Hannah Morris- Stefon Harris and Blackout

On friday night I went to see Stefon Harris and his band Blackout. Stefon Harris is a vibraphonist. His band features Casey Benjamin on alto sax and vocoder; Marc Carey on keyboard; Ben Williams playing bass; and Terreon Gully on drums. Their most recent album entitled "Urbanus" was nominated for a Grammy as Best Contemporary Jazz Album.

The show was very interesting to see. I never really listened to that much jazz, and never heard it live before. It sounded really good and smooth. They were very innovative in how they changed other artist's songs that they covered. They also asked the audience what instrument they wanted to hear start a song, and then that person would start jamming until all of the others would join in and they would start playing a song. I loved hearing the keyboard, with all of the cool effects, and the drummer was really good. Their music was really flowy and kept a good beat.

Michael Rothenberg-EC Post

I recently went to the first (of many) "Veteran Freshman" hiphop shows occured at the Blockley in Philadelphia. The show was unlike any concert I have been too. The show was much more low key, and the number of performances was unreal. Over 10 of philadelphia's top up and comers were in the building going live. I snapped some very unreal pictures, below is of Stalley, a hiphop (soon to be) legend.


This show is a different kind of art, but art non the less. Witnessing from withen five feet, the very same people I listen to daily on my ipod, was unlike anything else. I knew a couple of the artists personally, and for the bigger named artists I was able to shake hands and talk with.

Overall this show was crazy and I can't wait until the summer for the second Veteran Freshman:Summer School. Heres a video from the event

blog is closed

The blog is closed for the rest of Spring semester 2011.

"Pakistan's Cave"

On April 14, a former Bloomsburg University student, Raeesa Khan, showed her documentary in McCormick called "Pakistan's Cave." Raeesa, is the daughter of Dr. Khan, an economics professor. Raeesa was at the showing, and told us a little about her film. The documentary is about the government of Pakistan and how the Pakistani people cope with the currupt government.

I was a little confused by the documentary. The title includes the word 'cave' and the first shot is of a cave with Raeesa's voice describing people that live in a cave. However, the documentary had nothing to do with a cave. Instead, she narrated how she related herself to feeling like both a Pakistani and an American. She also interviewed her father and her uncle about what it was like growing up in Pakistan and her uncle's experience being a prisoner for speaking out against the government.

I thought the documentary was impressive for someone so young to accomplish. I did not however, feel as though I learned much about the suffering of Pakistani people. I wish the documentary would have made me relate more to the people and then show why exactly their life is different rather than relating it mostly to her family's experiences. It was obvious that Raeesa has a serious desire for the topic of her film. I hope she can go far with her documentary and is able to make a difference involving Pakistan and the currupt government.

Ronald McDonald House

One of the things I started doing this year was volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House. I have been there a total of six or seven times with a group of people who make dinner for the families that stay there. The dinners we make are similar to cafeteria food, like chicken nuggets. It's a simple dinner, but to those in need, it is very helpful.

The last time I went to make dinner, one of the people that run the House took us on a tour and told us about it. He showed us one room that families can stay in. The room looked like a hotel, which is basically what the Ronald McDonald House is. They provide shelter and necessities for families with children receiving health care from Geisinger Hospital in Danville. We also met one of the residents, which was a little boy who did not speak English and had only a bandage for a nose. Even though he must have felt so lost in the environment he was in, he looked like any other happy little boy .

I am really glad I was able to go on a tour of the facility. It made me appreciate what I did more and definitely made me take the task of making dinner for strangers more seriously. I hope the Ronald McDonald House stays in operation for a long time, because they are definitely helping a lot of families in need.

MS Walk

On April 10th, there was a walk for multiple sclerosis in the park. One of the sisters in my sorority has MS, so for the past couple years, we have had a team at the event walking to help raise money. Our team name at the walk was Court Support.

I expected this event to be much like Relay for Life. However there were many differences. The main difference was that all of the food and things to do were free. The food was mostly donated by Giant. There was also a moon bounce and face painting which were both free. I decided to get my face painted and made one of my sorority sisters do the same...


We all tried to wear yellow because that is the awareness color for MS. The walk was great because it was beautiful outside and there were people of all ages participating. It was cute to see the little kids racing with their tricycles. I was really happy I participated in the event because we had multiple people from town and women who ran the event thanking us for being there. They wanted our sorority to be in the newspaper to show that college kids, especially those in greek life, can do other things than just party. However, the press did not come to cover the event. It was sad to hear that, because a lot of work had to go into the event and those running it did not get any recognition for their efforts.

Relay for Life

Relay for life, which is an event to raise money for cancer research took place in the REC Center from 7pm March 25th to 7am March 26th. The event is comprised of volunteers who form teams and sell a good or service in order to raise money for the cause. Most of the teams are made up of family and friends who are there supporting someone battling or who has lost their battle with cancer. I was at the event from 7pm to 4am. My team did not have a name, but we all wore matching purple tie die shirts.

The event started with a local cancer survivor telling her story. This lady was in her 20s and had battled a rare form of cancer for well over half her life. She told us how doctors gave her less than a 5% chance of survival. Somehow, she beat her cancer the first time, than relapsed, and beat it again. Her story was very shocking to hear, and it made me glad I attended the event. I was also very happy to learn she works with young kids who have have cancer at Geisinger Hospital.

As the event went on into the night, I was not sure how long I'd be able to make it. At first, I only walked around the track with my fellow teammates. But as I walked around, I kept seeing all the things every team had to offer. I ended up wanting everything from every stand. I got puppy chow, a henna tattoo, a grilled cheese sandwhich, and a bottle of water which came from my own team. Normally I wouldn't spend so much money, but since it was for a good cause I didn't mind. The hours went by fast and I got to know a lot about my friends that I was walking around with. I left at 4am because I had to get up early to bowl for kids the next day.

This is my team for relay for life: