Michael Jordan, Julius Irving, Dominique Wilkins, Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard are all current or likely future Hall of Famers.

This year’s Pledge Class, however, will be fortunate even to produce a single All-Star.

Every year I look forward to finding out who will be participating in the All-Star festivities, the greatest of which being the Slam Dunk Contest. Therefore, you can imagine my disappointment after a recent Google search revealed the identities of this year’s lackluster crop of jammers.

Could the casual basketball fan identify the names of Derrick Williams, Iman Shumpert or Chase Budinger? Oh, and Paul George. You can’t forget Paul George. I hope John and Ringo will be joining him.

The NBA has upset fans with some poor Slam Dunk lineups in the past, but this is a new low. The participants average both 21 years of age and less than two seasons of prior league experience. Two of the players, Budinger and Williams, average less than 10 points per game. George is the highest scoring player in the contest, and he averages only 12 points.

The most infuriating part of this year’s contest is not even its lack of star power, but the new set of rules that are being put into place.

In the past, the field of four dunkers was narrowed down to two after an opening round that consisted of two dunks. This year, there will be only a single round with each participant dunking four times. Also, the panel of judges used in previous years to help determine the winner are now either a thing of the past or completely irrelevant, as the Slam Dunk champion will be determined entirely by fans voting by text and Twitter.

Why must everything be interactive these days? Without relevant judges or a field that narrows itself down, the Slam Dunk Contest has devolved from a competition of creativity and athleticism to something more akin to selecting the Homecoming King and Queen.

But why stop here? Aren’t there some more competitions we can put up to a fan vote?

Maybe the Olympics would like it if we decided to vote for all the medal-winners this year. Maybe we should give out Nobel Prizes to whoever can get the most retweets on Twitter. Maybe we should start electing the nation’s most popular or good-looking politician instead of the best political visionary. Oh wait, we already do that.

David Stern, if you’re reading this somewhere in this world through the magic of the Internet, I beg of you not to give up on the Slam Dunk Contest. I know fans and analysts alike have been complaining that the quality of the event has been dropping in the last decade, but this is not the way to fix the problem.

The Slam Dunk contest needs star power. It needs charisma. I’m not necessarily asking for LeBron James here, but I’m definitely not requesting Chase Budinger. It doesn’t matter how spectacular a dunk it, if the fan doesn’t recognize the player or have a rooting interest he or she won’t really care.

The Slam Dunk contest is about showmanship, rootability and superstar status. These are things we will never get watching Paul George.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new national museum telling the history of black life, art, and culture will soon begin taking shape as the 19th museum in the Smithsonian Institution to explore stories that have sometimes been left out on the National Mall.

President Barack Obama and former first lady Laura Bush will join Wednesday in celebrating the start of construction for the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which comes during Black History Month.

It will be built between the Washington Monument and the National Museum of American History as a seven-level structure with much of its exhibit space below ground. A bronze-coated “corona,” a crown that rises as an inverse pyramid, will be its most distinctive feature. Organizers said the design is inspired by African-American metalwork from New Orleans and Charleston, S.C., and also evokes African roots.

Some exhibits will eventually include a Jim Crow-era segregated railroad car, galleries devoted to military and sports history and Louis Armstrong’s trumpet, among thousands of items. There will also be a court for quiet reflection, Museum Director Lonnie Bunch said.

“We will have stories that will make you smile and stories that will make you cry,” he told The Associated Press. “In a positive sense, this will be an emotional roller coaster, so you want to give people chances to reflect and to think about what this means to them.”

In many ways, the museum already exists. It has staff collecting artifacts and working to raise $250 million to fund the construction. Congress pledged to provide half the $500 million construction cost. It is scheduled to open in 2015.

The future museum already has a gallery at the Smithsonian’s American history museum with rotating exhibits to showcase its new collection and test different themes and approaches with visitors.

The newest exhibit explores Thomas Jefferson’s lifelong ownership of slaves and his conflict and advocacy against slavery, while also looking at the lives of six slave families who lived on his Monticello plantation in Virginia to humanize the issue of slavery.

