In recent years, “The X-Files” has become a paranormal figure in the world of television; the nine-season series pioneered the modern science fiction show and proved that intellectual, cinematic television could be produced for a mainstream audience. Amateur and professional screenwriters for the past 15 years have been vying to get a glimpse of the cult show’s surprising success. And like most supernatural mysteries, those attempts have yielded only fake and rubber-limbed reproductions.
Many strange beings lurk in the fictional town of Night Vale: hooded figures who maintain a forbidden dog park, helicopters painted with birds of prey that steal children and an omniscient glowing cloud that serves as president of school council. Yet the most confusing and paradoxical product of the biweekly podcast “Welcome to Night Vale” may be Night Vale writers Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor’s new novel of the same title.
A batch of new orientation programs, part of the “Learn/Explore/Activate/Participate” (LEAP) initiative, sprang up this year in hopes of filling the free time of first-years at orientation, but as with most fresh starts, not everything about the programs was perfect. The Creative Arts and Performances (CAP) program offered more creative first-years the opportunity to explore their talents through workshops and professor-led performances. However, it may not have been as smooth of an experience as it hoped for.
