NEW YORK DAILY

City Life

2009-05-18T20:52:00.006-04:00

Coming Home Again, And Again
By Alyssa Schwartz

To most Americans, Europe is a continent of beauty and travel, a vacation spot. But for Elana Delasos, Europe is more than a beautiful vacation destination, it is a second home.

Meeting Delasos for the first time, one would never guess that she lived anywhere too far from New York City. Her voice has a recognizable northeastern tint and she wears simple jeans and a tee shirt during an interview in which her computer screensaver of the Eiffel Tower sparked a conversation about travel. Delasos has not only traveled to different countries, she has lived in them, as well.

Elana Delasos on one of her many trips to Paris.

Delasos spent her childhood moving between Europe and the US. She lived in Connecticut until she was in kindergarten, when her family moved to Paris. “My father worked for IBM and he had to move there for work, so of course at that age you go where your parents go,” says Delasos. “It wasn’t too drastic of a change because I was so young that I was easily able to adapt.”

Delasos lived in Paris until third grade when her family moved back to the US. “It was a little bit harder moving this time, because in third grade you are more aware of your friends and the fact that a big change is occurring,” says Delasos. “Still, I was young so it didn’t really faze me too much. I was excited to go back to see my grandparents and family. ”

Delasos remained in Connecticut, making new friends and re-adapting to American life. One might think that moving back to the US might be a difficult change, but Delasos explains that it was easier than expected. “I quickly adapted to life back in the United States. I made friends quickly, I had my family. After the initial move, I settled down pretty quickly,” she says.

Delasos, left, and a friend in Paris.

Delasos and her family lived in Connecticut until she was in the sixth grade, when she discovered she would be moving back to Paris. “I was so excited by the news” she says. “As excited as I was, I will admit that it was tough. I had close friends and I did have fears that leaving would put a strain on these friendships. It was also hard to say goodbye to my family, especially my grandparents.”

Delasos lived in Paris for two years, soaking up the culture and sights, enjoying it even more than the first time she lived there. “I appreciated it so much more this time,” says Delasos. “I really got the change to take in the culture and learn from it and appreciate it. I loved being there. I acquired my love for travel and for their language and culture. I’m still interested in it today.”

Although Delasos loved her life in Paris, she admits that there were certain things about America that she missed sorely. “American food, especially diners,” she says. “Television is another big one. A lot of American television shows that I had got interested in did not air in Paris.” She laughs and explains that, “at age 13, television and music was really important. It was weird not having that. I missed it a lot.”

After two more years in Paris, Delasos’s family moved back to the US so she could start high school. “It was such a bittersweet move. I was sad to leave my friends there, but I was excited to be back to the United States and see my friends here,” she says.

Delasos kept in contact with her US friends, but she describes feeling slightly out of the loop after making the move. “It was weird. My friends had all of these stories and memories between them. Plus, they shared interests in things like television shows that I had no idea about. I missed out on a lot – but I certainly don’t regret it.”

Delasos finished high school in Connecticut and moved to New York City for college. She knew going into college that she wanted to take part in a study abroad program and found one that allowed her to spend her junior year in London. “It was my first time being back in Europe since I had left Paris,” says Delasos. “I could not have been more excited. It was such a great experience. Not only did I go with my friends from college, but also I got to see my old friends from Paris. It was such a great semester.”

Delasos, right, and a friend in London.

Even though the moves may have been difficult at times, Delasos doesn’t regret one minute of her time in Europe. “I feel so lucky. I learned so much, like how to adapt easily, which is a great quality to have. It also made me extremely close with my family, because no matter where we lived and where we were going, we always stuck together and had each other,” she says.

Although she does not have definite plans to return to Europe, Delasos says she would, “love to live there with my family, at least for some period of time. It’s an experience everyone should have.”

Music & Muscians

2009-05-18T20:41:00.001-04:00

Faithfully Pursuing Her Music Career
By Damaris Colon

A frustrated father, gazing at fresh pen marks and a cut in the family’s leather sofa, sought answers from his two year-old, noodle-haired daughter.

“Jessie, do you know who did this?”

“Yes, me,” she replied.

“Would you like to tell me why,” her father questioned.

“Because mommy made me mad,” a young Jessica Nunez-Mattocks responded honestly, and her father tried desperately to keep from laughing in order to teach his child a lesson.

Looking back on that exchange with her father, Nunez-Mattocks remembers “the greatest childhood ever,” which some friends compared to the Cosbys. She remembers her house always being busy and having a great relationship with her three sisters.

Although Nunez-Mattocks now calls New York home, she was a military baby who spent a great deal of her childhood traveling between Germany, New York, and Maryland. Nunez-Mattocks credits her outlook on life to her upbringing in Europe, as well as her parents exposing her and her siblings to different cultures at a young age. Now 23, Nunez-Mattocks is pursuing a career as a singer, songwriter, and stylist/designer, and credits her parents for giving her the freedom to pursue those creative interests.

Jessica Nunez-Mattocks records under the artist name
JessieADORE and is working on a new album.

Nunez-Mattocks has been singing since “forever,” before she could talk, according to family members. She perfected her craft as an ambitious high school vocal major attending the Duke Ellington School of Arts in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

In high school, Nunez-Mattocks says she was friends with nearly everyone -- jocks, cheerleaders, mathletes, artsy students, and older kids. She nicknamed Oodles for her noodle-shaped locks and was dubbed the honorary cool kid from New York.

Nunez-Mattocks is critical of current music i
ndustry trends.

Nunez-Mattocks, currently single, is highly focused on her goals. She says she works everyday to strengthen her relationship with Jesus, whom she describes as “the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

When asked about the state of music right now, Nunez-Mattocks becomes very passionate. “I am rather disgusted with the state of music right now. It lacks substance. People who are considered the "best" are only that because any real competition is blackballed and the only other artists around for them to be compared to are talentless,” she says.

Nunez-Mattocks records under the artist name JessieADORE and is working on releasing an EP, “The Heathen’s Epiphany.” (Listen to a few songs here).

Nunez-Mattocks may feel frustrated with the music industry now because she is a new artist who must battle against such established songstresses as Beyonce and Rihanna to gain recognition. Nunez-Mattocks says she wants to be a true artist, who is seen for her talent and not judged on anything other than her music.
However, one can’t help but note Nunez-Mattocks’ fashionable and trendy style. She has already received recognition from Clutch Magazine, where she describes her personal style as classic.

When asked where she sees herself in the next five years, she says, “I try not to kid myself by mapping out where I’ll be in the future. I have done that so often in this process we call “maturing” and there are always so many variables, and things that work out better than you could ever imagine. I just allow God to direct me...surely His way is guaranteed success.”

City Life

2009-05-18T20:35:00.004-04:00

Welcome To Looseworld
By Sydney Zarp

The clock strikes midnight, and a sea of yellow taxis roll up to Broome and Centre Streets. Model-like girls and dudes wearing Nike kicks pour out of the cars and flood down the stairs to the entrance of the club Southside. As they pass a rowdy crowd they cannot help but laugh at the people who have been waiting for similar treatment.

Skyler Gross, the co-founder of Looseworld.

Overcome by the thumping music, this crowd of 20-somethings is taken from the real world and welcomed into another dimension. These silver spoon babies will easily dry the bar, ordering shots upon shots on to each other’s open bar tabs. For the next five hours nothing matters except who will hook-up with whom. They are not worried about rejoining reality until early the next morning.

This is Thursday. This is Looseworld.

Skyler Gross, 22, was born in Malibu, California which is squeezed between the Pacific Ocean and Hollywood, which explains his distinct laid back demeanor. His privileged childhood is illustrated by colorful memories of his extravagant “Barmitzfa” and his foreign travels. Thinking back to when he was 10, Gross remembers posing for a book cover. “I modeled for a book cover about jaded children in Hollywood. I guess they were right,” he says.

Regardless of his lavish upbringing, Gross knows what it means to work hard. Building his own company from the ground up, Gross has proved that he understands the value of the dollar.

Whether filming his senior thesis, “French Diss,” or throwing his Looseworld events, Gross knows how to acquire and use his resources to his advantage. His drive and motivation comes from his childhood of watching his father live the ‘good life.’ He realized that in order to live an easy life he had to find his niche in the business world.

His company, Looseworld, is a new media marketing and distribution platform. “We have a blog, Looseworld.com, where we feature special artist from all mediums,” Gross says. “Then once a month, we have an event called Looseworld Presents where we invite people who will want to invest in the artist we are featuring.”

Gross’s ultimate goal is to eventually evolve into a production company and open a store where they sell both Looseworld gear and gear of the featured artist. Gross’s attitude and business approach are far from stereotypical. Take his company name for example, Looseworld.

“Looseworld is a way of life. Loose is what you make of it,” he says.

Gross explains that his life has always been loose and proves his point by telling a story about when he was 16. “During high school I went to a school in Switzerland, called TASIS. It was all because of one Monday night I was caught smoking weed in my room, and my parents decided to send me to Switzerland,” he says. “It was supposed to be a punishment for always getting in trouble for dumb shit, but really it was the best three years of my life. How could it not be? I was in another country doing whatever I wanted.”

It is stories like these that set Gross apart from the typical businessmen. Gross admits that he is lazy, but school was not that difficult for him. “I knew how to get the most from doing the least.” Sweet-talking his teachers and charming his way through work has been his strategy for the past 16 years. Now with a company on the line, Gross is learning that his swagger has become a part of the business. Keeping up a ‘loose’ lifestyle is all a part of the game and is a factor that catches investors’ attention, he says.

Alex Bittan, 22, co-founder of Looseworld, confesses the he always knew that he would end up working with Gross. “We grew up together, so we know each other down to the core,” Bittan says. “We both know what we want out of our lives, and quickly figured out what we have to do to get there.”

Most soon-to-be college graduates are dreading the day when they leave the comfort of school. Some students are looking into other options after college, because they have realized that there aren’t many jobs available right now.

A recent Monstertrak.com survey found that 71% of companies say they plan to hire fewer people this year than they have in the past. The Washington Post said that, “Seventy-three percent of today's graduating seniors will leave college with student loan debt, at an average of about $23,000. This means that about 70% of the 2009 college graduates will move back home after receiving their degree.”

Many of these graduates may be forced to return home to live with mom and dad to save money, and get a local job in their hometowns. But not Gross. Obviously his business is just beginning to emerge and has yet to reach its goal. But, the success of the previous three events sponsored by Looseworld, and the thousands of daily hits to the blog is a sign that that they are moving in the right direction. And, there is a waiting list for Looseworld apparel, but the guys made me an exception and hooked me up with gear.

At the end of May, Gross will graduate from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts with honors, and will soon be ready to hit the real world, with no intention of moving home.

“This is what I want; this is what I have always wanted,” he says.

Art And Artists

2009-05-18T20:23:00.006-04:00

Not Your Average School Experience
By Alexandra Gardell

Ask the people you know about their high school experience and you’ll likely get a myriad of stories about annual school musicals, Friday night football games, bad cafeteria food, stressful exams, field trips, and large graduation ceremonies. It seems like the modern collective American school experience, whether public or private, encompasses all or at least some of these experiences.

Imagine, however, if this was not your experience at all. Imagine that your kitchen was your classroom and your mother was your teacher for all of your school years, day in and day out. You could never play hooky, or tell the teacher that your dog ate your homework. Your mom knew when you were sick and she knew that you didn’t have a pet dog.

David Felicie and Michelle Kakalecz in a recent performance at Lincoln
Center with the non-profit ballet troupe, the Performing Arts Ensemble.

According to a 2006 New York Times article, “Home Schoolers Content to Take Children’s Lead,” in recent years, about 1.1 million children in the US received their education at home. Among them were David Felicie and Michelle Kakalecz.

Both Felicie, 22, and Kakalecz, 20, are from New Jersey and were taught at home by their mothers. Both are disciplined, hard working, active members of their communities and pursue their dreams. And although they share a similar background in their curriculums and interests, their experiences with education are unique.

Felicie grew up in a large household, the fourth of six siblings. And his mother taught them all. “My mother thought homeschooling was the best decision because it would create more of a one-on-one learning atmosphere, rather than a one-on-twenty or one-on-thirty environment,” says Felicie. “Another reason was to keep us out of trouble. We were living in Staten Island in a rough neighborhood and moved to New Jersey when I was ten and continued to homeschool.”

How does one give a thorough education to six kids, all different ages, at once? The Felicies had a system. “The two oldest were in the same grade, the next two, myself and my older brother Joey, were in the same grade, and the youngest, Bethany and Josh were in the same grade,” explained Felicie. “Basically the youngest of each pair got bumped up a year so that my mother was teaching three grade levels instead of six at a time.”

David Felicie in a recent performance of Beauty and the Beast, produced
by the Performing Arts Ensemble, discovered his dance talents while
attending vocational school.

This is not an unheard of practice in home education, and think of this: kids in any given public or private classroom may be a year or two apart in age. “Throw away that grade level thing. It's a way of comparing children, and in a home setting just isn't necessary,” said Mary McCarthy, co-founder of the New Jersey Homeschool Association said in an article from Home Education Magazine. “Then see if you can combine several children in one subject. I've never seen it written anywhere that children can't work together on learning.”

It worked for the Felicie family, and it also helped them focus on family bonds.

Kakalecz is the youngest of three. Her oldest brother attended private school, and her other brother was homeschooled from eighth grade on. Kakalecz’s mother decided to educate her daughter herself, using a pre-determined curriculum and a series of extracurricular activities and learning programs.

Setting the curriculum
Homeschoolers have many options in deciding their curriculum. Both Felicie and Kakalecz used the A Beka system, which was created by the founders of Pensacola Christian College in Florida. “We would order our textbooks and videos through A Beka, but my mom would also add her own lesson plans,” said Felicie.

Kakalecz’s mother, Gayle, would attend events called curriculum fairs, where all the different companies that produced textbooks and other learning materials would showcase their products to homeschoolers. This is where the Kakaleczs got their materials, like those from A Beka.

In addition to textbooks, A Beka offered videos with daily lessons that gave students the feeling of a classroom. Sometimes they had other students at desks, other times just a teacher at the front of the room.

The videos weren’t a replacement for one-on-one interaction, however. “I don't think the videos were that effective though; they didn't really explain how to do things; they gave the problem and then the answer, they moved too fast sometimes,” says Felicie. “My mom would do most things manually, and really teach us on her own.”

Kakalecz said one of the good things about the A Beka videos was that if she did not fully understand something she could call in and someone would talk her through the problem. Making a phone call may have been more difficult than raising your hand in a classroom, but there was help available if you needed it. In addition to A Beka, Kakalecz also used other curriculums for various subjects, such as Algebra and Geometry.

Homeschooling is not “unschooling,” explained Gayle Kakalecz. She says the unschooling approach to learning is where parents do not set a curriculum but rather encourage their children to learn by experience alone. “They go out into nature and learn from nature, they learn from making things. Homeschooling is more instructed,” she says.

Even with a curriculum, though, homeschooling gives kids and their parents’ chances to customize the curriculum to fit their interests and allows room for creativity. “Michelle read a variety of books, such as Pride and Prejudice,” says Gayle Kakalecz. “Once she wanted to see the musical The Scarlet Pimpernel and I told her she had to finish the book first.”

Felicie stressed that he endured a rather strict curriculum. “We were taught English, math, science, everything that you do in public school. If you didn't complete that day's assignments you couldn't do what was considered recess, anything fun like going outside,” he says. “Sometimes I would goof off and not want to do my work, so I would end up inside while everyone else was outside, doing my school work until 8 p.m., maybe even twelve at night.”

Now a very conscientious adult, Felicie gained from these experiences. “I learned to work hard though, and to always complete my responsibilities.”

Just like most other students, homeschoolers can take standardized tests and exams like the SATs. “I took the SAT and the PSAT at Middletown North,” the public high school Kakalecz was zoned to attend if she had not opted for homeschooling. “I took the tests where you fill in the bubbles,” she said with a laugh, the familiar standardized tests, at the school her brother previously attended.

What do the professionals think?
Twila Liggett, a professor of Education at Marymount Manhattan College and creator of the famed educational television program Reading Rainbow says that, “Some parents feel they can offer a richer, more interdisciplinary approach to learning. Some kids just find it hard to be in an overly structured environment and do much better with homeschooling.”

No two situations are exactly alike, and there is no definite answer to what is the best way to obtain an education. The most important thing, Liggett says is that, “Parents should be intellectually curious and willing to spend the time it takes to do the job.”

Interacting with others
Growing up with so many close siblings, mostly all boys, Felicie always had someone to hang out with. Conversely, Kakalecz was the baby of the family, and the only girl. No matter the size of the family, though, homeschoolers have opportunities to get together with kids their age, just like in traditional school.

Kakalecz completed all of her core curriculum at home under the instruction of her mother, but often got together with other local homeschoolers for special activities.

“We met with a group called REAP for ‘Geography Nights.’ We would research a different country each time, learn about the culture, and prepare foods from that country to share with everyone,” said Kakalecz. “I studied French and Spanish with a group, and we would even learn cross-stitch and sewing at one of the girls grandmother’s house.”

In addition to the group’s organized swimming at the YMCA, Kakalecz always got her physical education from gymnastic and dance classes. “I took ballet almost every single day,” she says.

Felicie had a network of other homeschoolers as well. “Homeschoolers that were affiliated with A Beka in the area would network and organize events, things like field trips. We would go roller-skating, bowling, go to farms and take care of and feed animals, all different things,” he recounted. Kakalecz shares similar experiences with day trips as supplementary education.

And what about the prom? “We had a prom that was organized by some of the parents where they would rent out a big hall and all of the local junior and senior year homeschoolers would go,” says Felicie. “We could bring "outsiders" as dates, just like other proms.”

Both Felicie and Kakalecz had high school graduation ceremonies. Kakalecz acquired her GED from a vocational program. Felicie had a ceremony with other homeschoolers in the area. He added, “I finished my high school studies early and graduated at 16 because I actually skipped a grade.”

Life after graduation
After graduation, Felicie attended a two-year vocational program that was part of his local county college. He started studies in landscaping but once he got there he switched to dance, saying he was part of what they called the "Jump Start Program."

At this time Felicie began cultivating his natural talents with formal education in dance. He had always played around with break dancing and hip hop, but this “jump start” actually turned out to be a grand jete that helped to move Felicie towards classical ballet, which became a passion. Felicie has since attended numerous intensive programs, and has performed as a professional dancer and choreographer. He also works as a dance instructor.

Kakalecz is currently a Liberal Arts major at Brookdale Community College. “I am finishing my second full semester now, but I had taken two other classes at Brookdale before starting fulltime to get used to going,” she says.

Kakalecz says she feels like she had a full, well-balanced experience thanks to her involvement in many different activities while being homeschooled. She is very active member of a non-profit ballet company, The Ballet Company of the Performing Arts Ensemble, where she met Felicie, who is also a member of the Ensemble. She’s involved in various volunteer efforts, including at the Holocaust, Genocide, & Human Rights Education Center at her college.

On Felicie’s homeschooling experience, he says, “I think it turned out to be the best thing for us.”

City Life

2009-05-18T20:16:00.003-04:00

All Work And No Sleep
By Adriana Lorenzo

You can be categorized as a night owl or an early bird. There are even entire cities that are jokingly referred to as ones that never sleep. Then there are the rare groups of people that are busy at work as the rest of the country sleeps. As the majority of America is settling into their pajamas and curling up under their covers, the night shifts commence.

Yamile Gloria, center, and hospital co-workers.

Yamile Gloria, 23, is a registered nurse in the Pulmonolgy Division of the Miami Children’s Hospital, and has been working the night shift for the last two years. “On a typical work day, I will get to work around 6 p.m. and not be home until 8 a.m. the next morning,” says Gloria. “So there is nothing typical about my work day really. My hours are long and weird, and my schedule never coincides with any of my friends and family.”

Immediately after graduating from the University of Miami, Gloria landed this job, which was exactly in the field she was interested. She would be working with children, and the pay and benefits were ideal. The only catch? She would be working the dreaded night shift.

“At first I couldn’t picture myself working such crazy hours, but I felt it was a small price to pay for having my dream job,” says Gloria. “Sure, I have had to reschedule my life around my odd hours, but every minute and sleep deprived night has been worth it.”

The hospital is undeniably a prestigious place of employment in Miami. On the Miami Children’s website, the hospital prides itself as “South Florida’s only licensed specialty hospital exclusively for children” and is “renowned for excellence in all aspects of pediatric medicine with several specialty programs ranked among the best in the nation in 2008 by US News & World Report.”

Landing the job was the perfect pay off for Gloria, who had been working very hard in nursing school. As a registered in the Pulmonology Division, Gloria works with children ranging in ages from newborns to about 18 years old, who suffer from illinesses as common as asthma to more serious conditions like cystic fibrosis, tuberculosis and pneumonia.

“Working with kids is the best part of my job,” Gloria says. “It breaks your heart to think of a sick child, but the most rewarding part of my job is that I get to help these kids through their illness. It is the most satisfying feeling to know I am making a difference in a child’s life.”

But not every story of every child Gloria encounters has a happy ending. As expected in a hospital setting, Gloria and her colleagues have had their share of heartbreak and disappointment.

“The worst nights for me have been when a patient takes a turn for the worse, or even worse, has passed away,” Gloria says. “We have made bonds with these children and their families, and of course have been working extremely hard to return them to perfect health.”

Gloria recalls one very difficult particular nigh. A young girl that had been a long-term patient at the hospital lost her battle with a serious and rare disease. “This girl was amazing. She was young but had such a positive attitude and always had a smile on her face,” says Gloria. “Losing a patient is never easy, but this loss really shook me up. It’s hard not to feel emotionally involved in these children’s lives, and seeing her parents’ suffer was so hard.”

One perk of Gloria’s unconventional schedule, however, is she often gets a couple of days off during the week. “I might work both Friday and Saturday night shifts, but then I will have off some other days,” she says. If someone wants to make plans with her, their best bet is to get her on a day off. “I can’t really go out to dinner or a movie on a weeknight usually. I use my days off to catch-up with friends, or do some shopping and other errands.”

Three in the morning hits, and Gloria hits a slump in her night. “After midnight, especially on slower nights, I start feeling pretty tired. Some nights are harder than others, but it definitely helps having my other nurse friends in the same boat with me.”

Gloria had some words of wisdom for any nurse, doctor or other professional who could someday work a night-shift. “Sleeping during the day is going to feel strange at first, but catching up on sleep is very important in staying sane.”

When asked what her ultimate secret weapon for staying awake was, Gloria laughed and answered, “endless cups of coffee, and definitely never touching decaf.”

City Life

2009-05-18T20:10:00.002-04:00

Escaping Family To Find A Career
By Katy Berninger

Sitting quietly in a coffee shop drinking green tea lemonade while reading a magazine, I am waiting for someone who is very late. However, I know this person is on his way because he has sent me about a dozen text messages apologizing profusely for being tardy.

Suddenly I hear a loud, exasperated sigh and Wesley “Wes” Williams, 18 plops down beside me.

“I am so sorry, rehearsal ran long,” exclaims Williams who has just left practice for his upcoming high school musical. I can’t be angry with him, of course, because there is something lovable about him. He is a giant teddy bear who wears over the top “movie star” sunglasses and a blue scarf around his neck. Williams sits and excitedly explains how glad he is to be able to help me out. This is who he is: a vibrant personality who is obsessed with Beyonce and would do anything to help another person.

Williams always tries to look on the bright side and
not worry about the future.

Born in Baltimore into a conservative religious family, Williams is the third child, but the first of his parents’ children to live. He was soon joined by a sister, Amarys, 15, and two younger brothers, Jonathan, 12 and Joshua, 6.

As a child Williams moved around a lot, but always had the company of his large family, including his grandmother and uncle who still live him. When asked about his family, Williams says, “we are kind of like the family that yells and screams at each other but we laugh constantly.”

The family may be a little dysfunctional, but Williams says he gets a long fairly well with everyone, especially his sister who he says he jokes around with a lot.

Despite the close family relationship, Williams is quick to point out that he is considered the “weird” one because he is gay. Although he has come out to his friends, Williams has yet to come out to his family, and he says that even though his family doesn’t know, “They’ve gotten lots of hints. I think they kind of deep down know….they're trying to ignore it.”

Williams says he is OK with this arrangement because he feels the only way he will ever be able to tell them is once he is away at college, and say that his parents would probably, “make my life hell,” because he believes his parents cannot comprehend that being gay is not a choice.

According to a 2002 Los Angeles Times article, “Being Gay in a Conservative Environment,” Williams is just one of many gay children who live in conservative families who are afraid of telling their parents about their sexual orientation. Williams’ family is highly religious and they believe that being gay is a sin. According to the article, the communities that these families are a part of create a “culture of hostility toward homosexuality.”

Williams recognizes this and has decided to let his parents ignore “the elephant in the room” so that he doesn’t have to deal with their reaction. Instead, he has opted to be open with his friends who have all accepted him.

Williams says he has big goals and dreams, and for now, is looking towards the future as he plans his move to Salisbury University in Salisbury, Maryland. When asked what he most looks forward to about college Williams says, “being open, being able to perform, and meeting guys.”

Performing is what drives Williams the most, and is what he hopes to do for the rest of his life. When asked about acting and singing, two topics Williams is very passionate about, he lights up. “I always knew I wanted to be known, like it was always in my personality to want to be famous.” Williams’ post-college career may be far off, but he plans to move to California and “work his butt off” until he makes it big.

Wrapping up our conversation, Williams says, “That was fun,” and says he’s going to go see the new Beyonce movie that night. Still jovial, he grabs his things and bounces out of the coffee shop.

City Life

2009-05-18T20:03:00.004-04:00

Conquering The World One Pizza At A Time
By Heather Bates

It was love at first bite. When Carmen Cascetta was 19, she had no idea that the local pizza boy would become her future husband. Antonio Cascetta was just minding his own business and making pizzas. Cascetta's younger brother Johnny wandered into the pizzeria to cause trouble. Little did he know that his mischievous behavior would lead to a lifetime of love and support.

Antonio and Carmen Cascetta came to the US as children and run
a successful family business.

Carmen Cascetta moved to the US from Cidra, Puerto Rico when she was only five years old. Her memories of her homeland have dimmed, but she has fond memories of her childhood there. Carmen remembers the small things about her native country, such as her grandfather bringing delicious loaves of bread home after church on Sunday mornings. When she moved to New York City and began building her life there, Cascetta had no idea how grateful she would be one day. Now, she is a successful wife and mother of two.

Unlike his wife, Antonio Cascetta did not move to the US until he was 12. Back in his hometown of Teggiano, Italy, Antonio “Tony” Cascetta remembers playing soccer with shoes that had metal wires attached. “Nobody would let me play,” Cascetta jokes. “They were worried that I would break the ball.” Tony also has many things to be thankful for in the United States. He owns a pizzeria in Brooklyn, not far from the home that his family shares.

When either Cascetta is asked what they like most about living in the US, the answer always returns to their two children, Adam, 24, and Krystal, 25. This year, Krystal graduates from Albany Medical College and will begin working as a resident at the Long Island Jewish Hospital. Krystal believes that is able to work toward a medical career because of the choices that were made for her parents to come to the US when they were children. Adam is also graduating from college this year, leaving New York City College of Technology with a bachelor’s degree in entertainment technology.

Tony’s Pizza Spot has hit a few rough patches recently.

Carmen Cascetta says she is very proud and excited to watch her children earn the diplomas that they worked so hard for. “That’s exactly why I say the United States is better for your children. They get to have a better education,” she says. “Of course, I’m very happy that my children were able to continue their education as far as they needed to, and I’m grateful that my daughter was able to attend medical school here in the US.”

Despite the family pride that comes from seeing their children succeed, running a family business in such tough economic times is not easy. Only a year after he moved to New York, Tony Cascetta began working for the original pizzeria owners. When his boss retired and returned to Italy, Tony and another employee took over the pizzeria as co-owners. But because of health issues, Tony’s partner gave him sole custody of the pizzeria.

While Tony’s Pizza Spot is still open, business is suffering. “Things are rough. The economy sucks,” Tony says. “When people spend their money now, they want more for less.”

Carmen says she is also affected by the economic problems. She recently lost her job as a customer service representative at Avis car rentals. Now, she is stuck trying to help her husband run the pizzeria while also looking for another job to help support her family.

“I’m directly affected by the economy. For example, losing my job and not knowing when I’m going to have another one, and losing all my medical benefits, which is the most important thing at my age,” Carmen says. But she says, “The US is the best place to raise children due to the better schools, health care, arts, et cetera. In Puerto Rico, it’s a harder way of life and jobs are scarce.”

Recent economic hardships have not stopped them from keeping their business alive and watching as Adam and Krystal move on to build their careers. “It’s what I worked for,” Tony says. “To give opportunities to my children that I didn’t have when I was their age. I feel very proud of both of them achieving their goals, and I’m sure that they will be very successful in whatever they do.”

City Life

2009-05-18T20:01:00.001-04:00

Sometimes, There’s No Place Like Home
By Thomas Ford

We’ve all heard the story of the “good girl” gone “bad” — the girl who starts off polite and kind and takes a sharp turn for the worse, becoming reckless and irresponsible. But seldom do we hear the story of the good girl gone bad gone good or in simpler terms, Chrissy Galifianakis.

From a very young age, Galifianakis was extremely headstrong. She, unlike many of her peers at her private school in Jamaica, Queens, entertained responsibilities that even most adults would find daunting. On top of the piles of homework her honors classes forced her to complete, Galifianakis performed the daily routines of a stereotypical housewife in her early teens. She cooked daily meals for her family, maintained the condition of the house, did laundry and any other activities her parents might ask her to do.

While this may seem like chores any young person would be obligated to do, Galifianakis was taking the full brunt of these obligations because there was no allowance and she couldn’t shift these duties with her younger brother. She was, essentially, acting as the mother and father of the household. She jokes, “I cooked and cleaned like a slave!” Yet, the motivations for her unstinting willingness to take care of people; people much older than she, were far from humorous.

Galifianakis’ mother, Helen, suffers from multiple sclerosis, a chronic disease that attacks the central nervous system and is often disabling, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Galifianakis cared for her mother in all ways that she could, whether it was helping to bathe her or pushing her wheelchair. Seeing her mother’s slowly debilitating health inspired Galifianakis to do something to help ill people. She wanted to become a doctor.

However, her father, John Galifianakis, had other plans for her. Bitter from an accident at work that ultimately limited his mobility, John Galifianakis thought that his daughter should stay at home and not go to college. A very strict man who values Greek traditions, John Galifianakis sees Chrissy marrying a Greek man and doesn’t like it when she brings home friends home of other races. “I am not very close with my father,” admits Galifianakis.

With what most would consider burdens, it is no wonder Galifianakis was ready to escape her daily life of taking full care of a mother she loved and dealing with her father who simply did not understand her or believe in her. So, despite her father’s reservations, Galifianakis attended Marymount Manhattan College in Manhattan. Unfortunately, along with escaping her old life and leaping head first into a new one, she lost her better judgment, and the phase of the so-called ‘bad girl’ ensued.

With Manhattan at her disposal, Galifianakis wanted to venture into a new quadrant of life that she hadn’t explored. What was it like to be a kid? To be a teenager? What was it like to do the things kids, teenagers, and young adults do that she had missed out on?

She would soon find out.

Galifianakis began partying on weekends and her roommates encouraged a habit of staying out all night, which she did. Classes slowly became less important to her and alcohol slowly became more of a focus. As partying began to completely consume her weekends, so did her consumption of alcohol and interests in using other substances.

She laughs, “I had a Lindsay Lohan month.”

The worst of the month came when she was nearly evicted from college housing. This moment, along with friends outside of her partying circle intervening during this phase, forced Galifianakis to realize that she needed to regroup, to get back on her feet and do exactly what she came to Manhattan to do.

Achieng Radier, a close friend of Galifianakis, was present throughout the good and the bad times. “I told her she needed to change. She had a new best friend every week for a month,” says Radier. “I wanted her to realize that these people were damaging her life, not helping it.”

