Months of planning, hard work and dedication are finally paid off Friday, March 27, at the Hospitality Gala Annual Fundraiser inside the Holiday Inn Hotel and Conference Center.

The Gala is a fundraising event put on by hospitality majors that includes a five-course meal dished up by several executive guest chefs, a live band, and a silent auction. This year’s theme is “Turn of the Century World Fairs” and formal attire is required.

"We treat the Gala as a real life organization with business professional meetings every week," said Mindy King, a senior in hotel/restuarant industry management and production manager of this year's Gala.

King also said, "This years team of students have outdone themselves and are sure to put on one of the best Galas yet."

Individual tickets are $75 each or $650 for a table of 10 and may be purchased by contacting the Hospitality Program at x2382.

The Gala’s proceeds are used for the hospitality programs’ student scholarships, travel, and support.

Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres will be served at 5:30 p.m. and dinner at 7. For more information and a complete list of menu items go to ferris.edu/hospitality and click on the Gala link.

The Parents Television Council (PTC) has filed a complaint against the popular show “Family Guy.”

According to an article pertaining to PTC’s complaint on “The Live Feed” Web site, thrfeed. com, “The Parents Television Council is filing an indecency complaint with the Federal Communications Commission against Fox’s ‘Family Guy’ for a March 8 episode that included"— according to the press release— ‘bestiality, orgies and babies eating sperm.’”

PTC President, Tim Winter, said specifically, “Clearly, the explicit content was not isolated to one instance in one segment of the show; it permeated the entire program.”

According to thrfeed.com, PTC has been on “Family Guy” for quite some time now because of its content.

When asked about the PTC, Seth MacFarlane, creator of “Family Guy” said, “They’re literally terrible human beings. I’ve read their newsletter, I’ve visited their Web site, and they’re just rotten to the core,” as said from thrfeed.com

I fully agree with MacFarlane. Why would this organization created by this conservative activist, Brent Bowell, in 1995, according to its Web site, parentstv.org, have the right to complain about shows that we have the right to watch and govern for ourselves?

“Nip/Tuck,” The Golden Globe Awards, “That 70s Show,” “Friends,” “The Billboard Music Awards, “The Simpsons,” “Survivor,” and “Two and a Half Men” are just the few number of popular shows the PTC has complained about because of phrases, gestures, or physical interaction not suitable for children in the show.

Another dispute recently happened between The Ashley Madison Agency and PTC.

PTC wanted ads from ashleymadison. com—whose slogan is “Life is short. Have an Affair.”—off television because they feel the ads are targeted to children. The PTC wants to “ensure that children are not constantly assaulted by sex, violence and profanity on television.”

In the recent article published by the Ashley Madison Agency, Noel Biderman said the agency spends lots of money on ads. The advertising is not aimed at children but at adults looking for relationships outside of their current relationships. The agency, he said, would certainly not aim at children as it is a dating service.

Not only has the PTC targeted television shows and ads, but happenings that occurred on accident as well.

One major example is Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction at the Super Bowl back in 2004.

The PTC said, back in 2004, that television has gone too far. Reporter Christopher Stone wrote an article on his opposite opinion of where PTC stands.

He said that Americans should just grow up and realize TV hasn’t gone too far; TV is just taking a step closer to the real world.

“[We let] children see Iraqi prisoners on dog leashes…but don’t let them glimpse, however fleetingly, a woman’s breast,” Stone said pertaining to PTC’s frail problem they have with television.

Stone later talks about how we should take a stand on what we should and shouldn’t watch, not let the government intervene anymore than where they stand now. We should govern what our children should and shouldn’t watch, it’s our choice to make, not an organization or the government.

I also agree with Stone on his argument as well. We have our own choices to make. I watched “American Pie” when I was 15 years old, and I did not say any sexual or crude jokes.

I think it is just how the parents and kids are raised. My sisters and step-siblings play shooting games and watch “Family Guy” and they haven’t said anything sexual or crude nor talk about harming people.

To me that just goes back to proper parenting. As long was we no better than to have sex, swear, be mean and make crude jokes, then we, like me, will be just fine.

When I was a child, circuses involved clowns trying to be funny, animals performing various feats, and performers doing crazy routines for the sake of entertainment. This “Greatest Show on Earth” has been replaced by another.

During Spring Break I saw “La Nouba,” a Cirque Du Soleil show based in Downtown Disney in Florida. “La Nouba”—originating from the term “faire la nouba,” or to party—was full of dazzling colors, costumes, lights and of course, artistry and entertainment.

It contained almost all the items of a normal circus, such as the trapeze artists, dancers, clowns, singers, and elements like smoke and spotlights, but left out the mediocre feats, scary clowns, and cheesy music. It was replaced by original stunts, unique themes, and comedy with a hint of modern flair and creativity.

At the end of the 90-minute performance I was wowed, stunned, surprised, entertained, and even bit all of my fingernails in the process. When I paid attention to my own reactions, more times than not a hand was over my mouth in both fear and shock.

