Take Back the Fudge-Men

"Take Back the Fudge-Men" of Ferris in Focus is the ninth episode of FiF's spring 2010 semester. It was scheduled for completion at 9:00 AM EST on April 12th and broadcast on April 17th of 2010.

Big Rapids Life

 * Producer: Dominique Gibbs
 * Editor: Lamarr English

For this segment, the class ventured deep into the recesses of campus subculture, to deliver D-SAGA's pride and joy&mdash;the Mock Beauty Pageant. More drag than one imagined possible outside of a cosplay convention, contestants dressed up as just about everything under the sun - and then some. It was Halloween in April&mdash;only, according to some&mdash;better. Contestants dressed in whatever they could, did impressions, and were judged by a team on how convincing they were in costume. Overall, the event generated a lot of buzz and provided a local food donation with plenty of extra cash.

Health Matters

 * Producer: Sara Potter (as Sara Tuttle)
 * Editor: Megan Barker

This week's topic dealt with the issue of "wellness" within students, which deals with more than just physical fitness and health per-se. "Wellness" refers to overall well-being, meaning well-being of the mind as well. Denise Mitten and others at the Recreation Center shared their tips for having both a healthy body and a healthy mind.

E-News

 * Producer: David Stiefel
 * Editor: Nate Totten

Mark began the segment by reminding gamers of the then-upcoming release of Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. He then segued into Ali Larter claiming she was optimistic that Heroes would return to NBC, while NBC remained silent on the issue. In film, Kick-Ass was released as of April 16th. Pixar remained ambitious about the release of Toy Story 3. Breaking Dawn was rumored to be split into two films, and Snakerati.com reported that Bill Condon would be the new director for both. Meanwhile, Malcolm MacLaren and Monica Beresford-Redman were both found dead.

Program Spotlight

 * Producer: Nick Blohm
 * Editor: Ben Wyman

Survey Engineering is a field with lots of practical application, from construction and civil engineering to National Security! The heads of Survey Engineering shared why this field of study wasn't going out of style any time soon. According to Devin Roe, a student in SET, the multiple applications of his field is exactly what makes it fun for him to study it. SET Coordinator Sayed Hashimi shared his insights into applications such as photogrammetry.

Bulldog Stories

 * Producer: Tabby Young
 * Editor: Eric Stacy

Geography teacher Jason Scheidt came on the program, to discuss how he wound up teaching geography at Ferris. He stated that he always liked knowing where he was going before he got there, and wanted to instill that same passion in his students. In addition to that, he talked about having two cats and a dog at home. He went in-depth about the fun he has playing sports when not teaching, and then finished by stating that his research on railway engineering was one of many theses used by the Obama administration to justify billions of dollars in extra spending in Congress.

Versus

 * Producer: David Stiefel
 * Editor: Nate Totten

Nick D. and Andrika Lyons debated which franchise was better than the other; as Nick claimed X-Men to be better while Andrika, dressed as Sylar, promoted Heroes.

Nick argued that Heroes is "a hack of a show," that X-Men came first. He also pointed out that X-Men became a motion picture franchise while Heroes didn't; and that the X-Men are actual superheroes within their framework, whereas the various leads of Heroes only try to be superheroes, and so on.

He also pointed out how the plot of Heroes is simpler because everything revolves around Sylar in the end. He drove his point even further home by mentioning that Wolverine has claws whilst Claire does not. He even argued that Wolverine isn't as suicidal as Claire; meaning that the temporal paradoxes he deals with are not as much like Groundhog Day as Claire's. And unlike Claire, Wolverine doesn't have to deal with butterfly effects quite as often. He also points out that My Way Entertainment has never made a Heroes parody. He conceded, however, that the X-Men "have no fashion sense" because they wear spandex, and that Heroes is easier to follow compared to the extremely-convoluted history of X-Men comics.

Andrika argued that Heroes doesn't require you to know Norse mythology to understand the plot; while showing a picture of Thor to back up her argument. She also reminded Nick that Heroes has used nearly all the same tropes as X-Men, but in more realistic ways. Characters in Heroes are more believable because they refuse to wear spandex, as a picture of Jean Grey demonstrated just how bad spandex costume design could be. She conceded, however, that Heroes was more recent.

Of interesting note, Andrika was dressed in a black jacket and black baseball cap, to look more like Sylar. When she stopped time to slice Nick's forehead, the sound effect for stopping time was identical to that used by Hiro Nakamura on Heroes. Nick's forehead was "cut" in a manner consistent with one of Sylar's victims. In fact, it resembled Hiro's vision of Jackie Wilcox in "Pass/Fail." His "blood" was a mixture of chocolate and strawberry syrup, similar to what was used to create Matt Parkman's nosebleed in "Fallout."

Abilities portrayed in the video included invisibility, lie detection, space-time manipulation, and telekinesis.

What Do You Think?

 * Producer: Tabby Young
 * Editor: Eric Stacy

Passers-by were asked what one thing in their pasts they'd take back if they had the means to. Answers ranged from nothing all the way to wishing they'd paid more attention in high school. One man regretted laughing at an old lady when she took a fall. One gal claimed that she wished she'd gone to college sooner, rather than waiting between college and high school. One man interviewed wished he'd seized the opportunity afforded him to study abroad. Another wished he hadn't bought a Hewlett-Packard PC. A girl claimed that she'd gotten in trouble back in high school for smoking a drug and getting suspended. An older gentleman wished he hadn't been as mean to his brother when they were growing up. The collage ended with shots of exhibits in the Rankin Art Gallery.

Now Demonstrating

 * Producer: Kelly Deward (as Kelly Armbruster)
 * Editor: Frank Molner

Kelly shared her special fudge brownie recipe with viewers. The video can be viewed here; but the recipe is included below:


 * The fudge recipe


 * 1) (3) Cups of sugar
 * 2) (4) Tbsp. cocoa powder
 * 3) (3) Tbsp. light corn syrup
 * 4) (1) Cup of evaporated milk
 * 5) (6) Tbsp. of butter
 * 6) (1-1/2) tsp. of vanilla extract
 * 7) Large saucepan
 * 8) Candy thermometer
 * 9) Glass baking dish
 * 10) Spatula

Mix cocoa and sugar together in saucepan. Next, add corn syrup and evaporated milk into saucepan. Cook over medium heat until it reaches temperatures between 234 and 240 degrees. Text mixture by dropping tiny amount into cold water. A mixture that is ready will form soft balls in cold water. Add butter and vanilla and stir. Pour finished mixture into a buttered dish. Mixture hardens quickly. Spread evenly with a spatula. Let dish harden, cut into squares, then serve. Will stay fresh for up to a week in the fridge.