Humanitarian organizations in Boston have been evacuating children from Gaza for months to provide medical care in the City as conflict in the region persists.

“Smile,” released just two short years ago, was a massive success, particularly among non-horror fans. Borrowing heavily from J-horror classics like “Ringu,” the film capitalized on its simple yet high-concept premise. A therapist becomes victim to a terrifying entity that manifests as increasingly disturbing experiences, notably the appearance of various people bearing creepy Richard D. James Album-esque smiles, before finally dispatching its victim in front of another person, thereby spreading itself.

The original “Smile” was an absurdly literal manifestation of the now-tired “trauma as horror” trend. It echoed films like “It Follows” and “Midsommar” with its over-determined metaphors of psychological scars made flesh. Writer-director Parker Finn’s feature-length debut had impressive moments of atmospheric dread. However, it was ultimately weighed down by its self-seriousness and a near-comic reliance on jump scares.

A More Focused Outing

Picking up six days after the first film, “Smile 2” follows our monster as it victim-hops from suburban New Jersey to cosmopolitan New York City. There, it latches onto Skye Riley (Naomi Scott), a young pop sensation grappling with her own demons. She inherits the “curse” from an old high-school acquaintance, triggering a familiar series of increasingly surreal encounters, fragmented flashbacks and a cursory treatment of deeper emotional issues like trauma, grief and gaslighting. Finn keeps the narrative formula intact, opting for spectacle over thematic depth.

One of the better aspects of the previous installment is Parker Finn’s workmanlike sense of craftsmanship. While certain stylistic flourishes — for example, the many upside-down drone shots or music cues — are certainly derivative of other so-called “elevated horror” films, “Smile” has plenty to look at.

This time around, Finn has thankfully eschewed some of that aesthetic, giving him even more room to play around with the form. Tracking shots, close-ups and zooms all contribute to a more pleasurable viewing experience. Of course, what would a “Smile” film be without at least a few groan-inducing decisions here and there?

What “Smile 2″ gets right this time is its tonal shift. The first film suffered from overwrought attempts to infuse psychological resonance into what is essentially a haunted house ride. “Smile 2” takes a different approach. While the movie doesn’t entirely dispense with its half-baked exploration of trauma, it wisely pulls back. This allows room for a meaner and even humorous sensibility to emerge. Finn appears to have learned that these films often work best as delivery vehicles for grotesque images, and “Smile 2″ plays to this strength, helping the weaker elements and bloated runtime go down a little easier. 

Grounded in Character

It bears mentioning that Naomi Scott, the film’s center, does a good job of grounding the horror. Even at the film’s most absurd, Scott remains an eminently watchable screen presence. She keeps the audience locked into what’s going on around her. Skye Riley’s emotional journey, while still underwritten, is felt more acutely than Rose Cotter’s (Sosie Bacon) in the first film. Some of the film’s most shocking sequences work because of this character’s sheer relatability. Parker Finn deserves credit for calibrating these performances to the material.

“Smile 2” offers nothing new,  but it certainly improves on its predecessor in tone and execution. Parker Finn thankfully embraces horror’s primal appeal. He invests more in actual scares and grotesque imagery rather than chasing the heavy-handed psychodrama that dragged the original down. It may not be a cinematic triumph, but as a simple pleasure, “Smile 2″ delivers what it promises: gruesome thrills that, this time, don’t come at the cost of entertainment.

s.loveland@dailyutahchronicle.com

@tascam_

The post ‘Smile 2’ Is a Leaner, Meaner Horror Sequel first appeared on The Daily Utah Chronicle.

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After Kent Kramp sold his Dinkytown business in the spring, the Dinkytown Business Alliance (DBA) that he ran for over five years immediately collapsed in his absence under the corporatizing Dinkytown business landscape.

Kramp, the former president of the DBA, said there was nothing left of the organization to pass along after he sold the Dinkytown Raising Cane’s location he operated, now only owning the Test Kitchen in Stadium Village.

“I don’t want it to die, I just had nobody to hand it off to,” Kramp said.

Founded in 1948, DBA stood for the Dinkytown Business Association until it changed its name in 2014, according to co-owner of The Book House and former DBA Vice President Matt Hawbaker. The association was funded by the city and had paid staff, similar to the Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association. 

