SINCE UNI'S POPULATION is so small, just a tiny bit over 300 students, newcomers are always received with great excitement. With not one, not two, but three male transfers, the talk and curiosity had been especially high this summer. However, due to the general hustle and bustle of the beginning of the year, it's sometimes difficult to find the time to get to know the new faces. Not to fear, Andrea Park and Sarah Pfander have already done the job for you, interviewing Uni's new transfers during the first week of school.

BENJAMIN DANIELS

Though his boy-next-door style may lead you to think he's a fairly straightforward fellow, Ben Daniels' dry humor makes him anything but ordinary. Despite the fact that Ben admits to not being a fan of interviews, preferring to stay out of the limelight, he was a good sport for Sarah and Andrea.

What's your name?
Ben Daniels.

Do you go by a nickname?
Ben.

Hold old are you?
Fifteen.

Grade?
Junior.

What school do you come from?
Centennial.

Why did you choose to transfer to Uni this year?
Because it looked so awesome I guess. There's no real reason.

How does Uni differ from Centennial?
People don't get their stuff stolen. There's a lot less bomb threats and stuff.

Well it's only the first week ... just kidding! What do you look forward to this year at Uni?
I don't know.

What surprised you about our school?
The classes aren't as hard as they seem.

Did you have any worries or fears coming into this year?
No, not really.

What are your hobbies?
I like to listen to music and art.

So you're an artist? What's your favorite sort of art to do?
Sketching.

What kind of music do you like to listen to?
Good music. Anything that's good to listen to.

Do you have a favorite band?
It's not really a band, but my friend makes his own music, and I like it. His name is Cody Shlater.

What do you dislike to do?
Interviews.

No!
Haha ... nothing really.

What's your favorite class so far?
Probably Art.

Describe yourself in five words.
Interesting, very cool, powerful, mellow, and hilarious.

What color is your aura and why?
I'm going to say it's a purplish black because it's incognito.

What's your horoscope sign?
Sagittarius.

If you were an animal, which animal would you be?
A panda bear, because no one bothers you.

If you were a Power Ranger, which Power Ranger would you be?
Blue Ranger. He [transformed into] a triceratops.

If you were a Pokémon, which Pokémon would you be?
Pikachu, because then I would never get any older.

BEN'S FAVES
• Movie: "Jurassic Park"
• Food: Pizza
• Actor/Actress: Samuel L. Jackson
• Favorite Ice Cream: "The Birthday Cake Remix over at Coldstone, but you replace the cake batter with cotton candy."
• Candy: Cotton
• Sport: Soccer
• Pokémon: Hitmonlee
• Color: Black
• Country: "Uzbekistan – because it has a cool name."

CLEMENT DOSSIN

Clement Dossin sat down shyly in the Mac lab, his stylishly tousled hair and casual attire illustrating his chill demeanor. He comes from Toulouse, France, and is one of Uni’s rare international students. It is this X-factor that gives Clement his cool, European mystique and makes him popular with the ladies. Sarah and Andrea got to sit down and learn more about this homme mystere.

What’s your name?
Clement Dossin.

Do you have a nickname?
In France people call me Clem.

How old are you?
Sixteen.

What school did you go to in France?
Lycee polyvalent du Mirail.

Why did you move to the United States?
My father is a professor at the veterinary college.

From the schools in the area, why did you choose to come to Uni?
Because people told me that it was a very good school.

How is Uni different from your old school?
People are more free than [at my old school] in France. You have the choice [to take] your classes; in France you don’t.

What class do you like the best so far?
I like U.S. History.

Good class. Which class do you like the least?
I don’t know.

What are your hobbies and what do you like to do?
I love music and sports.

What’s your favorite band?
Pink Floyd.

And your favorite sport is soccer?
Yes. In France it’s a very important sport.

Who’s your favorite soccer player?
Zidane.

How does Toulouse differ from Champaign-Urbana?
Here it’s a lot flatter; in Toulouse there a lot of hills. It’s also a much bigger city. It’s more dynamic than here.

CLEMENT'S FAVES
• Movie: "Pulp Fiction"
• Food: Raclette (toasted bread with ham and melted cheese)
• Actor/Actress: Uma Thurman
• Ice Cream Flavor: Vanilla
• Candy: French chocolate
• Dark or Light: Dark

MIGUEL ZAMORA-MILLS

Miguel Zamora-Mills, or Teddy as he is often called, met us in the Mac lab, dressed casually in a red shirt and cargo shorts. Smiling about the odd interview location, he settled himself in a chair, prepared to answer any questions that we threw at him. His confident but soft-spoken manner quickly created a comfortable atmosphere. Because he was born in Guatemala, his Latin flavor is hard to miss.

