in 0~ll 0 MiMX±1320 on screen this month elebrity ensemble casts seem to be the theme this month. Here are some that might be worth a $5 tub of popcorn: Naked in New York (Fine Line) Eric Stoltz stars as Jake Briggs in a romantic comedy about a recent college grad trying to have a career and a seri- ous relationship. After graduation, Jake finds himself in the enviable position of having his first play produced off- Broadway. His aspiring career, however, is causing his love life to suffer, as Jake's romantic interest Joanne (Mary-Louise Parker) gets left behind in his search for success. The film is based on the life of director Dan Algrant, who was also co- writer of the movie. The cast includes Ralph Macchio of Karate Kid fame, Kathleen Turner and Tony Curtis. Quaid headline in a flick about a common day in the life of newspaper edi- tor Henry- Hackett (Keaton). Of course, a common day includes dueling with his managing editor (Close), dealing with his pregnant wife (Tomei) and contending with a rival newspaper that wants to hire him. Oh, and did we mention he can free two innocent young men charged with mur- der if he can expose a major scandal for the morning edition? The Paper promises to be an intriguing, if a bit overly glam- orous, look at newspapers with cameos by real-life journalists. Serial Mom (Savoy) This month typical perfect suburban family. What the kiddies don't know, however, is Mom (Turner) takes time out from buying the groceries to become a serial killer. (Don't mind the bloody knife in your cereal bowl, junior.) Talk show host Ricki Lake shares the screen as Turner's boy-crazy daughter in this off- beat comedy. Just hope the kid doesn't bring home any potential boyfriends Mommy doesn't like. House of the Spirits (Miramax) Every month needs at least, one serious re- - lease. House off the Spirits is April's let's- get-reflective flick. Based on the best- selling novel written by Isabel Allende, House of the Spirits follows the life of the Trueba family from the sleepy 1920s to the 1970s. The transition from flappers to bell-bottoms is re-enacted by an all- star cast including Meryl Streep, Jeremy Irons, Glenn Close, Winona Ryder, Antonio Banderas and Vanessa Redgrave. Bring the tissue box for this one. Jimmy Hollywood (Paramount) Joe Pesci's back as an out of work actor - who - no joke, - starts a vigi- lante group to combat Hollywood's rising crime. He does Brando, he does Cagney, he takes hoods hostage in his girlfriend's bath- room. Jimmy Hollywood also stars Christian Slater as his hapless sidekick. Slater plays William, a character the actor describes as "out there." Does Slater take any other type of role? Word on the street is that Slater steals the show. Major League II (Warner Bros.) As with all successful movies, a sequel is born and the cast reunited for another (they hope) financial jackpot. Rick Vaughn (Charlie Sheen) has exchanged his funked-out 'do for Armani suits while cleanup hitter Pedro Cerrano (Dennis Haysbert) has traded his voodoo religion for Buddhism. Other than the superficial changes, look for a similar story line and goofy hijinks that made the first Major League somewhat of a cult hit on college campuses. Four Weddings and a Funeral (Gramercy) In what may be the sleeper of the month, this romantic comedy centers around a thirtysomething British bache- lor, Charles (Hugh Grant), who finds himself surrounded by women yet unable to commit to any of them. Will Charles finally settle down when he meets American beauty Carrie (Andie MacDowell)? He has to make it through four weddings and a funeral, hence the title, before he actually decides. Directed by Mike Newell (Enchanted April), Four Weddings follows a recent succession of British films gar- nering critical acclaim. Here are some other movies you might want to - check out this month: Cops L and Robbersons, Chevy Chase's chance to revive his career; Surviving the Game, starring Ice-T; Holy Matrimony, starring Patricia Arquette and directed by Leonard Nimoy; Clifford, with Charles Grodin and Martin Short; The Favor, with Harley Jane Kozak (Parenthood), Elizabeth McGovern and Brad Pitt; and Color of Night, with Bruce Willis. Danita Arbuckle, Ball State Daily News, Ball State U. Low Impact Adventures Go ahead and parywith Mother Nature, but don't trash her house at's out is in. From rock climbing to scuba div- ing, everybody is rushing to join the latest extreme sport - but it might be more than the great out- doors can handle. According to environmentalists, if uninformed enthusi- asts aren't careful, they can do serious damage to land and water. For example, as rock climbing gains popularity, it also disturbs cliff-dwelling birds and animals, destroys ancient rock art, uproots plants and litters ledges with trash and human waste. As a result, some national parks have already placed restrictions on climbers. Joshua Tree National Monument in Southern California, for one, has banned the use of steel bolts to anchor ropes. Other parks are con- sidering rules such as keeping people off unexplored faces. Because knobby-wheeled bikes stir up soil, mountain biking can contribute to erosion and disturb wildlife. According to Mark Featherstone, a senior and president of the mountain biking club at the U. of Utah, many trails are already trashed. "We try and stick to well-worn trails to keep erosion pretty minimal," he says. "It really comes down to paying attention to wilderness areas and not biking where you know you're not supposed to." Campers and hikers can also scar the environment by trampling vegetation, scorching the earth with their camp- fires and leaving behind human waste. Even small decisions like wearing sunscreen can upset the environment. Chris Cantonis, a senior and president