Several things have become clear to me since I arrived in Portugal.   First, most Europeans cannot figure out why we elected George Bush, twice.   Second, they can’t figure out why we are not embarrassed by his policies, by his performance, and by him personally.  I’m not sure this is accurate given the President’s recent approval ratings.

Third, they wonder, in a kind of bemused way, whether Americans realize just how damaged our reputation is around the world.  They are not angry or even critical; they seem quite sad for us and wonder how and why we let this happen.  Fourth, if Europeans voted for the American President, Barack Obama would win.  Fifth, they think he will lose.  They know the polling data, but they just don’t believe that an intelligent blackman can win the presidential election.  I can’t tell if they are more skeptical about our electing someone who is black or someone who is intelligent!

Today at lunch, my hosts talked about the disaster of the war in Iraq. I noted that as we move toward greater educational centralization – prompted in large part by No Child Left Behind, they are moving toward more school decentralization.   We talked a bit about immigration, wondering why the free marketers who brought us unregulated credit markets and hedge funds would limit immigration which is, after all, just a different kind of free market in which bodies follow perceived opportunities.

In each case, they found fault with the paths pursued by President Bush and spoke knowledgeably about the ways John McCain seems to be following the same path.

Their interest in Obama was not unqualified.  They spoke quite positively about some of McCain’s positions and less positively about some of Obama’s.   They seemed well aware of Obama’s lack of experience.  They expressed positive interest in Hillary Clinton and wondered why she was not nominated.  They are clearly not swept up in Obama-mania.   But they are distressed at the damage that President Bush’s administration has wrought and desirous of a sea change (an apt metaphor for this nation of explorers!) in how America interacts in the world.  Obama offers that possibility; McCain, they think, does not.

What I heard today confirmed what I have been hearing and reading for weeks.  I have talked with students and colleagues at the university, with nurses and engineers from other countries who are studying Portuguese with me, with shopkeepers and restauranteurs.  The response is much the same.

In a class last week, I focused on empowering students in schools.  In order to develop ideas about “power over” (domination) and “power with” (the ability to get things done together), I used a variety of images.  I showed a photo of President Bush and Prime Minister Socrates.  The students began laughing as soon as the picture popped up.  I asked if they were laughing at the Prime Minister.  “Sim!”  And then I asked if they were laughing at the president.  Clearly they were.  Young adults view the President of the United States as an object of derision.

A few days ago,  I conducted a faculty workshop with my colleagues in the Departmento de Pedagogía e Educação.  We compared the American educational system under No Child Left Behind to the current Portuguese reality.  They asked me how things might change depending on who won the election.

I told them that McCain would reauthorize NCLB with relatively minor changes but that Obama appeared interested in more major changes, especially the use of multiple performance measures like portfolios.  Then I said that, based on polling, it looked like Obama would win.

They laughed, teasing that we said that twice before, and still Bush won.

I don’t know if they doubt Americans’ ability to select a well-qualified candidate or wonder about the fairness of our elections or simply don’t believe that we will elect a president with dark skin maybe all of the above.  I very much hope their doubts are misplaced.

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East Stroudsburg came to town and upended the Marauders in front of a homecoming crowd of 6,258 with an offensive assault that proved too much for Millersville to keep up with, and won the game 45-18.

The Marauders yielded 572 yards of total offense against East Stroudsburg in which 424 of the yards came through the air. The loss dropped Millersville to an overall record of 1-9 and 1-6 in conference play.

East Stroudsburg scored on plays longer than 30 yards four times against the Marauders for the day, the first of which was a 96-yard pass play that set up the first score of the game.

After being held scoreless on their first three possessions, East Stroudsburg’s Tim Roken found Ed Kiser along the sideline for the score and lead which the Warriors would maintain throughout the rest of the afternoon.

Following the touchdown, Millersville running back sophomore Cardoza Jacks fumbled the ball on the first play of the ensuing series setting up a 42-yard pass from Roken to Doug Ogden to put the Warriors up 14-0 just 17 seconds after taking the 7-0 advantage.

Turnovers and costly penalties would haunt for Millersville the rest of the day as they would go on to give the ball up three more times on two fumbles and a pick to go along with eight penalties for a tally of 105 yards, despite moving the ball well offensively.  The Marauders entered the contest as the PSAC’s least penalized team.

“Obviously you want to take care of the ball, penalties and turnovers only set you back so you have to stay out of situations like that,” said sophomore wide receiver Jamal Smith.

