A recent visit to the Fogelson Library revealed a quiet place, where more students working than searching for books. Osho Levin, a junior film student, was one of the few students actually in the library. “I have only ever pulled a book off the shelf at the library once or twice; the only reason why I come here is a place to work on homework in between class,” Osho says. He really enjoys the peace and quiet it helps him focus and complete his homework.

Excitement buzzed in the room as “zinesters” explored the many publications available and chatted with each other about their own works.

On Sunday night, Oct. 11, the Forum was grooving to the musical stylings of SFUAD’s new Afro-Cuban Ensemble and Vocal Jazz Ensemble. In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, the 21-piece group presented a free celebratory concert. Directed by Horace Alexander Young, Andy Zadrozny and Lina Ramos, the group performed various pieces of Latin jazz, salsa and traditional Cuban music. As an added bonus, it was also Family Weekend so parents and siblings from all over the country were able to witness their hard working children doing what they love most. As folks filed into the jam-packed venue, Fred Simpson took to the microphone to welcome student, parents and community members. He introduced the various musical sections and asked who was here as a part of family weekend. “The singers are over there,” says Simpson. “They live in a totally different world than the instrumental players.” The introductions continued and the group geared up for its first song while friends and family continued to arrive. The musicians kicked off the concert with Latin-music legend Tito Puente’s “Oye Coma Va.” The song was made incredibly popular by Carlos Santana, which made it a very inviting first taste. “Jazz is being re-born right here, right now,” says Simpson in between sets. The group continued on to perform a great range of toe-tapping numbers by Mongo Santamaria, CAl Tjader, Dizzy Gillespie and Horace Silver. Each piece was made up of different musical sections and singers. Watching fellow classmates play and sing their hearts out was truly inspiring. They flowed so well together it seemed almost effortless, though it likely took intense practice and patience to get where they are today. Without a doubt, they made their families and friends...

Alex Monasterio is a Contemporary Music Program major in his junior year here at SFUAD and has already accomplished so much. Last year he wrote, and put out a record for his band Sleeptaker. This year he has been working on a new Sleeptaker album to follow up Could Have Moved Mountains. Monasterio also scores music for films, video games and commercials. After college he hopes to score music full...

Warren Couvillion and Omar Hilario don’t need to warm up the crowd for the Tuesday night movie club, Club-Along. At least 50 people fill the seats of The Screen for the club’s showing of Sweeney Todd, the 2007 Tim Burton film starring Johnny Depp. Theater rows fill up with cliques of varying sizes. Shouted conversations assault the ears before the emcees even begin their introduction. Couvillion and Hilario look like they could be brothers, both sporting trendy black hipster glasses. They stand in front of the audience and run through the standard list of “don’ts” at The Screen: don’t have sex; don’t drink alcohol; don’t do drugs. Ironic groans spill forth from the crowd. At the last moment, Couvillion adds, “Oh, and no masturbation.” “But it’s Johnny Depp!” someone screams, earning approving laughter. The club runners head to the projector booth to start the film. The houselights fade and the DreamWorks logo appears on screen, menacing organ music blasting out of The Screen’s speakers. Conversations continue at full volume, scattered throughout the theater. Though the voices die out as the opening credits roll, it is clear that Club-Along is unlike any other film club at SFUAD. The original concept for the Club-Along centered on quoting favorite lines along with the movie, but it dawned on Couvillion that sing-alongs might be more popular. Every other film club prohibits audience members from singing along, so that everyone can hear the movie. “I jokingly say I started the club to spite the other club runners,” Couvillion says. “The first club I ever went to here showed The Lion King and I wasn’t allowed to sing ‘Hakuna Matata.’” When the WTF Film Club played Mulan at the beginning of the school year, students received the standard warning against singing along with the movie. Some students sang anyway. “That was the moment I realized our club might actually be popular,” Hilario says. Film clubs typically stick around SFUAD until the club runners graduate. Couvillion and Hilario say the arrival of Film School almuna Charlotte Martinez as The Screen’s new manager opened up new possibilities. They approached Martinez at the beginning of the school year with their idea. Along with Simple Film Necessities, Club-Along is the second new film club established this year. Is it annoying to sit in a crowd of strangers and hear them singing and quoting along with every line of the film? That may depend on one’s temperament. Studio Art major Hannah Gardner came to the Club-Along to see Sweeney Todd for the first time. “My friends laughed at me when I got here, because I didn’t know it was a sing-along,” Gardner says. “I’m pretty serious when it comes to watching movies. I normally don’t like people talking, but it could’ve been worse. There were no horrible singers.” Yellow subtitles scroll at the bottom of the screen in case anyone forgets the words. As Johnny Depp and Jamie Campbell Bower sing the opening lines of “No Place Like London,” at least half the audience backs them up. The voices are remarkably in tune. More than a few Musical Theatre majors attend the Club-Along. It’s like sitting in the midst of a choir. Those singing have obviously listened to the motion picture soundtrack ad infinitum as they speak in unison with the dialogue that precedes the songs. They gasp along with Helena Bonham Carter just before belting out the lyrics to “The Worst Pies in London.” When Johnny Depp extends his arm, his razor blade shining, the audience shouts out with him, “At last, my arm is complete again!” The voices are a scattered mess. Some have memorized the film dialogue, and others have committed the slight variations of the movie soundtrack to memory. Everyone giggles. “It’s no secret that this club is the most lenient,” Hilario says. “We do make sure that everyone respects each other and don’t just yell out,...

