Clackamas Print
ntertainment
Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2006
tew American muscle
oc Piazzisi
fe Clackamas Print
[t’s the new car season, and
lerican sports cars are pulling
ad of imports in style, design and
formance.
American automakers have come
with several new models, and
lated some of their older ones,
long the recent American releases
; Chrysler’s 300C and Crossfire;
d’s remade GT and Mustang;
i Chevy’s updated Corvette,
taro concept car and the brand-
v Cobalt. Dodge has also jumped
Bard the new car trend, releasing
B Charger, Magnum, Challenger
Bcept and SRT fine.
American cars are producing
amazing numbers when it comes
to horsepower. The Ford Mustang
is producing 300hp. Dodge has the
Magnum at 340hp, along with the
Chargers 350hp and of course the
Viper’s huge 500hp. Chrysler’s 300c
is putting out 425hp, and Chevy’s
Corvette is soaring with just about
505hp. The Pontiac GTO is produc
ing nearly 400hp.
What do the Import companies
have that compares to those num
bers? Mazda’s top sports car, the
RX8, only has 238hp. Honda has the
240hp S2000. Both the Celica and
MR2 put out under 180hp.
Mitsubishi’s
have stepped
■While foreign companies
Be their sports cars, they
Bbably won’t compete
■ well against the new
Bases of the American
Bpanies. which far out-
Biber the new imports.
■ recent releases, by
■import companies are
BMazda RX8, Nissan
Bz and the remodel of
■Mitsubishi Eclipse.
horsepower, with the Eclipse pro
ducing 263hp, and the turbo-charged
Lancer pumping 286hp. The only
import with higher numbers is the
Nissan 350z, pumping out 300hp.
American companies are produc
ing cars that would have all been
considered “super cars” due to their
horsepower output less than 10 years
ago. Why have American automak
ers decided to add these new cars,
re-vamp some of their existing sports
cars and change the way they mar
ket?
The answer is rather simple.
American car companies have been
taking some-
Internet Photo
2007 Camaro Concept
thing of a nosedive in profit margins
over the last few years. It is even
a concern that GM may be facing
bankruptcy in the near future if they
are not able to turn the company
around.
After the American companies
ran a few target market studies, they
realized that they lacked appeal to
younger buyers. The only way
American manufactures could regain
sales in the under-35 market is to
reconsider the cars they were and
weren’t producing.
Import companies not answering
back with high-horsepower sports
cars have no reason to now; their
profits keep going up and their pro
duction lines are in high demand. ‘
However, according to rumors,
Toyota and Mazda have been
working on their old “super
cars” and are looking to re-
release the Supra as well
as tiie RX7. It would be a
strong and likely response
to the recent American
muscle trend.
Only time will tell
whether the muscle car
gamble on the part of the
American automakers will
pay off.
RT 262 transitions into photography’s future
imberly Schlewe
se Clackamas Print
Digital is lhe way of the future,
this year CCC is capturing the
pion.
Beginning Fall Term, Digital
Itography and Photo-Imaging has
I offered at CCC.
|RT 262 introduces concepts,
iniques, practices, aesthetics, and
les of photographic imaging and
Ige-making with digital photogra-
|and software. Adobe Elements 3,
ever and more polished version of
pbe Photoshop, is used throughout
Bourse to edit, organize and print
■1 photos.
Students are introduced to the pro
In Adobe Elements 3 on the first
I of class. The software allows the
pal images to be cropped, trans
lied, filtered, cloned and other
Iniques may be applied for student
lerPoint presentations, web page
Igos. slideshows, personal photo
albums, etc.
Instructors Bill Allen and Nick
Molatore lead the class two days a
week for two hours. Each week’s first
class “consists primarily of lecture
time for covering concepts, discuss
ing topics from the text, answering
questions, and working on lab assign
ments,” explains Allen. “The second
class will alternate between in-the-
field photo sessions and in-class photo
critiques.”
The outcome has been ideal for
a new class. With a full classroom,
Allen and Molatore are able to help
their students develop strategy for
organizing, and properly photograph
ing images. Currently a student
showcase is on display in Streeter
next to classroom 181.
All photos are generated student
photos shot during Fall Term 2005.
Portraits, landscapes, still life, artis
tic and humorous student work have
been matted and put on display for
the rest of January and into February.
