Just about two weeks ago, Hope Community Health Center opened its doors to residents of Champaign County. Hope is a non-religiously affiliated, non-profit corporation offering both medical and psychiatric treatments. The clinic is among only a handful of centers that offer medical services to those who have trouble obtaining medical care. Not surprisingly, these clinics struggle to serve as many people as possible. Some of Hope’s aims are to provide treatment for those without health insurance, those who cannot get treatment through Medicaid or get timely appointments at other clinics. Tomorrow evening, an art benefit will be held at 610 W. Oregon St. in Urbana and all proceeds will be going to Hope. All are welcome, especially if you enjoy painting.

A little over two weeks ago at the Republican National Convention, dozens of journalists were arrested for doing their jobs. Among these journalists was Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now! — an independent national news program. On Labor Day she, along with her two of her colleagues, was arrested outside of the RNC and still could be potentially charged for a felony riot (UPDATE: charges have been dropped against Amy Goodman).

Like most of the students on campus, I moved into my new apartment this past weekend. I had all the excitement of starting a new school year and moving into a new place. Everything was going my way. That feeling lasted about ten minutes. I entered my apartment and became immediately deflated. Wait, this isn’t how it looked when I signed the lease back in October. There was a gaping hole in the wall of the living room. It appeared that the carpet was only cleaned around the furniture. I found some old lip balm, hairpins, pens and plenty of dust underneath the couches. Burn marks tainted the carpets, and there was already, somehow, garbage all over the balcony. Overall, the place looked abused and filthy.

A quick Google search of tanning salons in the Champaign-Urbana area comes up with about 17 listed locations. Not to mention, six of these tanning factories are within walking distance from campus. My apartment alone is within three blocks from two different tanning salons. I just can’t understand their popularity. Granted — I’ve never given them any business. It’s something that has perplexed me ever since I arrived on this campus. Little tanned outlines of playboy bunnies peeking out of low-slung pants weren’t new to me, but the sheer numbers of these bunnies — with the occasional heart or star — was astounding. Young women and, even men, flock to places like Solar Tan, Electric Beach or Classic Tan to get their tan on.

If you’re thinking about getting a bike, absolutely do it. I can’t think of very many excuses for not owning a bike in this town. I know I waited entirely too long to finally get a bike. It was part laziness, part intimidation and part ignorance. Where do I get a bike? What kind of bike? Can I even ride one? Before I took the plunge, I hadn’t been on a bike in years. Growing up in Chicago, I took the "L" everywhere, or just walked. My bicycle knowledge was limited to the fuchsia Huffy I rode as child. My quest for a bicycle was full of anguish that I would be chastised for my complete and utter ignorance in the field of cycling.

A couple of weekends ago, the Boneyard Union of Zymurgical Zealots (B.U.Z.Z.) hosted their 14th annual Boneyard Brew-Off. The event was a refreshing break from the binge-drinking culture that dominates most college campuses, including our beloved University of Illinois. It’s easy to forget the pleasures one can get from drinking a good beer, but the Zealots are dedicated to drinking, brewing and learning about these great fermented beverages. There were 239 entries within 26 categories in the competition, all submitted by home brewers. The categories varied from American wheat to brown ales to darker porters and vegetable and fruit beers. The variety was astounding, and reminds us that a 30 pack of ‘Stones isn’t the only way to go.

By now most of us have seen the film Juno at least once. It’s now out on DVD — and you can even find a pretty decent online version of the movie. So many people loved this movie, and if they didn’t love it most people thought it was at least quirky and witty. Seriously, in my humble opinion, Juno sucked. It’s really difficult for me to organize my gripes about this movie with much coherency, but it’s worth a try.