Its like girls and cars. If you know nothing about it, you will think its nice and purty. If you know a thing or two, you will look at it more into detail. The work wasnt bad, but, no offense, saying you went to college for that stuff doesnt make you look any better.
And mercmobile is totally right. That is the only way I ever learned anything about web/graphic design, through critisicm. The banner is more of an intro than a banner, but who cares, its the home page anyways. The main thing is that the webmaster of FCO liked it, and you have something up. Never turn down criticism, you never know, they might be right.
edit:
oh wait... that banner shows up on a lot more than just the home page.
