Then, THE WAIT. And running to the mail box every day. Staring at your application status page – pressing F5 over and over (refresh, refresh, refresh!). Until, one day that magical word appears: admitted.

Fast forward to September.

The move-in is over (your mom only broke down once, thank goodness). The awkward, “Hi, I’m going to be living in close quarters!” moment is over with your roomie(s) and classes have begun.

And an unsettling feeling set in. This place isn’t what you thought it would be. You try to love it – really you do – but it isn’t the right fit and you can’t seem to get into a groove. You know you could transfer but *argh!* you thought you were set! That the application insanity was done for good! What do you do?

This was my story.

I, an LA girl, decided I wanted to experience life outside of tinsel town and get down to my German/ Norwegian roots. Yes. I moved to Wisconsin!

UW-Madison was far too expensive, so I applied to a small private college nearby. It seemed perfect— a cute little campus, single dorms available to freshmen girls (walk-in closets!) and they were offering me a 50% scholarship on academic merits. Plus they had a consortium with UW-Madison. I was totally psyched—the best of both worlds!

Then it was September and suddenly my perfect little plan began to have some SERIOUS flaws:

1. Everyone was from a small town in WI, which was cool, but as a Californian I was a minor celebrity, which got stale super fast. I just couldn’t fit in.

2. I couldn’t have a car on campus and a trip via bus to the nearest shopping area took nearly an hour in transit time—and that’s once I made the bus. It came every 30 min or so. As it got chilly this became a major issue.

3. Similarly, the bad bus situation made taking courses at UW-Madison totally ridiculous. (Bye-bye consortium)

4. There was one prof for my major. ONE. Silly me, I assumed that if you were going to offer a major you’d actually have profs on hand. One prof doesn’t a major make (especially because he was HORRIBLE!!!).

The list goes on and on and on.

Suffice it to say that by the end of September I had decided to move on. I think that if it had only been the social thing I might have stuck it out. But the academic flaws tipped the scale. (Did I mention my French professor mainly spoke in English and would accuse me of “throwing a flying saucer into her lecture” if I dared ask a question?)

I knew that I wanted to go to a good grad school and I began to realize that staying at this school would be the best way to drastically decrease my chances.

I’m not going to lie—the transfer process was incredibly stressful. Getting letters of rec sucks when you’ve only been at the school for a few months. “Hi professor, ummm your school sucks so I’m trying to transfer to a better one.” Or even better: “Hi former high school teacher, I made a horrible choice in colleges and I need you to write ANOTHER letter of rec for me.” Even more, I knew that to transfer into a competitive program from my dinky college I’d need great grades.

Oh, and remember THE WAIT? Well it’s longer for transfer students—I didn’t hear definitively from my top choice until the middle of May.

But it was SO worth it. I transferred to GW in Washington D.C. and I looooove it. I actually had to study at GW (Ok, yes I’m a total nerd but this made me really happy) and my fellow students were similarly motivated. And, best of all there were lots and lots of profs for my department!

Transferring is not for the weak of heart. But if you know you can do better, whether it be academically, athletically, socially, etc. then you owe it to yourself to give it a shot.

Incidentally, I’m writing this during my insane apartment hunting in NYC—because I’m going to grad school at NYU. There’s a very slim chance I would be here had I not taken the plunge.

“Hello?”

“Sweetie” (it was my mom), “There’s been an earthquake”

My heart stopped.

“Where was it centered?”

“I don’t know”

“How big?”

“They’re saying it was in the 6’s and…”

“Where are you?”

“Driving home from …”

“How are the dogs?”

By now I was shrieking, I barely heard her empty assurances that they must be okay and that she would try to get a hold of someone nearby.

I hung up and rushed to my computer, certain that the worst had happened. Another major Quake…

When I was 8 the ‘94 Northridge Quake destroyed most of my known world. My family was homeless for 9 months and all of our parks were turned into National Guard relocation facilities. For a while I slept with my tennis shoes on—in case I had to climb out of my room the next morning.

It is impossible to describe the relief that washed over me when I finally got through to the LA Times website and saw that it was only a 5.8 (later lowered to a 5.4) with horizontal motion and centered in Chino Hills about 55 miles from my home in the San Fernando Valley.