East Stroudsburg built itself a 21-3 halftime lead, and a 31-3 lead into the fourth quarter when Millersville scored its first touchdown with the game all but out of reach.

Jacks ran it in from two yards out and following a Jamal Smith run for a two point conversion the Marauders trailed 31-11 with 10:36 remaining in the game.  Jacks finished the day with 101 yards rushing making it his fourth consecutive game with over 100 yards since filling in for the injured Brad Lantz.

The Warriors would put an end to any comeback hopes with two consecutive touchdowns from backup quarterback Matt Marshall through the air to receiver Jeff Giglio on passes of 34 and 86 yards to put the game completely out of reach at 45-11.

The Marauders tacked on one last touchdown with 43 seconds left after sophomore Bill Shirk found senior receiver Andy Tischbein for 27 yards through the air to set the final score at 45-18.

The catch put Tischbein over 100 yards receiving for the fourth time this season and was also his fourth straight game with at least one touchdown reception.

Shirk would finish the day 29-45 for 290 yards and a touchdown.

Despite forcing five turnovers and sacking the quarterback three times the Marauders defense failed to prevent big plays from occurring, something that has plagued the team all season long.

Millersville has one game remaining on the schedule against 8-2 Edinboro.  Along with Tischbein, Adam Brown, Adam Cobb, Derek Fry, Matt Harmon, Kevin Kershner, Ryan Knox, Jarrod Linn, Trevor Levits, and Bobby Sweir will be playing in their last game.

Still while it marks the end of the careers for most of the seniors, some of the underclassmen are looking to use these last few games as building blocks heading into next year.

“We still want to finish the season strong and play hard for our seniors, but we also can use what we’ve done for next year,” explained Smith.

The team hopes to put most of the disappointing season behind them and finish out with a win, and a big upset to build on for next season.

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Many people love the freedom that hair dye gives them.  A person can walk to a drug store, spend $20, and become a whole new person within an hour.  But does coloring hair have consequences? “The ends will be darker than the roots because they dont tell you how to apply it correctly,” said Sue Pless.  Many people have debated the effects of hair dye over the past ten years.

There have been numerous claims made that warn consumers about possible risks involved in dyeing hair theres the risk of getting cancer to harming unborn babies while pregnant.  Many of these claims have not proven to be completely accurate, but there are still many factors to consider when thinking about dyeing hair.

There are three basic categories of hair dye: permanent, semi-permanent, and temporary.  When deciding on whether or not to dye hair, most people will decide between permanent and semi-permanent.

Keep in mind though that by making this choice, decisions are being made about what types of chemicals will soak in the hair.  This is a choice that should probably not be taken lightly.

Permanent hair color is the most popular form of hair dye, and is what most salons will use on your hair when asked for a color change.

Permanent hair colors can be broken down into two categories.  Oxidation hair dye products mix a chemical dye intermediate with a hydrogen peroxide solution, often referred to as a developer.  These two components are mixed shortly before being applied to the hair.

The mixture causes hair to swell, and then the dye intermediates penetrate the hair shaft while continuing to react with the hydrogen peroxide to develop a new hair color.

Progressive hair dyes feature lead acetate as the main active ingredient. Hair dyes that contain this chemical are monitored by the FDA to ensure that they contain no more than a certain level of lead acetate.  Progressive hair dyes provide a more gradual change in hair color than oxidation dyes do.

Many studies within the past 10 years have linked cancer with the chemicals found in permanent hair dye specifically, while many other studies have disproved any link between the two.   In 2001, research performed at the University of Southern California and published in the International Journal of Cancer found that women using permanent, self-administered hair dye at least one time per month for a year or more were twice as likely to develop bladder cancer, while women who used permanent hair dye monthly for 15 years or more were three times as likely to develop bladder cancer.

This study has been criticized as not being broad or controlled enough to draw a definite conclusion about permanent hair dye.  Other researchers have also found associations between hair dye and increased incidence of ovarian cancer, non-Hodgkins lymphoma, and leukemia.

Most semi-permanent and temporary hair dyes are solutions of different coal-tar dyes.  “it will never come out like the color on the box set,” said Pless.

These dyes are usually less damaging to hair than permanent dyes because they are often less invasive to the hair molecules.  There are varying degrees of semi-permanent and temporary dyes.  Demi-permanent dyes can stay in the hair for close to 24 or 26 shampoos, while semi-permanent color will last between six to 12 shampoos.