of the scuba club at the U. of Florida, says he has to explain the delicate bal- ance of coral reefs to novice divers. "I have to tell them, 'Please don't wear sunscreen, please don't step on the reefs or pick anything up,"' he says. "Even touching bottom stirs up sand that lands on the coral and kills it." Other water sports like boating and skiing also affect wildlife, messt notably nianatees, aquatic animals that live in warm coastal areas such as Florida. Michael Kenney, a regional director for the National Wildlife Federation who coordinates student out- g reach programs, says he's never seen a man- atee that wasn't scarred by a boat's pro- peller. Manatees also entangle themselves in fishing line. "There have been some improvements , lately with propeller guards and no-wakeY zones," Kenney says. "And for the most part sports enthusiasts have a greater appre- ciation for the environment. There are very few people who just don't get it." Climbing can distu Kathleen Tur- The Paper (Universal) ner stars as the The cast alone is enough to make big heavy in yet news in this movie directed by Ron another dark ' Howard. Michael Keaton, Glenn Close, comedy. Dir- Robert Duvall, Marisa Tomei and Randy ector John Waters' script portrays the Some parks are putting restrictions on mountain climbers. David Garcia, an environmental science major at Texas A&M U., says, "We tell our [outdoors club] members to 'take only pictures, leave only footprints."' According to the U.S. Forest Service, wilderness visita- tion peaked at 15 million in 1984, and after a time of decline, recent numbers seem to be increasing. "You want people to experience wilderness to educate and gain appreciation, but at the same time use is detri- mental," says Chris Ibsen, William and Mary junior and former Student Environmental Action Coalition president. In an effort to get the word out to sports enthusiasts, nonprofit groups like the Izaak Walton League of America and Leave No Trace promote environmentally safe out- door recreation through pamphlets and in-the-field train- ing. Leave No Trace offers 10 principles for sports enthu- siasts: Leave No Trace's Top 10 Suggestions - Plan ahead and prepare before you go " Concentrate impact in high-use areas " Spread use and impact in pristine areas - Avoid places where impact is just beginning - Minimize horse impact " Use campfires responsibly - Pack it in, pack it out " Properly dispose of what you cannot pack out - Be considerate of others - Leave what you find "People are hungry for this information," says Leave No Trace outreach coordinator Rich Brame. "Recreation and preservation are not necessarily at odds with each other. Education is the answer." And Brame warns that destruction has its price. "Where education fails, regulation enters," he says. "The country is filled with 3: parks that have been closed due to overuse. Sometimes it's just to allow recovery time, sometimes complete revegetation must be o done. It doesn't matter if you set aside all urb local wildlie, the land you want if you love it to death." 1 viewpoint He said the end was at hand. He pre- dicted that, in time, the gap between hun- gry mouths and the limits of agriculture would result in mass starvation. The year was 1798, the man was Thomas Malthus, and today there is more food than ever before. Malthus was the first in a long line of environ- mentalist doomsayers with a cloudy crystal ball. More recently, in 1968, Paul Ehrlich pre- dicted that we would run out of clean water by the 1970s. Unembarrassed by this and other failed prophesies, Ehrlich continues to proclaim the apocalypse, which is still imminent unless we mend our ecological ways. No doubt most environmentalists are sincere in their convictions. But they don't seem to make good prophets. That is because environ- mentalists make the mistake of denying the hierarchy of life. Environmentalists routinely place the interests of people below those of lower creatures. Witness the recent battle over the spotted owl, when the Environmental Protection Agency placed millions of acres off limits to logging, putting the owls' livelihood ahead of people's. Out on the fringe, some environmental groups wreck construction sites and put spikes in trees that injure loggers in the service of "protecting the earth." The simple truth is that some creatures are higher than others. Plants are superior to inani- mate matter, animals are superior to plants, and humans are superior to animals. Rebellion against this concept is a denial of reality. We see the unique character of humanity all around us, but we don't often take stock of it. Unlike animals, humans do many things that aren't related to eating or reproducing. Religion and art, the summits of the human experience, are totally unnecessary to physical survival or producing offspring. We need to step back and see ourselves in contrast to the universe. Why do we do what we do? Who are we, anyway? Merely discussing this point proves that humans are radically different than animals. For a human to ask, "What is man?" is not unusual, but squirrels do not, as far as we know, ask, "What is squirrel?" Lower creatures do not ask why; they simply are. With our intellect comes a certain amount of control over our surroundings. Humanity has the freedom to choose what it wishes to do with the earth, and we must therefore choose what is right. How do we know what the "right" path is? We can start by eliminating any philosophy which rejects the hierarchy of life. Such a creed cannot give us any useful answers, and cannot guide us toward a better understanding of our precious world. Eric M. Johnson, The Breeze, James Madison U. U. Magane * S * By Jenny MacNairTFIL1,College W APRIL 1IN4 APIbL 1 M4 16 " U. Magazine