Gender neutral hall residents have been in conflict this semester when it comes to the signage of their restrooms. Last year, the hall’s multi-stall restrooms were very clearly labeled as gender neutral, which allow any student, regardless of gender, to use them. While this year the hall was supposed to be gender neutral, the multi-stall restrooms were labeled with “Men” and “Women” signs. However, residents have collectively decided to use the restrooms as if they were gender neutral. Despite this, there have been recent allegations of conflict with facility workers over this decision. Resident Brian Iglesias claims he was told to leave the restroom by one of the janitors on the basis that he was a man in what had been labeled as a women’s bathroom. “I explained to her that the hall was gender neutral, so the signs didn’t mean anything and pointed to the ‘Human’ sign I’d made out of sticky notes to put over the ‘Women’ sign. She looked me dead in the eyes and tore it down,” he said. Later, Iglesias replaced his signs but they didn’t last the night. The next morning, Iglesias says he found the janitors cleaning and the signs were gone. “I just kept replacing them after that. I had plenty of sticky notes,” he said. Creative Writing major Dee Rose described a comparable experience. “I was in the bathroom washing my face… This guy from the cleaning staff walks in and tells me I can’t be in there. I thought he meant because he had to clean, so I pointed out that I wasn’t the only one in there. Both my hands and face are covered in soap during this whole conversation. He tells me again that I have to leave, but this time he says it’s because I’m a woman in the men’s restroom. I try to tell him that it’s gender neutral, but he said ‘No, the sign says men’s, so it’s men’s.’ I tried again to clarify that even though the sign says it’s men’s, it’s not….Everybody is allowed regardless of gender. He still makes me leave. I got the soap off my hands, but not my face. So I found myself sitting in my room, face full of soap, and my glasses still in the bathroom,” she said. After learning from Housing Director Connor Nelson that the hall wasn’t fully gender neutral, Iglesias made the decision to stop making his temporary signs until the hall was officially labeled as gender neutral in the school’s system. Nelson has released a survey for residents of the hall to officially make a decision on the restrooms. Until every resident has taken the survey, a decision about the bathrooms will not be officially made. Other residents took up the gauntlet and continued to cover the permanent signs with temporary, paper ones. One student, who wishes to remain anonymous, decided to remove the permanent “Men” and “Women” signs completely, hoping that would solve the issue. However, there are obvious problems with this approach. “They really shouldn’t have done that,” Nelson said, explaining that if the hall were to be used as anything other than a gender neutral hall in the future, they would need to order new signs. “We didn’t say anything about it, though,” he said, explaining that he understands the desperation behind the removal. Housing decided to not take action against the student for removing the sign and hopes that once the survey is complete, they can put up new, gender neutral signs for the hall. “We’re just waiting on a few people to turn in their survey before we make a decision,” Nelson added. While residents hoped removing the signs would solve the issue, this wasn’t the case. Allegedly, at least one janitor began writing “Men” on one of the restrooms in permanent marker. “She just came through with a sharpie… and wrote on the door. I was watching her,...

SFUAD students enjoy a game of Friday night basketball at Driscoll Fitness Center.

Hundreds of people started mulling in the downtown area from about noon on, partly because of the spill of tourist and out of towners for the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, but mostly for the show, of course.

Fall has come to the SFUAD campus at last, and all the colors of fall could make students almost forget about their upcoming...