OK, so this isn't Kathy, but how cute is this lady?!

Kathy Vitzthum took her first class at Iowa State in 1992. Since then, she’s continued taking one college class per semester while working at raising a family. Now, 19 years later, she’s graduating with a degree in accounting, and fulfilling a promise she made to her father years ago.

Gawker was kind enough to bring this woman’s story to our attention and we thought we’d bring it to yours. Because not only does she deserve a little recognition for having the determination to stick with it for 19 years while holding a job and raising a family, but she’s also done the one thing no one else has. (Poor Cappie he left after just 5 years.)

She’s managed to prove all those people who say “you won’t be in college forever” wrong. She proved to people everywhere that if you really want to you can make college last. So come on ladies, let’s tip our hats to the woman that didn’t just make her own dream come true, but ours too.

I bet you graduating seniors are re-thinking your plans now, aren’t ya?

There was lots of Facebook drama in the news last week when we found out that the new Breakup Notifier was kicked off the site. (Now if only my mother could get kicked off the site….)

The “Breakup Notifier” let you take a bunch of your friends that are listed as in a relationship and plug them into the app. If and when they changed their relationship status, the app would e-mail you to let you know. It was stalking made simple.

Even though we thought this app was an amazing/creepy idea, it still didn’t solve all of our Facebook woes. There’s still some work to be done — and now that some space in the app market has cleared up, we had a few ideas of our own.

1. Facebook Photoshop for Profile Pics. You know how sometimes you have a picture you’re just dying to default, but you can’t because there’s this one tiny issue. That zit that just wouldn’t go away. Your twitchy eye. Hair in front of your face. Photoshop would solve all of your problems, but you’re not laying out the cash just for a cute pic. Well, with this app you wouldn’t have to. Simply upload the photo and crop, cut, and airbrush away. No one would ever remember what real people look like, but hey, priorities people, priorities.

2. A “See Friendship” app. Facebook already has this, I  know. But it’s limited by hidden photos and private profiles and all those other necessary privacy settings that keep people from losing their jobs over what they post on Facebook. But if there was an app that would let me see each and every interaction each and every one of my Facebook friends had with each and every one of their Facebook friends it would make it so much easier to determine whether or not that cute guy from Econ is dating the girl who writes on his wall daily or if she’s just a crazy stalker. (Unlike me.)

3.  A Friend Filter. An app that notifies you of all that activity on your most recently viewed pages upon login. Think about how much time you would save if you didn’t have to check your BFFs page daily or scroll through the Newsfeed to find out the latest info on your frenemy. Instead, upon login, you’d get a detailed report of all the activities that have taken place on your most viewed profile pages.

4. An automatic untagger. It’s happened to all of us. A night out with friends in which for one reason or another you take lots and lots of highly unflattering pictures. Your friend posts them regardless, and tags you in all of them. But because you’ve fallen off the face of the planet had a lot going on that week you never made it on to see said horrendous photos until much later. Which means that for days those terrible pictures showed up in your friends’ newsfeeds, on your profile page, and in that banner thing above your wall that the new Facebook is so fond of. Quickly you untag the photos. But the damage has already been done. Unless there was an app that filtered out and automatically untagged your unflattering photos. Not terribly realistic but a girl can dream, can’t she?

5. An app that lets you know who’s been creeping your profile. They say it can’t be done. They say it would ruin Facebook. They say it would ruin relationships. And that’s probably all true, but still I can’t help but wish for an app that would let me see who’s been stalking my page. My friends? My enemies? The ex? The crush?  The information would probably simultaneously enrage and enlighten, but you know what they say, knowledge is power and all that. So I’d really like for Facebook to get this app going… but I think I should be the only one with access to it. Because no one needs to know the profiles that I’m stalking visiting. So yeah, I think I’m the only one who should have access to this. I think that would be best.

What do you think? Which apps do you think Facebook needs to get moving on?  And what do you think of the Breakup Notifier?

Earlier this week, a man came forward to Gawker and revealed an encounter (of the hookup variety) with Christine O’Donnell, the female Republican candidate running for Delaware senator against Democrat Chris Coons. O’Donnell’s Communications Director Doug Sachtleben has classified the publicized morning-after-story as “just another example of the sexism and slander that female candidates are forced to deal with.” And we here at CollegeCandy, who have been collecting the best morning after stories for years, couldn’t agree more.

The entire situation is all “he said, she said” at this point (well, more like “some anonymous guy says and she refuses to say”), but who seriously cares? They (allegedly) hooked up three years ago, long before Ms. O’Donnell was a candidate in this very race. Does this encounter say something about O’Donnell’s ability to lead? Is this story pertinent to the election at all or is it only “news” because it bashes a female candidate in a sexually explicit way?

Think about it: we never hear about male a candidate’s sexual history unless it’s particularly lurid or involves a cigar vulgar, yet Christine O’Donnell’s somewhat innocent one night stand is splashed all over the media.

The woman got a little one random night – she didn’t have a secret baby with a KKK member, for God’s sake.