With the support of her old friends who actually cared about her and the image of her mother driving her to be successful, Galifianakis buckled down and slowly returned to being the joyful, light-hearted, gregarious person many had grown to love. She rid herself of anything that would negatively affect her body and her mind and began working diligently in school again.

Galifianakis also returned home intermittently to help her parents. However, this time, she would do even more than she did before. In addition to cooking and cleaning, she helped her parents organize and pay bills, patched her father’s jeans, and even managed the gardens outside the house.

Galifianakis was back to helping people and doing what she always wanted to do. It seems as if her days of continual partying at gay clubs and neglecting everything that was important to her are coming to end. Says Galifianakis, “I want to help people, and we need doctors!”

Millennials

2009-04-30T11:58:00.003-04:00

The Good, The Bad, The Millennial
By Alyssa Schwartz

The Millennials, one of the most studied generations, are the offspring of the Baby Boomers who grew up in a time of technological advancement and were raised with very different ideals and ethics than their parents.

It would seem that being a Millennial, one would have more going for them than against them. The Millennial, also known as Generation Y or the Echo Boomers, seem to be more studied and criticized for growing up in a new era than welcomed and accepted for the new ideas and knowledge that they can offer society.

Millennials appear to be defined by the fact that they were raised in a time when technology was thriving. According to the CBS News 60 Minutes report “Echo Boomers,” this generation is “a reflection of the sweeping changes in American life over the past 20 years. They are multi-taskers with cell phones, music downloads and instant messaging on the Internet.”

Is this attribute a positive factor or a negative slam at the generation?

Maria Lagis, a student at Stony Brook University says it is “100% positive.” She believes that because the Echo Boom generation grew up with all of these technologies and the ability to multi-task it will ultimately help them in the long run.

“I think we are lucky to be able to multi-task. If I wasn’t brought up knowing how to multi-task, I honestly don’t think I would make it through college,” Lagis says. “It’s necessary.”

Maria Lagis, right, and her mother.

Lagis believes that her generations’ technological skills will prove useful throughout college and into the work force.

“I feel as if the business world is changing and demanding that employees be technologically advanced. It’s a requirement for so many jobs these days,” says Lagis. “How lucky are we that we got a head start in being able to understand technology and survive situations where we might have to handle various tasks at once. I think we have the advantage.”

Steven Schwartz agrees that the Millennial generation is becoming necessary for the survival of business. He is the owner and manager of a Long Island mortgage company, and is part of the Baby Boomer generation. Schwartz finds it necessary to mix part of the Millennial generation into his company.

“It is essential to survival,” he says. ”That these people who are now entering the work force with this in depth knowledge on technology – they are necessary. They have a huge understanding of new computer programs, they know quicker and easier methods of doing work and they get the work done just as efficiently and effectively as my older employees who actually find it difficult to learn new programs and adapt to new methods.”

Schwartz admits that the idea of hiring younger people was not something he was always opened too. “Having children myself who are part of this generation, I know firsthand that they can be a little bit lazy and would probably rather be on “Facebook” than doing actual work,” he says. “I’ve learned though that people in this generation will complete any task I ask of them, even if on “Facebook” while doing it.”

Technology is not the only aspect that has contributed to shaping this generation. The way their parents raised them plays a large role in this generation’s relationship to the workplace. Marian Salzman in the 60 Minutes report “The Millennials Are Coming,” notes “that while this generation has extraordinary technical skills, childhoods filled with trophies and adulation didn't prepare them for the cold realities of work.”

The Millennial generation grew up on praises and teamwork, something that is not always a reality in the business world. Schwartz agrees with Salzman’s ideas. He realizes that he and his wife raised their children on teamwork and praises such as, “you did the best you could and that’s all that matters.”

Schwartz says, “we probably did shelter our children a lot, and it may hurt them in the end or help them. Ultimately I believe raising good and honest people is more valuable then raising people who can be tough enough to climb to the top of the workforce.”

Lagis feels that the way her parents raised her has been a positive attribute rather than a negative.

“Sure I was part of soccer teams and everyone won and life was great. That doesn’t mean I’m not capable of handling myself in real life,” Lagis says. “My parents pushed me to be the best I can be and that is something I will take with me into real life. I will always have that motivation and drive, that will help me - not hurt me.”

Millennials

2009-04-30T00:56:00.002-04:00

An Impatient Generation Full Of Team Players
By Adriana Lorenzo

They can listen to their iPods, instant message online, watch television and reply to a text message all at the same time. They share files, blog and spend hours online a day.

The above portrayal may sound like a description of a robot, but it is actually the routine of the typical member of the Millennial generation. These individuals born between 1982 and 1995 are the quintessential ‘multitaskers’ and are one of the most studied generations in recent times due to their large population and buying power.

According to two recent CBS News 60 Minutes reports, “The Echo Boomers” and “Here Come The Millennials,” this generation is of great interest not only because of their large size and spending power, but also because of their belief systems and attitudes. Also called “Echo Boomers,” this generation differs greatly in their goals and priorities from the group they echo -- their parents, the Baby Boomers.

Christina Gloria says her generation is very impatient,
but is also innovative.

While Baby Boomers were taught the only way to excel was to work extremely hard, the Millennials have been constantly praised and awarded simply for effort. “You now have a generation coming into the workplace that has grown up with the expectation that they will automatically win, and they'll always be rewarded, even for just showing up," said Mary Crane in the 60 Minutes report “Here Come The Millennials.”

The report presented members of the older generations’ concerns about the Millennials entering the workplace and their abilities to handle not only responsibilities, but also criticism. If the Millennials have been told they will always succeed, how can they handle the real world of disappointments, deadlines and critique, the report asks.

Jennifer Wright, the mother of a 16 year-old Millennial believes her and her husband’s parenting may affect her son’s career in the future.

“We have always told Connor it was OK if he didn’t get an A in a class, as long as he was trying his hardest,” Wright said. “We definitely praised him more for his efforts growing up, and even do up to this day. But in the real world, your boss isn’t going to praise you simply for participation if you aren’t working up their standards.”

The Millennials beg to differ, and even Connor had a few words to say against his mother’s concerns. “I do think we have definitely been babied too much and told too often that we did a good job when we didn’t, or won a game when we really lost,” he says. “But, we are really great at teamwork and supporting each other, and getting what we want when we want it.”

Connor’s sentiments reflect another angle of the 60 Minutes specials: the Millennials are more interested in teamwork than in the individual, and strive to do all that is required of them. CBS research showed some results: violent crime is down 60 to 70 percent among teenagers, five out of 10 Millennials trust the government, and tobacco and alcohol use are at an all-time low.

Christine Gloria, a sophomore at North Carolina State University believes her generation will accomplish great things because of their unique attitudes. “I think our parents’ generation had more of an attitude like, ‘I want to do well and I’ll take down anyone that stands in my way’,” Gloria says. “With our generation, it’s like, ‘I want to be the best, and I want all my friends to do amazing things too so we can celebrate together.’”

This generation that longs to support each other in achieving major goals, also wants to achieve them quickly. The Millennials are used to receiving whatever they want at the exact moment they want it. Unlike their parents, the Millennials do not read through endless books for research. They search the Internet and have thousands of hits on their topic in the fraction of a second. They hear a song on the radio and can download it right away.

The Millennials are accustomed to instant gratification, an attitude that will likely benefit them in the workplace.

“I think we are really impatient as a generation. I get so frustrated if my Internet connection is even a little slow,” Gloria says. “So I am confident that as a generation we will get things done quickly, but also in innovative ways.”

Millennials

2009-04-29T16:38:00.006-04:00

Millennials On The Market
By Alexandra Gardell

Millennials could possibly be the first generation to be less financially well-off than their parents. This is a fear and a reality this generation, particularly those getting ready to graduate college, are facing and trying to find ways to deal with.

New York Times columnist Bob Herbert cites reports in a column titled “Here Come the Millennials,” describing the hardships facing this generation, who range in age from early teens to their early 20s, that include worsening job prospects, lower rates of health insurance coverage and higher levels of debt.

Elis Estrada-Simpson, 21, a model student and job applicant, aspires to become a broadcast journalist. She’s near the top of her senior class at Marymount Manhattan College, and is graduating this spring with a major in Communication Arts. She can rattle off a list of internships that she has completed: ABC’s The View and One Life to Live, VH1 Productions for MTV, Resource Magazine, and NBC Nightly News.

Elis Estrada-Simpson is taking the social networking skills she picked up in college and
applying them to her job search through sites designed to help students find placement
in today's shaky market.

Estrada-Simpson plans to attend the CUNY School of Journalism in 2011 to pursue her Master’s degree in Journalism. “Undergrads usually don’t go into grad school for journalism because they already have the training, but my school did not provide that curriculum, so I want to prepare myself for grad school,” she said. In the meantime, she’s looking to gain any experience or paying jobs that she can in the field.

Lindsey Pollak, author of “Getting from College to Career: 90 Things to Do Before You Join the Real World” says students in the job search process under today’s economic conditions must “take action every single day.”

Millennials like Estrada-Simpson looking to land jobs now need to do more than the basics of finding listings online and firing off resumes. “In addition to the basics you need to show that you’re hardworking and eager. It’s what you do surrounding the bare minimum,” Pollak says in her book. That extra effort is what’s going to make the difference during these challenging times.
Below, Pollak offers an insight on how Millennials can brand themselves to compete and ultimately succeed in today’s trying job market.

Tips Tailored For Millennials
Everyone has heard horror stories of Millennials’ infamous helicopter parents, or parents who are always present, and sometimes become too involved in their child’s affairs. When it comes to the job hunt process, it’s easy for young people to want their hovering parents to back off. But Pollak suggests using their help and resources.

“The trick is to keep them in the background,” says Pollak. “Ask your parents to edit your resumes and cover letters and to practice mock interviews with you, but make them invisible to employers.”

A lot of people aren’t comfortable asking their parents for help, but if your mom or dad can introduce you to people who may be able to help you, then Pollak says to take their help. “Nobody can get you a job, but they can get you an opportunity. Let them make a phone call or send an email to make an introduction and then you can run with it. There’s no shame in that.”

Something that Pollak cannot stress enough is the importance of networking. She says to use the relationships you have with your parents, friends, your parent’s friends, professors, college alumni, college career centers, internships you’ve done. Have business cards printed with your contact information on them and carry them at all times because you never know when you will meet someone who can help.

“When you meet a recruiter at a job fair give them your card and have a conversation about a recent article you read to make yourself memorable. Send them an email that night with a well-written, targeted cover letter” says Pollak. Once you’ve made a connection, you need to follow up. “If someone at a networking event says they can help you, send them an email right away saying, ‘Thank you! Here is my resume.’”

Pollak reiterates that in this competitive environment you need to be extremely proactive, and you need to be doing more than what was acceptable in the past.

“Use all of your college skills of being on Facebook 24 hours a day and apply them in a professional environment,” Pollak says. She adds that LinkedIn is more comfortable and targeted than Monster.com or Recruiter.com. Pollak warns that sitting behind a computer is not going to get you a job, however, and reminds students of the importance of going the extra mile.

"Getting from College to Career: 90 Things to Do
Before You Join the Real World" offers practical job
search advice.

Another must-do is to immerse yourself in your desired field to keep current on happenings and learn the vocabulary. Sign up for the email list for trade publications in your industry, and do your homework on companies you would like to work for. For example, Pollak blogs on http://www.pwc.tv/, the Big Four accounting firm PricewaterhouseCooper’s site developed to give career help to college graduates. So, if your dream company offers resources like this, make sure you take advantage of them.

And don‘t forget to clean up your Internet profiles. Potential employers, colleagues, and everyone else have the ability to search you online, so make sure that you present yourself in a way that you wish to be viewed. You don’t want those Saturday night frat party pictures to come back and haunt you while you’re looking to land your first job out of college.

Using Those Skills
Estrada-Simpson says she had a full-time job offer as a production assistant come from one of her internships, but she could not accept because she was still in school. “The timing wasn’t right,” she said. Now she’s registered for job search social networking sites like LinkedIn, MassMedia.com, and MonsterTrack hoping to connect to those who can assist her in jumpstarting her career. “I haven’t sent out emails and resumes to the people I’ve met through my internships, but I’m starting that soon, letting them know I’m graduating,” she says.

Estrada-Simpson is optimistic and driven, but knows she will have to persist and work hard to make her goal a reality. “The job market is more difficult right now, but in the industry I want to get into even in good markets it’s all about being in the right place at the right time. I’ve seen several well-qualified people not do well and it all boils down to timing, luck, and who you know. I’m hoping that my timing and the connections I’ve made will work out.”

New Grads: Use Your Assets
Although it can be intimidating to compete in the job market with seasoned professionals who may have been recently laid off or are returning to the job force, students do have some advantages. Pollak says that those advantages fresh-faced grads have include enthusiasm and the fact that they’re not jaded.

Pollak says students on the prowl for jobs need to be “smarter, faster, better.” She says that they need to use all of their assets including their relationships with family and friends, their school professors and career centers, professionals they have met through internships and networking opportunities, as well as their energy and eagerness to work. They’ve got to show potential employers that they are hungry to start their careers with their follow-up and networking.

Millennials

2009-04-29T15:01:00.004-04:00

Millennials Inhabit A Different World
They have not had to confront the sins of the past
By Thomas Ford

As a generation that was born into, and has actively grown up in a largely desegregated US society, it’s probably not too far off the radar to expect a growing support for multiculturalism. Members of this generation, sometimes called Millennials and Generation Y, are said to have a growing subconscious appreciation for diversity and equality.

According to the report, “Adults of Generation Y in the US: Hitting the Demographic, Lifestyle and Marketing Mark,” by MarketReserarch.com, they are the most ethnically diverse generation in US history. So, it would only seem natural for the newcomers permeating the various ethnic communities in society to grow more accepting of one another.

Maybe.

Maybe these new attitudes should be attributed to the Millennials’ upbringing and not directly to the fact that they were born into a different type of society than previous generations.

Charlene Thomas, third from the left in the back row, with a diverse group of her friends.

One thing is for sure: these people have been born at a critical time in US history; a time when things are certainly changing. Because they are the future leaders of this country, it’s absolutely necessary that we, as a nation, take a look at how and why they are changing as human beings.

Charlene Thomas, a 20 year-old student at North Carolina State University, attributes her more accepting and culturally appreciative perspective of others to both society and the way she was raised. “I feel like I was so immersed in a diverse (school) community that I barely even realized that I was," says Thomas. “It was such a big part of my life that it had to be important.”

Thomas says when she meets someone, she sees more of the person and less of the color, but recognizes that not just the school community has contributed to her open-mindedness. “My family didn’t really teach me tolerance but practiced it so much that I never even really knew there were different types of people until at least elementary school,” she says.

Throughout her education, including middle school, and high school, Thomas lived in Maryland, a state with strong pockets of liberalism. But for college, Thomas moved to North Carolina, which is more conservative. However, Thomas found that in her transition, her peers’ outlooks were not much different than her own.

“The culture is different in North Carolina, but the people aren't, really. I get treated differently, but it isn’t because of my race or background; it's just how people treat each other down here.” She jokes, “God forbid if a boy opens the door and walks inside before (a girl!)”

It would seem that this shift in attitude and perspective is more generational than circumstantial. It’s possible that the way the Baby Boomers, the previous generation, raised the Millennials is a result of societal desegregation efforts and the change has become widespread.

In fact, many Baby Boomers have noticed a change in both their children and in themselves. Gerald Ford, 57, is a director at TSA Homeland Security with three children, ages 37, 25, and 19.

Says Ford, “(the Millennials) have grown up with little realization of racism as those in the past have. For example, they are very accustomed to interracial marriages. They did not go to schools that were consciously integrated. They were integrated because their neighborhoods were already integrated.”

Ford also believes that the current administration would not be possible without the Millennials growing up in the existing environment. “President Barack Obama is the product of an interracial marriage, but no one even notices,” Ford says. “He is president, in my opinion, because we, and in particular white America, to a great degree, have moved beyond (issues of racism).”

Of course, the Baby Boomers were a major part of this election, too. President Obama wasn’t just elected by the Millennials; the older generations had a part in it, as well. So, were they, at any time, really that different than the Millennials? Are their worlds really that different from one another?

Ford, who grew up in the 1950s and 60s, argues that the differences are vast. “If you grew up when I did, you constantly, yet unconsciously measure many things done by white Americans as to whether it is racially motivated. (Younger generations) likely do not think about that at all,” he says. “Same, I think, holds true for sexual considerations. There is much less despising towards same-sex relationships.”

If what Ford says is true, and there really are such vast differences between the two generations, then the older generations aren’t the ones leading the change; the Millennials are. They are helping to teach their parents to be more accepting, and to embrace all cultures and ethnic backgrounds. This may be because, according to Ford, “…the Millennials have not had to confront the sins of the past to a great degree.”

Says Ford, “Bottom line: it's a different world for the Millennials.”

Millennials

2009-04-29T13:04:00.005-04:00

Technological Trauma: Generation Y In the Workforce
By Heather Bates

There was once a time when people listened to music on compact disc players, used land lines to make phone calls, and dressed in professional attire to go to work. Those days are over. We are in a day and age where technology is growing every day, and there is no doubt that millions of people depend on it to get a job done.

The workforce is changing rapidly, and while Apple releases another version of iPod, businesses are becoming flexible on the types of attitudes they condone in the office. Who is responsible for these changes? None other than the “Millennials,” or Generation Y who are forcing changes in the corporate workplace.

In the past few years, CBS News 60 Minutes aired two reports centered on this generation. In 2005, the program aired “The Echo Boomers,” which was followed in 2007 by “The ‘Millennials’ Are Coming.” Both programs focused primarily on the incredibly large group of individuals that will take over where their Baby Boomer parents and Generation X left off. Businesses are being forced to adapt to the changes that these tech-friendly people are creating.

Jeremy Morris believes Millennials will need to work harder to prove themselves
in the workplace.

Some people blame Millennials’ outlook on parents who raised these demanding youths, certain that as children, constant coddling and reassurance caused them to become too spoiled and too demanding about what they are looking for in a work environment.

In “The ‘Millennials’ Are Coming,” J. Walter Thompson ad executive, Marian Saltzman said, "These young people will tell you what time their yoga class is and the day's work will be organized around the fact that they have this commitment. So you actually envy them. How wonderful it is to be young and have your priorities so clear. Flipside of it is how awful it is to be managing the extension, sort of, of the teenage babysitting pool.”

How do these young people in question view the workforce that is evolving to meet their ever-changing needs? Jeremy Morris is a sophomore business major at The University of Akron and has a lot of ideas about the world that he will enter after he graduates.

"With all of the new business graduates coming out into the job market, it is going to be a different environment in the future,” says Morris. “We're coming into an unsteady economy, and our mindset is that the market is completely different than what it was for the generations before us. Because of the situation that they put us in with bad economic decisions, we will be expected to work harder to create more progress and to turn the economic situation around," Morris says.

Melissa Rosenthal says Millennials will be expected to be technologically experienced
when they enter the workforce.

With the economy in its current messy state, many college graduates are desperate to find a job that pays the rent and guarantees them the experience they need to move up in their selected fields. Marymount Manhattan College senior Melissa Rosenthal is worried about where she will work when she graduates in the fall.

"I think that many companies have much higher expectations of graduates now than they did before,” Rosenthal says. “Even without any prior experience, they are expected to know a lot more when entering the workforce. Technology has a huge influence on that because we have grown up with it always readily available to us whenever we need it."

In "The Echo Boomers" report, the generation is said to be "totally plugged in citizens of a worldwide community." Is technology to blame for the outlook that Generation Y has on the business world today?

Morris says, "Our technology changes every single day. We're at a disadvantage because the technology that we're using now in our schools and our personal lives will be outdated by the time that we graduate. It's impossible to keep up."

It seems that some "Millennials" are worried about the changes that they are inadvertently causing. "My biggest worry now with our generation is that the next one coming up will outdate us even faster," Morris says. "I do have a lot of faith in our generation, though. We may have somewhat of a bad reputation, but we have to work much harder to prove ourselves. And we will."

Millennials

2009-04-28T10:54:00.005-04:00

Millennials Grew Up With The World At Their Fingertips
By Raquel A. Castillo

It's 1993 and you’re kicking back after school while eating your Lunchable and drinking Capri Sun left over from snack time. You plop down in front of the TV after surfing past little Michelle from Full House saying "You got it, dude" to uncle Jesse then on to the next channel where you stop to rap the entire opening theme song from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Aire.

Suddenly, you know you can't go wrong with the Nickelodeon channel because there is a loud buzzing sound blaring from the TV. But you saw this coming all along. You know the buzzing only means one thing -- that kid "is toast." Anxiously anticipating his fate you slurp the last drop of juice from the silver Capri Sun pouch and then it happens, the moment you have been waiting for. That "total loser" gets splattered in slime! "Boo-ya!" Everyone got "slimed" on Nickelodeon.

If you can't relate to the story above then you are most likely not a parent of, or a member of the coolest and most popular generation to hit planet earth, the Millennials, also known as the Echo Boomers. According to the CBS News 60 Minutes report, “The Echo Boomers” there are about 80 million people in the generation born between 1982 and 1995.

Jeff Aldna (left) and Chetra Nhem. Aldna says his values differ from the "traditional
spoiled American kids."

Jeff Aldana, a 22 year-old Echo Boomer says that his favorite things about our generation are fruit-roll ups snacks and the Internet. "The Internet has impacted our generation big time and has provided us with originality,” Aldana says. “We literally grew up with the world at our fingertips" When asked, what he would like to change about our generation, Aldana said, "I wouldn't change a thing." He stopped to think about it again, and added, "well except for our current recession, I would definitely change that!"

Aldana’s confidence and pride in his generation is admirable, yet eerily consistent with the studies that have been conducted on the “oh so hot topic” of the Millennials. The 60 Minutes report said that, "they were raised by doting parents who told them they are special, played in little leagues with no winners or losers, or all winners."

Although Aldana says that statement could not be further from the truth in his case. Aldana says that being the first generation of his family to grow up in the US has affected his "Millennialism" a bit. Good grades needed to be the best grades, and a better life for their family was the eye on the prize while maintaining strict cultural values which Aldana says differ from those of "traditional spoiled American kids."

The 60 Minutes report boasts tons of valuable information that proves that the Millennials claim to fame is going to be more than just 15 minutes. The documentary states that although, "only a small percentage are eligible to vote, they are already one of the most studied generations in history by sociologists, demographers and marketing consultants."

Why the scientific interest? Sociologists are interested in Echo Boomer’s numbers because they make up nearly one-third of the US population. Marketing consultants are very interested in learning about Millennial lifestyles because they spend $170 billion a year of their own and their parents' money.

Along with Aldana's echoing voice booming with praise for the Internet’s impact on creating a savvier, well-rounded generation, the impact of instant gratification could be one reason for the perception that Millennials have had it a little too easy.

We will be the first generation to not have to wait for our 25th high school reunions to catch up and see how old friends and foes ended up. Within a couple of minutes on Facebook.com, one can pretty much find their entire first grade class if they really wanted to.

Joanne Morton, an entrepreneur and artist living in New York City, and a member of Generation X, says, "10 years ago, the only face books we had were books about faces."

Now that the era of the year books are gone, even non-Echo Boomer generations are benefiting from the new social networks.

Are there just as many disadvantages to instantaneous information and instant gratification that we receive as there are perks? According to Aldana who just logged into his Facebook account from his Blackberry and became the 337th member of a group called "The Fruit Roll-ups Fan Club," the answer is no.

"Life just doesn't get better than that."

Millennials

2009-04-27T18:12:00.002-04:00

Your Fear Of Millennials Is Not Our Fault
By Gabriella Calabro

While many people in today’s society worry over terrorist attacks, illegal immigration, and the downward spiral of the economy, CEOs and managers have something much more serious to focus on — Millennials.

The generation of people under 30 is graduating college and entering the workforce, and although their main worry is how to find a job in today’s market, their future bosses have other fears.

This generation born between 1982 and 1995 causes so much concern that CBS News 60 Minutes did a report in 2007 titled “The Millennials Are Coming,” that warned people how this generation would affect the workplace. As the Millennials get older and more of them are graduating college, the fear of how managers should handle them also grows’ according to the report.

Dozens of books and articles have been published that advise older generations how to work with Millennials. Although the 60 Minutes report tries to portray this generation in a negative light, they don’t do a very good job. They warn future employers that, “They multitask, talk, walk, listen and type, and text.” How horrible that must be.

The website for Generations at Work lists the characteristics of Millennials as, “Confident, hopeful, goal- and achievement-oriented, civic-minded, and inclusive.” As a part of this generation, it may be more difficult for me to understand, but do the Baby Boomer and Gen X CEOs and bosses want unconfident, unmotivated, lazy employees? That’s what it seems like if these are the traits they are complaining about.

Wallace Fischer, director of operations for The Boston Group of Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, , who has two children and an assistant who are part of the Millennial generation also does not understand the worry. “The limited exposure I have had is positive,” Fischer said. “I sense that this generation has a work ethic that has been missing in previous generations.”

Although he is exactly the audience that the 60 Minutes report tried to target, the message of fear seems to have missed him.

The “anti-Millennials movement” seems to lack clarity and structure. We are being penalized for being a generation in which trophies and rewards were given just for participation, and for being a generation who often never heard “no.”

Interestingly, it is not the Millennials’ fault. The children of the generation should not be getting blamed for something that they had no control over. The parents, teachers, coaches, and leaders of the Millennials, all of whom are part of either the Baby Boomers or Generation X, are the ones who encouraged the behavior, and are now the ones who are criticizing the effects of it.

So are they really blaming themselves? Are only people of the Baby Boom generation without kids, or without kids in this generation, writing these articles? This certainly is not clear when reading the articles.

While some people are enraged about what is being said, others seem to understand. “I think people have always been kind of scared of us,” says Lindsay Dowling a 19 year-old college student. “I remember being in middle school and teachers would be intimidated by us. We have an upper hand on technology, and ultimately there’s more of us than there are them, and it makes sense that they’re scared, but that’s not our fault.”

It is natural for the previous generation to be nervous that all their hard work will be disregarded and replaced, but the way they are handling it makes them look childish. They are projecting their fears onto the newer generation and making the younger people look as though they need to be tamed and have no idea what they are doing, when in reality the older generation just does not know how to handle themselves.

Fischer does not show any fear about the new generation. “I’m not nervous, every generation has to learn to lead, and there will always be capable leaders, it’s just finding out who they are,” he said.

It’s comforting to know that some Baby Boomer business people are confident in the Millennials.

Millennials

2009-04-27T18:08:00.002-04:00

Echo Boomers Versus Baby Boomers
By Katy Berninger

You're watching TV, browsing the Internet, and texting your friends at the same time. If this sounds familiar to you then you are most likely an Echo Boomer. According to CBS News 60 Minutes report, “Echo Boomers” there were of 80 million people born between 1982 and 1995. They are called Echo Boomers because they are the offspring of that other famous generation, the Baby Boomers.

Echo Boomers have grown up in a digital age where they are surrounded by technology, and multitasking is their way of life. However, they fascinate many researchers not for the unique way in which they have grown up, but because they are the biggest consumers, influencing product development and the way in which companies advertise. And because they are a new breed of workers who are entering the workforce.

The power that Echo Boomers have is changing the way in which corporations are thinking about demographics. A 2008 article from Fortune Magazine discussed this new phenomenon when the auto industry began to decline. The car companies’ ray of hope has come in the form of this new technologically savvy generation. Companies like Toyota and General Motors are focusing on Echo Boomers with sleeker, cooler designs in the hopes that they will purchase their vehicles and save the auto industry from it's slump.

While Echo Boomers are being seen as a highly influential group of people, there are some who look down on the young generation who, some say, have different priorities than their older counterparts. People like Marian Salzman, who was featured in one of the 60 Minutes reports, have noticed that some Echo Boomers walk into offices believing that they deserve to be the best without putting in any effort. Salzman says she notices an attitude from her younger employees where they think that anyone over the age of 30 is, “old, redundant, and should be retired.”

While Salzman does mention that there are plenty of Echo Boomers who are hardworking and willing to pay their dues, it's important to take a look at why some employers might see their younger employees as careless.

When asked whether she thought Echo Boomers were lazy or just misunderstood, Ana Caruso, 22, says, “I think we're misunderstood. By no means are we lazy. I think what older generations don't realize is just because we don't think or work like they do doesn't mean they we don't have goals or ambitions.”

Caruso touches on an important difference between a younger generation who is used to getting what they want quickly, and an older generation who had to work harder for their information. Just because Echo Boomers can gather data swiftly does not mean they aren't taking their jobs seriously.

In response to the negative comments made in the 60 Minutes report on Echo Boomers, Bobby Harold, 19 says, “When I think about it, I see why older people would find it hard to understand us.” When asked why he believes that, Harold says, “because, they grew up going to the library and spending hours trying to find one piece of information while I Google something and I immediately have pages and pages of resources in less than a minute.”

Harold is right, and one has to realize this difference before immediately criticizing, whether you're an Echo Boomer or a Baby Boomer. Caruso says, “maybe what needs to happen is the Echo Boomers should walk a day in the older generation's shoes, and vice versa. Maybe a respect would develop from that.”

Sixty Minutes is quick to point out the differences between the two generations, but what we need to do is see the similarities. Echo and Baby Boomers may work differently, and think differently but everyone wants to be successful and happy. If the Echo Boomers and the older generations can come together, then maybe there can be less of a misunderstanding and a thriving workforce can develop from their unique experiences.

Millennials

2009-04-24T08:04:00.005-04:00

Guilty, But So What?
By Sydney Zarp

Getting dressed every morning for work I base what I wear on how I feel that day. Sometimes when I’m tired I wear plain blue jeans with tennis shoes, while other times I may feel energized and wear a flowery spring dress. Whatever the decision, it is not based on what I think the boss or the company expects me to wear.

Some people may think I have an attitude problem, or maybe I am revolting against society by my making my own dress code. These two conclusions would seem like reasonable explanations, but after much discussion and research it turns out that I am a victim of my generation.

Bridgett Ryan, 20, believes Generation Y should
rewrite the corporate dress code.

This process of only thinking about my personal feelings when getting dressed is a defined characteristic of the self-absorbed ‘Echo Boomer’ who are also known as Generation Y. Defined as people born between 1982 to 1995, we have become a highly visible generation, according to researchers interviewed for the CBS 60 Minutes report, “The Millennials Are Coming.” With more than 80 million of us populating the land, we have given older generations something to think about.

Jeans with flip-flops, iPod headphones in our ears and the cell phone within reach is how most of us twenty somethings grew up. Being a part of this well-studied generation, I find I am worn out by the overload of information from other people telling me how “we” act. Researchers and psychologists are picking apart and analyzing every detail of our soon-to-be meaningful lives in the business world.

Well, I am tired of everyone telling me how I should act in the workplace, or how I lack face-to-face communication skills, because I was raised with e-mail and text messages. So my question is, what is the point of all these researchers warning everyone about the supposed dysfunction of our generation. Can’t they just sit back and enjoy the Gen Y?

Change is going to happen no matter what information they find, even if it is about our unconventional childhood. Every generation has brought uneasy change to the stubborn elders. Yes, we may be the biggest generation yet, but that doesn’t mean we are the most controversial to hit the workforce.

Being shuttled around from one activity to another planned activity is how the majority of Generation Y’s grew up. Our stay at home moms focused all their attention on raising confident and self-assuring children. Every child felt as if they were special, getting awards and ribbons for simply participating, without actually trying to excel. But, we realized quickly that if we put a little effort into things we got big rewards. Our elementary classes were small, with teachers focused on our happiness and offering individual attention. We are the kids of Baby Boomers, and our relationships with our parents couldn’t be better.

Looking over the supposed facts Generation Y, I still wonder what the older generation thinks of us. When talking Barbara Colby, 83, who is a parent of three Baby Boomers, the somewhat negative tone in her voice clearly shows her feelings about the younger generation.

“The population in general was smaller back then, making it all around less competitive,” says Ms. Colby. “The kids today have a different work ethic, they didn’t see anyone working for the luxuries, they just got them.”

