As the lights dimmed and the crowd went wild, the bands of the 2009 January Jams raised the ceiling a few inches in Wink Arena last Thursday night.

Opening the show was Rookie of the Year.

“We’ve been touring for two weeks now, but have known both bands for like three to four years; it’s a nice reunion,” said Rookie of the Year guitarist, Mike.

Rookie of the Year has been playing for about four years and has two albums out, in which they played some songs from during the show. They played a total of seven songs including two songs on their new album, “Sweet Tension.”

Rookie of the Year had the crowd going by having concert goers “shake it” during their party song and bring out lighters, cell phones, “laptops,” whatever the crowd had for their slow song.

The band also surprised the crowd with “Gladiator”- a man wearing a wolf mask and riding an exercise bike during the last two songs.

Outside of the performance, Rookie of the Year’s guitarist, Mike, and lead vocalist, Ryan, explained how the songs were written solely from personal experiences, including Ryan’s first song about a girl in his class who died of cancer, and how Mike originally wanted to be a weather man because “it’s a job where you are wrong every day.”

Rookie of the Year’s influences mainly came from their parents’ favorite records and “crazy shows on MTV that show 100 minutes of a live concert,” Ryan said.

He added, “When I was younger and had to go to bed early, I always used to sneak out the watch those crazy shows then head back to bed.”

Cute Is What We Aim For was the second band at this year’s January Jams and it played a total of 12 songs, including the debut single “Curse of Curves.”

With two albums out, Cute Is What We Aim For (CiWWAF) is now hoping that fans will get their messages of “how they feel over-all about the world and life, and the challenges people face everyday,” said the guitarist, Dave.

CiWWAF said that with good music come good band members. Hacikayn said they “lost” eight drummers since they started.

“It’s a good thing because all of them didn’t want the same thing we did,” he said.

CiWWAF did a whole college tour last year so members don’t get butterflies in their stomach anymore. They just worry “about the things we can’t control, like strings breaking on the guitars, or speaker/sound problems,” explains guitarist Dave.

FSU student Brittany O’Dell commented on the concert saying, “It was good; I’ve never heard of any of them before, but I thought Cute Is What We Aim For was the best.”

Other concert goers felt otherwise. FSU student Andrea Dooley said, “…the concert was fantastic. Secondhand Serenade was my favorite.”

Secondhand Serenade was the last to perform. The event headliner was “stoked to be here,” said lead vocalist and band creator, John Vesely.

Twelve songs were played including debut single, “Fall for You,” and his personally written song while “depressed and drunk,” “Pretend.”

During Secondhand Serenade’s ninth song, Rookie of the Year lead vocalist, Ryan, came on stage and wanted to do a toast.

Ryan said, “Everyone grab your imaginary shots and raise them up, everyone raise your glasses; here’s to you [guys].”

Many in the crowd followed by putting their hands up and holding a fake glass.

As January Jams came to a close, Vesely left with a final word: “It’s a big deal you guys are as enthusiastic as you are because you guys, the fans, are what make the show great, not the bands or singers.”

On Saturday, Feb. 7, the red carpet will roll out for many of Ferris State’s distinguished leaders at the 2009 Image Awards hosted by Black Leaders Aspiring for Critical Knowledge (B.L.A.C.K.).

President of Entertainment Unlimited Shanyn Leonard was surprised to find her name as one of five students nominated for the Malcolm X award. “I had heard that one of my organizations (Entertainment Unlimited) had a few nominations, but I didn’t find out until I was voting that I had been nominated.”

Leonard, who is also a senior in advertising, has been involved with a number of organizations on campus. “I am excited to attend the awards ceremony to see all of the great leaders on campus be recognized for their hard work,” said Leonard. “Many times good leaders are not thanked for their dedication.”

Ferris alumnae LaMira King, who passed away in the fall of 2007, started the Image Awards during her years at Ferris in the early 90s. Her goal was to give recognition to minority students who demonstrated leadership and talent on campus.

According to senior computer information systems senior Dia Price, “There are so many opportunities on this campus to reach out to our peers and the community and its always fulfilling to know that what we do makes a difference in other people’s lives.”

Price was also nominated for at least four awards. “The nominations for Image Awards this year is just a bonus for me. I am flattered and deeply honored.”

Today the awards not only recognize students, but are also a showcase of organizations, faculty, and staff who have dedicated their time to the university.

Robbie Rankey, president of Ferris’ College Republicans and a business administration senior, was one of five students nominated for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. award.

“The Image Awards are a wonderful way for the campus to recognize students whose efforts on campus often go unnoticed,” said Rankey.

