| Summary: | 9 theconcordian.org • April 20, 2017 THE CONCORDIAN Student accepted to marine biology internship in Florida BY EMMA KLITZKE klitzke@cord.edu How does a student living in a landlocked state learn first-hand what it’s like to save a stranded sea turtle? Concordia’s own Matt Nelson has been granted the opportunity to do just this, and more. The National Science Foundation funds undergrad internships yearly, granting high school, trade school and college students the opportunity to work in their future desired fields. Nelson, a junior majoring in biology and minoring in environmental studies and theatre art, applied for a marine biology internship at Mote Marine Life and Aquarium in Sarasota, Fla., for summer of 2017. He is one of 10 students across the country who’ve been accepted. “I think it’s going to be a very interesting opportunity,” Nelson said. “I never expected to hear back from this program, but I guess I did something right on my application!” Nelson will be working in the Stranding Investigations Program at Mote Marine Life and Aquarium, which deals with stranded sea creatures. He’ll be on call 24 hours per day, watching for stranded sea turtles, dolphins, and manatees and helping those that end up stranded on the beach. He and the other undergrad students working at this internship will also be required to attend seminars by real marine biologists and create a research project by the end of the summer. In terms of research, Nelson is particularly interested in the social science aspect of animal strandings. He wants to learn more about the attitudes of the fishermen in the area and how fishing regulations affect the number of strandings per year. Nelson hopes to pursue a career in an aquarium or zoo after graduation. “Zoos and aquariums do so much amazing work in conservation, public awareness, and breeding programs for endangered species,” Nelson said. “And I want to be a part of it.” Nelson says that despite being a biology major for two years, he has no experience in the field of marine biology. According to Dr. Michelle Marko, associate professor of biology and co-director of the environmental studies program, most of Concordia’s biology majors end up in health services, due to the enormity of Concordia’s nursing program. In addition, there simply are not many opportunities to pursue marine biology in a landlocked state like Minnesota. It’s for these reasons that Nelson is excited for the opportunity to learn more about marine biology in Florida. “I expect that Mote will help to mold me into a more versatile scientist and a more passionate person,” Nelson said. But before Nelson does go off to study what he’s passionate about, he has a lot to do to prepare. The stranding internship at Mote involves performing necropsies on sea turtles and other creatures, so extensive knowledge of anatomy and dissection will be crucial. Nelson has already started studying. “After I was accepted, my faculty advisor at Mote sent me a 180-page PDF on sea turtle anatomy alone,” Nelson said. All of that information and more has to be memorized and ready for application by the time he arrives in Florida. Nelson’s internship begins just a month away in May, and he is incredibly excited for such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Nelson said that he wouldn’t have been accepted to this program without the help of two professors: Marko and Sally Story, assistant professor of communication studies and theatre art. Marko and Story wrote letters of recommendation for Nelson’s application to this internship. Marko has known Nelson for three years and thinks highly of him. In an interview, she described him as “an engaging and intelligent young man” who has shown great responsibility time and time again. She’s excited for him to begin this next chapter in his life. “Although many think of our job as faculty as primarily in the classroom, our work with students outside the classroom can be just as or even more important,” Marko said. Story is also thrilled for Nelson. She admires his passions for both of his areas of study, theatre and science, and about his internship in Florida. MADDIE MALAT Junior, Matt Nelson will be spending the summer rescuing stranded marine animals in Sarasota, Fla. Review: ‘The Fate of the Furious’ BY JONATHAN IMMEL jimmel@cord.edu The eighth installment in the “The Fast and The Furious” franchise is more of the same from recent films. A convenience for viewers is that if they have not seen previous films in the series, they can catch on and follow the ludacris action sequences and for the most part, follow the story. If you are a fan of impossible car stunts, and favor those over the story or plot, the “The Fate of the Furious” would be a great fit. It is a popcorn movie that does not engage the audience in the lore or history of the franchise, and will bore anybody who has seen any of