Life is a journey

Moving to a strange new world

2010-06-18T15:34:00.000-07:00

When you’re in high school, all you want to do is grow up.

When you first step out into the real world all you want to do is go back to your happy little existence of homework and friends.

History repeats itself after college too. And it only gets harder.

You think that just because you have a pretty little piece of paper saying that you accomplished school that everything is going to get easier and jobs are going to line up along the block for you. But, alas this is a huge misconception.

Again, you want your happy little existence back.

This is what has happened to me and I wonder what went wrong.

Oh, yes. Now, I remember.

I moved to a town that is the size of my thumb for the man I love. No offense to Colton, California.

On the bright side, I do have lots of time for my writing and have started research for my book.

The other day, I went exploring.

I found out that one street connects three different cities, Colton, Loma Linda and Redlands. However, they are all the same county of San Bernardino.

I also discovered that the sales tax, compared to the surrounding cities, is highest in San Bernardino, the city.

In this city, you can see it has felt the affects of the recession. Many buildings are run down and you can practically smell poverty in the air.

That’s why I found that the sales tax of 9.00 percent as ironic.

How can you expect a community to pull itself out of this recession with a sales tax that high?

I’m not helping. Once I saw that number on the receipt, I swore I wouldn’t be back.

The Macy’s fitting room smelled like someone had peed all over it.

I have always loved shopping at Macy’s when I lived in Sacramento. I never had a bad experience. It was always clean and everyone was always helpful.

But, if you see the off-ramp to San Bernardino as you are driving towards the L.A. area, KEEP DRIVING.

There is a reason why this community is not doing well. You are more likely to get shot, then find a great deal at Macy’s.

Sorry Macy’s. I still love you, just not in San Bernardino.

Feature News Release for My PR Writing Class - Valentine's Day

2010-02-15T20:56:00.000-08:00

Recently, I enrolled in a PR writing class at Sac State. I am learning a lot and thought I would post my first writing assignment. I would love to hear feedback.

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY FROM THE CITIZEN HOTEL

Sacramento, Calif., Feb. 4 - With Valentine’s Day around the corner, The Citizen Hotel, located in downtown Sacramento, is showing it’s humor for the holiday.

The windows of the hotel feature giant message hearts with a twist. “To: Tiger From: Kobe Try Diamonds.” “To: NFL From: Farve Yes, No, Maybe?” “To: Traveler From: The Citizen Sleep With Me.”

“We had a great time coming up with it and really it’s just an effort to kind of poke fun at a little bit of everybody,” said Amy Dempster. “If these people could write love notes to each other, what would they say?”

Once inside, the guests see the true luxury of the hotel. Originally built in 1926 as the Cal Western Life building, the hotel features vaulted ceilings, lead-paned windows, hand-crafted staircase railings and Italian marble.

There are 198 boutique-style guest rooms and suites. These rooms feature room service, complimentary wine hour (Monday - Thursday), housekeeping, valet parking (with fee) and Internet access throughout the hotel.

The hotel also has 11,000 square feet of meeting and conference space and a 3,000 square foot, roof top, tented terrance, perfect for an event or wedding.

The Grange restaurant is a bar and lounge that gives a loft-like feel with exposed beams and concrete columns. The glassed-in atrium features a two-story wine vault. The restaurant’s menu is inspired by California’s farmland. The menu contains foods only obtained in the state, an all-California wine list and deserts made in-house by the pastry chef.

The Citizen Hotel is the desired place to be in Sacramento for the holidays.

All I want for Christmas

2009-12-06T20:33:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, Christmas was a day to spend with family and friends. Now, it has become a holiday filled with greedy bastards looking for a deal.

Corporations have made us consumer driven. Our vision is so blurred with concern about extravagant gifts that we can’t focus on what really matters.

All I want for Christmas is to spend time with my fiance, Adam. That would make me the happiest woman on Earth.

Since Adam left in October for a job as a diesel mechanic in Colton, Ca. with International, I have seen him three times. It’s better than not at all.

But, every time I have to drop him off at the airport to go back, I feel my heart rip into pieces.

My stomach hurts.

I try not to cry until I’m driving away so that he can’t see the pain in my eyes.

I know it’s pathetic, but I’ve never had to do this.

I have one more semester of school. That is the only thing keeping me in Sacramento.

I can’t give up now. I won’t.

