A trip to the annual Collegiate Media Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, this week has proven to be filled with surprises.

This NFL season has become almost as confusing as the BCS championship system. Over the last several years NFL fans have become accustomed to having a few teams atop the standings that were clearly set apart from the pack. Instead, eight weeks into the season there is only one team that remains undefeated and only one with one loss. However, this is not the downfall of every single team in the NFL, but rather a leveling of the playing field.

As gas prices fluctuate and the economy continues to slip further out of our hands, Jacksonville must follow in the shoes of other U.S. cities that have placed the environment at the forefront of their minds.

Early in October, four cities – Washington, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and St. Paul, Minn. – joined hundreds of others already using hybrid buses for public transportation, ordering more than 1,700 buses.

Yet as communities and universities across the country continue the trend of going green, Jacksonville and UNF are not among the entities taking the next step in the hybrid movement.

The scariest part about Halloween is not the ghoulish costumes or fake blood but the real tragedies that happen every year – often from foolish irresponsibility.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found the number of deaths among young pedestrians was four times higher on Halloween evening compared with the same time period during all other evenings of the year.

There are obviously more people out walking the streets on Halloween, which means everyone must take extra strides to be careful.

In less than a week, history will be made. For the first time in our nation, we will witness either an African-American president or female vice-president elected to the Oval Office Nov. 4, and your vote could be the deciding factor – the one that made a difference.

Who wouldn’t want to say they were a part of making history?

Yet there are many people who argue only the politically suave and intelligent should vote.

The play of race, class and gender roles in the 2008 election was the subject of a discussion Oct. 28 about the dynamics of various factors that might possibly influence the way people will vote in this year’s election.

Don’t rock the vote. Don’t get out the vote. Don’t vote or die. Simply put, don’t vote.

The amount of sheer ignorance supporters of both candidates have espoused during this campaign cycle is astounding.

On one side, you have fanatics hoping for change, because you have to hope for a change in failed policies. On the other side, you have supporters stating “McCain, at least he isn’t Obama.”

It is sad – and disappointing – to see people within the U.S. who find satisfaction from belittling others for not being “patriotic” to their own country.

Gov. Sarah Palin, Republican vice-presidential nominee, stated at one of her rallies she likes to visit “pro-American parts of the country,” implying there are certain parts of the country that are anti-American or unpatriotic.

There are so many problems with this statement.

Halloween is right around the corner, and it’s the perfect time for lingering thoughts or fears about ghost stories or spooky tales. With North Florida’s rich historic background, it’s no surprise the area has a few hauntings of its own to satisfy curious minds. Here’s the Spinnaker’s list of some local spots’ eerie backgrounds that might make your skin crawl and send chills down your spine.

A black cat made of tinsel sits in the window. Bats and ghosts hang with cob webs and mannequins are dressed like iconic figures in pop culture to entice the Halloween costume shopper, including Andora from the ‘60s television show “Bewitched,” exercise guru Richard Simmons and Margot and Richie Tenenbaum from the film “The Royal Tenenbaums.”

If these don’t fuel some Halloween costume ideas, the Clothing Warehouse has plenty of other options and a wide selection of vintage clothing for everyday wear.