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THURSDAY, AUGUST 18,2011
PAGE 12C
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
COMMENTARY
Film school dean doubles as 'Smurfs' director
PATRICK GOLDSTEIN
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LOS ANGELES — Veteran movie producer Jordan Kerner spent nearly 10 years finding a way to make "The Smurfs," which earned $35.6 million in its opening weekend in the U.S. But it's not his long track record in Hollywood, which includes producing everything from "Less Than Zero"
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UNCSA are getting an education not just in theory and production but in the often less-than-glamorous aspects of life in the trenches of Hollywood.
My biggest concern with today's film schools is that they tend to offer students far more instruction in technique than in actual ideas.
Kerner has recruited a host of faculty members who still have their day jobs, which helps give students a grounding in the kind of problem-solving necessary to survive on a film set. Through a shadowing program, students get
Immersion project, where students gain a deeper understanding of character and story by spending several weeks at places like the Veterans Artificial Limb Hospital in Philadelphia and Habitat for Humanity in New Orleans.
But the student films I watched
up to talk to an actor, our kids would be right there with him. They also got to spend time with our editors, visual effects supervisor, sound designers and other crew members. Sometimes the discussions were difficult, but that was the whole point — it's a way to learn the whys and why nots of filmmaking." (With it being 2011, students had to sign release forms promising not to blog about what
"They can't take cameras or recording devices — just a pad and pen," he says. "The whole idea is to go out and get to know people, hear their stories and get under
"Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked," which will hit theaters this Christmas. He also has his students listen in on his conversations with his agent so they can develop an understanding of the demands of the marketplace.
Kerner never imagined himself being a film school dean — in fact, he never went to film school himself. But after surviving a freak staph infection and enduring the
their experiences. But Kerner felt the school needed more outside professionals on the faculty, so he recruited a host of industry pros, including producer Bob Gosse and Peter Bogdanovich, who teaches a freshman film class.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2011
PAGE 36
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
HEALTH
Hookahs aren't as harmless as you think
LAURA ERDALL editor@kansan.com
Kelsey Connolly, a junior from Stilwell, Kan., enjoys the occasional hookah smoking with friends on Massachusetts Street. The atmosphere in the hookah bar is filled with excitement. The room she sits in is decorated with antique hookah pipes and the blissful sound of Indian music rings through her eardrums as the mouthpiece is passed to her. She wraps her lips around the hookah pipe, filling her lungs to full capacity. When she finally exhales, lungs empty of the mint-tinted smoke. She lowers her body into her seat feeling relaxed and a slight buzz as she passes the hookah pipe to the next person.
"I only do it once in awhile, so I enjoy it when I do, but I've heard that a single session of hookah smoking can equal up to the volume of smoking a lot of cigarettes," Connolly said. "But it is fun and relaxing
and it doesn't leave a nasty taste in your mouth."
"The myth that water filters out harmful chemicals in hookah isn't true," Richter said. "Even after it has passed through water, the hookah smoke still contains high levels of toxins, it doesn't filter out chemicals, just cools them."
"The myth that water filters out harmful chemicals in hookah isn't true."
The charcoal, which is placed at the head of the hookah pipe, is used to light and keep the tobacco burning during the smoking session. Kimber Richter, associate professor of preventive medicine, said that the charcoal produces high levels of carbon monoxide, which prevents a person from not getting enough oxygen, and therefore makes their heart work harder.
The hookah is a water pipe used to smoke specially made tobacco that is available in a variety of flavors. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, this traditional smoking method originated in ancient Persia and India and has been used for centuries. However, in the last few decades, hookah smoking has become quite popular on college campuses across the United States.
Many people believe hookah to be less dangerous than cigarette smoking, but experts say that hookah smoking has the same, if not more, harmful effects as cigarette smoking.
Smoking sessions can last anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple of hours depending on the situation. Edward Ellerbeck, chair of the department for medicine, said that hookah smoking delivers nicotine and is at least as dangerous as cigarette smoke, especially when it comes to secondhand smoke.
KIMBER RICHTER associate professor of preventative medicine
"Side strain smoke in hookah is a serious risk for nonsmokers because it contains smoke from both the tobacco and the charcoal," said Ellerbeck.
There are just as many toxins in
"During this nine-month study, babies tend to have lower birth rates and have a higher risk for different respiratory diseases," Richter said.
hookah smoke as cigarette smoke but there have not been a lot of studies on the health effects of smoking hookah. However, there have been studies of babies born to women who smoked one
or more water pipes a day during pregnancy.
Sharing a hookah is also dangerous because it may increase the risk of transmitting certain diseases through the mouthpiece. The juice in the mouthpiece is very similar to chewing tobacco in that it gives the same exposure to oral cancers.
"People don't realize how unsanitary hookah smoking really is," Richter said. "You don't know how well pipes are cleaned, so it's like you're doing hookah with everybody. It's the same concept as kissing a stranger or sharing the same spoon."
Hookah can be incredibly addictive and deadly if it's used daily and for long periods of time. Hookah smoking can also be considered training wheels for cigarette smoking and the use of other tobacco forms.
"If you don't want to take in toxins knowingly, you'll avoid smoking a lot of hookah," Richter said.