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It’s Thursday. You have options for tonight already lined up. There’s a party on frat row, there’s a cute person on your floor who wanted to grab dinner, your gym buddy who hasn’t seen you since the first week is getting pushy. Well, here’s one thing to add to your list: the Bel Air Film Festival.

If you want a taste of Polish culture that lasts longer than some kielbasa sausage, then the 11th & 1/2 Polish Film Festival might be a good place to start. Running from Oct. 14. to Oct. 21 at Laemmle’s Sunset 5 Theatre in West Hollywood, the festival will be screening short films, documentaries, dramas and animations from Polish directors.

One of the things that I love about having the food trucks come to campus is getting to see people eat food they wouldn’t normally try. Sometimes a restaurant will open down in Westwood, offering new and exciting cuisine, but it is often overpriced and unappealing because of the distance. By conveniently bringing the food to campus and lowering prices through smaller portions, the food trucks do a lot to persuade students to give their food a chance.

Claire Le Maitre, a Second-year biochemistry student, wears Mackey’s renovated sunglasses

For 18 years, I resisted wearing sunglasses. No matter how bright it was outside or how little I could see while driving, I just could never get myself to wear them. It wasn’t that I had anything against sunglasses per se, I simply could never find a pair that was flattering. And after countless trips to Nordstrom Rack and Forever 21, I began to grow self-conscious about even trying sunglasses on because I honestly felt like nothing would look good on me anyway. I watched in agony as my friends went through pair after pair of cute new glasses, ultimately accepting the fact that I, unlike them, lacked the correct facial structure to support, well, any sunglass style. So after 18 years, I had pretty much given up on ever finding a perfect pair of cool, comfortable sunglasses.

Illustration by Monica Davila

As an English student, it is hard to ignore the parallels between literary life and reality, which makes for some very interesting conclusions. After learning about George Etherege’s play “The Man of Mode,” the concept of fops and rakes cycled through my mind.

In addition to serving as a pretty catchphrase for English 10B learning materials, fops and rakes are indeed a part of everyday life, despite their 17th-century origins. A fop can be defined as a vain man who has almost a foolish attentiveness to his wardrobe and general appearance, whereas a rake is a generally attractive man with promiscuous habits.
Upon realizing that the titles of “fop” and “rake” could be synonymous with current-day terms such as metrosexual and douche bag, my epiphany was complete. Clearly I have been studying English to have moments like this where it all makes sense.

I’ve had a long relationship with “America’s Next Top Model,” since way back when Tyra Banks was still on cordial terms with the first season winner, Adrianne Curry. I’ve watched the show for so long that I know the pattern that goes along with being the winner of the show: They are never really top models but more like America’s Next Mediocre Model who does wig modeling on the side.