However, not all hope is lost for an association of Dinkytown businesses.

Jackie Barabash, director of sales for web design company E. L. Lewis Enterprises Inc., is trying to revive the organization.

After seeing Dinkytown businesses negatively affected by construction in the downtown area over the summer, Barabash launched the Dinkytown Minneapolis website as a one-stop shop for information about and promotion of businesses for Dinkytown visitors and residents.

“When we got that going, we looked at it like, ‘Hey this is kind of looking like a business association,’” Barabash said. “And how we can connect to the community but really connect to the business community and try and create a place for businesses to kind of get together.”

Kramp said he would be happy to pass along the documentation and information on the DBA he still has, plus the $121 sitting in the DBA’s bank account, to anyone interested in starting it up again.

“(If) there’s people in Dinkytown that are interested in working together, they’re interested in getting it started and going again, yeah I’m 100% on board with sharing the information getting the ownership transferred over,” Kramp said. 

A corporate casualty

With declining engagement and financial resources, the DBA became a victim of the ever-changing Dinkytown Business scene which had become more corporate over the last decade, Kramp said.

Kramp and Hawbaker attribute increased rent prices driving out smaller, family-owned businesses as well as the growing presence of chain restaurants in the neighborhood for Dinkytown’s dramatic change since the 2010s.

Small business owners like Irv Hershkovitz, who ran Dinkytown Wine and Spirits until it closed in 2020, have more stake in the community than those who run chain businesses, Kramp added.

“As soon as those people no longer operate the business and it’s just a manager or it’s just a franchise group, they’re much more reactive,” Kramp said. “They’re like that’s not the most important thing to me, I don’t have a long-term plan for this neighborhood I just have to operate my restaurant or my business.’”

Tony Nicklow, owner of Tony’s Diner, said he was a member of the DBA until the demands of being a small business owner made it difficult to routinely participate in the organization.

“It was a great organization,” Nicklow said. “Just nice to try to get everyone together and try to keep us abreast of things happening in the city and this and that, and what things can be done, but as of lately I think it’s been kind of dead.”

Hawbaker said the DBA’s intended goal was to promote Dinkytown businesses and provide the public with information about the business community, but the organization failed to make those goals a reality.

“I realized this is basically like a group project in school where no one wants to, you know, poor Kent kind of got railroaded into being president,” Hawbaker said.

Hawbaker added that the fast turnover of chains made it hard to form lasting relationships within the business community.

“You could fill a meeting if you had the police there to talk about crime, but those really just kind of turned into venting sessions about unhoused people or tip jars getting stolen, just stuff like that,” Hawbaker said.

After Kramp, to his protest, was elected DBA president at the first meeting he attended in 2018, he decided to stop collecting dues when he realized the DBA was not delivering on the resources it promised its members.

“I reviewed those (and) I was like we’re not doing any of these things, why are we charging people money so they can vote just to barely kind of skate by and stay alive but we’re not providing any of these resources?” Kramp said.

Despite abandoning member dues, Hawbaker said the DBA still could not establish the loyalty it needed to be a productive organization.

“If you wanted to attend the meetings, you did not need to pay dues,” Hawbaker said. “That may have been a mistake, I don’t know, but we just wanted engagement so we could kind of figure out what kind of coalition we could build, what size and what we could do for people first.”

Moving forward

Barabash said seeing confusion from Dinkytown business owners about the purpose of the University of Minnesota Police Department’s Off-Campus Safety Center further encouraged her to reopen the lines of communication between businesses.

“We, even more, solidified the idea of reigniting the (DBA) to make sure that the business community was not just informed of what was really going on but that their voices were heard and we could start taking some action,” Barabash said. “Even if it is teaming up with the Safety Center and saying ‘Hey as a business community we’d really like to have your support.’”

Dinkytown business owners will meet on Friday to discuss whether they are interested in reviving the DBA’s activity, according to Barabash.

While she is aware of apprehension from business owners about bringing back the DBA because of the organization’s previous ineffectiveness, Barabash said she is interested in what the community can do with its remnants.

“We’re slowly looking at this because we want to make sure that if there is a want and a need for it, we are very happy to step up and say let’s do this and let’s all come together,” Barabash said.

