[It's pretty obvious that the average CollegeCandy reader has some very strong opinions. Opinions that she likes to share with everyone on the site. We love a strong woman (unless she happens to be charging at us with her fists raised), so we thought we'd give her a real forum to discuss her thoughts, feelings, and perspectives. Every Friday I'll be featuring a hot topic (like the Facebook overshare!) and leaving it up to you, the readers, to duke it out. So, read it and get your debate on in the comments section below!]

Once upon a time, I had a friend – no, seriously, it was a friend. Not me. At all. – who had a major crush on a certain member of ‘N Sync; like a, have all his posters, listen to nothing but his music, own the look-alike action figure set, crush. It was a little weird, but eventually she grew out of it and hey, we all go through our phases, right? Except, I wonder if it would have been different for her nowadays. Between the fact that California just had to pass a bill just to crack down on paparazzi and the crazy Biebs fans threatening to kill a girl who posted a YouTube video of herself tearing down the J-man’s posters, I’ve gotta wonder if we’ve taken this fandom thing too far.

On one side, I totally get being a mega-fan. I’m a true geek through and through and I keep up with all the rumors and gossip about my faves just as much as anybody. A part of being a celeb today and putting yourself into the public spotlight is knowing that you’re giving up the right to anonymously go to the grocery store in sweats and no makeup, so I don’t really buy it when famous people bitch about not having any privacy. They knew (or should have known) what they were getting into. And as a fan, if you want to dedicate your free time to making underwear with Robert Pattinson’s face on it, or creating an archive of every photo ever taken of Ryan Reynolds (no, just me?) then more power to you. Read More »

Whether you’re a first year student or heading back to campus for yet another year of academics and parties, there is indisputably one book you need to bring along with you: Debt-Free U: How I Paid for An Outstanding College Education Without Loans, Scholarships, or Mooching Off My Parents, by Zac Bissonnette.

I know what you’re thinking: Why would I want to read a book about paying for college when I’m already in college and I’m getting by with student loans/ my parents’ generously footing the bill /or a scholarship?

Well listen up, pretty lady – whatever your situation is you will absolutely get some insight about paying for college that will, without a doubt, help you make better decisions when it comes to financially making it through four years, as well as helping you protect your future post-grad life.

Throughout history, paying for college has been a major issue on everyone’s minds. But although it’s something everyone always seems to talk (and worry) about, it is one thing that usually gets pushed to the side in the application process. Students send their applications out, they get their acceptance letters back, and then – and only then – the question of paying for that highly accredited university to which they’ve been accepted pops up. But with the cost of a college education rising at a pace in polar opposition to our economy, financial disaster is almost inevitable.

Without a lot of financial planning, people turn to student loans, which, as any college student who has taken them out knows, are a major stress-factor that can impact the rest of your life. Not only do students feel like they have to take out more and more loans to supplement an income during college, they feel utterly lost, especially in a world where financial aid offices will tell you anything. In Debt-Free, Zac explains “The role of the financial aid office to make sure that the students the school has admitted are financially able to attend – through whatever means necessary.” Because colleges don’t work as financial advocates for students, more and more students are falling down the rabbit hole of student debt. However, consider Debt-Free as a personal guide that will walk you through all things financial in the college world, by whatever means necessary. Read More »

Does this look like the face of someone who would date a dermatologist's assistant?

My grandma once told me that she had a secret love affair with Elvis Presley during his gyration days of “Jailhouse Rock.”  Although the claim was about as real as Heidi Montag’s chest, my grandma made a good point: it was her word against his, and because he is no longer with us, by default, her word prevailed.  However, only us fortunate enough to listen to her rant at Thanksgiving would have knowledge of this scandal.  To protect her deceased lover’s privacy, she decided not to broadcast it to the world via Youtube. (Either that or she has no clue what Youtube is).

In the fame driven world that we are engulfed in today, a man named Jason Pfeiffer has chosen a different path than my grandmother had.  The former dermatologist’s assistant has announced to the world that he was “Michael Jackson’s boyfriend right up until the day the King of Pop died.”  In an interview on “Extra” he explains how emotionally connected him and MJ were and that it was obvious that they were soul mates.  He admits that he never asked Michael if he was “gay” but that it was implied, because of their frequent exchanges of “I love you.”

