDU.” Although, all of the above were obstacles.

One of the biggest criticisms against the proposed (and ultimately selected) idea of creating a scholarship, for a well-rounded recipient from the 2014 class, was the gift’s intangible nature. Many thought that without a physical gift, there would be nothing for alumni to come back to, to remind themselves of their time here, of their legacy.

The thing I most often find myself wondering (even now, as the Class Gift has already been chosen and plans for its deliverance are well underway) is how exactly do we leave behind a legacy?

How does one make the intangible tangible? Is there truly a statue, a wall, a fish tank, that can encapsulate what I, what my peers, have experienced these past four years?

As I subconsciously searched for Olive’s headstone, it was then that I realized how much we rely on physical things to remind of us of what we’ve experienced, as if the memories were not enough. Somewhere, in a place far away, I still have birthday cards from my 15th birthday, my prom corsage, notes I passed in AP Literature, wristbands and guitar picks collected from high school band performances, ticket stubs from inconsequential films like “White Chicks” and “Cloverfield,” clippings from high school newspapers that no longer detail the news, but instead, history.

Even now, in the room that I can call my dorm for only a few weeks longer, there are saved playbills from past FDU theatre productions, pamphlets from two Club Fairs ago, favors from formals and semi-formals, teddy bears won by former loves at carnivals, temporary tattoos from last year’s Fourth of July, a sorority bid long-since accepted, tokens from this RA program or that, post-its that say, “I love you.”

But really, for what? The carnival has ended. The music’s off. The curtains are closed. We’ve all walked home, we’re all sitting back in our rooms with our legs crossed Indian-style. We’ve all moved on.

Or at least, some of us have. As the sun is rising on this Sunday morning, I’m taking a stroll through the past, going through a pile of treasures that mean absolutely nothing to everyone but me. I look at these things, and I remember the carnival lights. I remember sitting in the dark auditorium. I remember the stolen kisses on the Mansion steps, and in deserted dorm hallways. I remember the laughing, the fighting, the running and the playing.

We as a generation are absolutely obsessed with documentation, and I’m guilty as charged. Some say that this is a loud cry for attention, as if with every upload, every update, every Tweet, we are shouting, “Look at me! Look at me!” What I’m wondering now is if we are actually whispering, “Remember me! Remember me!”

To leave behind a legacy is to not be forgotten. But as I look at the seemingly meaningless assortment of knick-knacks that I’ve probably held onto for way too long, I wonder if the goal is to never forget.

The proof that we don’t experience things the same way lies here, in this pile of stuff.
For a long time, I’ve wondered if I see through my eyes what the rest of the world is seeing through theirs. I wondered if in a given moment, especially the moments that I wanted to count the most, the people I was living through it with were feeling what I was feeling.

Sometimes, I learned that was not the case. Sometimes, you really aren’t seeing through your eyes what someone else is seeing through theirs, you’re the only one feeling something. It sucks.

You’re alone in feeling the beauty, or the love, or the potential of a certain moment… and sometimes, the realization of how alone you are can be devastating.

Unless, that is, you’ve been fortunate enough to know the people that I’ve known, the same people that have been by my side for the past four years.

Just like there isn’t a statue large enough or a wall wide enough to encapsulate the college experiences of 400 seniors, there is no word to describe the opposite of loneliness.

Literally, there is no word. Even Merriam-Webster has yet to find a word that describes how my best friends have made me feel, a word for the safety and the warmth and the constant support that they have all provided me with these past four years.

There isn’t a word for the opposite of loneliness, but if there was, I would say that it means what I’ve found here at FDU, with Hillary, and Sam, and Leah.

We don’t experience things the same way, and college is one of them. We joined or we didn’t. We studied, we drank or we didn’t. We found “the one,” or went home with one or we didn’t. Looking back, we won’t all see the same thing.

I’ve realized that the way I see things, even if it’s not what everyone else is seeing, is absolutely beautiful. Because when I look at the past four years, all I can see is my three best friends, who were always feeling what I was feeling, and still are.

There isn’t a word for the opposite of loneliness, but I hope that it’s what all 400 of us have found here. In a campus this small, I know it’s hard to feel physically alone. But if you didn’t make the kind of friends I made, you may have felt alone.

Truthfully, I can’t think of a better class gift than giving someone a chance to find what I’ve found here: love. Love is never being alone, because love is feeling that someone is always there, even when they are not.

Maybe there won’t be a physical reminder that we were here or of what we accomplished. But to me, that’s okay. The ghosts of our pasts will always be here, laughing and fighting and kissing and playing.

And when I come back next fall for Phi Sigma Sigma’s founder’s day, or for Homecoming, or to finally present a deserving junior with a check for $5,000, signed by the Class of 2013… I will see them, and I will wave to them.

No one else sees what I see.

And that’s the point.

It’s beautiful.

