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Show Emphasis week reaches out to all By Caralyn Arneit Signpost staff writer "Sur le vif!" The Arts and Humani ties Emphasis Week encourages students to do just that live. Numerous activities are planned this week to create awareness in the student body concerningarts and humanities. "There isn't an individual that can say one way or the other that they are not affected by the arts and humanities," Tim Coins, arts and humanities senator said. The kick-off celebration for the emphasis week is today, at 10:30 a.m., in the Shepherd Union Building Gallery. There will be prizes, popcorn and drinks. Several major events have been planned for the week in addition to art gallery openings, concerts, movies and dances. Internet brings world to WSU By Alisa Rasmussen Signpost staff writer The computer network on Weber State University's campus just keeps getting bigger and bigger. E-mail users are now able to gain access to the Internet system with just a couple of keystrokes. WSU is connected to what is called the World Wide Web, which allows system users to access all types of information across the world, according to WSU computing services. With the Web browser, people are able to get information from different webs, from almost anywhere, on almost Sign-up by calling 626-6349. Speeches must be no more than four minutes in length. Submit speeches May 3 by 12:00 noon. Auditions held May 3rd & 4th. One such event that highlights the week is James Andrews of the "Don't Waste Utah" campaign. He will be on campus Tuesday, from 10 a.m. to noon. Andrews will speak about his experiences with the "Don't Waste Utah" campaign and announce a fashion show involving local merchants and the WSU bookstore. An arts and humanities banquet is planned to stress the overall goal of the emphasis week. It is to promote awareness within the campus and the departments, Goins said. Awards will be given to retirees, and those who have received national awards will be recognized, he said. The banquet will be held Wednesday at 7 p.m. All WSU students, faculty and staff are invited to attend. There is a $10 charge to cover the cost of the meal. any topic. "People can put whatever they want on Internet," said Ted McGrath, an academic user consultant for computing services. "They can even find almost every bit of information they need to see by using the Internet." McGrath said WSU even has a home page in the Internet system to place things relative to our campus, so that systems around the world and across the Uni ted Sta tes can get a better glimpse of what WSU is all about. "There are no disadvantages to the system that we've seen," said McGrath. "It increases traffic in the labs, but that's what the WrmmS EL Performances of personal essays and poetry by two WSU professors, Joel Passey of the communication department . and Judy Elsley of the English department, will be held in the Browning Center's Parry Choral Room, Wednesday from9:30 to 10:20 a.m. Goins said Arts and Humanities Emphasis Week is one of the ways that he and his area council are meeting this year's goal creating awareness for students, faculty and staff. "The whole theme this year is to create awareness," Goins said. "Everybody is affected by the arts and humanities. We want people to live life and this is a part of it." The College of Arts and Humanities is the largest at WSU in terms of the number of departments which operate within the college, Goins said. system is for. The links are shared by thousands of people. Every research organization, every entity makes things available on Internet, with a very broad range." Faculty members on campus are making an effort to use the system within their classes as well, with all of the useful information there is to be found. "It's a rethinking effort," Roy Stock, associate director of technological services for WSU, said. "We want to make more use of electronic sources to teach the students and to save other resources See Internet page 3 Oil and water don't mix, but two cultures can By Wendee S. Butters Signpost staff writer A college campus may be the first time many students come in contact with other cultures. Not only must students interact with people from other backgrounds, but also realize the benefits other nationalities have contributed to society, Sofia Garcia, diversity director at Weber State University, said. According to Garcia many individuals have helped develop our society. She said Gloria Estefan has made world-wide contributions and at the same time preserved and shared her Cuban heritage with us. One of Estefan's greatest hits, "Conga," combines English lyrics with Cuban instruments, she said. "Estefan is connected with her culture and background and at the same time aware of where she lives," Garcia said. "She has a balance for both, and many admire her for this ability." Garcia said she encourages an education or knowledge of others' cultures. Any fears we might have will be dispelled through the knowledge we receive from our association with others, Garcia said. "An understanding of cultural differences at the very least will make one marketable and life smoother," she said. "At the very most, an appreciation of differences will make one invaluable and life fascinat-ing."Rony Rahman, student issues di rector for WSU, has experienced associating with other cultures when he arrived in the United States. As a native of Bangladesh, Rahman's understanding ofAfrican-Americans was the stereotype that "blacks are criminals, " he said. This knowledge caused him to quickly switch from his room assignment with an African-American.Later, Rahman was again paired with an African-American mm DIAMONDS Come in and learn about Diamond quality and you 11 agree tkat we offer THE BEST diamonds at THE BEST PRICES! 2419 Washington BlvJ. 621-7666 but could not change rooms. As time passed, he began to associate with and learn about his roommate. His previous stereotype of African-Americans disappeared, he said. "Just make an extra effort to learn about others, and you'll know all people are the same," Rahman said. WSU sociology professor Daniel Gallego said the challenge of appreciating differences and understanding them requires constant effort. So anger based on past experiences with many minority groups may bring hurt and fear, making it difficult to associate.These hostile feelings have created barriers between different people that are hard to face and overcome, he said. "There is no way intercultural understanding will happen unless tremendous barriers are broken down and we can approach people as individuals," Gallego said. By facing reality, we can realize that the value of gaining any type of multicultural education will far outweigh any fear that may be ingrained in a person's mind, Gallego said. Students must realize that we are all part of the human race. - Our country belongs to Hispan-ics, African-Americans and Native Americans as much as it does to Caucasians, Gallego said. According to Gallego, it's possible to achieve an understanding in an intercultural environment. He said the people of Hawaii realize they are not all the same. According to Gallego, the most important aspect of this society is that the racial groups are talking. There are still problems, but for the most part the people appreciate their differences, Gallego said. "The people of this Pacific island understand each other and live a t;ood life," he said. "Contact with each other and living in the same proximity has brought successful associations among these people." We beat mall stores We beat discount stores We beat so-called "wholesalers" Monday Saturday 9:30-6:00 Friday 9:30 - 9:00 Li |