College brings a whole lot of new experiences, new lessons and new people. But it seems that no matter what school you go to, there are same characters on every campus:

With the Go Green revolution, a lot of us have been making the effort to protect and preserve our environment: trees, animals, reservations. Hemp jewelry is so in right now and vintage is your new passion, right?

Well, guess who’s more passionate than you are? The Neo-hippie, better known as The Empathetic Activist.

The Empathetic Activist feels the pain of the distressed, whether it is animal, mineral or vegetable. When a mouse-trap is set up in the dorms, he or she will be there to protect the rights of our furry friends. When soda cans are thrown in the cafeteria trash, he or she will be there to lecture their peers on the perils of cans in dumps around the world. When a tree is cut down to expand your campus, he or she is there screaming murder through blurred vision…or at least collecting signatures to stop the madness.

The Empathetic Activist cares, but not about material objects. While we’re all spending what little money we have on a spring break wardrobe, the E.A. is perusing the local consignment/ thrift/ vintage shops while munching on some tofu, as he or she is also most likely vegan/vegetarian. (“Animals have rights too!”) And when your favorite neo-hippie is not purchasing vegan Birkenstocks, you will find him or her working for social consciousness, whether it be through debates and discussions with friends or long and heated monologues during class. Read More »

Next week is pretty huge. Not only is Barack Obama being inaugurated as the first black president of the United States, but it is all happening the day after Martin Luther King Day.

MLK Day is often thought of as just another day off of school and a glorious long weekend, but this year – more than any other year – should be different.

MLK died in his efforts to get equal rights for African American men and women. And now, 40 years later, a black man will finally be president. The thought is chilling, and has inspired all of us to dream again. Our dreams and goals really can become reality.

So this week, in honor of MLK, Obama, and history in the making, the CC writers share their dreams for the United States and our futures.

Elisabeth – UA Huntsville: It would be nice to see deserving students be able to get the financial help they need for school without having to jump through ridiculously tiny hoops.

Brithny – Duke University: My dream is to get more sleep so I can actually have dreams. The REM-induced ones. Read More »

Sure, if you want to go to the Olympics, you’ve got to be the best at your sport. But for some, even that isn’t enough.

This year’s Beijing Olympics are possibly the most politicized Olympics to go down on the planet in decades. It’s always ugly when politics enter into something supposed to be as pure an ideal as the excellence of sport, but the polluted skies over Beijing aren’t the only source of dirt and grime these days.

Everyone knows about the furious and polarizing debates and protests over Tibet. It’s hardly news anymore that there are monks on the march, and Chinese police cracking down on them. What I find even more disturbing, however, is the crushing influence of the Chinese government over people’s free speech. When so-called public opinion polls emerge saying that over 90% of all Chinese people are wholeheartedly in favor of every aspect of the Chinese government, as I’ve been reading about in the New York Times, you know something’s wrong.

No country likes their government that much, unless they’re too frightened to say differently. And now, this strong tendency to crack down on opposing opinions has gone one step further: it entered the olympics.

Princeton student Joey Cheek, class of 2011, a world champion speed skater and former Olympian (who was only going to the Olympics to support his team) has had his visa revoked by the Chinese government. The reason? Cheek is an outspoken activist for the genocide in Darfur, and has been critical of China’s many investments in the Sudan. Read More »

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? Read More »

Person: Arden Wohl

This girl directed a film on the Chupacabra. Fashion-wise, she is all about extremes. An article on Radar Online quotes her as comparing herself to a lizard and saying, “Clothing is meant to be fun, right?” As much as she is known for her constant headband-donning, she does not confine herself to one fashion genre. In fact, she seems to be all about extremes, liking “things long and loose, or short.”

It seems many New Yorkers, in our daily quest to make the A/L/N/6 train without attracting any unwanted attention, have resigned ourselves to the same hoodie, leggings and “I’m NOT a Plastic Bag” as every other chick on the platform.

Conversely, Wohl’s socialite peers are partial to Tory Burch (boooooring) logo flats and “ethnic” paisley print muʻumuʻus. Now you may say, “Hold on a second, Nora- Arden Wohl wears those mu’umu’us, too!” Let me tell you something about Arden Wohl: though she was born into privilege, Arden Wohl sure seems to know a little more about the world and its problems than most of her peers. Arden is dedicated to saving Darfur and is currently promoting Libby Spears’s documentary, The Playground Project, about the commercial sexual exploitation of children, with Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney. Arden is also passionate about the Nest Foundation, which raises awareness for the same cause. Read More »

Last summer I was back home in LA visiting my parents when the Third Pirates of the Caribbean movie was released. I was waiting for them to join me at the Santa Monica Promenade (known for its’ wackos) when I noticed a crowd gathering around a man waiving a poster. Oh yes—he was protesting the Pirates movie. His poster, which reminded me of my 10th grade English projects (glue stick, grainy photos, and hastily written captions), was a tearful outcry against the rehabilitation of the pirate as a historical figure.