One of my editors asked me, “Do you think that our newspaper is a good one?”
I hesitated a moment before I answered.

In that moment, I knew exactly where he was coming from. How could we, as a staff, be proud of the newspaper that we’re not sure other people even recognized? Of course people know we have a newspaper, but it’s hard to tell with the overflowing issues that are piled in the NAB.

In that moment, which probably only lasted a second or two, I realized that this idea of being proud of this newspaper is something that reflects my entire four years at this university.

For four years, I crept in shadows.

I’m quiet.

I don’t talk much.

It takes a lot for people to really get to know me. Quite frankly, anyone reading this that has known me for the past four years is probably nodding his or her head in agreement. In reality, I’m not sure why I’m like this. It’s just how I am and it’s how I’ve been.

Despite my shyness, I have always been a hard worker. My work ethic never suffered from me keeping to myself. My shyness did, however, give me reason to believe that no one knew who I was on this campus.

I felt for too long what my editor felt when he asked me if our newspaper was a good one.

In recent weeks, I’ve been humbled by campus acknowledgement. I was nominated for a Maddy Award and I even won Coaches’ Award for my soccer team. In those moments, I realized that my hard work was not overlooked by the rest of the campus community.

There’s a great quote that goes: “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”

Lately, I’ve been realizing more and more exactly what this quote means.

Being the quiet type hasn’t gotten in my way of being recognized, but maybe – just, maybe – it has gotten in the way of bigger, greater things.

Maybe if I stop being so shy, I’d have the confidence to do greater things.

If I stop being so shy, I will do greater things.

If I stop being so shy, I’ll start living.

It’s funny that it took me four years to acknowledge this.

These past four years, in a strange way, were exactly what I needed. I needed to creep in the shadows. And, I needed to be recognized after doing so.

This all made me realize that the things I’ve done were good, but they could have been greater.
But, I don’t think in any way that I’ve failed.

On the contrary, I think by realizing this, I’ve succeeded.

Back to what my editor asked, I don’t care if the newspaper rack in the NAB is overflowing.

Because I know that people are recognizing the work we do week after week on this newspaper – even if it might take a while for us to recognize that. The late nights in the newspaper office, the missed deadlines, the pulling of teeth… they’re all worth it because we, as a staff, have grown. We, as journalists, have grown. I’m certain of this because we are sending our members to places: to Columbia and The New School graduate schools; to Cosmopolitan Magazine; and to amazing internships (i.e., MTV Networks, SiriusXM Radio – to name a few).

So, of course, I answered my editor, “We’re not just good, we’re great.”

And, just like our newspaper is great, our graduating class of 2013 is great.

We’re all going different places. But, we all started in the same place. And guess what, class? We’re graduating.

Saying this makes me terrified and excited all at the same time. This sounds cliché, but I don’t think there’s another more perfect way to describe graduating.

Everyone in this class is different; no two of us are the same. But, we all had similar experiences here at FDU. In the past four years, FDU has provided us with semester after semester of memories. We’ve had our fair share of great times and our fair share of bad times.

We’ve all made some unforgettable friends, most of whom we consider family. We’ve all had that one roommate we couldn’t stand. We’ve all walked the “walk of shame.” We’ve all suffered from an all-nighter just to finish that paper we should have started when our professor told us to (OK, maybe we’ve had a few of those). We’ve all been to at least one PSK party, or we’ve all had a friend who went to one and wouldn’t shut up about how much fun it was. We’ve all been to DHTH – probably more than once. We’ve all ordered Cluck-U late in the night because the Grill was no longer open.

If we were athletes, we all had that one workout we dreaded or that 6 a.m. alarm we hated to set. If we were athletes, we all teared up at the thought of retiring our jerseys at the end of the season.

Athlete or not, we can all look back and realize that these moments were the times of our lives.
And by “we,” I don’t mean all kids on campus. By we, I mean the Class of 2013. I mean, the kids who’ve been on this campus for the past four years and who are now scrambling to get ready for the real world, which – in my opinion – is approaching much too quickly.

As these last two weeks of school unravel, we will keep getting more scared. Chances are, we will want this semester to never end (but at the same time we will count down the days for exams to be over and for college to be done).

But, despite all of this, we shouldn’t be scared.

We have to be excited and we have to be ready.

The world is at our fingertips and lies before us all at the same time.

Graduating, in a way, is leaving our comfort zone.

Our comfort zone being FDU: our home for the past four years; our home with a – at times – dysfunctional family. We’re leaving our comfort zone but leaving in anticipation of the rest of our lives. We’re not just finishing a semester and getting ready to get our diploma – we are getting ready to live.

If I leave this campus with any sense of wisdom, I strongly encourage living the rest of our lives with passion: the passion to be noticed, the passion to be recognized, the passion to do what we love and the passion to be the best we can be. This way, we can give ourselves the opportunities to do not only good… but great things.