Telling such stories has been taboo at many museums in the past and missing from the National Mall. Bunch said that by presenting a fuller view of history and dealing directly with difficult issues like race, the Smithsonian can present a fuller view of history and what it means to be an American.

“What this museum can do is if we tell the unvarnished truth in a way that’s engaging and not preachy, what I think will happen is that by illuminating all the dark corners of the American experience, we will help people find reconciliation and healing,” he said.

Curators estimate that 15,000 to 20,000 artifacts already are in hand. Bunch estimates they will need about 35,000 artifacts to choose from to create the museum’s permanent galleries. The staff is working to collect more material on popular culture and music, earlier materials from military history from World War I and earlier and artifacts to tell stories from the 19th century, including slavery and Reconstruction.

In Washington, the black history museum will follow major museums devoted to the Holocaust and to Native American history. Legislation has also been introduced in Congress to create a Smithsonian American Latino Museum.

Actress Phylicia Rashad, famous from TV’s “The Cosby Show,” is hosting the groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday. In an interview, she said African-American history is interconnected with many other groups.

“This is what makes America really great and unique is that there are different peoples living here who come together as one people, she said, adding that she hopes to be surprised by what the new museum can offer. “I would like to see some stories I’ve never imagined. I’d like to see some stories that aren’t so well talked about but that have documentation to back them up.”

The groundbreaking also marks the start of a public fundraising campaign to build the museum. Officials revealed about $100 million has been raised to date in private funds. This includes $5 million gifts from Wal-Mart, American Express, Boeing, Target and UnitedHealth Group. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Lilly Endowment each gave $10 million in recent years.

Some celebrities also are supporting the project, including Quincy Jones and Oprah Winfrey, whose foundation gave $1 million.

Delphia Duckens, the museum’s associate director for fundraising, said the museum will begin a regional campaign targeting key markets of New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta and Washington.

They are modeling the strategy to seek individual donors on the recent effort to build a Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial and on Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, she said. Those campaigns maximized the value of drawing many small gifts online, in addition to major donors, she said.

“This is a museum for everybody,” she said. “We want to model it such that everybody can say they had a part in making this a reality.”

Is it just me, or is the audio and video unsynced? I’ll try to fix this soon.

Liberal Arts Symposium - February 29th

 Dad’s Day – March 3rd

Jazz Combo Concert – February 27th

“A Hand of Bridge” and “Gallantry” – February 23rd – 26th

Cartoon by Evan Oldham, The Vista

The Central Oklahoma baseball team will return to Wendell Simmons field today at 2 p.m. to face Newman University.

The matchup will mark the Bronchos fifth game in five days.

UCO completed a four game sweep of Northwest Missouri St. last weekend clinching the series win with a 3-1 victory in the first game of a doubleheader Sunday and earning the sweep in the second game by a score of 9-8.

Alex Coplon earned the win out of the bullpen to complete the sweep. Coplon pitched 2 1/3 innings striking out two and walking one.

Edgar Lopez started game one Sunday and picked up the win. Lopez pitched 5 2/3 innings, striking out eight while allowing two hits and an unearned run.

Oklahoma St. transfer Uriah Fisher picked up the win in the series opener on Friday pitching 3 1/3 innings of relief in an extra inning affair the Bronchos won in 12 innings, 6-5.

Head coach Dax Leone was pleased with the effort of his bullpen throughout the weekend.

“I thought our relief pitching was about as good as it gets. Jake Tuck and Ryan Wagner really showed some poise coming in and facing some tight jams, said Leone. We’re still walking a few too many, but overall I thought we pitched with a lot of confidence.”

Senior Kevin Blue belted a two-out walkoff homerun in the bottom of the 12^th to send the Bronchos home with the win.

“Baseball is a game of streaks and right now he’s in a good one. We’ll hope he stays in one,” said head coach Dax Leone.

Through ten games Blue leads the team in average, (.548) RBI, (19) homeruns (4) and runs scored. (15)

Newman enters the contest with a record of 5-4. The Jets are fresh off a three game sweep of Oklahoma Panhandle State.