As I finished the Times’ article and my heart beat returned to normal, I began to reflect on the particular “Earthquake Culture” of So-Cal (Southern California).

There’s a certain sense of camaraderie for Los Angelinos when a quake hits. Since everyone my age and older remembers ‘94 and at least something from Whittier in ’87, there’s an unspoken understanding that a quake such as yesterday’s brings back traumatic memories. It’s like a common PTSD experience.

Following a tremor the typical hardened LA attitude experiences a brief respite: hugs are exchanged between strangers in a supermarket, hardcore business women allow themselves a momentary cry, and people from all walks of life stop on street corners to swap quake stories.

That’s another part of So-Cal Quake Culture—the stories. Since Quakes are fairly unique among natural disasters in that they hit suddenly day or night, rain or shine and at any time of the year, everyone has a very different story and, following a traumatic tremor, they come spilling out. Inevitably someone will tell the “my half-asleep brother was peeing when the ‘94 quake hit and it went everywhere” story.

Finally, Los Angelinos tend to talk about quakes being “fun” and “good” much to the bafflement of our out-of-state friends and relatives. I think we do this as a defense mechanism. Earthquakes happen with no warning. If you live in So-Cal you will experience a quake—there’s no way to run from it. That’s pretty freaky—especially if, like me, you’ve experienced a killer quake (the ‘94 quake killed 71 people). To maintain sanity it’s essential to focus on the “fun” aspect of the quake –the roller coaster type motion.

To live in LA is to know that the so-called ‘Big One’ could occur at any moment. Thankfully that didn’t happen yesterday but when it does I guarantee that the survivors will be hugging, crying, and swapping stories. It’s an LA thing.

[Photo courtesy of howstuffworks.com]

Female suicide bombers have emerged as a recent phenomenon of this war.

It seems that there have been 20 suicide bombings carried out by women since the beginning of the war—8 since 2007. Most of these women have lost a close male relative—a husband, brother, father, etc. Eleven of the twenty have been from the Diyala Province—currently the headquarters of Al Qaeda in Iraq.

The big question is WHY?

A recent New York Times article solidly places the blame on the sheltered and traditional lives led by these women. It sites Maj. Gen. Abdul Karim al-Rubai, head of Iraqi Army operations in Diyala, who states, “Most of the women who have killed themselves are from the villages… She is living a very traditional life. She has no rights… For that reason, her ideas are very small”

As a woman this statement offends me. I’ve read countless articles on male suicide bombings that discuss the religious fervor and desire for revenge on the part of the bombers.

These bombers are often teens and young men who have been raised in very traditional villages and indoctrinated to the point of brainwashing, yet they are treated seriously—I doubt anyone would state, “His ideas are very small”.

Blaming her traditional life and lack of rights minimizes the woman’s decision to become a suicide bomber.

The article never raised the possibility that these women were also seeking revenge against those who took their loved ones.

The choice to become a suicide bomber occurs out of a place of desperation with one’s current life—where religious martyrdom is a better alternative to one’s continued existence. It bothers me that the New York Times (and no doubt many others) is unwilling to admit that female bombers may be similarly motivated.

[photo courtesy of msnbc.com]

It’s time for the news with Kandy Korrespondent!

Well as the national presidential race gets into full swing it seems that the Iraq war will once again take center stage. (suprise suprise right?) Both candidates have been skipping around the issue in recent months– hinting that they would do things differently, would have to respond to the situation, make calculated decisions, etc.

Tuesday was no exception.

Barack Obama told a group at the International Trade Center in Washington, DC that the US government’s preoccupation with Iraq must come to an end.

Obama: “This war diminishes our security, our standing in the world, our military, our economy, and the resources that we need to confront the challenges of the 21st Century.”

This is a great statement. It speaks of the challenges of the 21st century as more important that our petty war. Peace and Prosperity Baby!

But can he really deliver or is this just a sound bite?

Does this mean that he will end it a long the lines of Vietnam?– Full pull out and to hell with the country? Or is he planning on changing it somehow so that it doesn’t diminish security, world standing, etc.? Or is he going to build a giant time machine to go back before Bush took office and ummm do something to stop the war from starting?