I left the show speechless. Can’t say I ever left a circus the same way.

There were eight separate acts in this version of Cirque, and while they were all good, three of them nearly lifted me out of my seat when I gave my applause.

One performance involved the Diabolo, a Chinese yoyo maneuvered on a string between two sticks. Performed by four young girls, they moved quickly and with accuracy. Their performance involved many tricks, such as moving the Diabolo under one girl’s legs and manage to throw it backwards to another performer. It was easily one of the biggest crowd pleasers.

The act that is most commonly associated with Cirque is the aerial cradle. It involves acrobats without nets or safety wires wrapping arms, legs, or stomachs in a thin red silk and moving majestically up and down for the entire height of the theatre. The main performer for this act was a man the woman behind me called “Cupid;” wearing just a pair of off-white pants and the red silks wrapped around his arms, he would hold his body at almost a completely horizontal position with his chest out as he soared over the crowd. Breathtaking and unreal, it was a very talked about moment after the show was over.

Although many people can tumble on a trampoline, nothing can prepare you for the La Nouba version. The final act of the performance involved an X-shaped trampoline and two other trampolines located next to a nearly 20 foot tall platform. Acrobats would flip multiple times and land on the shoulders of one person who was already on the shoulders of another. They would fall backwards onto the trampoline and completed three flips dangerously close to the walls of this tall platform before landing on their feet on the top. As a cheerleader and dancer, I had seen many tumbling passes before, but nothing I had ever seen before beat the feats I was viewing here.

I had a couple minor issues with the performance, but I think it was probably the very nature of the performance. There was only one stage (no three-ring circus here), but a lot of room to fill. While tightrope walkers performed 35 feet above the audience’s heads, a man on a tricycle rode along the back wall while two ballet dancers danced gracefully on the floor. There was a lot to look at and I got a bit overwhelmed picking what to direct my attention toward.

Also, some elements of the show left me clueless as to their relevance. During an act that was based on the ground, a 20-foot tall picture frame came from behind the stage and then floated over the performers. In the picture frame was a woman pretending to do laundry and waving at the acrobats. Why? I was lost and spent time after the whole show was done wondering what that could have possibly meant.

That wasn’t the only time that happened, either; every few minutes someone would come out from behind the scenes and do something that didn’t relate to what was currently going on, like knit an abnormally long scarf or run once around the stage on a tiny tricycle.

But none of those issues bothered me much. I left so in awe of the stunts, costumes, and atmosphere that I wanted to watch it again immediately. If I head to Orlando again, I will see this again. If I visit any other city with a Cirque, I will be seeing if it can be the wonder and excitement of “La Nouba.”

Heide Hatry is anything but an artist, she is a butcher of modern art.

Hatry uses untreated pigskin to cover head sculptures of women she makes out of clay.

She then uses raw meat for the lips and fresh pig eyes to fill their empty sockets.

The last step to bringing the head "to life" is a fancy wig, a little make-up, and a few props. The final product is shocking.

I can't imagine how difficult it is to make realistic-looking skin. And on her behalf, if Hatry's head sculptures were made out of wood or rubber, they would probably not be as compelling.

Her exhibit is called "Heads and Tales" and it is a photograhic presentation of her sculptures combined with stories from contributing writers.

At first I was thinking this is crazy, but then again, it's creative. I haven't seen too many artists use parts that were once living to essentially re-create life.

But after looking into the eyes of her corpse creations, my thoughts went far from art. Especially after seeing pictures she had posted of herself covered in blood while skinning a pig on her own.

On her Web site, heidihatry. com, Hatry said about working with pigskin, "I discovered that I responded intensely to its feel, smell, and the deeply corporal overall sensation it engenders. I find its effect in sculptural work, as well as in photographs, uniquely human."

Whoa. Is anyone thinking what I am? Buffalo Bill from "Silence of the Lambs," all the way. I am shocked, but that is far from what she really wants me to feel.

In Hatry's artist statement she said that shock is the opposite of what she wants because it deadens the senses and numbs the mind. She is trying to stimulate thought.

The only thoughts stimulating from me are disgust and a slight rise of vomit to my mouth.

"I am trying to have effects, but effects on people's thinking," said Hatry.

"Sometimes to make people begin to think you have to do something strong, something that grabs you by the neck and wakes you up."

What Hatry is really doing is creating the illusion of life where there is none; she is merely a mortician preparing the corpse for viewing.

From my own experiences writing about art and working with art myself, I have to call out Hatry.

"Heads and Tales" is not art. To say that anything is art, means nothing is. This is just another wannabe-artist lashing out for attention by using a medium that's going to attract a lot of attention and eventually cause some contoversy.

You can check out Hatry's art for yourself at heidehatry. com. Or, if your feeling up to a road trip her exhibit is on display the entire month of April in New York at Elga Wimmer PCC.