Led by Howard Jones, Community Services Coordinator; and Audrey Lilley, AmeriCorps VISTA, staff of the Volunteer Central in the Bedford House, Into the Streets called all Millersville students, faculty, and staff to get out for a fun day of meaningful volunteer work. Devoted to bettering the Lancaster County area through a combination of efforts by nonprofit organizations, “Into the Streets” allows volunteers to help paint a room, fix a fence, visit with elderly residents or play games with disabled children.

Volunteers visited agencies such as Willow Valley Retirement Communities entertain the elderly and San Juan Bautista Thrift Store to paint the shelves that hold food products.

“Into the Streets” represents the collective of 77 students and representatives from colleges, and student community service programs from across the country. The groups gathered at a summit conference at the United Way of America’s national headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, December 14 and 15, 1990. The purpose of the summit, funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, was to bring together representatives from a broad spectrum of organizations to collaboratively plan a national youth/student service project. It was also an opportunity for these 77 representatives to share their thoughts on the future of youth service activities and organization, as well as their work in striving to channel the positive energy of students across the nation into a reflective and diverse service experience.

“Into the Streets” is designed to increase student awareness of issues that affect our society. Students learn to interact with diverse people; develop creative ways to empower communities, discuss social issues; build leadership and interpersonal skills; and increase self esteem.

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“You’re going to go home tomorrow and make more money than you’ve ever made in your life, and I’m going to go home without a paycheck.”

“Up in the Air,” based on the 2001 novel of the same name by Walter Kirn, does an ample job of exploring the depth, and subsequent void, created by the corporate world in the human psyche.

The film, released in December 2009 and directed by Jason Reitman, opens with various members of the “newly unemployed” venting to Bingham, a messenger-of-occupational-doom-for-hire played by George Clooney, pronouncing their anger, fear, and utter devastation at the sudden loss of their financial security amidst such hard economic times.

Not that Bingham has a particularly hard time with that.

In between ending the careers of a seemingly endless pool of unfortunate souls, he lives a life devoid of almost any meaning other than to reach the coveted ten million mile mark, a feat only achieved by six others. As he puts it, “more men have walked on the moon.”

He has a systemized way of living. Keep possessions and sentimentalities to a minimum, and always travel light. To him, relationships and emotional connections are just unnecessary baggage in a world that demands efficiency. Everything is precisely calculated to speed up the life process; he has his packing routine down pat, he makes sure to always get behind Asians at the airport security line (“I’m like my mother, I stereotype. It’s faster.”), and he never, under any circumstances, gets into anything emotionally complicated.

In one of his occasional motivational speaking gigs, he sizes up the totality of his personal philosophy: “The slower we move the faster we die. We are not swans, we’re sharks…let everything burn and imagine waking up tomorrow with nothing. It’s kind of exhilarating, isn’t it?”

Of course, Bingham does not stay this way forever. His disillusionment with his business begins with a new arrival at the office.

Upon his return from his trip, he finds his company “revolutionized” by Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), an up-and-coming Cornell graduate seeking to make her mark early by streamlining the company’s firing methods. In an effort to streamline spending and increase numbers, she developed a fire-by-ichat method, keeping the process simple, quick, and almost entirely impersonal.

Bingham’s objections are his first real hints at humanity.

“What we do here is brutal and it does leave people devastated, but there is s a dignity to the way I do it,” he said.

Keener’s new idea is just the beginning in a string of startlingly realistic examples of how the world has grown increasingly impersonal. When Bingham is forced to show her the ropes of the downsizing business and take her with him, her longtime boyfriend breaks up with her over a text message. As the trip continues, the stresses of coping with such a lifestyle take their toll. In one scene, she sits alone looking absolutely desolate in a room full of empty computer chairs, ones that belonged to dozens of people she just fired only hours ago.

A sense of emptiness and unfulfillment arises throughout the film. As Bingham and Keener await one flight, they stand in front of the massive windows of the airport, looking insignificant and alone.

Things only really change for Bingham when he meets his match in Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga), a status-addicted travel junkie who, just like him, lives to fly. They begin a casual relationship, yet clearly want more of one another. It is a little hard to believe Goran when she proclaims herself “the woman you don’t have to worry about.”

As the liaisons continue he allows himself to recognize his growing feelings for Goran, he begins to fill his life and make it more meaningful. He attends his younger sister’s wedding instead of blowing it off, going so far as to take Goran with him as his date. Everything seems to be turning around; he introduces a nice woman to his family, he shows her his old high school. In an incredibly ironic gesture, he talks his future brother-in-law out of having cold feet on his wedding day, saying, “Life’s better with company.” It’s around this time that Bingham truly allows himself to be human.

Unfortunately, as in life, it’s not all smooth-going once he makes a decision to better himself. In a shock similar to the emotional ruin felt by those he’s fired, he discovers that Goran is married with children. Despite the obvious connection between the two, she sees what they have as no more than a fling. As she puts it, “You’re an escape. A parenthesis.” After this blow, the accomplishment of reaching the coveted ten million mile mark is empty and worthless because he is, he sees, alone in what should be a moment of happiness and celebration.

