THE PENDULUM
WEDNESDAY. SEPTEMBER 22, 2010// PAGE 15
A student's experience at Disney World
Alex Trice
Online Editor-in-Chief
Elon senior Mike Milano lived an
ordinary childhood. He was born in
New Jersey and grew up in Maryland.
He played baseball, he scraped his
knees.
“I was just a normal kid,” he said.
WhenMilanocametoElonUniversity,
he majored in political science.
And, like many college students, he
applied for an internship—at Disney
World. Milano said applying for the
internship was the result of a spur-
of-the-moment decision when he was
playing an online Hannah Montana
game with his 8-year-old sister.
“My sister said ‘you should apply
and then I could come visit you.' So I
applied, and I got it, and she did come
visit me. She had a blast," he said.
After receiving the internship,
Milano took a break from studying last
fall semester and traveled to Orlando,
Fla., where he lived in college program
student housing provided by Disney.
“The rooms were tin>," Milano
said. “No closets or anything. But the
complex itself was nice, like a resort.”
Milano then began training to
impersonate Prince Aladdin in Disney
parades. Part of his training included
spending three days in waving
school.
“If you are a character on a float,
you have to learn how to waxMilano
said. “There’s a certain way to point
in Disney. You use your hand or two
fingers and point but not like a gun,
because that’s offensive.”
After learning the proper form
and technique for acceptable waving,
Milano was measured for his
costume.
“I got down there and was a quarter
of an inch too short,” he said. “You
have to be a certain height so that if
Jasmine wears high heels, she won’t
be taller than you.”
Although his Aladdin days
ended before they even began, other
opportunities were in store for
Milano.
He was reassigned to ticketing,
where he had to sit in a booth all day,
but was soon offered the chance to
work with Disney World's partner in
business. Cirque du Soleil.
“It's a pretty breathtaking building,”
Milano said. 'I was like, how did I get
here?' This place is huge; I definitely
don't fit in here. But as soon as I got in
there, it didn’t feel as big as it looks.
It's pretty welcoming, too.”
Milano trained four months for
Cirque du Soleil. He spent several
hours each day jumping on industrial
strength professional trampolines.
“Never once did I bounce as hard as
1 could,” Milano said.
On stage, Milano would bounce on
the trampolines and do various back
flip tricks. He also filled in for other
Cirque performers when they were
Injured on the show.
•I
mm
Top right: Mike Milano pictures (left) with castmate from Cirque de Soleil. Bottom: Photo taken during Cirque de Soleil performance.
PHOTOS SUBMITTED
Opening the lines of communication:
Speaking about tough issues in America and the world
Marlena Chertock
Design Editor
Sometimes the toughest issues have
to be discussed to make progress. In
lieu of this, the Isabella Cannon Centre
hosted a talk about Islam on Sept. 15.
“We’re not able to communicate
on a level like this, just talking,”
freshman Muhammad Musah said
during “A Conversation About Islam,
America, World Events and Individual
Responsibility.” “Talking is a great
thing. Just protesting, shooting each
other is not working.”
Musah, along with several other
students and professors, gathered in the
Centre for the talk. Associate professor
of political science Betty Morgan was
one of the people who came up with the
idea.
“This is such an important, critical
time to start the conversation,” she
said. “I didn’t want people lecturing. I
wanted people talking to each other as
freely as we could make it. I would sit
on the floor and put popcorn out.”
Attendees of the discussion sat on
chairs and sofas arranged in a circle in
the Centre where everyone could easily
see the others. It was a respectful
atmosphere, where people were
attentive when others spoke.
The idea for the discussion was first
brought up by freshman Toorialey Fazly,
a student from Afghanistan, Morgan
said. Morgan said she wanted to bring
in professors from various disciplines
and various religious leaders, though
some never got back to her. She said
she plans to keep trying to bring them
in. Fazly was unable to attend the talk
because he was hit by a car earlier that
day while riding his bike.
