Theatre Review

Antigone At Epidaurus
By Jamie Cohen

Antigone is a story familiar to nearly everyone. It is infamous in its telling of fate that leads to a premature death. The original author of the play, Sophocles, is famous for plays that reflect on society and the way they form, creating scenes in which we learn human emotion, and the thought processes that we go through as freethinking people. It is with Lefteris Vogiatzis’ direction alongside the lines of Sophocles that new imagery is created in this historic piece of literature.

As a whole, the cast works unevenly with the poetry of the play, which was performed this summer in Athens, Greece at the Athens Epidaurus festival. The language of Antigone is one to be delivered with constant compassion and sincerity. And while the poetry of the words flow from the tongues of some, in a few of the actors the words tend to be more bitten then flown. While many can agree that Sophocles’ use of language can be quite difficult at times, Chloe Obolensky (the set designer) used all of her power to create matching imagery to the spellbinding words of Antigone.

The most powerful element to the set was the lighting, which shadowed the emotion of the actors and highlighted emotional high points. It was a beautiful way to keep the audience’s mind focused on the intensity of the play. Since the play was performed the way it was written, in Greek, the dramatic lighting and changes kept those who didn’t speak Greek tied in and interested in the performance. The Greek setting was a wonderful way to tie in a modern perspective to a historically important play.

While I am unsure if this was Vogiatzis and Obolensky’s intent, but the set separated the players on stage keeping your concentration where it was necessary. Ogiatzis truly found the important moments of Sophocles’ play and spotlighted them so specifically that the play could have been something fresh from a new interpretive theatre in the theatre industry. If the modern type setting doesn’t keep you interested, the actors who have portrayed the legendary roles will.

Actress Amalia Moutousi clearly captured the definition of Antigone. While eyes are the window to one’s soul, the soul of Antigone was captured in her style and grace, she so perfectly captured the sullen, withdrawn yet rough personality of Antigone. The intensity that she brings forth in the scene of fighting between Antigone and Creon shows us how tragic her character’s fate is. While directors can offer motivation, it is truly a talented actor that brings insight to a character’s flaws, and it is Moutousi that forces us to ask the important questions, and wonder the truth of this girl.

While Antigone seemed true to form, it is Creon that left me curious. Actor Lefteris Vogiatzis who stars as Creon, and the director understand the power and fury that rages behind Creon. We hear that in his powerful voice and body movement. In this aspect, Vogiatzis exceeded the role of Creon. Whether it was his choice as an actor I am still unsure, but it is Creon’s naiveté that I have always believed fueled the fire in him. The way that Vogiatzis interprets him, is to be hot headed, which is an understandable point of view, but I appreciate the sadness to naiveté in a character, then the quick to the fight with no back story approach that Vogiatzis took.

Overall when analyzed, the play had its high and low moments. There is no denying the powerful message that has been told for centuries, the way that fate can and will play a large part in life. It is the setting presented at Epidaurus that creates the imagery that is spun for us that we can see the ironic mockery of fate, and how when mixed with the boundaries that society sets for us that our emotions are no challenge for either of them.

Millennials In The New Millennium

Shop-Talk With The Echo Boomers
By Christine Levitin-Breyette

According to a CBS news report on 60 Minutes titled, “The Echo Boomers,” my generation is, “the most watched-over generation in history” and we are “multi-taskers with cell phones, music downloads, and Instant Messaging on the Internet.”

As I sit here, doing my homework assignment, while at the same time watching my muted television, listening to Christmas music online, instant messaging my roommate who is right next door, and having just hung up the phone from talking to my mother for the fifth time today, I sadly must admit, we are guilty as charged.

As indicated in an article online titled. Generation Y: Our Next Sports Market (http://www.uta.fi/FAST/US7/REF/y-gen.html), “Younger kids look up to teens to…adopt the latest fashion, and adults often observe teens to determine what is "in.” We can prove this just observing today’s echo boomers in action. My young cousin dresses, talks, and acts identical to her 22 year-old sister and could not understand why she wasn’t allowed to go to a bar with her on St. Patrick’s Day. At the other end of the spectrum are some middle-aged women with iPods, borrowing their teenage daughter’s trendy clothes and shoes.

When asked how many cell phones she owns, Jessica Bernard, 22, explained, “I've had 8. I had to get new phones when renewing contracts with Unicel… (and I) got sick of the same phone after a while so I'd buy another one.” The Generation Y article also stated that, “One in nine high school students has a credit card co-signed by a parent, and…In a few years, today’s teens will be…spending for their first cars, their first homes, and their first mutual funds.”

Bernard further proves this point by sharing that she has, “two actual credit cards. The rest are store cards…I spend a lot of money…every day…I just have them to build credit.” Bernard also received a new car for her birthday and this summer will have to take over the payments from her mother.

Kimberly Cosetta, 23, has a different philosophy about credit cards, however her shopping habits are quite similar to Bernard’s. “I spend too much money, but I never spend money I don’t actually have. I prefer using my debit card or cash instead of my credit card because I am too much of an impulse buyer.” Many echo boomers may be similar in their actions but very different in the way they execute those actions.

In regards to echo boomers and typical TV commercials the 60 Minutes report explains, "They're out and about, shopping a lot. So, the traditional 30-second commercial isn't always working the way it was." Well, advertisers have found a way to make us pay attention by mimicking our real lives. Take, for example, the AT&T commercial of a mother discussing her cell phone bill with her daughter. The conversation goes something like this:

Mom: BethAnn?
BethAnn: WU? (What’s Up?)
Mom: Your cell phone bill is what’s up, all this texting?
BethAnn: OMG INBD (Oh my god, it’s no big deal)
MOM: It is a big deal, who are you texting 50 times a day?
BethAnn: IDK my BFF Jill? (I don’t know, my best friend forever Jill?)
MOM: Tell your BFF Jill…that I’m taking away your phone
BethAnn: TISNF (That is so not fair)
MOM: Me paying this bill that’s what’s SNF (So not fair)

In this simple and fun commercial, the advertisers are able to appeal to our lingo by using abbreviations we have created through instant messaging, and recreating a discussion that I’m sure most of us have had with our parents at some point. Also, they are able to add humor to the commercial by letting the mom understand and speak the new lingo, as well, which goes back to the statement made in the Generation Y: Our Next Sports Market article about parents looking to teens to see what’s “in.” This particular commercial was uploaded to youtube.com and a total of 1.13 million people have viewed it so far.

I’m certainly not saying that echo boomers are the perfect generation and, yes, we do spend way too much and are way too emotionally invested in electronics, but we are the creatures the previous generation created. We have become an integral part of the economy, we are the echo boomers.

City Life

Piercings And Tattoos Are Cool, But Are They Healthy?
By Gunes Atalay


Do You Tatoo?

Piercings and tattoos have become a youthful fashion statement and a way to rebel. But are they just another way of obeying the rules of being “cool.”

More than 40 million Americans have tattoos according to AssociatedContent.com and many people have piercings.

Piercings sometimes take up to a year to heal, and some never do. While nipple piercings may heal in eight months, “hand web” piercings never actually heal. Some become badly infected and cause a lot of pain, while others are just painful.

Many people suffer from the toxic metal elements in tattoo ink without even knowing it. Getting tattoos in an unclean place may also may cause bacterial infections, or spread a disease. It is the same with piercings. The HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report says never get piercing with guns, which is a big no-no in the industry because they can never be sterilized and you can even get HIV from them.

The list of potential ailments from piercings include, excessive bleeding, allergic reactions, nerve damage, thick scarring at the pierced area, dental damage, bacterial infection, Hepatitis B, HIV transmission, tetanus, blood poisoning, paralysis, and toxic shock, according to youngwomenshealth.com.

Then why do we do it? Why do we torture ourselves? Is it because it proves that we are tough? Or is it because it proves we are rebellious?


Say Ahhh....

I am guilty of this kind of body torture – I have two tongue piercings. Even though I got them more than seven years ago, they still hurt from time to time. I now believe that tattoo ink and piercings do not belong on our bodies and I think we should stop forcing these unnatural into our skin. We have to be nice to our bodies, because it’s the only one we’re ever going to have.

Millennials In The New Millennium

Millennials: Right On The Money
By Glenn Burwell

Back in the fall of 2005 CBS aired a controversial episode of their news magazine television show 60 Minutes. The topic of conversation: the echo boomers, Generation Y, the millennials, three very different names for the exact same group of people; Americans born between 1982 and 1995.

Over achieving, over managed, technology dependent, team playing, consuming ($170 billion a year), traditionalists, best describes the way the generation was portrayed in the 60 Minutes report. CBS’s portrayal of the millennial generation, my generation, I might add, was right on the money - the pun much intended.

As much as I would love to jump on the peer bandwagon and denounce the episode as repugnant, and spit in the eyes of those who put the segment together, I can’t. Based on the research, and a critical look at my own generation, it’s hard to disagree with the report.

As Nick Summers of Columbia University, featured in the story said, millennials are “very pressured.” You can ask almost any echo boomer today if going to college is important, they would most likely respond, “Yeah, is it even an option?” like Jasmine Harris, 14, a sophomore at Franklin High School in Somerset, N.J. said recently. Maybe they would say, “How else could you get a good job?” like Paris Alston another sophomore at Franklin High said. The message has been ingrained in the generation, go to school and work hard, get into a decent college, get a high paying job.

Millenials born unto baby boomers, a generation whose namesake clearly explains their parents’ negative attitude toward children, have lived an incredibly organized, privileged, and sheltered existence. According to the 60 Minutes report “in the 60’s and 70’s the frontier of reproductive medicine was contraception… Now it [the culture] wants kids; it celebrates them.”

