Oxfam Hunger Banquet

Hunger and poverty will be undesirable guests at the table when
Oxfam at FSU holds a banquet and feeds students according to their assigned
social class.

The Hunger Event, described as an awareness event by President
Nick Russell, is unique because Oxfam will engage the attendees to teach
them about world hunger and its effects on the global community.

The event is set for Nov. 15 at 7 pm in the University Ballroom and is open to all those
who are interested.

“Upon the beginning of the event, we assign everyone an economic
class: lower, middle or upper …,” Russell said. “The idea is that we will have
a dessert banquet, but what you get and your accommodations at the event
has everything to do with your social class.”

Sponsors are Oxfam, Habitat for Humanity, Kauz4unity and Alternative Break Corps.

Staying true to its creed, “think globally, act locally,” Oxfam recently sent volunteers to help the Big Bend Homeless coalition. Oxfam volunteers also go to the HOPE community, a transitional housing project, every Monday and Thursday from 6 – 7:30 pm. The volunteers play games with the students, read to them and help them with their homework.

Oxfam at FSU is part of Oxfam America. The parent organization has helped victims of the floods in Senegal, Gambia and Pakistan and seeks, according to its mission statement, to create lasting solutions to poverty, hunger and social injustice.

To learn more about Oxfam at FSU and a chance to volunteer your services, visit their Facebook page, Oxfam @FSU.

Join...

By Kelsie Taggart

Students Speaking for Animals is an organization for FSU students who share an interest in animals by volunteering, fundraising and raising awareness for animal rights and welfare throughout the community.

All that is required to become apart of this movement, aimed at securing justice for animals, is a shared compassion for animals of all kinds.

This semester our focus is on domestic care and violence of animals, especially focusing on the right way to train your pet and the general ‘do’s and don’ts’ of animal care. One way to show your love of animals is through volunteering at the local animal shelters, which we make easy by providing the logistical information and transportation if needed.

Our upcoming fundraising campaigns include, but are not limited to, the First Annual Dog Wash on Oct. 31 and our Annual Homemade Dog Treat Campaign.

Our real passion lies in raising awareness about animal rights and welfare. You can attend any of our upcoming educational meetings, where we highlight our recent campaigns for justice on animal cruelty.

If you are interested in joining SSA, meet us at Market Wednesdays or at Seminole Haunting Harvest. You can also find us on Facebook at SSA at FSU, or attend any of our meetings on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month at 8pm in Union Room 311D.

Need a Good Break?

By Harry Knolle

This past summer three Florida State students took it upon themselves to start their own recording studio to try to propel student musicians and writers to the next level. Out of this desire came Good Break Studios, created by Adam Sheppard, Steve Porter and Josh Valencia.

Good Break’s philosophy is to create a relaxed environment where artists can feel at ease while recording their work.

“We want to eliminate the nervousness, by creating a relaxed vibe where the artist isn’t worried about the money they are burning in the studio.” said Sheppard, a senior in Creative Writing.

With many studios charging an hourly flat rate, Good Break believes that this can sometimes cause stress to an artist. At Good Break Studios there are no flat rates for recording. The pricing is catered to what the artist wants to do whether it be a poetry reading or a full-length album.

Sheppard said the rates are figured out beforehand on a consultation basis. “We definitely have leeway with our pricing,” he said. “It depends on what you want. We understand what a financial strain it can be so we don’t believe in a flat rate.”

All three proprietors are musicians and consider this an advantage for their artists. “As musicians we understand where the artists are coming from and know how to improve their sound,” Sheppard said.

The trio already had their own recording gear and decided to pool their efforts to create an artist-friendly studio in their home that is also capable of on-the-move recording.

“Our house was built in 1890 and has 16-foot ceilings, so it’s not a closed-in room,” Sheppard said. “It’s been recently remodeled, and when we signed the lease we had the studio in mind so there are separate rooms for recording.”

This fall Good Break Studios is trying to expand by inviting creative writers to record their writing to have on CD. Sheppard believes that this expansion will be a great addition to their studio.

“We started inviting creative writers to expand our skill sets to different aspects of recording. We feel recorded poetry is a very under valued market.”

All of Good Break’s equipment is also recording live performances.

While talking with the owners of Good Break Studios it was easy to see that environment was something that the trio valued when recording.

“We really want to stress that we want to do what’s best for the artist by creating a positive and relaxing vibe,” Sheppard said. “It can go a long way, we want to work with you and for you to be happy and have fun while doing it.”

Good Break is still a developing studio and are making significant efforts to get their name in the community.

“We operate by a lot of word of mouth, but we do have a Facebook page where people can get all of our information and what we offer. Hopefully in the future we will have some radio spots to get our name out there,” Sheppard said.

For more information on Good Break Studios find them on Facebook or e-mail them at goodbreakstudios@gmail.com.

Literati Club

By Harry Knolle

Finding constructive criticism from your peers can be a difficult task. For anyone interested in having their creative works critiqued with the intention of improving each other’s writing, there is the Literati Creative Writing Club.

