ALBUM REVIEW; ARCTIC MONKEYS- FAVORITE WORST NIGHTMARE

Arctic Monkeys- Favorite Worst Nightmare
4/5
Domino Records

UK indie/post-punk darlings, the Arctic Monkeys open their new record with the statement, “Top marks for not tryin’,” and they immediately cast aside doubts about a bloated sophomore slump. The band who told their fans upon the release of the highest-selling debut in UK history, “Don’t believe the hype,” are at it again: relax the high expectations and enjoy the ride.

The band begins its sophomore release with galloping drums and a driving guitar riff; they never look back. “Brianstorm,” the lead single, has none of the expected elements of an effective pop single. There is no chorus, the soft/loud element is turned inside-out and the lyrics are awkwardly phrased. But that is the Arctic Monkeys’ charm, and it works—just like last time.

This record is much louder, faster and angrier than its predecessor. Gone is the happy-go-lucky toe tapping of “Dancin’ Shoes,” its replacement is the angry wit of “Teddy Picker,” when vocalist Alex Turner asks, “Who wants to be ‘man of the people,’ when there’s people like you?”

Instead of sounding derivative, the band sounds like they have finally come into their own. Some of the riffs on Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not sounded half-baked, not so on here.

The sound is original but still steeped in influence, it is amazing how the band commands so many influences into one band. One can hear anything from the Beatles to the Jam, Oasis to the Libertines, the Clash to the Strokes.

Vocal delivery did not much change from record to record, but it is refined here. Turner moves so quickly, he sounds as if he is rapping over the rock behind him. The disc did not come with lyrics in the liner notes—you are going to have to either figure it out yourself or search the Internet for someone else’s interpretation.

The obligatory slow track splitting the album promises a mandatory track skip once again. “Only Ones You Know” lacks the energy of any other track on the record, and there is no payoff for such a slow song, such as a big ending.

The best tracks start slow and small, but end huge and fast. “Do Me a Favour” features an Americana guitar riff, and speaks about a broken relationship “to heavy to hold.”

“If You Were There, Beware,” begins with a suspenseful two-note guitar riff. The bass kicks in, and you think we’ve got a “Death Proof” style high-speed chase on our hands. But not yet. The midtempo rhythm keeps the listener begging for more, then suddenly they kick into high gear and the amps up to 11.

The chase begins, and just as abruptly, ends. Distorted guitar and vocals are all that is left, or so you think. The villain-muscle car comes back with a snarky riff, and the chase is back, full swing.

The UK press is still fawning over the band’s very existence; NME calls them one of the five best bands ever. Not yet, but if each record shows this much progress, then maybe sometime in the very near future we can make that statement.

NEWS; SUBSTANCE HARMLESS

Staff in Bernon Hall, the Admissions building, reported a “suspicious substance” found in an envelope mailed to the office last Thursday, May 3. The substance turned out to be harmless, though an investigation was still carried out.

The investigation included both the Village of Hempstead and the Nassau County police forces, who responded with Hazardous Material Teams.

The University sent out a mass e-mail to all University employees, students and faculty concerning the foreign substance and the subsequent investigation. “Police have assured us that there is no danger posed to any other building or space on campus,” the e-mail said. “The incident has been contained within Bernon Hall.”

Public Safety responded to the substance report, according to a University student who works as an ambassador for Admissions, who would only speak on the condition of anonymity. The officers sealed off the building, not allowing anyone inside to leave.

An employee opened the envelope containing the substance, the student said. “No one knew what it was.”

Public safety then evacuated the building. Nassau County police arrived 10 to 15 minutes later, the student said. The county hazmat team dressed and prepared a portable laboratory in the parking lot outside Bernon Hall.

Within 20 minutes, the hazmat team identified the substance as not posing any danger. “As soon as [the hazmat team] knew what it was, they let us go,” the student said.

The hazmat team did not test the substance inside the building, but rather at the portable lab. The student was informed that the substance was in fact mashed up antacids.

Other reports from students that work in the building said the substance was curry powder.

Additional reporting from Julia Matias.

OP-ED; DEBATES SHOULD BE OPEN AND CHAOTIC

Debating the Debates

The 2008 election season has heated up earlier than any presidential election cycle in recent memory. But you already knew that.

What you may not have known is that the debate season is starting early as well. This past Thursday, the eight Democratic candidates debated at South Carolina State University, a historically black college in Orangeburg South Carolina. Tonight, the ten (ten!) Republican candidates are debating in California, at the Reagan Presidential Library.

The debate Thursday was fast-paced, with no time for meandering beyond the question asked. “NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams moderated the 90-minute debate.

Answers were limited to one minute, with 30-seconds for a rebuttal, if necessary. Some questions were asked that required no answer other than the raise of a hand.

Now, I wholeheartedly believe in the art of political discourse, the importance of more voices at the table and all of that, but there are major problems with these debates, aired on MSNBC.