“Whether it was soccer, baseball, swimming, cheerleading, or music, almost all of my peers were involved in some type of activity, orchestrated and arranged by their parents,” says Mariana Freidhold, 19, a student at Hunter College. The baby boomers trying to compensate for the lack of “good parenting” paired with the exorbitant amount of child safety research of the 80s and 90s accounts for the much coddled millennials.

As far as consumerism, my generation personifies the word. You have to have what the media and the majority says is “cool” or “in.” Most millenials who are in denial, (another characteristic of the millennials), refute this argument by saying they wear what they like and they aren’t influenced by mass media. Right. To that I would say, consumerism goes far beyond what you wear. Included is your music, the most popular YouTube videos, political beliefs, which are all, spoon-fed to us through the media and we are happy to take a bite.

The fact is, the report was undeniably correct about the generation’s serious obsession and dependence on technology. I’ll be the first to admit I am a technology whore, I like it, love it, and would gladly have more of it. Millennials can’t live without their technology, and if they can the feat is quite difficult.

Marymount Manhattan student Gina Mobilio compared a millennial’s lack of technology to going through withdrawal from heroin. It may seem funny, but for Louis Padilla, 22, the joke is a reality. “I remember when I lost my Blackberry on vacation and I couldn’t check my email or make phone calls as soon as I wanted for a week. I can honestly say that was one of the worst times in my entire life. I was seriously sick!”

In watching the 60 Minutes report I didn’t find it to be particularly negative or accusatory of my generation. I saw it as a rather informative observation based on years of research. To my peers, a generations of winners, who disagree with the report, you lose. The score is 1-0, CBS in the lead.

Millennials In The New Millennium

Do You Hear An Echo?
The younger millennials are also being targeted by advertising
By Janette Lynott

Our access to information is unlimited today. Everything is quicker, faster and up to speed. This situation was given to us by the generation we know as the “Baby Boomers.” This great access to information and the constant growth of technology is mostly targeted to Generation Y, a.k.a Generation next, a.k.a Echo Boomers.

Because of this, Generation Y has become slightly if not completely self-centered. This brings up the very well known debate we refer to as nature vs. nurture. However, there is not much of an argument there. We grew up with video games and cell phones and the younger part of our generation are now growing up with computers, educational games and are suffering through TV parenting. The younger Generation Y is barely out of grade school but can already recognize the huge part that they play in the market. From personal experience, I can truly state that I see a change.

In a 60 Minutes report titled Echo Boomers, Dr. Mel Levine, a professor at the University of North Carolina stated that these young people have as busy schedules as their parents. They are constantly enrolled in different classes and lessons that strengthen their intellect and social skills. The report appears to state this is in fact about people in our generation.

As a child, I did not experience this type of structure. Mine was more loosely constructed. Also, growing up in a lower-middle class city, material goods were not appealing until high school. In contrast, however, I witness my 11 year-old sister, Kaelin, growing up in a much different suburban life style. The children her age are much more focused on these material things then they should. To be honest it is quite sickening.

One day, her mother went shopping and bought her an Abercrombie headband. Kaelin did not have this headband in her hair for more than a half-hour because one of the neighborhood girls got jealous and threw it in a tree. Not only this, but she has had her bike stolen and was scrutinized for not having a designer backpack. Unfortunately, she is not the only child that is bullied in the neighborhood and will not be the last. But it is the reason for the bullying that is sickening. The obsession with material possessions has left high school and moved downward.

After seeing the 60 Minutes report, I immediately went on the defensive. It was not only insulting but also completely circumstantial and focused primarily on suburbia. Unfortunately it was not completely inaccurate. This is where I will re-instate the pathetic application of the argument of nature vs. nurture. When children grow up with advertisements and other media-related displays directed solely at them, it is understandable that some egos become inflated. For instance, Sketchers has been promoting new sports gear and sneakers by hiring Ashlee Simpson, a popular entertainer, as their spokesperson. In one advertisement, she is photographed from her stomach up and shoes surround her head. Due to lack of adult content, the ad is obviously targeting the younger generation.

As understanding as I am of the perspective of those who force-feed these advertisements down the throat of young America, I am still critical. To do this and then turn around and point fingers at the self-obsessed is hypocritical to say the least.

Millenials In The New Millenium

Echo Boomers Refuse To Be Stereotyped
By Therese Whelan

What group spends $170 million a year and makes up a third of the U.S. population? Echo boomers, that’s who. There are many names for the generation born between the years 1982 and 1995: “echo boomers,” “Generation Y” or “millennials,” and there are about 80 million of us.

Echo boomers are the most studied generation ever. We grew up in a world filled with computers and the Internet. Echo boomers affect movies, fashion, television, magazines, school systems and so much more. We are unpredictable and refuse to accept generalizations.

The CBS 60 Minutes report on echo boomers described our generation as “overachieving, over-managed,” and “very pressured.” Most of this pressure seems to come from the parents of echo bombers, known as baby boomers. “My parents expect me to go college and at least graduate school, because they did,” says Greg Selmi, 19. He describes his parents, who between them have law degrees, doctorates and masters, as “educationaholics.”

Even for the youngest echo boomers, expectations are high. Amelia Whelan, 13, feels that parents and teachers put pressure on students not only to get good grades but to be involved in after school activities as well. She plays four sports and is involved in students clubs. Add that to homework and, “Things get pretty crowded,” says Whelan.

According to 60 Minutes, we are a generation concerned less about individualism, and more about fitting in with a crowd. However, this generation is the most diverse generation ever: 35 percent who are non-white. Yes, we think everyone should “be part of the community” but that does not mean we lack individualism. It means we’re revolutionary. We do not practice “follower-ship” as historian Neil Howe suggests in the segment.

The trends most people recognize in echo boomers are their buying habits. Almost everyone wants a cell phone and iPod, and when something’s in fashion, echo boomers know first. “We’ve grown up with the media trying to sell us things,” says Selmi.

Advertisers target echo boomers more than any other demographic. Whelan too can recognize how the advertising industry targets her. She thinks by seeing multiple ads for cell phones and other technology gadgets, the desire to buy gets “engrained in her brain.”

And, for echo boomers is money important in today’s society?

“Hell yeah,” says Selmi.

More and more, students are taking the advice they learned in economics class instead of their parent’s money. Selmi described two friends age 19 and 20 who made over a million dollars in three years by investing in Google. How did the teens learn about finances? According to Selmi, “They read up on it online and did it themselves on E-Trade.”

However, one of the greatest factors in the life of an echo boomer is technology. Whelan has never known a world where cell phones and the Internet did not exist. She prefers her computer to television and instant messaging instead of phone conversation.

“When you talk to someone in person they’re can be awkward pauses. Online it’s easy to communicate and make new friends,” Says Whelan. She thinks her generation is unique because they are more connected than any previous one. Selmi too would rather be on his computer than watch television. But he doesn’t think it will be obsolete in the future. What’s next? “3-D TV” he predicts. Chances are an echo boomer will perfect it.

Dr. Mel Levine, a professor at the University of North Carolina said in the 60 Minutes report that parents of echo boomers have shaped them more than technology. “This is a generation that has long aimed to please. They’ve wanted to please their parents, their friends, their teachers, their college admissions officers.”

But the real people this generation wants to please are themselves. Levine believes echo boomers “can’t think long-range. Everything has to be immediate.” He believes this generation is naïve and will change as they grow. Naïve, no. But we definitely will change as we grow.

Selmi thinks his generation is unique because of the changes that are going on in the world right now. “We’ve experienced a lot of world changing events, from multiple wars, terrorism attacks, global warming.” And the responsibility to change and maintain the world will fall on the echo boomers whether they want it or not. “Sometimes I just think, shit what are we supposed to do with this?”

And, what most people who study echo boomers forget to mention are the changes we’ve already made for the better. Violent crime among teenagers is down 70 percent. So are the rate of teen pregnancy and the use of tobacco and alcohol. Echo boomers know they are being studied, but refuse to play into the stereotypes. They’re smart, technologically and financially savvy, ambitious and are the future leaders of the world.

Millenials In The New Millenium

Stop Picking On Us You Big Bully
By Kelly Lafarga

There has been a lot of recent buzz about the generation of the millennium, otherwise known as the echo boomers. Many articles, interviews, and just general studies have been completed on these youngsters. The general consensus is that they are heavily programmed, materialistic people who are driven by technology and yet don’t want to stand out on their own.

In a CBS 60 Minutes segment titled, “Echo Boomers” these “millenials” were heavily examined. "They have been heavily programmed. The kids who have had soccer Monday, Kung Fu Tuesday, religious classes Wednesday, clarinet lessons Thursday. Whose whole lives have really been based on what some adult tells them to do,” pediatrician Dr. Mel Levine says in the segment. "This is a generation that has long aimed to please. They've wanted to please their parents, their friends, their teachers, their college admissions officers."

This is true. The parents of these children were taught to put their children into after school activities. They were also told to put them in a variety of things so they can find what they like, their true calling. I was taken to dance lessons at three years old. Then piano and singing lessons were added to that. I ended up sticking with dancing and now I can say that I’m a professional and making money from it. I don’t know if I would be able to say the same thing if my mother never threw me into a bunch of activities when I was younger.

A lot of things parents did for their children was in response to how they grew up as baby boomers. Children inevitably aimed to please their parents because so much was expected of them. I wanted to make my mother proud and I think that’s what pushed me to improve in the beginning.

The people of this generation are also influenced heavily by technology. Instead of always watching television they occupy their time with dozens of other technological activities. Jane Buckingham is part of an intelligence group who studies people like this particular generation. "They're not watching the traditional networks as much because they have so many choices. They're playing on the Internet. They're playing video games," says Buckingham in the 60 Minutes segment.

