If we beat Virginia Tech, UCF would only have to beat 2 other teams to win the Collegiate Showdown.

Listen up UCF! Who wants to win a free concert?

LET’S WIN PINK NATION COLLEGIATE SHOWDOWN! What is this you ask?

The Pink Nation Collegiate Showdown is a bracket style voting competition during which 59 schools compete to have Victoria’s Secret PINK host their annual Back-To-School concert at your university!

- To Vote: In order to vote, you must be a member of Pink Nation. Simply log into your account (www.vspink.com/pinknation) and select the university that you would like to support, or CLICK HERE.

- Pink Nation members can vote once every 24 hours.

Past PINK Nation Back-To-School Concerts (aka what we will win):

- In 2009, PINK brought infamous DJ Girl Talk and headlining band Cobra Starship to Bloomington Indiana for the Pink Nation B-Town Bash. The City star, Whitney Port, and PINK Model Behati Prinsloo were also present to share the excitement with IU students!

- The WVU Blue and Gold and Blue Bash was hosted in Morgantown, WV in 2010. PINK brought hip-hop artist Drake and DJ Irie to Mo-Town for an unforgettable night of games, concerts, and fun. PINK model Chanel Iman was also there to keep the crown pumped up all night long.

Sounds pretty cool, huh? Well, start voting fellow knights! We’ll need to beat out rivals like UF and FSU as well as other huge universities around the country! With over 50,000 students I think we got this. Let’s show everyone how UCF does it!

Date to Vote: April 1st – April 20th

Elimination Time Periods:
o All 59 schools: 10 days 4/1 – 4/11
o Top 16: 4 days 4/11 – 4/15
o Top 8: 3 days 4/15 – 4/18
o Top 4: 2 days 4/18 – 4/20
o Top 2: 1 day 4/20 – 4/21

We’re currently #11 in the rankings, c’mon people! Vote now!

Pregnant and still beautiful as ever, Alicia began her presentation by stating that she has lately been rewired as “blood to belly instead of blood to brain” and asked the crowd to please not think of her as a “ditz”. Author of the book, The Kind Diet, the presentation was centered around details that she finds particularly important from it, as well as personal stories.

Alicia Silverstone signing autographs (Kurt Rivers/KnightNews.com)

From age 8 to 21, Alicia herself struggled with committing to this difficult lifestyle. She says she was an on again, off again vegetarian and vegan; sometimes in a moment of weakness asking a friend “Can I have a bite of that?” She understands how truly demanding veganism can be and that college students may have particular trouble sticking to this diet. Finally at age 21, Alicia ate her very last steak. She hasn’t looked back and has never regretted her decision since.

After only two weeks, Silverstone noticed some results. Her skin began to clear up, her nails and hair got stronger, and she constantly had more energy. She joked that even if you don’t care about saving millions of animals (which she hopes that you do), you can’t ignore the health benefits! Alicia stated that she doesn’t get sick anymore. With this diet keeping her body in perfect balance, there is no need for medication of any kind. When she got pregnant, she decided to go get blood work done “just for fun” and to no surprise, came back with perfect results.

For those in the audience who had no intention of switching their diet, Alicia provided some simple tips on how to help the environment. She said that every little choice we make matters, so never feel like that one bottle you recycle isn’t helping; it totally is!

3 baby steps towards saving the planet:

- Get an eco-friendly water bottle. Alicia showed us hers that she takes everywhere and refills.
- Unplug appliances! Charging your cell phone overnight wastes tons of energy when in reality your phone only takes an average of an hour to recharge.
- Bring your own mug to Starbucks. While Alicia states that on the vegan diet you have no need for caffeine anymore (the diet provides you with a surplus of energy) if you bring your own mug to the Starbucks on campus, they’ll give you a discount on your coffee!

If you are considering going the vegan route, Silverstone’s book provides helpful tips to staying on track, a shopping list, and tons of yummy vegan recipes. I purchased my own copy of the book for Alicia to sign after the presentation. It was exciting to meet one of my childhood idols, as well as someone who is so actively dedicated to saving the Earth.

If you want to learn even more about becoming a vegan or a super-helpful human being: check out http://www.thekindlife.com/

Get a clue for yourself on February 3rd by attending the presentation “An Afternoon with Alicia Silverstone on the Environment”.