At the same time, John McCain told supporters in New Mexico that the current US effort in Afghanistan is “no way to run a war”.

McCain: “I won’t bluster and I won’t make idle threats – but understand this, when I am commander-in-chief, there will be nowhere the terrorists can run and nowhere they can hide”

McCain has said that the surge in Iraq has been successful. As president he says that he would like to see a similar surge in Afghanistan against the Taleban.

So McCain’s stance is pretty clear– WAR! BLOOD! KILL! Sounds like he’s taking a page out of Call of Duty 4.

(I am already so incredibly sick of this election)

In Other News:

Isreal and Hezbollah exchanged prisoners this morning in a ground-breaking swap thanks to a UN-mediated deal. In 2006, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser were seized in a cross-border raid setting off a 33-day war of catastrophic proportions. Under the highly controversial deal, Isreal released five Lebanese prisoners in exchange for the bodies of Regev and Goldwasser.

Progress in Darfur?

On Monday the International Criminal Court charged President Omar al-Bashir of Sunday for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Since 2003, 250,000 people have died in the conflict and an estimated two million have fled their homes. Bashir has consistently minimized the immensity of the conflict. In 2004 he shrugged it off as a conflict over resources and marginalization.

Following the ICC’s announcement, the United Nations announced the withdrawal of all non-essential staff from the region as a precaution against retaliation by the Sudanese government. On Tuesday, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon urged Sunday to ‘fully co-operate’ and ensure the security of peacekeepers and humanitarian workers currently in Darfur.

On Tuesday, thousands of Sudanese reportedly flooded the country’s capital in a show of support for Mr. Bashir. The ICC has yet to decide if it will issue an arrest warrant.

And Now For Something Completely Different:

The late (quite late) British Queen Victoria left some very large shoes to fill—what with the gigantic empire and pre-World War I tensions and all. But it turns out that she also left some rather large pants to fill—and they can be yours for the very small price of $1,000.

On July 20th, a British Auctioneer house will offer Queen Victoria’s underwear for sale. The handmade panties (more like boxers) have a 50in waist and are monogrammed VR for Victoria Regina.

What exactly one would do with second hand 50in underwear is quite another story.

That’s the news!

On Tuesday, the United States and Czech Republic signed the first part of the controversial missile defense system pact. Russia responded with a warning that if the US and Czech Republic go ahead with the system it will be forced to react with military means. The US maintains that the system is aimed at the Middle East, not Russia.If the US gets its’ way, by 2012 the shield will be operable—consisting of a tracking radar site in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor missiles in Poland.

In Other News:

Also on Tuesday, the White House officially apologized to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi after a major diplomatic screw-up. In the official press kit distributed to reporters accompanying the President to the G8 summit, Berlusconi was referred to as a man, “hated by many”, “known for governmental corruption and vice”, and as a “political dilettante (amateur)”.

Apparently the bio was taken directly from the Encyclopedia of World Biography. Berlusconi is one of Bush’s few friends in Western Europe and a key supporter of the Iraq war.

Presumptive Presidential candidate John McCain is coming under fire following his budget-balancing boast. Economists and fiscal experts have said that it is unlikely that McCain’s spending and tax cuts package will achieve this goal.

Part of his proposals is a one-year freeze in most domestic spending (education, scientific research, law enforcement, etc), “to allow for a comprehensive review”. It is unlikely that such a freeze will be passed through anything but a republican dominated Congress.

Moreover, McCain has already admitted that his ambitious goals require “rapid economic growth”—something which we’re not likely to see very soon.

McCain has also pledged to extend most of the Bush tax cuts which, according to many economists, will widen, not shrink the deficit.

In other McCain news, on Tuesday, the plain-spoken candidate reacted to a report of rising U.S. cigarette exports to Iran stating “Maybe that’s a way of killing ‘em”. Last year, when asked if there was a plan to attack Iran in the works, McCain responded, stating “You know that old Beach Boys song, Bomb Iran?” He then proceeded to serenade the crowd with his own rendition: “Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran.” Is it just me or does it seem like an Iran War will be inevitable if McCain takes the presidency?