Yes, it is true that the people of this generation are very dependent on technology. This doesn’t just mean the Internet and video games, but also cell phones, iPods and other gadgets that have been developed in recent years.

When people talk about how dependent we are on these things they have a kind of negative tone. It’s like they look down upon us for being materialistic. The truth is if it wasn’t for most of the people in the generations ahead of us we might not be so reliant on these things. The older generations are never satisfied with technology and are always trying to come up with a newer and better gadget. They push it onto our younger generations because they know we’ll probably buy into it. Then they advertise it until we’re almost sick of the things.

Sometimes we have to move forward and buy the newer products almost against our own will because the older ones aren’t even available anymore. Does anyone remember the VCR that played VHS tapes? I still own one, but if I want to rent a movie, only DVDs are available. My family held off buying a DVD player when I was younger for the longest time. We eventually had to buy one because VHS tapes were becoming obsolete.

“People can’t blame us for buying and becoming dependent on these new devices,” 23 year-old Carlos Gonzalez says. “Advertising is everywhere and there’s no way to avoid it.”

It’s ironic that the same people who are pushing all these new technologies on us are criticizing us for being dependent on them. Much of what this segment of 60 Minutes reported holds some truth. What bothers me and others in my generation the most is the way older generations almost look down on us for how we are and what we do. They are the ones who made us this way, whether it was our parents or the people selling us things.

Enough already with dissecting us and trying to figure us out. Just leave us alone. Remember, we’re the ones who will one day be deciding your health and retirement plans.

Millenials In The New Millenium

Generation Why?
By Priya Joshi

The days of hippies, free love and anti-consumerism that our parents grew up in have ended. The generational gap has never been wider, but who’s to blame? As I sit here in my college library typing this article, I am listening to my iPod. The three other students around me are as well. I rode the subway to school surrounded by kids in my generation, each one of them with some electronic device in hand. Most of the kids I know keep their bank account full with some of their money, but mostly mom and dad’s.

This new wave of money-spending, parent-dependent young adults have been dubbed “Echo-Boomers” by previous generations and the feelings on the title are mixed. The 60 Minutes report, “The Echo-Boomers” called us the “demographic echo” of our parents, but is this true? Times have changed so drastically, not just in terms of our booming economy, but also in the media and socially. My generation is bombarded with advertisements on the television screen, billboards and the Internet that are all aimed directly at us. Caitlin Morgan, a sophomore at Manhattan College in Bronx, NY understands why her generation has become the biggest spenders.

“I go to school in the city. Am I expected to not be affected by all of the advertisements and new technology that I see everyday?” says Morgan. “Why is this such a shock to everyone? If these things had been available while my parents were growing up, they would have done the same thing that my generation does.”

The 60 Minutes report also made the point that kids these days are somewhat “celebrated” by society. We are seen as a new opportunity, a doorway into selling mass amounts of new products, and therefore we must be highly protected. Our parents have kept us under a close watch since the second we were born and the protective blanket has never been lifted. Kevin Welles, a junior at Manhattan College disagrees.

“I was always allowed to go outside and play with my friends. I rolled in mud and got the chicken pox and came home late for dinner. What previous generations don’t understand is that there is even a generational gap within our own generation!” says Welles with a laugh. “Kids who are 20 grew up far differently than the 10 year-olds now. My little cousin is getting a vaccine for the chicken pox and I’m like “What is that?””

This is an interesting point that the 60 Minutes article failed to address. I strongly agree with Welles. It is completely unfair to lump our entire generation into one product-hungry, over-protected category. Also, if we are simply “echoes” of our parents, then why are we drastically different?

Dr. Mel Levine, one of the best pediatricians in the country, stated in the 60 Minutes report that my generation is also naïve in terms of success, quoting that we “expect to rise to the top quickly.” Well, what’s the problem with that?

“If we are supposedly so valuable to society, then why wouldn’t we expect to be successful?” says Morgan. “There’s nothing wrong with believing in yourself and if he is calling our generation over-confident then I take it as a compliment.”

This defensive attitude seems to be shared by kids in my generation. We are the most studied, most sought after group of people yet and the microscope lens hanging over our heads doesn’t seem to be getting any smaller.

“I think maybe researchers and news reporters should start preparing their studies for the NEXT generation,” says Welles, again laughing. “If they think we’re bad, they have no idea what’s coming in 10 years.”

Millenials In The New Millenium

Echo Boomer: Out And Proud
By Gunes Atalay

We are the “Echo Boomer”generation. We were born between 1982 and 1995. I am sure this name was not chosen by anyone that was born between those years. I had no idea what I was called by “big people” until I saw CBS's 60 Minutes. I also did not know there were 80 million of us.

The news report mentions our love of brands and shopping. It also mentioned that we are the first generation that grew up with a computer in the home so we are multitaskers when it comes to technology, and we are more wired to world than any generation before us. We are spoiled by our parents and we are the most studied generation in the history.

Most people in my class were very bothered after showing of this news report. The report seemed bothersome, yes, but does that mean it is not true?

Was it being searched like bunch of animals that bothered us, or was it the truth? Nobody would like to be accused of being technology and brand-loving spoiled kids who think they are the best. However, CBS did not make these things up because they hate “Echo Boomers.” This was a report based on many facts.

We can claim that we are not spoiled but will that change the fact that we “spend $170 billion a year” as 60 Minutes reported. And that money is not even ours a lot of times. The legal working age in the U.S. is 14, and 13 in some situations. The youngest echo boomers are 12, and they are still out there spending. Is the rest of our generation spending all this money from their own earnings?

We can claim that we are not obsessed with brands, but will that change the fact that Apple sold 22.5 million iPods only in 2005? Even though iPods are great, there are many other Mp3 players out there that work better and are cheaper. Then why are we obsessed with iPod's? Is it so hard to admit that we “maybe” chose iPods because they are “cool”?

And technology. The 60 Minutes report mentioned how we are into technology more than any other generation. I have yet to meet someone without a cell phone and a computer. Why does it offend us to know we are obsessed with technology? Technology was in our lives more than any other generation, we grew up with computers, we found speed, and we asked for more. We want everything as fast as possible. We talk to our friends online, we do our homework online.

However why is that a bad thing? We had fewer playgrounds, especially those of us living in big cities, and we had a bigger vision. We should proudly admit it. We were not stuck in the city we lived in, we could get friends from everywhere around the world. We could get things and we could get them fast. We can receive a homework assignment in our home, and do them in pajamas, on our bed, without needing expensive encyclopedias.

And why were we offended when we watched the 60 Minutes report? Every generation had their good points and bad points. Maybe this computer speed spoiled us, or maybe it was the big opportunities we did not want to miss. We should accept ourselves with our pluses and minuses and appreciate what we have. No generation was perfect, but at least we have more opportunities.

College Life

Time To Go Home, The Student Way
By Gunes Atalay

We are in college and we in New York, the 10th most expensive city in the world. Most of us work, but we are still broke. Our parents miss us and we miss being home. However, how will we buy a plane ticket to go home, when we are so broke?

I did some research and found the best websites for a student to buy her plane ticket. So, if you are looking to go home, or on vacation during Thanksgiving, or for the January break, you don't have to spend all of your money on tickets. You can check these websites out and find the best prices.

The first idea I found to save money is www.studentuniverse.com, a website created for students. It requires a school E-mail account to join and a student ID card while flying. It has big discount specials for students, not only for flying, but also for rail way, hostels, and car rentals.

Another website that is very useful is www.orbitz.com. Out of all discount websites, Orbitz usually gave me the cheapest price possible. It sometimes has specials for students, and it doesn't require you to apply with a student E-mail. It has flights, railway, car rentals, hotel packages and cruises. So, if you are looking to have some fun on your break, you should check it out!

A third website is www.hotwire.com, and even though Orbitz owns it, Hotwire is usually more expensive than Orbitz. However, Hotwire is perfect for last minute trips, because they have a different system. When you search for a last minute trip, it gives you one result that is a lot cheaper than the rest, but it doesn't give you the flight time or the airline. It guarantees that the flight will be between 6 am and 12 am. It also guarantees that it will be either non-stop or one stop. It might seem a little scary, but it definitely works. I used it one Friday when I needed to go to Kansas for an emergency and I got a 9 am, non-stop, roundtrip flight for $180, while all other results showed prices between $500-$700.

The fourth website is www.cheapair.com, which also gives good results, sometimes. It lets you mix and match flights, which makes it cheaper, and it has package deals with hotels, cruises and cars.

As someone who travels constantly, using these websites has saved me lot of my money. Here are a few more tricks for those who want to travel. Try buying your tickets on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, because you will find it is a lot cheaper on those days, and try to stay at least one weekend day. That will get you a lot cheaper price because airlines know that someone who leaves on a Monday and wants to come back on a Friday is on a business trip. Those people usually pay no matter what. It is the same policy for people who leave on Friday and want to return on Sunday to get back to work on Monday, and are willing to pay more. Since we are not business people, and we are not willing to pay the highest price, we need to put in more time searching for the best deal possible.

I hope you get a great deal.

Have a nice trip!

Exhibits And Events

Fans And Celebrities Bowling For Charity
By Christine Levitin-Breyette

The doors of the Chelsea Piers Lanes opened to a sea of exuberant soap opera fans that flooded the entrance on a recent Sunday ready to make their guilty pleasures a reality at the annual Daytime Stars and Strikes bowling event.