The National Organization for Women (NOW) condemned Gawker for publishing an anonymous account, stating that it failed to accomplish anything related to the election besides mock O’Donnell’s failed hook-up. NOW president Terry O’Neill responded, “NOW repudiates Gawker’s decision to run this piece. It operates as public sexual harassment. And like all sexual harassment, it targets not only O’Donnell, but all women contemplating stepping into the public sphere.”

And in 2010, with Smartphones, social media and the deadly combination of the two – we’re all in the public sphere, whether we decide to go into politics or not.  (And for all you potential politicians, don’t think you’re safe once you’re married, either – the press will still get you for fooling around with your own husband!)

O’Donnell wasn’t a political figure at the time of this event, she was a regular woman just like the rest of us. And, also like the rest of us (OK, many of us), she wanted to get some. So what? Should that matter now, three years later, as she runs for political office? Should one night of (failed) passion undermine her election? Should we even be talking about this?

No.

Whether or not we support O’Donnell’s political agenda, let’s keep her personal life out of it. If not for the sanctity of politics in this country, at least for the sake of gender equality and the futures of rest of us who have our own sexual skeletons in the closet.

Gawker recently reported that 85% of people wash their hands after doing their business… but 96% of people claim they do. That’s nearly a 10% discrepancy… meaning that you probably shouldn’t let 10% of the people you know feed you or touch your face or stick their fingers in your mouth.

All this makes me wonder – if people can lie about something so fundamental (and hygienic), what else are they fibbing about?  The honest truth: everything.

Here are some of the most common:

“I go to the laundromat once a week”
Bullsh*t. I’ve smelled your sheets (from the other side of the room) and let me tell you, they did not smell of Snuggle fabric softener. That being said, I don’t judge anyone that doesn’t wash their jeans after every wear. I don’t either – they get all crunchy and then you have to do lunges and they don’t fit the same way for weeks. I think it’s time we all own up to it.

“I’ve only slept with two guys in my entire life” or “Yeah, I banged her…and her best friend…and her sister…”
Yes, it still counts no matter how many Patron shots preceded it.  And no, it doesn’t count if it only happened in your imagination.

“No, those jeans don’t give you muffin top. They look HOT.”
If your BFF feels super slammin’ in her outfit, who are you to bring her down?

“Hi, my name is Chandelier and I’m an exchange student from Tanzania.  It’s my twenty-first birthday!  Also, I’ll be starring in a movie that’ll be out later this year.”
Come on, those creepsters giving you the creepy eye at the bar are totally asking for it.

“I floss every day.  Twice a day, actually!”
Trust me, the dentist isn’t buying that one for a second.

“Aww, I would LOVE to have dinner with you tonight!  But I totally have to study.”
And by “study” I mean “go out with other people who I’d rather spend time with but I have no idea how to tell you that without offending you or being forced to invite you.”

What lies to you tell most? Even more, what lies do you hear most?

Needless to say, it’s not a happy day out there. Not that you have it any better; you are probably holed up in a library somewhere cramming for a crappy final that doesn’t matter anyway now that there are no jobs to be had. Awesome.

Well, how about a little laughter? It is the best medicine (besides Valium, Pot and Vodka), right? This video always makes us laugh, so we thought we’d share it. So watch it and perk up, kids. At least the Big 3 Auto Makers are still doin’ alright.

Oh. Wait…

Well, at least it’s National Cookie Day. Go buy yourself a package of Oreos and “celebrate.”

According to several tech sites, Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin reportedly had her Yahoo email acount hacked into earlier today, with screencaps leaked onto Wikileaks by a “hacking group” known as Anonymous.

From itWorld.com: “Governor Palin has come under criticism for using private email accounts to conduct government business and in the process avoid transparency laws,” Wikileaks wrote in a note accompanying the material. “The list of correspondence, together with the account name, appears to re-enforce the criticism.”"

This post from Gawker has a ton of screencaps of the supposed emails, as well as a few family pictures and a ton of email addresses — should you weirdly wish to punk any of Palin’s pals.

Thank God nobody cares enough to hack my email…there’d be a whole lot more than some possibly incriminating business correspondences in my gmail trash, and I’d really like to keep that trial subscription to Playgirl (RIP!) a secret.

“When intellectuals act as clerks and students act as clients, how do college teachers differ from corporate accountants?” the professor angrily writes. “…the sedulous banality of the rich degrades teaching into a service-class preoccupation whose chief duty is preparing clients for monied careers.”

Big words (I mean, he teaches at Harvard. I think it’s a prerequisite), but what the guy is basically saying that rich students make him feel like he’s not doing anything except helping them learn how to grow up and screw the little guys. Rich kids make this guy feel like he’s nothing more than a stepping stone toward big conglomerate world domination.

He’s sort of got a point, but it’s a moot one, because…I mean…duh.