And Now For Something Completely Different:

A group of civic-minded San Franciscans are petitioning the city for the erection of a tribute to President George W. Bush when he leaves office at the end of this year. Their idea? Naming a sewage plant after Bush. Organizer Brian McConell explains:

“It’s important to remember our leaders in the right historical context. In President Bush’s case, we think that we will be cleaning up a substantial mess for the next 10 or 20 years. The sewage treatment facility’s job is to clean up a mess, so we think it’s a fitting tribute.”

Needless to say, Republicans are not amused.

That’s the News!

This past week CC asked our readers whether or not racism was still an issue in the country. You all were pretty mixed in your responses—a third of you said that it was a major issue, another third said that we’d made progress but still need to work on it, and another third said that it wasn’t an issue anymore.

Probably a lot of the confusion comes from what we perceive to be racism.

For example, a male Caucasian clerk is friendly with a Caucasian female and then rude to an African American male—now this could be a clear cut case of sexism—clerk is hitting on the female and rude to the male, or a clear-cut case of racism.

The way in which you experience that scenario is really dependent on your previous life experiences.

During my childhood in Southern California, I understood racial tension to be part of a larger issue—i.e. gang violence or immigration. For me the civil rights movement was a thing of the past. In the scenario above, I definitely would have leaned towards the sexist explanation.

Then I moved to Washington, DC.

It’s an angry city with a massive history of racial tension.

Many of the people who work in DC in fact live in either Virginia or Maryland (during the work week the city’s population swells by 71.8%!), and those who live in DC (aside from college students) are either upper class or lower class. The majority of upper class reside in Northwest DC or Capital Hill. The rest live in Northeast and Southeast. (The Capital is the center of the grid).

The tension is palpable (check out my earlier rant over the Supreme Court handgun ban ruling). DC was the site of some of the worse race riots over the years. The city has the worst public school system and the 3rd highest poverty rate in the country as well as the highest child poverty rate. Its destiny is controlled by the US Congress—a group of mostly Caucasian elites overseeing a majority African-American city.

I worked for 3 ½ years at the B. Dalton at Union Station located directly behind the Capital and consequently the place where these two worlds met.

Certain memories are imprinted upon my mind. One Saturday afternoon, four people started yelling at each other outside the store—that was fairly typical. But then I heard two loud shots. We all hit the floor. Luckily the gunman fled the building—otherwise I might have been involved in a hostage situation.

The cops caught up with the shooter and the victim was taken to a nearby hospital—and that was the last I heard of it.

Sure it made local news that evening but when I scoured the Washington Post the next morning, the incident was nowhere to be found. It wasn’t news that an African-American shot another African American. That happens all the time. The cops never questioned my coworkers and I (despite the fact that we were eyewitnesses).

It seemed clear that there was no desire to put a case together concerning what had happened—they already knew. I’ve seen more concern over a car crash than that shooting.

It was just another day in DC.

I was 6 when the Rodney King riots occurred in Los Angeles, yet before I moved to DC I probably wouldn’t have factored racism into the way the shooting was handled. Yet now I am absolutely certain of it.

Racism is ugly; an issue that all of us (who can) would just as soon pretend is nonexistent. But let’s be honest—it’s not going anywhere.

The schisms between races in our country will only begin to be healed through massive national dialogue. For such a dialogue to take place, it is essential to understand that even if you yourself aren’t affected by racism (or don’t realize you are), others are. Racism is still an issue—and it must be dealt with.

[Images courtesy of wikipedia commons and Quaker House]

And Now the News with Kandy Korrespondent!The Group of Eight (G8) summit is taking place this week on the Japanese island of Hokkaido. The meeting originally was to center around the issue of climate, but was changed due to surging food and oil prices.

The intensity of the global situation has turned this island paradise into a police state. Japan has spent $280 million on security, surrounding the summit venue with a human blockade of 21,000 riot police. Despite the wide security perimeters, protesters began to gather on Saturday with many more expected to arrive during the week.

Meanwhile in Malaysia, leaders of the world’s largest Islamic nations gathered for their annual “D8” summit to discuss global inflation. The D8 is a reaction against the exclusive nature of the G8 summit.