The event on Sunday, October 7, 2007, the grand finale to the annual Guiding Light fan weekend, brought together soap opera fans and soap opera actors for an afternoon of bowling, photographs, autographs, raffles, auctions, and of course lots and lots of fun. It’s not as self indulgent as it may sound, however, all of the funds raised during the event go to The American Cancer Society’s research and development fund.

Once all the fans were signed in and all the actors had been called down to the lanes the host and hostess, Jerry verDorn, who plays Clint on One Life To Live, and Elizabeth Keifer, who plays Blake on Guiding Light, emerged from the elevated lounge and descended the staircase to their adoring fans.


Liz Keifer, Wendy Madore and Jerry verDorn

“I love attending the Daytime Stars & Strikes bowling event because it's fun interacting with the actors and actresses on a personal level and…because all of the proceeds go to such a worthy cause,” said Lori Rubenacker, a dedicated soap opera fan. “Cancer affects everyone, whether directly or indirectly, so I can't think of a better charity to support.”

The idea for the bowling event came from Liz and Jerry’s fan club president, Wendy Madore. “It was at his (Jerry verDorn) 25th anniversary party and I asked her, (verDorn’s wife, Beth) “don’t you think Jerry and Liz need an event?” explained Madore regarding the conception of the event. “And she said absolutely” and I said, “Jerry don’t you think you need an event?” and you said, “ask these actors if they’d come” and we asked all the actors and then I wrote you and said, “was I dreaming or did you say yes?” and you said, yes, lets do it.“


Nicole Forester, Marcy Rylan, David Andrew MacDonald, Liz Keifer,
and Kurt McKinny

The event has evolved over the years, from the “The Bloss Bowling” event, which was a combination of the characters’ names Blake and Ross (played by verDorn when he was acting on Guiding Light), to being exclusively for Guiding Light fans and actors, to what it is now in it‘s fourth year, “The Daytime Stars And Strikes” bowling event that includes not only The Guiding Light, but All My Children, As The World Turns, and One Life to Live where verDorn is currently portraying Clint.

Although the event has changed over the years, the charity they donate to has remained the same. “I’m a 14 year survivor of cancer” verDorn disclosed, “so I decided, the research and development they have at the American Cancer Society is for the whole nation and it’s a general fund that you can contribute to so, everybody throughout the country can benefit from doing this event and having an auction, spending their money, and having it all go to the society.”

Each year the money raised has increased, from more than $5,000 the first year to more than $11,000 this year, through a combination of raffles for tote bags, coffee mugs, magazine, posters, buttons and T-shirts; and auctions for studio tours, and pictures in Soap Opera Weekly and Soap Opera Digest with several actors.

Soap fan, Lynn Rupley said, “I would spend hundreds of dollars on auctions, etc, because it goes for cancer…I clip coupons all year to save money for this trip.”

Kiefer and verDorn host the event each year, but they are supported by a lot of very loyal costars and friends. “For the Guiding Light actors this is the end of an extremely long weekend so these are really faithful ones that show up to this. Most of them blow it off saying, ‘I’m sorry, I’ve done three days already I’m not doing a fourth,’” said Kiefer. “And they are all at the cruise in the morning and then they come here.”

Kiefer, verDorn, and Madore are all supported by a volunteer team of about 20, known as “Jerry’s Elves.” “I couldn’t do this by myself. If they (the volunteers) weren’t here, there’s no way I could do this. They take care of me, and they are the nicest people and that makes me want to come back and do a better job next year,” Madore said.


Bowling volunteers with Madore and verDorn

Julie VanSteenburg, a committed soap opera fan, and first time volunteer said she comes to the event for the camaraderie of good friends, committed to a good cause. “I'm impressed not only with my friends level of commitment but the obvious care and concern that the cast members display by giving up their free time to give back to the fans and help out the ACS at the same time."

City Life

The Fast And The Furious: The Real Story
By Janette Lynott

Since the 1950s, drag racing has been a way for rebellious and rambunctious adolescents to act out their aggression, and a series of drag racing movies fed this youthful exuberance. Drag racing movie produced slowed down until the early 1990s when they resurfaced as underground films. The movies are now evolving and different forms of racing are emerging among auto obsessors.

In Philadelphia, three main areas outside of the inner city highlight the fastest, flashiest, and most illegal drag races in the city. Due to fear of arrests, meeting locations are spread by word-of-mouth and kept at a subtle whisper. At the race however, it is nothing but noise. Jon Hartley, 22, a former street bike racer was a regular at these races until losing one-third of his skin in a non-race related accident. He describes these races as "all bout the thrill."

Not only are they thrilling but incredibly dangerous. Police raids result in reckless driving that lead to accidents. However, this is not the only danger. If a driver decides to indulge in such races, one must have a hard head, quick tongue and in case something goes wrong; a hard fist to go with it. A recent incident occurred when a man entered a race, lost and refused to pay the winner. This resulted in a 20 to 30-person riot. The losing car was smashed with baseball bats and the man was dragged from it and beaten unconscious. Minutes later his car was flipped.

Not all races are quite like this one, and not all are totally illegal. In Elizabethtown, NJ, another former dragster Frank Hayden, 51, enjoys bringing his hand-built cars to the races. His current project is a 1969 Camaro. Hayden says he chooses these races and these types of cars because "new cars are not as unique as the old ones." When asked if he used a Nitris tank commonly used for illegal street races as an extra boost in third or fourth gear, he replied with great confidence, "No, mine don't need it." The races that Hayden attends usually bring in the "muscle car crowds" and are all NHA (National Hot Rod Association) regulated.

Another form of drag racing, which has evolved a bit of a new twist, is "drifting." Drifting as opposed to drag involves twists and turns and is a more abrupt style. Around every turn, it is unwritten law that there must be a cloud of smoke coming from your tires. This form of racing originally started in Tokyo and made its way to California where it was popularized in the Vin Diesel film, "The Fast And The Furious."

Jamal Gilbert, 19, who has been attending and driving in drift races since age 14 insists that the film is nothing like the actual thing. "Drifting has become its own subculture. It is a life style. Anyone can learn drag racing in a day but it takes very long to master drifting," he said. Whether it is legal or not, the main crowd drawn to the drift are, "computer nerds and auto freaks" said Gilbert.

When asked to compare the crowd, Gilbert says, "all different people go to drag racing, you can bring your mother to a drag race. Drifting involves ‘the beautiful people.’ Your typical 9-5ers and of course the nerds.” Gilbert has quite a bit of racing experience considering his age. He confesses that he has crashed quite a few times. But when you choose such a challenging form of racing and try it out at 14, that doesn't come as much of a surprise.

At any given time, more than 300 drag racing strips are operating worldwide, according to Wikipedia. Both dragging and drifting has created and maintained an audience that doesn’t look like it is going away any time soon. These races continue to show up in film and video as well as other forms of media. Then there is NASCAR, which is a popular sporting event surviving almost purely on advertising. This also has its’ own unique culture. NASCAR usually brings in a more middle class audience. There are many other areas of racing, but these are some of the major ones. The main difference between is how the cars are built, NHA regulated or street regulated, and of course the racing legality.

College Life

College Students Aren’t Vain, They’re Just Looking For A Niche
By Sarah Campbell

Vanity is on the rise among college students, according to a study conducted by five psychologists. The findings are the result of a nationwide evaluation called the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI).

The NPI, which solicited responses from 16,475 college students who were evaluated between 1982 and 2006, asks students to comment on statements such as, “If I ruled the world, it would be a better place” and “I can live my life any way I want to.” By 2006, the research showed a 30% increase in the NPI scores since the test was introduced in 1982. The psychologists say this increase is worrisome, and is likely to negatively affect personal relationships and American society.

The report says that students, “while acknowledging some legitimacy to such findings, don’t necessarily accept generalizations about their generation.”

Sophie Freeman, a sophomore at North Carolina School of the Arts, finds it believable that the NPI has increased, though she says, “I find it interesting that the study is done on college students. I mean isn’t this the time for personal exploration? To focus on yourself and create yourself?”

Freeman feels she tries to do her part in the community and seeks experiences to broaden her outlook. “I personally find a way to incorporate what I love to do in something that’s beneficial for others.” Majoring in modern dance, she explains, “I know I want to dance and it’s not the kind of thing you can do a couple days a week to give more attention to others. In fact I guess dance itself is pretty self-involved (she laughs) the time you give to it alone could probably label you as self-centered.”

Freeman continues: “I know I’m not going to be a full-time volunteer but I do what I can. I’ll perform for a cause. I’ve performed in children’s hospitals, nursing homes, in a Fundraising fair in New Orleans. And these are non-paying optional gigs but I think that it makes sense.”

The researchers believe that the 1980s “self-esteem movement” may have triggered this vanity trend, which they say has now gone too far. W. Keith Campbell, a researcher from the University of Georgia says narcissism can have benefits, but “unfortunately, narcissism can also have negative consequences for society..” The study explains that narcissists “are more likely to have romantic relationships that are short-lived, at risk for infidelity, lack of emotional warmth, and to exhibit game playing, dishonesty, and over-controlling and violent behavior.”

Professor Jean Twenge of San Diego University, and the study’s lead author, explains narcissists tend to lack empathy, react aggressively to criticism, and prefer self-promotion in favor of helping others, all aspects she attributes to why young Americans are more miserable today than before. Twenge says schooling, technology and the way we speak to our children are all contributing factors to this rise in NPI. She says: “Current technology fuels the increase in narcissism,” sighting YouTube and MySpace as attention-seeking sites that provoke the problem.

Twenge also says: “We need to stop endlessly repeating ‘You’re special’ and having children repeat this back…” Campbell on the other hand seems less sure of how to remedy the problem, noting: “permissiveness seems to be a component… A potential antidote would be more authoritative parenting. Less indulgence might be called for.”

