Issue date: 4/1/08 Section: Forum

I'm a huge sports nut, and my favorite teams are the Chicago Cubs, the Indiana Pacers, and the Miami Dolphins through thick and thin (and it has usually been thin, except for the Reggie Miller era). Being a Hoosier, I love basketball, and play it all the time. I'm probably better than you.

I'm a devout fan of hip-hop music, and my favorite artists are Outkast, Kanye West and Lupe Fiasco. I also like to travel, and the best place in the world (other than Indiana) is the Big Island of Hawaii. I tend to laugh a lot and enjoy the lighter side of life. I hope that my columns always challenge you to think, make you laugh (when appropriate) and encourage you to thank the great state of Indiana for giving you corn, basketball and me.

Wednesdays: Braxton Boren

Braxton Boren is a senior majoring in Music Technology. It's okay that you don't know what that means - neither does anyone else. It is this form of unknown minutia which he will attempt to bring to light, from the big questions (does Evanston have a Freudian envy of Chicago's skyscrapers?) to the small (just how slippery are the steps of Harris Hall when wet?).

Unlike virtually every other male columnist at The Daily, he will occasionally have serious things to talk about. Also, he has not yet jumped on the Obama bandwagon, so that pretty much kills the whole idea right there. Nevertheless, he will do everything he can to ensure that The Daily does its job of giving you, the NU student, plenty to gripe about over lunch.

Thursdays: Christina Alexander

Christina Alexander is basically a snarky wench. Wielding sarcasm like an AK-47, she's quipped and insulted her way to offending way too many people - except that she's normally picking on herself and her inability to do anything without it turning into a major incident.

And after four years of 50-hour work weeks, late nights at The Daily, way too many terms on Pi Phi exec and double-majoring, she's realized something: She's a snarky wench who's missed out on way too many iconic NU experiences. So she's going to fix that this quarter, one week at a time.

Fridays: Oscar Raymundo

"My last name is Raymundo. R-a-y-"

"I cannot find it. Let me look here…"

"Actually, it might be under Melendrez…" Nothing.

"Can you search under Melendrez Raymundo?"

The airline receptionist looks at me like I'm insane, or worse - a terrorist. Definitely a terrorist, or a spy, perhaps.

"Sir, do you know what your name is?"

Je m'appelle Oscar, and that day, after failing to retrieve my ticket for an outbound flight from Paris, I managed to escape from Charles de Gaulle.

I missed my original flight and apparently flying standby is unheard of in Europe. It was impossible to get 800 euros to purchase a new ticket back to Madrid and impossible to persuade the French to let this Mexican boy out of their country. All I had was my confirmation number that would get me past security and just enough guts to pull the biggest stunt of my life. Did I mention I'm a spy?

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