Ms. Colby also believes that it is insane that households have more then one TV and computer. She feels that the drive for materialistic things is to blame for our demanding attitudes. Even so, she still offered some lighter moments.

“Although what do I know, maybe the kids now will have happier lives always full of constant entertainment.”

Ms. Colby’s insights are very different than those of Bridget Ryan, 20, who is an avid blog reader and has her own blogspot.

“I always work hard and am enthusiastic about going to my internship,” says Ryan. “A lot of the other interns are so eager to please, and I see myself following suit.”

Ryan believes that technology is a blessing in disguise. She says she is constantly checking her work e-mails, even after hours. “I love being in constant contact, but sometimes I wish I could turn it off.”

Her fondest hope for Generation Y, she says, is that they will rewrite the corporate dress code. Her blogspot is all about fashion and shoes, and she feels what better time than now for change.

Generation Y may be the most researched generation yet. But without reading the reports we know that the competition is higher and the toughest it has been in years, and a college education is standard, including graduate school. With our non-traditional dress code changes, and the variety of ways we communicate, I’m proud to be part of biggest and most driven generation yet, regardless whether researchers have anything positive to say about us.

My only fear is what they will say about Generation Y’s children in the coming years.

Movie Reviews

2009-04-04T15:51:00.005-04:00

Who’s Watching You?
Movie Review
By Gabriella Calabro

Watchmen is still playing in nearby theatres.

Taking a break from the usual nonsense of stereotypical "romantic comedies," I found myself enthralled by the action-packed, reminiscent love story and hero adventure film, Watchmen. Having no prior knowledge of the storyline from the graphic novel, published by DC Comics in the late 1980s, following the story was pretty easy.

The first few scenes were filled with visually amazing flashbacks from "the way things used to be" for superheroes. This part of the story is similar to Pixar's The Incredibles, in which a group of superheroes who the public no longer deemed helpful and were shunned, still try to make a comeback to save the world. These first few scenes of Watchmen were not only historically based, but also rather provocative for the period they represented. Shot as pictures that come to life, the aesthetic quality of the first few scenes is definitely unique.

The music features songs written by Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and Phillip Glass, and performed by Jimi Hendrix, Tears for Fears, KC and the Sunshine Band, and others. Although not what you would expect for this type of movie, the songs help illustrate the passage of time and identify the decades shown in the film

Once back in the present day, the lighting dims and the sets become drearier. Having directed both Watchmen and 300, director Zack Snyder exhibits offbeat lighting, and distinct cinematic styling that adds to the high action-packed scenes in the film, and made the romantic scenes that much more intimate. Following the love triangle of Nite Owl, played by Patrick Wilson, Laurie Jupiter, played by Malin Akerman, and the ever-glowing Dr. Manhattan, played by Billy Crudup, kept hopeless romantics engaged in the otherwise superhero action movie.

Fighting against an unknown enemy, the superheroes reconnected to keep each other, and ultimately the world safe. Rorschach, the name matched the mask that simulated the famous ink-blot tests, played by Jackie Earle Haley, was the primary leader in getting the group together, and became the character audiences loved to hate. Yes, he forced the team to fight against their will, but their teamwork saved the world.

Having gotten mixed reviews at the box office, people should go see it and make up their own minds. Be sure to clear your day, because the movie runs a little over two and a half hours. Although some parts of the movie do drag, it clearly explains what’s going on and answers any questions the audience may have. No matter what has been said, the movie made more than $55 million in just one weekend, according to chacha.com, and has so far grossed nearly $100 million. I say watch the movie, become part of the phenomenon and join the Watchmen debate.

City Life

2009-04-01T04:57:00.008-04:00

Acting Through The Hard Times
By Alyssa Schwartz

Entertainment is often seen as recession proof. Even in bad times, people still want to watch their favorite television shows and see the next big movie. However, with big companies, such as NBC Universal and Disney cutting their budgets and laying off people, it’s easy to see how college students pursuing an acting career believe they are entering an extremely risky job market.

According to Time.com, NBC Universal is cutting $500 million from next year's budget and Viacom's Paramount Pictures is shrinking its slate from 25 movies a year to 20. Even if one is fortunate enough to book a paying acting job, there are many factors that make an acting career increasingly difficult.

Like most college students, actors leave college with a significant amount of debt. If they want to jump into their acting careers, they will often be required to move to a big city, pay large amounts of money for a talent agent, get great headshots and look fabulous, always. So, how does one manage these expenses, while still paying off college debt?

Rachel Cohen, an acting major from Boston University says she has a plan to succeed. “I will not sleep for the next 10 years,” She says. With the cost of living in a big city such as New York or Los Angeles on the rise, Cohen’s plan includes a lot more than just not getting sleep. With graduation rapidly approaching, Cohen has calculates she will have to pay off almost $40,000 in student loans.

Rachel Cohen wants to move to New York
to pursue acting in the theater

“I am worried about it. I’m going out, hoping to book a job in this unstable economy and I already have this huge burden on my shoulders,” Cohen says. The debt will affect Cohen in many ways. She plans to make the move to New York City to try a career as theater actress.

“Realistically, I understand that my ultimate dream of getting a job on Broadway is probably not going to happen right away,” Cohen says. “So, I want to find a job in which I can work at night; therefore I can go on auditions all day.”

Getting a job as a waiter is a tip that Cohen received from friends and peers who have graduated before her. The pay is good, the tips are better, and it would give her the time to go on auditions without missing an opportunity to bring in money.

Cohen is not the only actor who has been hit by college debt. Ariella Klein, who graduated from NYU last spring, continues to struggle to make it as an actor living in New York City. “It sucks, but there are ways to make it work. We’re [actors] creative people; we should be able to find creative ways to succeed in the business,” Klein says

Ariella Klein is a struggling New York actor.

One of the ways in which Klein has been able to get around the costs of being an actor is by through her contacts. “At NYU, I had a friend who was a photography major. She took my headshots. It saved a lot of money because I didn’t go to some industry professional. They look just as good, if you ask me.”

According to Cohen, using the resources you have at your disposal is not only a great skill to have in life, it will also help save a lot of money in the beginning stages of your career.

Peter Allas says despite hard times, actors
should follow their passion.

Peter Allas dealt with all of these concerns when he graduated from Fordham University in 1983 and now with the current economy, he is dealing with similar issues all over again.

“After graduating I lived in New York and worked various jobs as a waiter and a chef, which was a large source of income,” Allas says. “I paid off debt slowly as money came in. It’s tough at first, but worth it.” Allas believes that becoming an actor now is harder than it was 25 years ago. And it was hard then.

“The Screen Actors Guild is now debating a strike. There would be thousands and thousands of actors out of work. It would be real bad for the industry. I mean, look at last year’s writer’s strike. It cost the industry millions and so many jobs were lost,” Allas said.

The problems with the industry combined with the fact that students will need to pay off loans and pay for their career needs in the midst of a recession makes the road to acting success much more difficult. But Allas offers beginning actors a word of advice.

“If acting is your passion, nothing should or will stop you. You have to push through. It will be hard, but it will be worth it in the end.”

College Life

2009-03-30T07:27:00.001-04:00

Looking For A Way Around Debt?
Why not just take on more
By Holly Dougherty

There are the lucky few that get to go through four years of college debt free and when they get out the world is their oyster.

Then there are the rest of us. Those of us who are leaving college four or more years later with an almost useless Bachelor of Arts degree have what could easily be over $100,000 in debt in an economy in which professionals are getting laid off.

So what is a 22-year-old unemployed educated person to do? Stay in school. When there are no jobs, some people feel that the best thing to do is continue their education and rack up more debt.

Evan Schapiro, a 2007 University of Pennsylvania graduate, says, “I worked in advertising for a while but I wasn’t happy with my job so I decided to quit, and when the economy went south I was not able to find a new one.”

Schapiro says after a slew of odd jobs he decided that the only way to strengthen his resume was with more education. “In the fall I am going to NYU for a Masters in Spanish Secondary Education,” he said.

New York University isn’t known for its financial aid so Schapiro will likely pay for his degree in student loans. “I know that I am taking a financial risk going back to school, but I also don’t think that more education is bad thing,” he says. “If anything, I will be able to get a good job that I like with a master’s degree from a school like NYU. I am not too worried.”

Schapiro isn’t alone. Jared Bardugone, a 2008 Marymount Manhattan College graduation is in a similar situation. “I graduated MMC with a BA in Theater Arts. Not the most lucrative degree,” says Bardugone. “It also didn’t help that I fell out of love with acting around the end of my sophomore year. I took a year off to record with my band and figure out what I really wanted to do. I realized that I always had a passion for writing, but since I did not have much experience I decided to go back to school for a second BA in Journalism.”

Bardugone was actually one of the lucky, the debt free graduates. So why ruin a good thing? “I was still living at home and not making money,” he says. “I was going absolutely no where with my degree because I didn’t want to use it. I can actually transfer most of my credits to the colleges I applied to so I am actually only about a year and half away from a BA in Journalism, and am looking into state schools that would also save me money.”

Their tales are not uncommon. I’m also one of them. I am graduating MMC with over $100,000 in loans. Come August, I begin Seton Hall University Law School, which will cost me $28,000 a year plus living expensive (close to $15,000 a year). All of this is after you subtract my $10,000 scholarship. So why the mounting debt? If I am to try and get a job in May the most I will probably make is $32,000 (if I can even get a job). After I receive my law degree, a starting salary for a law firm in New York is about $160,000. It’s a gamble but it’s a much better option than my other option.

We all know that we are not guaranteeing a better salary in two to three years. But we are buying time -- time for the economy to bounce back and for the job market to pick up. When we get out in a better place than we are now, we will be more educated than many of our classmates who took odd jobs, were on unemployment for extended periods, or took administrative jobs to get by. We are improving our resumes, but maybe not our bank accounts.

But then again, who is, but AIG executives?

College Life

2009-03-23T07:15:00.005-04:00

College Costs: Debt Or Delay?
By Heather Bates

It's no secret that the cost of education increases every year. Due to tuition rates constantly rising, and the horrible state of the economy, students are finding it harder and harder to fund their college education. It all comes down to a choice: is it worth the money? Various students have different opinions about what the cost of an education is truly worth.

In fact, nineteen year old Frank Pietrangeli, a struggling photographer, was forced to postpone his goal of moving to New York City for college because he couldn't afford it. When asked if financial reasons were the cause of him waiting an extra year to attend school, Pietrangeli replied, "Yes, it seemed like just when I had saved enough, and I felt confident to support myself, I'd look at the cost of rent for one month and tend to reconsider. I'd keep saving and saving."

According to Finaid.corg, on average, a college student's tuition tends to increase roughly 8% a year. This means that a student attending a private college can end up paying over $1,500 dollars more every other semester. Because most colleges do not lock in their tuition rates, this means that by the time a student graduates, he or she could owe close to $8,000 dollars more than when they started their freshman year. Collegeboard.com estimates that private four-year colleges and universities average around $25,143 dollars yearly.

For a student paying this much money to attend a school, such high tuition increases are hardly welcomed. Not only are tuition rates rising, but the cost of other financial necessities, such as books and computers are also more expensive than many students can afford. Is a college senior prepared to enter the workforce with so much debt to worry about?

Stephanie Aubel questions whether the price of pursuing her
dream of becoming an artist is worth it.

College sophomore Stephanie Aubel decided to attend the Art Institute of Boston for a degree in the Fine Arts regardless of the cost, but she questions the amount of debt that she's amassing. The school that the young art student attends costs her almost $40,000 dollars a year including room and board. “I don't understand why I ever believed that this kind of debt was worth it," says Aubel. Sometimes, I realize the weight of my so-called dreams."

With such expensive school bills, where are students and their parents coming up with the money? It all comes down to loans. Some students are forced to take out both private and government funded loans just to afford their college or university of choice.

These come with an even higher price, as most loans have interest rates of 8% or 9%. This means that a student can practically double the amount that they owe by the time they finish school. With a mere six months of room to breathe after graduating before beginning payments, college graduates are forced to come up with a way to start paying their loan companies almost immediately.

Frank Pietrangeli says descending into
a pit of debt may help create respect for
an education.

When asked about the cost of education and how it is worsened by today’s economy, Pietrangeli says, “I think it's ridiculous. No one should have to plummet themselves into a pit of debt for an education. But at the same time I also feel it pushes those who have the strength to better themselves. It gives you a sense of respect for what it is that you're doing."

Ultimately, the question is, do students feel that the money they are paying for an education is worth it? Aubel can only hope that it is.

“My opinion of debt and dreams constantly shifts, Aubel says."I am always crushed under the cost of my choice, but I know there's no backing out now. I've already put myself in so much debt that I need to work as hard as I can for my future. Is this money worth it? God, do I hope so.”

City Life

2009-03-23T07:03:00.004-04:00

Struggling To Benefit From Financial Stress
By Thomas Ford

The thought of any person or business actually benefiting from the current economic crisis and the subsequent debt of struggling Americans is repulsive to most people. But what many do not realize is that those who are now benefiting were not too long ago the ones struggling to stay afloat in this time of severe financial difficulty.

It was just ten months ago that Tamara Strickland, 37, was on the brink of filing for bankruptcy. Her house payment had skyrocketed from $1,500 a month to about $4,800/month. With two children, a new Lexus and new Escalade, money was running low. “(My husband and I) stopped paying on our credit cards in order to maintain our mortgage and the household bills,” says Strickland, a Silver Spring, Maryland native. “We were scared of losing our house.”

Advised by her parents, she and her husband filed for bankruptcy on all of their credit cards. They felt defeated and helpless until their lawyer came up with an idea to salvage their wellbeing by covertly exploiting the current financial crisis. “Our lawyer threatened our mortgage company that we were going to include the house (when filing for bankruptcy),” says Strickland. The mortgage company, frightened by the amount of money they would have lost if Strickland and her husband had filed bankruptcy on their house, “…reduced [their] mortgage payment (by) $1,700.”

Although, their financial situation has seemingly returned to period in their lives when times were much better, she advises others: “If you can help it, do not refinance your house numerous times. That’s what got us in trouble in the first place.”

Thrift stores, like Housing Works are attracting new customers
that may be around for the long-term.

Achieng Radier, a 19 year-old resident of New York City, fortunately does not have refinancing in her track record, but she has surely felt the weight of America’s tense financial situation. Says Radier, “My mother got laid off in November of 2008. In my (hometown, Poughkeepsie, New York), a lot of the small businesses have closed. Even the small gyms have closed. Mom and Pop stores are gone. There really isn’t anything new opening (besides) huge chains or department stores.”

Radier has actually found refuge in these department stores. She has been taking advantage of many of them dropping prices on goods because so few people can afford them. “This is the best time to buy,” she says. “If you have money to buy things at the price that they are now, you just won’t need them when the prices go back up because you’ll have already purchased them for the same value just at a lesser price.”

Later, with a smile, Radier admits that she recently bought a Ralph Lauren sweater, valued at $98 for just under $40. A sophomore at City College of New York, Radier says that it is easier than people think to benefit from the state of our economy right now. “Just keep a look out for good sales,” she jokes.

Sales are popping up everywhere—from upscale boutiques on Fifth Avenue to small electronic stores in Times Square, and to thrift shops that permeate New York City, and particularly Housing Works Thrifts Shops. These shops are just one of the many faces of the Housing Works organization.

“(Housing Works) is actually a nonprofit,” says Melissa Carter, a 27-year old Brooklyn resident who is visual merchandiser for the thrift shops, located in Yorkville, the Upper East Side, the Upper West Side, Chelsea, Gramercy, Tribeca, the West Village, and Brooklyn. “All of our proceeds go to people who are dealing with two parallel issues: AIDS and homelessness.”

Unfortunately, they, too, have felt the effects of the current recession. Because everything in these shops has been donated, including the mannequins, it is difficult for them to prosper when people are not donating. And lately, that has been the case. Says Carter, “…people are donating less because they are getting rid of less. So, we’re down because our store is based off of donations.” She adds, “As far as the Gucci and Prada, we receive very, very less of that.”

Because so much less is being donated to the shops, Housing Works has had more sales than usual. “We’ve kind of dumbed down our prices a little bit,” says Carter. “We (also) have promotions, like three-dollar pants or fifty percent off on jackets and women’s suits.”

But even through all of this, Housing Works has, in a way, been able to take advantage of the current financial instability. Although they are not making as much of a profit as they once were, their sales have caught the attention of a lot of customers, especially working-class clients. There are presumably more people searching for sales and promotions now than there were before the recession.

So, when people hear of such low prices on such high-quality products, they tend to flock to these shops. In kind of a backwards way, Housing Works is creating a clientele that may not have necessarily known about them or been willing to feel as though they were compromising their integrity to shop at a thrift shop, had it not been for the recession. While the shops were once struggling and feeling the weight of the economic crisis, they have now been able to possibly attract long-term customers.

These thrift shops and a few people may be slowly getting back on their feet and can admit that at one point, times were tough and that they were struggling, but now, times appear somewhat brighter.

College Life

2009-03-23T06:56:00.003-04:00

Confessions Of A Recessionista
Move over high fashion, recessionistas are on the rise.
By Adriana Lorenzo

New York City is considered one of the fashion capitals of the world. But looking good in the city has its price, and with the current recession the price tags are looking heftier than ever. The fashion industry has always been seen as a place where only the strong survive. But recently, even top names in the industry have suffered.

Saks Fifth Avenue is laying off people, Macy’s is shutting down stores, New York Fashion Week scaled back with many designers opting out, and LA Fashion Week disappeared completely. In this survival of the fashionably fittest, where even the most luxury names are suffering, how do aspiring fashion students even stand a chance?

Enter the recessionistas, those style mavens who still manage to make a fashion statement while staying on a tight budget during hard times.

College students in general across the country are struggling with debt, expensive textbooks and finding cheap meals. On top of this, fashion students are expected to purchase materials for endless school projects and dress a certain way, following trends to make impressions and get ahead in the industry.

“It is definitely not easy being a fashion student,” says Cristina Nuñez, a sophomore fashion merchandising major at the Fashion Institute of Technology. “Being a college student is expensive in general. But going to school in New York City is incredibly expensive.”

Nunez moved from Miami, Fla. to pursue her lifelong passion for the fashion industry. Nuñez was well aware of the more than $5,000 a semester tuition for FIT, that did not include housing. But she didn’t realize how much of a struggle pursuing her dreams would truly be.

Cristina Nunez found this bargain
outfit for a class assignment

Many of Nuñez’s peers share in her sentiments. James Murphy, also a sophomore at FIT, recalls joking with his family and friends about how as an aspiring fashion student he would likely be poor the rest of his life.

“Now that I am actually living and working in this industry, I realize how hard it is going to be to make it big and have money,” Murphy said. “I have to really balance my budget in order to have enough to buy clothes, materials for my projects, and oh yeah, occasionally eat.”

Various classes at FIT contain major projects such as creating life-size window displays, designing a seasonal clothing line, and as student Drew Tyndall recalls, “putting on a fashion show in class.”

The "A+" projects are typically the most detailed and creative, and likely required the most money spent on supplies. “My group decided to produce an Alice in Wonderland themed show,” Tyndall said. “We split the costs of the show’s programs, invitations, favors and the actual outfits on display. But it still ended up being pretty costly.”

In an effort to save money, students often get creative when making purchases for their school assignments, or even for their everyday wardrobe. For one of her class assignments, Nuñez was asked to dress up as a well-known style icon. She chose to dress as singer Katy Perry, and to stay within her budget, she found all the items for her costume at discount stores.

“I go to vintage shops or flea markets whenever I can and find great deals,” Nuñez said. “I also make my own clothes sometimes and hair accessories. Mixing and matching is also a big part of expanding my wardrobe.” Her entire costume cost under $20 and she got an A.

Despite the grim presence of a slumping economy in the usual glitzy world of fashion, most fashion students are not worried about their futures in the industry. Many believe that the key to their futures is making connections early on through internships or part-time jobs.

“The industry is extremely competitive as is, even without the current economic crisis,” Murphy said. “I have already interned for a top designer and worked my butt off for various fashion weeks. I am confident the hard work I put in now will pay off when I am actually hunting for a job.”

During these tough economic times, fashion lovers and college students alike can take pointers from these FIT students when looking toward the future. They are a prime example that one does not always have to have a large disposable income to look and feel good.

“Everyone is suffering right now, and all industries are hurt by this recession,” Tyndall said. “I am confident everything will turn around though, and in the mean time we can just find the best ways to be fabulous on a budget.”

City Life

2009-03-23T06:47:00.003-04:00

More Than A Mortgage
By Alexandra Gardell

JoAnne Chernish, 26, lost her job as a receptionist when her company downsized and has since re-enrolled in college to complete her bachelor’s degree. She is now living with anxiety that she will be unable to meet her monthly condominium mortgage and association fees. “I might be living on the streets soon because I’m about to run out of unemployment and I don’t have any job opportunities until after I graduate this spring,” Chernish says.

Chernish lives in Beacon Hill, a New Jersey condominium community that was built in 1989. She is part of the “Mount Laurel Program” that provides affordable housing units with lower assessment fees to lower income residents. Chernish says that her current financial situation has forced her to put payments like medical bills on the back burner because her housing fees are a priority. “I need a roof over my head,” she says anxiously.

JoAnne Chernish has to decide which bills to pay each month.

For condo owners, it’s not just mortgage payments, but also association fees, or assessments that cover costs for maintaining common areas that come due each month. The current Beacon Hill association fee is $200 a month.

“We’re responsible for everything from the paint on the walls out. That monthly fee takes care of the landscaping, sidewalks, parking lots, the pool, and all common amenities,” says Carole Branin, the Community Association Manager for Beacon Hill.

Beacon Hill, like a number of housing communities throughout the US, is feeling the effects of the subprime mortgage bust. At the time it was built, people with limited incomes could qualify for adjustable rate mortgages enabling them to purchase homes that they really could not afford. In this case, the initial monthly mortgage rate started very low, making ownership appear within reach. A few years later, when these homeowners had settled in, their mortgage rates began to rise to levels that they could not afford.

Attorney Bill Singer, who has been hired by Branin’s association to resolve some delinquent accounts explained that, “Four or five years ago people were putting down 1% or 2% to buy houses they couldn’t possibly afford.” These skyrocketing rates caused many condominium owners to ask themselves the question of which was more important to pay off: their monthly mortgage or their monthly association fee?”

Singer says most people caught in this predicament opted for paying their mortgage every month, not realizing that the condominium association has legal rights to the money as well. The association then hires an attorney to handle the collection process. Owners will get a collection letter stating the amount owed. If there is no response, a lien may be put on the property, which means that the unpaid assessment will be documented in public records. The next step is filing a judgment lawsuit against the individual.

For condo owners who have fallen into foreclosure, either by the bank or the association, there’s a pecking order as to who collects money in the event of foreclosure: first is the bank that holds the mortgage, second is the association, next come any other creditors that may have lent money to the homeowner.

The worst case scenario is a person is up to date on their mortgage but very delinquent on their association fees. This can lead to the association foreclosing on the unit and not the bank. The association then gets stuck with the unit, spends money to fix it up, and then is unable to sell it.

“I have had some owners come to me and say they can’t afford their assessments,” says Branin. “I don’t want to see anybody lose their home, so I say, ‘Draft a payment plan that you will pay X amount on specific dates and present it to me and we’ll see what we can work out.’ We haven’t had to actually foreclose on anyone in my property yet, but there are some condo owners who are walking a tight rope,” he says.

Singer said that he has definitely seen increases of late payments in recent months, due to many people being dislocated from their jobs. “I work with about twenty condominium associations, and I tell those clients that it’s the most aggressive associations that protect themselves. When they tell me someone owes $6,000 or some other high amount I ask them, ‘Why didn’t you do something about this then?’ You’ll pay whoever puts the most pressure on you.”

Singer adds, “I find that condo owners respond to a threat of foreclosure, because it means there’s fear that they could actually lose their house. That tension makes them respond more than any monetary charge.”

What’s happening now?
President Obama recently proposed the “Making Home Affordable Plan,” in which the federal government would bailout homeowners who are delinquent in their mortgages and association fees to help people stay in their homes. “Taxes and utilities costs are all up now,” says Branin. “Who’s going to bailout all of these homeowners? Mr. Obama. I don’t know how, but that’s apparently the plan.”

In addition, association fees and taxes are being raised to help associations meet their demands. “If ten out of one hundred owners aren’t paying, then the other 90% need to pick to it up,” says Singer. “It’s easy to feel jilted, but the associations still have the expenses. It’s everything, shoveling snow, cutting the lawn, and they are getting the services but not having to pay for them. Let me just say we have a lot of people come in to pay on May 15 because they want to use the pool.”

City Life

2009-03-23T06:43:00.002-04:00

Money Determines Your Level Of Medical Care
By Erin Maguire

Dillon McCarthy is a happy, healthy 20 year-old student at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. However, his whole life would have been different were it not for his family’s private medical care. McCarthy found this out at age nine. "I was sledding to one of my friends’ house who had a long hill type driveway, and I actually sledded down the driveway, into the street and got hit by a car," McCarthy said.

McCarthy was brought to Framingham Union Hospital in Framingham, Massachusetts suffering from a broken femur, which is the bone connecting his hip to his knee, and a cracked knee cap. Three procedures later, including a large operation in which a two inch pin was put in his leg, McCarthy was in traction and his wounds weren’t healing well.

"The doctor told me that my best bet was manual surgery, meaning that he wanted to go in by hand and put the bones together,” said McCarthy. “But the worst case scenario was they would have to put a metal rod in my leg and that I may be crippled for the rest of my life and have to use a walker.”

McCarthy says his family's first instinct was to get another opinion, which they did. “This doctor noticed that the pin had actually been placed in my calf, a foot and a half away from where it needed to be,” said McCarthy. “We were shocked. We never thought to doubt our first doctor who the hospital had appointed to us."

A year later, McCarthy had made a full recovery and today he walks normally. "If we hadn't have had the money to pay for private care, I would be crippled today, and that's pretty scary to think about. That's the main reason I support universal health care, I think that it's so unfair that you get better treatment based on how much money you have," McCarthy says.

Healthcare has become a growing concern in many family budgets. According to Web MD, "a recent Kaiser Family Foundation telephone poll of 2,003 adults shows that Americans rank health care as one of their top personal economic concerns. Nearly three out of 10 of those surveyed said they have had considerable trouble paying for medical care or health insurance, and they blame the problem on the struggling economy.

“We had a very well known business person from a wealthy family in Boston whose mother was brought in to Oak Knoll as a long-term resident,” Says Barbara Maguire, 50, who has worked at various skilled nursing facilities (nursing homes) for over thirteen years. One of her biggest concerns are those patients who come in with little money 'know how' and end up paying most of their savings to the nursing home. She agrees that certain people have the upper hand in medical care because of knowing how to pull the strings in the system.

Maguire says the patient had her Medicaid application filed and approved quickly. “Her son knew right away what expenses Medicaid would cover, like hearing aids,” says Maguire.” This woman was very hard of hearing and could probably have used hearing aids long before she got to Oak Knoll. Her son knew how to work the system, and how to get around the rules. All of this lady's of assets were protected because her son had it set up.”

Maguire cites the inequities in the healthcare system as one of the reasons for some of its failures. “You have families that don't have a lot ending up losing all of their family assets while others who have a lot more keeping theirs."

This unfair level of healthcare could seem disparaging to some, but Maguire has hope. She feels that the healthcare reform President Obama is working on is a step in the right direction and that the outlook for the future is hopeful.

College Life

2009-03-13T22:49:00.007-04:00

How High Is Your Debt?
By Sydney Zarp

(For legal reasons, the sources for this article requested to use only their first names)

Before entering college, James, 21, had a fairly normal life growing up in southern California. He was a regular kid living in a suburban town, helping with chores around the house, and when he could, surfing with his dad on the weekends. James, blue-eyed and tanned, was living a relaxed California lifestyle, topped off with a ‘Barbie’ look-alike girlfriend, Stephanie, 20.

Today, James’s life is far from envious; he spends his days selling marijuana to pay for his schooling at a local community college. “Being in debt was never an option, and selling marijuana was the only thing that paid above minimum wage, and that would hire me,” James said. This however doesn’t mean that James doesn’t consider his dealing a full-time job. He worked hard to establish relationships with customers and suppliers. Since joining the freshman class nearly three years ago, James has become one of the top dealers in the area.

James says he can make $300 to $500 a day selling marijuana.

His daily routine consists of picking up and delivering drugs. For example, James is on call twenty-four hours a day, giving his customers full access to his stash as long as they have the cash. James describes that the calls come in continuously and that he’ll sometimes spend two to four hours just delivering his goods to faithful buyers. Stephanie often goes along for the ride to keep James company, and James jokes that she has become his ‘business partner.’

Neither student, however, likes to think about the potential complications of selling illegal substances. In 2007, which are the latest figures available, there were 74,119 marijuana- related arrests in California, according to the California State Department of Justice's Criminal Justice Statistics Center. That figure is up nearly 10,000 arrests from 65,386 in 2006.

By selling marijuana James has so far avoided the debt caused by the ever-increasing college tuition. But are the fears of college debt higher than spending half your life in prison?

“I feel like I’m ahead of the game,” says James. “You may think I’m crazy, but I’m not $100,000 in debt.”

James said he grew up with dreams of attending the University of Southern California, and kept that focus throughout his high school career. Always knowing that he would attend college, James said he just figured it would be easy. It was a shock and an eye opener when he first saw how expensive it would be to attend USC.

Thinking his parents would handle the burden he soon realized that was not the case, so he turned to a new direction. One year of tuition at USC costs $37,890, according to The College Board, a non-profit organization that provides college admission information and administers tests, such as the SAT. By contrast, at the community college that James now attends, one year of tuition is $6,000.

Paying for college is a struggle many young adults and their parents are facing. While the amount of financial aid and scholarships offered to students seems to shrink every year, students continue to struggle to pay school bills. While some take out student loans, others like James turn to a job on the side. As James has found, there is a different way to pay for education, which can help avoid debt all together, as long as you’re willing to take that risk.

James says he never imagined himself as the drug dealer type, and he still thinks it is funny that he has become one. James recalls the first time he became interested in selling drugs. “After seeing my good friend make thousands of dollars from two days worth of work, I knew that I wanted to know more about the pot world.”

James says he makes about twenty dollars on each sale and brings in roughly $300 to $500 a day. “About 90% of what I make goes to school, the other 5% goes to buying things for my girlfriend, and the last 5% is usually mine,” he jokes.

Reaching out to Stephanie about her thoughts on her boyfriend selling drugs, it was obvious that she is in full support. “I’m proud that he can get good grades and still sell weed at the same time,” she said. “Many other people I know have ended up dropping out of school, but he is gunna go somewhere.”

James still lives at home with his parents, but he says they have no clue about what he does, and thinks he has a full time job at the school as an office helper. He knew his parents would never accept this lifestyle, and said it was easier to lie.

Now in his final semester, James will walk away from three years of college and not owe one dime. He plans to transfer for his final year to a four-year university, something he has waited seven years to do. James’s three years at community college were far from his childhood dream, but he says it was his most affordable option.

James now plans to pay for his final year of schooling with financial aid and help from family members because he wants to give up selling drugs and become an ‘average student.’

“The day I graduate is the day I stop selling weed,” he says.

College Life

2009-03-13T07:38:00.000-04:00

Coping With A Mountain Of Debt After Graduation
By Katy Berninger

The day you never thought would get here has finally come. You are now a college graduate, and you proudly admire your brand new diploma. You have never felt more accomplished in your life, and then it hits you: now it's time to pay for this diploma that you worked so hard to get. And 65% of your fellow graduates will have to do the same, according to Gocollege.com.

It's not enough that college students are already facing an incredible transition by being thrust into the “real world,” they also must cope with the thousands of dollars of debt that has piled up over the last four years.

College students from all over the country are finding ways to deal with this new burden, as well as coping with the change of being adults. Amy Myers, 21 has “mixed feelings” about leaving college.