Cynthia Dragoni, who recently attended the University of Pennsylvania, finds the NPI results an accurate reflection of society, though she too expresses concern over the focus on those of college age. She says: “Well of course college students are self-centered, but show me someone, at any age, who’s really not. I mean the life we live is all about the individual.”

Dragoni who has lived in both Russia and the Ukraine, but was raised in the U.S. says, “it’s the American way… everything we do tends to get more focused on ‘me, me, me’… look at the types of things people consider news, or entertainment. Everything seems to be glorifying the way of life that is centered on a life focused around oneself and that self seems to focus on things that probably shouldn’t be deemed as relevant as they are.”

Massimo Lavelle, a student at Penn State says, “College kids may seem to be more self-involved, though I’d argue that they are no more so than older generations, they just haven’t found their niche yet. You see, if you see someone in their late 30s with kids, a golf membership and a summer house they aren’t considered to be self-involved, they are just living their life.

Lavelle thinks that college students have different priorities, which leads them to be “…seen as focusing on the more trivial and are thus perceived as self-centered.”

Lavelle describes selfishness as human nature and adds, “I think that selfishness is most apparent in a diverse environment. Like in college everyone’s selfishness is highlighted because there are so many people with so many different desires without a common-ground for topic and understanding.”

Lavelle explains that by the time you’re out of college and have “laid a foundation for yourself,” you then build a life that is catered to your desires. “You jump in a box that you fit into comfortably, so no one thinks of your doings as anything other than normal.”

Movie Reviews

A Beatles Inspired Universe Speaks To Us Today
By Sarah Campbell

The film, “Across The Universe” is truly invigorating and provides a feel of the 1960s. Advanced visual techniques, accompanied by heartwarming performances translate the 60s era into our heads, while the Beatles soundtrack explodes in our ears.

The plot involves a young crowd main in New York City: Jude (Jim Sturgess), a poor British ship welder, Max (Joe Anderson) a well-off college drop-out, and Lucy (Rachel Evan Wood) Max’s little sister who ends up following her brother’s footsteps and soon falls in love with Jude, her brother’s best friend.

The bohemian crowd lives together in a Greenwich Village crash pad with several other musicians. Most of the characters are named for Beatles songs or resemble other famous singers of the time, such as the character’s Sadie (Dana Fuchs) and Jo-Jo (Martin Luther McCoy)who easily resemble Janice Joplin and Jimmy Hendrix.

The plot is deep and broad touching on Vietnam (Max is shipped to war) and revolution, in addition to a love between Jude and Lucy, though there is very little dialogue. Almost everything is conveyed through images set to an almost continuous Beatles soundtrack.

One scene in particular, in which the Hendrix type, Jo-Jo walks the streets is marvelous. Jo-Jo passes a group of businessmen performing a rigid combination of movements, in a box-like formation. The men move in unison and look like carbon copies of one another. They’re carrying square briefcases and wearing plain suits. They stomp side to side while moving up and down in a zombie like trance, which translates a feel of confinement.

Jo-Jo on the other hand passes by in his colorful bohemian clothing, guitar strapped to his shoulder, looking relaxed, worn, but happy. Its morning and all of the businessmen are off to work and running through their routine. Jo-Jo’s just heading home. It’s a terrific reflection of the contrast within society. The use of color helps illustrate the mood throughout the film, as it’s more neutral in Middle America and the U.K. and gains brightness and versatility when the setting becomes New York City.

The inevitable fear that strikes us upon imagining new artists singing Beatles songs is immediately crushed, as is the anticipated unease of envisioning a new story to accompany their music. Many of the songs have a different take completely. For instance, Prudence sings, “I want to hold your hand” from a sad place. She expresses wanting to hold a woman’s hand whom she lusts after, but doesn’t feel comfortable admitting this truth about her sexuality. Her suppression and upset come through in her “I want to hold your hand.”

Bleeding strawberries, rooftop concerts and magical tour buses add to the films 60s feel. But this is not why the film stays with you. It strikes a cord of similarity; generates a sense of sameness between the world now and then. By the movies end there isn’t an emotion that hasn’t been stirred. It’s invigorating, inspirational, beautiful, creative, evoking. It serves as a reminder of the past and provides a new lens for the present.

Music & Musicians

Mercury Rising
By Glenn Burwell

Marymount Manhattan College’s very own Amanda Lavin is one of New York’s up and coming starlets. In a candid interview Lavin proves nice girls don’t always finish last: Gloria Estefan, Japanese piano instructors, and her love of Chopin are some of the topics petite bombshell opened up about.

Not many people know much about 19 year-old singer-song writer Amanda Lavin. Even in a school with a student body as small as Marymount Manhattan College’s where it seems that everyone knows everyone. This isn’t to say that Lavin doesn’t stand out, because she does, but you probably wouldn’t know her unless you were lucky enough to be called her friend. That is, unless you were sent a link to her MySpace music page, ( http://www.myspace.com/amandalavinmusic) and listened to what she had to offer, and immediately realized, when she hits that last note, you want more.

“I’m not about actively drawing attention to myself,” Lavin coyly says sipping a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon, at one of her favorite restaurants Per Lei, where the staff seems to know her well. “I talk to people from my high school and they say they never knew that I would move to The City to become a recording artist.”

Amanda Lavin

Lavin, a blonde-haired blue-eyed beauty, stands about five-feet five- inches tall, with hands, strong and slender, that were clearly made to play the piano. Lavin credits her piano lessons to her unique sound and style of the music she writes. “Classical music feels intrinsic; it has been instilled in me. I love any of Chopin’s waltzes.” Her classical training is much like that of her musical inspiration, the late Freddy Mercury of Queen.

“Freddy Mercury is my biggest inspiration hands down, I feel like we are similar in that we both began with the classical piano training,” Lavin said. “His metaphoric lyrics and hypnotic melodies were always complex and interesting. He had a basic understanding of how people felt,” she says.

One might think it ostentatious of her to compare herself to a legend like Mercury, but Lavin makes it clear that Mercury’s style is his very own and she aspires to find her niche in the industry like her idol.

“What I aim for in creating music is to create something that is universally appreciated.” Lavin doesn’t mean this in terms of “selling out,” a saying she despises, in order to sell more records, but so more people can be exposed to her music and her message.

Lavin’s classmates probably didn’t know she would make the move and follow her dreams, because, for a while, neither did she. “I only really absolutely knew that I wanted to be a singer when I was in my senior year [of high school]. I actually thought I would be a journalist,” Lavin admits. When she was a child she would dance to her mother’s cassette tape of Gloria Estefan’s Turn the Beat Around. Other early childhood favorites included “anything Whitney [Houston]”, Alanis Morissette which her mother banned because of the mature lyrics, Lea Salonga (the voice of Princess Jasmine in Disney’s Aladdin).

“In the back of my mind I always knew I wanted to be a singer. When I was a kid people would tell me I should,” Lavin said, when discussing childhood memories. Despite the fact she didn’t always know she would want to sing professionally music was always a part of her life.

The first child of her parents, Lavin, remembers moving from her Bronx apartment to a house in Yonkers, NY where her love of music began. “For some reason there was a piano in the house when we moved there. Anytime I could I would beat on the piano.” Lavin’s parents, who she says are incredibly proud of her music, didn’t dismiss her curious plunking as noise. Instead they enrolled her in a “daddy and me” piano class. “That’s when I technically started playing piano, if you can call it that. It wasn’t until I was five that I actually began taking lessons,” she said.

Lavin in the city

Now on her second glass of wine, Lavin sits back and becomes even more down to earth- if that is humanly possible. “I’ll never forget her, she was a very small Japanese woman, Miss Nakamishi,” she chuckles and her eyes brighten as she speaks about her first piano teacher, from the days of “daddy and me.” Her attitude changes as she explains her second teacher whom she studies under to this day, “I started taking lessons with Irene when I five, she is very…she’s a great woman,” she hesitantly says this. “No I actually do love her she’s practically family I’ve known her so long,” she quickly follows.

Lavin recalls her Swedish instructor suggesting she lose a couple of pounds, “I was in the seventh grade, but that’s why I love her she just tells it like it is.” Miss Nakamishi made her smile, but Irene made her work, and always held her to the highest standards, which has subsequently worked in her advantage. Evidence of years of hard work is apparent in her music and her hands.

Like most artists she breaks her music into two parts -- her music and her lyrics. She explains her process, “The creative process, I just love it, for me that is when everything makes sense in my mind. When I can’t find what feel out there, I write it. My hope is that someone else could use it. At the end of the day I want my music to be honest, universal, and evoking- that’s it. ” In the word of Freddy Mercury, “I always knew I was a star and now, the rest of the world seems to agree with me.” All in favor of Amanda Lavin, say, “Aye”. Aye.

Music & Musicians

Punk Might Be Dead, But ‘Punks’ Are Still Alive
By Gunes Atalay

It’s 1976 and a 14 year-old girl with red hair with two platinum streaks in the front and dressed in black is walking around in Max's Kansas City Club in the East Village next to Union Square Park . Her name is Donna White.

She fell in love with punk music when she first heard Ramones at the age 13 and began listening to them constantly. That same year, while attending a party, someone told her she should hang out at Max's. Her first night there, she met her first boy friend who knew everyone in the punk scene at the time. “Suddenly I found myself in this punk glam world and I loved every minute of it,” said White.

White ran away from home at 15, and in the following years, she went from concert to concert and began living on the Lower East Side. She lived in the famous Chelsea Hotel for a while, and said she was constantly broke, but it didn't matter.