The Jets bring in a team batting average of .175 on the season and a staff ERA 0f 3.33.

UCO and Newman met last season at Newman for a three game series. The Jets took game one 14 -9 but Central captured game two 7-5 and won the rubber match 13-2.

Leone expects senior Danny Cartwright to start against Newman but expects to use a variety of arms during the contest.

“We’ll get some guys some work and try to strengthen the staff for our weekend at A&M-Kingsville,” said Leone.

After the single name with Newman UCO will travel to Kingsville, Texas to face Texas A&M-Kingsville Friday Feb. 24 and Saturday Feb. 25.

Copyright 2012, The Associated Press

According to a report published last year by the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the leading cause of oral cancer is no longer from smoking or drinking, but from oral sex. Nearly two-thirds of all oral cancer diagnosis in the United States is now from transmission of the human papillomavirus (HPV) through engaging in oral sex.

HPV is considered the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI), which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that at least 50 percent of sexually active people will have HPV at some point in their life.

Most commonly, HPV is associated with cervical cancer in women, but according to the report, the number of HPV-related oral cancer cases will surpass those of HPV-related cervical cancer cases by the year 2020.

One theory tied to the increase according to a statement released by one of the report’s authors, Maura L. Gillison, states, “Today’s teens consider oral sex to be casual, socially acceptable, inconsequential, and significantly less risky to their health than ‘real’ sex. However, oral sex, like any unprotected sex, can result in transmission of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) such as human papilloma virus (HPV).”

While the large spike in oral cancer cases through HPV transmission is expected to continue, there are steps people can take to prevent their cancer risk. Last year, the CDC changed its recommendations on HPV vaccination, which had previously been solely for girls and young women ages nine through 26, to include vaccinations of boys and young men of the same age.

The vaccines have been shown to be effective against HPV, and specifically HPV 16 and HPV 18, which are thought to cause most cervical cancers, and other HPV cancers including oral cancer. The CDC now recommends the vaccination of all girls and boys aged 11-12 years, if they hadn’t already received the vaccine, in order to head off HPV infection before they become sexually active.

For Dr. Sara Cole, a professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Studies, the inclusion of young men makes perfect sense.

“I absolutely agree that boys/men and girls/women should get the vaccine. The virus can be transmitted during opposite-sex and same-sex intimate contact (skin-to-skin, not necessarily penetration or bodily fluids), so all individuals who plan to become sexually active at any time during their lives should get the vaccine,” Cole said. “It’s a vaccine that prevents cancers related to HPV. If there was a vaccine for breast cancer or lung cancer, people would probably want to get it.”

The more sexual partners one engages with, as well as the frequency of performing oral sex, increase the chances of developing a HPV-related cancer. In many cases, the cancers can take years to develop, so the risks taken in one’s youth might not be pronounced until middle age.

Aside from getting the vaccine to help prevent the risk of cancer, there are other steps people should consider. Limiting the number of partners and routinely getting tested for STI’s can decrease your risk level, as well as being aware of someone’s alcohol and drug use, as people tend to engage in higher risk behaviors when under the influence.
Cole offers one last bit of advice for those concerned about HPV and its risk of cancer.

“I always encourage young people to make educated choices about their behaviors, whether that is abstinence or safer sex, only they know,” she said.

Cole said that people should get tested for STI’s, which routine pap smears do not test for.  In addition, we should all be experts on our own bodies…thus, if anything changes, you’ll be the first to know,” Cole said. “Know your status. Protect yourself. Protect others. It’s all part of being a sexually responsible adult.”

Manually Correcting the AutoCorrected Mind

__________________________________

I think too much – so I’m told.

Every time someone more relevant than me pegs me for the crime, I’m taken aback.

I don’t know if it’s this landlocked state. I don’t know if it’s the postmodernists’ post everything mindset.

Perhaps it’s the basic principle that a person equals the content they consume.

I’m hoping the answer lies in one of those three options.