Literati is a club that serves as a writing workshop for people working in genres from poetry to non-fiction. Their general body meetings, which occur on Wednesdays at 7 pm in 013 Williams, are essentially a workshop where students read each others work and give both positive and negative feedback to improve a writers piece.

One goal of Literati is to foster a friendly and helpful environment where writers can come together and share their work.

By creating this community of writers Literati aims to share all the different aspects of creative writing by bringing in guest speakers and holding readings at the Warehouse on Gaines street.

Literati allows student writers who are looking to submit their work a chance to have it analyzed before it is submitted because it is common knowledge that the first draft is not always the prettiest.

According to Literati their goal is to help writers find that right word that they might be missing.

As Mark Twain once said, “The difference between the right word and the nearly right word is the same as that between lightning and the lightning bug.”

For more information on Literati and how to join visit their website at fsuliterati.weebly.com.

Attack of the YETI!

By Mae Brown

If you are interested in discovering a new and unique perspective, then check out the YETI. The YETI is a self-proclaimed “progressive, independent, and alternative community magazine.”

It approaches topics such as news, culture and campus life from a lighter, humor-driven perspective. It strives to keep its readers well informed, while aiming to fill the void left by commercial media outlets.

The YETI’s main goal is to provide the university and its peers with topics that impact the community. According to the group’s mission statement, they “strive to spark a dialogue between students and community members, in hopes that an educated exchange of information will motivate Tallahassee residents to be aware and active members of society.”

The editor-in-chief, Morgan Kayser, said the YETI “offers a voice to the underrepresented students and opinions on campus.” Think of them as your source for local and “grassroots” issues that often go unreported in other forms of commercial media.

“I love our unique perspective,” Kayser said, “and I love the fact that we’re not afraid to say anything!”

Kayser is excited for the start of the new school year. “I am working on really polishing our writing and design,” she said.

Visit theyetionline.com to read up on the current happenings and get a taste of the YETI.

FSU Today: Sex Health

By Mae Brown

For Sexual Understanding Today (FSU Today) was the first peer health education group at Florida State dedicated to promoting sexual health and awareness.

Former president Dwight Kemp describes the organization as providing “knowledge of safer sex practices.” His favorite thing about the organization is that they don’t strictly preach abstinence, but the importance of condom usage as well. “They give you options,” he said, referring to the program’s wide range of topics.

From the previously mentioned topics to their presentations for organizations and clubs on campus as well as free HIV testing, FSU Today is devoted to educating peers on all topics regarding sexual health and raising awareness.

If you would like to get involved in promoting safer sex practices and gain a better understanding on these topics, stop by FSU Today, which is based out of Thagard Student Health Center. You can find out more information on their upcoming events and earn community service hours on your ServScript for hours volunteered with the organization.

Poetic Lyricism: Spoken Words for Words Unspoken

By Cybill Shaffer

We are a generation that has so many avenues of technology to exploit our feelings and thoughts, but rarely a place to do so that is artistic and well-supported by fellow artists.
Poetic Lyricism is an FSU organization that gives students the chance to express themselves however they choose through word and song.

Ecclesiaste Guerrier is the president of Poetic Lyricism. “Poetic Lyricism is great because of its diversity,” he said. “Aside from priding ourselves on the inclusion of students from various ethnic, socio-economic, and racial backgrounds, we feature a wide variety of styles of poetry, song,and music. Our membership features over 50 poets, vocalists and musicians combined.”

Their mission is to “…Speak and be heard through the art-forms of song, rhyme and spoken word,” Guerrier said. “Our intent is to provide ventilation for thoughts unaddressed and emotions suppressed by a social construction afraid of confrontation.”

Richard Wilson, Poetic Lyricism’s treasurer, said, “The best thing about Poetic Lyricism has to be its creative mind set, family atmosphere and inclusiveness… I felt it was the perfect vehicle to help me improve and express my art.”

Danielle Lyn has been a part of Poetic Lyricism for almost three years and this is her second year serving as public relations director. “[We] embrace all talents and find a way to include them in anything we do,” Lyn said. “As an EBoard, we function as a family. We take time to prepare our performers for any genre of performance or environment of performance.”

They have a big event coming up, and you may have seen black flyers around campus. The “Tallahassee Collegiate Poetry Slam” is happening on Nov. 11. It’s free to go, and it’s at 7 pm in the FSU Ballrooms.

Poetry slams are competitions in which poets read or recite original work and members of the audience or specially designated judges adjudicate their performance. There will be more than 12 student organizations as sponsors, and the slam consists of eight teams vying for the title of best poets in Tallahassee. Last year the Artistic Deliverers of Hostile Diction (Team ADHD) was the reigning supreme. They will be returning to fight for their title against the seven other competing teams.

Slams are either solo or group. For this event, it is required to have a group of 4 – 5 active FAMU, TCC or FSU students. Rosters should be submitted to poeticlyricism@yahoo.com and need to include full names, school, classification and contact information. The registration deadline is Oct. 22.

Participation in the slam isn’t mandatory for members. If you’re not ready to branch out quite yet, you don’t have to do so. Events and meeting times are at calendar.yahoo.com/poeticlyricism, and the Facebook group has lots of pictures and information on how to get started with involvement.