PEDICAB ITLooks like students are finding alternative modes of transportation to football games in the form of pedicab rides. A couple of environmentally-conscious pedicabbers were spotted circling an off-campus tailgate for tipsy (or just lazy) students heading up to Ryan Field after one hit a goldmine when six piled on top of each other in the back. “He looked like Lenny Kravitz! He was so hot! And he had the best nose ring,” one enamored customer says of her $5 ride on game day. We hunted down another pedicab driver who pedaled students to and from the game to get the three-wheeled dish. Oliver Hunt, 37, says the taxi drivers hovering around Ryan Field were “all pissy because they thought we were stealing rides from them. But we worked Northwestern games last year and I don’t remember there being any cabs.” And if that’s not enough drama, Hunt has some advice for anyone planning on waiting out the recession by becoming a pedicabber: “The sense of community I got from it last year was pretty much gone this year. A lot of the newer people are really cutthroat. Plus, there was some drama when a group of pedicabbers came up from Houston.” We suggest not messing with Texas, or at least Texan pedicabbers. NU v. THE IVIESIn some recent Internet browsing, one of our editors stumbled upon The Ivy Plus Society (TIPS), a former Yale alumni club whose weak turnout led the president, Jennifer Wilde Anderson, to expand it to include other Ivies and Ivy-equivalent institutions, such as Berkeley, Johns Hopkins and even our neighbor, the University of Chicago. While Kellogg graduates are deemed worthy members, the rest of Northwestern is ignored. Naturally, we went undercover and sent an inquiring e-mail to Wilde Anderson asking why we were left out. (Air Force Academy grads are acceptable company but not us? Some of us NU kids can fly planes, too.) In her response, Wilde Anderson says they “will certainly give [NU’s inclusion] careful consideration.” But is it really our loss? They come across a little odd anyway. The DC chapter launch party invites asked “TIPSies” to pay attention to their alcohol consumption because there’s “nothing like death and destruction to ruin a promising political future.” Just can’t wait for confirmation? Try e-mailing Anderson. “The events are always open to motivated, smart people such as yourself,” she wrote to us. Thanks, Jen. See you there.ROTIMI. THE RAINMAKERS. NO ‘AND.’Last week while out on the town one of our editors was approached by someone introducing himself as “one of Rotimi’s Rainmakers.” Then we heard rumors of a split between the artist and the group. Naturally, we called Rotimi for the details. The split is true – kind of. Like the relationship between artists in the Hustle Group (of two years ago), Rotimi and the Rainmakers are separate artists that only come together to perform at NU. “I’m a solo artist,” says Rotimi Akinosho, a Communication senior. “We’re all good friends. And when it comes to school bands, that’s when we get together. But we’re not really a group.” But there are plans for a record deal in the future. He’s got a phone date with Akon to look into Universal Records and a couple others (“I don’t know if I can say”). The 20-year-old just got back from a performance at Rutgers in his home state of New Jersey and will be performing at Howard University’s homecoming. He plans to shoot the “Beautiful Music” video next month, but to get your fill now (be prepared), head to his site (frontroseat.com) for a video striptease. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