Temporary color usually is washed out after each shampoo.  Because these products usually do not contain ammonia or peroxide, they are used to enhance or darken the current hair color and cannot be used to lighten it.

As mentioned, these non-permanent products contain a mixture that involves coal-tar dyes.  Coal-tar dyes are either certified color additives or dyes that are not approved by the FDA.  Coal-tar dye products are exempt from the FDA’s safety provisions, so it is often difficult to be absolutely certain whether the product  is approved or not.

Manufacturers are advised to put a warning label on dye products that addresses adverse reactions like skin irritation, and if this is not done and the dye causes harm during normal use the manufacturer can be held liable.

However, if the manufacturer has placed a warning label on the dye and the product ends up causing harm to the user, no action can be taken.  This is considered to be important because some coal-tar dye products have been determined to cause cancer during animal testing when they come in contact with skin.

Although there is a large amount of research and general talk about different effects of hair dye, most researchers conclude that as of now there really is not enough evidence to justify completely discontinuing the use of hair dye or being frightened to use it.

However, normal hair dye does contain significant amounts of chemicals that we should probably be somewhat cautious about constantly using.

Because hair dye mixtures almost always involve some type of conditioning ingredient, in the very short term hair that has been dyed may seem softer and shinier.  However, prolonged, continuous use of hair dyes can often be very damaging to the condition of the hair due to the chemical reactions involved. Overuse of hair dye products can cause hair to become extremely dry, frizzy or damaged in general.

When using hair dye, it is very important to take certain precautions to avoid negative reactions to the chemicals.  Follow the directions very carefully when applying hair dye at home and always do a patch test to make sure that its the desired color.

Wear gloves when working with hair dye and only leave it on the head and hair for as little time as possible.  Do not mix hair dye products because of the potential chemical reactions that could result.

Also rinse hair with water very thoroughly after applying hair dye. Salons can often minimize your risk of chemical exposure and negative reactions by following specific procedures and sometimes even making sure to minimize the amount of chemicals that come in contact with the scalp.

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In addition to Governor Rendell, several local democratic candidates spoke to students, encouraging them to not “stop at the top” of the ballot, and to vote full straight party for the democrats.

These included Jose Urdaneta, running for state senate, and Bruce Slater, a candidate for Congress.

The event was held next to the pond, in front the gazebo.

About 100 student supporters came out to hear the Governor speak, along with community members and even a few McCain supports who silently held up signs in the back.

While the “Road to Change” bus was running a few minutes late, members of Millersville’s Students for Barack Obama (SFBO) got the crowd excited to hear Rendell speak.

When he did, he connected with students on issues and talked a good deal about the recent Phillies’ win of the World Series.

After getting the crowd interested, Rendell switched his focus to issues of the state’s Democratic Party, echoing previous speakers’ encouragement to vote straight party.

He also mentioned how he and the democrats in Harrisburg worked to lower the rate of tuition increases at PASSHE University’s to below the rate of inflation, which they had exceeded in previous years.

“[There’s] no excuse for not voting,” said Rendell. “It’s going to affect every bit of your lives.”

Governor Ed Rendell speaks of Obama on his visit to campus. Photo by Christian Shuts.

When Rendell later talked about the Presidential campaign, he reacted to some of the popular criticisms of the Republicans, such as taxes.

He also included an explanation of a tax credit for families that have students attending higher education institutions that would drastically cut education costs for students.

Rendell closed his talk by reminding everyone that even though Pennsylvania is leaning towards going for Obama that every vote counts. “I don’t just want to win this election,” said Rendell. “I want to crush them.”

Organizers of the event, MU SFBO, have been hard at work making sure every registered voter would vote.

Volunteers walked around before and after the event to sign up students to be reminded to vote, and to volunteer for the campaign in the last few days of the campaign.

Senior Greg Jackson, an intern for the campaign, said he has been spending over 20 hours per week the past few weeks, and has been working more and more as election day approached.

According to various members of the group, MU SFBO started working as early as last spring, encouraging voters to vote in the primaries for Barack and getting students registered for the upcoming election. “We’ve registered a lot of students to vote,” said Jackson.

The volunteers also have given away many campaign-laden items such as posters, static clings and door tags reminding students to vote.

They even held a “make-your-own-t-shirt” event where students could spray paint the Obama logo on to tee-shirts.

On Election Day, the group   offered vans from the SMC to the Millersville Firehouse where on-campus students can vote.