Shasta hypes up the crowd midcourt at Fertitta Center. | Oscar Herrera/The Cougar

With Houston ranked No. 4 in the AP preseason poll and coming off a dominating 79-64 win against No. 13 Texas A&M at the charity exhibition game on Oct. 27, the Cougars are looking to start the season strong and capitalize on recent success. 

Ranked first in scoring defense, the Cougars effectively combine their strong defensive skills with efficient offensive rebounding, often holding opponents well below their average points per game.

Despite their recent success, Houston’s basketball program is still relatively young, having played its first season in 1950. 

In contrast, long-established programs like Kansas, founded in 1898 by James Naismith, embrace an extensive game history with deep-rooted traditions and a secure reputation. 

Even Iowa State, an up-and-coming threat to the Cougars, claims a 40-year headstart on Houston. 

Older programs benefit from established reputations and generations of alumni that financially reinvest into the team. 

Most importantly, these older programs started traditions decades ago that shape the program’s culture and still exist today. 

Having not experienced this level of success since the Phi Slama Jama era of 1982-84, Houston is looking to foster an off-the-court fan culture that matches the intensity and intimidation of their on-the-court performance. 

Houston has great growth potential, and with the right dedication, it can match the legacy of older programs.

Strengthening current traditions

Houston’s Fertitta Center, recently opened in 2018, offers a prime venue for crowds of dedicated students, yet its capacity of 7,100 is the lowest in the Big 12 conference. Nevertheless, strides have been made to create a challenging home-court experience for opposing teams.

“I like the new traditions that UH has implemented recently,” said sophomore biomedical science student Kailey Jirsa. “The inflatables and banners during the opposing team’s free throws give us an advantage.” 

These additions complement longstanding traditions, such as the iconic newspaper confetti throw during opponent announcements and spirited Cougar chants during gameplay.

“Every season, I see our student section become more electric,” said computer information systems senior Axel Avendano.

Students dedicated to UH traditions must consistently fill the Fertitta Center to build on this developing excitement heading into basketball season.

Outside of the stands

Enhancing the game day experience in the Fertitta Center involves more than just a spirited student section.

Initiatives such as towel handouts, shirt tosses and Cane’s discounts are incentives provided by the University that motivate student turnout, and a deeper investment into these practices would boost student attendance.

The opening team videos in the lights-out arena, accompanied by a court illuminated with red and white, are further displays of pride that exhilarate fans and create an electrifying game day experience – precisely the kind of thrill the Fertitta Center needs seconds before a game. 

Next steps

To maximize fan engagement, the Houston student section could benefit from two improvements: a firmer commitment to the current traditions and efforts to expand school spirit. 

Learning from the football program, Houston could adopt new traditions, such as striping the sections in red and white, in addition to the annual blackout game, to create a unified visual impact.

While it would be exciting to establish an original practice of spirit, Houston still has much to gain from observing established programs. 

For example, Kansas students camp out for up-close seats to their home games, and the Duke’s Cameron Crazies create a fervent atmosphere that rivals the intensity of UH’s Bleacher Creatures.

The most radical improvement to the fanbase would be expanding the student section from section 107 into the current section 109. 

“Being able to crowd behind the basketball goals and distract opposing teams during their free throws would be a fun addition to the game,” architecture junior Jenna Small said.

This adjustment would permanently create a more formidable presence behind the goalposts where opponents shoot for a half, a practice that most of our rivals have already employed.

However, expansion of the student section is unlikely until the current allotment is consistently filled. 

We are Houston

Students are integral to UH basketball’s everlasting reputation. The chant “We are Houston” echoed by the Cougar Dolls during gameplay serves as a reminder that every fan contributes to the team’s success in the Fertitta Center. 

Men’s basketball head coach Kelvin Sampson emphasized this connection to students at the Student Center pep rally on Oct. 24.

“The environment we create in the Fertitta Center always comes from the students,” Sampson said.

Students are responsible for creating an intimidating atmosphere for visiting teams and have the unique opportunity to continue to get Houston on the map.