Plus, my mom and dad would kill me.

Adam and I have a bond that I’ve never had with anyone else. He is my best friend.

He is the one I want to spend the rest of my life with. I want him to be the last person I see before I go to bed and the first person I see in the morning.

For two years, the butterflies in my stomach have not gone away. Just the way he smiles at me makes them go crazy.

If that isn’t love, I don’t know what is.

If I had to pick something for Christmas, it would be a time machine. I would fast-forward to our wedding day, on top of the Delta King Riverboat, decorated in emerald green and white carnations. I love carnations because they can be any color you want.

I can’t wait for this part of our lives to be over. I want to start living my life. I want to get a job that actually has to do with Journalism.

Working in retail is not my goal in life. It helps pay the bills for now. But, I will never understand how people can be so rude to a complete stranger.

I’ve had a coupon thrown at me because it had expired. My response was “Wow. Seriously?”

School is like Limbo, awaiting your fate. It feels like a never ending journey.

I would love a fast-forward button. Unfortunately, this is unrealistic.

I could settle for a Christmas with just the two of us.

Adam wants to teach me to Snowboard. Maybe, a getaway to Lake Tahoe.

But, again, no such luck.

I will have to share my time with him. Christmas Eve will be spent with my family in Sacramento. Christmas will be spent with his family in Newark. Then, he will go back to Colton, once again.

Leaving me utterly pathetic, once again.

Bah Humbug.

My Thanksgiving

2009-12-01T01:43:00.000-08:00

It started with a ring.

My boyfriend, Adam, of two years moved in October to Colton, Ca. to become a diesel mechanic for International.

I am extremely proud of him, but it has come with a price. Since I will not be graduating until Spring 2010 from Sac State, our relationship has turned long-distance.

It’s hard because we have been joined at the hip since we started dating. We moved in together after three months. But, thanks to texting, phone calls, and Skype, long-distance hasn’t been too bad of a journey.

We have talked about marriage off and on. But, it has always been discussed as something I would have to wait for until I move down there to be with him.

On Wednesday, that plan slightly changed.

Adam came home early Wednesday morning to spend time with me before we had to drive Thanksgiving morning to his parents’ house.

My parents skipped town with my brother and their two pugs to Lake Tahoe for the week.

I had to work that day, but we had plans to go out to dinner that night.

We went to Joe’s Crab Shack in Old Sac, where we had our first date. Afterwards, he asked me if I wanted to go on a walk. I said, “I’d love to”.

We walked to the bridge beside the restaurant. As we looked out towards the water, there was a sea lion barking down at the dock.

I was getting cold. So, we started to walk back to the car. As we were holding hands, he asked me to hold on a minute. I turned around to find him on one knee, asking me to marry him.

I said, “Yes”.

Now, I have to tell you that my family is very small, organized and quiet. My mom is the organizer and my dad is the scheduler. If we are supposed to leave at a certain time and you forgot something, too bad. There is no way my father is waiting one second over his schedule for you to pee.

Adam’s family is big, loud, and very last-minute. It takes a million years to leave the house because there is always something to add to the list of things needed to go anywhere.

At first it drives you nuts, but once you take step back it’s hilarious to watch.

Thanksgiving morning, Adam and I drove to his parents’ house in Newark, Ca. The Thanksgiving celebration was held at his cousin’s, Chris, house.

We ended up leaving his parents’ house with his brother, Alex, because, like always, their dad was taking too long to leave.

Everyone was very excited about the engagement. Alex and his dad made a speech at dinner, welcoming me officially into the family. It was very sweet.

Adam’s grandmother is from Germany and lived through World War II. She currently suffers though dementia. She is very soft spoken and takes a while to finish a sentence.

Sometimes she goes from one subject to another without remembering the first conversation and then repeats herself.

She stared out the day detached from her surroundings. But, towards the end of the night, she started to interact and become more lucid.

She noticed a picture on the mantel of her and her late husband. She took the photo, sat down beside me on a love seat, held my hand, and described the setting in San Jose. She told me she was pregnant with her daughter, Susie.

She told me she was a teacher in Germany. It was clear as day for her.

Susie explained to her that Adam and I were getting married. She looked at me, still holding my hand, and said, “Married. You really feel it in here”,while placing her hand on her chest.

I wanted to cry. I looked into her eyes and told her, “Yes”.