“This is the very first (talk),” Morgan
said,-“I-want -to. keep -it -going- We-’U--
b'e^here, we’ll be talking, every other
Wednesday night.”
The talk focused on issues of
Muslims in America, Terry Jones’ threat
of burning the Koran and the Muslim
Community Center planned to be built
in New York City.
For a while, Islam wasn’t on people’s
radar, Morgan said.
“All that we as Americans know about
Isl^m is flying carpets, genies and belly
dancers,” sophomore Neima Abdulahi,
a Muslim, said. “Now Americans see
it - under a new
light: terrorists,
hate, violence,
killing. These
have become
synonymous with
our religion.”
Musah, who is
also of the Muslim
faith, agreed with
Abdulahi.
“A1 Qaeda and
Osama bin Laden
have become
synonymous with
Muslim,” he said.
“How do you erase
that label, that connection?”
Abdulahi said Americans and non-
Muslims are not the only ones who
were affected by Sept. II.
“As American Muslims, we are left
answering questions, with confusion
about ourselves,” she said. “We became
PRs (public relation) for our own
faith.”
When pastor Terry Jones threatened
to burn the Koran, Musah said he
believed it affected everyone.
“I live 10 minutes from Ground
Zero, and I’ve never seen anything so
hateful,” he said. “That an American
-.would have so jnuch hate, in his. heart,
“AL QAEDA AND OSAMA
BIN LADEN HAVE BECOME
SYNONYMOUS WITH MUSLIM.
HOW DO YOU ERASE THAT
LABEL, THAT CONNECTION?”
-MUHAMMAD MUSAH
ELON UNIVERSITY FRESHMAN
this time it really hit home.”
Senior James Pope, a Christian,
offered a voice from another side.
“The only thing 1 can equate the
Sept. 11 attack with is Pearl Harbor,”
he said. “1 can’t see something being
built so soon, so close (overtop of it).
(Muslims) have the right to build it (the
community center) there. But I just
think was that location necessary? It’s
too soon.”
Abdulahi addressed Pope’s concern
by explaining that it is a lot to ask
people to wait
indefinitely.
“Going forth
with it (the
community
center) will cause
solutions, help
issues, because
it may never be a
perfect time,” she
said.
Musah said
building the
mosque might
showthat America
is maturing or
regressing as
a nation, based on the subsequent
actions.
Dean of International Programs and
director of the Centre Woody Pelton said
the war the United States is engaged in
has no set end date.
“This isn't a war between nations —
who would sign a treaty if it ended?”
Pelton said. “This is a war against what
I would call an ‘ism' — terrorism. Like
war on poverty or gender equality, well,
when is it over? These are wars that just
don't end.”
Adbulahi brought up the question of
what the U.S. can do to minimize hatred
and lessen gaps that are forming.
When lines are drawn, it becomes
dangerous, sophomore Jasmine Whaley,
who is a Christian, said.
Morgan asked attendees to explain
their personal responsibility in such
issues.
Whaley said people have to go the
extra mile to get more information.
“It’s not a hard concept to grasp, but
it’s hard to implement,” she said.
Whaley said how, as a student, she is
extremely busy and life continually gets
busier. She said she considers herself a
very politically conscious person. But
those who are not don’t always go that
extra mile.
Whaley said she wishes the media
would make these stories more
accessible to people, so they don’t have
to read five different articles to get the
full story, because not everyone will do
that.
Associate professor of
communications Brooke Barnett said
It is impossible not to cover these
kinds of Issues in the media. But then
It becomes a question of how to do so
ethically, she said.
“To bring up these conversations,”
senior Samantha White said. “Exposing
it, educating people, word of mouth.
You can’t just sit by because if you don’t
correct people, who will?”
Barnett said people have to take
what power they have and use teachable
moments to enact the change they can.
“Continue the conversation outside
here,” Pope said. “As long as we have
conversations, we can only move
forward.”
Morgan said she will continue to
offer these talks.
“This is what I can do,” she said.
“Get people who care to talk. 1 think it's
important. I'd do it five years from now
if 1 thought it would help.”
t