“The more students come to support our student-athletes, the better we are all going to be. It’s going to elevate our play and elevate the experience,” said athletic director Eddie Nuñez. “I need them now more than ever.”

sports@thedailycougar.com

—
“Column: Fostering fan culture in Houston Basketball” was originally posted on The Cougar

One of Colorado State University’s most unique educational environments can be found on the western edge of town at the base of the Rocky Mountain foothills.

Horses trot by on dirt paths, led by students and instructors in CSU’s equine sciences program. Just off Overland Trail at the CSU Foothills Campus, there are several facilities that provide hands-on learning experiences for students in the program.

The equine sciences program at CSU is part of the College of Agricultural Sciences. Students get the chance to learn about a variety of equine occupations and fields of study while in the program, allowing for a diverse and well-rounded education.

Equine science students study equine behavior, breeding management, equine event training, reproduction sciences, equine-assisted services and more during their time at CSU. As they learn, students get to work with horses housed in CSU’s equine facilities, providing them with vital real-world experience.

“I feel like there’s something for everybody, which is huge,” equine sciences student KJ McCollom said. “Because there’s so much offered, everybody can find their niche, which is really cool.”

McCollom didn’t start out as an equine sciences major and hadn’t known anything about the program when she first transferred to CSU. She entered as a psychology student but said she knew that field of study wasn’t where she wanted to be. Discovering the equine sciences program was a defining moment, McCollom said.

“It’s just such a wealth of knowledge from a lot of really wonderful educators. The diversity of opportunities has been great as well. I think it’s so cool to be able to go from, like, really hands-on, heavy training-based classes to, like, very specialized, like, behavior, nutrition and repro and stuff like that.” – Julianna Browder, equine sciences student

“My whole outlook on my future changed, and I felt excited for the first time ever,” McCollom said. “Immediately, I was like, ‘Yes, this is what I’m supposed to be doing. This is what I’m passionate about.’”

Students in the equine sciences program come from a variety of backgrounds and can enter the program with any level of equine experience.

CSU student Julianna Browder originally studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago but said she knew she was interested in horses, so she enrolled in a colt starting program at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado. Browder said she came to CSU full time after completing the program and immediately loved it.

“It’s just such a wealth of knowledge from a lot of really wonderful educators,” Browder said. “The diversity of opportunities has been great as well. I think it’s so cool to be able to go from, like, really hands-on, heavy training-based classes to, like, very specialized, like, behavior, nutrition and repro and stuff like that.”

Both McCollom and Browder credit the hands-on learning environment with furthering their education in beneficial ways, something equine sciences Instructor Sarah Matlock said is a key part of student success.

“I think the diversity of our courses and the diversity of the level of instruction can really meet the needs of any student, whether they have experience with horses or not,” Matlock said.

Students participate in laboratory courses at the center, where they work with the horses in the various programs. Lecture-style classes are also offered in the classroom located on site. Outside of their courses, students are able to visit and observe classes, giving them an opportunity to see what else the program offers.

“I do spend a lot of my time out at the (Temple Grandin) Equine Center,” McCollom said. “Even if you’re not in classes, it is very much a welcome space where you can come hang out, and you can watch the various applied classes that are happening here and there.”

The education in this program extends beyond equine sciences. Many students learn more about themselves thanks to the amount of time they spend with the horses.

“It’s been cool to experience how much the horses can teach people about themselves,” Browder said. “You know, learning what it takes for me to find patience in moments where they’re not listening or how to go about these difficult situations and still have peace with myself and not overthink.”

As an instructor, Matlock said she sees most students discover something new about themselves as they work with the horses. 

“When we learn about the struggles that horses can face emotionally or even learning in the arena, it can help us learn a little bit more about some of the struggles we may be facing,” Matlock said.

The wide array of opportunities available to students also allows for plenty of industry and community connections alike, something McCollom has been able to engage with first hand through the event management course in the program. 

As part of the course, McCollom has worked on outreach and marketing for the Equine Experience event Nov. 2 in the Adams-Atkinson Arena.

“The whole thing is just kind of this big educational event, both about horses in general and also to show what we have for our programs,” McCollom said.

The event is open to the public and is intended to showcase the unique opportunities and experiences within the equine sciences program.

“I really love the program for the level of accessibility it has as far as being able to give students who maybe didn’t grow up in an agriculture background a chance to explore horses,” Browder said. “It also gives us in the major (a) chance to kind of help teach the people around us and expose them to agriculture and expose them to horses.”