“On the one hand, I'm really looking forward to having freedoms that I haven't had for the last four years, and pursuing other things. On the other hand, school has been what I've been doing for the last 21 years, and I don't know if I really feel like an adult yet,” Meyers says.

Myers isn't alone in her feelings. Julia Dorney, 21, feels the same way. When asked how she felt about graduating she said, “I'm really excited, but scared at the same time. Especially since the economy is so bad right now.”

Making money during a recession is becoming a burden
for graduates who are trying to pay off student loans.

Dorney is right about the economy. It is no secret that the current job market is the worst it has been in years. College graduates are facing some of the bleakest prospects in decades. The National Association for Colleges and Employers conducted a survey that found there will be 22% fewer jobs for graduates in 2009 than the previous year, according to Time Magazine. Some companies are not even planning to hire recent college graduates.

How are graduates supposed to pay off those loans when they can't even find a job in the first place? Some are going to have to turn to their parents for help.

Mike DeMarco, 22, says, “I'm planning on moving back home for the first year so that I can get on my feet and find a job. Hopefully living with my parents will allow me to save money.”

DeMarco is one of a few lucky students whose parents were able to pay for his college education with the help of loans. Talking to soon to be graduates it becomes clear that parents play a huge role in whether students are able to pay off the pile of debt that they accumulated. Many students who have this luxury are grateful for their parents’ support.

“I owe it to my parents because they have done everything for me,” says Meyers. “They have supported me for so long.” When asked if she felt more responsibility Meyers said, “ of course, more than anything I want to pay my parents back for what they have done for me. I feel like it's about time.”

The feeling of responsibility that Myers describes is not uncommon. Graduates are no longer under the umbrella of school and don't feel like they can get away with as much. “We aren't in a little bubble anymore where our only worries are homework and our part-time job,” says Dorney says. “We now have to worry about bills, and paying taxes, and supporting ourselves.”

Students are going to have to find different ways of going about this daunting task. Some like DeMarco will move back in with their parents hoping to save money. Others like Myers will try to work as much as they can to save money.

However, the current recession is always in the back of people's minds. Myers said that she didn't think she would be affected by the current economic situation. She works at Starbucks and didn’t believe she would face job uncertainty. But the company has announced store closings and Myers says she is trying to hold onto her job so that she can begin paying off those looming loans.

No matter what graduates will be doing to tackle the mountain of debt, it is certain that it won’t be an easy task. The transition into adulthood is rarely easy. As students enter this time of change, more than ever they will need to keep a positive attitude.

“I'm just going to keep chipping away at whatever I need to pay back and do everything that I can,” DeMarco says. “There is no reason why I need to be freaking out about it. I have my whole life ahead of me.”

College Life

2009-03-13T07:32:00.001-04:00

Don’t Work, Just Study
By Gabriella Calabro

Debt is one four-lettered word that more and more college students are finding themselves repeating. With private school tuitions rising each year, more students are opting for public universities and community colleges.

While the media focuses on the large population of students who can’t afford college, no one talks about the smaller, more fortunate group of students that are largely unaffected by the financial stress that most other students face. Parents of these students do not want them to worry about paying for college so they take on the extra stress themselves. A student’s involvement in paying for college varies from family to family.

Louis Erazo, a 19 year-old freshman at a New York City private college said, “My parents had me do the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), but that’s only because it’s on the computer. I do most of the computer-based stuff at home.”

While some students have constant fights and struggles with their parents about how the school bills will be paid, some students only have to worry about a small portion of the college tuition payment process.

“My parents don’t talk to me about numbers. They just always say that I need to do well because they’re paying a lot of money for it,” says Max Hirsch, 18, a college freshman.

Not having to pay for college is not only beneficial for the students enrolled, but is even more helpful for those who have graduated. Alexandra Yacullo, a 25 year-old graduate student says, “I don’t have a stable job. I’m also going to grad school and getting married this summer and there’s no way I would have been able to pay back those loans and been able to do anything else.”

Many young adults find themselves in the same position, or much worse off than Yacullo. For those recently graduated, finding a job could be extremely tough in today’s economy. And with loan payments due six months after graduation, many college-educated adults could find themselves working minimum wage jobs just to get by.

A poll by About.com shows that 24% of parents plan to pay for their child’s college education with the help of loans and grants, and 28% plan on paying with the help of scholarships and having their child work. Only 12% of parents said they would not pay for college because they could not afford it. Although the poll makes it seem that more parents are paying for college, the truth is that as the economy continues to spiral downward, so does a parent’s ability to help.

While most college students find themselves working one full-time or a few part-time jobs, there are others who get money just for being students. They may have the luxury of not having to pay for school, but what about other expenses? Erazo’s tuition includes a meal plan, and his parents have put him on a budget.

“They give me $300 a month,” says Erazo. “If I choose to work it’s because I want extra spending money. But my parents have never told me I had to get a job.”

Like Erazo, Hirsch also receives an allowance, “My parents put money in my account every month, probably about $500.” When asked if he was required to have a job, Hirsch laughed and said, “No, they’ve never told me I needed to work. I don’t have to have a job.”

Some young adults may find $300-$500 hard to live on, but it’s important to realize that this money is likely to be spent on shopping or going out. This money is not spent on phone bills or books because Erazo and Hirsch are given extra money by their parents to buy anything for school, or cleaning supplies or even groceries.

Unlike scholarships, parents often do not have a strict or clear set of guidelines that requires their children to work hard to keep getting their money. “My parents threaten that if I don’t do well they’ll stop paying,” says Erazo. ”But they know the reality is that a 19 year-old cannot pay for a private education in Manhattan, and maintain a social life, work life, and do well in school.”

Yacullo said that her parents wanted her to transfer after seeing that she was not performing well at her first college. “I originally went to Penn State, but I partied a lot, and didn’t really do well so my parents and I talked and decided it would be better to go a school closer to home and buckle down.”

Looking back, Yacullo offers some advice to students like Erazo and Hirsch. “Don’t take advantage of your parents. You’re a lot luckier than a lot of students. Work as hard as you can and don’t fool around. It’s one thing to waste money, but it’s completely horrible to waste an education.”

College Life

2009-03-13T07:30:00.000-04:00

Is There Any Hope For College Students?
By Damaris Colon

Current and incoming college students are facing many of the hardships that are seen in the overall US economy. Many are experiencing higher tuition, smaller scholarships, increased rejection letters, lenders who have put a halt on lending all together, and others who are raising interest rates on personal loans.

All things considered, the country’s current recession hasn’t affected everyone in the same way. Adrienne Warren, a twenty-one year old senior in her final semester at Marymount Manhattan College has been fortunate enough to have parents who are very supportive, especially financially. They have taken out loans to pay for her education and Warren laughs as she recites her father’s announcement that he will, “pay back her loans by never retiring for the rest of his life.”

Despite her father’s declaration, Warren vows to help her parents as much as she can. On the other hand, students like Angelique Smith, 21, who is also in her final semester at Marymount, are afraid of an uncertain future. “I feel that it will be hard for me to find a good job that will help payback my school loans,” says Smith. “College debt is a pain in my ass and I’m scared it’s going to consume me for the rest of my life.”

Considering that hundreds of thousands of workers who sought full-time employment recently were only able to find part-time positions, Smith may have a viable concern. The US unemployment rate rose to 8.1% in February. First-time claims for unemployment benefits rose to 654,000 in the first week of March, and held above 600,000 for a sixth straight time.

Many college students are facing the harsh reality that shortly after graduation they will need to begin paying for their student loans. With the possibility of not finding a job that will cover their expenses, some graduates may make the dreaded decision to move back to their parent’s homes to save money.

While some students like Warren have a great deal of financial support from their parents, others will need to struggle to find money to further their education. Corey Mayer, 25, a prospective student at Mercy College’s Veterinary Technician program, is coming to terms with the idea that he could pursue a career in veterinary medicine, and with the fact that he may not be financially stable to pay for school once he’s accepted.

“It’s unfortunate that it has taken me this many years to finally figure out what it is I want to do with my life, and to have that dream potentially put on hold because of our country’s economic health and because my family does not have the money to pay for my education is a scary and almost frustrating thing,” says Mayer. “I wish I had a family that was financially stable to take on the burden of school loans,” he says, “but the reality of the situation is that I don’t. I guess we are all made to deal with the hand we were given.”

It is even difficult for students who are currently enrolled in college to pay tuition. A recent survey by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers found that 65% of schools across the US have reported an increase in the amount of unpaid tuition bills, which prevent many students from returning to class.

So, what next? One effort to lessen the financial burden on college students and their families comes from the American Recovery and Investment Plan which now grants a $2,500 college tax credit for four million college students, and triples the number of fellowships in science to help spur innovation. In addition, colleges throughout the US have begun creating initiatives that will allow current and prospective students to remain enrolled.

For instance, Spellman College has called for a large-scale alumni donor drive to help current students stay enrolled, while Brown University has opted to increase the amount of back tuition a student can owe and still be allowed to continue schooling.

However, outside of these efforts, there is not much effort to assist college students. Financial grants and awards are still given out on a first-come first-serve basis, therefore students who consider themselves to be the most “needy” should complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as soon as possible.

Until the country’s economy emerges from the fog of recession, college students like Warren, and prospective students like Mayer may just have to wait and hope for the best.

College Life

2009-02-28T03:39:00.004-05:00

Bully Bookstores Steal Students’ Lunch Money
By Gabriella Calabro

Between loans, homework, keeping a social life, outside jobs and clubs, students are under a lot of stress; buying books shouldn't be a part of it. It seems that textbook prices have skyrocketed. The Washington Post quoted a 2005 Government Accountability Office report that said between 1986 and 2004, the price of textbooks nearly tripled.

A stack of books like this can cost students from $120 to $400
in just one semester.

Students can find themselves paying well over $100 for just one book. David Linton, a professor at Marymount Manhattan College explained the situation. "Publishers change the editions so frequently,” said Linton. “They claim they do so because the material constantly needs to be updated.”

Several students said one semester’s worth of books can cost anywhere from $120 to $400. Marianne Chirdo, a nursing student, has a credit card that she uses only to buy books. "This semester I was really lucky. I was able to buy everything for about $350, Chirdo said. ”But it gets pretty rough, the most I’ve ever spent in one semester was $600." Chirdo, like many others, is already dependent on as many scholarships and loans as she can get.

Some teachers are even encouraging students to take extreme measures to buy their books.
"If you have to skip lunch for the week in order to buy your book, then that’s what you’re going to have to do. We all have to make sacrifices for our education,” one teacher recently told a Marymount Manhattan College class.

After hearing this Chirdo said, "I'd have to skip breakfast, lunch AND dinner to buy all my books if that were the case.”

Like many others in today's economy, students are doing whatever they can to save money. Some quickly learn tricks to avoid spending astronomical amounts on books. "I was lucky. Some of my teachers e-mailed me a book list before the semester started and I was able to order them online and get cheaper prices," said Marymount freshman Lauren Hafley.

But this is rare, and many students find themselves in a time crunch to get the required reading within a week (if not less). "I had some teachers who didn't tell me what books I needed until the first day of class, and I tried to order most of those books online, said Hafley. “I only had to buy one of my books at the school's bookstore." Hafley has created a system. She is a full time student who managed to only spend about $120 on her books for the semester. She explained: "A lot of my books are novels, so I'll just go to Barnes & Noble, get a drink from the cafe and spend some time reading. It's great because it gets me out of the house, and I don't have to buy all the books."

Other students, like Kate Wallace, find themselves having to do more homework when purchasing books. “I get the syllabus and look over what books we’ll be using the most and how soon we’ll need them,” said Wallace. “Then I take the most popular and recent and look them up online. I have to look at a few websites before I can determine the cheapest price and buy them.”

Doing all this work just to complete their homework could really distract students from their actual assignments. “I spend a decent amount of time buying books, and then of course waiting for them to actually get to me,” Wallace said.

After all is said and done, students can find themselves a good week or two behind in their work just because they have to search, and wait for the cheapest books, which are usually found online.

Why do teachers require students to buy such expensive books?

"A problem is that publishers do not put prices on the books so that when professors get them (free) for examination and potential adoption they have no idea how much they will cost the students and seldom try to find out," said Linton.

It's a cruel marketing trick -- publishers get teachers to fall in love with their books and teachers then require students to buy them. In 2007, a proposed U.S. House Resolution (3512) that would have required publishers to make their prices more apparent for teachers to prevent this problem did not pass.

So are teachers making any effort to help their students save some cash?

Professor Linton says he is. "Due to the easy availability of the course pack special printing, which is usually cheaper than a text, and use of the Blackboard system, I am using fewer texts than I used to,” he said. “In one class I put all reading online so there are no text costs."

Hopefully more professors will begin using these methods so that students will find themselves dealing with one less financial stress.

City Life

2008-12-22T16:22:00.000-05:00

Caring And Coping In The Children’s Cancer Ward
By Kasey Ryan

She walks into the Starbucks in Midtown Manhattan, smiles and waves and heads toward the table. Her long chestnut-colored hair is freely flowing with perfect loose curls on the ends, and her Burberry scarf is neatly wrapped around her neck.

Her eyeliner is perfectly applied despite the freezing winter weather and harsh winds that have caused my own eyes to water and my eyeliner to smear under my eyes, making me resemble a football player.

“You wouldn’t believe the week I’ve had at work,” she says.

I immediately wish I looked even half as put together as her on my “rough weeks,” which usually have me rolling into places in the same sweatpants I’ve been wearing for the past three days, a ratty oversized hoodie, and a baseball hat to cover my unwashed hair. I guess stress affects us all very differently. I say this because by the looks of her perfectly applied make-up and perfect tan, any stranger wouldn’t know she’d had a rough week.

She takes off her stylish winter coat to reveal her black cardigan over her skinny name brand jeans. Anyone who doesn’t know her couldn’t imagine that just an hour and a half ago, this same stylish young woman who takes such pride in fashion and the latest trends, donned blue hospital scrub pants with a “Hairspray the Musical“ hooded sweatshirt, complete with bright hot pink crocs with children’s characters all over them in exchange for the adorable pair of black Christian Louboutin pumps she has on now.

When I point this out to her and tease her about this, especially about the crocs with the characters and the Broadway sweatshirt that we have made fun of others for wearing out in public, she laughs and explains that that is what “her kids,” which is what she calls her miniature-sized clients at work, like to see her in.

She is Jackie Markowitz, a 23 year-old Westchester native, who has seen more heartache in her life than most people in her line of work. Watching young children suffer and fight tirelessly against deadly illnesses while parents sit by their bedsides in constant prayer is unfortunately something Markowitz witnesses daily while working as a child life specialist at the New York Presbyterian Children’s Hospital.

Markowitz ’s job includes numerous duties that if not physically draining, are emotionally draining. She works in the pediatric intensive care unit and the pediatric cardiac intensive care unit, which means she mostly works with babies, children, and teens with intense heart or organ problems, or with various forms of cancer.

In these units, her duties involve working with the young patients and their families and helping them adjust to the process of hospitalization. She focuses on the patient’s psychosocial development by doing medical play to help prepare the young patients for procedures or tests, which she also accompanies them to along with their guardians.

She not only focuses on the patient, she also teaches coping and management techniques to the patient’s parents and siblings, trying to help them not only understand, but deal with the severity of the diagnoses and the steps that need to be taken. Basically, she is a rock for both the patient and families during this difficult time in their lives.

Jackie Markowitz says she is learning to cope with the realities of her job.

Some people may feel that they could never do the job she does because they may get too attached to the patients and would literally fall apart witnessing them get weaker day after day until they are no longer there. How can anyone in Markowitz ’s profession deal with as many good-byes as she has had to say, and as many parents she has witnessed break down when told their child would not likely make it to their next birthday. Does she have to keep her distance while working, and not forming close attachments with the patients and their families“

Markowitz disagrees. “I personally operate that when I stop getting attached to the kids and treating each kid like he/she is special, then I am no longer doing the best job I can be doing,” she says.

How does she continue to get up day after day with a smile on her face after losing so many little ones that she had grown to love? One loss once in awhile is bad enough, but when it is multiple times a month, sometimes even a week, and when it is a child, someone who has never gotten the chance to lose their first tooth, or have their first kiss, or even graduate from middle school, how does she cope?

“While I do get attached to my kids and love the line of work that I am in, there is definitely a need to separate work from life, and this is a very difficult process that has taken me years to get better at, but over time I’ve learned how to cope and what helps me cope, just like I try to teach my kids [patients],” she says.

Markowitz continues: “It is extremely difficult but I try my hardest not to take my work home with me, but what makes it even harder is that it’s not just numbers at a desk, it is children and their families and real people, which definitely make it tough. That being said, the fact that I do have a great support system at work and at home too helps a lot...and over time I’ve learned that when I get home from a particularly hard day at work, I need some quiet time to decompress, and I’m slowly learning how to take that for myself.”

Markowitz’s job may bring extensive amounts of heartache, but she makes sure to remind me that it can be just as rewarding. “Honestly, the kids make it all worth it,” she says. “There is nothing more fulfilling than watching a kid do something she thought she couldn’t. Just to watch one of my patients cope well for the first time at a blood draw or an echo and seeing the look on her face when she realizes she did it and she CAN overcome her fear is this amazing, indescribable feeling.”

She says she has been rewarded many times for helping the families through these tough times, including a recent encounter in which a patient who was heading home after a lengthy hospital stay.

“Her mother just wrote me this long letter thanking me and basically, at the end of the letter, she wrote something like if her daughter did get the chance to grow up, she would be honored to have her grow up and be half the person I was..,” she says, blushing and becoming uncomfortable with talking nicely about herself.

After a while, the subject turns to Halloween at work and Markowitz describes her little patients’ costumes and the sugar high many of them got from the candy. She says she wore a superhero costume to work and that the kids loved it. She probably didn’t even need a costume because her scrubs, Hairspray hoodie and pink crocs with characters on them would have been just fine.

City Life

2008-12-21T15:45:00.000-05:00

Once a Marine, Always a Marine
By Jordan Price

David Fetherolf, of Hamburg, Pennsylvania, sits down, dressed casually in a Lactose Polo with a dark blue pair of denim jeans. When first meeting Fetherof, one probably wouldn’t assume that this rather preppy, golden-haired, blue-eyed 22 year-old has already served as a U.S. Marine, including spending time in Japan and Iraq. But the minute he begins speaking about his experience in the Marines, his voice gets serious and his eyes light up with passion and discipline.
Fetherolf’s dream to become a Marine started as a young child. “I dressed up as a Marine every single Halloween. It didn’t take much for the recruiters to convince me to join when the time came that I actually could,” he says.

Fetherolf’s dream finally came true. He entered the Marine Corps June 14, 2004 directly after he graduated from high school. He says the most demanding part of the Marine Corps was boot camp. “It’s completely different from anything else you could ever experience in life, and it takes a lot to get used to the demands it puts on your body mentally, physically, and emotionally. I don’t think anyone can ever really get used to being screamed at 24/7,” he says.

Although the harsh boot camp was rough and unlike anything he had ever experienced, Fetherolf never once thought of giving up and continued to work his way up through the ranks, becoming a sergeant working as a Motor Transport Operator. What exactly does this entail? Fetherolf explains a typical day in Iraq.

“We woke up really early and had breakfast at the chow hall. Went to our Motor Pool, which is where we stored our convoy vehicles, and did a pre-convoy check to make sure they were ready for the trip. We'd mount our machine guns on each vehicle, load up ammunition, and line up the vehicles in convoy order. We'd have a briefing on the convoy mission and known danger areas, and then we'd start the convoy,” he said.

David Fetherolf served in Iraq, after joining the Marines.

Fetherolf says that on the convoy, he was in the lead vehicle, and his job was to move traffic off the roads so the convoy could pass, and find improvised explosive devices before the convoy reached them.

“When we found them, we secured the perimeter and called the explosive ordnance team to detonate the bomb. Once it was clear, we'd continue on. We also searched suspicious individuals and vehicles and relayed information to the rest of the convoy. When we got to the base we were going to, we re-supplied them, and headed back. When we returned to our base, we cleaned our weapons, unloaded our vehicles, and received a debrief. After that, we had dinner, showered, went to sleep, and did it all over the next day.”

One of Fetherolf ‘s jobs in Iraq was to find explosives before the convoy reached
them.

This dangerous work takes an enormous amount of courage, which Fetherolf obviously possesses. It becomes apparent that serving as a Marine is not just a job, but a passion that certain people inherit, just as some people have passions for sports or for dance, although most passions don’t require a daily risk of one’s life.

When asked whether he ever feared for his life and whether he had lost any friends at war. He takes a long moment before he answers.

“Well, there were plenty of times I thought I could die, but I can honestly say I was never fearful about it. We train so much that we can literally handle any situation like second nature. And have I lost any friends at war? Fortunately, no. But a very good friend of mine was severely injured.”

He answers the question firm and almost unemotionally attached, one could assess. When asked if he thinks being a Marine has had some emotional after-effects on him, he says, “Naturally, I think it has to. It makes you tougher mentally and emotionally. Going to Iraq kind of changes things, too. When I came back, it took awhile for me to let my guard down and trust people. That probably sounds weird, but for months we're around nobody except the Marines we trust, and the enemy. You can't trust anyone other than your friends over there,” He says.

Fetherof, now a civilian, plans to get married.

On June 13, 2008, Fetherolf finished his time in the Marine Corps. His life plans now? Ideally, he would like to work for a government agency. When asked if he agrees with the current war that he personally fought for. He does not take a second to hesitate in his answer.

“Yes, I do. The U.S. forces in Iraq have become the main focus for terrorists from all over the world. If we didn't have troops in Iraq, those terrorists would be focusing on repeating attacks like 9/11 on United States soil, rather than in Iraq. I would much rather have them focus on me while I'm in Iraq, than focus on any innocent U.S. citizen on our soil and I know a lot of guys that feel the same way. We trained for it, we signed up to fight, and nobody forced us to,” he says.

As Fetherolf speaks, there seems to be certain sadness in his eyes, a longing to be back fighting and protecting our country. He notes how boring regular life now seems, and when asked whether he has any regrets about his Marine Corps career, he says, “Yes. Not staying in.”

College Life

2008-12-21T15:42:00.000-05:00

A Few Good Women
By Mark Galarrita

Automatic assault rifles, strict discipline, physical training at 6 a.m. and nail polish. These are some of the things that reveal a changing U.S. military today.

The reserve officer training core program allows students in college to participate in the American military lifestyle in order to become officers one day. ROTC, as cadets call it, is a program where students balance their responsibilities in school and the military.

ROTC traces its roots to the late 1700s and today, the program has recently expanded to include both women and minority students. A woman leading in the Army is not something unheard of now. But until 1973, women were not allowed in the ROTC.

Cadet Major Sarah Vandy is a cadet of the Fordham University battalion, Bravo Company, who is only one semester from becoming a second-lieutenant in the U.S. Army. When asked why she wants to serve, she says she doesn’t do it for the pay or for any personal gain, but for the excitement. “I wanted to get experience,” Vandy, 30, says. “I first wanted to serve a short time, but I ended up liking the army. I like the camaraderie and the challenge. You learn a lot about yourself in the service,” she says

Vandy says she wanted the experience and
camaraderie that military service offered.

Vandy wasn’t just a cadet; she enlisted in the Army out of high school, and at age 18she was a Humvee mechanic stationed in Germany for four years. Fifteen months of which she spent in Iraq with her company repairing vehicles on base, running on her own and watching out for surprise mortar attacks.

“People in the civilian world have this general assumption that once you’re deployed to Iraq all you do is fight,” she says. “For some units that may be true, especially combat jobs. But mainly, your duty depends your job type and the type of unit you are assigned to.” As a shop foreman, Vandy’s mechanical skills were mainly used on base and while some mechanical soldier’s were sent outside the wire attached to Military Police platoons. Outside of the base, those soldiers were sent to the frontlines to repair vehicles, although many were stationed on base.

Vandy applied and completed airborne school where her physical and mental limits were pushed to the edge. She received her associate’s degree at a community college through the service and is now a business student at New York University.

Her commitment to the army reflects those around her. She has gained the respect of everyone in the Fordham University battalion. “I love her, she really inspired me to do better and to be better,” says Jessica Davis, 19, a student and cadet of the Fordham University battalion, Bravo Company. “She inspired me to do better on my physical training score because there aren’t a lot of girls who try to compete on the same level as guys. I wanted to show that I can help set the bar for not only female cadets but male cadets as well.”

Davis says she is inspired by Vandy’s
example.

Davis is just one cadet that has been inspired by Vandy. The young mechanic has created a steady work environment in the battalion that breaches gender gaps. She helped raise a company that demands the best from each other, whether male or female.

Francis Cagulada, 20, a student at John Jay College and a third year cadet said Vandy was simply ‘bad ass.’ “She’s more hardcore than most of the guys in the program. She’s 30 and she runs faster than a majority of the cadets.”

Cagulada says Vandy outperforms many
cadets in the program.

Although Vandy remains an inspiring soldier to many of the cadets, she doesn’t imagine herself being part of the military her entire life. She plans to retire in 10 years from the National Guard and go into business consulting or working in management firms.

The reason she still remains committed to the army is because of the personal pride she gets from it. “I could have gone to officer candidate school or the ROTC but it didn’t really matter to me. I just wanted to be either a first sergeant or a company commander,” Vandy says. “ At either one of these jobs I would be in charge of over 150 people, a job where I would be responsible for motivating and developing these soldiers to serve the country. It’s what I had my sights on as I stayed in the military.”

Vandy spent 15 months in Iraq with her company repairing vehicles.

There are others like cadet Vandy who also imagine a career as an officer in the Army, and how they achieve that goal and their own personal reasons are different. She’s just trying to make a living.

When asked if men treated her like a lesser person or made it any easier on her because she was a woman, she laughs softly and replies with a steady no.

“I was always working with men, you just had to get comfortable with that. Most men would be shy or cautious around me. It wasn’t until I started to break out of my own shell that we all started to work together as a company. That’s what I like about the army, everyone has this one goal to get the job done,” Vandy said.

By the time Vandy graduates next spring of 2009 she will be working as an engineering officer and attempting to reach her goal of company commander. The commitment isn’t something to think about lightly, it’s a four to eight year commitment to the military. A student graduates to become a second lieutenant and a guaranteed, full-time job in the U. S. military.

For Vandy it’s a service obligation she’s willing to take.

City Life

2008-12-21T15:11:00.004-05:00

Stepping Into Fashion With Weird And Wacky Shoe Designs
By Megan Biscieglia

She walks into the coffee shop with windswept hair and a long faux fur coat. Her smile lights up the room and others around her start to stare. She certainly has something that makes people want to know more about her.

Annalyn Agapito’s sky-high stilettos do little to hide the fact that she is so tiny, barely reaching 5’2. But her talent is immeasurable. She’s recently begun her quest to conquer the fashion world and it hasn’t been easy. But people already are beginning to take notice of her stunningly beautiful and strange designs, and she’s only 19 years-old.

Annalyn Agapito wants to conquer the fashion world.

“I’m originally from the Philippines but my family and I moved here when I was five years old,” said Agapito. “We then lived in Maryland for a while until we moved to New Jersey, which is where I consider home. My senior year of high school we moved to Ohio. As soon as I graduated, I moved to Los Angeles to pursue fashion design,” she said.

Agapito’s family background is in farming, so it was quite a shock to her parents when she told them she was moving to Los Angeles. “We lived on a mango field, corn field, and rice field in the Philippines,” Agapito said. “We’re pretty Americanized now, though of course, my parents were expecting me to go on to be a doctor or lawyer or something of that nature.”

Agapito says she believes her family was disappointed that she wanted to quit college after only two semesters to begin a career in fashion. My father thought it was funny. My mother didn’t take me seriously at all. And then I left and they just recently began being very supportive.”

It was her parents who first inspired her love of the art of clothing. Agapito moved to the U.S. at a very young age knowing virtually no English. Students made fun of her at school and she was put in the special learning classes.

“I was a complete weirdo in school,” says Agapito. “I didn’t have any friends because I didn’t speak the language. My father always helped me pick out my outfits and they were always really wacky -- your typical ‘dad picking out clothes for his daughter’ outfits. My designs are on the wacky side, and it might stem a little from that.”

Agapito didn’t understand the language, but she did understand the clothes people wore. In her eyes, they told a story. They were a way of communicating that didn’t involve speaking. “I think that you can tell a story through clothing. Clothes can be more than just something you put on. They can portray how you feel at that time and I think that’s really amazing,” said Agapito. “I wanted to be a designer/artist because it’s a means of communication anyone and everyone are capable of using. Even myself at five years old.”

Agapito’s designs, often representing the creepy and strange, are beautifully weird. She is thankful for the strange childhood she had because if she had grown up normally and easily (she had to learn a new language, this is hard for anyone, but especially for a five year-old) she might not appreciate the stranger things that are usually written-off as gross or ugly.

“I get my inspiration from creepy things,” says Agapito. “One particular collection of mine was inspired by a bunch of bugs and moths. And really creepy beetles that were bright green with big claws. I get inspiration from things that are interesting and intriguing and don’t really make sense.”

It’s hard to ignore Agapito’s talent for noticing the beautifully weird. At LA Fashion week 2008,’ Agapito worked with world renowned designer Petro Zilla. Though it was an amazing experience and she learned a lot, Agapito hopes to soon have her own collection shown in fashion week.

“I can see this going somewhere. I just need to learn the business end of things,” says Agapito. “So many talented designers get into this line of work without knowing the business backend and end up failing miserably. I don’t want that to be me.”

With a good head on her shoulders and talent to boot, it won’t be long until everyone knows of Agapito’s designs. “No, my designs are nothing like the Lion King sweatshirt, Zebra pants, and huge sequin bow my father used to dress me in. That’s a pretty dope outfit, but no, there’s nothing like that in any of my collections.”

City Life

2008-12-14T10:28:00.004-05:00

With That Smile, How Could He Lose?
By Kasey Ryan

When asked if he thinks he’s different, his response says more about him than this article ever could. “Well, we are all different. God made us all different.”

Those words of wisdom come from Mike Clooney, age 43. Clooney was born with Down Syndrome, a genetic disorder in which the infant is born with one extra chromosome that causes developmental delays, mental retardation, and often other health problems or effects.

Back when Clooney was born, hospitals didn’t have the type of rigorous prenatal tests that could predetermine that Clooney would be born with this disorder. However, his sister Dotty Ryan says her siblings count Clooney as a “blessing,” and couldn’t picture him any differently than he is.

“When Mike was born, it definitely came as a surprise to my parents because there wasn’t as much research and awareness on Down Syndrome back then and my mother didn’t know how serious it was or how much it would affect Mike,” says Ryan.

“However, once my parents learned more about the disorder and that Mike would be able to lead a relatively normal life aside from the developmental delays, they breathed a sigh of relief that their baby boy was happy and for the most part, healthy. Mike having Down Syndrome didn’t change the fact that this was still my parents’ child, their baby boy, and she loved him just as much, if not more, than the rest of us,” Ryan added.

Mike Clooney says we're all different.

Clooney, the youngest of eight children, was immediately taken under their wing by his seven older siblings. Ryan, now a nurse and a mother of four girls, reminisces about Clooney as a young child.

“He was just the cutest thing you’ve ever seen. He had this amazing smile that literally transformed his face and reach all the way up to his blue eyes,” she says. “He could get away with murder, and not because of his disorder, but because one sad look from his small eyes that were so full of love and you were done for. He especially melted my mother’s heart and had a special bond with her as the baby of the family.”

Clooney grew up normally in pretty much every aspect aside from the developmental delays that made him have to work harder than the other children when learning to talk, read and write, but he managed to overcome each obstacle with a smile on his face.

When he was old enough to go to school, Clooney attended a special school for Down Syndrome children. He thrived in school and made friends easily, some with Down-Syndrome, and some without.

Ryan remembers how easily Clooney made friends, “People were drawn to Mike. He was just so sweet and genuine and naively funny. He loved to make knock-knock jokes. All our friends sort of followed suit and took him under their wing too. He was never teased or ridiculed, as far as I can remember. In fact, when our friends came over to call for us to come and play, they’d ask if Mike could come too!”