In Other News:

World leaders remain split over attending next month’s Olympics in Beijing. Chancellor Merkel of Germany and Prime Minister Brown of the UK will not be attending the opening games in protest of China’s poor human rights record—most notably demonstrated through the crackdown on Tibet in March.

Prime Minister Sarkozy of France is still debating the issue. Last week, as a result of Sarkozy’s public lambasting of China’s human rights abuses, the government said that it would give Sarkozy the cold shoulder even if he were to attend.

On the other side of the spectrum—President Bush reiterated his intent to attend the entirety of the Olympic games as has Japan’s Prime Minister Fukuda.

This morning, during rush hour in Kabul, Afghanistan, a suicide bomber attacked the Indian embassy. According to witnesses, the attacker targeted the line of people waiting in line for visas.

On Sunday, another suicide bomber killed 15 policemen in Islamabad, Pakistan during celebrations marking the end of last year’s Red Mosque Siege. No organization has claimed responsibility.

Will the violence never cease?

And Now, on a lighter note, for Something Completely Different:

In case you haven’t been following the news from Germany very closely, the country has been in an uproar for the past few months over the upcoming wax Hitler addition to Berlin’s Madam Tussaud’s wax museum. Barely minutes after the grand opening on Saturday, a German man forced his way past the figure’s guards and tore Hitler’s head off. I guess that was that.

That’s the news!

At 2:30 pm on June 28th, 20 year old Kazakh model, Ruslana Korshunova, fell from the balcony of her Manhattan 9th floor apartment to her death. Police ruled that her death was an apparent suicide after finding no signs of a struggle in her apartment. Case closed.But the media is refusing to be satisfied, and with good reason — there was no note, and, according to her friends, she seemed to be “on top of the world”.

Hmmmm…. no note, in good spirits… maybe she was “done in”– oh oh oh! By the Russian Mob! Of course! Everyone knows that whenever a beautiful Russian (or former Soviet) bites the dust, the Russian Mob are the culprits. I mean look at “From Russia with Love”, “Eastern Promises”, and of course xXx. Sigh… if only Sean Connery, Vigo Mortenson, or Vin Diesel were on the investigation team.

Luckily the bloggers of Riveronmirror, stepped up to the plate.

Riveronmirror states that the Russian mob has been placing Eastern European and Slavic women in spotlight positions in the fashion industry to fuel a global desire for women bearing these types of features. This global desire, in turn, increases the demand for Slavic models, wives, and escorts—all of who are, apparently, controlled by the mob.

Riveronmirror argues that,

“There is a strong flood of speculation relating to the possibility that Ruslana Kurshanova wanted to end [her] contract (with whomever she REALLY was working for) and this (teenage-model flesh-peddling) organization used her as an exemplary point.

The deepest undertone of this case has to do with the explotaition of images in order to produce an effect that is channeled to the benefit of a few enthroed media wizards.”

The bloggers then defend themselves from mounting criticism noting that they aren’t saying that Korshunova was engaged in prostitution, nor are they even saying that her death wasn’t a suicide.

But… (there’s always a but right?)

“We have noticed there are more strange cases of Eastern European models dying under mysterious situations and will publish soon more evidence as our contact in Moscow, Vasily, sends us his report. Meanwhile we will be investigating in New York.”

I would like to put forth my own conspiracy theory: Since they went public with this theory, RiveronMirror’s blog has attracted the attention of international media outlets—from the LA Times to the UK Telegraph. Bloggers make money from site traffic. Hmmmmmmm…. could it be that the good people of RiveronMirror saw an opportunity to catapult their site beyond the gossip mill?

It certainly is interesting that they suddenly have a source in Moscow…

I guess we’ll just have to see how this pans out. Either way, this story is still a sad, sad mystery.

[Update: According to the New York Daily News, Korshunova was in financial trouble and depressed over being in love with a married man at the time of her death. The Daily News interviewed her life coach, Vladislav Novgorodtsev, who revealed that she had attempted suicide in the past and had been incredibly unhappy. Riveronmirror, however, maintains, that reports such as this are "exactly what the Russsian Mafia wants to hear."]