She says the atmosphere was so different in those days. “Today’s East Village is full of restaurants and commercial stores with a hint of what used to be there. We were different. We used to be like a big family,” White said. “We all took care of each other. We did drugs, we had fun, and we just didn't care about anything. We used to make our own clothes, because we didn't have enough money to buy them.”

White said that although the stores Trash and Vaudeville did exist, it was the cheapest place to shop, unlike today where it is so expensive to buy supposedly punk clothing. “Some old punks still live in Lower East Side, and when you see them you know they are from the old days, and majority of them live on the Alphabet City because you could only afford living there back in those days, sharing studios,” she said.

White said she began using drugs at a very young age and began feeling like an old, little girl. “I got tired. I got very tired. I had to get away.”

White moved to West Coast, and struggle for a long time before becoming a stripper. She moved from city to city, and stripped and got into trouble many times. She attracted stalkers and was almost raped. “I wanted to be back home, in my heart, but I just couldn't. I was still on drugs constantly and had no purpose of living.”

White said her life changed when she got pregnant at 28, and returned to school and became a nurse. She lived with her daughter in Arizona for years until she found out her brother had HIV since he was 19. “I had to protect him. My mom was never there for us, I had to be there for him.”

White and her daughter returned to New York. Even though she wanted to keep her daughter away from drugs, she also wanted her to get into the punk scene.

“I went to St. Marks after years because I wanted my daughter to grow up in that scene and I was shocked. First of all, rents were sky high. I couldn't understand how New York's “worst” neighborhood became one of the most expensive areas,” said White. “Then I realized it just became fashionable and was considered “artsy.” It just seemed so fake. I saw people paying loads of money for ripped clothes and hair gels to do their Mohawks. We used to wear ripped because we didn't have money. Wear the same pair of jeans for years, you will see what I mean. And, we did our Mohawks with Jell-O!”

White saw several of her old friends who seemed very tired, but she found that most of them were dead, and all the places she used to go were closed.
“I knew real punk was gone, never to be back.”

Today White is a nurse living with her 16 year-old daughter and sometimes wants to return to her gypsy punk lifestyle, but she knows it no longer exists. She now back where she started, in New York City, reminiscing with old friends “who are still hardcore, real punks.”

“The Punk scene might be dead, and all the old punks may seem like they are getting along with the society by having regular jobs. But I know they all are the same old kids inside, dying to go back. Punk is living inside us.”

City Life

Homeless Man Finds Shelter In A St. George Boiler Room
By Gunes Atalay

Some people in the St. George area of Staten Island were shocked to find a homeless man living in the boiler room of their house. As a crowd gathered in front of the house on Westervelt Avenue where five families live to talk about the discovery, a man in the crowd murmured, “Only in New York man. Only in New York.”

One resident seemed more freaked out more than anyone. Shawn Adelman, 45, the building’s landlord, said, “When my tenant Roberta Craft called me, I couldn't believe what she said. How the hell does that happen? How did he even get in there? I will put a stronger lock on the door immediately”

Apparently, the homeless man has been living in the boiler room for a while, without anyone noticing. The place is full of trash he left. Adelman said he had to go. “I kicked him out. What was I supposed to do? Let him stay?”

Craft, 40, who discovered the homeless man, said, “I've been hearing noises at nights but I thought it was the young kids living in the building. We also use that space as storage. I went down there to grab something, and I saw a man. He seemed very harmless and he didn't say anything, he just looked at me,” she said. “But imagine my fright. I ran upstairs as fast as I could and called my landlord and knocked on the other tenants’ doors.”

Craft said Adelman and the other tenants all converged on the boiler room. “He must have known he was getting kicked out. He was standing up and he didn't say a word. He just left when we told him to.”

Residents said St. George is a very safe place to live, but they would be a lot more careful now, and make sure they have strong locks on their doors.

“I am kind of sad. Even though the weather is not bad right now, it will get bad soon,” said Kisha Dario, 31, another resident. “I hope he finds a place. I mean, I wish we could let him stay but we have little kids in the building and we don't know that man. He seemed harmless, but you never know. I told everyone to call the cops but nobody listened to me. If we did, he could maybe find a place to sleep.”

City Life

Taxi!
By Therese Whelan

What would New York City look like without it’s 13,000 yellow cabs? It’s hard to imagine because taxis are as common a sight in New York as pigeons. Two hundred million people ride eight hundred million miles every year in New York City cabs. More than 40,000 drivers take part in this billion-dollar industry.

But it wasn’t always this way. Taxis have a very interesting history in New York. They have evolved through the years, from the first cars in the 1900’s to today’s SUVs. Taxi drivers have also had to adapt, surviving the violence of the eighties and adjusting to meet the new rules designed to fit the times. Gone is the day when taxi drivers were a source of wisdom and a few good jokes.Today, many shut themselves off from their occupants with the radio or cell phones.

Before there were thousands of cars giving New York it’s signature sound, people traveled by horse drawn carriage. Today you’ll find a few dozen lining Central Park South beckoning tourists. New York was a walking city. Automobiles came to New York at the end of the 18th century. Soon cars were being rented out as an alternative to horse drawn carriages. In the early 1900’s New York City became home to 600 gasoline-powered cars imported from France. These red and green cars were used as taxis.

The taxicab industry was privately owned. The largest company was the Checkered Cab Company, which was also the first taxi company to paint their cabs yellow. By the 1920’s the city began to see the economic potential of a taxi industry. Taximeters were introduced to avoid fights over fares and there were enforced regulations on prices. In 1937, the taxi medallion system was put in place and drivers were required to get special licenses. By the 1960s there were around 12,000 taxis in New York City, so a limit was set on the number of cabs allowed. And, all official taxis had to be painted yellow.

When asked what a demanding job is in New York, most people might say doctor, lawyer, or stockbroker. Not many realize the challenging life of a taxi cab driver. They sit through 12-hour shifts in some of the worst traffic in the world, and cannot succumb to road rage for even a minute. They face demanding customers who want to travel to the Bronx, drunks, fare-beaters, low-tippers, and annoying tourists. Most taxi drivers are not even acknowledged beyond being told where to drive.

“They think they know the way to go, they say turn here, and when we end up in traffic they get mad at me,” says Khan Khalid, 49, a taxi driver. Khalid has his fair share of difficult customers. “I’ve had people scream at me for going the wrong way. One man got in and said 115 Broadway or something, so I thought he meant 115th street. I got to the nineties before he realized and then I had to turn off the meter and drive him back. It turned out to be a building all the way by the World Trade Center. He gave me no tip.”

But many cab drivers have faced far worse things than no tips. In the 1980s, taxi drivers feared for their lives. Alii Mohammad, 53 began driving a taxi in the late 80s.

“I started out driving because I couldn’t find a good enough job. I figured this would be good money and I would always have a job if I needed one. That was almost 20 years ago. It was much harder then. I heard stories about drivers being robbed; my friend had a knife pulled on him just before he was ending his shift. He gave up his money, his watch, his rings. Never happened to me though. I stuck to good areas then. Upper East Side, Midtown. Sometimes, though the rich ones are the worst tippers. They look down on drivers, and won’t even talk to me,” Mohammad said.

There were more than 3,200 driver robberies a year in the 1980s. It got so bad that cops were posing as drivers to catch criminals. Bulletproof partitions were installed in every cab. Today, New York is the safest big city in the U.S., but taxi drivers still have concerns. Since there is a limit on the number of cabs allowed in New York, the price has the medallion has risen so much than hardly any drivers own their cabs. In 2004, a New York City taxi medallion cost about $293,000. Drivers work separately, hardly any drivers receive health insurance and there is no taxi union in New York. So, it is hard for the thousands of drivers to come together, even in protest.

“Things are different now,” says Mohammad. “It is much safer for the driver. I still drive because I have a son. I don’t want him to be a cab driver. And now it is so expensive and there is no health insurance. I was one of the drivers who striked.”

This year new laws will require every cab to be equipped with a global positioning system (GPS) and credit card machine. These systems also show a live map, news headlines and the keep a running tab of the fare. Drivers claim that this is an invasion of privacy, will increase the price to rent a cab, give away their driving shortcuts and are noisy. However, in late September when there was supposed to be a mass protest, only 25 percent of New York City drivers stayed home.

Revenues for the taxi industry are expected to increase with the new GPS and credit card system in place. Khalid can understand why the customers would like this new system. “The people will like the GPS maps because they think I’m taking them the long way. Now they can see. I’ve been driving for 15 years in New York I know all the shortcuts.” However not every taxi rider supports the new laws.

“I hate taking cabs,” says Christopher Miller, 22. “Not because I don’t like them. It is relaxing to sit back and not worry about missing your stop or transferring, its just so expensive. I can’t afford one unless I split it with a few people. It sucks though when its really late and you want to get back home from downtown, sometimes you have no options and you have to shell out 30 bucks.”

Miller doesn’t think the changes will increase his taxi usage. “I don’t need a to see a TV screen in the back or a map showing me where I am. It’s just gonna raise prices more. However, Miller thinks the credit card machines are a good idea for “when you’re out of cash.”

Change is inevitable for the taxi industry. The old Checkered Cabs of the 1920s look nothing like the hybrids, minivans and SUV’s of today. “Yesterday,” says Mohammad, “I drove a pink flowered van with a GPS in the back.” He says he does not like the GPS machines because everyone pays by credit cards and he cannot hear the radio when the news headlines play on the screen “Over and over, it gives me a headache.”

Recently, the city unveiled the results of a massive volunteer project by elementary school children in New York and New Jersey. Large painted flower decals adorn the hood and trunk of some cabs, and if the city has it’s way, all 13,000 plus NYC taxis will be flowered. This will certainly change the look of New York. But one thing that will never change is the need for taxis in this city. There will always be drivers who put up with the difficulties, hoping to make enough money to support their families, or buy health insurance. Maybe one day, the needs of the drivers will surpass those of the customers.

