Events

Stony Brook University held its annual Roth Pond Regatta on Friday, April 30. With warm temperatures and blue skies all throughout the day, hundreds of students came out to watch the dozens of cardboard and duct tape boats race across the pond. The Independent was on hand to capture tons of photos of boat successes and failures.

Nine of the university's best singers gathered in the Student Activities Center auditorium on April 22. They all had one goal in common: earning the right to be named Stony Brook Idol. Nisha Thayil, a 21-year-old sociology major from Ardsley, NY, emerged as the winner of the competition.

At the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the famed biologist's birth, and on the 150th anniversary of his revolutionary theory, Stephen Stearns of Yale spoke on the ways Darwin's ideas are creeping into medicine – for instance, the use of pig parasites to treat multiple sclerosis.

Stony Brook's Motor Sports Team held it's first auto show, with a good turnout from the campus and surrounding community.

Stony Brook University's renown Staller Center for the Arts welcomes Seiskaya Ballet's production of The Nutcracker Suite beginning Saturday, Dec. 9. This marks the sixth year the production has been featured at the Staller Center and its engagement is limited to eight performances.

If the Parsons Dance Company surpasses its predecessors or contemporaries in any way, it is that its pieces are easy to swallow.  David Parsons’s choreography introduces a wide audience to the energy and athleticism of modern dance with creative and inventive pieces; mixing snappy choreography, simple yet appropriate costume, and the true magic of technical production.

Legendary rock act Van Halen is the top entry on this year's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominee list, which includes other key artists such as R.E.M. and The Stooges. A panel of 500 industry experts will select five of the nine total nominees to be inducted at the annual ceremony, to be held March 12 in New York City.

On Saturday, October 28, blues legend Bo Diddley will appear at Stony Brook University's renown Staller Center for the Arts as he brings his critically-acclaimed show “Bo Diddley and Friends” to town. Alvin Youngblood Hart, a Grammy-award and W.C. Handy award winning guitarist and singer, as well as a winner of two “Living Blues” awards, and Ruthie Foster, a blues, gospel and folk headliner, will be joined by Bo’s backup musicians. The event coincides with Diddley's fiftieth year in music and is slated to be an evening not to be missed.

WUSB 90.1 FM, one of Long Island’s most popular non-commercial community radio stations, is set to kick off its annual fall Radiothon on October 18th, according to a press release issued this week. An annual staple for the station, The Radiothon will run through November 12th and will feature a number of music specials including a Salsathon and a Hip-Hop Marathon.

Due to an overwhelming public response, local artist Christian F. Nicklaus has been awarded a further two weeks of display for his "Illuminated Manuscripts" exhibit. Currently on display at Port Jefferson Village's prestigious Gallery 4222, "Illuminated Manuscripts" will be kept as the venue's featured display through July 15, when it will be taken down and replaced by Chimera Artwork's "America" exhibit.

An invitation to view an unknown artist's work in a local gallery can often inspire a very lackluster level of enthusiasm. After all, a large percentage of the present artistic community is rife with pompous attitudes and self-indulgent creation. Too often, creators are more interested in calling themselves an "artist" and living the lifestyle the moniker brings rather than actually devoting themselves to the craft itself. Such is not the case, however, with up-and-coming local artist Christian F. Nicklaus, whose current solo show at Port Jefferson Village's Gallery 4222 is the antithesis of all the aforementioned detriments to the world of art. Instead, Nicklaus presents a unique and inspiring vision that is a breath of fresh air in a recently stagnating genre.

In a turbulent global atmosphere, it is encouraging that organizations like the Musicians Alliance for Peace (MAP) are up and running. In addition to creating a global celebration of peace and provides a voice for the vibrant community that believes in peaceful solutions for the future, the MAP also puts on the annual event, Music For Peace. And Stony Brook University is fortunate enough to host the event, which will take place from March 28th through April 2nd, for a third year.

As it has in countless years prior, Stony Brook University cordially welcomes the I-CON festival to its campus. The festival, which runs from March 24 through March 26, is the mecca of all science fiction gatherings, attended by the most devoted fans of the genre each year. This year, the event's twenty-fifth installment, is shaping up to be the most successful yet, with a list of guests, activities and promotions that fans are chomping at the bit to absorb.

Radio talk show host Howard Stern was bombarded by banners and chants supporting rival broadcasters Greg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia (commonly known as Opie and Anthony) as he attempted to enter the Ed Sullivan Theater Thursday afternoon. Stern, who was there to tape a segment for that evening's "Late Show with David Letterman," barely stepped out of his car before the legion of Opie and Anthony fans (affectionately known as the O&A Army) pounced.

University media outlets were given the word last week that the world-renowned Musician's Alliance for Peace will be bringing its annual "Music For Peace Festival" back to Stony Brook University in the Spring of 2006. As in the past, the three-day event will be a conglomeration of concerts, films, panel discussions and lectures in a effort to promote their "Peace as a means and an end" message. This year will be the festival's third, with organizers and participants anticipating it as the best year yet.