The 2009 Annual Juried Art Student Exhibition has set itself apart from the previous years. Entering the gallery, what is most striking is, as a collective, the quality, skill and experimentation of the work created by the student body which is, for the most part, on the same level. That is to say the work goes beyond what is a mere exercise, a classroom assignment. It is an immense contrast to exhibitions of past years, which had admitted work of questionable quality. The level of work could be split into two camps: exceptional conceptual work and good classroom projects.

All across the university lawn, amidst the rows of white tents and a lively crowd, CSUN hosted the Grand Reunion, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the campus.

The event allowed past students to reconnect with former professors and classmates and held a lot of surprises for those who attended. Just as the CSUN administration planned it to be, the Grand Reunion was a great homecoming for the proud Matadors who attended CSUN over the years.

The Soloist, starring Robert Downey Jr. as Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez and Jamie Foxx as Nathaniel Ayers, a schizophrenic homeless man residing on the rat-infested streets of Skid Row, captures a true story of human connection, second chances and the limitless power music has over changing lives.

The Cal State Northridge softball team (27-17, 7-8) ended its final homestand of the season on a good note this past weekend as it swept the UC Riverside Highlanders in three-game series.

The Disney Channel has been a source of good TV for children since 1983. It hasn’t only been revolutionary in its work with cartoons and feature films, but has also created worthwhile and educational programming for young adults. It’s been successful in accomplishing this, until now.

UC Riverside shut the CSUN baseball team (17-25, 4-11 Big West) down offensively in two games and narrowly won another one to complete a weekend sweep of the Matadors at Matador Field.

The Cal State Northridge water polo team went into the Big West Tournament as the top seed, but finished the season fourth after losing 6-5 in overtime to UC Santa Barbara in the semifinals on Saturday and 10-6 to UC Davis a day after in the game for third place.

Political scientist Dr. Michael Hass and former Los Angeles County District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi spoke to an audience of about 100 about the crimes of the Bush Administration Wednesday at a lecture sponsored by the Political Science Department at Johnson Auditorium.

Anyone who’s been to a men’s volleyball game over the last few seasons might have noticed that, after winning a point, the Matadors ‘- both on and off the court ‘- come together in a circle and yell something. That something is ‘woosh.’