Her credentials? A vegan since 1998, Silverstone was voted, “Sexiest Female Vegetarian,” by PETA in 2004. In 2009 she released the book The Kind Diet and she currently updates her website http://www.thekindlife.com/ daily. Both the book and website focus on ways to switch to a vegan diet and protect the environment.

Interested in learning more about saving our planet? Already an animal rights/environmental activist like Alicia? Then you won’t wanna miss this event.

When: Thursday, February 3rd
Where: Student Union – Pegasus Ballroom
What Time: 3:00 pm
Cost: Free

Knights went wile when LMFAO came on. Known for their outlandish attire, the music group came out in zebra pants and bright neon accessories. Also known for being heavy drinkers, it was clear that LMFAO was here to party. They continuously took shots on stage (quite appropriately during their hit song “Shots”) and even showered the crowd with drinks.

Students had been waiting patiently all night to finally hear Ludacris and began chanting “LUDA” to get him on stage. Ludacris performed a wide array of songs, ranging from his older hits (“Fantasy”, “Move Bitch”, etc.) that he claimed the ‘true fans’ out there would recognize; to some of his more current hits like “My Chick Bad” and “How Low”.

All 3 performers gave the Arena an unforgettable show with lots of energy. Students definitely left the concert impressed; and countless, positive facebook statuses can account for that.

FOR A SLIDE SHOW OF PICTURES FROM THE EVENT, CLICK THE NEXT PAGE.

Look below for a full schedule of this week’s highly anticipated events!

Saturday, October 16th
- On-Campus Service Day is the official start to the week, so come out and support The Children’s Miracle Network at Memory Mall!
Time: 10:00 am
Place: Memory Mall

Service Day from Knight News on Vimeo.

- Concert Knight (Click here for video) will feature Corey Smith, LMFAO, and Ludacris! Get your ticket from one of the on-campus ticket centers. This is a concert you won’t want to miss.
Time: 8:00 pm (Doors open at 7)
Place: UCF Arena

Monday, October 18th
- Movie Knight in the arena! This year the movie being played is ‘Get Him to the Greek’, one of this summer’s most popular movies. Get ready to “stroke the furry walls”.
Time: 8:00 pm (Doors open at 7)
Place: UCF Arena

Tuesday, October 19th
- Comedy Knight will feature comedians: Kyle Grooms and Ralphie May!
Time: 8:00 pm (Doors open at 7)
Place: UCF Arena

Wednesday, October 20th
- Skit Knight! Let the competition begin. Watch your favorite UCF organizations battle it out by performing hilarious skits for the crowd.
Time: 7:00 pm (Doors open at 6)
Place: UCF Arena

Thursday, October 21st
- Penny Wars will be held in the Student Union courtyard, so make sure to get your change ready!
Time: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Place: Student Union Courtyard

Friday, October 22nd
- SPIRIT SPLASH! We hope that you weren’t misinformed; Spirit Splash is most certainly NOT cancelled! So get in your bathing suit and take a dip in the reflection pond with Knightro, because you can only do this once a year!
Time: 12:00 pm
Place: The Reflection Pond

Saturday, October 23rd
- The Homecoming Parade will begin at Greek Park and end at the stadium. Come out in black and gold and support.
Time: 10:00 am
Place: Greek Park Drive

- The Homecoming Game against Rice! C’mon Knights, we wanna see body paint, fans in full armor, posters, everything! It’s game time.
Time: 3:30 pm
Place: Bright House Networks Stadium

Sunday, October 24th
- The Awards Banquet will have members of each student organization present to receive awards for the events of the week. Let’s see who brings home the trophies this year!
Time and Place: TBA

Have fun, be safe, and LET’S GO KNIGHTS!

Yes, we’re talking about the growing anticipation inside of every UCF Gym lover…for the new expansion!

If you’ve ever wondered what’s going on behind all of that construction, then you’ll be glad to know that today KnightNews got a sneak peek video tour! SGA President, Mike Kilbride, and some of the developers took us behind the scenes and told us what amazing new features you can expect with the expansion.

We all know that sometimes the more popular group exercise classes fill up fast, so along with the expansion comes more rooms for you to perfect those washboard abs or 20-20-20 till you drop.