Eventually, all pieces will be entered
into the Art Department’s Student
Art Center for a yearly showcase
from various students at Clackamas
Community College.
Students, instructors and commu
nity residents are welcome to come
and view the artwork on display now
in Streeter. If you’re interested in tak
ing this class and/or receiving more
information about it and the current
artwork on display, please contact
Allen at 503 657 6958, ext 2806.
INTERIOR DESIGN AT MARYLHURST
LOVE YOUR WORK
le Cougar Café is open every day!
Color
Texture
Light
Fabric
Carpet
Wallpaper
Concrete
M - Th: 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Fridays: 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Year-Round Admission
«
i
c • .
Design Process
Furnishings
Windows
Walls
Lighting
Floors
Ceilings
Hardware
* Scholarships for transfer students
I
/
pure to stop by the Player’s Grill
|is week and try our new
Il Ì
Wood
Metal
Paint
Glass
Blueprints
CAD drawing
Drafting
/
• Small seminar-style classes
To work with an advisor, e-mail studentinfo@marylhurst.edu
or call 503.699.6268.
★ US News & World Report BEST COLLEGES 2006
"Number one in the-Northwest for small classes"
HflL
f s definitely a
L
winner!
MARYLHU R ST U N IV E R SIT Y
JUST 10 MINUTES SOUTH OF PORTLAND
Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities accredited
17600 PACIFIC HIGHWAY (HWY. 43) MARYLHURST, OREGON
Serving students since 1893.
www.marylhurst.edu
800.634.9982
The X-Box 360 has
proven to be a huge
waste of money
One might think that when I
finally saw an X-Box 360 on a
shelf at a local department store
I’d have been ecstatic, but I had
to consider a few questions for
myself before I committed to
forking over my hardly-earned
cash.
“Self” I said, “why in the
world is there a 360 sitting on
the shelf that nobody wants to
pay for1?’*
Well, one of tire senior editors
from Electronic Gaming Monthly
(EGM) magazine, Dan “Shoe”
Hsu, seems to think they’re just
not worth their steep price tag
... a fact he blatantly pointed
out to Corporate Vice President
of Worldwide Retail Sales and
Marketing for Microsoft Peter
Moore in this month’s issue.
‘Wouldn’t you be pissed if
you paid $400 for a new console
and many of its games looked
only marginally better than their
current-gen equivalents?” Shoe
asked Moore. Moore then asked
him to “call out” some games to
support the claim.
“The 2K sports games.
Amped 3. Tony Hawk. Need for
Speed. Gun. King Kong. People
can argue that they’re not getting
that big next-gen leap in graph
ics. On top of that, you’re asking
consumers to pay an extra $10 for
these games.” countered Shoe.
The interview article was
roughly six pages long and as
entertaining as it was painfill, but
Shoe’s right Microsoft is trying
to rip off the gamer crowd, and
what they don’t seem to realize
is it’s going to be a lot tougher to
pull one ova on us than the usual
consumer base
Then there’s the video floating
around the internet of a 360 spin
ning up a disc. You can tell the
disc is spinning up because the
machine is so loud its fen/drive
noise is prevalent even on the
webcam the video was shot with
(another common complaint).
While the disc is spinning in
1he drive a pair of hands reaches
out and tips the X-Box on its side.
The disc inside grinds against
some unknown piece in the drive
and the hands tilt the X-Box back
to its original position while the
disc grinds again. They eject the
disc and show the data side to the
camera, and the disc looks like
it’s been mauled with a senated
butter knife.
How bad is it? Assuming I
bought that 360 core system I saw
on foe shelf, I’d have paid over
$600 at a retail store for the box
and all the accessories I’d want If
I’d tried to buy online to guaran
tee delivery I’d be paying almost
twice as much.
So here’s what I did so that I
could play the same game with
only slightly less impressive
graphics on a system I already
owned: I bought Need For Speed
on Gamecube for $40.
People who don’t buy a 360
are enjoying foe same games at
a fraction of the cost, and with
only minimal headache. I think
the positive side here is that the
X-Box 360 is saving money for
those smart enough, and that’s a
problem for Microsoft that Moore
hasn’t quite figured out.
- thedpad@gmail.com