The caf - Then and Now

The meal plan. It's probably the most complained about thing on this campus besides parking. But students that have been here since 2002 and 2003 aren't complaining about the new services the Center Marketplace offers. They are complaining about why they didn't have these current services when they were freshman.

The sandwich bar. In 2002, we had a small sandwich bar - very small. This year's sandwich bar is a completely separate kiosk filled with hot and cold sandwiches, subs and wraps.

The center grill. There was no center grill in 2002. Yes, that means no omelets in the morning, no taco bar for lunch and no stir-fry for dinner. We had pizza, chicken patties and burgers for lunch and dinner just like the freshman of today do. We also had soda, but it was located where the salad bar is. Yes, that means we had no salad bar.

We had the delicious ice cream and the Belgium waffles as well. The chocolate chip cookies, though, are a lot softer now than they were in 2002.

The caf closed at 7 p.m. on weekdays back in 2002. Now it closes at 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday. We had no televisions. But, we could eat outside just like students today can. But current plans call for a renovation of the outside area to allow for more food to be cooked outside and an overhang to eat under. Just in the cafeteria alone there has been a lot of growth. Now, the cafeteria isn't only bigger and better, the food isn't as much as a laxative as it was five years ago.

FAU is tradition-less

Coming off of last week's attempt to fill the FAU Burrow (the basketball arena for those of you who have never been to a basketball game, which is probably 25,000 of the 27,000 students) with over 3,000 fans for the men's basketball game fell short by nearly 1,400. Bury the Burrow IN RED was an attempt to get every fan in attendance to wear red - creating an uncomfortable feeling for visiting Florida International. Plus, it would have looked really cool on television to have the entire crowd wearing red.

Trying to achieve this goal, student government and athletics handed out red t-shirts for fans to wear. Not everyone wore them. The good news - we still won.

But on a much larger scale, I did some research on some other schools (a lot of them that we have played or will be playing in the near future) and their traditions. Let's compare:

Florida Gators v. FAU:
In 1991, Head Football Coach Steve Spurrier talked at a press conference about the season his team just finished. He talked about how teams should be scared to come into the stadium where the Gators play. He called it "The Swamp." The name stuck.

In 2001 and 2002, FAU played home games at Pro Player Stadium (home of the NFL team Miami Dolphins). IN 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, FAU played their home games at Lockhart Stadium (home of Broward County High School games) with a few games being played back at Pro Player to help increase attendance (which it never did). In 2007 - well, we don't know where FAU is playing next year.

Florida State Seminoles v. FAU:
The now-famous Seminole Tomahawk chop that fans do at games started in 1984 when fans that sat behind the band started doing it. By next season, the entire stadium was doing it. The chop also jumped sports over to major league baseball and appeared at Atlanta Brave games. When the "massacre" song comes on that is played by the Seminole band, 80,000 people in the football stadium and millions watching on television do the same hand motion in unison. It's chilling to say the least.

In 2002, I tried to start the Owl Fingers, which are creatively made by putting your thumb and your index finger together - thus leaving your middle, ring and pinkie finger sticking straight up. If you do that on both hands at the same time, you have Owl Fingers.

The fingers died as soon as they started. They resurfaced this football and basketball season and has slowly caught on. Now about 5,000 people at the football games and 900 at basketball games do them when they are told to.

Clemson Tigers and South Carolina Gamecocks v. FAU
The Clemson football team rubs a Howard's Rock on their way into the stadium before a game. The team's entrance has been called the most exciting 25 seconds in football. It started when that same rock was brought to Clemson from Death Valley, California before a big game.

Clemson's cross state rival South Carolina has the most exciting entrance overall. In 2001, to the song "2001-A Space Odyssey," the team entered the field to what was the most exciting entrance the school had ever seen. They haven't looked back. The entrance is now one of the only entrances that is shown on national television.

Last year, FAU purchased a giant FAU inflatable helmet. Note: this year, it didn't inflate for the FIU game. This year, Owsley the Owl ran out to the song "2001-A Space Odyssey." One time the song didn't come on at all.