The fourth possibility leaves me alone against the country, and those are the kind of odds that lead to psych wards and lithium wages.

“Josh, do you think we wake up the sun?” my three-year-old niece asked me a week ago.

I nodded from the dozy comfort of a pink beanbag in the corner of her room. “Me too,” she said.

“Wake up! We already woke up the sun. You can’t go back to sleep.”

Now, hopefully I have avoided over thinking this – I felt a switch get hit in the basement of my brain. Here is a three year old, who I am almost certain has not experienced as much in life, telling me not to waste the day because we should earn it. How do we earn it?

The human family earns tomorrow by not being a collective moron. I’m no Nostradamus, but according to my calculations the United States probably won’t make it to the end of the week. Here’s why:

What do you concentrate on and execute without some sort of assistance? By assistance, I mean the kind of algorithm or technological brain-blower-upper that does the task for you.

Our cells phones utilize AutoCorrect to buffer our colloquialisms, laziness, and initial intentions. Nobody can spell.

Heck, we cannot even figure out when to giggle during popular sitcoms like “How I Met Your Mother” and “Big Bang Theory”. They have to provide a sweetened laugh track so our automatic brains know when to engage the laughing function.

Politics really show how the populous gets bent so easily.

Take the recent attacks on contraception. If the war had been slated as an open war against contraceptives, the majority of the nation would be against it.

But when one party makes it a religious argument – downplaying the religious integrity of the president – many people blindly hop on board. If someone salt and peppers “God’s will” into their editorializing statement or political speech, be careful your reaction is not instinctual.

“Wake up! We already woke up the sun.”

Time to shake the cobwebs my postmodern, nihilist compadres.

Time to rely less upon technology and more on your own intellect.

Whatever your skill is utilize it.

Don’t waste your life in the pangs of laugh tracks and AutoCorrect.

Keep a journal.

Do some volunteering.

Grab the steering wheel.

“You can’t go back to sleep.”

Each of us should strive to earn each day and perpetuate a better tomorrow than our yesterday.

Kyle Thompson, Coordinator of Student Leadership Training. Photo by Cody Bromley, The Vista

For baseball fans, the annual Major League Baseball Fan Cave contest is an opportunity to live a dream. For one UCO employee, that dream is one step closer to reality.

Kyle Thompson, coordinator of student leadership training, a love of his St. Louis Cardinals and a video parody of The Lonely Island’s “Like a Boss” has landed him a spot in the top 50 finalists for the contest.

“MLB started the contest last year to up their social media presence,” Thompson said. “It’s a 1500-square foot studio in Manhattan. They put you up in this studio with 16 flat screen TVs and you watch every single baseball game for the whole season.”

Last year, the MLB Fan Cave featured skits and talk shows featuring prominent players and celebrities.

“It’s like hosting your own show,” Thompson said.

Thompson’s video was one of 50 selected out of 22,000 applicants, and is the only finalist from Oklahoma. Currently, viewers can vote for the videos online. Finalists are also judged on their ability to create media buzz, including getting on television and radio shows as well as using social media.

“MLB is going to narrow the field down to their top 30, and those 30 are going to go to Arizona for spring training,” Thompson said. “For three or four days they’ll evaluate your talents and abilities, get you in front of players and see how you interact.”

Out of that group, MLB will then select which finalists are sent to New York to live in the fan cave.

Those chosen for the fan cave will live in New York, with the winner staying for the entire season, with competitors will be periodically kicked off.

“The best I can describe it as is that it’s like a cross of ‘The Apprentice’ and ‘American Idol,’” Thompson said. “You have these contests and competitions periodically, and there will be some sort of voting to keep certain people in the fan cave.”

Although Thompson has not determined how the program would affect his employment at UCO should he be selected, that has not affected the influx of support from his coworkers.

“My coworkers have been incredibly supportive,” Thompson said. “The people here know how I feel about baseball and about sports in general. They know this is a good fit, such an awesome opportunity. It will look great if a UCO employee and native Oklahoman winds up in New York City for the fan cave.”

