With the infamous Iowa caucus and the first Primaries (in New Hampshire, if you haven’t been paying much attention) out of the way, the 2008 election is on. Not that it wasn’t really on before – I couldn’t open a web page or turn on the radio without hearing something about Obama, Hillary or Huckabee – but we have officially entered a new phase. And things are about to get serious.

Welcome to Primary Season, the time when we get out and vote for the candidate we want representing our party in the run for the Oval Office. This might seem completely boring/unimportant- ”who the hell is this Barack Obama character, anyway” to you, but it is quite the opposite.

There are currently a slew of Democratic and Republican candidates traipsing across the country in attempts to become our next President. Only one of each will have the opportunity to go for the gold. And only one will actually take it.

And, might I remind you, the man or woman who finally moves into the White House in 2008 is completely up to us. Yes, even you.

I know that discussing politics is not the top priority of many college students. What with more important topics like class, partying and reality TV, who even has the time? But it should be; especially now. Read More »

In case you live under a rock, Britney Spears has officially gone crazier than any of us thought possible.

After freaking her sh*t last Thursday night when it came time to return her two sons to their less insane parent, Spears participated in a three-hour standoff before being rushed to a hospital on a stretcher and checking herself out less than 48 hours later (apparently too early for people admitted with psychological issues). While nobody’s saying exactly why Spears was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, it’s been reported that at the time of her hospitalization, she was “under the influence of an unknown substance”.

As if the circus wasn’t big enough, TV’s favorite media-whore “therapist” Dr. Phil got himself involved in Brit’s debacle, visiting her as she was checking out of the hospital and subsequently telling every news outlet that he was “very concerned” for her.

“My meeting with Britney and some family members this morning in her room at Cedars leaves me convinced more than ever that she is in dire need of both medical and psychological intervention.” The TV doc is quoted as saying. “She was released moments before my arrival and was packing when I entered the room. We visited for about an hour before I walked with her to her car. I am very concerned for her.” Read More »

It’s the early morning and I’ve already read a few newspapers, some blogs and a couple celebrity gossip sites.

I know a lot—sometimes too much—about our nations state of cultural affairs. But hey, at least I’m informed about something and it IS my job, right?

There was a day though, particularly all four years of my undergraduate career (save the Thursday Style section of the NYT) that I knew nothing about current events.

Apparently, I’m not alone in this. In a recent study based on 1,800 Americans, only 18% of those from ages 18-30 read a newspaper everyday. The results found that our generation is more of a glance at the news type of group than any other.

And although we spend hours in front of our computers each day, most of the news we do watch is from the television.

Even more importantly though, it isn’t the ways in which we are receiving our news, but the fact that we are getting it at all. It is sad to think that of the many times I spent hours mindlessly surfing the internet, I never once really went to the New York Times homepage or even USA Today, which is slightly fluffy, to find out really what was going on in the world. Read More »

Usually when I need some info on friends with benefits, I turn to my friends who have been there, or those brilliant people behind the screens (get it? Computer screen?! HA) at College Candy. I usually don’t turn to the New York Times.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I was surfing the Times today looking for some good opinion pieces when I found an article titled Friends with Benefits, and Stress Too.

At first I thought it was a joke. I mean, I know the Times is a liberal publication, but even they wouldn’t discuss the not-so-easy to explain situation we like to call Friends with Benefits.

Turns out, it was no joke. In fact, it was about a study conducted at Michigan State University where students were polled about their experiences with friends with benefits.

For anyone in college, the findings were nothing spectacular.

Basically, friends with benefits work for some, progress into a relationship for others and cause the rest to have a giant blow up fight because one person likes the other more and thought they had something special and meanwhile the other person is off hooking up with other people and stomping on their “friend’s” heart.

The only interesting thing to come from this, in fact, is the phone call I received from my mother this afternoon after she too was perusing the Times looking for opinion pieces and came across the article: Read More »

• Oh Mary Kate Olsen, if there’s one thing I didn’t want today, it was a visual in my head of you running around naked wearing only jewelry. Real visual? Maybe. (People Magazine)

• Am I crazy or have I been seeing satin shorts in Forever 21 for at least a year? Take that Vera Wang. (FashionchickNYC)

• So now all the smug vegans can drive around in their hybrids feeling smug for yet another reason! Good for them! (Yahoo News)

• “People would walk past the serious work I was doing as a painter and want to see the Etch-A-Sketches.” Ummm…Etch-A-Sketch is serious work. (UK DailyMail)

• If you’re unhappy you get more ice cream! But then what if you’re happy and don’t get as much…doesn’t this make you unhappy? Yes it does. Genius! (wemakemoneynotart.com)

Why do people have sex? Seems about as obvious as Ms. Star Jones having weight loss surgery, but apparently it is not.

In a recent study published in Archives of Sexual Behavior (I don’t read it; I swear. I actually saw this study on the Today Show), 2,000 people were asked why they had sex.

The answer? Well, surprisingly, there were more than one. 237 reasons, to be exact.

The top three most popular responses for both men and women seemed the most obvious:

1. They were attracted to the person

2. They wanted to experience physical pleasure

3. “It feels good”

The other 234 reasons were random, interesting and – sometimes – scary.

Some included: to burn calories, for revenge, to make babies, to get closer to the person, to get closer to God and to pass STDs onto someone else (yikes!). Read More »

Do you know who Mahmoud Abbas and Ehud Olmert are?

Can you tell me who the current secretary of state is? Or who the Defense Secretary is?

I bet not.

But I would place money on the fact that you could name me at least two celebrities who are pregnant, the latest color of Britney Spears’ wig or the name of the diet that Jessica Simpson is currently on.

We are pretty pathetic my friends. According to an article in the New York Times, today’s youth is not news savvy. Read More »