On Jan. 11, Lebanese Minister of Information Tarek Mitri requested that the U.S. provide Lebanese citizens with a reason for the suspicion and remove Lebanon from the list after stating that Lebanon does not sponsor terrorism. Syria reacted similarly to the information, noting that the list acts as a form of discrimination and emphasizing that no terrorism attack ever involved a Syrian citizen.

“I think one of the main problems with airport security is that all we are basing our searches on is race and citizenship,” senior Paul Nguyen said. “I’ve never felt personally discriminated against because of my race in security situations, but I would be offended if I was an automatic suspect because of it.”

After receiving word of a potential terrorist attack on Friday, Jan. 22, India increased security in its domestic airport terminals, which dominoed when neighboring Nepal put its only international airport on high alert.

“It sounds a lot like every country is trying to one-up the others with its airport security,” junior Rachael Olson said. “But I don’t think it’s going to cause anything but trouble. Basically what happened on Christmas is going to keep happening because terrorists keep finding new ways to reach their goals. Our increased security just won’t stop anything long term.”

During his address, Obama spoke of world-class education as a high priority of his administration and sought to offer relief to college students who graduate with substantial student loans. The president mentioned a $10,000 tax credit to families paying for four years of college and plans to limit a graduate’s federal loan payments to 10 percent of his or her income. This contrasts to the present yearly payments capped at 15 percent of discretionary income. Additionally, Obama states that the government will forgive any outstanding balances after 20 years or after 10 years if the individual is a government employee.

“These plans are headed in the right direction,” junior David Ansari said. “One of my biggest fears towards college is not being able to afford my dream schools. I’m glad that students will have more options and not be suffocated by all this debt they may find themselves in.”

Other students remained skeptical of the future implications.

“I’m psyched to see that the issue of over-burdening student loans is being addressed, but in actuality how will this happen without several problems?” senior Brittany Hamby said. “First of all, won’t loan companies just make more restrictions on payment plans? Secondly, making the federal government responsible for a larger share of student debt is likely to worsen high college costs.”

The State of the Union Address also touched on Michelle Obama’s efforts to tackle child obesity, first-time clear plans to allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military and goals to double exports over the next five years to increase jobs.

Furthermore, Obama admitted he shared blame for setbacks suffered during his first year in the White House. In wake of last month’s defeat to the Republicans in the Massachusetts seat of late Democrat Senator Kennedy, he did not attempt to gloss over criticisms of his healthcare reform and heavy-spending on the banking bail-out.

When signing with a university, a number of athletes desire a school that gives them opportunity to excel in the sport that they play as well as in the academic path they wish to pursue.

“Playing for volleyball for SMU is ideal,” senior Megan Jeanette said. “I’m in IB and so I was looking for a university where I could play volleyball without sacrificing my academics. SMU has the perfect facility for me to do that.”

Many athletes feel that playing a sport throughout college will help them maintain their physical fitness while at the same time become an active member in their school community.

“I definitely think that playing soccer during college will help me keep in shape,” senior Joshua Sealey said. “That’s my main target. I don’t want to be 45 and overweight with a mustache.”

The days spent stalking the mailbox or waiting by the phone definitely took a toll on several students’ stress levels throughout their senior year.

“It was really hard to wait and see what colleges wanted me to play for them,” Sealey said. “Everyone around me knew they were going to UT or Baylor and I was still waiting. I really just wanted to know.”

When choosing a college to attend, students find they do not always get their first pick. It’s similar for student athletes. Fortunately, these competitors keep a positive mindset and continue to hope for the best.

“The school I signed with wasn’t where I was aiming,” senior Brandon Wesley said. “But I feel like I’m fortunate just to be given the chance to play football in college. A lot of people I know aren’t even getting a chance to play for a team in college. I’m glad I’m not one of them.”

For some students, athletics are their life and for others, it’s an enjoyable pastime to pursue in college. Either way, signing with a college or university still holds major importance and significance in determining their futures.

“I can’t imagine not playing sports in college,” Wesley said. “That would just be a tragedy.”

Michael Jackson and Richie originally wrote “We Are the World” and Jones produced it. The original recording raised more than $63 million for African famine.

Over 100 artists will perform in the new single. Pink, Jonas Brothers, LL Cool J, Celine Dion, Miley Cyrus, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Jamie Foxx, Usher and Beyonce make up just a handful of the celebrity singers featured in this star-powered single.

Check out http://wearetheworldfoundation.org/ for more information on “We Are the World” to keep up with the foundation. Donations will go to charities deemed worthwhile, hand-selected by the board of directors. We Are the World Foundation, a non-profit organization, plans to help further the sense of activism that the original song intended.

Text “WORLD” to 50555 to make a $10 donation to WATW to stand and make a difference.

While some argue that Tatum’s acting disappoints in Dear John, the girls in the audience most likely won’t notice due to his rampant popularity. In addition to the extremely attractive male lead, Seyfried portrays a distressed lover perfectly and plays a very relatable character. Although the beginning of the movie starts off a bit cliché, as the plot develops the audience becomes more engrossed in the film and begins to sympathize with both John and Savannah. For those who have read the book some  the movie stays true to the novel for some parts but deviates from the book and has significant differences. Plan to bring some tissues because this movie falls under the tearjerker category. The plot allows viewers of all ages to find something to take from the movie, however it may be slightly inappropriate for children under the age of thirteen.

By surfing the web, you can see the full page in high quality the exact way an average computer shows it. With a touch of a finger, one can read articles, watch you-tube videos, or even log on facebook, check your e-mail, save, delete, or upload your messages and even e-mail back. The screen contains a keyboard sensible to a light touch.  By uploading photos, you can view them in vibrant quality, and browse through a slideshow of different folders of photos.