The guy was definitely nuts, but as much as I hate to say it, he did have a point.

What did you think when you saw the title of this piece? Captain Jack Sparrow? Hook? Tim Curry’s Long John Silver?

Don’t get me wrong, I love pirate movies and the whole pirate genre (so much so that I had my second tattoo done at a pirate themed parlor but that’s besides the point…). But unfortunately outside of Disneyland, the whole Yo Ho Yo Ho A Pirates Life for Me isn’t what piracy is all about.

Meet the Pirates of Somalia:

Instead of the Black Pearl, these pirates are cruising the seas in small fishing boats (known as ‘Volvos’ actually)…Gone are the cannons and cutlasses, replaced with deadlier automatic rifles and rocket propelled grenades…

On Friday, April 4th, 10 such pirates attacked the Le Ponant, a French luxury yacht in the Gulf of Aden. While no passengers were on board, 30 crewmembers are being held hostage.

This is an all too regular an occurrence in Somalia Read More »

Last October I was idly browsing the BBC news online when a bizarre headline caught my eye: “French held over Chad ‘adoptions’”. Clicking on the link I soon found myself reading a very sordid tale indeed.

Nine French citizens were arrested in Chad for attempting to kidnap 103 children from the country. They were part of an organization called Arch de Zoe (Zoe’s Ark)—a group of French 4×4 enthusiasts (yes apparently they do exist) who banned together following the Asian tsunami of December 2004.

In April 2007 the group announced it would try to evacuate 10,000 orphans from Darfur to France.

The BBC found out that approximately 300 European families hoped to adopt one of these children—perhaps paying up to $1.4million dollars to charities.

Zoe’s Ark responded by stating that they were not an adoption agency. They “just wanted to rescue [the orphans] from death”—the children were supposedly from Darfur.

It turned out, however, that nearly all of the children were from Chad with at least one living relative.

Oops. Read More »

Perpetual war.

Think of the pictures you’ve seen of bombed-out Iraq, horror stories of refugee camps, and hauntingly hollow eyes of children who have seen too much…

War. Death. Destruction. Pain. Sorrow. No Hope. No Life. No Point.

Somalia needs your attention.

One of the most dangerous places in the world, Somalia has been locked in constant conflict since the overthrow of General Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

U.N. Special Representative Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah stated on March 24 that,

“The situation in Somalia, indeed, is serious. Serious because it has been at war for so long that many people probably do not understand what it means to live in peace, and this is not an exaggeration, or living with a government.”

According to GlobalSecurity.org, 350,000-1,000,000 Somalis have died since 1990 in the conflict.

According to Human Rights Watch, as of 1990, the male literacy rate was 36% and the female literacy rate was 14%.

A fifth of Somalian children die before their fifth birthday. Read More »

In my last two articles, I have been examining China’s Human Rights record. In the first, I discussed China’s human rights abuses leading up to July 14, 2001, when the Olympic Committee agreed to have Beijing be the sight for the 2008 Summer Olympics. In the second, I detailed the negative impact that this decision is having upon the already stringent human rights of the Chinese populace.

Steven Spielberg withdrew from his position as an artistic adviser at the Beijing Olympics citing China’s record on Darfur. His decision received both praise and criticism.

In reaction to the resignation, Milan Zever, sports minister of Slovenia, the current presiding country of the European Union stated,

“Sports is too important. It is too important to use it as a political instrument.”

Really now? More important than a genocide? Read More »

The first few minutes of Oxfam International (a “confederation of 13 organizations working together with over 3,000 partners in more than 100 countries to find lasting solutions to poverty and injustice“)’s new exhibit seem normal enough: multimedia presentations detailing refugee experiences, timelines of various conflicts, and lots of photos. Suddenly, however, things drastically change—the model house you are standing in seems to be under attack!

While some group members hide, you and a few others escape into what appears to be a jungle of sorts. Still in disbelief at this turn of events, you stumble on into what looks like a desert… full of land mines. You successfully avoid the explosions and make it to a border crossing. The guards hassle your group ruthlessly, you get pulled aside for questioning, but, finally, after what seems like an eternity, they allow you into the country.

Just beyond the border is a refugee camp where you are told you will be able to stay temporarily. At the entrance you register and formally ask the government for asylum… unreality hits—you are a refugee, no home, no nationality, and most likely not even a complete family.

Freaky right? To be honest I’m not sure I would be able to deal with it. But according to the project’s director Stephanie Cousins, that is the desired effect; Read More »