WASHINGTON – Former Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown on Tuesday emphasized what he called failings at state and local levels, and defended his own leadership, as well as FEMA’s, in heading the federal government’s response to Hurricane Katrina. Brown, who resigned from his position as director on Sept. 12 following criticism of his management while directing FEMA’s response, appeared this week before an investigative congressional committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. Throughout the hearing, questions for Brown… Read more

The men’s soccer team kicks off its Big West schedule today against UC Riverside. The away game is the team’s first conference clash of the season. The team will then meet Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Oct. 1 at Matador Field. Both games are equally important with potential post-season considerations on the line for the Matadors. In today’s game, the Matadors will face a Highlander team which has won two straight, after starting the season 0-5-1. The Matadors are… Read more

All levels of political, business and community leaders, including state Assembly speaker Fabian Nuñez and former presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, took part in the annual Envisioning California Conference to reconsider California’s infrastructure Sept. 22 and 23. “Citizens have a right, not only to have the funds for infrastructure projects, but also the right (for) those infrastructures (to) work. It’s obvious the freeways don’t work,” Dukakis said at the event. “You have to get serious about transportation and a high-speed train… Read more

Corpse Bride” is Tim Burton’s long-awaited stop motion follow-up to the brilliant “A Nightmare Before Christmas.” This time, he does not just come up with the story and characters. He directs as well, with Mike Johnson as co-director. Presenting subjects that are typically dark and frightening and showing them in a positive light has long been a trademark of Tim Burton. In “Corpse Bride,” Burton spins death and murder into a charming musical about the power of love. “Corpse Bride”… Read more

In what was easily the biggest home crowd of the season, the CSUN women’s volleyball team didn’t give fans much to cheer about as Loyola Marymount swept the Matadors 30-20, 30-24 and 30-27 on sorority night at the Matadome. Instead of being overpowered by the Lions, the Matadors gave up most of the points by being tipped or having problems with tips. “Tipping to us tend to be gifts from the other team,” said Jeff Stork, Matadors head coach. “When… Read more

The men’s golf team finished the first round of the Northwest Collegiate Classic tied for fourth before slipping to a 10th-place finish at Trysting Tree Golf Course in Corvallis, Oregon over the weekend. “I’m very optimistic. It was a good field, the other teams just shot great the last rounds,” said head coach Jim Bracken. “It was some of our guys first 36-hole event. Some of the guys need to get in better shape.” The hosting team, Oregon State University,… Read more

The CSUN Matador women’s soccer team remains in top form as they came from behind to defeat the San Diego State Aztecs 2-1 in the sixth minute of overtime at the SDSU Sports Complex on Sept. 19. In minute 20, the Aztecs were first to score, when freshman forward Erika Sutton sent a pass from the right side of the field to Jen Mello who guided the ball into the right-corner of the net, scoring her first goal of the… Read more

The music from the up and coming rock band, Aviatic, radiated through the black walls, while fiery lights escaped onto the hundreds of fans who sang along at The Roxy Theatre on Sunset Blvd. on Sept. 17. Aviatic took the audience on an uplifting musical journey with nine songs including “Goodbye Beautiful Day,” which was recently added to Yahoo music’s top 10 Adult Alternative list. Aviatic is the only unsigned musical group on the list. Sebu Simonian, lead singer and… Read more

Cry_Wolf,” winner of the Chrysler/Universal’s one million dollar film contest, is the latest film to emerge from the genre based Rogue Pictures, a company that calls itself the “new” Dimension Films Attempting to deliver an entertaining PG-13 rated slasher, Jeff Wadlow, the director, dismembers the genre into small pieces from the opening sequence, where a young blond girl is running through the woods from a flashlight. Clearly picking up where the classic “Friday the 13th” films left off in which… Read more