70s Culture Pop

Part man, part myth and maybe part Colombian, Venezuelan or North American, the legend of Castro, known by many as the first player from Latin America to play in the big leagues in the modern era, is as mysterious as some of the most famous myths in Spanish-speaking countries across the world.

Castro made his debut and history on April 23, 1902, for the Philadelphia Athletics. But did he go by Luis or Louis when he did it? That's just one of many questions regarding Castro's legacy, life and death.

"It's definitely a mystery," said Dr. Milton Jamail, an author and former University of Texas professor who is currently working in player development for Latin Americans in the Devil Rays system.

"No one knows for sure, but the assumption is that he was the first Latin to play in the Major Leagues, supposedly from Colombia.

A Bad Week for Asian Americans Gets Worse

It's been a lousy 10 days for Asian Americans. Last Monday, 23-year-old Cho Seung-Hui killed 32 of his fellow students at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and the media were quick to try and link the shootings to Asian movies by directors Park Chan-Wook and John Woo. That same day, the Ed Lover radio show on Power 105 aired a comedy skit called "Are You Smarter than an Asian?" featuring questions like "How does an Asian pronounce fried rice'?" On Sunday, "The Sopranos" featured a quiet Asian-American resident of Uncle Junior's mental hospital who turned out to be a violent psychopath. And this coming Friday, you can watch "The Condemned," a new action movie featuring a sadistic Japanese martial artist who burns a rival to death.

"We're a convenient minority," said Greg Chang, the manager of operations at the ImaginAsian theater, a Manhattan cinema that screens exclusively Asian fare.

Asian stocks slip in early trading

In Japan, Nissan Motor Co. planned to announce an early retirement program later Tuesday, said a company spokeswoman, as the Japanese auto maker moves to revive its earnings growth, Dow Jones newswires reported. A company spokeswoman declined to comment on details, Dow Jones said. Japan's Nikkei newspaper reported Tuesday that Nissan has decided to introduce a companywide early retirement program targeting some 12,000 non-management employees aged 45 and older, the company's first domestic job cuts in eight years, according to the report.

South Korea's Kia Motors Corp. will officially open its new plant in Zilina, Slovakia, on Tuesday, Dow Jones newswires reported, citing a story in the Financial Times' online edition. The Zilina plant began producing three-door cars under Kia's Cee'd brand in December and later this year will begin building larger versions of the car, as well as the Sportage mid-size sport utility vehicle, according to the report.

Pop culture feeding on itself

It truly is incredible how pop culture feeds on itself. In the early '90s, when rap changed from an interesting genre to gangsta hip-hop, it was a shock to hear the "N-word." Especially years after the civil rights movement lost its leaders in a move to eradicate all derogatory statements made toward African-Americans and to promote equality. Now record labels glorify the music of thugs and convicts and promote them as music artists. Bill Cosby and other educated African Americans have noted that these greedy record producers have sent the civil rights movement back to the stone ages.

Unfortunately, the media gives the camera and radio to the worst possible role models. Where are Will Smith and Halle Berry when you need them to make a stand for a good cause?

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Summer lecture series announced

Members of the university's internationally renowned faculty will share their expertise on a variety of topics during the UBThisSummer Lecture Series, "The World in Which We Live: Multiple Disciplines, Multiple Perspectives," to be presented on Wednesday afternoons this summer on the North Campus.

The lecture series provides members of the UB community, as well as the broader Western New York community, "the opportunity to hear from distinguished UB faculty representing diverse disciplines on topics of social relevance, as well as popular culture," says Joanne M.

Finance minister's daughter heats up the video charts

Meet the pop-star daughter of Ontario's buttoned-down finance minister: Martina Sorbara prowls the stage in a latex bodysuit and sings blithe numbers about one-night stands.

Women’s Rights And Wrongs

My introduction to feminism was though my middle-school teacher Mrs. Geh: a feminist of the fairly rational and moderate variety who espoused a form of feminism that was appealing because most of it was true.

Appended to this altogether reasonable and laudable set of characteristics was the term “feminist." At the time, I didn't have a very clear idea of what feminism was, but I decided that if she was feminist, then so was I.