“As students we can see who has made a strong contribution to campus life and it’s great that we have a way to thank them for their work.” Rankey was also nominated for the LaMira King award.

King’s design for the Image Awards was to be “Edutaining,” which is why attendees can expect a night jam packed with entertainment as this year’s theme is “Motown.”

After King graduated from Ferris, the Image Awards was carried on by B.L.A.C.K. and was one of its first campus events. In King’s memory during the 2008 Image Awards, the organization dedicated to her an honorary membership into B.L.A.C.K.

The red carpet walk will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday in Williams Auditorium, with the show running from 7 to 11 p.m.

Inspired by Hurricane Katrina’s destruction, Alina Poroshina’s “Abduction of New Orleans” depicts a woman sitting on a crocodile surrounded by water.

“Behind them and along the horizon you can see a flattened landscape,” said Rankin Gallery Director Carrie Weis. “This painting, to me, depicts the struggle of both humankind and the animal kingdom in the natural world,” said Weis.

Poroshina’s exhibit “Fire and Water,” which will be on display at the Rankin Gallery Feb. 9, reveals an array of oil paintings on canvas that are created on a large scale, meaning most of the figures in her art are almost life size.

According to Weis, Poroshina’s exhibit is titled “Fire and Water” because of the elements she uses to surround each figure in her paintings.

“For Alina, water symbolizes purity and sincerity while fire acts as a purifying and dangerous element,” said Weis.

Poroshina, who was born in Moscow, Russia and moved as a refugee to Lansing, Mich. with her family at the age of 10, credits her journey as a major artistic influence.

Weis said it has been awhile since the gallery has showcased an artist with such a painterly style. “It is not often we exhibit figurative works either and this show features the figure in landscape. Her paintings are colorful, vibrant, and evocative.”

Another reason for exhibiting Poroshina’s work, according to Weis, is to highlight the achievement of a Ferris graduate.

In 2005, Poroshina earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts with a major in painting and minor in illustration at Ferris State’s Kendall College of Art and Design. Then in 2007 she received her Masters in Fine Arts in studio art at Kendall.

Currently there is no artist reception planned for Poroshina’s work but her exhibit will be available until March 6 and can be viewed from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

This is also the last exhibit before the gallery’s closing over spring break. Once school returns, three exhibits remain before the end of the year. Weis invites everyone to expand their horizons and listen to the stories told by each artist through their work.

“The gallery is one place on campus where you do not have to perform but can be the recipient of our gifts.” For more information contact Weis at x2536.

In a time when God is seemingly becoming more and more irrelevant in mainstream society, William Paul Young’s novel, “The Shack” brings new perspective to the reality of God and the relationship He desires with each and every one of us.

This chilling tale, based on a real man’s experiences after a great tragedy, describes the persona of God in a way that no one has done in such great detail. Papa, as God is referred to in the novel, rocks the world of the spiritually dead Mackenzie in an extraordinary way.

“I adore ‘The Shack’,” Baleigh Nienaber, a former Ferris student said. “This book stands out from the rest because it addresses spirituality instead of religion.”

The book begins when Mack mysteriously receives a note in the mail addressed from Papa, the name that Mack’s wife had given God. Mack is immediately filled with anxiety, for the note asks Mack to return to a place that is filled with pain and Mack’s irreconcilable burden, The Great Sadness.

A few years previous to receiving the dreaded note, Mack had taken his family on a camping trip to Multnoma Falls. It was here that The Great Sadness was placed upon Mack’s shoulders. After one of his children nearly died in a canoe accident, Mack found that in his preoccupation with saving his child’s life brought on a tragedy he would not recover from for years.

While the novel has been on the USA-Today top 50 list for several weeks, many church leaders around the country have been condemning the novel as misleading and scripturally inconsistent. Kathy Lynn Grossman said in her review of “the Shack” that critics think the book, “promotes a wrong-headed view of universal salvation, as free to all as an open bar at a party.”

Albert Mohler, a known theologian of the Southern Baptist Convention calls the book, “ deeply subversive, scripturally incorrect, and dangerous.” This man also takes a literal approach to the Bible.

Mark Driscoll, pastor of the 6,000 attendee church Mars Hill in Seattle, Wash. criticizes the books ignorance of doctrine. He believes doctrine is essential to keep Christians from straying from the flock.

Nienaber disagrees. She thinks that religion, or rule following is too constrictive for an accurate representation of who God is.

“So many people get caught up in the idea of religion, which translates to rules.” Nienaber said. “The idea of religion is so constricting, it evokes a sense of rigidity, boredom and never measuring up-no wonder so many people are put off by it.”