What’s your name?
Miguel Eduardo Zamora.

Do you go by a nickname?
I guess most people call me Teddy.

Where does Teddy come from?
Everyone asks me that. I guess I don’t really know. I’ve just been called that ever since I was born. I’m not quite sure why. But now everyone calls me Miguel because that’s what’s written on the school records, so the teachers call me that.

How old are you?
I’m 16 years old.

And you’re a junior?
Yes.

What school did you go to last year?
For the last two years I went to Central.

Why did you choose to transfer to Uni?
Really because I heard what a good class [history teacher] Bill Sutton gave. But that was the initial reason. Also because at Central the classes weren’t very interesting to me. They were interesting to a lot of friends, but I didn’t find them that interesting, so I decided to come to Uni because I already knew lots of people here that had said the classes are very good here.

Have you found them to be more interesting?
I think so. I mean it’s only the first week of school, so things are still picking up. But, yeah. It seems like I have good classes and good teachers.

Aside from Bill Sutton’s class, what do you look forward to this year at Uni?
Really, just the freedom that Uni students have to do what they want. [. . .] Uni students have lots of opportunities to be on lots of different clubs and do lots of different projects that most high school students don’t get to do.

So far how has Uni been different from Central?
It’s a lot smaller. Also, Sally Walker is a much more rigorous PE teacher than we have at Central. Besides that, not too much. You guys have Green Street to walk over to for lunch, since there’s so much stuff over there. Uni has no parking, so most students don’t drive. It’s a different feeling.

What has surprised you about our school?
Sorry, but nothing. Since I already knew people here and I knew some teachers, I already had a good feel for what Uni was like. All the good things about Uni were true, and all the little quirks also were true.

Are you worried about anything for the coming year?
Truthfully, not really. I guess when I started I thought that maybe there would be a lot of homework, since everyone says you get 12 hours of homework a night . . . maybe just because it’s the first week it doesn’t seem like that, but it doesn’t seem like that much.

Yeah, the homework isn’t that bad. People lie. What are your hobbies and what do you like to do?
I guess I like music a lot. I play the saxophone, the violin, guitar, bass, and a little bit of piano. I like to play music, I like to listen to music. I joined choir here, which is interesting because I’ve never sung in a choir before. I guess music is my hobby. But what I’m really interesting in is politics and history. Both of my parents were involved in lots of political things in Latin America, so I grew up learning about things like that.

What is your cultural background?
Well, my dad’s from Guatemala. And my mom is from Cincinnati, so I don’t have much “background” there, but through her I am part Jewish.

Is there anything you really don’t like to do?
Running would not be one of the top things I love. I have horrible endurance.

How about a least favorite subject?
I guess math because I find it boring. But I’m pretty good at math, so it doesn’t bother me much.

Do you plan to do anything with your passion for activism?
I went to activism club on Monday, so I met Shara [senior Shara Esbenshade]. She’s cool – very, very involved. Right now I’m trying to decide what Uni kids would be interested in. My interests lie mostly in things in Latin America, so that’s something that’s very accessible to most students. I travel to Guatemala twice a year so I do stuff down there. I also have access through my parents to lots of books and media that most people in the U.S. don’t have access to. I’d love to do some trips to Latin America, but that’s much more complicated than just a service project. So right now, I guess I’m focused on what can be done in Champaign-Urbana.

Now we have some silly questions. So bear with us. Describe yourself in five words.
Political, musical, laid back, cold-phobic, and . . . I’ll leave that last word blank so for later I can decide whatever I want it to be.

What color is your aura?
Red, because red is the color of a revolutionary.

What’s your horoscope sign?
I’m not quite sure. Maybe Pisces. I was born the 25th of February.

If you were an animal, which one would you be and why?
I would be a dog because they’re fun. Who doesn’t like a dog?

Which Power Ranger are you?
I never watched "Power Rangers" when I was growing up, so I’ll go with red because I like red.

Which Pokémon are you?
I’d be Charmander.

MIGUEL'S FAVES
• Movie: "The Lord of the Rings"
• Song: "Playa Giron" by Silvio Rodriguez
• Food: Filet mignon
• Actor/Actress: Charlie Sheen
• Ice Cream Flavor: Custard Cup’s orange
• Candy: Snickers
• Sport: Soccer
• Pokémon: Pikachu
• Color: Red
• Country: "Not the U.S. Not Guatemala either because they’re government isn’t very good. I would go with Cuba because they have a very cool social system."
• Soccer Player: David Beckham
• Soccer Team: "I guess I like the English teams – Manchester and Chelsea."

[CORRECTION (9/11/07 9:13pm) – Typo corrected.]