Adam and I stayed at his parents’ until Saturday morning and returned home to Sacramento. That night, we went to dinner at The Olive Garden with my parents, my brother, Kurt, and my best friend, Kim, to celebrate the engagement.

Kim and Kurt stayed with us, while my parents returned home to Yuba City. In the excitement, Kim started to help me plan for the wedding, while Kurt watched a movie with Adam.

The wedding is planned for June 11, 2011. It gives me at least a year to finalize everything after I move down to Colton, post graduation.

On Sunday, I took Adam to the airport. It is a short goodbye. I will see him next weekend for his other grandmother’s 80th birthday party.

It ended with an empty apartment.

Barbie doing charity work on her birthday

2009-11-23T21:53:00.000-08:00

To celebrate Barbie’s 50th anniversary, Mattel, Inc. has released a Barbie dressed in a burka.

The doll is being showcased in Florence, Italy for the “Rewrite the Future” campaign designed by the Save the Children organization. Hundreds of Barbie dolls, including this one, are being auctioned for this charity.

The charity is for millions of children around the world effected by conflict.

How ironic is that?

Barbie has certainly come a long way from it’s initial design.

The first Barbie doll wore a black and white zebra striped swimsuit and signature topknot ponytail. She was available as either a blonde or brunette.

Barbie was created by Ruth Handler and named after her daughter Barbara. The doll was debuted at the American International Toy Fair in New York on March 9, 1959.

In Barbie’s 50 years, there has been controversy concerning race and size.

Colored Francie made her debut in 1967. She is sometimes described as the first African American Barbie doll. However, she was constructed using the existing head molds for the white Francie doll and lacked African characteristics other than dark skin.

Christie is considered the first African American Barbie doll, manufactured in 1968.

In 1997, Mattel paired with Nabisco to promote Barbie with Oreo cookies. Oreo Fun Barbie was marketed as someone that little girls could play with after class and share these specific cookies.

Mattel manufactured both a white and a black version. Critics argued that in the African American community Oreo is a term meaning that the person is "black on the outside and white on the inside," like the cookie itself.

The doll was unsuccessful and Mattel recalled the unsold stock.

One of the most common criticisms of Barbie is that she promotes an unrealistic idea of body image for a young woman.

A standard Barbie doll is 11.5 inches tall, giving a height of 5 feet 9 inches at a 1/6 scale.

If Barbie was real, she would have a 36 inch chest, 18 inch waist and 33 inch hips.

In 1965, Slumber Party Barbie came with a book titled How to Lose Weight which advised: "Don't eat". The doll also came with a pink bathroom scale reading 110 pounds, which would be around 35 pounds underweight for a woman her height.

No wonder women in America are so obsessed with their bodies.

In 1997, Barbie's body mold was redesigned and given a wider waist. This might have given the designers at Mattel a better night's sleep. But, the doll is still seen as too thin and unrealistic.

In September of 2003, Saudi Arabia outlawed the sale of Barbie dolls because she did not conform to the ideals of Islam.

In Middle Eastern countries, there is an alternative doll called Fulla, which is similar to Barbie but is more acceptable to the Islamic culture. Fulla is not made by Mattel, and Barbie is still available in other Middle Eastern countries.

In Iran, Sara and Dara dolls are available as an alternative to Barbie.

Maybe now Barbie will be more accepted while wearing her burka and Islamic girls can have an anorexic woman to look up to, as if they didn’t have enough problems.

Entourage on a slippery slope in Season 5

2009-11-17T00:09:00.000-08:00

The fast life of Vincent Chase comes to a halt after his role as Pablo Escobar in Medellin wins him a spot on the black list of studio movies.

The fifth season of Entourage begins with Vince (Adrian Grenier) and Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) on the beach of Mexico with a buffet line of beautiful women.

Convincing them to come home and get back to work is no easy task. His agent, Ari (Jeremy Piven), and manager, Eric (Kevin Connolly), team up to get Vince to go to an interview for a new movie called Danger Beach.

Vince realizes that is career is at stake when the interview turns out to be a cruel joke. Ari and Eric try to score a studio movie, while the guys are trying to learn to live on less.

In the meantime, Leighton Meester returns to the set to win over Vince’s heart once again.

