The “Star Wars” Geek: For some, the term can be insulting; for others, empowering. But for most, it’s just downright embarrassing. “You don’t want the first thing people know about you to be that you love “˜Star Wars,'” said second-year economics student Marshall Jaquish. Read more...

State budget cuts over the past two years have affected nearly every inch of the UCLA campus in some way or another. But these cuts have hit the university’s performing arts departments especially hard and, in turn, have forced department chairs to devise innovative ways to raise additional funds and support for their programs, especially for student and faculty concerts. Read more...

They flew out all the way from Florida. Ten hours, two layovers and one crappy on-flight bag of peanuts later, a conservatively dressed middle-aged housewife and her balding husband had arrived at their final destination: a live taping of “America Idol.” OK, I know I wrote about “American Idol” in my last column, but I can’t help it; I’m obsessed. Read more...

Pop quiz: name at least three Asian American actors who are regular characters (appearing in about eight out of 10 episodes) on a prime-time television show. Read more...

Although “Applause” is named for a performer’s moment of ovation, when the musical ended Tuesday night, the audience’s reaction was merely mild clapping. “What is it we’re living for? Read more...

Weezer “Make Believe” Geffen Records The following are Pop Up Video-worthy factoids about Weezer front man Rivers Cuomo: “¢bull; After the initially panned album “Pinkerton,” Cuomo holed up in a Los Angeles apartment for a year, disconnecting the phone, painting the walls black, and putting black sheets and fiberglass insulation over the windows. Read more...

For those members of the UCLA community who do not know that the Disney film “Aladdin” originated within a frame story about a virgin trying to avoid execution, the English department’s annual Marathon Reading will be an enlightening experience. Read more...