Reach Hannah Parcells at science@collegian.com or on Twitter @hannahparcells.

This story is published through collaboration with Amplify Utah

As the sun begins to fall behind the rugged mountains surrounding Great Salt Lake, clear water ripples around a 40-foot, dark blue canoe with yellow trim and big white letters that read “HUI PAOAKALANI.” Each canoe holds six people, all of whom have a specific role as they paddle through the cool waters.

For 13 years, members of the Hui Paoakalani Hawaiian Outrigger Club launched the canoes from the Great Salt Lake Marina every Saturday morning – a great workout for paddlers, but that was never the main purpose.

“The Hawaiian people don’t like to look at the canoes as being an exercise piece of equipment,” said club co-founder Darren Medeiros. “These canoes have spirits of their own, and we use the canoes to perpetuate our culture.”

Founded in 2007 and named with a nod to legendary surfer Duke Paoa Kahanamoku, the club became all but extinct after COVID-19 forced it to shutter its operations for two years. Co-founder Ben Au said lower water levels at the lake and the cost of maintaining the canoes made reestablishing the club seem impossible. The club stands alone as the only Hawaiian outrigger organization in Utah, and losing it means the loss of an important cultural touchpoint for Pasifika people across the Salt Lake valley, Au said.

“The canoe club is about … teaching people and kids how to paddle, how to steer, the purpose of the canoes, what it means to our culture,” he said. “The other thing is that it is a social event – we all get together.”

Over the years, more than 60 people became club members or volunteers, coming from Logan to Provo, Au said. They would paddle from April to October, sometimes even into November, before the lake got too cold.

Au said paddlers would take the canoes nearly eight miles from the marina to Antelope Island.

“We would go once, maybe twice a summer, and it would usually take about an hour to an hour and a half,” he said.

The club, called simply “the Hui” by its members, offered more than canoes and a launching point to the water. It was also a cultural hub with hula classes, shaved ice, lau lau, music and dancing, Au said.

Whether on the islands or in landlocked Utah, Medeiros said, Hawaiians have found ways to bring their culture wherever they live.

“Hawaiian culture never leaves the Hawaiian people,” he said. “The club was a way to rally them and bring them together to connect with the culture.”

Mederios said this emphasis on connection and belonging makes the club a cultural institution, fostering a sense of identity and heritage among its members.

A Shrinking Lake

The decline of Great Salt Lake in recent years has made it more difficult for these canoes to get back into the water.

“The Great Salt Lake has been dropping,” Au said, “and it has dropped to such a level that it is hard to get out to a safe area to paddle because what used to be … underwater is now above water.”

Little reefs, rocks and stalagmites are now visible above the surface, Au said, which makes canoeing more challenging and dangerous.

The challenges, Medeiros said, require a solid team of paddlers to navigate. When conditions are right and water levels are higher, however, he said there’s no better place for paddling in the state.

“The Great Salt Lake is perfect for outrigger canoe paddling because of the high altitude, winds and glass-like water,” he said.

But Mederios said it wasn’t enough. When the club tried to restart after the height of the pandemic, recruiting people to come back and securing donations and funding was difficult.

“That’s when things started to slow down,” he said. “These canoes are a lot of upkeep, and it is not cheap to keep the canoes in the marina.”

An Unprepared Generation

Another co-founder, Butch Porter, said he’s surprised Utah’s Hawaiian community does not take advantage of the club. Like the canoes, Great Salt Lake has its own culture and does so much for our environment and community, he said, but more people need to be aware of it.

Steersman Butch Porter (back of boat) and Darren Medeiros (front) teach a group teenagers how to paddle a Hawaiian outrigger canoe at Great Salt Lake Marina. (Photo courtesy of Hui Paoakalani Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe Club).

Au, Medeiros and Porter all said they wish they had taken the opportunity to come up with a succession plan. Many of the club members and founders are in their 50s, 60s and 70s, Medeiros said, and teaching the younger generations how to take over may have helped save the club.

About 1.2% of Utah’s population is made up of Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, according to 2023 Census data. Many of them are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which Au said places a similar importance on genealogy and understanding family history.