Students with megaphones continually announced how much time was left to vote to persuade those students who had not yet voted to get out to the polls.

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Performers sang selections from Across the Universe, Jesus Christ Superstar and Jekyll Hyde. Though a few of the performances seemed shaky and sounded down right bad, the majority of the concert showcased some of Millersville’s best talent. Seth Eck and Sam Campbell performed Falling Slowly from the movie Once. Eck played the guitar while singing along with Campbell. Their voices complimented each other beautifully and made for a lovely duet.

Tanya Roman, who sang Someone Like You, had one of the most beautiful voices of the night. She hit every high note perfectly and had a clear and distinct tone to her singing.

Millersville's cultural showcase featured different perspectives and aspects on love. Photo by Christian Shuts.

One of the more fun numbers of the evening was My Junk from the Spring Awakening production. This piece was performed by a large group of girls and they sang, “We’ve all got our junk and my junk is you.”

The show included humorous, sickeningly sweet, sad, and even biblical depictions of love. The first reading of the night came out of 1 Corinthians 13:4, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.”

One performer read the Julia Stiles monologue from Ten Things I Hate About you. She gave perhaps the best acted performance of the night, crying and sniffling throughout her monologue.

Christina DiLouie, alumni of 2006, enjoyed the homecoming festivities of the day.

She said, “I enjoyed the energy the performers showed on stage. I also liked the symbolism of the red accents on the uniform black that the performers wore.”

The event was an overall success, though there were some ruff patches. The performers obviously had put a lot of practice into the production.

Even the dress code was nicely choreographed. Each person wore a black suit or dress and then added a deep red accent. It actually made it entertaining to find some of the red accents that appeared to be hidden at first.

Most looked quite nice, though one female performer appeared to have missed the dress code memo, wearing the tiniest black dress of the evening. It made it worse that she kept pulling the skirt down and appeared uncomfortable in her choice of clothing.

Other than some wardrobe mishaps and pitchy notes, Flying, Falling, and everything in between kept its audience well entertained and happy.

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For those many people that attended Millersville University’s 2008 Homecoming on November 1, they probably noticed the almost carnival-like atmosphere.

The first time occurrence for this type of fun-filled afternoon was complete with a woman on stilts, a large tent with vendors, a moon bounce and multiple food stands boasting funnel cakes, French fries, and sandwiches.

According to Steven DiGuiseppe, the executive director of alumni, special events, and data management, this new idea for Homecoming was proposed by the alumni association with the purpose of engaging more of the campus residents and general Millersville community.

The idea specifically included inviting various artistic vendors and community organizations to campus to draw people in, as well as incorporating student organizations for a lucrative fundraising opportunity.

“We heard a variety of comments that people enjoyed all of the food and vendors,” said DiGuiseppe. “It was a good ‘feel good’ thing. We had things going on simultaneously all weekend.”

One of the student organizations that had a stand was the Slip and Score Society for Ceramics. Junior Jared Bender was creating various pottery works while onlookers stopped to watch.

According to Bender, having the stand was a nice way to get people interested and let them know about the upcoming pottery sale at the end of November.

“It’s the first time that we get to do work in front of people instead of just sitting in a studio by yourself,” said Bender.

Featured events for Homecoming, other than the obvious sports games, were the community parade, a pet costume contest, and the crowning of the charity king and queen, with other various activities taking place throughout the day such as a treasure hunt, dog frisbee show, juggling and a reptile show.

Junior Liz Lightkep and senior Alison Horne were thoroughly enjoying the event, having even made their own t-shirts to commemorate Homecoming.

According to both Lightkep and Horne, Homecoming for them is more about the festivities than the football game, even though they felt there was quite a lot going on.

“Today was actually a little too intense,” said Lightkep. “But this is the best day of the year.”

“Homecoming is the best day of the year by far,” said Horne.

The community parade had a theme of Animals: Fictional or Real and included over 2,000 people, 16 bands, 90 live animals of all sorts, and five large helium balloons. As chairman of the parade committee, DiGuiseppe and several others carefully planned this 12th annual community parade over the last year.

This committee raised over $24,000 to fund the two mile parade, which thousands of people came to watch. After the parade, people flooded the campus to enjoy the rest of the fun activities.

“It’s a great community-university effort,” said DiGuiseppe. “We’ve gotten a lot of compliments on the parade.”

Next year’s parade is to have a theme of Myths, Fables and Fairytales.