Stoney Brook v. FAU:
Here's an academic tradition. Stoney Brook does not have any classes in session on Wednesday's between 12 noon and 2 p.m. These hours are called "Campus Life Hours." Students (residents and commuters) are encouraged to participate in pep rallies, free food events, lectures, guest speakers, club events and other things that encourage involvement in school.

FAU has the Breezeway where clubs pass out stuff that most people ignore. There's also Reading Day, where there is no class for an entire day. But that day is reserved for studying for finals, which start the very next day. Oh yeah - by the way - Reading Day was cancelled this semester so that we can have an extra day of graduation ceremonies.

Virgina Tech Hokies v. FAU:
The Hokies got their nickname after a 1896 student body vote to change the fight song. The song was titled "Hokie," thus changing the mascot name.

In 2003, FAU cut it's 86 (or so) Owl logos down to one, it's five school colors down to three and there was some student input. And our Owl mascot name has changed quite often. In 2002, it was the FAU Owl and Owlvin. Fans called him Hootie. It was then changed to Owsley. And we have had four different looking mascots in the past five years.

FAU does have tradition though. There is Homecoming that has happened since forever. Oh yeah - that tradition was changed too. It was changed from the spring semester to the fall semester in 2000 to accommodate the football team, not the men's and women's basketball teams like it had in years past.

Who needs a beach? Not me!

This is the time of year in Florida most of us are here for: 80-degree days, the sun beating down on us and a light breeze to take away any humidity we would feel in the air.

Students take advantage of this time and head to the beach. After all, it's only a 10 minute drive.

But for those that don't have that much time in between classes or don't have a car, there are plenty of places on campus to enjoy the sun.

On the second floor of Indian River Tower resident hall, residents of that hall can enjoy the balcony - complete with lawn chairs and a table.

For those that don't live on campus, the sand volleyball court and BBQ pavilion area is a great place to get sand in between your toes or plug in a boom box to jam while you're catching some rays. Most of the time there are clubs and organizations BBQing out there. You might even get a quick and free bite to eat.

To get your fix of entertainment and sports while you are laying out. You may choose to attend the FAU baseball and softball games to get some sun. Don't sit in the seats and bleachers - that's boring. Bring a lawn chair, a cooler and a towel and lay on the berms on the first and third base lines. Catch some foul balls, heckle the opposing team and watch our two historically most successful FAU athletic programs play ball.

If all else fails - there's always the beach. But you have to pay for parking! At least at FAU, parking is included in your tuition.

Home of FAU Owls has become Owl-less

When entering the campus of FAU from Glades Road, it's abundantly clear what university you are at. There are two signs at the entrance that have the FAU name in big letters. There are signs on light poles that have FAU's logo, and directional signs are headlined with the FAU logo. But one thing you won't see when going around campus are pictures or logos of Owls.

Hell, when WALKING within campus, you still won't find Owl logos. The only logo that I know of is the logo from about 30 years ago that is painted on the information booth when you drive into campus.

In 2002, the campus was decorated (somewhat) with Owl logos. The SG office had three Owl logos in the lobby and workrooms, while there was still another in the SG senate workroom and one more painted inside the senate speaker's office.

Right outside of Wackadoo's (now Coyote Jack's) there was a mural painted of FAU students interacting with the Owl mascot. The cafeteria in the breezeway and the cafeteria in the University Center both had Owl logos.

Now, five years later, there are none. They have been painted over by golds, purples and blues. The blue I can understand - it's a school color. But gold and purple? Are we trying to look like royalty?

MTV, VH1 or ABC needs to have a reality TV show called "Extreme Pimp My University Makeover." We need a serious makeover. Maybe if there were Owl logos painted on walls, floors, tables and ceilings, people would know that our mascot is the Owl. And just maybe, if we had more Owl paintings around campus, we would see less ASU, UF, FSU and UCF shirts around campus and more FAU shirts.

Everyone complains that the university has apathetic students. While I can't disagree with that statement, we must remember that leadership comes from the top. If our own administration, Student Government and athletic department can't find someone to paint the Owl logo around campus...what does that say about their apathy?