This new Apple piece of technology runs over 140,000 apps including games, music and business features. Some are even free, including the book app. iBook allows you to buy and download books you can save and read right on your iPad. Costumers of this product can also buy and download their iTunes music and videos to be watched and listened to. If a person doesn’t wish to buy a video, he or she can simply find a video online and watch high-resolution music videos, movies and TV shows.

But the activities and applications don’t stop there. Use the iPad to search Google maps for directions to wherever you’re going with a special satellite GSP. With the touchable keyboard, you can type up easy-to-read notes during the day, place a daily calendar to remain on schedule, or save contacts full of names and numbers.

The iPad can virtually do anything technology-wise. Obtaining a Wi-Fi and 3G network, this thin screen can run for a maximum of 10 hours. With brilliant picture, high quality sound and music speakers, and quick networking, Apple aims for the best.

Seventeen-year-old Janie experiences the most abnormal dreams that necessarily might not happen at night: someone else’s. A person who just happens to be sleeping close by her will end up seeing her in their dreams. They may not remember her exactly, but she does. She will remember each and every detail of the dream or nightmare the person’s having. Every now and then, while she stands there, watching the dream, the dreamer will turn to her and ask for help. Little does she know how much help she can really give.

Conquering the trouble this girl deals with each day with in-school sleepers, this book takes you on a new journey of creativity. This new freaky “power” Janie possesses isn’t a common fantasy story. Because of this, the reader won’t want to put it down until they find out how her dream-catcher abilities grow and turn out.

Soon after this novel was published in 2008, it hit the Top Ten Quick Pick for Young Adult Readers. Demand for the novel led McMann to write out in 2009 the squeal, “Fade,” knowing she has millions of supporters waiting. Reaching the right level of new and different story ideas, McMann won’t be over with the series until it becomes widely known. So keep an eye out for this book, because it’s a keeper.

With less than three years until the faithful day, the day is coming closer and anxiety is increasing. It can be frightening, but it can be thrilling also.

“It’s scary because the world might be ending, but it’s exciting because it might not but something else might happen.” senior Rosa Quispe said.

While Quispe believes something might happen, other people are not as quick to join the bandwagon.

“It’s all lies,” senior Patrick Kelley said. “All it is is the Mayan calendar ending, that’s all it is.”

Such unenthusiastic views are not uncommon among the student body.

“Nothing’s gonna happen in 2012,” junior Nathan Shayan said. “It’s just a bunch of people doing a bunch of new-age hippie stuff that’s not going to matter.

But 2012 might just be another event that is all hype and when the day actually comes, everyone will all be disappointed, it’s not like it has not happened before.

“It’s kind of like the year 2000,” senior Erika Vasquez said. “When everyone was like ‘Oh! Everything that’s electronic is gonna stop working, we’re all gonna die! But then, the new millennium came, and nothing happened.’”

This theory is not uncommon and a lot of people seem to reiterate the occurrence in the year 2000.

“Everyone was so scared, watching the clock turn from 11:59 PM to 12:00 AM anxious to see if everything was going to shut down,” senior Yeaji Seo said. “But the clock turned 12, and nothing. Talk about disappointment of the millennium. The same thing is going to happen in 2012, so nobody should worry.”

Mayans predict that in 2012, the plane of the solar system will line up exactly with the plane of the galaxy, the Milky Way. This cycle has taken 26,000 years to complete. Virgil Armstrong also says that two other galaxies will line up with the galaxy that the earth is in the same time. A cosmic event. Nothing in this prophecy discusses the possibility of the annihilation of Earth. But the prediction is that something indeed will occur, whether it be a disaster, or a coming event.

Starting with the Dallas Museum of Art, this collection of fancy finger paintings practically illustrates the productive capacity that Dallas holds. The art museum opened back in 1984. It stands as the only museum in Texas to house more than 23,000 works of art that come from all sorts of cultures. Now here is the cool part, for all the penny pinchers out there Thursdays are free from 5:00 to 9:00 pm. The museum even throws together a jazz concert for those who show up. Not the kind of guy who wants to stare at a bunch of paintings and pontificate? Well there are a number of other activities that the museum puts on during the weekends, such as films, family activities and studio creations.

The Morton H. Myerson Symphony Center, designed by a Pritzker Prize-winning architect is a really cool looking building. As Apparently the Pritzker Prize is like a World Series ring to the architecture world. When completed in 1989, Dallas finally got some fancy music space for world-renowned soloists and conductors to strut their talents for us underlings.

Moving on to other venues comes the Crow Collection of Asian Art in the Trammell Crow Center. This building holds all sorts of restaurants and gift shops that somehow go well with a collection of Asian art. The place is full of rich cultural experiences.

The next thing on the list of “Things that make the Dallas Arts District awesome” is the Nasher Sculpture Center. Yet another building designed by a Pritzker prizewinner, this addition gives us a rock-solid collection of statues and designs. Opened in 2003, this is the only place in North Texas dedicated to contemporary sculpture.

Now here is the biggie, the recent addition to the arts district. With the sell out, commercial title, the AT&T Performing Arts Center Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House is a must see venue. With this addition, the city of Dallas now has four buildings designed by Pritzker Prize winning architects. The design is modeled as a 21^st century redesign of the classic horseshoe layout. The only good thing I can find about this place is that there is a café open all day.

So with all that the ornamental building and shops seem to let out that Dallas is serious about its arts program and it’s willing to pay up the nose to get what it wants. Not to forget that there is an Opera house next to a symphony hall with an art house down the street, the district meets all artsy needs that the public can think of. The location is perfect; the inner city liquor stores nearby seem to fit right in with the million dollar institutions. So make plans to visit the magnificent add on and have a rich cultural experience in the city of Dallas.