Obviously, there is no one to refute Pfeiffer’s claim, and as he continues to stand by it, no one can prove him wrong.  Under the spotlight at the VMA’s, Madonna eulogized our beloved King and spoke of her own relationship with him.  She explained his struggle of being the world’s most popular man and the loneliest man respectively.  She offered him companionship and he accepted with open arms and an open heart.  He longed for the type of true friendship that he found in Madonna.  The relationship that Pfeiffer describes seems quite similar in nature.  Clearly a disturbed man, it is quite possible that MJ did express his “love” for Pfeiffer, but did not mean it the way Pfeiffer is announcing to the world. This mans claim may in fact be the truth, but on the same token, it could be the decade’s largest publicity stunt as of yet.  If this is an attempt to join the acclaimed club: “Celebrities Famous For No Reason at All” (President: Paris Hilton, chair persons: Audrina Partridge and Kate Gosselin) then Pfeiffer might just be a genius.  Michael may have professed that “Billie Jean was not [his] lover”, but in regards to Jason Pfeiffer, the world will never know.

Remember those slam books that used to circulate around middle schools and high schools when we were younger? Or the Burn Book that led to that day of sisterhood bonding after it was discovered in Mean Girls? [If you were lucky enough to miss out on this tween trend or are the only person on earth who hasn't seen Mean Girls, slam books were notebooks that got passed around, in which everybody could write their thoughts and feelings about another person without adding their name – and those thoughts and feelings were usually very negative and very hurtful]

Remember that horrible feeling you would get when you saw your name, terrified to read the comments but also unable to resist it? Remember how happy you were when those years were over and slam books were behind you?

Well, they’re back, they’re online and they’re worse than ever.
And you can create one for yourself?

Welcome to Formspring.com.

Formspring.com was originally made as a website where people could post anonymous questions on a person’s page for them to answer. I’m not sure of the exact reason for creating this site website, or why people would use it, but I’d like to think that it started with innocent intentions; a way for people to find out more about you without having to flat-out ask. However, like most things on the Internet, the site quickly morphed into something else.

Formspring in its current form has become a place where people can talk some major sh*t, and do some completely anonymously. Apparently, once you set up a page on there, you can comment on just about anything without ever having to list who you are. Postings range from actual questions (i.e. the original intentions) to vicious and evil comments (“You’re so fat,” “No one likes you,” “Why are you and your friends so ugly?”). Yeah, it’s bad. Read More »

I like gossip. You know, the pretty harmless kind: who hooked up with who at that party last week, who has a crush on who, who was spotted doing the walk of shame… Little tidbits that don’t really matter. And really, who doesn’t like that stuff?

But as much as I enjoy hearing all the dirt about the girl down the hall from me, I draw the line somewhere. And that somewhere is online.

For those of you who don’t know, after JuicyCampus.com was shut down, another website popped up in it’s place. It’s called CollegeACB.com and it has quickly become the nightmare of many. Including myself.

According to Peter Frank, the founder of CollegeACB.com, the purpose of the site is for people to post anonymous threads and comments about “any facet of college life.”

“The College ACB or College Anonymous Confession Board seeks to give students a place to vent, rant, and talk to college peers in an environment free from social constraints and about subjects that might otherwise be taboo.”

His words are well-chosen and seemingly innocent, but as anyone who has visited this website understands, Frank is simply camouflaging what the site is really for: vicious gossip. Read More »

Throughout my sophomore year at college I’d pretty steadily hooked up with this guy, let’s call him Blake. Despite the fact that we were on good terms and friends outside of the bedroom, our hook ups only occurred when I was drunk. I’d never really wanted things to go any further with him; he was a sweet kid, but really only as a drunk hook up and fun guy to goof off with.

Things ended when he moved out to L.A. after graduation, but we kept in touch online and through Facebook ever since.

So when I clicked on my Facebook event notification and saw that he’d be back in town in a couple months, my first instinct was to accept the invite to the party in his honor.

That is, until I saw the Facebook wall.

One of his buddies, whom I’ve never met in my life, wrote on the wall: “Hey Blake, you should call that Melanie chick. That alcoholic nympho will probably get so excited she’ll bust a clasp on her straight jacket.”

Wow. What?!

Directly following Doucheface’s comment, Blake responded with a nice “hahahaha.”

