September 29, 2009 • Chrisnatha Derosier
Two months ago, CitiGroup discontinued its Citi-Assist loan to foreign students. Students across the country who depend heavily on these loans to offset the costs of undergraduate and graduate education have been and are still being affected by this change.
September 2, 2009 • Tiffani Knowles
"I'm a Type A personality." Who knew that this borderline apologetic statement about one's tiger-like ambition may have had more to do with blood type than anything else? In an effort to prove the age-old Japanese blood type theory of personality, South Korean filmmaker Choi Seok-won produced, My Boyfriend is Type B. We meet Ha-Mi, a mild-mannered type A college student who is searching for true love, and Yeong-Bin, a callous type B young man, who is secretly experiencing financial trouble. We know instantly this will be one of the more impossible romances. In fact, Chae Young, Ha-Mi's cousin and professional dating consultant, warns Ha-Mi vehemently against dating any type B man.
August 19, 2009 • Tiffani Knowles
When Heather Veitch enters Las Vegas' swanky clubs decked out with full bars, pleasure poles and private dance rooms, she is on a mission.
She - a former Vegas exotic dancer - visits clubs once per month to throw parties in the dressing rooms of strippers in hopes of sharing the message of Christ with them.
She never judges, chastises or humiliates. She never prompts them to quit their jobs. She only listens to their stories and prays with them.
"We intentionally don't bring up God right away. They know we're from the church so we allow the girls to bring it up in conversation," said Veitch, who founded a ministry called JC's Girls five years ago that works alongside Central Christian Church in Las Vegas to minister to women in the sex industry.
She - a former Vegas exotic dancer - visits clubs once per month to throw parties in the dressing rooms of strippers in hopes of sharing the message of Christ with them.
She never judges, chastises or humiliates. She never prompts them to quit their jobs. She only listens to their stories and prays with them.
"We intentionally don't bring up God right away. They know we're from the church so we allow the girls to bring it up in conversation," said Veitch, who founded a ministry called JC's Girls five years ago that works alongside Central Christian Church in Las Vegas to minister to women in the sex industry.
August 4, 2009 • Tiffani Knowles
Florida teens donning mohawks, gauge earrings and irreverent graphic tees bumrushed their local concert venues at the top of the morning hoping to be the first to rock out to their favorite punk, metalcore and ska bands - many of whom profess Christ and deep convictions about social justice - at Vans Warped Tour two weekends ago.
From Orlando's Central Fairgrounds to West Palm Beach's Cruzan Amphitheatre then St. Petersburg's Vinoy Park, the annual rock and extreme sports festival sponsored by skate shoe company - Vans - featured a mobile skatepark, band merchandise tents, pockets of marijuana smokers, non-profit tents and 10 stages with bands ranging the gamut of rock music.
Tour favorites like pop punk bands All Time Low and The Bouncing Souls as well as hardcore bands Escape The Fate were met with the slow-groove, reggae rock sounds of Boston band Westbound Train in this ultra-diverse year on this the 15th run.
From Orlando's Central Fairgrounds to West Palm Beach's Cruzan Amphitheatre then St. Petersburg's Vinoy Park, the annual rock and extreme sports festival sponsored by skate shoe company - Vans - featured a mobile skatepark, band merchandise tents, pockets of marijuana smokers, non-profit tents and 10 stages with bands ranging the gamut of rock music.
Tour favorites like pop punk bands All Time Low and The Bouncing Souls as well as hardcore bands Escape The Fate were met with the slow-groove, reggae rock sounds of Boston band Westbound Train in this ultra-diverse year on this the 15th run.
July 10, 2009 • Tiffani Knowles
"There smites nothing so sharp, nor smelleth so sour as shame."When 14th century English author William Langland penned those words, he must have known well the intense reek of reproach.And, while he may have never felt the public humiliation of being robbed his last few dollars and mother's food stamps in broad daylight, nor the embarrassment of being beaten by his father and stripped naked for stealing from the family savings, shame is an acute emotion with which he and most human beings - regardless of culture and creed - can relate.However, as putrid as shame is, completely divorcing oneself from it lies in full disclosure.That is, telling your story.It was a decision that author Lac Su, who narrowly escaped Communist militia men with his family in Vietnam and emigrated to a seedy West Los Angeles neighborhood at the age of 5, made when he wrote his true-life memoir I Love Yous Are For White People.