A lot of insanely rich kids grow up believing most of the human race is there to serve them. I attended undergrad at a private liberal arts college where Gucci purses and Prada shoes were perfectly in place at 8:30 in the morning, and you better believe there were some kids with major attitude in class. A degree was something they simply had to tolerate before Daddy or Mommy or Uncle Dearest would set them up in some prime position at whatever giant company their family owned. Not everyone with a bangin’ bank account is rude and power hungry, but a lot of them are, and I’m pretty sure it’s been this way since Man first realized money made people pay attention.

So sure, that Harvard professor has a point, but mostly he has a stick up his ass. It’s too bad teachers in this country make radically low wages, but I think it’s kind of common knowledge that if you teach at Harvard, there are gonna be some prime rich douches running around with pocket watches and boat shoes. The only thing those of us without yachts and elevators in our houses can do is treat these kids just like we would treat anyone else, proving to them that wads of cash doesn’t give you permission to treat others like indentured servants.

Also, Mr. Angry Professor could try to do something a little more profitable than writing book reviews for the New York Observer. Perhaps creating an underground auction for college textbooks? Or maybe opening a small store dedicated to churning out Nantucket Red pleated shorts?

[photo from collegepublisher.com]

Lindsay Lohan is not a lesbian.

I repeat: Lindsay Lohan is not a lesbian.

Yesterday, Gawker (a site usually so snarky and cynical they probably wear American Apparel clothes just to be ironic), posted an article about how the Lilo / Ronson lesbian affair might really be the real thing, and listed all these points that kind of prove the two are in a relationship. Their biggest piece of evidence? A picture on Sam’s MySpace page that shows her and Lindsay “kissing”.

See how I put the word kissing in quotes? That’s because the picture is pretty much the weakest thing I’ve ever seen. I have more passionate kisses with my Christian Bale poster that’s been in my bedroom since 8th grade. There’s more heat in a handshake than in that picture.

Lindsay Lohan is not a lesbian.

What she is, is media savvy. Everyone knows that the best way for a girl to get attention is to make out with another girl – high school and college parties prove this fact time and time and time and time again – and since Lilo obviously isn’t making movies that anyone cares about anymore, or has anything to say that anyone cares about anymore, the only thing she has left is being a hot lesbian.

Look. I went to college. I saw my fair share of 1 AM Lesbians (girls that get drunk and then “cuddle”, “hold hands with” and “kiss” a friend who happens to be a girl), and Lilo is a classic 1 AM L-er. Sam Ronson, she’s a lesbian. She was a lesbian before Lindsay, and she’ll be one after. Why she’s letting Lohan propagate the idea that lesbianism can be created overnight is a mystery to me, but whatever her role in all of this is, I’m sure she’ll come to her senses eventually.

Some people are probably going to tell me I’m wrong. That Lindsay IS indeed a lesbian, or at least bisexual. I will believe this when she just comes out and says it, and stops hiding behind vague wording. I will believe this when a real picture (because if this pic means she’s gay, then I must be gay too, since I always lean on my friends after a few too many gin and tonics) of her and Sam in a loving embrace appears. I’ll believe this if they stay together after the cameras stop snapping.

But unlike Gawker, as of yet, I don’t buy one ounce of the bullsh*t the media – or all those too-posed pictures – are selling.

Breaking News: George Clooney is still the perfect man

Ladies, this guy understands romance

10 fun Robert Downey Jr facts–#11 is that he’s my future baby daddy

Turn that frown upside down…with semen!

Why wouldn’t you want to watch a mini-van talk show?

How the mighty have fallen–Fantasia got fired!

Jackson family to fill the void in TV industry

Apparently, teen girls are more impressionable than we thought

…which might explain the trend of Baby Stilletos

I have been so busy and my life has been so hard. No one understands how hard it is to be me. Every1 is so jealous of me that they have to find ways to bring me down. Especially now that Nicole has that dumb, stupid baby.

Like last week – I had a superhot photo shoot to do and I had a smarty idea. The smartyest – like, you know how I always look hot in all of the picshurs that I take. Like every single one. Well, I was thinking like how can I make myself like an even gooder model. And geniousosity – the only thing that could make a picture of me more better would be a PUPPY!

So I pulled over right away to buy one and the store WOULDN’T LET ME. Something about how I don’t feed them or whatever – but like, I hug my puppies when I feel like it and, sometimes, I bring them out to the clubs with me like a good puppy mommy. And if I don’t put them in my closet, then where else would they go? Besides, if I don’t need to eat a lot and I’m so tall, they don’t need to eat either because they’re so tiny and preshus.

But, whatevs. If they won’t let me buy one, then I’ll just have a puppy of my own. Afterall, babies get people all the magazine covers….and I look so supercute holding them.

Plus, I need to have a dog close to me all the time. Puppies make me so happy with their puppy breath and their puppy eyes and their puppy-ness.

:sigh:

What would I do without my Benji? He’s the best pet ever. Especially because he feeds himself.

I’m going to go to this other pet store in Hollywood to see if they’ll let me buy a doggie.

XO

Paris