While the large majority of students that walk these halls, UMass Boston is just a stop on an academic journey; a stepping stone to the school where they will eventually matriculate and receive a degree with their time spent on the peninsula just a distant memory. For others, the role of student is in addition to roles as parents, employees, caretakers, or soldiers. While it is true that this school is far from traditional, this is not necessarily a bad thing, it is simply a fact. One thing that can be said about our student body is that they are wildly different from any other student body at any university in this city, much less the country, when it comes to the different kinds of people that learn on this campus. More than sixty percent of students here speak a second language and if you listen carefully, you cannot go through a day here without hearing snatches of Urdu, Farsi, Mandarin, or Spanish. That diversity is an element that is essential to the identity of the school and, for better or worse, it is who we are. So even if you are just passing through on your way to bigger things, take some time to appreciate your surroundings here on Harbor Point because you will never see another place like it.

Also, before I give you the lowdown on this edition of the Mass Media, a quick explanation of our cover this week. Since heavy immigration to this country began in the early twentieth century, the metaphor of “the melting pot” has been used to describe the relations between the different groups of people in this country. Because the Culture and Diversity section occupies the spread this week, we wanted to go with that theme and play with the “melting pot” idea and express our feeling that while every group may be tossed in the American stew, not everyone has an equal place. They all may start in the mix, but there are cracks in our societal and cultural structure and certain groups often slip through them and lose their place. A little high-brow/intellectual/metaphorical for you? Don’t worry, we’ll have a cover with someone getting hit in the groin with a football or some such thing to balance it out before too long, rest assured.

If you don’t care about paying an extra $1500 in mandatory fees next semester, then there is nothing of interest in News for you. If you do care about the quality and cost of your education, you should feel beholden to check out Caleb Nelson’s story on the recent motion to halt a vote that would jack your fees by the cost of a new laptop. This is an ongoing fight that you need to be a part of, as the motion only squeaked though by a single vote.

In Arts, Bonnie Godas reports back from an epic weekend at the Hard Rock Hotel in Florida where she recently vacationed with the fam. We are both intrigued and horribly, horribly jealous.

Finally, in Sports, Charlie Peters brings the story of Nick Conway, a soon to be UMB baseball legend who just signed a pro deal. Soon, when someone asks “we have sports at this school?”, you’ll be able to give them a withering stare and reply “yeah, Nick Conway went here, douche”.