First, each candidate requires equal time, as well they should. Each voice has equal merit, so each deserves equal time. However, when there are between 8 and 10 candidates all clamoring for equal time within a 90-minute timespan, things can get either chaotic or muffled. One candidate, former Sen. Mike Gravel (Ala.), complained on MSNBC after the debate that he felt he did not have enough time as compared to the other candidates.

Second, the answer window is so small that all the audience gets to hear is a rehashing of talking points. There is no time for the nuance or detail required for a discussion about how to reform health care, for example. This gives a much greater advantage to candidates long on vision but short on details, such as Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.).

Third, the candidates were not allowed to ask each other questions, so there was no real exchange of ideas at all. Isn’t that the point of a debate? Not anymore. Now a debate is a forum and free stage for a candidate to say whatever he/she feels without a challenge.

All of this being said, I still believe these debates are a great thing for the country, for the candidates and for the American people.

But improvements must be made in order to please all involved. All candidates officially declared as candidates still must participate, regardless of the level of support seen in public opinion polls. For the Democrats, Kucinich and Gravel deserve seats as much as Obama and Clinton. For the Republicans, Brownback and Huckabee need the same opportunity as McCain and Giuliani.

All candidates must have at least two minutes to answer a question, but that time can be cut to mere seconds at the moderator’s discretion. Moderators have lost all power in coordinating and conducting debates; it is time to give them back that power. Moderators must ensure that candidates stick to answering the question, but not allowing for a rehashing of prewritten talking points.

The candidates must take questions from the audience, but at the moderator’s discretion. This method works quite well in the presidential debates and reactive questions on topical issues from constituents can really put a candidate’s knowledge of an issue to the test. Pre-submitted questions read by a “representative” of the public comes off as cold and calculated; let the people talk, they are the ones voting, after all.

Candidates must be allowed to challenge and question their respective opponents. If candidates could challenge each other, new and interesting ideas can develop, the American people can see how a candidate reacts under fire, and whether the candidates actually have ideas on how to improve a nation in peril, rather than perfecting 10-second sound bites for the campaign trail.

All candidates from each party should debate weekly on an issue. If the Democrats debated Tuesdays and the Republicans Thursdays, maybe there could be “Issues of the Week” debates. One week could be Iraq, the next health care, the next Social Security, etc. Instead of giving each issue its ten minutes, this extended investigation might lead to more nuanced and specific answers from candidates. The American people might, for once, get to know what these candidates want to do with their votes.

The obvious criticism to this would be that chaos would ensue onstage, but I think that could be a good thing. The more we see our candidates under fire, the better. The more questions the candidates they get asked, the better.

Remember the second law of thermodynamics, which states that the total entropy (chaos) of any system increases over time. Maybe this law should start to apply to our political process as well, because something new can come from the chaos.

NEWS; DEBATE COMMISSION IMPRESSED WITH UNIVERSITY

Officials from the Committee on Presidential Debates were impressed with their campus visit when they met University and local public officials for the first time Thursday, April 23, as part of a preliminary inspection process to vet applicants for hosting a presidential debate in 2008.

University President Stuart Rabinowitz, Board of Trustees Chairman John D. Miller, Director of Public Safety Ed Bracht and other senior administrators all met with committee executive producer Marty Slutsky, two other debate producers, Tammy Johnston and Rory Davies. Secret Service agents and Nassau County Police Insp. Robert Turk also attended.

Many local elected officials attended the meeting, including Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray, State Sens. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) and Kemp Hannon (R-Garden City).

The commission opened the beginning of the meeting to the press, which allowed President Rabinowitz to thank the commission for coming and for introducing executive producer Slutsky.

Slutsky gave a brief statement: “This is a truly impressive gathering of people. I truly feel and I will convey to the commission my impression that we have the backing of the entire area and all of the officials, which is very important.”

The production teams do not make the decision over who gets to host the debates. They report their findings to the commission, who makes the final decision on which four sites host the debates, three of which are presidential, and the fourth between the vice presidential candidates.

Reporters were not permitted to ask questions during the public part of the meeting. After a break, Rabinowitz and the public officials took questions from the press outside the meeting, which continued behind closed doors.

“This is all about the education of young people,” Rabinowitz said. “They will be involved not just at the actual debate.”

There will be a lot of internships, work, externships and things to do, where students can learn about the political process and the press, he added.

The closed-door meeting moved outside as well, and it included a tour of campus facilities such as the Physical Fitness Center and David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex, which is the proposed site of the actual debate.

There is bipartisan support for the debate to be held at the University, Sen. Skelos said. “I’m hopeful that the selection committee will see that this is a totally appropriate location, especially with the history of Long Island and the birth of the suburbs,” he added.

"We are in the New York media market, so that would be great for coverage overall,” Suozzi said. “Levittown is the first suburban community in the United States and, as a result, suburban politics are getting to be more and more important in presidential politics.”

“It is a long and detailed process,” said Melissa Connolly, Director of University Relations. “They were looking at everything, even in closets. I believe it went well.”

The University is one of nineteen sites that applied to host the debates, and is the only one in New York State to do so. Other applicants include places such as the Metropolitan Exposition Recreation Commission in Portland, Ore., and the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Ark.