“It is important for everyone to know where they are from,” Au said. “Knowing your genealogy helps you figure out what you want in life.”

At its height, Medeiros said, club members would invite high school football teams from Salt Lake’s west side communities – which included many Pasifika players – to the marina. Already familiar with teamwork, Porter said the club took that connection to the water and introduced the players to parts of their culture they may not have experienced before.

“Many people of Hawaiian or Polynesian descent have lived in Utah their whole lives and can struggle to connect to their roots, and the canoe club offers that,” Au said.

Now that it’s gone, he said, so are opportunities to connect with other members of Utah’s Pasifika communities on the waters of the lake. He hopes efforts to revitalize the cultural tradition of paddling – reminiscent of taking the canoes between the Pacific’s islands – can one day return to Utah.

“The Great Salt Lake has its own culture and spirit,” Au said. “You can feel it when you are out on the water.”

Camille Lee, a student at the University of Utah, wrote this story as part of a College of Humanities journalism course in partnership with the Great Salt Lake Collaborative and Amplify Utah. The collaborative is a solutions journalism initiative that partners news, education and media organizations to help inform people about the plight of the Great Salt Lake – and what can be done to make a difference before it is too late. Read all of our stories at greatsaltlakenews.org.

The post The Cultural Legacy of Great Salt Lake’s Hawaiian Canoe Club first appeared on The Daily Utah Chronicle.

Fashion can be a bit weird sometimes. Imagine you’re browsing some clothing shop in a New York loft or on London’s famous brick lane, and you come across a pair of jeans you like. You ask to try them on and find they’re incredibly stiff and uncomfortable. Then, the sales associate insists that you don’t wash them for six months at the very least, oh, and they also cost $350. This is a scam, right? This is the paradox of selvedge, or raw, denim. Scam? No. Irrational? Maybe. What’s the deal then? 

Porterhouse Clothing & Supply, a local menswear boutique in downtown Eugene, has some answers. Founded by Ethan Clevenger in 2020, Porterhouse sells a wardrobe of flannels, wools, waxed canvas coats and of course, raw denim. 

Omar Vega, the operations manager at Porterhouse, said Clevenger bought all his clothes while traveling and realized Eugene’s clothing market was lacking. “[Clevenger] saw a need for good quality clothing, and raw denim happens to be good quality clothing,” Vega said.

 If you’re going to drop triple digits on some jeans or a coat, you’d better be certain about its fit, its place in your wardrobe and of course, if you like it. Porterhouse understands this, and they focus on quality, which includes everything from the clothes themselves to the customer service. 

“It’s not regular retail. Anyone that comes here, if they want to, we will get as into the weeds as we can with them, and we will be as involved as they want us to be,” Vega said. 

Porterhouse is very intentional with their inventory, and Vega said their team travels to New York twice a year to visit trade shows and decide what they want on their racks. 

Vega said, “We’ve built up a curation of some really good selvedge denim and on top of it stuff that compliments it well.”  

Raw denim clothing is quality by definition. The word selvedge comes from “self-edge,” which is a fabric that has edges stitched down to prevent it from fraying or unraveling. 

This kind of fabric takes longer to make, and most of the looms used for self-edge fabric can only produce a narrow width. The time investment is high, and the product output is low, but the final product is strong and durable.

Another part of the cost of raw denim comes from the dyes. Most jeans you see on the streets are made with synthetic dyes. However, high-end and raw denim uses pure natural indigo. This dye is much more costly than its synthetic alternatives, but it provides a much stronger depth of color.

This attention to detail in the production of raw denim clothing reaches a peak with Japanese brands like Iron Heart or Momotaro. These brands are fully dedicated to the craft, exemplified by things like Momotaro’s Gold Label jeans, which are made completely by hand. The webpage for Momotaro Gold Label says that “only craftsmen with decades of sewing experience can sew these jeans” and Vega noted this as another strength of Japanese denim. 

“Because it’s being made by the same folks over and over again, the accountability is so much higher,” he said. 

But this is only half of the allure of raw denim. Because of its durability, a good pair of raw denim jeans can last years. Talking about a raw denim jacket he owns, Vega said “It’s outlived multiple relationships, and I’ve been in all kinds of crazy adventures and trips in it. There’s a lot of sentimental value.” 