Voting on Thompson’s video will be open until Feb. 22. Voters can vote as many times as they like on www.mlbfancave.com.

This Feb. 15, 2012 photo, shows Playstation PSVita, foreground, and its predecessor. In the age of “Angry Birds” and “Words With Friends” dominating people’s on-the-go playtime, Sony is making a push into the world of handheld gaming with a gadget aimed at loyal gamers and fans of the PlayStation. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

Gamers worldwide are preparing for this Wednesday, Feb. 22, when Sony Computer Entertainment will release their latest handheld videogame system, the PlayStation Vita.

The Vita, the second handheld of the PlayStation family of systems, is the successor to the company’s much-maligned PlayStation Portable (PSP) system.

Sony hopes the Vita will allow the company to break into a lucrative handheld market dominated by Nintendo, banking on what the company calls their “biggest and best launch lineup across the history of PlayStation platforms,” according to a Dec. 22, 2011 press release.

“PS Vita will offer the most popular franchises in gaming along with entirely new titles – all built from the ground up to take advantage of PS Vita and the unique ways it enables gamers to play,” Sony stated.

Unlike the system’s direct competition, the Nintendo 3DS, the Vita does not feature a three dimensional display. Instead, the Vita features a five-inch capacitive touchscreen in addition to a touch surface on the back of the device.

“Together with the front touch screen and the rear touch pad, PS Vita offers new game play experiences never before seen on any device,” Sony stated in a June 7, 2011 press release, “allowing users to interact directly with games in three dimension-like motion, through “touch, grab, trace, push and pull” finger motions.”

In addition to the dual touch surfaces, the Vita also features dual analog nubs, a feature adopters of the PSP clamored for since the devices’ original release in March 2005.

Other features include front and rear-facing cameras and optional 3G networking support exclusively available through AT&T.

Although not officially launching until Wednesday, people who pre-ordered the 3G-enabled Vita through vendors such as GameStop were entitled to a bonus, receiving their handhelds a week early on Feb. 15.

The Vita will have a lot of work to do as a replacement for the PSP. While reviewed favorably by critics on release, sales of the handheld languished against the Nintendo DS. One of the handheld’s big launch features, movies on Sony’s proprietary UMD media, were quietly phased out as users found no use for the easily damaged miniature discs, which were only compatible with the PSP units itself.

Sony’s October 2009 release of the PSP Go, a miniaturized version of the PSP that utilized a different memory format and was incompatible with UMD versions of PSP games, did little to stem the tide against the DS. It was criticized for its’ high price point and dependency on downloadable content.

Despite this earlier failed foray into portable gaming, Sony is confident that Vita (Latin for “Life”) will turn the tide.

“’Vita’… was chosen as the most appropriate name for the next generation portable entertainment system as it enables a revolutionary combination of rich gaming and social connectivity within a real world context,” Sony stated in their June release. “SCE is aiming to transform every aspect of user’s daily life into an entertainment experience.”

The Vita will retail for $249, while 3G-enabled versions will retail for $299.

“PlayStation Vita is the ultimate portable gaming device, offering all of the interface, controls and social connectivity that gamers have been dreaming about to deliver unsurpassed entertainment and completely new ways to play,” Jack Tretton, president and CEO of SCE America, said in the December release. “PS Vita features the most extensive launch lineup in PlayStation’s history, and there are more than 100 games in development, ensuring that PS Vita gamers will always have a steady stream of amazing titles at their fingertips.”

Sunny Side Up is an Oklahoma City-based ska band, who performs frequently in the metro area. Photo provided

It’s always sunny in Oklahoma City – with ska-rock outfit Sunny Side Up, at least.

Together since spring of 2010, the band’s six members have been playing at various locales across Oklahoma for years and built a widespread following.

“We’ve grown a decent following, enough to let us record a self-produced, self-titled EP,” Garland Moore, bassist and rapper for the band, said.

