I stopped watching American Idol. Quite frankly, it’s become a mockery of itself (Simon Cowell used to be my curmudgeonly hero; but he has long since been replaced by Gregory House). Luckily, Stony Brook Idol is still fresh and interesting, and a great opportunity to see the sort of talent that can’t necessarily come out to the Open Mic Nights at Tabler or the various productions that occur every semester.

Stony Brook is famous for many things: churning out doctors by the hundreds, being one of the leading research schools in the country, and an overwhelming Asian student population on the east coast. With such a rich cultural representation on campus comes interesting and exciting events. Cultural events pop up throughout the month of April; however, one stands out above the rest.

Stony Brook is known to many as a commuter school with no student life and depressed students. One characteristic that doesn’t help is the fact that Stony Brook doesn’t have a strong music scene. In the 1970s, Jimi Hendrix played several times at Stony Brook and the Blue Oyster Cult actually formed here.