Because of that durability though, the fabric is very stiff at first. You have to break it in the same way you would a pair of leather boots, and it can be initially uncomfortable. I bought a pair of raw denim jeans last winter, and I still remember the creases behind the knees pinching at my skin when I would sit. 

Raw denim also comes unwashed and untreated, and this means that as you wear your jeans or denim jacket, you’ll slowly develop fades that are personal to you. 

The more you wash your raw denim, the more dye will bleed out. Many denim heads will insist on not washing their denim for months to retain as much color as possible and to keep their fades sharp. 

“Everybody is a little bit different in what you’ll see imprinted on their denim… It’s an interesting canvas to work with. You get to see a little bit of somebody else’s life in passing,” Vega said. The clothes become a reflection of their wearer. 

The ghost of your phone and wallet will be on your pockets even when you’re not carrying them. The straps of your backpack will mark the shoulders of your denim jacket, and you’ll see exactly where someone prefers to cuff their sleeves or pant legs from the telltale white lines. 

Not everyone wants or cares that much about their clothes, and that’s ok. Raw denim is a fascinating part of the fashion world, and for those looking to go down the rabbit hole, places like Porterhouse lead you down.

The first cohort of students completed their first tour across the U.S., where they were exposed to cutting-edge research and technology.  New York, NY, October 30, 2024 – Today, the Institute of International Education announced the launch of the first enrichment field trip for Korean undergraduate students studying in the U.S. as part of the […]

Brianna Barnes reporter 

Oct. 15 at the Student Recreation Center, the PSU Homecoming Committee put together a volleyball tournament called Jungle Jump. This event, along with Raft Races, Yell Like Hell, banner painting and other homecoming activities, all decided what organization would win homecoming champion this year. Participation from organizations in competitions and attendance of organization members went towards points for homecoming champion. 

“It was such a good time. It was so good to grow in fellowship with not only my organization, but the other organizations around me, as well as to get to see us all come together,” said Katie Groom, a junior majoring in nursing, who played with Gamma Alpha Lambda. 

Sixteen teams participated including Phi Sigma Kappa, Alpha Gamma Delta, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Alpha Sigma Alpha, Lambda Chi Alpha, Newman Club, Sigma Chi, and Honors College Association in a bracket. In another bracket, there was Sigma Sigma Sigma, Black Student Association, American Concrete Institute, Gorilla Activities Board, Pi Kappa Alpha, Student Government Association, Sigma Tau Gamma, and Gamma Alpha Lambda. 

“Planning and hosting Jungle Jump was a lot of fun. It’s a new event that we added this year to homecoming week for organizations to get competitive but still participate in homecoming. We were very pleased with the turnout for spectators and teams,” said Brooke Cunningham, kick-off chair for homecoming committee and a senior majoring in business management. 

The first-round winners included Alpha Gamma Delta, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Newman Club, Sigma Chi, Sigma Sigma Sigma, American Concrete Institute, Gorilla Activities Board, and Gamma Alpha Lambda. The semifinal round was Alpha Gamma Delta, Newman Club, Sigma Sigma Sigma, and Gamma Alpha Lambda.  

“My favorite part was getting to have fun but getting to be competitive too. We were all really into the game and that made it a lot of fun,” said Lauren Flood, a freshman majoring in elementary education unified, who played for the Newman Club. 

There were two volleyball courts going at a time, with a single elimination bracket. The final game was Gamma Alpha Lambda and the Newman Club, who won the tournament overall. 

“My favorite part about putting together the tournament was seeing all of the teams from all different organizations come together to be involved during homecoming. I loved seeing all of their organizations then come to support their teams play in the tournament,” said Cunningham. 

There was a very large crowd of people who came just to watch and cheer on their organizations. Most students had large amounts of positive feedback and hope to see this event next year. The tournament went surprisingly quickly with little complications. However, with it being the first time hosting this event, there was confusion for teams on when and where they played. 

“I would say maybe just a little bit more organization on where teams were at when we were first playing. It was pretty crowded over on the concrete, so maybe a little more organization on that side of things,” said Groom. 

Many students who attended and participated in Jungle Jump hope to have it again next year and plan on participating again.