But for the riders, taxis are fast, fun and safe, salvation from downpours and snowstorms. Twenty-four hours a day in one of the biggest and busiest cities in the world you can find a taxi and get where you need to go.

College Life

Campus Security: Are They The Real Threat?

By Priya Joshi

The line between protecting civilians and violating civil rights has grown thinner with time. With such laws as the Patriot Act, many Americans and others throughout the world are beginning to wonder if their government is helping or hurting them.

In a recent incident at Florida University, campus security detained, tasered and arrested Andrew Meyer, a student after he asked Senator John Kerry why he didn’t contest the 2004 election during a question and answer session. Kerry did not answer the student’s question, causing him to get emotional and he continued to question Kerry. Although Meyer never got violent or out of control, campus security seized, handcuffed and tasered him. Students across the nation were outraged at the reaction from campus security and demanded explanations.

Alan Cano, a 20-year-old sophomore at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., was one of the many angered by the situation. “It really makes you think that we’re actually living in a police state. Andrew Meyer’s rights were completely violated for the entire nation to see, and still no one did anything about it,” says Cano. “His fellow classmates even laughed it off when it first started happening. This kind of thing is serious, especially now. The powers that be need to know their limits and clearly the campus security at FU didn’t.”

Many young adults agree with Cano on the topic, stating strongly that Meyer’s freedom of speech was so blatantly imposed upon that it was insulting to their generation.

“It was as if the police just weren’t taking the kids seriously,” says Aimee Conover, a 19-year-old college student. “He asked an important question that a lot of people had been wondering since the 2004 election and his question deserved an answer. The police just shut him up to make things easier for John Kerry, which isn’t what a politician should be about. Kerry should be ashamed. Even I want to know why Kerry didn’t contest to the 2004 election when Bush won!”

Such a sensitive topic is bound to bring an immense amount of opposition. Surprisingly, some students don’t mind the fact that campus security has the authority to carry out such acts.

“Think about what happened at Virginia Tech earlier this year,” says Abigail Belford, a 23-year-old college graduate. “If that were to occur again I’m sure all of the people opposed to the tasering would change their minds. Security of any kind needs to be ready and able to take on anything at any moment and I think that the campus security at Florida University did exactly that. Who knows what could have happened. Andrew Meyer could have gone crazy in a split second and nobody would have been prepared. Our world isn’t that safe anymore. You can’t just put trust in everyone.”

Belford addresses a crucial topic. Is it possible to be too safe? “Tiananmen Square in1989 is a perfect example of how out of control something like this can become,” says Cano. “Countless innocent protestors were killed because they lived in a police state. They were not allowed to voice their opinions and had to give their lives to prove a point. Is that what our American democracy is aiming for? I know it’s not a great comparison and that Tiananmen was far more serious, but this is just the beginning of what could possibly be forming.”

It is scary to think that your rights could be completely stripped from you by authority, especially your right to live, but perhaps the issue lies a little deeper.

“I think it has more to do with when people of authority should be able to exercise their power as opposed to focusing on all of the times that they have done so incorrectly,” says Belford. “For example, campus security should be allowed to carry weapons such as guns or tasers to use when a Virginia Tech incident occurs, but they should not be used in situations such as Florida University. If people would address the appropriate times for action to be used instead of bickering about when it was used inappropriately, then maybe we would be a little safer.”

Belford’s approach to looking towards the future instead of the past may work for her, but for many people across the nation, especially those at Florida University and other college students, the time to demand their rights is now, not later.

City Life

Dance Agents: Proceed With Caution
By Kelly Lafarga

It is 7 a.m. The alarm goes off and it’s time to run in the shower. Once done, it’s time to pick out the perfect outfit. Is this too sexy? Does this add 20 pounds? Carefully the makeup is applied in just the right way as to not look too old. It’s 8:30. Time to get going to get to the front of the line. The trains aren’t running, but a cab is too expensive. A bus will do just fine. Arrive at 9:30. Already number 150 on the list. This is going to take all day. It’s tiring, it’s stressful, and it’s the life of a dancer in New York City. Actually, it’s the life of a dancer without an agent.

Many dancers come to New York with the dream of being successful. The first thing most dancers have in mind is that they must get an agent in order to get into the right auditions. Before this is achieved, dancers use resources such as Backstage, a newspaper featuring many auditions of different genres, in order to try to get some work. Most find this insufficient for many reasons. Twenty-one year-old Ricky Derenzis said, “It’s really frustrating having to go to these open auditions where anyone can go. There are hundreds of people and you end up having to wait for hours. I have a fulltime job and I can’t just spend a whole day waiting in the hopes of booking a gig. I have to pay my rent.”

Many other dancers share Derenzis’s view. They get up at early hours and sometimes don’t get out until five or six o’clock and those are the ones that aren’t even chosen. In order to bypass the waiting and stress, most dancers try to get an agent.

An agent does all the work for the dancer. They find the right auditions for them to go to and they simply call them with a day and time. Auditions can last anywhere from 10 minutes to two hours. Sometimes they don’t even start until the afternoon. There is still plenty of time for dancers to have jobs and do other things during their day.

This seems like the dream situation for any dancer. “Ever since I came to New York I’ve been trying to get an agent. I’ve sent my headshot and resume to at least five different ones and never heard a response,” Derenzis said.

It’s extremely hard to get an agent. A few hold auditions, but sometimes only choose one or two out of a few hundred. For the rest it’s just a face and resume. Most of the times these items are tossed to the side without even a second glance.

Sometimes having an agent isn’t as ideal as it may appear. Many dancers find themselves feeling very unhappy with their agents once they get them. Amanda Cohen, 23, said, “I hadn’t booked a job after my first few auditions and my agent just stopped calling me. I hear about auditions through my friends and wonder why I wasn’t called for them. When I confront them, they usually give me the excuse that I wasn’t what they were looking for. Clearly, I was when I know that there were two other girls I know that were the same type as me. It comes across as being shady.”

Some dancers feel they are often lied to and mistreated by their agents. “In the end I know how they make their money so they shouldn’t be treating me like this,” Cohen said. Dance agents receive 10% of any money that one of their dancers makes on the job. That can sometimes come out to a lot of money depending on the size of the check.

A lot of times the agents fall behind on getting the money to the dancers. Usually a dancer should get a check about a month after they finished the job, sometimes it can be two. Sometimes it takes a lot longer. George Jones, 23, said he finished a job more than four months ago and he still hasn’t received his check. “I’ve been calling my agent and they keep telling me that they’re working on it. It’s unacceptable. I finally had to contact the people that I did the job for. I shouldn’t have to be doing that, that’s what I’m paying my agent to do. They received 10% of my check when they didn’t even really get me the job. I knew the choreographer and that’s how I honestly got it.”

Agents have many clients and obviously can’t give their full attention to any one dancer. This can be a major downside in having an agent. They give the most attention to whoever is the “hot” dancer at that time. “Because I wasn’t booking jobs they weren’t calling me,” said Cohen. “The worst part was they kept lying about why I wasn’t getting called. Just be honest with me. I had to start looking at Backstage and going to the open auditions. The second I booked a job, all of a sudden they loved me and were overly nice and accommodating. They came across as being so fake. It makes me not want to have an agent at all anymore,” she said.

Former agent Debbie Reed says that it is really hard to deal with so many people. “There was no way that we could give the same attention to all of our clients at the same time. Dancers also don’t realize that the reason that they won’t get called isn’t necessarily our fault. We submit all headshots and whoever is casting it picks who they want to see. The dancer automatically thinks that we don’t like them and that’s why they’re not getting called for auditions. It’s a lot bigger than us,” Reed says.

The truth is no one knows whether having a dance agent is wise. On one hand there’s no more waking up at 7 a.m. and standing in a line for hours. However, you can end up losing money and being mistreated. Every dancer strives to have an agent because it’s known to make things a whole lot easier. What they may not know is possible added stress of having one.

College Life

City Or Country Living: Where Should You Go To School?
By Gina Mobilio

How important is a college’s location? Is it better to attend college in a rural community or an urban setting? These are questions that potential college students ask themselves when choosing where they will spend the next four years. Both settings have pluses and minuses, and examining the positive and negative effects of both could lead to better college choices.

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania is home to three popular schools: Wilkes University, Kings College, and Marywood University. All three are a part of a suburban community with rural features and have students attending who enjoy the small-town college life.

“I like that our campus is large enough to have a football team,” said Paul Tonacci , a 21 year-old Wilkes University Pharmacy Major. “And I also like that we have a greenway to walk to class on. It is kept really clean and beautiful all year long.” When asked if he could picture attending a city school, Tonacci laughed and shook his head vigorously.

“Absolutely not. I would feel claustrophobic and very confined. I mean, it’s probably full of more opportunity for theatre and dance and stuff, but I can’t imagine giving up the way autumn, winter, and spring look in the country. [City Life] isn’t for me.

Wilkes University has multiple buildings and classrooms that accommodate students year round including a three-floor library, a three-floor student union building, a seven-station cafeteria, a café, and multiple mansions converted into functioning dorm rooms. The school also offers an on-campus workout room, and a basketball court used for the school’s Division III games.

“This school has everything I need to attend college comfortably. Anything less would not feel like a college to me. It wouldn’t feel as free.” Tonacci is scheduled to graduate in 2009 with a degree in Pharmacology.

Urban colleges, such as Marymount Manhattan College located in New York City offer an entirely different college experience with a variety of attributes and features. Marymount offers a vast and detailed theatre major program, such as majoring in acting, theatre studies, directing, stage management, and playwriting. The school also provides appearances nationally and internationally recognized speakers and performers as additional opportunities for learning.