However, as Clooney grew into adolescence, things took a turn for the worst. “Dad and Ma got sick from cancer. Dad went to heaven, and ma got sicker,” Clooney recalls. His sister also recalls this tragic time in their lives.

“I just remember that all my mother was worried about was what would happen to Mike when she died. She was terrified he’d end up in an institution or a home, even though all my brothers and sisters and I assured her over and over again that would never happen.”

Her mother not only worried about where Clooney would live, but what would become of him. For the first time since he was born, she realized that she wouldn’t be around forever and began to worry how Clooney would get a degree, or if he would be able to get a job, or what would become of him. In the end, Clooney chose to live with Ryan, her husband and their four girls, which Clooney recalls as one of the greatest blessings of all.

Clooney says he has come a "long way."

“I love living with Dotty, Danny and the girls. I help around the house, go to a program for grown-ups like me, and still work really hard at Rite-Aide. I love my pool table and my bowling group,” Clooney says.

Today, the man his mother worried about so much is thriving. He can read and write at a fifth- or sixth-grade level, which is well beyond the third-grade level that doctors said he would reach. Not only that, but the man has more jokes than a comedian and is always ready to make people laugh at a moment’s notice. Clooney has held a steady part-time job for years and seems to have thankfully avoided the many health problems that plague others with the disorder, although he does suffer from seizures sometimes.

After talking about how much he has accomplished in his 43 years and how many lives he has touched, a hint of the infamous smile that his sister referred to earlier that lights up his face and reaches all the way up to his eyes. He throws his arms up triumphantly as he says with pride, “I came a long way!”

Yes, Mike, yes you have.

College Life

2008-12-14T10:11:00.004-05:00

Seaweed Soup
By Charlotte Price

I found her through Craigslist. The line, “2 bedroom apartment, Carroll Gardens, sub-lease, $750 a month,” was all I knew about her. Well, her place at least, and it suited me just fine. By some lucky whim comprising both hope and reckless abandon, I wrote her a response, met with her the next day, and moved in on September 1 2008. That’s when I found out who my new roommate was. Her name is Nancy Kwon. And her favorite food is seaweed soup.

Kwon greeted me at the front of my first Brooklyn residence and helped me carry my stuff up two flights of slanted wooden stairs of an old house. I glanced around my new home and for the first time got to look my new roommate in the eyes. She had thick raven hair that fell just below her shoulders with bangs that cut across her inquisitive eyes. She was Asian. I didn’t even try to guess what country she was from fearing that if I guessed wrong it would be offensive to her.

“Well, I gotta run but tonight my friends and I are cooking dinner in Bushwick if you would like to come?” I agreed and with that she smiled and was out the door.

Nancy Kwon’s apartment was both familiar and unknown.

I perused the living room, nodding approvingly at our exact same taste in literature and music. Dostoyevsky, Bukowski, Wilde, Hesse, and Shakespeare filled the bookshelves and below it were albums of The Beatles, Al Green, Greatest Banjo Hits, and David Bowie.

I laughed at her funny pictures with her sister on the fridge and moved my eyes further towards to countertops. I loved the way she decorated the place. She even used glass jars as glasses.

Then, I came across something completely foreign to me: her food cabinet. Bags of rice, dried noodles, odd spices and oils with Asian characters on them overflowed in the tiny space. I eyed them curiously. I had never seen anything like them. I ran to the fridge and opened it to find jars of pickled vegetables, sauces, and fish products, all described in a language unknown to me. It was then that I noticed we didn’t have a microwave or a toaster. We had a rice cooker. Suddenly, “dinner” seemed to mean something very different.

In Bushwick I met some of Kwon’s friends and began to fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle I had started in our kitchen that day. I walked into a large loft and the smell of delicious spices tickled my nose. They were speaking in a different language and when I came in they introduced themselves and smiled. “I hope you like Korean food,” Kwon said.

Boom. My roommate is Korean.

I jumped up and down with excitement and had so many questions I wanted to ask my new friend. We began to talk about our families and friends and everything that came out of Kwon’s mouth made me like her more and more. We were very much alike, and yet so different. We both were extremely close to our siblings. Her sister, Jennifer Kwon, 23, works at the Korean Embassy in Wadshington, D.C. “She comes up to visit a lot,” Kwon said smiling.

When it came time to eat I was dazzled by what was put in front of me. Pickled cabbages, sliced carrot salads with sesame dressings, onion pastries, fish patties, and a dozen more tiny colorful dishes that to this day remain a mystery to me.

Kwon handed me a pair of chopsticks and I hesitantly dug in trying to use the same grace she did while manipulating the tiny sticks in her hands. I watched her friends in awe as they passed the plates and danced the chopsticks from one item to the next speaking in a musical language. It was very surreal.

Jennifer and Nancy Kwon eating in unison.

At this point, I asked Kwon to give me the entire background story of her parents. She summed it up nicely. “When my dad was 25, he came to the U.S, to work and send money back to his family in Korea. Around 26, I think, his great aunt introduced him to my mother. They went back to Korea to get married and then moved to California. That’s where Jen and I were born, in Monterey Park.” Her parents’ names were Connie Kwon and Young Kwon.

I winced a little during her story when I took a bite of a pickled fish. Kwon laughed and I asked her if she ever felt odd growing up as an American with her parents and the rest of her family being full Korean. “I wouldn’t have had it any other way,” she said.

Kwon’s parents felt it important, however, that she and Jen grew up with Korean customs. They celebrated the Korean New Year by bowing to their elders, went to Saturday Korean language school and spoke Korean at home, and of course, grew up eating traditional Korean food.

“It was easy growing up in California because it was so diverse,” said Kwon. “The only time I ever felt self-conscious about being Korean was in middle school. I never spoke Korean at school. I suppose everyone goes through that phase of just wanting to fit in and be like everybody else,” she said as she passed me a glass of what appeared to be milky water. I gazed into the cloudy mixture. “It’s coconut milk, kind of like a yogurt drink,” Kwon reassured me. It tasted bizarre, but not in a bad way.

“I’m going to raise my kids the exact same way. I want them to speak Korean and be a part of both cultures as I have been,” Kwon said. “I’m American and Korean. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

The past couple of months of living with Kwon has been one of the most amazing learning experiences. We are great roommates and even better friends. Every time I open our silverware drawer and find that little stash of chopsticks I smile. And when we sit down to drink tea together to catch up on our days I can’t help but be thankful for such a unique roommate.

Kwon doesn’t live a wild or fancy life, and to the outside eye, she is just any other college student in New York City. But as her roommate, I have been lucky enough to experience a part of her culture that is so completely different from my own and it has opened my eyes in more ways than one. I have been introduced to a culture I had never experienced before and I now take the time to learn and appreciate the subtle and unique differences among all my friends. “There is always something more than meets the eye,” Kwon says.

She’s right; I would’ve never guessed such a wonderful girl could love seaweed soup.

City Life

2008-12-14T09:58:00.006-05:00

Follow Your Dreams
By Tiffany Sims

Shortly after 11 a.m., a man, slightly hung over, and with more than a 5 o’clock shadow, wakes up in his partially sunlit 10 x 12 foot room in a duplex apartment that he shares with three other roommates that he doesn’t really know. He instantly reaches for his laptop, turns it on and immediately checks his email to see if he’s received notice from his casting agency about an audition for a commercial or film. He is Vedant Gokhale and he is an actor.

The night before, Gokhale was out with his older brother, who was in town from California for the Thanksgiving holiday. They had a fun night of Christmas shopping, eating burgers at their favorite restaurant, drinking at a nearby bar, eating more food at an Indian restaurant, more drinks and then pizza to top off the night.

This behavior is not uncommon for Gokhale, who doesn’t have much responsibility in the daytime since he is currently not working. But like most actors, Gokhale is very conscious of his weight. He goes to the gym regularly, especially after a night like the one just described, to try to work off the pounds he may have packed on from drinking and eating too much.

Vedant Gokhale is pursuing his
dream of an acting career.

Gokhale is driven to succeed in becoming an actor, but lately, it’s been pretty slow in the acting world. He hasn’t acted in anything in the past few months and auditions have become a bit scarce. It doesn’t help that the Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG) has been in negotiations over contracts since April and threaten to strike before the New Year.

SAG members may not work on non-union production. But because of the anticipated strike, SAG members like Gokhale would not be allowed to work. This is bad news for Gokhale who became a SAG member earlier this year. All of the above being said, he is still immensely happy that he is able to pursue his dream, with the support of his family, given the route he took.

“Dreams are meant to be pursued. It’s not always easy or possible, but when the opportunity arrives they should be taken,” says Gokhale.

Vedant Arvind Gokhale, born October 15, 1977 in New Jersey, has two older brothers, Kedar and Mandaar, who are both physicians. Gokhale’s brothers are at least 10 years older than he is because he was not a planned pregnancy. In fact, his mother hid the pregnancy from his father because she really wanted a daughter.

Gokhale’s mother worked for Pan American Airlines and the perks of being an employee allowed her and her family members to fly free, or get great deals on plane tickets to anywhere. Because of this, Gokhale became a world traveler at a young age. He even has memories of spending nights in the Frankfurt, Germany airport on the way to India.

“We would barely get any sleep because of the old departure and arrival screens. They would make lots of noise,” Gokhale says. “Instead we would go to a McDonald's in the airport, which at that time was a novelty in a foreign country.”

Gokhale grew up in the small northern New Jersey town of Emerson. It was a predominantly white borough but he said he adjusted quite well. He was popular and made lots of friends at school, some of which he is still friends with today. Gokhale was even part of a band that he and his friends created in which he sung vocals.

“You know, the usual early 90’s grunge cover high school band,” he says. But it was just a fun activity they did to pass the time.

In 1995, Gokhale graduated from high school and started attending Rutgers University. He was unsure what he wanted to major in, but ended up graduating with a degree in public health. After graduation, Gokhale decided he would go to law school. As a child he used to say, “Someone has to help my brothers when they become doctors.”

This, of course, wasn’t a good enough justification for that. But his parents were willing to pay for law school. And he always thought that a law degree could be used for anything. But it was during the first year of law school when he realized what he wanted to do with his life. He wanted to be an actor.

Gokhale moved in with his family at one point to save move to
pursue his acting career.

Gokhale began taking acting classes at various acting studios while juggling his classes at the New York Law School. Soon after graduating in 2002, he started working for the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA). He stopped pursuing acting for a year to focus on studying for the New York State Bar. He passed it on the second try in February 2003 and soon after began pursuing acting again. He quickly got roles in several Off-Off-Broadway plays, including “How I Killed My Roommate and Got Away With It,” and an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice with an all South Asian cast.

Leaving work during the day to attend auditions was affecting Gokhale’s work and his boss began to notice. After meeting with his boss, they decided that it was best for him to leave the job and pursue his passion.

“ In hindsight, that was the right decision to make because I didn’t really want to practice law and wanted to try my luck in pursuing my dream of becoming an actor,” says Gokhale.

In January 2006, Gokhale moved back in with his parents in an effort to save money. He quickly secured a job as a contract attorney, which is like a temporary lawyer and started commuting to the city. All the while he was able to audition, perform in plays and form a sketch comedy group. “Here is where I felt I began to form my own identity,” he says.

By the end of the year, he got a commercial agent and began freelancing with theatrical agents. In year two of his experiment to pursue his dream, Gokhale began booking roles on television including, “Cashmere Mafia” with Lucy Lieu, and in feature films, such as “Body of Lies” with Russell Crowe and Leonardo Dicaprio. He also performed in a showcase sponsored by ABC for emerging diverse actors.

Today he has ventured into the world of stand-up comedy and continues to audition for television, film and theater. “Happiness is the most important thing in the world to me,” Gokhale says.

City Life

2008-12-14T09:49:00.005-05:00

Torn Between Two Countries
By Sammi Richardson

For 35 years Ernesto Tono grew up in Cartagena, Colombia in the lap of luxury. He had nannies as a child, chauffeurs to cart him around, and a carefree childhood. Tono describes Cartagena as a beautiful city where life was much simpler

“I am blessed that I have gotten most of what I have wished for in life,” says Tono, 46. “I experienced wealth, as my father was a well known architect in my country. He made a lot of money and also lost it all. I went from a lifestyle of advantage to quite the opposite,” he said.

Ernesto Tono says he is
grateful for opportunities in
the U.S., but misses
Colombia.

Life in for Tono Colombia is different than in the U.S. There are a lot of similarities but the social classes are very distinct. The U.S. has a huge middle class that lives pretty well, while Colombian middle class can barely make ends meet. The poor population is substantial. The family structure is also vastly different.

“I grew up being taken care of by a nanny while my mother played cards most days,” says Tono. “I loved my mother very much and this was the norm there. I raised my own two young girls with nannies the same way until I moved to the states.”

Everything changed for Tono when Colombia’s internal war began. Guerrilla groups, such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (RAFC), began fighting to help the poor and end corruption and targeted wealthy land owners. Now, these guerrilla groups have become corrupt and are violating human rights. They have teamed with the country’s drug lords to finance their underground activities and use kidnapping as a means to raise money.

The RAFC attempted to kidnap Tono’s uncle and several of his friends. His uncle was shot at a country club while playing golf and feigned death, which saved his life. Tono’s cousin wasn’t as lucky though. He was kidnapped and held for almost seven years. Last year the government helped rescue him.

Life was very uncertain in Colombia and Tono felt the best chance for his family would be in the U.S. His brother lived here and he decided he would too. Tono applied for a visa and 13 years later he was finally granted one. In June of 2001, Tono moved to Maryland. His first day of work was September 11, 2001. Although Tono had finally made it to the U.S. seeking safety for his family, when the 9/11 attacks occurred he was within miles of the Pentagon.

“I questioned myself daily wondering if I made the right decision,” he said.

Life was not easy at first. Tono left behind his mother and sister and many other relatives. Cartagena was a place that filled his heart with joy and beauty. He lived in a beautiful apartment building overlooking the ocean. In fact, he traveled to work by boat every day.

Cartagena has magnificent architecture, landscapes, climate, and
a party atmosphere.

Tono longed for the beauty and to be close to the water. In addition, his family name is well known and respected. Tono was a successful bank executive in Colombia, but when he arrived in the U.S., he had to start all over. Cartagena has magnificent architecture, landscapes, climate, and a party atmosphere. Finding a job was not easy, and the small amount of savings he brought was dwindling.

Eventually, Tono landed a modest position that didn’t compare to his bank management job in Cartagena. “I was lonely, scared and wondering what did I do?”

Tono was lucky that his brother helped him to get on his feet. “My brother lent me money to purchase my first house. Without his help I don’t know how I would have achieved the American dream,” he said. Eventually, Tono became a mentee for Nationwide Insurance. He worked as hard as he could and it paid off. He completed the program in one year instead of the usual two and was given his own insurance agency. In four years he became very successful. In June 2007, Tono and his wife became U.S citizens, but he didn’t give up Colombian citizenship. ”I could never give it up,” he said.

Even though Tono is doing well in his new life he is still very torn and misses Cartagena. He longs for the water and scenery of his homeland and he misses his family. With the luxury of having a maid cook and clean the house, and people coming in to provide manicures and pedicures, who wouldn’t be a little homesick?

Tono still has trouble with understanding the English language, and he doesn’t always understand the translation from Spanish to English. But he is truly grateful to the U.S. for his opportunity, but his heart will always be in Cartagena. When asked about retirement, Tono smiles and says, “I dream of returning to my country to spend the rest of my life there.”

College Life

2008-12-08T07:31:00.008-05:00

Defying Labels
By Elis Estrada

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Volunteer firefighter, first responder, dancer, stagehand, actor, student; and occasionally, Spider Man. Each of these professions is characteristic of careers that children dream of and aspire to one day. For William Gardell, 22, they are his reality.

Unlike many Manhattanites who prefer discussing their trials and tribulations over coffee or a drink, Gardell, known to everyone as Gardell, insisted on talking over a hot, crispy chicken dinner at a KFC on the Upper East Side. On the outside, everything from Gardell’s name, his idealistic hometown of Middletown, New Jersey, his style and appearance—usually blue jeans and a T-shirt to complement his sparkling blue eyes and light brown hair—the way he talks, his family values, and his family’s heritage, embodies Americana.

However, Gardell’s incomparable character, humility, altruistic qualities, and perhaps even his traces of normalcy, makes him unique and separates him from many twenty-something-year-olds living in Manhattan trying to make something of themselves and often forgetting where they come from.

Ravenous and thrilled by the sight of his chicken dinner, Gardell says, “I don’t know how you cannot go for extra crispy!” It is with this child-like enthusiasm for the simple things and carefree attitude that Gardell talks about his experiences; from being a volunteer firefighter to performing at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

William Gardell before a performance at the New York Opera.

“My mom is an artist. She has been the director of the Performing Arts Ensemble, a non-profit dance organization, for about 27 years now,” Gardell.

Since he was four years old, Gardell participated in his mom’s Performing Arts Ensemble; playing roles and dancing in productions such as The Nutcracker and Cinderella, and performing throughout the East Coast for the general public as well as for children’s organizations—such as the Girl Scouts—and charitable causes, including fundraisers for the autoimmune condition multiple sclerosis.

After rinsing his palate by drinking a bottle of Dr. Pepper—his favorite soda—Gardell comments talks his mom’s influence. “I’ve taken an interest in the arts and dance due to my mom’s influence. I’ve always felt that if homosexuality was caused by nurture and not nature, I would definitely be gay—well, at least fulfilling a stereotype of being gay.” Grinning at the thought he states, “As an infant, my mom would dress me up in Victorian, girlish looking dresses. She thought it was cool, I guess.”

Gardell as the prince in the Nutcracker.

Gardell’s upbringing was the basis for his diverse understanding and appreciation for traditionally girl-oriented activities. “I have a sister and we’re only a year a part, so when my sister took an interest in things, that meant I pretty much had to try it out too. Among other things, I also did gymnastics, figure skating, horseback riding, and took piano lessons.”

At a young age Gardell also recognized his interest in firefighting. “I remember going to a Gymboree, you know, one of those after school, ‘bring your kids to’ things with my parents in a firehouse. I remember wanting to try on the kids’ firefighter outfits they had and wanting to ride the mini fire trucks that were there too,” Gardell said.

Since he was 18 years-old, Gardell has been a volunteer firefighter for the Middletown, New Jersey Township Fire Department. Of his fire department, he proudly proclaims, “It’s supposedly the world’s largest all-volunteer fire department.”

Gardell is a volunteer fireman in addition to his artistic interests.

Gardell attends Marymount Manhattan College in Manhattan, but when he goes home—regularly on weekends and sometimes during the week—he carries a pager radio that broadcasts incidents in need of response by his firehouse.

Now 22, as a firefighter Gardell has had to witness tragic accidents, including a deadly car crash that killed a fellow student when he was a senior in high school. Gardell takes great pride in being a Middletown firefighter, saying, “I think out of everything I do, firefighting is the most fulfilling. It’s exciting, helpful, and I like the camaraderie that comes with it.”

How did Gardell go from being a firefighter to acting and performing in venues, such as the Metropolitan Opera House?

Gardell’s sister was interested in pursuing an acting career, so eventually, his family found an opportunity for him to try acting as well. “I started doing extra work when my mom saw an ad in Backstage, Gardell said. “My sister was into trying to act, so like everything else in my life, my mom wanted me to try it out too. That’s when I started submitting to things.”

Working as an extra consists of background acting for television, theater and film. “It was fun, easy, and interesting. I never had a creative drive to act like a lot of people, but I liked the idea of being part of a creative process without investing too much time in being worried about it,” Gardell said.

In 2005, during his freshman year of college, Gardell was cast in a National Coca-Cola commercial featured during the Winter Olympics and even the Super Bowl. He has worked as an extra in movies including, Across the Universe, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, and Enchanted; hit television shows such as Life on Mars, 30 Rock, Law and Order, and One Life to Live; and most recently, he has appeared in opera productions such as La Bohème, Aida, Carmen, War and Peace, Dr. Atomic, and Damnation of Faust at the Metropolitan Opera House.

When asked about his experiences performing at Lincoln Center, Gardell simply says, “It’s fun to wear interesting costumes and work with interesting people. In the production of Aida, I was an Egyptian slave and in Carmen, I was a flag vendor. Not many people can say they’ve had those experiences.”

Gardell and the cast of a Performing Arts Ensemble production.

Gardell’s shear willingness to fit into fields characteristically defined by affluence and exclusivity reveals the sincerity of his character. Also, in his community, Gardell has been hired to play and dress for the role of Spiderman and Disney’s Little Mermaid’s Prince Eric at children’s birthday parties.

A quality of Gardell’s that slowly and unexpectedly appears once you get to know him is his undeniable sense of responsibility. “I was a pretty serious kid. I’ve been told this from my mom, but you know, moms say whatever. She says that since I was 6 or 7, I’ve had an adult attitude about things.”

Combing his hair with his fingers and looking at his shoes in contemplation, Gardell remembers a specific incident from his childhood. “When we were on our family vacation to Florida, I noticed how many suitcases my parents had to carry, so without my parents telling me what to do, I started carrying them for them. That’s when my mom said that I began to have a sense of what responsibility means and really began to have an impression of what the real world was like.”

Gardell says he is developing a
greater sense of responsibility.

Walking out of the KFC, Gardell mentions the importance of community. “Sometimes I think people forget that we’re here to help each other out, you know. Especially other people my age, they get too self-involved sometimes.”

As Gardell walks to class, he reaches into his pocket, takes out some spare change—mostly quarters and dimes—and gives it to a homeless woman sitting at the end of a street block. Through his acts of kindness and strong values about community, it’s as if Gardell was from another time; definitely not from the individualistic age of the 21st Century.

Despite accomplishments others may only fantasize about, Gardell remains humble and surprisingly good. A kind of good usually lost amid the pressures and anxieties of everyday life. He is a caretaker, humanitarian, and entertainer—a contemporary renaissance man. But right now, for the next hour-and-a-half in class, Gardell is just another college student.

Music & Muscians

2008-11-30T10:50:00.013-05:00

No Longer A Back-Up To American Pop Music Stardom
By Alex Catarinella

Fame sometimes has its discomforts.

“I was so mortified that I hid in a room and sat on the floor in a friend’s apartment,” recalls Greek American singer Annet Artani of her paparazzi-infested fame in Greece. “But I’m ready now.”

Artani, 25, who is a mega-star in Greece, recently moved back to New York to crash the American pop charts. But, American superstardom may be a ways off, even though Artani boasts quite an extensive resume.

In addition to Artani’s album, Mia Foni, which means "One Voice" in Greek and became a top 20 hit in Greece, she’s a reality TV star, albeit a talented, non-annoying one. While in Greece, Artani appeared on Fame Story (think MTV’s Real World for singers, which Artani describes its premise as being isolated in a house and performing once a week without a clue if viewers hate or love you—viewers, fortunately for her, loved her). In addition, she represented Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006 with her power ballad, “Why Angels Cry” in which she reached the semi-finals (ala American Idol).

Annet Artani says she is ready to hit the American
pop charts.

But Artani’s first true taste of fame came before she moved to Greece. Prior to final callbacks for lead roles in the Broadway hit “Rent,” Artani scored an audition to become a back-up singer for Britney Spears. She got the gig, and immediately hit the grueling touring circuit. Talk about a big taste of fame. Eventually, Artani would co-write the international hit “Every time” with Spears while on tour as Spears’ former back-up singer in 2001--a turning point in her career.

Artani’s friends refer to her as “Anetta James” (in reference to the soul icon Etta James): watch out Mariah Carey (also, former back-up singer). There’s a new back-up singer, turned international superstar on the rise.

Artani befriended the then on-top-of-the-world (if on the surface) superstar Spears and witnessed what perhaps could be a foreshadowing of, if not a chaotic, future of her own. “Had I not also befriended her [Spears] and understood what it was like to be stalked or monitored on a personal level, I would've freaked out more when it happened to me,” says Artani.

Of her Greek success: “I sort of knew what was coming, for the most part, although nothing can truly prepare you for the camera guy who pops out of the dumpster when you're jogging in your hood with your trainer!” recalls Artani with a laugh. Like all true entertainers at heart, Artani believes that the perks of superstardom outweigh the darker elements (Isolation, complete lack of privacy, and public scrutiny, to name a few).

Artani, a former back-up singer for Britney Spears, has had her own
spotlight.

Artani talks of being on stage with Spears at sold-out arenas, and of eventually stepping into her own spotlight in Greece and singing in front of 55,000 onlookers: “The rush that you get by giving a piece of yourself and being so vulnerable is not something I can even describe. I want that here. Not because I'm some narcissist that needs adoring fans, but because we all do certain things for something.”

Artani has powerhouse pipes that rival Whitney and Mariah at their best, exotic looks and quite the bootylicious figure (Beyonce, who?) juxtaposed with a goofy sense of humor (She’s “obsessed” with Sarah Silverman and says her humor consists of such funny legends as Lucy and Nanny Fine). Sounds like the perfect pop star. So what’s taking so long for this songstress to take over the states?

Artani’s rather surreal experience in Greece also came with struggles—concerning her Greek American identity. “I wasn't allowing myself to really show them me whole-heartedly, my funny side, or be too creative, mostly because I was told by my label that ‘this was too American’ or ‘sing it less American or they won't relate,’” she says.

And while Artani sings and speaks perfect Greek, the Greek pop scene lacks the enthusiasm of the pop craze surrounding such singers as the ubiquitous Rihanna, Beyonce and Miley in America. Artani says pop stars in Greece usually open for the more “ethnic” headliners.

Artani says Greek-American singers aren’t
Greek enough in Greece.

Greeks opt for Greek music from Greek superstars whose music incorporates Greek instruments and influences and play at the big Greek nightclubs. Essentially, a Greek American just isn’t Greek enough. Artani, who grew up in Queens, New York to Greek immigrant parents, explains: “It’s very interesting to experience, culturally, but very hard to adjust to if you're an American and grew up listening to pop, rock and R&B.”

But similar to the American starlets, Artani’s fame put her on her toes. “I had to watch my step a lot because there has been a negative connotation put upon us in Europe; partially because of our current not-too-intellectual war president, and partially due to Americans who visit Greece in the summer and have no inhibitions because they are partying. I had to make sure my Greek was always perfect or be prepared to be made fun of.”

Eventually, Artani’s talent, charm and gorgeous looks won over Greece. But it wasn’t enough for Artani. “Yeah, they accepted and liked me, but I didn't ever feel like I was giving them a real understanding of who I was,” Artani confesses. “So it’s sort of a weird type of acceptance. But mostly, I felt constipated there because I felt a little lost in translation.”

If her struggles in Greece are any indication, Artani has a bumpy road of ahead of her in the fickle and superficial American music industry (thankfully for Artani, the recent onslaught of overseas soul singers, such as Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen could be beneficial). But Artani’s experiences over the years have made her wise, if not more determined for superstardom.

Artani witnessed the darkness that can come with fame while working with Spears. But ‘afraid’ is not a part of Artani’s vocabulary—this one’s fearless. “It didn’t scare me,” she says. “I just felt bad, mostly because I began to see the demise during our friendship.”

Artani cites the artist and their support system as the precursors to sustainable success. “While Brit had an amazing group of people behind her, she was not the one calling the shots. That is mostly because she was young and didn't have the knowhow,” Artani says.

Sounding every bit professional and insightful, Artani continues: “But just because you grow up and have all this power, doesn't mean you suddenly have the knowhow as a grown up, if in fact you had all this help getting there. Great management, producers, hard work on her behalf, and a solid team is what got her there.”

Artani’s insight into pop stardom’s downside shows that perhaps she should pen a how-to-be-a-pop-star guide. And while Spears, “had her mom as a support system schmoozing and getting her daughter auditions and a good manager,” Artani’s parents were Greek immigrants whose concerns were “trying to feed us” and, unlike Spears’ stage mom, had “no clue about developing a pop star.” “And I'm sort of glad about that, because I had no choice but to learn how to do things on my own,” Artani says.

Artani’s not-so-glamorous journey has involved working six jobs in one semester. Unlike many American pop tarts, Artani’s childhood didn’t include the Mickey Mouse Club. She worked hard and eventually attended college.

“Once you've been on your own and have had no professional help for all these years, you are forced to be more grounded,” Artani says humbly. “I'm young, but my spirit is that of someone who has been seasoned because it took a lot of struggle to get here.”
Still, while Artani’s music could be classified as pop (although think an edgy Pink meets Fergie’s funk with a bit of Etta’s vocals), you can feel realness and modesty pulsating from her. She keeps it real. Refreshingly so.

Nowadays, you’ll find Artani prepping hardcore to cross over to the American charts. Her days and nights consist of frequent dance classes, running her own MySpace and Facebook websites, and recording sessions for her debut American album, which she describes as “high energy, pop/dance with a little rock and hip hop lacing.”

In addition, Greek-inspired sounds can be heard on her first single, “Alive.” “I'm not trying to be Shakira or anything. But I love Greek rhythms and instruments and I would love adding them in for some flavor.”

The aptly-titled and “Girl Power” anthem single “Alive” reflects where Artani now finds herself -- in this unique transition from back-up singer to Greek megastar to aspiring American pop star. In the song, she sings “I'm Alive, I survived it all when you let me fall / I'm Alive, made it through somehow, I'm a big girl now.”

“It’s exactly as I feel right now; happy to be alive! I went through some hard stuff the past few years on a personal level, probably something lots of women experience, and I wrote that song in the midst of it to remind me of my power,” Artani says. “And now that I'm in a better place, I hear it and I feel victorious.”

Through it all, and after conquering the Greek pop scene, Artani learned the importance of remaining true to herself, although it’s easier said than done in the dark music business—just ask her predecessors.

While Artani’s experiences have taught her well, she is not back-up singer material; she has a voice that demands to be heard. One that stands out among the typical American pop star, and one that refuses to conform to a pre-packaged image—there’s certainly no puppet strings attached for Artani.

“I don’t want to second guess myself. I want to be silly, weird, eccentric, bitchy, polite, pretty, voluptuous, sexy, and stick out like a sore thumb. Because that's who I am.”

College Life

2008-11-27T16:13:00.003-05:00

Traveling The World And Finding A Home In NYC
By Mark Galarrita

Japan, Guam, The Philippines, Italy, Ohio, Illinois, England. Looking at these locations you might think of a future vacation spot. For one man these are just a few of the places he’s called home.

Chuck Andersen, 22, was raised in a military family. His father is a
Chief Master Sergeant in the U.S Air Force where he does management work. A job that took him and his family around the world. Although Anderson was brought up in a world of formality and structure, he opted to follow his own path in life.

Anderson is a short and stocky young man with an appealing smile. He’s not loud, but neither is he reserved. As he warmed to a reporter’s questions, his answers and actions revealed someone who was comfortable in any situation.

Anderson says he’s comfortable with his
many moves.

Anderson’s early life was influenced by many different places and cultures, from Guam in the first grade, to Okinawa, Japan, then Vicenza, Italy. As Anderson grew up, he attended more than seven different schools between elementary to high school, including three different high schools in total. Andersen says he is thankful for the unusual life he has lived.

“All my life I’ve lived on a base,” Anderson says. “On a military base they had everything there, within short walking distances. There was only one place to go for food, medicine, and cleaning supplies, and that’s the Base Commissary. For clothes, electronics, and household appliances, you only needed to go to the Base Exchange, here you have to go one place to find food, and another place for medicine, another place for electronics. It’s inconvenient but I’m adjusting.”

After years of moving around with his family, this is the first time Anderson has lived on his own and in the city. Before Marymount, Anderson took a combination of online and in-classroom courses, earning an Associate’s degree in Japanese Studies. He decided to continue his education by pursing a degree in International Studies at Marymount Manhattan College.

Anderson moved to New York City alone to pursue his degree and he doesn’t mind living in the city so far. His only complaint is the accessibility. He says the transition from military base life to civilian life raises important questions of friendships. Most of Anderson’s friends come from military families and have lived on military bases themselves.