Their style, according to Moore, draws heavily upon reggae, punk and the influences of southern California’s ska movement in the 1990s. The band puts a twist upon these sounds to “bring ska to a new generation, revolutionizing the genre with fun experimentation, hard guitars, and pop-inspired vocals,” their official Facebook page explains.

“We play fast, fun and positive music,” Moore said. “Our live shows are all about having a good time.”

It’s not about just showing up to the shows; the focus for Sunny Side Up is to involve the crowd as much as possible.

“What we do differently is focus the energy of our show in the crowd, rather than on the stage,” he said. “There’s lots of dancing, conversation with our audience, and awesome horn solos.”

Horn solos, Moore said, that take place from the middle of a mosh pit.

Moore and guitarist Tanner Smith had been longtime friends before forming the band with vocalist Lance Godfrey, trumpet player Taylor Doak, drummer Jake Jones and trombonist Austin Meyer.

“I made a status update, saying I wished I was in a local ska band,” Moore said. “Tanner replied and said we should get something going. After a few weeks of making calls, we got a basic lineup together and started learning some cover songs.”

With performances along such bands as the Toasters and Peelander-Z under their belts, Sunny Side Up is now working on a full-length album. Photo provided

The band, aside from their musical connections, also has UCO ties. Moore is a sophomore broadcasting major, Doak is a freshman trumpet performance major, and Godfrey attended the university as well.

Their self-titled EP, released this past summer, debuted at #1 on the Oklahoma Bandcamp charts. The seven-track release, representing more than a year of Sunny Side Up’s musicianship and history, is considered one of the most popular recent records in the state. Last week, their song “Welcome to the Skalocaust” was released as downloadable content for Rock Band 3, and in the coming months the band plans to put out a music video for the song. As for their new material, Moore says the band hopes to write and record a full-length album, wrapping near the end of this year or early in 2013.

In addition to their work toward the EP and their upcoming full-length album, the band has also had the opportunity to perform alongside numerous bands from various places.

“We’ve gotten to play with awesome bands like Anamanaguchi and the Toasters,” Moore said. The band also had the opportunity to play with Japanese action comic punk band Peelander-Z, who performed at Wakarusa in 2011. Sunny Side Up recently was one of five bands chosen to play in the Waka Winter Classic, a concert held with the opportunity given to play at Wakarusa this summer.

Aside from the Classic, the band also frequently plays shows in the metro and is also writing new material, with hopes to release it in the near future. While they work toward this goal, concertgoers can hear many of their new songs at a live show. The band has an upcoming show at The Conservatory on March 30, where they will be headlining and playing an extended set.

“The Conservatory is our favorite venue, we play there more than anywhere else,” Moore said.

As for what’s to come, Moore has no doubt the band’s future looks bright.

“The future of Sunny Side Up is gonna be rad,” he said.

All of Sunny Side Up’s music is free to download. To listen or download, visit their Bandcamp site,http://sunnysideupska.bandcamp.com.

SHANGHAI (AP) — Apple’s dispute over the iPad trademark deepened Monday after the Chinese company that claims ownership of the name said it won a court ruling against sales of the popular tablet computer in China.

Xie Xianghui, a lawyer for Shenzhen Proview Technology, said the Intermediate People’s Court in Huizhou, a city in southern China’s Guangdong province, had ruled on Friday that distributors should stop selling iPads in China.

The ruling, which was also reported widely in China’s state media, may not have a far-reaching effect. In its battle with Apple, Proview is utilizing lawsuits in several places and also requesting commercial authorities in 40 cities to block iPad sales.

Apple Inc. said in a statement Monday that its case is still pending in mainland China. The company has appealed to Guangdong’s High Court against an earlier ruling in Proview’s favor.

Apple insists it holds the trademark rights to the iPad in China.

“We bought Proview’s worldwide rights to the iPad trademark in 10 different countries several years ago. Proview refuses to honor their agreement with Apple in China and a Hong Kong court has sided with Apple in this matter,” said Apple spokeswoman Carolyn Wu.

Calls to the court in Huizhou rang unanswered.