Only one man could have made this role so appealing. While Bingham does have moments of great humanity, there are times when he, were it not for Clooney’s quiet humor and innate charm, would be otherwise unbearable as a person. The entire cast gives capable performances, especially Farmiga, who does an incredible job of being simultaneously appealing and despicable in her behavior.

Overall, this is a great and watchable film. The acting works on all levels, especially the one-on-ones with the fire-ees (cameo from Zach Galifianakis from “The Hangover”). Reitman uses simple yet effective cinematography to further Bingham’s sense of isolation and fleeting moments of togetherness, and dialogue that manages to be heartfelt without sounding cheesy.

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Playing a medley of their most famous songs, including “Pinball Wizard” and “Teenage Wasteland,” the aging talent of both Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey showed their age on stage as their breathless singing and forced stage performances fell short.

However, the guitar playing, drums, and keyboards were incredible. The stage was beautifully lit to give the crowd a spectacular display, along with fog machines, laser lights, and fireworks. During the performance of “Who Are You,” the crowd sang along and brought out their lighters to add to the ambiance.

Their voices had a shaky start, both from Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend, but as the performance went on, they improved. Their age showed through, that is for certain, but they had no shortage of enthusiasm and plenty of crowd support that sang along to the good old fashioned rock and roll.

After the “wardrobe malfunction” of 2004, Super Bowl halftime shows have been handed over to the classic rock kings of the past. Paul McCartney rocked in 2005, The Rolling Stones dominated in 2006, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers held the stage in 2008, and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played for the 2009 Super Bowl. With Michael Jackson, originally considered to play during the 2011 halftime show, it is up in the air as to who will perform next year.

Rock and roll, it seems, has transformed from rebellious and crazy, to the safe genre of music that advertisers can rely on. And not just any rock and roll, but classic rock and roll, where the performers are over 60-years-old.

Despite being past their peak, The Who proved they were still able to rock out to large crowds and put on a great show.

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The movie itself was based off of the original book by Maurice Senda, which follows the imaginative journey of a misunderstood child named Max. Prior to watching the movie for myself, I had never read the popular children’s story so I was definitely in for an adventure.

At the beginning of the movie, Max flees from home, sensitive to what others think of him, and feeling that his presence was unappreciated. His journey begins by escaping to where the wild things are, sailing to an island where he was introduced to a clan of mysterious creatures. Max was first greeted with roars and grunts from the creatures showing that he was unwelcomed, but once he exclaims, “Be Still,” the creatures are tamed. Soon afterwards the creatures welcome Max, eventually revealing their very unique personalities.

Cliché as it may sound, my initial thought of what the creatures would look like was somewhat resembling that of an ugly clan of monsters, but boy was I wrong! I was pleased to see that the wild things were rather cute than frightening and by the sound of the audiences reactions, I’m sure they too would agree.

As the movie continues the wild things inform Max that they need a leader to guide them, and as spontaneous and willing as Max was he was glad to take on the offer. Max was then able to achieve what he only dreamed of doing, which was to rule a kingdom.

As with any movie, conflict did arise when it came to maintaining his relationships with others which proved to be complicated rather than simple. There were humorous parts in the movie as well as the famous “awww” moments when it comes to any charming movie. In my opinion, the movie was great, as it depicted the differences between fantasy and reality. With all fantasy stories comes a happy ending, where in this case Max achieves his goal to make everyone happy. I then began to think that even though our society (for the most part) aims to achieve this dream, it can never become a reality.

For everyone to be “happy,” a miracle would have to happen but until then we aim to do our best by making the most out of our interactions with others. I left the showing of “Where the Wild things Are” with an urge to release my inner child while I still have a chance, something that other movies nowadays lack. “Where the Wild Things Are” was a touching movie that not only grasped my attention by its visual effects but also by its inspirational message; to let you’re imagination run wild. Not a bad message considering the current tensions our society today!

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A: Dr. Miller went to Indiana University, where he received his Ph.D in English.

Q: What are you a professor of?

A: Miller has been teaching english for almost 25 years. He specifically teaches: ”English poetry before the 1800s, the 1500s, and 1600s are my main area, but I have taught almost every English class offered at Millersville in the English department, from Poetry to World Literature I and II, and Creative Writing. I like to teach English Composition to freshmen, because it is more engaging and interesting to work with freshmen writers, because they are just starting off in a new experience. They come out of high school or they transfer, and college is new. I find a first year student of any age is more open to experimentation to try new things and to just having fewer limits.”

Q: Do you have advice for writers?

A: “Just remember, it is a process and try to find what works for you as a writer. Don’t try to force the writing, if you do get blocked, try something else.”

Q: What is your favorite book?

A: ”Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. It is my ultimate, all time favorite novel, I read it at a very early age, and it affected me with the different elements: ancestry, family connections, sibling rivalry. It is packed with all kinds of emotions, and I like to read anything anyone has written about Wuthering Heights; the spin-offs and criticisms. I used to read it annually and I try to teach it whenever I get a chance. I actually teach a class on the three Brontë sisters, but I do like John Donne, Edmund Spenser and Margaret Lucas Cavendish.”

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