In addition to the parade, MU’s 75th anniversary for Homecoming also featured a pet costume contest, in which anyone within the community could participate.

There were 23 entries and five awards were given out to the funniest, scariest, cutest, most original, and best pet/person duo participants. Winner of the funniest costume was a dog dressed-up as a daisy, scariest costume was awarded to a dog as a vampire, cutest went to a Snow White dog, most original was a dog as walking concession stand, and the best pet/person duo went to a guinea pig dressed as a duck.

The pet costume contest was sponsored by the Alumni Association and Manor Animal Hospital.

The crowning of the charity king and queen also interested many people at Homecoming. Charity queen was Ellen Fischl, a senior in the Alpha Di Zelta sorority. Fischl raised an astounding $18,908.66 for the Make-a-Wish foundation. Junior Christopher Torres was crowned charity king for raising $2,453.77 for the North American Food Drive, according to DiGuiseppe.

Of course, at MU to enjoy the festivities of Homecoming were alumni. Betse Person, Harriet Kuberski, Sue DiCarlo, Barbara Miller, Barbara Lenker, Rosemary Fornadel and Anne Dunn graduated in 1963 and attended Homecoming in honor of their 45th reunion.

“We like a variety, we went to the bookstore and we went to lunch,” said Kuberski.
The women were happy to recount their memories of Millersville University when they attended and were actually members of The Snapper staff. They reminisced on the all-girl dorms, signing in and out of each dorm, and the dress code for dinner.

“It’s interesting to see the changes in the campus,” said Dunn.

“If you dropped me here blindfolded,” said Person. “I wouldn’t know where I was.”

With all of the new activities going on throughout the day, it seems that most of those who attended appreciated alumni services’ and the alumni association’s efforts in engaging more people in Homecoming 2008.

DiGuiseppe gives most of the credit to Dianne O’Connor, the director of alumni services.

“Hats off to Dianne O’Connor, her staff and volunteers for making Homecoming 2008 the best yet,” said DiGuiseppe.

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This service is probably costly because the buses run constantly and use high amounts of gasoline.

This service is free for students to use and all you need to do is show your MU ID card. However, I feel that more students should use this service. Sometimes I?see only a few students on the bus at a time.

Why not use the service we paid for through tuition and save our own money on gasoline that we put into our own cars?

Some students that commute drive around campus every time their class changes to find a new spot. How about parking your car in one spot and walking to class all day or parking in the parking garage and taking the bus  to your classes all day?

When you are in the city you may have to park your car far away and walk or catch a cab or bus. Why do students not do the same at Millersville?

In the future plans of the campus it is speculated that the   interior campus parking may be eliminated.

In further speculation parking along Fredrick Street by McComsey and Caputo may eventually be closed off to create a more open grassy quad for students to walk freely across. Instead more exterior parking and more bike paths may be made.

In this case driving throughout campus may not be an option and we will have to leave our cars behind and use the bus services.

Look to see some changes in the future in the parking situations on campus.

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The team knocked off nationally ranked East Stroudsburg, and followed it up with a victory over Bloomsburg on the final day of the regular season.

The Marauders completed an undefeated season within the PSAC East, and now host East Stroudsburg in the first round of the conference playoffs on Wednesday at 1 p.m.

The most recent victory over East Stroudsburg, at home, clinched the division, and was the second win Millersville celebrated over their divisional foes this season. The game was tight in the first half, with both teams holding each other to a scoreless draw.

The second half, however, shifted in favor of the home side when, two-time PSAC player of the week, senior Ryan Kiley opened up the scoring in the 62nd minute.

The Marauders pushed even further ahead when freshman Dan Prian scored the pivotal goal that sealed victory and the division title.

“We came out with the same game plan as the last time we played them. We had to make a couple changes; mostly personnel issues. We made a couple subs and they came on and played at a high level including freshman Dan Prian, who gave us that extra boost off the bench,” said Coach Steve Widdowson.

The Bloomsburg game, on Millersville’s senior night, was a game of huge magnitude for the Marauders.

It was not only a chance to recognize the seniors on the squad that worked so hard to get the team to where they are, but it was also an opportunity for the them to secure an undefeated season in the division, and finish with the most wins in school history.

The game finished 3-1. Kiley added two goals to his season tally, pushing his team past the visitors and completing Millersville’s wonderful run through the PSAC East.