A letter to Proview’s chairman Rowell Yang from the Beijing office of the law firm King & Wood, which is representing Apple, accused Proview of breaching “principles of good faith and fair dealing” and of making “false and misleading” statements.

Proview, a maker of LCD screens which is based in Guangdong, has asked regulators to seize iPads in China in a possible prelude to demanding a payout from Apple. A Shanghai court is due to hear a similar case on Wednesday.

So far, iPads have been pulled from shelves in some Chinese cities but there has been no sign of action at the national level.

Shenzhen Proview Technology is a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Proview International Holdings. It registered the iPad trademark in China in 2001 and says the name was used for a computer described as an “Internet Personal Access Device” that employed touch panel technology.

The company says it plans to ask China’s customs agency to block imports and exports of iPads.

Apple contends that it acquired the iPad name when it bought rights in various countries from a Proview affiliate in Taiwan in 2009 for 35,000 British pounds ($55,000). Proview won a ruling from a mainland Chinese court in December that it was not bound by that sale.

Proview International’s shares have been suspended from trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since August 2010 and reports say it is deep in debt. It will be delisted in June if it cannot show it has sufficient assets, business operations and working capital.

Proview has filed a trademark-violation lawsuit  that goes to court Wednesday in Shanghai. In the meantime, China’s mass media is abuzz with speculation over the case.

“The iPad trademark case: Who cheated who?” quizzed a story in Monday’s edition of the 21st Century Business Herald.

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, points to a Hong Kong court ruling in July that said Proview had acted with the intention of “injuring Apple.”

According to that ruling, Apple set up a company in Britain to buy the iPad trademark from owners in various markets without revealing Apple was the purchaser.

Proview has accused Apple of acting dishonestly when it bought rights to the iPad name from Proview’s Taiwan affiliate. A Hong Kong court document shows that once the dispute arose, Proview demanded $10 million for the iPad name in China. But Hong Kong’s legal system is separate from the mainland’s.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, left, leaves after a funeral service for Whitney Houston at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, N.J., Saturday, Feb. 18, 2012. Houston died last Saturday at a hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., at the age of 48. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Yamda Johnson, kisses a signed photo of Whitney Houston as she and her friend Regina Kujemya both from Staten Island, N.Y., pay their respects at New Hope Baptist Church, in Newark, N.J., Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012. The 48-year-old pop star was found dead in the bathtub in her hotel room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Saturday, hours before she was supposed to appear at a pre-Grammy gala. (AP Photo/Rich Schultz)

Fans wave as a hearse bearing the remains of Whitney Houston leaves the New Hope Baptist Church after the singer's funeral in Newark, N.J., Saturday, Feb. 18, 2012. Houston died last Saturday at the Beverly Hills Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif., at the age 48. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

People watch Whitney Houston's funeral on a screen in Times Square, Saturday, Feb. 18, 2012 in New York. Houston died last Saturday at the Beverly Hills Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif., at the age 48. (AP Photo/Karly Domb Sadof)

Fans sing near funeral services for Whitney Houston at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, N.J., Saturday, Feb. 18, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes)

Kazarah Campbell, 4, of Newark, N.J., holds a sign as she and other Whitney Houston fans gather a few blocks from the New Hope Baptist Church before the singer's funeral in Newark, N.J., Saturday, Feb. 18, 2012. Houston died last Saturday at the Beverly Hills Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif., at the age 48. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

A coffin holding the remains of singer Whitney Houston is carried into the New Hope Baptist Church before her funeral services in Newark, N.J. on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2012. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

Candles burn at a memorial at a memorial to Whitney Houston outside New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, N.J., early Saturday, Feb. 18, 2012. Whitney Houston's funeral will take place later Saturday at the church where she sang in the choir as a girl. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Emmanuelle Phillip, 6, of Newark, N.J., signs a Whitney Houston poster as fans gather a few blocks from the New Hope Baptist Church during the singer's funeral in Newark, N.J., Saturday, Feb. 18, 2012. Houston died last Saturday at the Beverly Hills Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif., at the age 48. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

We’re giving too much of ourselves away.