Anderson’s only concern with making new friends in the city is the ability to balance schoolwork and friends at the same time. “Distance here is a little inconvenient. On the base we live in a very close community where everyone is within walking distance,” he says. “In a city like this, everything is spread out so you have to take a train or bus to visit someone if they’re too far away, and driving as a college student in New York City is just out of the question.”

Anderson chose Marymount because of its location and the small class sizes. Marymount was the first college he looked at in New York and chose it. . Through Marymount Anderson envisions working an internship at the United Nations and one day becoming an ambassador. He understands that it’s all hard work, but he says he’s up for it.

“It’s no problem for me.” Anderson says when discussing his goals. “One of the reasons I chose to transfer was because of the opportunities in the city. New York City offers more with my line of work; so of course, I don’t plan to waste my time away here. I have a purpose.”

Anderson isn’t alone at Marymount. He shares a room with Justin Wurm, 19, at the De Hirsch residence. Although Wurm hasn’t lived in many different countries as Anderson has, they have similar goals.

“Chuck’s cool, laid-back and easy to get along with,” says Wurm, who is more outgoing than his relaxed roommate. Like Anderson, Wurm has come a long way from home to reach his goal of becoming a lawyer.

Anderson is adapting quickly to city life. He socializes with his dorm mates and explores the city, as he sees fit. While he is not sure that he will join the Air Force, as his father did, the military attitudes have stayed with him.

“I enjoy Marymount so far. The faculty’s great and it’s very relaxed. It’s better than taking online courses at least.” Anderson jokes about being back in college.

Andersen may just be getting used to a new lifestyle, but it’s nothing he hasn’t adapted to before.

Millennials In The New Millennium

2008-11-11T02:04:00.003-05:00

Great Expectations Of The Millennial Generation
By Elis Estrada

The struggles of our generation have been reduced to 15-minute segments of news magazine investigations. If we are one of the most studied and intriguing generations, why are we being criticized more than praised for our achievements?

CBS’s 60 Minutes segments titled The Echo Boomers and The “Millennials” Are Coming concerning our generation, also broadly generalized as “Generation Y,” “Echo Boomers,” and “Millennials,” correctly recognize trends that characterize people born roughly between 1980 and 1995, but fail to achieve a diverse synthesis on the effects of such trends.

Is it our fault that a sweeping development of technological innovation during our time changed entirely the process by which society communicates and thrives? Absolutely not. We had to adapt to the evolution of television, cellular phones and computer technology that multinational corporations imposed upon us. As 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft deduces in "The Echo Boomers" in 2005, “They are multi-taskers with cell phones, music downloads, and Instant Messaging on the Internet. They are totally plugged-in citizens of a worldwide community.”

Both 60 Minutes reports accurately portrayed the damaging affects of mindless consumerism. In "The Echo Boomers" Steve Kroft mockingly questions, “What brands do they love? Sony, Patagonia, Gap, Gillette, Aveda…”

Emil Rivera, 21, a graphic design intern at Resource Magazine (a photo production publication catering to industry professionals) and recent immigrant from the Dominican Republic, explains the difference between the culture of advertising in America compared to his homeland: “If I wanted, I could ignore all advertisements back home because there are significantly less, but here, it’s everywhere!”

According to Kroft, Echo Boomers have their own stores, multimedia presentations to lure them into those stores, and their own television network, the CW. Brand conscious teens place emphasis on the materialistic aspects of their lives, blurring the line between what is important, and what is essentially worthless.

In “The Millennials Are Coming,” an unsuccessful and mocking evaluation of our effectiveness in the work place, correspondent Morley Safer asked Generation Y expert Mary Crane about the impression of the Millennials in America’s workforce: “They have climbed Mount Everest. They’ve been down to Machu Picchu to help excavate it. But they’ve never punched a time clock.”

This broad and generalized assumption, failing to recognize the diversity of our generation, angers even some self-critical Echo Boomers.

Sarah Roth, 25, an assistant editor at Resource Magazine explains, “I know of a lot of people in college who never had a job in school and they had the hardest time finding one after graduating.” Yet, she says, “We are an individualistic society and we want to lead the best life ever. The ability to learn (about) different cultures is so important and something our generation has and other generations never did.”

Sara Roth believes Generation Y has a unique ability to learn about other
cultures.

We are in fact far more diverse and understanding of society. Steve Kroft states, “…thirty-five percent are non-white, and the most tolerant, believing everyone should be part of the community”.

Julie Nguyen, 19, a college sophomore and biology major at Marymount Manhattan College, says, “I’m in college and my mom still doesn’t want me to work. She would rather I concentrate fully on school instead of worrying about money. She believes that education is the best investment of my time.”

Re-examination of education and subsequent entry into the workforce changed the organization of corporate America, allowing motivated individuals to provide innovation and creativity in a 21st Century working environment. Generation Y has a voice and more options to express themselves than previous generations. Safer, the correspondent for “The Millennials Are Coming” segment interviewed Ryan Healy, founder of Brazen Careerist, an online community and career center for Generation Y.

An advisor to young people on how to deal with conventional work practices, Healy created a list of reasons as to why our generation is changing the workplace for the better, including finding real mentors to help with career development and holding only productive meetings.

Stefan Estrada, 26, a web designer for National Geographic’s online magazine says, “Before the company’s website merged with the magazine we were a small group of young people meeting only when we needed to. Now, we have meetings for no reason, and it’s a waste of time.”

We have been so heavily studied and interrogated for a reason—because we have the potential to make an incredible difference, just like our Baby Boomer parents.

The recent economic upheaval in the country’s financial sector, created by traditional corporate thinkers, has left our generation with looming and potentially harmful problems. Only with our generation’s ingenuity and innovation can we reinvent the aged concept of time clocks and business attire to begin a long era of progress and growth.

Millennials In The New Millennium

2008-10-30T14:04:00.002-04:00

Generation Next
By Alex Catarinella

Imagine a world without the iPhone, a world without online networking sites such as Facebook, and a world without Internet blogs. If this doesn't terrify you, then you're most likely not an Echo Boomer.

Echo Boomers, also known as Generation Y or Millennials, born between 1980 and 1995, are mostly the offspring of Baby Boomer parents. And while some cannot yet vote, they are the most watched over generation in history.

According to the 60 Minutes report from 2005, "The Echo Boomers," this generation is the most sophisticated generation because of media, spends nearly $170 billion a year on their and their parent's credit cards, their parents are their best friends, and they were born in a time when people were studying kids and celebrating them. Essentially, they are "trophy children" and their "parents feel like they're holding a piece of Baccarat crystals."

As a result, parents fight for their children and praise them. This generation is the "now" generation and believes in instant gratification. Unlike their "egocentric Baby Boomer families," Echo Boomers are liberal, team workers, believe in diversity and won't settle like their parents did: They want their dream to come true, and won't take "no" for an answer.

On the other hand, 60 Minutes said in its report that aired two years later in 2007, "The Millennials," that Echo Boomers, while they are intelligent and tech savvy, want it "their way or the high way." In addition, Echo Boomers are unable to take criticism and co-workers must "talk to them like you're their therapist." They've "climbed Mount Everest but never punched a time clock" and priorities such as yoga class and vacation come before work. "The Millennials" blames parents for being too involved in their children's life as well as Mr. Rogers for calling everybody special without a reason.

London-based "Roxy Hartless" (her blogger alias), 22, writes for Ruby Pseudo, a blog that showcases Echo Boomers from around the world. It initially started for clients who wanted the perspective of young clever minds concerning "brands, trends, culture, new and interesting music, art and fashion, and loads of other stuff." She discusses her views of the Echo Boomers (a term in which she wasn't familiar, although she is classified as one) as being "massively important". She explains: "They're the savviest generation yet and one of the reasons they're so important as consumers is that so many brands just cannot get it right when they attempt to market to them."

Hartless says their tech savvy abilities "can get them 'round pretty much anything." She adds: "They find ways to not have to pay for things by knowing the right people and if they have to pay for something they'll find the quickest and easiest way to earn the money."

Still, as the first generation to grow up with computers, Hartless insists that this comes with the good and the bad. She says: "In some ways, their creativity and the way they live their lives has been made easier and more exciting. It's easier for anyone of that kind of age to do their own thing, make their own music, sell their own t-shirts online, and be a writer (on a blog)."

But on the other hand, according to Hartless, this computer-friendly, always-connected generation may be missing out on aspects of daily life such as "calling and seeing someone instead of writing on their Facebook wall, literally putting pen to paper, reading a book instead of an article online, taking photos and putting them on your bedroom wall not on your Facebook page."

Hartless believes there's a lack of privacy as a result of the digital world in which echo boomers live, and perhaps more importantly, in turn makes their lives "less exclusive."

The 60 Minutes "Millennials" report suggest that Echo Boomers have easy lives. Hartless agrees that there are perks of being an Echo Boomer. "I think Echo Boomers, especially young entrepreneurs and creative types, have the ability to have pretty lucky lives. I know so many people who get in everywhere for free, get free clothes, go partying and just live off social fame within sub-cultures. Some even get paid to go to the parties."

But, Hartless adds, despite this vacation-type description of the lives of Echo Boomers, they still work hard. "There's other people in the Echo Boomer bracket who work their arses off," Hartless quips. "Because of the availability to be what you want to be in the digital age, people have to fight to be the best at it. There are more opportunities to make something of yourself and therefore more competition when you finally make it."

Although this generation is the most studied generation to date, wishing to achieve the American Dream is not a new idea. So why is so much attention being focused on this generation as they follow their dreams? Hartless explains: "As corny as this sounds, they are the future generation. They're going to be running the world next."

Ruby Pseudo: http://rubypseudochatchat.blogspot.com/

Millennials In The New Millennium

2008-10-30T14:02:00.001-04:00

The Millennial Express: Get On Board Or Get Out Of The Way
By Eric Meron

“Millennials,” “Echo Boomers,” and “Generation Y” are just a few of the names used to describe the group of young adults born between 1980 and 1995. There are nearly 80 million of them according to the 2005 CBS 60 Minutes report “The Echo Boomers.” These young individuals will pave the path of the future whether we like it or not.

This next generation will revolutionize how we in America do business. Another CBS 60Minutes report, “The Millennials Are Coming,” said that corporate America is “unnerved” by the Echo Boomers’ lack of business etiquette. Well, the Millennial train is coming and corporate America needs to get on or get out of the way.

Companies like the online shoe retailer Zappos.com have found unique ways to help with the influx of new “Millennial” employees. They often have crazy parades around the office, and have happy hours and a nap room. This seems like it would promote a lackadaisical attitude, but their employees are having fun at work and getting the job done. From 2000 to 2007, Zappos’ sales increased to a peak of $840 million dollars according to businessweek.com. CEO Tony Hsieh said the company has a goal of breaking the $1 billion in 2008.

So where does this upcoming generation want to work? Schedule flexibility and other employees of the same age are a must when looking for employment.

Jennifer Ortega, 23, of Queens says, “I think flexibility is the most important to me. I have a daughter and need to pick her up from school or leave for emergencies. I do not want to have to be penalized at my job because I am trying to care of my family. If they do for me then I will do for them.”

The Millennials want to have friends at work, and be able to schedule other activities before or after work because they want the ability to come in late or leave early. Jay Whelan, 22, of Queens says, “I would love to work at a place that would allow me to go to the gym in the morning and come in later. I mean, I wouldn’t like abuse it, but the option would be cool.”

Do not think they miss the big picture. Millennials understand if they miss some time at the office that they are expected to still complete their tasks on time. They are actually more concerned about completing the task at hand than being in the office for a specific amount of time. They feel tasks should have a starting point and an ending point giving them the flexibility they so desire. If they finish the tasks early they want to be able to leave and go to a yoga class.

On site activities are also a big incentive. Specialty rooms are huge motivators for Millennials. The nap rooms at Zappos or the pool table in the employee lobby at Google are huge benefits. The younger employee sees these as places to relieve their daily stress and helps them to cope better with the office life they all seem to dislike so much.

One major point we are missing is that every employee, regardless of age, has to deal with stress at work. If the Millennials have come up with a means to deal with stress why then are the older generations so opposed to it. If someone can make the work environment better for everyone why fight it. Do the Baby Boomers feel that the Millennials have not earned their rights to flexible schedules and nap rooms?

The Millennials are obviously the future on this country and they are not a generation that is going to change. Now is the time to begin to adapt to some of their styles even if older generations do not agree. Ortega says, “One day I might get promoted over someone who was my boss and didn’t like my requests. That person may find it difficult to work for me.”

Look out America, like the Blob, the Millennials will slowly but surely take over everything we know. Embrace the future and get your ticket for the Millennial Express. All Aboard.

Millennials In The New Millennium

2008-10-30T13:56:00.002-04:00

Millennials Refuse To Be Trapped In Jobs Like Their Parents
By Megan Biscieglia

All across corporate America, Millenials, the generation born between 1980 and 1995, are shaking things up. In a CBS 60 Minutes report titled ”The Millenials Are Coming,” this generation is painted as a bunch of cry babies who have made the workplace a “psychological battleground” and are referred to as the “teenage babysitting pool.”

It’s true, their work ethic is much different from those before them, but is that a bad thing?

Justin Love, 21, believes it’s a great thing. “We aren’t nurtured; it’s just that times have changed. For us, our personal life comes first and the workplace comes second and I think that’s the way it should be. Your life shouldn’t be your work; your life should be your life!”

Brian Keener, 22, agrees. “I’ve seen what my family has gone through and they’ve suffered. What do they have to show for their hard work and dedication to a company? Not much. I’m not going to do that,” Keener says. “I’m going to worry about my own happiness and fulfillment, and then I’ll worry about my job. I don’t think that’s crazy, I think it’s great that so early in life I’ve decided what’s most important to me. And that’s my family, friends, and myself, not my work.”

Chrissy Contino, 22, says, “I’m not going to work myself to death in my early years. I’m not going to wait until I’m old and retired to enjoy my life.”

In the 60 Minutes report, Marian Salzman, an ad agency executive at J. Walter Thompson, says "You have to speak to them (Millenials) a little bit like a therapist on television might speak to a patient. You can't be harsh. You cannot tell them you're disappointed in them. You can't really ask them to live and breathe the company. Because they're living and breathing themselves and that keeps them very busy."

If a Millennial isn’t happy in the workplace, she/he will simply leave and find a new job. Love says, “If I don’t like my job I’ll quit. There are so many opportunities and options I’ll just move right on down the road where people are treating their employees better. A job shouldn’t stress someone out.”

Health and happiness are the Millennials’ main priorities, and they believe their job should be understanding and fully supportive of that. “Companies should pay for a gym membership. Our bodies are important and we have to take care of them. If someone is getting enough sleep and exercise they’ll perform better,” says Love.

Contino agrees. “If you’re not healthy you can’t work to your best ability.”

The 60 Minutes report refers to Millenials as “narcissist praise hounds” and blames it on Mr. Rogers who told them they were all special no matter what. Contino says, “I think our generation has a very elitist attitude but I think we should be allowed to have it and we deserve to have it. But so does everyone else.”

Keener says, “I don’t understand why the older generations are so scared of us. No, we aren’t narcissists. I think we just get it. We get that you shouldn’t be a slave in the office for 75% of your life. We understand the things that make us happy and the things that don’t.”

Keener believes that enjoying your personal life is surely more fun and more fulfilling than being in the workplace all day. “At the same time though, we’re going to get things done. It’s just that we have to enjoy what we’re doing and work in positive atmospheres. I really see nothing wrong with that.”

Whether you like it or not, the Millenials aren’t going anywhere. In fact, there are more coming to an office near you. There are 80 million of them and as the 60 Minutes report points out, “tell the boomers, the bosses, the 50 to 60 year olds, ‘the people who have to change are you guys, not them.'”

Millennials In The New Millennium

2008-10-30T13:51:00.003-04:00

The Special Generation
By Mark Galaritta

Do well in school. Do what you love. Be a friend to everyone. You’re a special kid. Does any of this sound familiar to you? If it does then you’re part of Generation Y, the Echo Boomers or the latest term: The Millennials. A generation of young Americans who were told since the day they were born that they are special, and they took those words to heart.

The Echo Boomers is just one of the many terms used by 60 Minutes in two reports titled: The Echo Boomers in 2005 and The Millennials in 2007. Millennials are the generation born from 1982-1995 who had all grown up with a cell-phone in one pocket an Ipod in the other, and their fingers at the computer typing their essays while chatting with their friends.

The Millennials are a growing breed of smart, overachieving and driven young people who are expected to take care of the growing number of retiring Baby Boomers born between 1946 and 1964.

In the report, “Echo Boomers,” Dr. Mel Levine, a professor at University of North Carolina and one of the most known pediatricians in the country believes the youth of generation Y take all their influence from their own parents. "Parents feel as if they're holding onto a piece of Baccarat crystal or something that could somehow shatter at any point,” says Levine. “And parents therefore are protecting them, inflating their egos. Massaging them, fighting their battles for them."

So why shouldn’t the echo boomers think they’re not special? They’ve been raised to think that way from their parents since birth by staying focused in school while doing their best in other hobbies as well.

Some students at Marymount Manhattan College, who are part of Generation Y, believe this is true, because they too were raised this way. Josh Hashmi, a 20 year-old sophomore at Marymount Manhattan College says: “I always call my mom for everything,” when asked for his reaction the to the 60 Minutes Echo Boomer report.

Hashmi isn’t alone. It’s common to still find a college student or graduate between the ages of 18-25 still dependent on their parents. Today it’s not rare to find a college graduate living with their parents while they work. This move is considered financially smart, as college graduates try to save on living expenses.

Raising the children of Generation Y in this way has had an affect on the workplace as well. Dr. Levine says he has spoken to CEOs of major corporations and their biggest complaint wasn’t an Echo Boomer’s work ethic, but that many young workers tend not to think long-term.

Dr. Levine believes that Echo Boomers live for the moment and nothing else. He says concludes this style of life is visual motor ecstasy, where anything that doesn’t produce instant satisfaction is boring. Generation Y believes everything they do, whether at work or at life, should be instantly satisfying or at least up to their standards.

It’s not uncommon to see a college graduate switch jobs after a few months or even see a college student switching schools after a year. “I probably will switch out of Marymount Manhattan College,” says 19 year-old Shane Mehigan. “I feel like other school’s have a lot to offer, with my goals in life. People change and I’m not happy here, so I want to do what makes me happy and can get me somewhere in my career.”

Mehigan is just one Echo Boomer constantly on the move to find himself. Surrounded from birth by parents who told them everything they did was okay so long as it made them happy, the Echo Boomers are still trying to find their own happiness.

The report says that a question that should worry historians studying Generation Y is whether this over protected and ‘special’ generation will do more harm than good in the future. Can this over watched, overachieving and overprotected generation live up to protect the people who raise them and make an even stronger country than they were born in?

Leah Hagenstein an 18 year-old Marymount says the future of Generation Y is yet to be determined. “I don’t think that it’s bad. I don’t believe were all alike in that way. We were just raised that way.”

The future is clearly uncertain for Generation Y and they’re just graduating from college or still working on their degrees. Wherever the Echo Boomer ends in the future, it will likely be somewhere they are happy and can do things their own ‘special’ way.

Millennials In The New Millennium

2008-10-30T13:49:00.003-04:00

Echo Boomers And Millennials: An Unfair Criticism?
By Jordan Price

As a member of the generation in question, it was rather eye opening and amusing to view both CBS 60 Minutes programs “Echo Boomers” and “Millenials.” We live in a time when success is highly possible and achievement can be granted in many different ways, depending on one’s interests. In the 60 Minutes reports, some experts appear to look down on Generation Y and our “over-ambitious” outlook on life.

Is it really such a crime that our generation strives for the best we can be? Is it really such a problem that we have been told of our self-value since a young age and carry a certain pride in our step?

Kaitlin Prutzman, 19, started laughing when I asked her if she believed our generation could be summed up as “narcissistic praise hounds,” as suggested by the 60Minutes program Echo Boomers. That is definitely not true,” said Prutzman. “I think as a generation we are ambitious, but to categorize us all as narcissistic praise hounds is pretty offensive. I know I’m going to have to work hard to get a great job. Not once has it crossed my mind that I will prance in to some office and demand praise, attention, and a fabulous position right away. It’s absolutely unrealistic.”

Brittany Price, 21, seemed perturbed by the suggestion that our country is full of “Millenials” that have been babied and think the world owes them only the finest. “The whole idea that our generation is being looked at like this upsets me,” she said. “I am just graduating college and when I find the job I want, and I pursue it, I like to think I will have put in the hard work to get that job. I don’t want older people who criticize my generation to think I got my job because I was part of this ‘perfect, demanding generation.’ I’m going to work hard, just like older generations worked hard. End of story.”

Could it be that our generation’s great critique is offensive and misleading? Yes, we have been given greater opportunities than our parents’ generation, and certainly our grandparents’ generation, but is that necessarily our fault? Is it not simply the progression of time and technology? In the 60 Minutes report Dr. Mel Levine claims that part of the problem lies in the fact that we have been kept busy since childhood, with different activities lacing our weekdays. It seems that this idea would not really affect our generation’s need to please, but instead offer a healthy way to find what our generation’s individual’s passions might be.

Ryan Rogers, 19, thinks hard before commenting on the generational accusations. “Well, I see how we might be a little naïve, but to say we expect to have everything rearranged around our lives is not true. I’m scared to walk into an office and begin a job. I will be doing whatever my boss asks! I think our generational upbringing just helped give us confidence and a happy childhood. I really think it’s just as simple as that.”

I have to agree with my fellow generational members. I believe the criticism is not accurate and I view our generation as a positive step in society. We as individuals know what we want to achieve and are not afraid to conquer our goals. To say that quality is a bad one seems absurd to me. I am very grateful for the path older generations have paved for me and am not naïve to that fact.

Even if the 60 Minutes programs made some valid points, to claim that our entire generation falls into the category of needy, controlling, and self-obsessed is simply too broad of a criticism. Instead, it might be beneficial to look at our generation as a determined bunch, driven and technologically aware.

After all, if the older generations are critiquing the way our generation lives, well, shouldn’t the finger be pointed at those who raised us?

Millennials In The New Millennium

2008-10-30T13:45:00.001-04:00

Make Way For The New Power Generation
By Sammi Richardson

I am part of a generation where luxuries are handed to us on a silver platter. Regardless of whether we make any effort or not, we receive rewards. Not just our needs are fulfilled, but most of our desires as well. We are a generation that wants an amazing job and still have time left over at the end of the day for manicures and pedicures and drinks with friends. We want to be able to do it all and have it all. We are referred to as Millennials and Echo Boomers.

Millennials are a definitive group of people born between 1982 and 1995. They make up much of the US population and spend an estimated $170 billion a year of theirs or their parents’ money, according to reports

In September of 2005, CBS 60 Minutes aired a program titled “The Echo Boomers.” As CBS correspondent Steve Kroft reported, “Echo boomers are a reflection of the sweeping changes in American life over the past 20 years. They are the first to grow up with computers at home and a 500-channel TV universe. They are multi-taskers that possess cell phones, music downloads, and Instant Messaging on the Internet. They are totally plugged-in citizens of a worldwide community.”

The Millennials represent a large population who spend freely. If business people want to achieve success, they realize they have to cater to this new breed of spenders.

“I think this generation of people might be the most effectively socially conscious generation yet,” says Max Smith, 24 of Queens. “There are more people in this generation trying to improve the world for others than in any previous generation. More people are defending and protecting our country than ever, but it is overlooked by the generation’s frivolous spending,” He said.

Matthew McCurley, 26 of Brooklyn had an interesting perspective. “This new generation that wants it all and whose parents encouraged them to demand it all, are still very much dependent financially on their parents,” he said. “Instead of living at home, which some still do, they have their own apartments and jobs, but are still supplemented by their parents. They are not quite making the salaries they need to achieve the lifestyle their parents made them accustom to, so the parents are helping pay for the luxuries.”

McCurley says that instead of waiting until they can afford the lifestyle on their own, they are getting a head start. In the past, it would have been a stigma to acknowledge the dependency on a parent financially; however this new breed doesn’t have any shame.

Two years and three months after the first airing of 60 Minutes’ “Echo Boomers”, a new follow-up program was broadcast titled “The "Millennials" Are Coming.” As reported by Morley Safer, “They were raised by doting parents who told them they are special, played in little leagues with no winners or losers, or all winners. They are laden with trophies just for participating and they think your business-as-usual ethic is for the birds. And if you persist in the belief, you can take your job and shove it.”

Stephen Hand, 20 a student at FIT says, “I do believe that we are a gimme get me society. Our parents encouraged us to strive for and demand more this is true. But, they also want us to do better than them, and to achieve more success. In this instance I do not believe we are any different than our grandparents’ generation. They wanted more for their children as I believe I will want more for my own some day,” Hand said.

Millennials are the future leaders of America. They are smart, technologically equipped, and passionate about their views. They are goal oriented and driven to succeed. It’s likely that they will create a positive change in the workplace because employers may be less willing to under pay them, or not recognize their hard work. Or is that every Millennial’s hope?

Millennials In The New Millennium

2008-10-27T16:38:00.001-04:00

Echo Who?
By Charlotte Price

If you were born between 1980 and 1995, then welcome to the club of the Echo Boomers, a generation focused on by social scientists, economists, marketers, and the overly doting parent. No matter what you name the club, whether its Echo Boomers, The Millinnials, or Generation Y, the buzz is all the same. Who are they? What do they do? And how are they going to change the future?

CBS 60 Minutes correspondents Steve Kroft and Morley Safer offer two reports on these fascinating groups of youngsters on 60 Minutes called “Echo Boomers” and “The Millennials Are Coming,” taking all the buzz and hype and getting the facts straight from the source. As an active member of Generation Y, I was curious to see what these reporters from a generation long before the boomers had to say about the up-and-coming world runners.

“Echo Boomers” reported by Kroft provided an equally positive and negative viewpoint of this generation. One of the pros being that this generation is extremely diverse and therefore the most tolerant they have seen. An article titled, ‘The Millennials Come of Age’ in USA Today by Sharon Jayson states, “Young people of this generation, who grew up with "diversity" and "multicultural" as buzzwords, are more tolerant and open-minded than previous generations, suggests an analysis of studies by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.”

Kroft also discovered that among this generation there is hope and optimism in the government and future leadership of the country, and that the Millennials are a group of hard working go-getters ready to set the job world on fire. With all this praise of course, Kroft must also slip in the less glamorous sides of this age group. For example, Kroft finds Generation Y can be naïve about the workplace; a generation focused on instant gratification, and deprived of a childhood that allowed for individual exploration of self-strengths.

Kroft supports these opinions with interviews with specialists like Dr. Mel Levine, a Professor at University of North Carolina and a prestigious pediatrician who states the generation has been, “heavily programmed” and whose “whole lives have been compliant on what some adult wants them to do.” Kroft also interviews a diverse group of young adults who represent themselves throughout the report as technologically savvy, parent loving, tolerant, brand obsessed teenagers. Overall, the report displays both the negative and positive aspects of Generation Y without much bias.

Safer’s 60 Minutes report, “The Millenials Are Coming,” displays some of the same arguments and findings but with a crustier reporter. Safer’s old wit and curmudgeon ways that slip out with comments like, “Narcissistic praise hounds taking over the office…” allows for a comedic comparison between him and the “trophy children” of Generation Y. His assumptions, while more snide and jarring than Kroft’s, provide a reality check for Echo Boomers, but is not fully disheartening and the segment ends with a message of excitement and hope for the future.

To get an overall and unbiased perspective on this generation Safer interviews people like Marian Salzman who works as an ad agency executive at J. Walter Thompson, Mary Crane who teaches Millinnials the every day basics of…well life, Wall Street Journal columnist Jeffery Zaslow, a motivational consultant named Bob Nelson and then two bright eyed and bushy tailed echo boomers themselves, Jason Dorsey and Ryan Healy. The consensus is that these children who had everything handed to them on a trophy platter grew up with a “me me me” complex and are therefore changing the workplace and social priorities.

Generation Y is more interested in family and friends than the old school “sacrifice for the company” work ethic. Safer looks at the pull this club has on the market, the decline of business formality, and how a generation of all winners is going to grow up in the real world. The question is will echo boomers branch out into world and have their fairytale dreams shattered by real life consequences or will the world mold around them, forming an entire new society.

In article in the New York Times by Morley Winograd and Michael D. Hais titled ‘The Boomers Had Their Day, Make Way for the Millenials,’ the authors quote Barak Obama making a comparison between generations that I find inspiring. He differentiates the generations as “the "Moses generation" that led the children of Israel out of slavery, and the "Joshua generation" that established the kingdom of Israel. The first was a generation of idealists and dreamers, the second a generation of doers and builders.”

With that said, I feel Echo Boomers can confidently take on the world in any fashion they deem appropriate, and I suspect that Morley Safer and Steve Kroft would agree.

Decision 2008

2008-10-22T13:53:00.001-04:00

The Politics Of Excitement
By Megan Biscieglia

Whether you like it or not, this year’s election represents a historic change, and it will take place in the ballot box where more young people than ever before will be voting -- many for the first time. Evidence of this change was seen in the 2008 primary elections where young voters increased a whopping 103% from the 2004 primary elections.

So why are the young people getting more involved this election season?

Abby Jones, 21, a first time voter believes it is because of the access they have to political information, either from a nominee’s official site or a friend’s Facebook status. “I think that because people are so connected young people are getting more involved (in the election),” Jones said. “We have Facebook, MySpace, LiveJournal, blogs, etc. to share our own individual view and you can Google either nominee and find out anything you want about them. Young people don’t have an excuse to not know what’s going on in the election.”

Mary McGee, 20, agrees, “There are more ways of expressing yourself politically.”

The amount of information about the election being presented is hard to deny. Information, fact or fiction about the nominees can be found on every channel, in every newspaper, and in every magazine.

“Celebrities are endorsing their favorite candidates and because so many people read gossip magazines with celebrities in them, the election is everywhere,” says Jones. “There’s so much gossip surrounding the nominees.”

Mcgee says, “This is a very explosive election. Obama is being presented by the media as a rock star. He’s on the cover of Rolling Stone and he’s young, intelligent, and handsome.”

Many young people feel let down by the Bush presidency and it’s driving them straight to the voting booths. Paul Dakin, 20, another first time voter says that he’s voting because, “There’s more awareness. I don’t want to go through what we’ve already had. It’s been one bad thing after another for the past eight years.”

Jones agrees, “I want to feel good about being an American. I want to be able to look up to our president. We’ve become the laughing stock of the world.”

Young voters believe that this election is about people getting people involved and that Obama and Palin represent something refreshing and new in politics, which excites people. “This is history in the making,” Dakin says.

Decision 2008

2008-10-16T17:46:00.001-04:00

Political Conservatives At Marymount? They Do Exist
By Mary McGee

Students and faculty at Marymount Manhattan College often take pride in what they feel is a very open and accepting atmosphere, but not everyone feels so accepted. This being an election year, politics is often the subject of conversation both in and out of classes. Often, the conversation is friendly because most of the participants agree and support the same candidate: Barack Obama.

Class discussions may start with the professor, possibly expressing a grievance. Students then chime in, agreeing with the liberal minded professor. More students nod in approval.

Diane Zambrotta is not nodding. She’s remaining silent. Zambrotta knows quite a bit about winning elections, as she is the president Marymount’s Student Government Association. She knows quite a lot about politics as well, but is afraid to voice her opinion.

“I’ll just get shot down,” she says. “A teacher even once said, ‘you’re not voting for McCain, are you?’”

Zambrotta is not sure who she’s voting for yet, and she feels that is something her peers should respect her for, rather than ridicule.

SGA vice-president Zach Harrel, also politically moderate agrees with that sentiment. “People claim to be so open, and they’re not. Conservatives are automatically seen as unintelligent, and that’s not true.”

But whose responsibility is it to make conservative students feel accepted?

It’s a fine line professors have to walk between expressing themselves and making sure all students feel they can do the same.

“I once had a student write on an evaluation that I talked personal politics too much, but I really think it was mostly the other students,” says professor Michael Backus. The specific case he speaks of regards a conservative, gay student. And while he admits the other students may have responded strongly to his opinions, he says he never ridiculed the student or his opinions. “It’s completely appropriate for a professor to express views provided they don’t suppress others.”