the past three “The Fast and The Furious” films. The film is directed by F. Gary Gray, who directed “Straight Outta Compton,” continues the theatrics and drama of the “Fast and Furious” franchise. The story department, once again handled by Chris Morgan, who has written for the series since “Tokyo Drift,” turns to the cringe inducing soap opera territory that the franchise has become known for. We’re once again introduced to Vin Diesel as Dom Toretto, who places “family,” one of the franchises most important themes, over everything else and still misses Paul Walker’s character. There’s a cyber terrorist, and a very generic villain, named Cipher (Charlize Theron) who plans to destroy the world for reasons that are not clear. She blackmails Toretto, and the movie becomes reminiscent of “Captain America: Civil War” in the way that family and friends have suddenly turned on each other. This feud travels across the globe, notably to the Middle East, Iceland, and Cuba. When compared to other recent action movies, notably “John Wick: Chapter 2” and “Mad Max: Fury Road,” which have both done a much better job infusing drama, cars, and story together. These movies, and many other action movies, build upon character, wit, and action to create a quality film, but “The Fate of the Furious” has no wit, and with every action sequence significantly takes away from potential to build the series’ reputation. Instead, this film is another biennial car chase action movie to produce for revenue. Despite the movie being as lackluster as past movies in the franchise, there is a possibility that the movie breaks the box office record of opening weekend sales, with some projections at $534 million, which is slightly more than “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” weekend total of $529 million. With the death of Paul Walker, who played Brian O’Connor in the series, the production staff had to be very particular about handling the on screen character. Instead of mindlessly killing off Walker’s character like many films do with actors and actresses who pass away, the cast members refer to Walker’s character in a way as if he and his onscreen wife are trying to avoid the high octane life of being one of the fast and furious. “Brian would know what to do,” Torreto says wistfully. But Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) rejects the idea, saying that they promised to leave Brian and Mia out of any dangerous activity. This aspect of the film does appeal to the character’s best interest, instead of just killing them off. One of the series’ thematic touchstones is intact with “The Fate of the Furious,” and that’s the idea of family, a word repeated with lacking dramatic heft about every eight minutes. Sometimes, the word is a sentence by itself: “Family,” says Torretto, his brow furrowed, as he considers his betrayal of his crew, and, family. The audience is supposed to consider such moments with dead seriousness, yet the exact opposite is true of any and all-sense-defying action. Instead, the audience is delivered with a smirk, an elbow in the ribs, a hammer to the head, an anvil falling on our heads, and a car crashing on top of that. Simply put, any potentially moving theme was very poorly executed. The tonal discrepancy in these “dramatic” moments happens throughout the film, taking away any chance of the script sliding into a poorly executed soap opera. After seeing the trailers for this movie, there was little hope for it; however, in light of how bad the trailers looked, which showed Vin Diesel making out with Cipher briefly as well as snapshots of multiple car scenes, which the movie improved upon those and was surprisingly better than expected. With the same recast as previous films, the family, if I dare say the word again, goes through another ridiculous, story-less adventure. “The Fate of the Furious,” despite potentially breaking box office and franchise records, was a disappointing film, lacking originality and plot whatsoever. This catastrophe of an action sequence “earns” a 5.2/10. If you were to watch a movie this week, pick up “La La Land” on Blu Ray, which comes out on April 25th. Much more worthwhile than “The Fate of the Furious,” or most movies being released to theaters. COURTESY OF ONE RACE FILMS AND UNIVERSAL PICTURES. SUBMITTED BY SUSAN FISER In just over a month the critically acclaimed cult classic “Twin Peaks” will return to televisions across the nation. “Twin Peaks” is the brainchild of Mark Frost and David Lynch and first premiered in 1990 and has been a cultural landmark ever since. Public sentiment about the show seems to be a mix of “I’ve heard of it, but have no idea what it is” and “I love Twin Peaks!” For those in the first category, “Twin Peaks” centers around the investigation of FBI agent, Dale Cooper, played by Kyle MacLachlan, into the deceivingly simple murder of the homecoming