The Internet’s removed all the guesswork in dating and now serves as a repository for all our most useless and most treasured secrets. I’m not a member of online dating sites, because I’ve got a Facebook and one click on a profile can usually tell me all I need to know.

Even the smart ones who set all information to private can’t pull one past me – try their Tumblr and see what you dig up. If all else fails, Twitter can tell you in 140 characters what it might take you two dinner dates to unearth.

By pouring so much of yourself into some online persona, you’re destroying all the allure of getting to know someone. What are the odds of having an “oh my gosh, me too!” moment if your date already knows your favorite movie, musical genre and snack food?

It’s akin to kissing on the first date – kissing before the first date. When we meet someone through our blog or site of choice, write our life story in the ask box and hit send, we’re circumventing everything from beginning to end.

Over the summer I met up with someone I’d started talking to via my personal blog. I knew she’d suffered from an eating disorder, and she knew I suffered from anxiety attacks. We met up downtown and bonded, though superficially, over quesadillas and cilantro salsa. We only hung out one more time after that, and we have not spoken since.

We just didn’t have anything to talk about.

She couldn’t talk about how much she loved her favorite band, because I already knew she had a tattoo of their album art on her calf. I couldn’t talk about the features I write on local musicians, because I’d already posted them.

What is there to say when you’ve already blogged it all? The problem’s not what our parents told us when we were teenagers – “watch out for pedophiles and serial killers.” I think our generation is pretty street-savvy and we understand who to let in and who to steer clear from.

Our problem is information in excess. Instead of leaving a little to the imagination, it’s the figurative equivalent to inviting that lucky guy or girl in not just for tea but to stay the night.

I want something more to talk about; I want to know the person I’m talking to won’t stay just a persona behind a computer screen. And I’m not sure you can guarantee that with zero face-to-face interaction.

So remember – keep a little bit sacred, and don’t kiss before the first date.

Sarah Smith, Miss Black UCO 2011, crowns Tiffany Thompson, Miss Black UCO 2012 during the pageant in the Constitution Hall, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012. Photo by Cyn Sheng Ling, The Vista

Tiffany Thompson, a senior Family Education major, was crowned Miss Black UCO 2012 on Saturday, Feb. 4 at Constitution Hall.   Thompson is the 28^th winner of the pageant.

What motivated you to get into pageantry?

I was afraid of being successful.  And because of being dyslexic I was afraid that I would never be successful, so I faced my fears.  I decided to get into this pageant.  I knew I was going to have to get on stage; I’m going to have to do things I’m afraid of.   I wanted to know I could do it.

What talent did you did you put on display in the pageant?

I write and perform monologues.  My monologue ‘Who Am I?’ is about my dyslexia and how the world took my identity.  In the third grade I had a teacher tell me that since I was black I would never be successful.  She never told me I was dyslexic, and how I should embrace it and it’s a gift.  She told me I was ‘mentally disabled,’ and made me feel ‘less than.’  Kids would laugh at me when I read out loud and I was really bullied.  I allowed them to steal my identity.

As of late last year I took my identity back.  I publically came out that I have dyslexia, and I have a speech disorder.  I can’t explain the feeling.  It was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders.  Now I know who Tiffany Marie Thompson is.

What is one thing about you that isn’t well known what would surprise people?

I really want to be a dancer, but I have no rhythm to dance!  Friends know underneath that I want to be an actress and a dancer, but they would disagree because they know I have no rhythm.

What is your dream job?

I want to be a motivational speaker.  Growing up I got made fun of so I hated reading out loud.  I hated speaking.  I want to overcome that because I know there is no one else like me out there.  I want to show people you can overcome anything.

What is your favorite television show?

Law & Order:  SVU!  It’s the passion behind the acting.  Me being an actress I love seeing that passion.  It makes me feel like it’s real life.

What is your best advice?

Never let anyone steal your identity or define who you are.  Those things that you want in life where your parents or whoever do not agree with you, be prepared to defend them to the end.  Be you, be confidant with who you are.