Shocked, embarrassed and angry, I confronted Blake about the whole thing. He fed me some baloney about his friend “taking stories and blowing them out of proportion” and brushed me off like it was no big deal. I was not amused. I mean, this was not some private issue; my name was being slandered in a very public place. Read More »

We’re back with another edition of G.W.W.E. (Guys We Wanna Eff)!

Ladies, what do we love most?  Hot men? Looking fabulous? Exotic locales? Yes? What if I told you that you could have all of the above, in one tidy, effable package?

Meet Yigal Azrouël: sublime fashion designer and personality. The Israeli import has been showing his fresh, modern collections on runways since 1998, and is known among fashionistas for his expert draping techniques. His work is well-loved by Natalie Portman, Salma Hayek, and Sarah Jessica Parker. (Hey, if your work gets the thumbs-up from SJP, you’re made like lemonade!)

I know what you’re thinking: he’s a designer, he can’t possibly be “batting for my team,” right? Wrong. Yigal is straight… and maybe single. There have been rumors of him sweeping Katie Lee Joel (wife of Billy) off her feet , though I wouldn’t blame Katie Lee for fleeing the coup. Take a look at Yigal’s rugged mug, and Billy Joel–well, let’s just say he’s seen better days.

To have Yigal around would be nothing short of titilating. Imagine a life filled with frequent travel (New York, Paris, Milan–you know, the usual), a self-made man and a smokin’-hot wardrobe designed expressly for you. Excuse me, I think I’ve just described heaven. Yigal, I heard effing was so in for summer. Let’s pioneer that trend, okay?

Should Greg Paulus switch teams and head to Michigan?

Miranda Tozier-Robbins can’t seem to leave Britney alone.

Don’t let the recession put a wrinkle in your beauty budget.

Dina Lohan takes credit for Lindsay’s video.

Oprah Tweets!

Have an endless summer in your own backyard.

Gossip and rumors are main staples on college campuses across the nation, and the website Juicy Campus (which was recently shut down), shows just how far people are willing to go to spread gossip. At some point in everyone’s life, gossip comes up – good or bad. Gossip, in moderation, can be just another thing, but in a culture that obsesses about pop culture and dishing dirt (think of websites like Perez Hilton), the fixation of dishing dirt about someone else isn’t going away any time soon.

Although many of us love to gather on Monday nights to watch Gossip Girl and watch the scandals of the Upper East Side unfold, no one likes it when their own personal life is exposed in the cafeteria over wilted lettuce or when private information rolls off the lips of classmates before the professor starts the class. While gossip may seem like something that comes and goes, it can leave its dirty scars behind all too often.

Maybe because it’s an all-women’s college and women often use each other to bring others down, or maybe it is the size of the university, but the Hollins rumor mill never seems to cease on campus. It constantly peeks its nasty little head around the corner for students that least expect it. Whether it hurts friendships, ruins reputations, or isolates students from campus events — gossip can cause tremendous damage. Read More »

So, I really don’t care about what is going on with crazy cheeks Madonna and her soon-to-be ex husband, Guy Ritchie. But everywhere I turn there is news about these two. Any by “news” I mean “really embarassing stories.”

It seems like every hour either Madonna or Guy are coming out with a vicious and, oftentimes, scarring statement about the other.

Guy Ritchie, obviously hurt by his ex wife’s indescretions with A-Rod, has said that Madonna looks like a “granny on stage,” and that having sex with her was like, “hugging a piece of gristle.”

Madonna fired back by calling him “emotionally retarded,” and claiming Guy was “just after my money.”

Just another typical case of post breakup he said/she said.

It doesn’t matter if you are a celebrity or just a college girl scorned by her cheating boyfriend, breakups always cause the gloves to come off and the truth to come out. Especially the most embarassing and hurtful truths. Anyone who knows me knows all about my ex’s issues (“Yeah, cuz sex for 1.5 minutes is GREAT!”), and after my BFF’s particularly painful breakup, the entire campus knows about her ex’s farting issues during sex. Ew.

Anyways, breakups cause pain and pain causes people to resort to just about anything to make themselves feel better. Like talking sh*t. Which Guy and Madonna have mastered.

So I want to know: what are some of the crazier things that have come out after your big breakups? Leave your responses in the comments section below; we wanna know all the juicy deets.