This controversy is brought on in the way that Mack experiences God on his way to recovering from The Great Sadness. Mack comes to interact with God, but not as most people would expect. God is personified as the trinity in three greatly different characters. God the father is depicted as a heavy-set black woman called Papa. Jesus takes on his typical role as the extremely human-like carpenter. The holy spirit is described as an Asian woman named Sarayu. Mack thus begins an extraordinary adventure with these three in a surreal way that is almost unbelievable.

“As the book describes, we’re called to adventure, satisfaction and peace by a God who is in desperate pursuit of our hearts and a relationship with us-not rules,” Nienaber said.

However this book impacts your perception of God it is an eye-opening, non-stop, thrill ride of adventure. It is an easy read suitable for middle school level reading ability and up. The book may not change your life, but it will at the very least entertain.

Losers:
3. Car Commercials
Crappy commercials that I didn’t care about were anything and everything that had to deal with cars. The cars.com commercial started looking pretty good until the end. Bridgestone Tire and expensive car commercials also see to fall through the cracks every year. They don’t excite me with anything clever.

2. Budweiser Ads
Usually these horse commercials are funny but this year it just didn’t work for me.

I’ll admit that the “playing fetch” commercial made me chuckle when the Clydesdale brought the huge tree branch back but the circus commercials were pretty lame. Let’s bring back the bullfrogs. Bud-Weis-Er… these were the commercials that made me laugh the most back in the day.

1. Alltel Ads
It seemed like every time there was a break in the third quarter, the same Alltel commercial would show. I’ve seen the garbage truck commercial before so it wasn’t anything new or exciting.

Since Verizon and Alltel converged officially last week, I would have thought that someone would have been creative enough to make something exciting up. Maybe Chad and the Verizon guy could become friends.

Winners:
3. Bud Light Commercials
Even though the Budweiser commercials were very disappointing, earning the bronze medal was Bud Light as they made me laugh out loud. The Bud Light commercial that I liked was the “Skiing” drawer. Lately, I’ve been a big fan of the hand drawing in commercials and the skiing commercial is no exception.

2. Pepsi Max Ad
In second place and earning the silver medal was “Pepsi Max: I’m Good.” This commercial starts out with a lot of bad luck happening and in the end, everything’s ok because he was able to drink a Pepsi Max. Getting hit in the head with all of those objects would really hurt but I don’t think a Pepsi Max would be the first thing I reached for but the commercial was full of laughter after every step.

Losers:
3. Career Builder – It’s Time
If you hate repetitiveness, it may be time to change your ad.

If you hate overreaction and repetitiveness, it may be time to change your ad.

If you hate people being mean to small animals and yet you still want to punch said animals while hating overreaction and repetitiveness, it may be time to change your ad.

2. Bud Light – Meeting
It was a boring commercial. The order of events? Boring, boring, more boring, beer, boring, more beer, boring, let’s take the Bud Light out of the meeting.

Okay, even if I was a firm believer at having beer at meetings (which I’m not), this couldn’t be funny. Dialogue wasn’t great, acting was boring, and the end “punch line” made me more grumpy than it did smile.

If they would have had Bud Light at their meeting maybe this ad would have been better.

1. Vizio – Smart Move

I wanted to snore during this one.

“You know your technology. You’re the reason we’re America’s fastest growing HDTV company.” Who cares? I watch Superbowl ads for entertainment. I saw really bad water textures, the company logo, and a bad voiceover that said “how cool Vizio is.” Big deal. Plus, every time I’ve watched HD on a Vizio it wasn’t all that awesome of an experience anyway.

The Ultimate Loser: GoDaddy
Sex may sell (which I believe to be true), but I want to know how sex relates to Internet domain names.

Winners:
3. Bud Light – Swedish
Vroom, vroom, laughter starter?

One part Conan O’Brien, one part horrible Swedishness, one part amazingly hilarious.

Like a friend said, you have to be a Conan fan to get this ad.

Note: this is the first time I’ve liked a Budweiser Superbowl commercial since the soldier ad.

2. Cash4Gold – Get Paid
Usually, the worst ads you see on TV belong to the gold rush that is cash4gold.com.

Horrible actors, unbelievable money…no one can believe that junk. However, if you throw in the horribly broke Ed McMahon and MC Hammer selling gold Hammer pants and gold hip replacements, you have comedy gold.

1. Coke Zero – Polamalu
It’s a play on a classic ad. Kid gives Joe Greene, a former Steeler player, a Coke and he feels better about his current injury. This time, it’s a current Steeler with an injury and a Coke Zero. Add a humorous twist with the Coke spokespeople who still don’t believe that Coke Zero is Coca-Cola and humor ensues. Way to tie into the Steelers playoff run and a classic ad that is considered one of the greatest Superbowl ads ever.