Kara Thomas, 20, a Marymount student majoring in playwriting, believes that the education she is getting in an urban school is better than any she could receive in a rural setting.

“I couldn’t imagine it, I just couldn’t. At our school we are able to have access to renowned theatres and famous guest speakers that help us in our educational process. What do the rural schools have that we don’t? Dave Matthews performing? Give me a break. If you are going to [take school seriously] then you need to attend a serious college, Thomas said. "We may not have that “college feel” complete with football games and frat boys doing keg stands at mixers, but we have an education program that takes students far beyond the classroom. We are able to gain knowledge in our field outside of a classroom and mediocre teachers.” Thomas plans to graduate in 2010.

Although there are many benefits to attending college in the city, people affiliated with the smaller country schools beg to differ.

“There are too many distractions,” says Theresa Fallon, the theatre arts advisor of Wilkes University. “Students who attend school in New York and various other big-named cities view it as a place of immediate opportunity, and it just isn’t. The opportunities are there, of course, but the students begin to forget about their education and the importance of graduating.”

Fallon has been Wilkes University’s Theatre Arts advisor for three years and a theatre instructor for 10. “In a smaller school that is centered away from the distractions of alternate theatre options, the student focuses themselves primarily on their studies,” she said.

College Life

Vanity: Where Do We Draw The Line?
By Priya Joshi

Some psychologists have concluded that today’s generation of college students are far more vain than their predecessors.

However, in a recent Associated Press article, “Vanity On The Rise Among College Students,” what these psychologists have failed to mention are the key reasons for this outcome. They have confidently pinned the blame on the “Self-Esteem Movement” of the 1980’s, a movement that worked to build confidence in young adults, but that may have gone too far.

Alyssa Geddes, a 19-year-old college student disagrees. “We are living in a completely different world now. A self-esteem movement in the 80’s is irrelevant to our current decade. Nowadays, we are bombarded with gorgeous people everywhere. Each and every magazine has the face of a model plastered to the front. That is the reason kids these days care so much about looking good.”

Geddes makes a valid point. The pressures of society in 2007 are far different than those of the 1980’s. In fact, the pressures have sky rocketed. Nevertheless, Geddes agrees that college students are extremely concerned with their appearance and will go to great lengths to look acceptable. “It’s no longer a matter of just self-confidence,” said Geddes. “Looking good has become a way of life for a lot of young adults these days and I can’t say that it’s totally their fault. The world we live in shapes the people who inhabit it.”

The article, based on a study of 16,475 students nationwide who completed an evaluation called the Narcissistic Personality Inventory between 1982 and 2006, also states several benefits for having such a drastic rise in self-confidence. It can help with making friends at school or getting invited to parties. However, all of this extra attention can have dire consequences.

“I can’t stand people who are overly confident in themselves,” says Jill Mezey, a college student who says she has personally seen the downside of narcissism. “People need to know when to be modest and I think that is a trait that our generation severely lacks. I have seen friends go through boyfriends at an unhealthy rate due to the fact that they get too much attention and it goes straight to their head.”

Physical appearance isn’t the only problem that this article brings up. Narcissism can take the form of college applications as well. With an obscene amount of pressure to get a good job and make a lot of money in America, the self-confidence of high school and college students alike is at an all time peek.

Michael McCarthy , a 23-year-old college graduate remembers the pressures placed on him at an early age. “I attended a very rich and very smart high school in New Jersey. An unbelievable amount of kids in my graduating class went off to Ivy Leagues,” said McCarthy. “We had teachers and guidance counselors breathing down our necks constantly. The competition was almost unbearable. It’s not healthy for teenagers to have to go through that.”

The question then seems to be: where do we draw the line?

Perhaps the problem does not lie within the fashion magazines or the beautiful people on television. The problem with today’s college students and narcissism could have a direct relation to our constant rising economy. The demand for more money and power and better jobs seems to have students far more stressed than making sure they have this season’s shoes.

Betty Epstein, a 47-year-old mother of two current college students agrees. “I watched them go through the stress of high school and now I’m watching them go through it all over again,” says Epstein. “My kids have always been happy with who they are and never had trouble making friends, but they watch some of their classmates parade around with a smile on their face or join clubs at school that they don’t care about just to look good for job applications. It’s disappointing.”

A solution could be to stop shoving kids in one direction. Let the college students know that the path they pave is their own. Instead of having outside influences building their confidence, let them build it. Perhaps then the attitude will switch from feeling pressure to feeling ready and able.

College Life

Vanity, Vanity On The Wall
By Gina Mobilio

Five psychologists completed an extensive study on college students and concluded that today’s generation is more vain and self-centered than that of any other generation.

The article, “Vanity On The Rise Among College Students,” by the Associated Press quotes professor Jean Twenge, the lead author of a study of 16,475 students nationwide who completed an evaluation called the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) between 1982 and 2006, saying, “We need to stop repeating ‘Your Special’ and having children repeat that back. Kids are self-centered enough already.” The psychologists who recently presented their study at a workshop in San Diego, found that the student’s NPI scores have risen 30%; a drastic change over the last 15 years.

Some teachers say they have observed this behavior in children as early ages 11 and 12. Marisa Delacalse, a 50 year-old middle school teacher in Mendham, N.J., says she has seen the negative effect that over-praising a child can have.

“Children don’t understand the term “average” anymore,” she said. “Some (children) are so used to hearing from their parents that they are wonderful in every field, and can do anything they set their minds to because they are “special,” that they cannot function properly when failure does come their way. Children are more inclined to act out and be aggressive when they are not humbled at an early age. It’s the parent’s fault.”

Some people believe that narcissism can have a plus side, and can actually fuel a person’s confidence and comfort when dealing with situations that test their abilities. Marianne Difalco, a 48 year-old mother of three in Sussex, N.J,, concurs.

“I told my kids, and still tell my kids, that they are special every day. I might not have said it in those words, “you are special,” but I let them know they stood out in my eyes and in the eyes of God. My kids are not cocky or conceited at all. (They are always) helping out others and do, in fact, have self-esteem issues. I don’t think eliminating praise of children would solve anything.”

Difalco continued, “Although I believe praise is an essential part (of parenting), parents must also keep in mind that there is a fine line between praising their kids and spoiling their kids. When a child is shown that they are ‘special’ through gifts and treats, that child can grow up to expect treats and gifts for no reason at all because they are considered to be special by the word of their parents.”

The study shows that children who were constantly praised and told that they were special by their parents have a much stronger tendency to be unfaithful when in relationships, and they establish controlling behaviors towards others. The researchers believe that this trend dates back to the 1980s during the time of the “self-esteem movement.” They say movement has expanded and feel that it has gotten out of hand entirely.

“I don’t own a camera, I look in the mirror on average once a day, and I don’t have a MySpace page or whatever it’s called,” said 23 year-old NYU graduate Kati Lampa. “I feel that it’s a terrible craze. I don’t know who has the time to sit behind a computer and actually hope that someone is commenting on your pictures and saying how pretty and skinny you look. And frankly, I don’t want to know who is that shallow and conceited.”

Lampa added, “vanity within today’s society has even leaked into cell phones. The whole camera phone thing is just another way for self-centered people to click away at themselves. It’s terrible. Something needs to be done.”

College Life

Vanity Or Self-Confidence: That Is The Question
By Glenn Burwell

College students and recent graduates believe that a new study of narcissism in college-aged students jumps to conclusions and makes some harsh generalizations.

The article, “Vanity On The Rise Among College Students,” published by the Associated Press, June 20, 2007, about a new study of vanity leaves students offended, some even outraged.

Professor Jean Twenge of San Diego State University and her counterparts from various universities found in their study of narcissism that college-aged students steadily become more vain since the start of their research in 1982. The researchers fear that the rise in vanity among youth will be a detriment to relationships in American society.

Louis Marin, 25, a recent University of Florida graduate didn't agree with the article's generalization of college students. After reading it, Marin said, "It all seems incredibly questionable to me (the study). The questions they ask are leading and if you answer them one way you are diffident, and the other way are categorized as a narcissist."

Marin refers to questions like, " If I ruled the world it would be a better place," and "I can live life any way I want," taken from the Narcissistic Personality Inventory survey. Marin also asserted " Admittedly, I've only seen a bit of their research in reading the article, but still their assumptions lack merit."

Fashion Institute of Technology student, Molly Gunn, 20, didn't think the article was all wrong. " I think they're right about there being an increase in narcissism, just look around. People around my age are more self-obsessed than our parents ever were." Like other students, Gunn thought the problem with the article was that it didn't clearly differentiate between narcissism and self-confidence. Gunn concluded, " Yes we are a little into ourselves these days, but what is the problem with that? I am confident and I believe in everything that I do, call it what you will."

Caitlin Mager, 19, a Borough of Manhattan Community College student believed that what the researchers considered to be narcissism was simply a product of parenting. "People born into what is now considered the millennial generation, were raised in a time where parents were encouraged to preach self-worth and high-self esteem. I don't understand why people are trying to find negativity in building your children up. Maybe my relationships are short-lived. I am happy with who I am and I won’t settle for anything less than what I want," says Bryant. She said her mother was in an abusive marriage and she believes that the lack of coddling in her mother's generation led to a lack of self-worth, resulting in her staying in an abusive relationship.

Reasons for why students didn't like the article varied, but what was certain was that college-aged students disagreed with the generalizations made about their generation. Oddly enough, Prof. Twenge and her colleagues would likely attribute the fervent student's dismissal of their research evidence of youthful narcissism.