Candida DeFonseca

I put off writing my goodbye until the last possible minute, probably because I don't want to face graduation and don't like writing about myself. But, with my classes finished and the last Signal on the stands, I guess it's time to start saying goodbye. First, I have to say farewell to Eickhoff, which fed me for two years and housed me for two more.

What kind of person is famous both for narrating Thomas the Tank Engine and propagating the words you can't say on TV? George Carlin, of course. Thanks to Celebration of the Arts, Carlin performed two nearly sold out shows on Friday in Kendall Hall. After a 15-minute intermission and a recorded message of Carlin urging the audience to buy the merchandise on sale in the lobby, Carlin walked onstage to raucous applause.

Globalpalooza, a multicultural and multi-organization event sponsored by the College Union Board (CUB), filled Brower Student Center with food, games and performers from around the world on Saturday. The event, the first of its kind, featured 31 College organizations working in teams to represent 15 countries.

Who says communism is dead? Not Karl Marx, who came to the College in the form of actor Robert Weick in the one-man show "Marx in Soho," written by Howard Zinn. The performance, co-sponsored by All College Theatre (ACT) and the Progressive Student Alliance (PSA), was in the Black Box Theatre on Wednesday.

Sometimes it's easy to forget that Broadway shows are not all music, flashy sets and elaborate costumes. "Talk Radio" is one of those subtle, musical-number-free shows where the message sinks in after the final, silent scene plays out. Starring Liev Schreiber as a shock-jock in Cleveland, the play revolves around his final local broadcast before he goes national.

Again, an area college has been cursed with the tragic loss of a freshman. A year after John Fiocco Jr. went missing, Rider University, our neighbor in Lawrenceville, has to come to terms with the death of one of its own. When someone is trying to console you, he'll often say that they "know how you feel.

The College Union Board (CUB) and organizations from four other New Jersey schools co-sponsored the New Jersey Music Festival, the first event of its kind in the College's history, held on Friday at Richard Stockton College. The show featured hip-hop artists Common, Yung Joc and the BurnDown All-Stars and was attended by students from the College, Stockton, Georgian Court University, Rowan University and Monmouth University.

After sluggish ticket sales, the College Union Board (CUB) and the Student Finance Board have decided to make tickets to Friday's New Jersey Music Festival free for College students. The tickets, which were $15, will be limited to two per ID and are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

As a part of the Black Student Union's (BSU) celebration of Black History Month, the organization showcased reproductions of artwork from famous black artists in L'Artiste Noir. Sharna Scott, BSU Webmaster, said the event is "part of arts and entertainment week for BSU.

Prolific composer Samuel Adler spent some time at the College last week lecturing, teaching classes and sitting in on a performance by Duo Fresco, which played one of his pieces. The members of the chamber music-playing Duo Fresco, Brett Deubner on viola and Christopher Kenniff on guitar, played seven pieces, some modified for their instruments and some written expressly for the duo.

Guitarist and junior English major Kevin Kelly loves "Star Trek." Bassist Shane Callahan will be going to school to learn how to build guitars. Lead singer Dominic Lorusso is a graphic designer and "has some obnoxious sneakers." This is all according to drummer Lou Muzyczek, who has a motorcycle, but no one he knows thinks it's cool.

"You leave college the same way you went into preschool: stumbling around, clothes on backwards . and both times you're carrying a bottle," comedian Lee Camp said to the rows of students in Kendall Hall on Saturday night. Camp and two other comedians, Amy Anderson and Retta, were on campus for the College Union Board's (CUB) "Welcome Back Weekend" show.

Before you get too bogged down in classes, this is your chance to get winter break out of your system. Best of all, you can even get where you're going for free. Once again, New Jersey Transit is offering a free week of public transportation for students. Go to njtransit.

With Winter Break fast approaching, those of you who aren't working for the man might need something to do. While you could hang out at the local diner until 4 a.m., you could also grab a few friends and spend an evening having some cultured fun in New York City watching a Broadway play.