queen, Laura Palmer played by Sheryl Lee. The longer Cooper stays in the small town of Twin Peaks the more things he discovers are not what they seem: whether that be the double life Laura Palmer led, or the fact that strange supernatural occurrences seem to be happening at an incredibly high rate in the small town. However, the mysterious edge to the show is offset by the melodramatic acting, seemingly better suited for a second-rate soap opera than an award-winning show, and the humor that the quirky townsfolk bring. While the plot of the new season is not yet fully known, it is believed to be a look at Cooper’s journey back to Twin Peaks. The audience was left wondering if they were ever going to get an answer to what Palmer meant when she said that she would “see him again in 25 years” in a cryptic dream Cooper had in the last episode of season two. While 25 years from the airing of that episode would have been 2016, that does not seem to be hindering the excitement around the new season. Agent Cooper surmised the attitude of “Twin Peaks” in the first season. “Murder is not a faceless event here. It is not a statistic to be tallied up at the end of the day. Laura Palmer’s death has affected each and every man, woman and child -- because life has meaning here. Every life. That is a way of living I thought vanished from the earth,” Cooper said. “Twin Peaks” currently has two seasons, with 30 episodes in total as well as a movie designed to be both a prequel and conclusion, “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.” The first season of the show was well received, with 14 Emmy nominations and places on the “100 Greatest Episodes of All Time” and “Top Cult Shows Ever” by TV Guide, as well as The 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time” by Empire. However, despite these glowing reviews the show had issues with declining ratings, which spurred the decision to not reveal the murderer in the first season. Unfortunately, the decision did not help with television ratings, and the movie was very poorly received as it grossed just over four million dollars in North America. Many people did not believe that “Twin Peaks” would ever return, despite Palmer’s cryptic message, as David Lynch said in an interview with “Empire” back in 2001 that he believed the show was “dead as a doornail.” In fact, with declining ratings fans were concerned that the show was going to be cancelled all together, and made a letter-writing movement called “Citizens Opposed to the Offing of Peaks,” or COOP for short. The fact that the show was losing viewers did not stop it from becoming one of the most influential shows to modern television. A number of television shows have had homage episodes, one of the most notable being “Psych’s” “Dual Spires” episode. Even “Sesame Street” has thrown in a “Twin Peaks” episode, theirs entitled “Twin Beaks.” A number of other shows have references to “Twin Peaks,” including “General Hospital” and “The Simpson’s.” While some shows throw out little Easter Eggs that fans of the show might catch, some of today’s more notable shows draw direct inspiration from “Twin Peaks.” “Bates Hotel” director Carlton Cuse stated in an interview that he drew on “Twin Peaks” for inspiration. Other shows that have strong ties to “Twin Peaks” are Disney’s “Gravity Falls” and Netflix’s “Stranger Things.” But will all of these relations to newer shows help or hinder the revival of “Twin Peaks?” The fact that shows and movies are still interested in referencing “Twin Peaks” shows that it still has enough relevancy to be important to modern viewers. The fact that current television directors are looking at “Twin Peaks” for inspiration is also a large indication that “Twin Peaks” may still be able to make it in modern television. Lynch believes that changing audience attitude is partly to blame for the flop of the second season and the movie. But changing audience sentiment may work in their favor this time around. With the revival of supernatural themed shows, a shift towards darker themed shows paired with the already recognizable faces and places may just be the shows saving grace. While it would help to be familiar with the show, viewers do not need to be completely caught up on what has happened in the previous seasons to be able to get hooked on the show. The fact that the original directors are in charge again, and that most of the main actors have returned lends us to believe that the show will still have one of its’ strongest pulls- it’s characters and character-driven plots. With such people in Twin Peaks as “the Log Lady” and the convoluted relationships between, well, everybody, we can certainly hope to have a few laughs between all of the horror and melodrama. A Cult Classic – Reimagined or Ruined? A review on the returning David Lynch classic, ‘Twin Peaks’
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