It’s time for a quick dose of news with Kandy Korrespondent!

On Wednesday the Colombian military successfully rescued 15 hostages from the FARC rebels. Most notable among the hostages was Ingrid Betancourt, a French-Colombian Senator and presidential candidate, who was kidnapped in 2002. Her family alongside the French government has been working tirelessly to secure her release for the past 6 years. A recent photo showing her incredibly frail caused all parties to ramp up their efforts. French Prime Minister Sarkozy made her rescue a foreign policy priority.

Also among the rescued were three DOD contractors, Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell who were captured in 2003 after their plane crash-landed in the Colombian jungle. The three arrived in San Antonio, Texas Wednesday night.

The Colombian rescue team posed as a civilian NGO organization that supposedly had offered to fly the rebels and the hostages to meet with rebel commander Alfonso Cano. Once they were in the air, however, the soldiers quickly overpowered the two rebels and freed the hostages.

In Other News:

Starbucks has said that it will close 600 stores during the next few months. An estimated twelve thousand workers will be affected. With the economy crumbling, the international giant has seen its’ profits tumble during recent months. At the close of trading this past Tuesday, Starbucks stock was 50% less than what it was a year ago. Most of the stores slated for closing are ones that have been opened in the past two years—specifically those that are close to other Starbucks locations. On a personal and purely selfish note, I have to say that as long as there’s one within a mile of campus so I can get my redeye every morning it’s all fine by me.

And Now For Something Completely Different…

It’s official—the release of Firefox 3 gave Mozilla the new Guinness world record for the largest amount of software downloads. The final total was 8,002,530 downloads by people in 25 countries. At one point Mozilla servers were handling 9,000 downloads a minute! Since the initial release, there have been over 28 million downloads of the new version of Firefox. The certification ceremony by Guinness World Records will occur next week in London.

That’s the news!

[photo courtesy of the BBC]

DC Chief of Police, Mayor, and City Official React to Supreme Court’s Decision on Thursday

On Thursday the US Supreme Court struck down the D.C ban on handgun ownership as unconstitutional. It’s decision overruled 200+ years worth of lower court decisions that suggested that the intent of the amendment strictly concerned gun ownership in a citizens’ militia. The 1976 law prohibited handgun ownership and required that shotguns and rifles be kept unloaded and either disassembled or under a trigger lock.

The plaintiff in the case, Gillian St. Lawrence, a 29 year old residing in the posh neighborhood of Georgetown in Northwest DC, stated, “I’m thrilled… I’m finally going to be able to take the trigger lock off my shotgun and load it if I need to be able to defend myself in my own home”. It should be noted that the majority of murders occur on the opposite side of town—in the urban areas of Southeast and Northeast.

Last year there were 143 murders in DC and the thugs seem ready to beat that number this year. There have been 85 murders in DC so far this year. So let’s make it easier shall we? Hunting season is officially starting up once more in DC. Come one come all! (Your writer is a resident of DC).

In Other News:

On Thursday, the Bush administration agreed to remove North Korea from it’s “axis of evil” list in the so-called War against Terror. Despite the countries 6 month delay at filing a report on its’ plutonium production, and the gaping holes in said report, the administration praised the country for its’ significant step forward. On Friday, in a reciprocal show of good faith, North Korean officials toppled the cooling tower at its’ plutonium production facility. It remains to be seen, however, the extent to which the reclusive rouge regime will in fact halt it’s nuclear program.

In Zimbabwe, citizens are heading to the polls to vote in single candidate run-off election. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew from the race last Sunday following the murder of 80+ members of his party. On Friday he stated, “What is happening today is not an election. It is an exercise in mass intimidation with people all over the country being forced to vote,”. The United States has already warned that it will not recognize the results of the election.

And Now For Something Completely Different:

Next month the Church of Sweden will carry out “drive-in” weddings. The 7 minute ceremonies will be accompanied by a priest singing Elvis tunes and a gospel choir. Those desired to take the plunge will be directed to the highway turnoff by the red neon “Get Married” sign at the exit.

Ooookkkkay. So that’s the news!

[photo courtesy of the Washington Post]