“Are we saying that someone with world experience shouldn’t have an opinion?” asks Dr. Kent Worcester, the chair of the Social Sciences division. Based on his own observations, he’s broken down Marymount students into three political categories: “Progressives, Liberals, and East Coast Republicans.”

Moderates like Zambrotti and Harrell will most likely agree with his assessment of their views. “Socially liberal and alienated by their party. They are more up for grabs this election than they have been in years,” Worcester says. He encourages students to speak up, only intervening because “my tolerance does not extend to intolerance,” from members of either party.

Although Marymount is a college for the liberal arts, not everyone is liberal, which is something both students and faculty will need to keep in mind.

Decision 2008

2008-10-09T10:44:00.000-04:00

This Year’s Election Won’t Be Decided By Advertising
By Eric Meron

Why should I vote for you, let me count the ways. Newspapers, television, radio and the Internet are all displaying ads that tell voters who they should chose for President and why. But are the ads really helping voters decide who is the right candidate?

Cheryl Latimore, 54, of Harlem doesn’t seem to think so. “There is nothing going to change me from voting for my man,” she said.

More money has been spent on advertising in the 2008 Presidential Campaign than any other campaign in history, according to opensecrets.org. There are less than 30 days remaining before the election, yet the Associated Press reported that 18 percent of voters were either undecided or willing to change their minds about who they were voting for.

This is a high percentage considering there are only 34 days until November 4, and how much advertising the average person is exposed to for the election in one day. According to the U.S. Census Bureau 126 million people voted in the presidential election of 2004. That means that there are more than 22.5 million people who have not decided who they are voting for in 2008, using the bureau’s 2004 numbers. If voters’ decisions were based on election ads this percentage would likely be lower.

Many voters like Latimore have already chosen a candidate and, like she, may have decided without the help of ads. “I know what I know from word of mouth, the things I hear. I know what’s going on. I don’t need ads to tell me about voting and the Internet is for the kids,” Latimore said.

Other voters are focusing on a specific issue and choosing the candidate they believe would be best suited to handle that particular problem. Johnny Cardoso 42, of Queens said the economy is what has his attention. He recently lost his job at Citi Bank because of cut backs and said this fact was the biggest influence on his decision.

Cardoso said that statistically, Democrats have done better with the economy than Republicans. “Clinton left office with a surplus, can Bush say that?” he said. When asked if he received any of his information from ads or debates, he said he was laid off from his job and he didn’t need any more information than that.

The majority of the people seem as if they will vote the party line. Frank Fanene, 68, of Queens, who is originally from Hawaii said, “I would vote Republican no matter what their platform is.”

Fanene said he became a Republican because he was a Marine and nothing would ever sway him from his party.

George Hemon, 53, of the Bronx had an opposing view. “I am a Democrat. Why would I vote any other way than that?”

The reaction was the same from the old to the young. All of those who said they were either Democrat or Republican would vote that way and no ads or debates would persuade them differently.

Both Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama have websites and they email potential voters with updates. The Obama campaign has even used text messages to reach its intended voters. Are people using these new methods to help them decide who to vote for or are they already so overwhelmed with email and text messages and commercials that most of these ads fall to the way side?

The husband of an elderly couple on Greenpoint Ave. in Queens put it best, “A television ad? I can’t change her mind and I’m married to her. You think the TV will do that?”

Decision 2008

2008-10-09T10:38:00.002-04:00

Young Voters Unite
By Elis Estrada

Energetically shouting phrases such as, “Register to Vote!,” “Fill out your absentee ballots!,” and a simple but boisterous “VOTE!,” members of Marymount Manhattan College’s Student Political Association assembled around decorated event tables on September 22 in the Black and White Galleries, adjacent to the college’s Hewitt Gallery of Art in the main corridor.

Urging students to take action and exercise their legal right to vote, young student voters provided voter registration forms and absentee ballots for those who may be reluctant to participate in the nation’s historical presidential election.

Young adults ages 18 and older were granted the constitutional right to vote in 1972 and since then the struggle to maintain voter participation among young people has caused other members of society to deem them unreliable. Yet, young voters have had enough and are rising to do something about the apathy that has afflicted them for so long.

Jessica Merkel, 19, a sophomore photography major at Marymount, and first time voter, said voting is important to her because, “I mainly believe I shouldn’t criticize the government if I’m not a part of it.”

Independent young people of the Millennial generation, equipped with the most incredible resources—newspapers, television, Internet, and hi-tech cellular phones that act as personal assistants—are fighting to be heard among the powerful politicians and media giants who do not take them seriously.

Movements and groups, large and small, have been working hard to persuade young people that their vote does count in an election where it could actually determine the outcome. Government and politics does not take precedence at Marymount Manhattan College; clubs and organizations catering to the college’s population of theater, dance, and communication majors are favored instead. But the Student Political Association exemplifies the initiative of individuals young and old advocating for youth voting participation.

Websites including, DoSomething.org, DeclareYourself.org, and RocktheVote.org have been successful in campaigning for young voter interest in government. The individuals behind DoSomething.org believe that young people can make a difference and aim to inspire Generation Y. Their website encourages young people to look beyond what they believe is a media saturated culture where one’s abilities are judged by ownership of brands and consumer products and not true intellect and contributions made to society. Tools and resources provided by such organizations create a grassroots effort with forces leading to engage individuals to actively participate in the Nation’s government of the people.

Cassandra Neville, 21, a senior dance major at Marymount said, “You can’t always grasp the information from what the media tells you online or on television.” Neville continued: “Sometimes you just need to listen to what other people have to say, it helps to form your own opinion about issues.”

One of the reasons attributed to young voter apathy is they assume their vote will not matter. Sam Carcamo, 21, a senior communication arts major at Marymount is determined not to vote, saying, “Perhaps in the future my vote might make a difference, but right now as a kid coming from a low rent paying urban family, no matter what people say, my vote will not make a difference.”

When asked for whom he would have voted, he replied, “Barrack Obama, only because he is a minority and I’m a minority.”

According to the “History of Voting” fact sheet at DoSomething.org, the Millennial generation is the largest and most ethnically diverse in U.S History, comprising one-fifth of the electorate vote, and by 2012, is expected to comprise one-third of the electorate.

Young voters whose lives were shaped by the tragedies of September 11, 2001, may have a unique perspective of the world and their responsibility to make a difference. Meghan Pilling, 21, a senior dance major at Marymount, is going to vote but has not made a decision for whom yet.

When asked about her indecisiveness, Pilling said, “I’m still trying to learn about each side. I think it’s irresponsible to not be informed, and I fall into that category, but I’m trying to get better at it.” After a brief pause she added, “But, young people are more involved than ever and I think we can make a difference.”

A simple gathering of the Student Political Association at Marymount ignited a spark in young individuals to stop—on the way to class, or to the fourth floor café to meet with friends—and spend a brief period doing something so simple, yet so decisive to their futures.

Decision 2008

2008-10-02T08:57:00.004-04:00

Poll: Marymount Students Say They’re Planning To Vote
By Mark Galarrita

A majority of Marymount Manhattan College students said in a recent poll that they will be voting in the presidential election, either as New York residents or by absentee ballots, and that they are were generally enthusiastic about their choices.

In a poll of 167 of Marymount Manhattan College’s 2,000 students, results show that many students will be voting in the general election this November, or at least they want to. Conducted on September 22, the same day the college’s political student union held its Get Out The Vote Drive, the poll sought to determine if Marymount students would be voting this November and for whom.

The poll showed that 124 students said they would be voting. Only 21 said they would not, and 16 said they were ineligible due to various reasons, including age and citizenship. Six were not yet registered but said they intended to vote.

However, when Marymount students were asked who they would be voting for, their voices were loud and clear. A whopping 103 students picked Senator Barack Obama of Illinois as their choice for president in the general election.

Sophomore pre-med major Sarah Conestabile said she picked the young senator for one clear reason. “I don’t want another Bush in office. The financial situation is just a mess and I don’t like the way the war in Iraq is being handled.”

Other students who intended to vote for Obama cited various issues they believed he addressed. “Economic policy will help us in the long run,” says sophomore Matt Whitt. “His diplomatic skills will help in foreign affairs, as well as his experience in domestic reform.”

It is clear that Marymount Manhattan students favor Obama their general opinion of him is high. When asked why they were voting for him, many cited the word change several times. Many students agreed that the word “change” and a new seat in government seemed like a cliché, but they believed it was "necessary".

In a related poll, only seven students picked Arizona Senator John McCain as their choice. Although clearly outnumbered by Obama voters on campus, McCain voters were not swayed. A majority of the polling was taken in large groups, and showed at least one McCain voter in every individual group. Students who were for McCain did not give a reason for choosing him.

The poll also unearthed a number of undecided voters. Twenty-two students who said they were voting said they were undecided. When asked why they remained undecided, the consensus response was,”you’re damned if you do, you’re damned if you don’t.” ks Elyssa Maldonado, a senior art history major, said, “I don’t like McCain’s policies and Obama seems too preachy for me. All talk.”

Some undecided voters choose a more direct approach -- apathy. Twenty-one students said they will not be voting at all. Sam Carcmo, a senior communications major, said simply, “I don’t care enough.”

However, apathy was not rampant among those who said they wouldn’t vote. Some were too undecided or too busy. Others said they should not vote because of lack of knowledge. A few students said they were too busy to commit the time to vote in the general election.

A majority of the students polled, 127 out of 167, said they voting were enthusiastic about the future whether they were for McCain, Obama or another party member. Results of the polls are likely to change. The U.S. Board of Education shows that more than 29 million people aged 18-24 are eligible to vote in 2008. However, in the 2004 presidential election, only 47% of eligible voters between the ages of 18-24 actually voted. Still, that number was about 11% higher than young voters in the 2000 general election.

While apathy may be a stereotypical trend among young potential voters, a majority of Marymount’s 2,000 students are expected to take the time from their busy lives to vote.

Decision 2008

2008-10-02T08:44:00.004-04:00

Politics And Music: Joy To The Ears Or Painful Noise?
By Alex Catarinella

To most voters, knowing presidential candidates and what they stand for before the election is essential. Many want to know their stances on subjects like health care or the war in Iraq. But how about learning that Barack Obama listens to Marvin Gaye and the Rolling Stones while John McCain prefers ABBA and The Beach Boys?

Music plays quite a role in the upcoming presidential election, according to Blender Magazine, which recently released the top 10 music picks of Obama and McCain. There’s a long history with political expression in music, but of late, musicians are making their voices heard louder than ever before.

But are they making beautiful music, or is it time to turn the microphone off?

Kip Berman, 28, of Brooklyn’s indie-rock band “The Pains of Being Pure at Heart” thinks while musicians should do whatever they can to contribute, they shouldn’t expect much. “Even Oprah, supposedly the most powerful media figure in America, can't really impact people to such a huge extent,” said Berman. “People might buy a book she recommends, but it's likely their political views are a bit more entrenched than their literary curiosity.”

However, one’s musical tastes may indicate their political views, Berman believes. “If you like Nirvana, chances are you’re not going to grow up to be a fascist,” Berman quips. “I don't know that an ardent Bush supporter listening to Green Day's ‘American Idiot’ is suddenly going to reassess their worldview. However, the process by which someone gets turned on to Green Day, or Punk in general, is a lot more important to the kind of person they become,” Berman added.

Neil Scibelli, 22, an indie-musician and a student at Marymount Manhattan College, thinks musicians should stick to singing because “sometimes musicians’ popularity just wins voters over, rather than the importance of the actual issue,” he said.

Scibelli admits that being a musician doesn’t equate to political knowledge. Politically-charged expression can be a risky career move for musicians. The Dixie Chicks come to mind. Their songs were pulled from some radio play lists after singer Natalie Maines told concert goers she was “ashamed” President Bush was from Texas.

Universal Record’s recording artists Your Vegas lead singer and Obama supporter, Coyle Girelli, 25, believes that political expression in music “will always be important,” that music can be educational and is “an expression of being human.”

“People’s views in today’s world are strong,” Girelli says. “There is so much wrong with it, so much injustice, so much greed and violence from the sandy streets of Afghanistan to downtown LA. From the economy, to the environment, health care to war, we are at a stage where a serious change is needed. People know this and sometimes they need a voice, someone they respect and trust and who, through music, expresses how they feel,” Girelli said.

While Girelli admits political expression in music can be a “curse” at times, he insists that “the most important thing is that their voice is always heard.”

Well-known musicians are able to have a voice much more so than lesser-known ones. Besides the star-studded, positive message of Will.I.Am’s “Yes We Can” video clip, which Your Vegas’ Girelli calls a “beautiful, classy and a deeply inspiring piece of art,” other musicians are opting for a more controversial approach.

Madonna, who is no stranger to courting controversy, compares McCain to Adolph Hitler and Obama to Mahatma Gandhi in her current “Sticky and Sweet” international tour. In rapper Ludacris’ case, he supports Obama in his video clip “Politics (Obama Is Here)” but also blasts Senator Hillary Clinton, Rev. Jesse Jackson, President Bush and McCain. In the song, Ludacris refers to Clinton as a “bitch” and says “McCain don't belong in any chair unless he's paralyzed...Yeah, I said it, 'cause Bush is mentally handicapped...You the worst of all 43 presidents.”

Obama, who once told Rolling Stone he was a fan of the rapper, is now doing damage control. His spokesman Bill Burton says that while the rapper is a “talented individual,” he should be “ashamed of these lyrics.” Burton continues: “As Barack Obama has said many, many times in the past, rap lyrics today too often perpetuate misogyny, materialism, and degrading images that he doesn't want his daughters or any children exposed to."

Following months of unofficial music videos posted on YouTube supporting Obama, the presidential candidate recently released an official campaign soundtrack. “Yes We Can: Voices of a Grassroots Movement” features Stevie Wonder, Kanye West, Sheryl Crow and others. McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds told The Guardian, “It’s ironic that on a day when the economy is in turmoil, Barack Obama fails to release an economic plan, but instead chooses a celebrity rock album.”

McCain, who hasn’t had nearly as much musical support and compares Barack’s “celebrity” to Britney Spears in a campaign video, was asked by Democratic musician John Mellencamp to discontinue using his songs during his campaign trail. Songs that were used at McCain events included “Our Country”, in which Mellencamp sings “There’s room enough here for science to live, and there’s room enough for religion to forgive.”

Mellencamp's publicist Bob Merlis doubted McCain could relate to his songs. “You know, here’s a guy running around saying, ‘I’m a true conservative’ ” Merlis told The Associated Press. “Well, if you’re such a true conservative, why are you playing songs that have a very populist pro-labor message written by a guy who would find no argument if you characterized him as left of center?”

According to the Barack Obama Music Coalition, “Music has been a potent force for social transformation since the days of Plato who declared, ‘When the mode of the music changes, the walls of the city shake.’”

Mark Redfern, who formed the magazine Under the Radar, agrees. He addresses the intersection of music in politics in several of his magazine issues. Redfern told Gen Art Pulse concerning him and his wife’s 2004 protest issue that “One of us came up with the idea to photograph musicians holding protest signs of their own making. Not only did it look cool, it gave the musicians another avenue to express themselves to our readers.”

But perhaps politically-charged music should be looked at more closely. Berman of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart says that because this campaign has focused on cultural divides, music has become symbolic of this rift.

“I mean, think of the music that Obama probably listened to growing up and think about the music of John McCain’s generation, it’s so culturally removed from each other. It’s like, people are either going to vote for a candidate who thinks that Elvis’ hip gyrations would lead to the moral downfall of America, or one that can quote Jay-Z.”

With Obama and McCain sharing a single similarity in their Blender Magazine Top 10 Music pick with Frank Sinatra, politically charged music and its influence on the upcoming election has yet to be determined.

Special Report

2008-05-26T19:16:00.005-04:00

The Funny Side Of Rivalry
By Aimee La Fountain

I grew up in New Jersey, which is a fine state except one aspect -- it’s full of Yankees fans. As a dedicated Red Sox fan, I have always thought that the strong Yankees following in Jersey is its fatal flaw.

Now, at this point you may be wondering how someone in New Jersey is a Sox fan. It’s simple really -- family heritage. My father is from Massachusetts and wanting to be a good parent, he naturally raised me to follow the Red Sox. What’s really inconvenient is that there are very few Sox fans in New Jersey. So, I have endured the jeers and various other challenges to my loyalty that come with living in New Jersey as a Sox fan. Yes, there’s nothing quite like the experience of walking into a classroom in a Sox tee shirt and getting banished from the room because the teacher is a Yankees fan.

When I came to New York, I hoped that the Yankees-Red Sox ratio would balance out a little more. I figured that between Mets fans and people form out of state, the presence of Yankees fans may be more modest than New Jersey. Turns out, it’s hard to escape the Yankees ghost. I was horrified to find that I was still surrounded by an abundance of Yankees fans. I soon realized that Red Sox fans are like a secret society in New York.

Whenever I spot a Sox fan in the city, it’s like seeing a long lost relative. And, on the chance that two Sox fans should cross paths there is a remarkable sight in that mutual look of admiration between two baseball minorities. Surely, you’ve seen one of us out there; we’re that one person in the bar that’s happy when the Yankees lose a game or the only people smiling the day that the Yankees lose the playoffs. And, if it sounds strange that a Red Sox fan should be in New York, I can offer you an example of the opposite effect and refer you to my friend, a Yankees fan, who lives in Massachusetts.

This brings me to the complicated issue of mixed relationships. Growing up in New Jersey I was exposed to Yankees fans at a young age and understood that I should respect people who may have baseball beliefs that conflict with mine. I’m always in favor of practicing tolerance and this is why I have many friends who are Yankees fans -- I’ve learned to accept them, despite their sports misjudgments.

The most horrifying phenomenon, however, is when you’re shocked to find yourself romantically interested in someone of a different baseball affiliation. Such was the case when I met an incredibly charming man who seemed perfect until the day I spotted him wearing a Yankees cap. However, I overlooked his weakness and we ended up dating. It didn’t work out in the end and I’m certain that it was our mixed baseball beliefs that cursed the relationship.

Life is funny. The harder you try to escape certain things the more you find yourself surrounded by them.

Aimee La Fountain won Honorable Mention in the 2008 Mortimer Levitt Essay Contest for Marymount Manhattan College students.

Special Report

2008-05-26T19:13:00.004-04:00

“Life Is Funny”
By Priya Joshi

Sometimes, on a sunny, cool winter morning, while I walk around the Angel Fountain in Central Park, I become overwhelmed with sadness. Sometimes, on a beautiful summer afternoon with the most vibrant sunrays that I’ve felt in years streaming down my back, without a care in the world and only happiness ahead, I fall to my knees and cry so hard I have to stop and breathe. It’s just that sometimes, no matter how hard I try, I can’t shake the thought that all of the beauty around me is dwarfed by all of the madness.

I throw up every time I think about it. If you take all of the sick, repugnant, horrifically unspeakable things about society and roll it into a tight, hot mess and try to swallow it, that’s how I feel every time I think about it.

I picture a man on a December day. I picture him walking his dog through a park in Queens, N.Y., the grey winter light reflecting off his eyes and illuminating his smile. I picture him softly saying, “bless you” to a complete stranger as they sneeze into their rabbit fur mittens. I picture him as a child, walking to PS 116, stopping for a moment to give his milk money to the bum on the corner.

This man, this honest, hard-working, caring and contributing member of our society, who is a constant visitor to many Queens neighborhoods, has ruined more lives than he’ll ever know, and it’s all because of me. This working-class, father-of-the-year, giving individual has been a pawn on my chessboard for a decade.

For years this man has set his alarm for 4 a.m., gone out in the cold, rain, sleet in winter, and the unbearable heat in summer to deliver to me, my friends, my cronies, my clients and their mothers our packages of goodies. Never once did this honest, hard-working, caring, working-class father-of-the-year suspect that he was feeding the mouths, veins, noses and causes for each, and every sick addiction you could imagine.

Never once did he think as he drove his delivery truck that these simple, small brown packages he delivered to the sweet, young couple on 36th street contained enough morphine to kill a horse. Never once did it cross his mind that the innocent, always friendly residents of 45th Street and 30th Avenue were truly the ghouls and goblins that he spent his life trying not to become.

The funny thing is, no matter how many times a day you shower, and no matter how many good deeds you do, or how many sneezing strangers you give a sincere “bless you” to, you can never completely wash your hands clean of the scum from the underbelly of what we call our Great American Society. No matter how many anti-war protests you attend, people still die. No matter how many drug-addled youths sober up, there is still a kid passed out on the cold tile in a halfway house with a syringe a quarter of the way into his vein.

The funny thing about life is -- ignorance is bliss after all.

Priya Joshi won Honorable Mention in the 2008 Mortimer Levitt Essay Contest for Marymount Manhattan College students.

Millennials In The New Millennium

2008-05-17T16:06:00.004-04:00

I Want It All, And I Want It Now
By Roya Yazhari

Known as the “Echo Boomers” and “Millennials” this generation born between 1982 and 1995, myself included, is shaping the American workplace and its way of life. We want our dream job, our fabulous weekends off, and enough time to shop and take hot yoga classes as much as we please.

According to the November 11, 2007 60 Minutes news report, “The Millennials Are Coming,” this generation is “raised by doting parents who told them they are special, and played in little leagues with no winners or losers.” This generation is taught that whatever you put your mind to you can achieve. Nearly 80 million of them living in the U.S. today, this group of young people are the genetic offspring of their parents, the baby boomers.

Aired two years earlier, 60 Minutes said in its report, “The Echo Boomers,” that this generation is more diverse than ever, and is accepting of different cultures and groups.

A group of 21-23 year-old Marymount Manhattan College students, including members of student government, are not only committed to their studies, but are committed to their academic institution as well. This group of students, shown in the photo below, are able to study, balance their homework, and enjoy the New York City night life.

“I do not think the description of the Millennials in the news accurately describes our generation,” said Amy Markel, a junior studying political science and international studies, and a member of student government. “Yes, in college we work hard and play hard. However unless you take Sex And The City as your Gospel, you will realize life is going to be a bit more serious when we get out of here,” she said.

Celebrating her 21st birthday, Markel understands her responsibility as a human being in this country as well as her freedom to live a life that makes her happy. “My parents want me to be a lawyer. I however enjoy International studies. For them, they want me to be financially stable. I want the same, however I know I can reach my goals in a way I see fit to my personality and interests,” Markel said.

Amy Markel celebrating her 21st birthday with classmates
and friends at a New York City hangout.

In a poll in Business Week magazine by Universum this year, of the 37,000-plus undergraduates surveyed, the No. 1 career goal of these individuals was to “balance personal and professional life.” “Building a sound financial base” came in third. Many speculate this is because this generation of young people is waiting longer to buy homes, start families, and settle down.

This generation of young people has become one completely dependent on others. Without a cell phone or IPod in hand, many of us feel naked walking down the streets of New York City. We always must have something to do or something distracting us from the pressures of every day life.

In the past, the ability to land a job and stick with it for as long as possible was an accomplishment. Nowadays, changing jobs numerous times is not only acceptable, but also inevitable for most who are on their quest for the “dream job.” The job in which you can “roll into work with iPods and flip flops at noon, but still be CEO by Friday,” according to the report.

This image should be slogan for this generation of youth. We want what we want, and we want it now. When told this statement Amy exclaimed, “Yes, we want what we want. And in this technologically advanced day in age, we can get it!”

For the youth of today, the traditional 40-hour week is thrown out the window, and bosses must realize that a pilates workout at noon comes before a major proposal deadline, according to the Milliennial report.

Many companies are adapting to this new generation by creating work environments that will entice workers to want to stay and work hard. A party-like atmosphere is created in order for these young people to enjoy work and stay happy and cheerful.

In the Millennial report, Dorsey Healy who has written, in collaboration with his brother, how-to books on how to cope with work, said, “We’re not going to settle. Because we saw our parents settle. We definitely put lifestyle and friends above work. No question about it.”

In reality, only time will tell whether this view of life will work for our generation. Meanwhile, individuals will continue speculating and studying this fascinating generation.

Millennials In The New Millennium

2008-05-17T15:59:00.003-04:00

Take It Easy, Life Is A Vacation
By Alejandro M. Fernandez

Baby boomers were born between 1946 and 1964 and their children, echo boomers, were born between 1982 and 1995. Since The Eagles, an American rock band, were active from 1971 to 1980 and again from 1994 to present, parents and children have probably heard many of their songs.

One Eagles song says, “Take it easy, take it easy; don't let the sound of them old wheels drive you crazy.” According to two CBS 60 Minutes segments, the echo boomers have definitely taken The Eagles’ advice.

The first segment aired on September 4, 2005. Correspondent Steve Kroft interviews a wide array of people with specific opinions on this generational issue. Doctors, professors, historians, and echo boomers themselves, all chime in.

In “The Echo Boomers” Dr. Mel Levine, a professor at the University of North Carolina, says that is not the only part of their cultural conditioning that’s going to require an adjustment in the workplace. After asking the CEO of a major corporation for a description of a typical young worker he says, “They can’t think long-range. Everything has to be immediate, like a video game. And they have a lot of trouble sort of doing things in a stepwise fashion, delaying gratification. Really reflecting as they go along.’ I think that's new.”

Historian Neil Howe makes a similar observation. “Sometimes, they don’t know what to do if they’re just left outside and you say, ‘Well, just do something by yourself for a while,’” says Howe. “They'll look around stunned. You know, ‘What are we supposed to do now?’”

Some echo boomers don’t agree with these assesments

“It’s not the majority of our generation,” says Meredith Spiegel, 21. A student at Marymount Manhattan College, Spiegel rejects the negative stereotype. “There are kids who actually work hard the old-fashioned way even though it’s a type of culture that is rare nowadays. It all depends on how people are brought up,” she says.

Meredith Spiegel
believes gene-
rational
stereotyping is
inaccurate and
unfair.

In a follow-up 60 Minutes segment called, “The Millennials Are Coming” poses similar arguments. Aired on November 11, 2007, correspondent Morley Safer interviews corporate executives, consultants, and two working millennials and reports that, “Faced with new employees who want to roll into work with their iPods and flip flops around noon, but still be CEO by Friday, companies are realizing that the era of the buttoned down exec happy to have a job is as dead as the three-Martini lunch.”

Mary Crane, who offers crash courses for millennials entering the workforce, suggests this generation has been coddled. “You now have a generation coming into the workplace that has grown up with the expectation that they will automatically win, and they’ll always be rewarded, even for just showing up,” Crane says.

Kroft states echo boomers are the most watched-over generation in history. Most have never ridden a bike without a helmet, ridden in a car without a seat belt, or eaten in a cafeteria that serves peanut butter.

Jason Dorsey, a millennial himself, who was interviewed in the segment agrees. “Our parents really took from us that opportunity to fall down on our face and learn how to stand up,” he says.

Unlike their parents who value hard work, individuality, and achievement, millennials prioritize lifestyle, friends, and instant gratification.

Wesner Jules, a 20 year-old economics major at Georgetown University, agrees with this assessment. “Everyone feels like they are supposed to be handed shit in life. Like everything is supposed to be easy. And our parents just went with that whole idea,” Jules says.

But don’t simply blame mom and dad, or Mister Rogers as Wall Street Journal columnist Jeffrey Zaslow does in “The Millennials are Coming”.

“I think it’s a part of the American culture, that notion of being superior or special,” says Jules.

So don’t go around blaming millennials for wanting to start work at noon, for being tattooed lawyers, or wanting to be CEOs effortlessly. The Eagles, our parents, and our culture have told us to do so. And that’s what we’re doing.

“Life’s a vacation,” Jules says. So take it easy.

Decision 2008

2008-05-17T15:49:00.005-04:00

Election 2008: Know Your Role
By Alejandro M. Fernandez

The 2008 presidential election has all the ingredients of a Hollywood action-thriller. This year’s blockbuster contains three main characters. Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona plays himself, the older man who represents the status quo. Though he is not the main villain, he seems to stand in the hero’s way. The hero is none other than Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois. He is young, charismatic, and handsome.

Of course, no hero would be complete without a sidekick, no male protagonist would be complete without the female gaze, and no good cop would be complete without a bad cop. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York defies this multifaceted role, but the casting director will not budge. The director and main villain is, as usual, the media.

So why does this election matter? Why watch a remake of previous films?

Somewhere along the line, the casting director decided to improvise. For the first time a black man and a white woman share the spotlight with the usual White male suspect. Voters understand this. Young voters especially realize that their votes can affect this country’s future in Iraq, the fate of a diminished economy, and much more.

According to both Time Magazine and the Los Angeles Times, “the youth vote already has played a key role in earlier primaries. In South Carolina, 18- to 29-year-olds accounted for 14% of voters, up from 9% in 2004. And in Iowa, young voter turnout rose 135% from the previous presidential primary.”

Rita Biggers, a 22-year-old graduate student, did not vote because of scheduling conflicts. However, she has followed the media’s election coverage diligently. Biggers believes “the media’s need to constantly broadcast breaking stories, as seen through the creation of the new breed of 24-hour news stations like CNN, has caused the media to do more report now, confirm later type of journalism.”

Rita Biggers says her
main concerns are
health care,
education costs, and
foreign affairs

Maria-Leonor Castilla, a 20-year-old Ivy Leaguer, exercised her right to vote for the first time by voting for Hillary Clinton. “I see myself in Hillary—a woman who is driven, educated and passionate with clear goals and plans to execute those goals,” she says. “Besides,” she adds, “we all know that it has been the first ladies that are the pillars, inspirations, and ultimate advisors of their husbands (many of whom have served our country well), so who better than a former first lady to lead our country?”

Pablo Guevara, a 21-year-old engineering student, voted for a fellow Hispanic. “Richardson is my boy,” he says. “He’s the only politician I’ve met that gave me good vibes. Plus, I have to represent the Hispanics,” he adds.

Like moviegoers, voters connect with candidates that make them feel comfortable and safe. William P. O’Neill, a 32-year-old U.S. Air Force Public Affairs Specialist, is no different. “I feel more secure and confident regarding the safety and future of America with Senator McCain as its Commander in Chief,” he says. Adding, “I agree with Sen. John McCain’s stances on the war on terror (especially regarding Iraq and Afghanistan), economy, and immigration.”

Some, like Marcello Pacheco, 21, an architecture student, are more critical of this year’s villain. “The media’s coverage is sickening. It is completely biased for Obama and tries to trap or demonize Hillary every chance they get,” he says.

Marcello Pacheco's biggest
concerns are education and
infrastructure spending

James Darley, a 20-year-old student at Holy Cross favors the hero. “I admire the courage that it took for Obama to not vote for the war in Iraq. He risked everything, including his political career by not jumping on the bandwagon.”

Unlike previous years, the 2008 presidential election appeals to many people, if not everyone. Men and women of all ages, races, and creeds have someone to root for.

How will the blockbuster end?

No one knows for sure. The only certainty is that everyone is playing a role.

City Life

2008-05-11T22:29:00.005-04:00

The Bachelor Life Without Regrets
By Jenifer Carbonara

Grow up, get married, have kids. This is the default setting programmed into almost every child from birth, and one that your average person forecasts for his or her future. For Donald Choi, and so many other New York City bachelors, however, this is simply not the reality.

Choi, 40, is the now-retired former CFO of Diane Von Furstenburg’s fashion empire. By all accounts, this man is a catch: handsome, demonstrably wealthy, and extremely successful. Choi is lacking one thing, though—a wedding ring.

“I always thought I would get married,” says Choi, “but it just never happened. And I’m not sure that is a bad thing.”

Donald Choi says he doesn’t regret
the single life.

Choi is one of many men who have become life-long bachelors. Instead of a wife, kids, and the white picket fence, he chose travel, yachts, and the ultimate bachelor pad. He traded diapers for diamonds, and one woman “till death do they part” for 20-something models for “as long as it’s fun.”

His lifestyle is not the typical example of how a 40-year old man lives, but it is certainly one that is enviable to many. Like most bachelors, Choi is protective of the life he has established as a single man. His worry that marriage would not be “fun” gets trumped by his concern he would be robbed of the things he enjoys most.