Coach Widdowson had this to say about the historic night:
“It was a big night. We take each game as it comes, and we have to stay focused on the bigger things yet to come. We took care of ESU to clinch the title, and then we looked toward Bloomsburg, where we had the chance to set a record in wins for the school and finish undefeated in the division.”

Senior Ryan McLaughin grabs senior Ryan Kiley as their teammates run towards them to celebrate his goal during a win against East Stroudsburg. Photo by Christian Shuts.

Kiley accompanied teammate Sean McLaughlin this past week, as the only two Marauders to earn the PSAC player of the week award multiple times.

Kiley recorded three times, including two game winning goals, last week.

He reached a total of eight goals and seven assists, which totaled a career high 25 points, in his final season. He is one of the experienced captains on the team, and a major reason that Millersville is having, possibly, its best soccer season ever.

Millersville now gets its chance to move forward into the playoffs, and their first match up features a recognizable foe, East Stroudsburg.

Widdowson made it clear to his players that they must stay focused and execute the game plan that worked so successfully against them twice before this season.

Millersville’s recent surge to the top is a new feel for this team. They appeared to get a slight taste of it last year, but now have the opportunity to finish what they have worked so hard for.

Widdowson envisions that his team will benefit from the past two games against East Stroudsburg.

However, he warned that they have great talent and that his team cannot have any type of let-down.

“By beating them (East Stroudsburg) for the second time, we did not send a message to the rest of the nation, but we did reconfirm that we can handle anyone on any given day.

“We have a game plan that works against their dangerous team. We just have to execute; if we don’t play to our full capability we may find ourselves in a bit of trouble,” said Widdowson.

The NCAA tournament selections will be made on Monday, Nov. 10, and will stream on NCAA.com at 7 p.m.

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A strange but succulent scent filled the room—the wafting of about a dozen different ethnic foods. At 6 p.m., the designated commencement time for the event, a line contoured the walls of the room—kids waiting, antsy for eggrolls, and adults excited for baklava. .

Then, Maria Feliciano, an MUPD officer who has been a part of the event for years, welcomed everyone to the Cultural Showcase, an event organized around the celebration of the cultural community of Millersville.

Feliciano lovingly related the event to “the diversity of leaves,” the leaves being the respective demographics of the University.

Family and friends of those participating, and any students who happened to stop in, filled a few round tables and a dozen chairs Thursday night, while the rest happily stood in small groups.

Food scarfed down, there were many full stomachs and just as many expectant eyes. Feliciano introduced Expressions, a Millersville dance team. The team of twelve dancers spread out across the stage and performed something of an interpretive dance. They devoted their performance to New York.

MU Dance Team was the succeeding act, 15 dancers performed an intricate jazz dance, electrified limbs seeming to fly across the stage, leaping here, pouncing there. Some technical difficulties gave the event a natural break, at the end of which came the fashion segment. First to the stage was a young woman in a sari, a traditional Indian dress for women.

Two young men followed with Togas, and a petite and shy Vietnamese woman donned an 18th century Vietnamese dress. Last was an elegant Japanese dress.

Feliciano took to the lectern again and announced the intermission. Children ran out into the open area before the stage, playing hide-and-go-seek with each other, parents occasionally glancing over to watch and always smiling.

Some took the intermission as an excuse to munch on more free food, others to discuss the preceding performances. Just as the laughing and rambling again became a hum, Feliciano told the lively crowd there was more yet to come.

Next up was Mai Mahdally, senior. A young man sat down on a chair in the middle of the stage. Then the music began and a beautiful young woman accentuated her curves and sensuality with a modern belly dance, luring and teasing.

“Since I was a little kid, I have been dancing,” said Mahdally with a smile. She said she loved the audience’s receptivity to the style of dancing.

A group of women came out onto the stage after Mahdally, implored the audience to join in, and joyfully skipped and jumped a Gypsy dance, wedding dance and a Turkish dance.

The evening ended with Mahdally. This time, she was in a sparkly red two-piece suit and floated around the audience, dancing a traditional Indian dance, meant, as she explained it, to be entertainment for males.

One of her family members got up and jokingly tossed dollar bills over her as she walked by. The audience audibly laughed.

Students came to the event, most of them, for the experience, and not for extra credit. Shaina Colbzo, sophomore, said she found out about the showcase on the University website, in the Cultural Events section, and came because she thought it would be interesting.

“I think it was the food [I liked the most],” said Colbzo. “I really liked the empanadillas.”

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