Crossroads, USF’s student-run café, opened once again at the beginning of the school year, serving as a setting for students’ socialization, studying, TV-watching and, of course, eating. However, the atmosphere has a significant difference from last year. Unlike in the past, the soundtrack to the activity in Crossroads, music broadcasted over the speakers from the Crossroads workers’ iPods, has vanished. It’s unclear when exactly was the day the music died.

Some censorship regulations are not consistent around campus and this may be restricting students from expressing themselves freely.

The Whole Students, Whole Campus Battle of the Bands in Crossroads got students dancing to the sounds of local and campus musicians.

  At a campaign promotion event in Crossroads, rappers perform for Jon Coon’s presidential run. Coon is running against incumbent Alex Platt and current off-campus representative Bobby Marquez. In addition to the concert, Coon has made t-shirts and an extensive Web site.

Strictly by the numbers, Crossroads’ new extended hours on Thursday and Friday nights until 2:30 a.m. have been incredibly successful. The new hours are wildly popular with students, and the late night shift is the third busiest time of day at the café, after the lunch and dinner rushes, said Crossroads General Manager and senior Hailey Anderson.

In an unexpected series of events, the well-respected Zagat dining guide for San Francisco put USF’s own Crossroads Café in their 2010 book, and awarding it their highest honor of five stars. The review calls the small café “avant-garde,” “cutting edge” and “a hip, fresh take on campus dining.”

At their first meeting on Tuesday, ASUSF voted to extend Crossroads hours on the weekends and they discussed changing the library guest policy, which requires twenty four hour notice prior to a guest using the library.

Columnist Heather Spellacy asks why Crossroads cannot do the basics. Heather Spellacy is a sophomore business major.

Performers from Youth Speaks appeared alongside local aspiring poets. The poems focused on life on the borderlands in relation to specific issues that people of multiple ethnicities face.

USF’s dining services have consistently made strides to be as socially responsible as possible. Whether providing fair trade coffee in the cafeteria or offering biodegradable silverware, Bon Appetit has been on par with environmentally-friendly amenities. The crusade for fair trade coffee on campus began last year when the entirely student-run organization Back to da Roots collaborated [...]