“I like to be spontaneous, and being single affords me the ability to do whatever I want whenever I want to,” Choi said. “If I want to travel, I do it. If there is something I want, I buy it. Being tied down would mean I wouldn’t just be making choices for myself; I would be making choices for my family, too, responsible ones. I worked hard—I am always responsible. In my personal life, I would rather just be.”

Choi isn’t the only one who feels this way. The latest census bureau indicates a steady drop in married couples and in American families since the 1970’s. Married couples used to make up more than 40% of the U.S. population; they now are at 25%, a statistic even with single person households.

The number of American families dropped from over 80% to just over 70% as well between 1970 and 1995. By comparison, single person households rose from 17% to nearly 25% during that same period. And, of the men in that statistic, nearly three-fourths of them are men between the ages of 25-64 who have never been married.

Chalk it up to rising divorce rates? Or perhaps the fear of a messy divorce? Whatever the reason, the American bachelor is becoming a new breed of man that is on the rise. To cope with this rising statistic, the bookshelves at Barnes & Noble are flooded with quick-fix books to “Tie Down Your Man Now!” and other such remedies for the single life.

However, the likelihood of finding a fast and easy way to tie down the Hugh Hefner wannabes seems slim. In Choi’s case, nearly impossible. According to him, it takes more than a genuine smile and a good home cooked meal to ask these staunch bachelors to trade in their nights of hot, new club openings, days of idle relaxation, and apartments equipped with the latest gadgets, leather couches, and even a stock supply of blow dryers, razors, perfume, and feminine products.

“I never say never, though. All I am saying is that I don’t regret staying single,” said Choi. “I have had a great life! There are so many people who wish they could have experienced what I experienced—it would be rude to say that I have not had a very lucky life!”

Choi, like so many other men, are beginning to see the value of a life that might be non-traditional. He believes that finding love and having children should be a choice, not a requirement. Choi is an example of the changing values and attitudes of the average American.

Though many may question the fulfillment of a life that is devoid of a marriage and family, Choi responds that he is very close with his parents and siblings, and enjoys the company of many great friends whom he cares for deeply. “I have a lot of love in my life,” he says.

Millennials In The New Millennium

2008-05-11T22:19:00.002-04:00

Like Father, Like Son, Or Not
By Alexa Breslin

Echo boomers, millennials, Generation Y. These are three terms given to the generation born between 1982 and 1995. Some are barely out of college, others still in grade school. However, we all have one thing in common; we are the children of the baby boomers.

In September of 2005, CBS’s 60 Minutes did a program titled, “The Echo Boomers.” As correspondent Steve Kroft reported we quickly learned the term echo boomers came from the demographic echo Generation-Y became of their parents, the baby boomers. The hour then consisted of interviews with doctors, a professor, historian, and two real, live echo boomers all discussing the most talked about generation to date.

“They are multitaskers, with cell phones, music downloads, and instant messaging on the Internet,” reports Kroft. “Through sheer numbers, they’re beginning to change society. They have affected school construction, college enrollments, product development, and media content,” he later added.

One of the most important unwritten rules regarding the very serious game called our lives is that things change. Unexpectedly, unwillingly, inadvertently, they change. In a world where society and the economy are facing drastic changes, so are its people.

“It’s naïve to believe generation after generation will continually follow in each other’s footsteps,” says Katherine Rimola, 21, a graduating Communication Arts student of Marymount Manhattan College who will receive her diploma with only three years of college under her belt. “We’re not spoiled,” she continued, “we’re just different.”

Nick Summers, then a college senior at Columbia University and editor of its newspaper, said during the 60 minutes interview, “my generation tends to be very overachieving, over-managed, very pressured.”

“I’ve always been an over-achiever, since I was in grade school. I knew I would be able to complete my BA in communications in three years, so I did,” Rimola said.

Two years after the first program aired, CBS decided it wasn’t enough and went on to do a second episode of 60 Minutes this time titled, “The ‘Millennials’ Are Coming.” As Correspondent Morley Safer reported this time around, the episode explored virtually the same things “The Echo Boomers” had but this time with an intent focus on the workplace.

“The workplace has become a psychological battlefield and the millennials have the upper hand, because they are tech savvy, with every gadget imaginable almost becoming an extension of their bodies. They multitask, talk, walk, listen and type, and text,” reports Safer. In other words, in “millennial” terms, we can do more than two things at once. What’s so bad about that?

Why yes, Mr. CEO, I can communicate with five people at the same time via internet thanks to AOL’s instant messenger. I can also type a paper, update my iPod, e-mail a professor and talk to my mother on the phone all while watching my homegirl, Oprah. This is what we, the echo boomers, call multitasking. It will become useful to you when we place our seven different assignments on your desk all a day before they’re due.

As for being “tech savvy,” we know we are. There is no denying it; Generation Y has been technologically spoiled. We have things the baby boomer generation never could have dreamed of having. Our parents have transitioned to getting up off the couch to the television and decide which program to watch between their five channels on their tiny black and white television, to now relaxing on their Lazy Boys while flipping through the five-hundred and then some channels on their 60-plus inch flat screen TV equipped with surround sound and something called high-definition that makes a football game appear as if it’s happening in their very own living room.

So what?

These technological advances do not mean we don’t work as hard as our parents once did in the workplace. It doesn’t mean we don’t have high goals and it certainly doesn’t mean we’re not willing to do whatever it takes to reach the point in our lives we have dreamed we would once be.

Jason Dorsey, an author of two how-to books for the twenty-something millennials, told Safer, “We’re not going to settle. Because we saw our parents settle and we have options. That we can keep hopping jobs. No longer is it bad to have four jobs on your resume in a year. Whereas for our parents or even Gen X, that was terrible. But that’s the new reality for us. And we’re going to keep adapting and switching and trying new things until we figure out what it is.”

“It’s a different world now,” says Ryan Donde, 21, a fourth-year business student at Montclair State University. “My dad has been at the same job for over 25 years. I can’t say I’ll ever want to stay somewhere for that long.”

This only raises the question, how exactly are the echo boomers a demographic echo of our parents, the baby boomers? What exactly do we replicate? Concluding everything we have heard from 60 Minutes we don’t play outside like our parents once did, we have things our parents never did, and we don’t work as hard as our parents have.

Here’s the bottom line, CBS: the echo boomers aren’t replicas of the baby boomers. Maybe we’re not like our parents, where’s the harm in that? Maybe we are clueless. Maybe we’d rather stay inside to watch the E! Network than go outside and run around. Maybe we think we’re more special than everyone else just because our parents told us so. Maybe we’re even crazy enough to believe our futures are in our hands, but the ones who are crazy enough to go after what they want are usually the ones who succeed.

College Life

2008-05-10T08:38:00.003-04:00

A College Education Or Just College Debt?
By Alexa Breslin

I can faintly recall standing online at Mrs. Field’s cookie shop. I was much younger and it was Christmas time; the mall was packed. I stood patiently on the never-ending line with my parents anticipating which cookie I would get. When we got close to the cash register, I pressed my face to the glass to admire the sweet selection.

The young man who had been standing in front of us asked the employee how much a cookie was. “A dollar seventy-five,” she replied. The young man looked down into this wallet and quickly looked back up. “It’s a sad day when you can’t afford a cookie,” he said sadly and walked away. I remember wondering where his mother and father were to buy him a cookie and why they hadn’t given him enough money. Now, I’m well aware. He was in college.

Going to college is no easy task, nor is it reasonably affordable, especially when you attend a school in New York City. Transportation prices are constantly on the rise, books can cost somewhere around $500 a semester, and just discussing tuition is a headache in itself.

According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, the most expensive college in the country is George Washington University, totaling a whopping $37,820 per year, or about 82% of the average middle-class family’s yearly income of $46,362.

“My college debt affects everything I do and every decision I make. I don’t have leisure thinking," says Jacqueline Massary, 20, a third-year student at New York University, one of the most expensive universities in the nation. "It makes me choose a major based on potential income instead of passion. It affects the jobs and internships I take, where I live, and how much money I can spend daily.”

In fact, not only does college debt affect the student personally, but family members as well. “I spend money, but it really affects the way my parents buy things because although the loans are in my name, they’re worried that because it costs so much if something happens, I won’t be able to pay,” Massary added.

With constant anxiety hanging over your head about the thousands of dollars you or your parents will one day have to repay, things that once seemed necessary turn into luxuries. For instance, getting a cup of coffee everyday before class can add up to fifty dollars a month. Add typical college habits such as smoking and drinking and you can easily surpass $300.

“I’m bad at saving money, but I’ve had to downgrade my expenses since I’ve been in college," says Janelle Jahnke, 21, a fourth-year nursing student at Villanova University. "In high school, I used to go to Starbucks at least once a week. Now I think I’ve been there three times since I started college. I shop at less expensive stores and I use my meal card as much as possible,” she added.

Between the endless expenses and barely enough money to make ends meet, you begin to give up things. “I used to go to a lot more concerts in high school,” says Ryan Donde, 21, a third-year business student at Montclair State University. “I haven’t bought a CD in years. It’s too much money. I need the money to pay for my car each month.”

I realize I don’t go out half as much as I used to. Between cab fare and beer prices, the amount of money you can blow on a Saturday night is downright unreasonable. Sweatpants, a pint of Ben & Jerry’s, and a pile of homework begins to look enticing as opposed to dreadful.

Because of the institution I’ve devoted a sickening amount of money to, I live in an apartment whose entire square footage is probably the same as a smaller sized basement somewhere in suburbia. I share just about everything, including a room, closet, and desk. I, luckily, managed somehow to get my own bed and toothbrush.

So what are we left to do? We depend on Christmas presents and birthday checks. We get jobs. We end up waiting tables, working in retail or some nine-to-five job we begin to loathe. Between paychecks, we skip meals and instead fill up on coffee or some other caffeine-induced beverage to get us through the day.

But what do we do in the meantime? Between the point where we are now and when we hope to be financially comfortable somewhere in the near future? Plain and simple: we have to ride it out. Somewhere between all the complaining and whining we eventually have to realize it doesn’t get us any farther toward where we want to be. We’ll still whine of course, if only for some sympathy. But the blunt realization that I’m a lot more fortunate than the homeless man down the street sure gives me some perspective.

I recently walked into my local Starbucks to get the largest cup of coffee possible that would be the motor for the eight to ten page paper I had to write that night. I stood behind the register looking at the menu. A venti was $3.10. I looked into my wallet and saw two measly dollar bills. Why had I emptied out all my change the other day?

“Can I help you?” asked the barista disrupting my thoughts. I looked up at him and smiled. “It’s a sad day,” I said, “when you can’t afford a cup of coffee.” And with that, I went home, to my teeny-tiny apartment, to make my own.

Diversity Series

2008-05-07T18:28:00.005-04:00

Welcome To America, Leave Your Voice At Home
By Alejandro Fernandez

Small adobe shacks. Unforgiving heat. Modest economy. Rampant corruption. Religious fervor. Compared to the world of HDTV, satellite radio, Starbucks coffee, Big Macs, iPods, and countless other luxuries, those descriptions appear insultingly gruesome.

Few Americans can imagine such living conditions outside of PBS documentaries airing on their plasma television screens. Even fewer Americans can dream of living under such conditions.

“When I tell people what life was like in Venezuela, many people feel sorry for me,” says Coralia Blanco, 69. “They envision a little, frail girl with dirty clothing and a sad face. They assume I am happy now in America, the land of abundance and choice,” she says, “and that I would never want to return to La Asuncion.”

Coralia Blanco enjoys a group hug

Blanco, a widow for two years, was born in La Asuncion, the capital of Margarita Island, the largest and most important island of Nueva Esparta, one of the 23 Venezuelan states. Margarita covers an area of approximately 410 squared miles. Its tropical climate, two mountain ranges, and countless exotic beaches explain its honorable nickname, The Pearl of the Caribbean.

“I left the Pearl of the Caribbean and all my people for the epicenter of concrete,” Blanco says. “It’s really difficult to get up and go outside sometimes, especially now that the heavenly father has taken my Manuel [her husband for 45 years]. It’s difficult knowing that clear blue water, salty air, and friendly smiles do not await me on the streets of Newark.”

Blanco’s gentle nature makes her an ideal
Nanny, one of her part-time jobs.

Blanco says she misses hearing the waves break, the birds sing, and the church bell announcing the time. "I miss sneaking off to the beach for a few hours after school before I had to go home and help my mother with the chores. You might think I’m crazy, but I even miss my mother punishing me for being late, or for ruining my Sunday shoes hiking. I miss it all,” she says.

Immigration statistics are often difficult to collect, and many times unreliable. In any case, it is safe to say that Coralia Blanco is not the only Venezuelan who misses her land. The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2000 census, lists the total Venezuelans in the U.S. at 126,000, while unofficial figures indicate that as many as 150,000 Venezuelans have moved to the U.S. under Hugo Chavez’s rule. According to The New York Times, the Venezuelan community in the U.S. has grown more than 94 percent this decade, from 91,507 in 2000, the year after Hugo Chavez took office, to 177,866 in 2006.

Other sources, like El Venezolano and El Nuevo Herald, two Miami-based newspapers published in Spanish, estimate as many as 180,000 Venezuelans currently live in Florida alone, whereas Census Bureau demographers believe 40,781 live in the Sunshine State.

If nothing else, these statistics reveal changing trends. During its oil boom in the 1960s and 1970s, Venezuela absorbed more than 500,000 Colombians and Caribbeans, and an estimated 1.5 million Europeans (primarily from Spain, Portugal, and Italy) between 1940 and 1970. Now, Venezuelans are the ones seeking social stability and financial opportunities elsewhere.

Coralia Blanco was born at a tumultuous time. In 1939, the Western powers prepared for what eventually became a long and costly war—in terms of both money and human resources. While Venezuela did not enter World War II, times where no less turbulent. Malaria was the biggest killer. Personal feuds and rivalries dominated political affairs. Marx, Castro, Betancourt, Medina, Chalbaud, and Contreras were household names. Foreign companies salivated over the prospect of Venezuelan oil.

“When I was six or seven years old, my brother told me stories about American and British businessmen who went to our lagoons and mountains,” Blanco explains. “They were very excited about a black gooey substance that came out of the earth. The children were awestruck by the men’s interest in it. Our mothers had reprimanded us for getting dirty, and yet here were these white men wearing expensive suits and smiling like little children.”

When narrating her country’s history and its current position in the world, Blanco diverts her round brown eyes. She is embarrassed and disappointed by the fact that the rest of the world seems to paint Venezuela in a poor light. Venezuela rarely makes it onto the pages, airwaves, or websites of The New York Times, CBS, CNN and other news outlets. When the news media does run a story on the South American country, it often revolves around Hugo Chavez’s corrupt government, border conflicts with Colombia, or crimes like kidnappings and murders.

Blanco yearns to be heard.

Blanco has tried to expand Americans’ knowledge of Venezuela since she first landed in Newark, New Jersey in 1969. Her first significant encounter was with leftist students from Rutgers University who embraced the Argentinean revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara.

“Che Guevara had been killed two years earlier in Bolivia. People thought I embraced his ideology simply because I fled a country—probably the only country in South America—that did not embrace Guevara or Castro and their ideologies,” Blanco says. “You can’t begin to imagine the reactions Manuel and I received when our neighbor’s son found out our stance on a lot of issues of the time. People thought that we would be Socialists just because we came from Venezuela. They did not understand that Venezuela had a very functional democracy at the time and that our reasons for emigrating were of a more personal nature.”

Herein lies the biggest problem all immigrants face. Their voices are not heard. Sociological “experts” often cite the difficulty of leaving loved ones behind and the need to adapt to new languages, customs, schedules, people, and lifestyles as the prevalent challenges for people moving to new countries, especially after childhood. But these problems are miniscule when compared to the solitude, helplessness, and repression that result from being mute.

“I do not dislike America. America has given me a lot more than I could have imagined," Blanco says. I send a good sum of money to my family every month. I live in an apartment bigger than anything I ever read about. I have a television set. I have all these great things and yet I feel sad at times."

Some people define such sadness as nostalgia, a yearning for one’s home. “Maybe it is nostalgia,” Blanco acquiesces. “I yearn for the days I spoke and people listened.”

Campus Reporting

2008-05-01T00:04:00.002-04:00

Marymount ‘Goes Green’ To Help The Environment
By Alexa Breslin

Marymount Manhattan College, a small liberal arts school located on the Upper East Side, has launched a year-long project hoping to raise environmental awareness within the college community.

Monday, April 14, marked the beginning of MMC’s “Year of the Environment,” a large effort within the entire campus to raise college and community awareness regarding serious environmental issues. Throughout the week, several members of the administration provided an example for students to follow. Fluorescent light bulbs were distributed while the art department led a recycled artists’ book workshop.

Professor Kurylo calls herself a 'paper
hoarder'

Continuing through Earth Day, Marymount had scheduled several events to launch Year of the Environment. Included was a panel, “Greening the Curriculum,” featuring three Marymount professors speaking out about environmental issues featuring methods to reduce pollution, an exploration of several academia environmental topics, and personal insights regarding these issues.

“They’ve been doing a great job with Earth Day and the events in the Black and White galleries. I hope it continues,” says Anastascia Kurylo, a professor in the Communication Arts department.
Beginning with a new environment-based curriculum, Marymount is now offering an Environmental Studies minor, as well as guest speakers and events regarding serious environmental issues and extra curricular activities such as the GoGreen club.

The administration may have created Year of the Environment and the activities to go with it, but they aren’t the only section of Marymount trying to green the school.

Many art students had energy-conserving artwork and presentations presented throughout the Black and White Galleries during throughout the week. Student clubs and organization representatives hosted activities such as raffles, giveaways, as well as arts and crafts all based around the environmental foundation.

Although there is little time left in the Spring 2008 semester, Marymount has fashioned opportunities for students to take part in turning green. The college’s annual Strawberry Fest will now feature organic strawberries as well as a GoGreen table to invite other students. There are still several opportunities for students to attend environmental awareness hearings.

While April 14 may have marked the beginning of a week-long effort to produce serious environmental awareness, it is only the start of a year that will be filled with ways to green the college and community.

“If greening the curriculum could be done more through classes and events that aren’t necessarily about being green we could weave it into the fabric of Marymount. For example, using Blackboard as part of a class. Then students have the option to print,” says Kurylo.

Marymount isn’t the only institution hoping to generate environmental awareness, many retail designers and stores have also been trying to gain an eco-friendly atmosphere. Stores such as Victoria’s Secret have started producing organic cotton t-shirts and tote bags. Each features the recycle logo or phrases such as “Make Green, Not War” and “Peace, Love, Green.”

It may not be easy transitioning from inorganic to organic food and clothing; but doing so will invite a greener community to follow over time.

“People have to be patient to be eco-friendly,” says Kurylo, “we’re on the right track.”

College Life

2008-04-30T23:49:00.007-04:00

Prescription Drugs Aren’t Extra Curricular Activities
By Kat Piracha

Not your typical class requirement, or is it?

It’s your average college campus. A hallway of white walls, bulletin boards with campus activity dates, doors labeled with the names of the residents who reside within on carefully decorated construction paper. Who would suspect that behind these doors a group of co-eds has configured an intricate drug-trading scheme.

The whole dorm doesn’t get involved, but the few students who do get creative. This clique does not smoke crack or snort heroin. That’s too passé. History has taught these students that underground drugs like marijuana and crack are too complicated and dangerous to get. There’s a much simpler way to get high. These drugs have no smell to alert resident advisors, and they are completely inconspicuous. They are prescription drugs, such as Zoloft, Percocet, Adderol, and Demerol, to name a few, and on campuses across America, students are abusing them for recreational use.

In 2007, USA Today found that 51% of college students binge on drugs on an average of once a month. In 2006, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health reported that 6%of children ages 12-17 try prescription drugs for the first time every month.

I followed a group of five prescription drug abusers on a college campus to observe their behavior. It all starts with their source. In this case, it was a 22 year-old senior named Erin, the daughter of two doctors, a surgeon and a psychiatrist. Growing up around doctors gives her easy access to prescription medication. Erin is in a lesbian relationship with Anne. (The names of the students in this article have been changed to protect their safety and privacy.)

Anne is a complex character, from an intense home. She has a bad relationship with her parents, and being a lesbian has only complicated it. Anne and Erin are full time students with C averages, no jobs and no internships. They spend a bulk of their time at the dorms, if not with each other, then with the other three people in their clique.

One afternoon in Anne’s room, I saw a loose pile of pills on her shelf next to her Ramen noodles, and Kraft’s Easy Mac. When I asked her about them, she simply replied, “from Erin.” She said she had back pain so Erin asked her father for some prescription painkillers for her girlfriend. Erin’s father, who hadn’t seen Anne in years, gave her a palmful of prescription painkillers.

A "gift" from a friend.

Later in the week, Anne needed money for groceries and to go out for the weekend. She called her friend Matt from the boys floor and offered to sell him most of her prescription painkillers. Matt paid her $15, and split them with two friends in his dorm. Later in the week, Anne gave Erin more money to get by.

I later found out that Erin was ignorant of Anne’s entrepreneurial skills. Very rarely did Anne take the painkillers. She was looking for a drug that could numb her emotional nerves. It was clear that Anne viewed drugs as the sole solution to her problems. She had been seeing the school’s counseling services to help her with the strain between her and her mother. One night she was complaining that her whole year in counseling had been a waste because her counselor hadn’t prescribed her any drugs.

Occasionally, Anne did take the prescription drugs. If she were with Matt and his friends they would all take them together, and sometimes smoke marijuana. The possibility of overdosing didn’t seem to alarm any of these co-eds. Perhaps they were paranoid about overdosing before they would take the pills, but after they took them, they didn’t seem to have any thoughts, on anything. Their ritual often consisted of popping pills, smoking marijuana and showing each other their favorite YouTube videos.

They did straddle the border of overdose and high a few times. It curbed their hunger for prescription drugs, but it didn’t diminish their amusement with drugs. At one point, Anne took nine painkillers before going to a bar with some of the girls on her floor who were oblivious to her habits. Later that night, after one drink, she squatted on the muddy floor of the bar.

While clenching her stomach she began to cry and said she was in too much pain to move. The group of girls seemed befuddled as what to do with her. Erin urged her to walk it off but Anne refused. A few girls insisted she go to hospital, but Anne resisted even more. Finally, she revealed that she was cleared of ovarian cancer a few years ago and lied that her pain was a side effect.

Some time later, I met an alumna of this clique named Ryan, who was a full time student with a full time job in an upscale retail store so he could pay for the housing portion of his tuition. He was so unlike any of the other co-eds in Anne’s clique. After sitting down with Ryan he further explained the dynamic of this group.

Anne and Matt had been friends in high school. They went their separate ways in college where Anne began a relationship with Erin. In Anne’s first semester of college, she was kicked out for drinking so she went home to her local community college and graduated with her an associate degree in psychology and a 3.8 GPA. Erin moved back home with her parents and commuted to school. Anne transferred to her current school near Erin and was reunited with Matt. Since then, the three and a few others, including Ryan, began experimenting with drugs Anne had acquired that her doctors prescribed her for "ovarian cancer." Later, Anne began acquiring prescription drugs from Erin’s dad.

It wasn’t long before all of their grades began to drop. Matt is currently on academic probation. Anne’s GPA has dropped to a low 2.0, and Erin keeps dropping classes that she's likely to fail so she can maintain her GPA. She’s scheduled to graduate three semesters late.

“I had to get out of there,” Ryan said about their situation. “Their lives are all on downward spirals and I knew that if I kept hanging around them I’d be failing out of college too.”

Ryan says he is looking looks optimistically to the future. He recently moved out of the dorms to separate himself from the toxic environment. For Anne, Erin, and Matt, only time will tell what will happen to them.

City Life

2008-04-30T23:34:00.006-04:00

More Than You Can See
By Roya Yazhari

Look into her eyes. What do you see? A beautiful blonde girl without a care in the world? Or how about a young woman who must have a miraculous life with guys all over her? She must be a girl without a care in the world because in this society, if you have looks, you have everything, right?

Joy Fischer, a student from a small
Oregon town

Joy Fischer, age 20, grew up in the small, lower class town of Gresham, Oregon. She grew up living on “Snob Hill” because in this town, she was considered to be among one of the richest families. At age 15, before entering her freshman year of high school, Fischer moved to Lake Oswego, Oregon, one of the richest towns in the state. Here, she lived in an apartment with her mother and her brother and went from being the richest kid in town, to the poorest.

Students asked Fischer why she moved to Lake Oswego since Gresham was not very far away. She said her mother wanted her to be in a better school district. The truth was, her parents had began divorcing.

“My mom had my sister at age 18 and me at 21. It was not planned,” said Fischer. “My parents got married because it was the right thing to do in the Christian faith. When my sister Christine was born, she was diagnosed with a severe handicap, which meant she would never develop mentally passed the age of 5. This was so difficult on my family. When I was born shortly after, the responsibilities I was forced to take on as the second child were far beyond my years. I had to be my own mom.”

Fischer describes growing up in a household where she had to be mother to herself and her brother. She had to make her own breakfast, walk herself out to the bus stop every morning, and basically be as responsible as possible all the time.

“My father didn’t connect much with me. He never said I love you, and to this day he has a lot of trouble sharing his emotions.” This relationship with her father has led Fischer to be very cautious about any male she lets into her life.

According to the Americans for Divorce Forum, in 2002, 76 percent of the U.S. population had gotten a divorce. This is an alarming statistic. Single mother families increased from 7 million in 1990 to 10 million in 2000. Today, 13.8 million children live with just their mothers. Grimm-Wassil, in his book Where’s Daddy: How Divorced, Single and Widowed Mothers Can Provide What’s Missing When Dad’s Missing, states: “Female observation and perception is dependent upon whether they lost their father to divorce, abandonment or death, and at what age. How and why a father is absent will have an impact on the emotional and material outcome for the child.”

“I have met very few people that come from married, stable families. Those hardly exist,” Fischer says.

Fischer says her father was present for most of her childhood, however his emotional disinterest in her life has led her to feelings of emptiness she has been forced to battle in the last few years. “I am still dealing with these feelings,” Fischer says. “However, I am more in tune now with why I am feeling this why, and how to make it better.”

Fischer says she realized in the last year that it was not healthy to bottle up her feelings, and that she must express them in order to heal and move on. Fischer’s mother, Sonya, has always been very open with her. Fischer explains that what kept her from going down a bad path in life was that she had a great mom.

“My mom told me everything in my entire life. She talked to be about sex, relationships, friend groups, drugs, etc. I feel like I was educated at a very young age. My mom was always very open,” she says.

When asked if her relationship with her mother changed after the divorce, Fischer said, “I had to babysit all the time for my little brother. I think my mother felt that if she made me stay home, I was less likely to get into trouble. Little did she know, I was not the typical rebellious child. I didn’t drink, I got good grades, and my friends were nice!”

Fischer (right) with childhood friend,
Kelli

A study by the American group for single-parent households showed that children without a father figure in their life are more likely to not go to college. If this is the case, Fischer is the exception. She never let her life circumstances or hardships get in the way of her goals. Her father’s lack of support both emotionally and financially never hindered her from her fulfilling her dream of moving to New York City, going to college, and living the life she had always wanted to live. Most people get to this point in their lives with extreme amounts of help and support from parents. Fischer did it own her own.

Fischer (middle) at a formal event in
New York City

To this day, Fischer has issues with her father that need to be worked out. The fact that he recently remarried someone half his age, and his lack of emotional interest in her are among the many issues she is dealing with.

Behind the pretty face there is always baggage. The stereotype that pretty people have perfect lives must go away. There is no perfection in everything. Money can’t by happiness, and lack of money does not always hinder progress.

Fischer says, “If you have a goal in life and are motivated, you can be your own hero.”

City Life

2008-04-30T23:07:00.004-04:00

Citizenship Status Crushes Immigrant’s 2008 Voting Plans
By Sara Bauknecht

As the 2008 presidential election approaches, numerous men and women across the U.S. are eager to take part in an election that may bring about historic change for America. Mihajlo Spasojevic is one of those people—he values America’s political process and wants to be a part of it.

But for Spasojevic, a 34 year-old immigrant from Serbia, voting next November will likely remain nothing more than a dream. He is one of more than approximately 1.3 million legal permanent residents residing in America who will be forced to sit back and watch as others cast their ballots for the country’s next president. Although he pays taxes and has never committed a felony, his pending status as an American citizen prevents him from having a vote and, therefore, a voice in a country that is rooted in the principles of democracy.

Spasojevic, one of the more than 140,337 Serbian immigrants believed by the US Census Bureau to be living in America, came to New York City in 2002 in search of new career opportunities and a fresh beginning.

Mihajlo Spasojevic
Photo by Marija Vajs

“In Serbia, I achieved more or less everything I could have ever dreamed of accomplishing," Spasojevic said. "So when the opportunity came to move to America, I took it because it was a new challenge for me and a way for me to try to develop my writing career from scratch all over again.”

Upon settling in New York City, Spasojevic took time to explore America, a country he had previously never visited. “Although I had never been to America, moving here wasn’t scary because I had grown up under the influence of American culture. Even though I found some things different in America, nothing was shockingly different,” he said.

Spasojevic also did not find his relationship with his family and friends in Serbia to be too different once he had moved because he had always distanced himself from them due to his introverted personality.

“The transition went very smoothly. But I’m a very introverted, private person. So being separated from my family and friends isn’t as bad for me as it would be for someone who is more connected with the outside world,” Spasojevic said.

In the years following his immigration to the U.S., Spasojevic worked at a photo store and completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in English at Marymount Manhattan College. In 2007, he was accepted into the New York City Teaching Fellows program, which will allow him to begin working on his Masters degree in English Education in September 2008 while teaching creative writing in New York City public schools.

Because of these accomplishments, Spasojevic is pleased with the decision he made over six years ago to migrate to America. “I’m very happy that I came here, and I am becoming more and more happy about it all the time.”

Due to these positive experiences, and the life he has established in America, Spasojevic decided to apply for U.S. citizenship. “Since I want to stay here, I want to be able to be involved in the election process," he said. "As a permanent resident, you can do pretty much everything except vote. So, since I’m paying taxes, I want to be able to help determine how that tax money is spent through having the right to vote.”

When Spasojevic first applied for citizenship in September 2007, he was asked to resubmit his application because of a spelling error in his personal information that occurred during processing. After submitting his information again and waiting the required 45 days to correct such errors, Spasojevic learned that a similar mistake had been made when his information was rerecorded.

“It is definitely a frustrating experience," he said. "No one ever gives you a straight answer about what is going on, and there is always a cloud of mystery around the status of the situation. I’ve tried filing complaints, but I was advised to drop all of them since filing complaints slows down the application process even more.”

Now, almost eight months after Spasojevic first applied for naturalization, his citizenship status is still pending. “These delays don’t affect my daily life too much, but I was very excited to vote since I think this is going to be a crucial election in the future of America and the world. But it doesn’t look like that is going to happen due to the government offices being inefficient with handling immigration matters like mine,” he said.

Delays in obtaining American citizenship, like those that Spasojevic has experienced, are not rare. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the majority of naturalization applications can typically remain pending anywhere from 14 to 18 months. Furthermore, as the number of immigrants applying for citizenship continues to increase, the average time to become naturalized could grow longer.

In spite of the high volume of naturalization cases that remain pending for extended periods, the USCIS assures immigrants that steps are being taken to make its workforce more efficient. During 2008, USCIS plans to hire 3,000 additional employees to aid in processing citizenship applications, and to quadruple its funding for overtime workers. As a result of these efforts, USCIS Director Emilio Gonzalez, “expect[s] USCIS will have completed 36 percent more naturalization cases than last year without compromising national security or the integrity of the naturalization process.”

With between six million and eight million people expected to apply for American citizenship in the coming years, it is too soon to project whether the USCIS’s plans for improved efficiency will accommodate the needs of the country’s immigrants. “But we can only hope for the best,” said Spasojevic, “and just try to relax.”