Although most ethnic restaurants in Auburn have become highly Americanized, some places can still boast about cooking up their culture's authentic tastes.
Jack Mok, sophomore in architecture, is originally from Hong Kong.
"People say Hong Kong has the best food in China because it has a mixed culture," Mok said.
His family, who still resides there, will sometimes ship him certain snacks found only in Hong Kong, but when he's looking for his culture's food in Auburn, he has a few restaurants in mind that he believes are the most authentic.
"Since food from Hong Kong is basically Chinese food, I'll go to a few Chinese restaurants around Auburn," Mok said.
Mok said China Palace on College Street is his favorite restaurant.
"China Palace is the only restaurant with food from Hong Kong," he said. "It's the best around here taste-wise."
The food is priced similarly to other Chinese restaurants and ranges from $7 to $10.
Mok said most Chinese foods at grocery stores are Americanized, and most of his American friends don't taste a noticeable difference in the varieties of Chinese cuisine.
"To me, I can taste the difference, so it's easier for me to tell what's really good and what's not," Mok said.
Mok and his friends from Korea recently found an authentic Korean restaurant in Opelika.
"The way we found it was just by googling Korean places in Auburn," he said. "And even Koreans have said it's like homestyle cooking. My Korean friends say you can't find food that good except in Korea."
Pete Leone, junior in supply chain, is of Italian descent with many relatives still living in Naples. Leone enjoys making his Italian food from scratch.
"I eat a lot of pasta, like, five days a week," he said.
Leone buys most of his ingredients at grocery stores like Kroger and Winn Dixie.
"I always get Barilla pasta and Filippo Bario olive oil, and that's really all the authentic Italian stuff I get because a lot of what I cook is pretty simple," Leone said.
His Italian meals are mostly home cooked because his family has only found one restaurant in Auburn that actually serves real Italian cuisine.
Omar Sayyad is a senior in communication whose parents are both originally from Palestine. Sayyad said he finds the most authentic Palestinian foods at Earth Fare on Opelika Road.
"You can find real pita bread, hummus and grape leaves there," Sayyad said. "So Earth Fare definitely has the best choices."
Sayyad said overall it's difficult to find ethnic foods in Auburn because of its small size.
"Also, the majority of Auburn is definitely white, which is probably why we don't have a great variety of ethnic restaurants," Sayyad said.
Mok agreed that the city of Auburn could use more diversity within the culinary world.
"When you look at other campuses, there's a lot of variety of foods, but here in Auburn there really isn't that much," Mok said.
Sayyad said he would love to see more of a variety in restaurants.
"It's good for the economy and it's just fun to try different types of foods," he said.
Kelly Nicastro
Glee-Clubbers Sing to a Controversial Tune
Glee's catchy tunes and lively cast make fans "gleek out" over each episode, but it may be the controversial spin the show brings each week that has them coming back for more.
"I think that Glee's controversial topics are a good thing," said Betsy Greer, junior in radio, television and film. "It's a mainstream show and by putting really controversial topics out there, it makes people more aware of them.
Susan Brinson, alumni professor and editor of Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, believes the program addresses controversial topics because they attract viewers.
"The more viewers the program draws, the more FOX can charge for advertising during the program," Brinson said. "Advertisers are willing to pay more because FOX delivers the target consumers for their products."
Shocking episodes filled with drama may lure in an audience, but the question is where the program draws the line between juicy and inappropriate. In a recent episode, Gwyneth Paltrow made a guest appearance as a sex education teacher and sang a 1973 hit "Do You Want to Touch Me" by Gary Glitter, a convicted sex offender. After the episode aired, Glitter's song made it on iTunes' top 30 songs, giving him royalties for the song's success.
"The inclusion of the song in the scene sounds like the slightly edgy use of poppy musical numbers that Glee specializes in: a glam-rock song about sexual exploration sung to group of high school students," said Deron Overpeck, RTVF assistant professor. "So it makes sense that the producers would choose it."
Overpeck also said songs such as "Great Balls of Fire" by Jerry Lee Lewis, who married his 13-year-old cousin, shows how works of art produced by people whose personal lives were offensive are regularly used.
"What makes this different is that Glitter still stands to benefit from the use of his songs, when the awareness of his convictions for sexual assaults on minors is still fresh," Overpeck said. "So while the song certainly makes sense for the scene and series in general, the fact that it was written by someone convicted of molesting girls in this age range undercuts a lot, if not all, of the pleasure of the scene."
Glitter's song is just an example of the many questionable topics in the show. The spotlight has continued to be on the homosexual relationships; however, there is question about if the topic is even considered controversial anymore.
Greer said when the two males Kurt and Blaine kissed, most of her friends said they weren't shocked at all and they were expecting it to happen.
"I think homosexuality is much more acceptable in this generation, and television programs are just now catching up with that," Greer said.
Brinson said some people in the television industry argue that some programs are actually 10 to 15 years behind the times.
"Perhaps the program depicted a kiss between two gay men because the writers and producers believed that it was already accepted in society," Brinson said.
So are the producers of Glee are really reeling in their audience with controversial gossip or just providing sheer entertainment for their viewers?
"They've established a loyal audience; I don't think they needed controversy to generate a ratings spike and buzz that such issues or scenes often provide," said George Plasketes, RTVF program director. "But that, too, may be part of the point. We are established and successful--let's see how far we can push and maybe explore some new directions."
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