Playing a musical instrument is a popular way for students to use their creative energy on campus. If you walk by the Staller Center at the right time, you may be lucky enough to hear a violin, guitar, or maybe even a flute. Popular instruments like these are familiar to students, but what about instruments that are more unusual? Some you may have never heard of, like the tabla or the harmonium. Stony Brook University sophomore Priyal Bhagat plays both.
Bhagat has been playing the harmonium for two years and the tabla since he was five, when he lived in South Africa. Bhagat was born there and moved to the United States in 2000.
The promise of fame and fortune has inspired many chefs to compete on Food Network’s “Iron Chef America,” a popular cable show that pits contestants against seasoned “Iron Chefs” for a name in the culinary industry.
Inspired by the show, Campus Dining Services at Stony Brook University decided to have their own version of the competition on Wednesday, April 28 during campus lifetime. In this version, though, the contestants were fighting for the charity of their choice, with $5,000 from Campus Dining Services going to the winning team.
University Chef Al Aberg, who helped oversee the event, announced the four teams with three people in each competing for the prize. To win one of the final four spots, these teams, Hungry Hungry Hippos, Team Swarley, Byahh! and Bull Moose Party, had beat out 20 other groups of contenders. Weeks before the competition, students had the opportunity to vote online for their favorite team to compete on the April 28th competition. The represented charities, listed respectively, were the Sunrise Fund at Stony Brook, Stony Brook Long Island Children’s Hospital, Adapted Aquatic Program and the Library Collection Development Fund.
This past weekend I had the opportunity to race at the New York State Collegiate Championship Regatta. The team traveled up to Whitney Point, NY on Friday and we spent the weekend competing against top teams from New York. The team did well as a whole, but the experience made me think of how different and unusual a rowing competition is in comparison to other sports.
First off there is the preparation in getting ready to compete. Not only the conditioning kind of preparation, but making sure the equipment is ready, weather conditions are decent, getting to the starting line on time, etc. We’ll get to the regatta hours before our event to rig boats, register, and warm up.
For a while my friends and I had been planning on living together next year in a suite at Stony Brook. It was planned perfectly: we’d be living in Douglass College in Tabler Quad, have our payments in on time so we’d be sure to get housing, etc. Nothing could go wrong.
In the back of my mind though I remembered my not-so-wonderful experience with room selection last year, where three other girls and I tried to get a suite in Hand College. Somehow the school messed up our room selection process, we were kicked out from Hand, and ended up in Dreiser College. Whether it was ultimately our fault or the school’s I’ll never know, but living in 24-quiet the next year didn’t quite cut it.
That aside, I looked at this new room selection with an open mind. My roommate and I were just ending our sophomore year and so we would have greater priority than the freshman. The day came for our room deposits and our group put in the money as we were supposed to. Then the proxy of the group (my roommate) filled out the room selection form with where we wanted to live, if we’d be living in our current building, etc.
Clash of the Titans, a much-anticipated remake of the 1981 film by the same name, did not disappoint viewers on April 2nd. Directed by Louis Leterrier, Titans starred Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Alexa Davalos and Gemma Arterton.
In the story, a demi-god named Perseus seeks revenge on the gods after they kill his family. Perseus must save the city of Argos and Princess Andromeda from Hades and his monster, the Kraken. Along the way he must overcome giant scorpions, Hades’ servant Calibos and the gorgon Medusa.
At Stony Brook University another semester is ending and many students are making plans for their summer vacations.
For some though the summer means taking courses at Stony Brook to meet requirements and earn credits in order to graduate on time. Taking classes in between semesters is an increasing trend among many students because of tough graduation requirements.
In this video, several students taking classes over the summer give us an insight on what they’re taking over the summer and why.
Early last Saturday morning while it was still dark, the Stony Brook Crew Team returned to Stony Brook University after a week’s worth of training at Camp Bob Cooper in South Carolina.
While the team stayed at the camp, they trained extensively with their squads and got into great physical shape. Along with that bonds between teammates grew and the team became closer as a whole.
Spring break is fast approaching (4 days!!!), and many of us at Stony Brook have extravagant plans to celebrate our week off. For those on the Stony Brook Crew Team however, spring break means only three things: eating, sleeping, and rowing.
For the past few years the team has been traveling to Camp Bob Cooper in South Carolina for spring break. It’s a time for intense training, team bonding, and preparing for the racing season.
Disappointment of my life: going into the Sports Complex on Wednesday afternoon and finding that the basketball game of the year (and Stony Brook’s history) was sold out. This was a basketball game that you did not want to miss. The arena had been re-vamped for the event and it was being televised on national TV.
So what to do? Fortunately the game was being televised and was also on ESPN360, so I tried to find the silver lining in the situation. True I couldn’t be there in person, but I could still cheer on the team from my laptop and get a new perspective on our team.
Turns out that it wasn’t such a bad thing. ESPN360 streamed the game live onto my laptop and the video was crystal clear. It was really cool to watch because I knew many of the people in the audience, and in the back of my mind I pictured millions of people watching the game as they would any other basketball game. This time though we were the stars!
Playing a musical instrument is a popular way for students to use their creative energy on campus. If you walk by the Staller Center at the right time, you may be lucky enough to hear a violin, guitar, or maybe even a flute. Popular instruments like these are familiar to students, but what about instruments that are more unusual? Some you may have never heard of, like the tabla or the harmonium. Stony Brook University sophomore Priyal Bhagat plays both.
Lauren DuBois
Matt Calamia
Micah Danney
Ana Llacer Alventosa
Jennifer Long
Daniel Offner
Sean Caffrey-Agoglia
Tom Price
Sam Kilb
C. Harrington
Elizabeth Ward
Stanley Adler
Kirsten Preskenis
Mary Reiland