July 6, 2009 • Gregory Vilfranc
So, I am an iTunes junkie and I recently gifted myself Wyclef's The Carnival, released on June 24, 1997.
Upon playing the very first skit/intro, memories of sights, sounds and scents flooded my consciousness of some really great times.
June 27, 2009 • Tiffani Knowles
When Maggie Doyne was a senior in high school, she was on the fast track to college.
It was never her plan to meet orphans 8,000 miles away, buy a piece of land, build an orphanage on it, then make it and Nepal - a post-civil war country in Southeast Asia - her home for three years.
All she knew was that a gap year program after high school to conduct service learning projects in a foreign country would, at the very least, enrich her life. But, while visiting an orphanage on her trip to Northeast India, Maggie met 16-year-old Sunita.
Her story was not uncommon as Nepal underwent a massive civil war between 1996 and 2006. During the conflict, more than 13,000 people were killed and thousands displaced.
It was never her plan to meet orphans 8,000 miles away, buy a piece of land, build an orphanage on it, then make it and Nepal - a post-civil war country in Southeast Asia - her home for three years.
All she knew was that a gap year program after high school to conduct service learning projects in a foreign country would, at the very least, enrich her life. But, while visiting an orphanage on her trip to Northeast India, Maggie met 16-year-old Sunita.
Her story was not uncommon as Nepal underwent a massive civil war between 1996 and 2006. During the conflict, more than 13,000 people were killed and thousands displaced.
June 10, 2009 • Tiffani Knowles
I do something. Do you?
The toxic trend of youth apathy in the U.S. is gradually becoming a distant memory as non-profit group Do Something, the largest organization in America for young people and social change, awarded five young people and celebrated thousands more at its star-studded Do Something Awards event on June 4 at Harlem’s World Famous Apollo Theatre in New York City.
“These are the ‘Rock Stars’ of social change,” said Nancy Lublin, Do Something CEO and Chief Old Person. “We are so proud to be honoring them with a $10,000 grant to continue their work and be shining examples of the ‘Do Something Generation.’”
Reaching over 12 million people (age 25 and under) in 2008, Do Something is driven by its rule of “No Money, No Car, and No Adults!” The organization believes teenagers, regardless of if they have the direct support of adults, have the power to make a difference.
The toxic trend of youth apathy in the U.S. is gradually becoming a distant memory as non-profit group Do Something, the largest organization in America for young people and social change, awarded five young people and celebrated thousands more at its star-studded Do Something Awards event on June 4 at Harlem’s World Famous Apollo Theatre in New York City.
“These are the ‘Rock Stars’ of social change,” said Nancy Lublin, Do Something CEO and Chief Old Person. “We are so proud to be honoring them with a $10,000 grant to continue their work and be shining examples of the ‘Do Something Generation.’”
Reaching over 12 million people (age 25 and under) in 2008, Do Something is driven by its rule of “No Money, No Car, and No Adults!” The organization believes teenagers, regardless of if they have the direct support of adults, have the power to make a difference.
June 4, 2009 • Tiffani Knowles
This year's recession has been blamed for everything from a decline in Yankee game turnout to a rise in former computer programmers turning into Joe the Winos and flooding major urban streets bearing request for patronage signs that read: “Will Code HMTL for food.”
Therefore, without further ado, NEWD has compiled a list of the most quirky and intriguing byproducts of this global economic downturn.
Many of the following items, although a bit cynical, will give you incredible insight into the human condition and prove that, while individuals have been coping fairly well within this ailing world economy, it may only be a matter of time before an angry, unemployed woman with curlers beats down a Chinese food delivery guy for his moo goo gai pan.
Still, if you begin to feel like we’re moving into the I Am Legend stage, let’s recalibrate and remember our DNA’s divine imprint.
Therefore, without further ado, NEWD has compiled a list of the most quirky and intriguing byproducts of this global economic downturn.
Many of the following items, although a bit cynical, will give you incredible insight into the human condition and prove that, while individuals have been coping fairly well within this ailing world economy, it may only be a matter of time before an angry, unemployed woman with curlers beats down a Chinese food delivery guy for his moo goo gai pan.
Still, if you begin to feel like we’re moving into the I Am Legend stage, let’s recalibrate and remember our DNA’s divine imprint.