Swimmers seem to be the most excited about the gym expansion; it’s because of that new, big, beautiful pool isn’t it? Courses in CPR certification will be offered and a second floor viewing deck/lounge will allow students to hang out and enjoy a pool view.

IM sport games are often the biggest little games you’ll see outside of the stadium or the arena. Now there will be even more opportunities for that healthy competitiveness. The MAC (Multi-purpose Activity Court) will house more IM games with a set of stadium seats overlooking the courts from the second floor. Another area for fans will have high-top stools set in front of large glass viewing windows. So get ready for a bigger audience to cheer you on as you play.

The new gym wants to keep you hydrated! Next to the water fountains you’ll find water-bottle refill stations so you can save yourself a trip to the vending machine and a couple of bucks.

Finally we got to see the big cardio room. UCF students were able to test different equipment brands in the current gym and submit their pick for the expansion’s treadmills and ellipticals. Wanna know the coolest part about the new cardio section? While you pedal, step or run, you’ll be generating electricity that will help power the gym!

Hope this sneak peek got all you knights as excited as we are. See you in your sweat bands on opening day Spring 2011!

The doors opened at 6pm and thousands of knights flooded the stadium floor. The two opening acts, some good friends of B.o.B: Playboy Trey and Yelawolf, got the crowd pumped for the show to come. Both opening artists took some lucky students up on stage with them to dance and sing along.

Though both acts were very entertaining, the crowd was getting antsy for some Bobby Ray. When the lights went down, the chants of “B.o.B.” turned into a cacophony of excited and anxious screams.

B.o.B. played many songs, well-known and not, from his chart-topping album “The Adventures of Bobby Ray”. It was obvious that he wanted to save the best for last as he played “Magic” and “Nothin’ on you” at the end of his set. B.o.B. left the stage and came back for an encore of his most popular tune, “Airplanes”. The crowd would’ve been very disappointed without that one! He left the arena with one last song, a cover of MGMT’s “Kids”.

During the show B.o.B. signed the shoes right off his feet and threw them to some lucky fans along with a couple other pairs that he hadn’t been wearing. He was definitely a crowd-pleaser; stage diving and touching hands with concert-goers on more than a couple occasions. It was an amazing concert to kick off the school year, and I’m sure I speak for all of our knights as I wish B.o.B. luck in the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12th!

Finally, the crowd could take it no longer, and begging screams were heard for Drake to perform. He emerged onstage singing “Forever” and the crowd instantly went wild. Afterwards, he went on with the show singing some of his most popular songs. Just to name a few: “Throw it in the Bag (remix)”, “Uptown”, “Successful”, “I’m Still Fly”, and “Fear” were some of the songs he performed. Drake even brought out Birdman as a surprise guest during two of his songs!

Drake engaged the crowd throughout his entire performance. While speaking of his good friend, Lil’ Wayne, Drake encouraged the audience to sing “I’m Goin’ in” with him; claiming that Orlando was one of the largest crowds on tour and Wayne would be listening to HOT97 from his jail cell to hear us sing the song. And, speaking of “engaging the crowd”, Drake decided to invite one female student up on stage with him to dance. Needless to say, there were thousands of other very unhappy and jealous girls because of this.

Drizzy Drake closed the show quite appropriately with his song “Over”, though no one in the arena wanted to see him leave the stage. It was an unforgettable concert for all UCF students in attendance. Free Wayne!

April 20th, or “420,” has become a sort of Christmas for marijuana smokers. Will Norml be throwing a party near the Union? Will campus police be patrolling UCF more than usual?

Send us your tips if you hear anything and we’ll keep you updated on today’s “festivities.”

Or should we say with a stomp?

Greek Extrav was the first of many events to take place during the week of March 20th to March 28th. Greek Extrav is an event that showcases the talents of National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) with strolls, step routines and dances.

The Unity Stroll was up next; a dance performed by one member from each fraternity and sorority. Possibly everyone’s favorite performance was by Shingle Creek Elementary School. These little kids rocked the stage!

Afterwards, the “Divine 9” took the stage to individually strut their stuff. Finally, the host for the night: Clever, was introduced and the show began. Each organization performed a skit to wow the crowd. The first night of Greek Week certainly got everyone excited for the events to come!