Eric, then, comes across a script for a movie called Smoke Jumpers, written by a couple of hicks. Unfortunately for Vince, Universal buys the script. Vince had been fired by Universal’s President, Alan Grey, while producing Aquaman. This left the studio with a nasty taste in it's mouth and detesting the very sound of Vince's name.

While golfing with Ari, Grey dies of a heart attack and introduces the guys to their golden opportunity.

Ari’s long time friend, Dana Gordon, replaces Grey and gives the go ahead for Vince to perform in Smoke Jumpers.

The director tries to sabotage Vince’s performance by giving away his lines. This causes production is shut down after an outraged Ari takes the matter into his own hands by calling a meeting with Gordon. The meeting escalates when the director goes to Gordon's boss and causes a scene.

Out of work, Vince and the guys head home to Queens.

Eric is able to send director, Gus Van Sant, scenes of Vince in Smoke Jumpers in hopes of landing a role for Vince in his new movie. Sant tells Vince that he would like to work with him, but not in this movie. He assures Vince that he will send the scenes to some colleagues to look at.

Meanwhile, Drama (Kevin Dillon) buys a bar in New York and Turtle starts dating Jamie-Lynn Sigler after meeting her on a plane.

The season ends on a high note when Martin Scorsese calls to offer Vince a role in his remake of The Great Gatsby.

The fluctuation of Vince’s career is not what makes this season entertaining. It is the “in your face” comedy provided mostly by Ari that helps save the show.

As the seasons have gone on, the show seems to have lost its once new and refreshing take on Hollywood. The story of a group of guys from Queens trying to make it has started to lose it's originality, leaving fans bored to tears.

Fans can only hope that the show will be revamped now that Vince has an income. If not, no amount of guest stars will be able to save it.

Life's little warning labels or lack there of

2009-11-09T21:09:00.000-08:00

Things that are typically bad for you, like cigarettes, come with a warning label. But, what about relationships? Where is that warning label?

The warning label about sex is drilled into our heads when we are teenagers. You can get pregnant. Look at all these diseases you can get. It can ruin your future.

But, where is the warning label attached to boyfriends? A warning label of a broken heart could have come in handy at one time or another.

When I was 15 years old, I had my first real boyfriend. I call him my first real one because it was the first time I felt that spark. The first time I felt butterflies in my stomach and always wanted to spend time with him. Love stuff.

We were together for about seven months. A week after my 16th birthday, he broke up with me because I wouldn’t have sex with him. I was still a kid. I wasn’t ready. Well, needless to say, he found someone who would have sex with him.

No warning label for what was to come. I ended up drowning in depression and lost weight, causing me to go under 100 pounds. I didn’t want to go to school anymore, but my dad pushed me to go.

Looking back, I can’t believe I let myself get so hung up over a guy, who later lost his scholarship in college because he spent most of his time partying.

I didn’t get my weight back until I was 20.

Guys should come with resumes. A list of references from past girlfriends would be nice. Details on why they broke up. Maybe a letter of recommendation, if he can get one.

A family tree and a description of the immediate family members should be attached. Whether or not he is a momma’s boy is crucial information.

Momma’s boys are the worst. When he moves out with you, he expects you to do everything his mom did for him. This includes cooking, cleaning, laundry, and everything his mother bent over backwards doing to ensure his happiness.

Been there. Done that. Warning label? I’m afraid not.

He was fun. He would decide not to clean up his dishes and leave them in the sink to grow mold.

I put my foot down and refused to clean it up. The smell was so bad, you didn’t dare go into the kitchen. I ended up throwing the dishes into a trash bag and throwing it in the dumpster.

Then, there are those guys that live secret lives that no one knows about. He acts normal while you are dating and having fun. But, once you move in with him, he is a completely different person. The secret comes out slowly over time as he gets comfortable with you.

Then one day, you find out how bad it really is.

This one had 600 gigabytes of porn on his computer. He had so much porn, he had to get a couple external hard drives just to hold it all.

He was so proud of his collection.

What man in his right mind prefers watching porn and masturbating over having sex with his girlfriend in the next room?

That relationship didn’t last long. No wonder he lived in a 4-bedroom house all by himself.

Warning labels and resumes would be nice. It would save a lot of time and heartache.

It really puts in perspective the saying that you can't learn how to avoid a situation unless you experience it. Lesson learned.

Columnist Oscar Odd McIntyre (1884-1938)

2009-11-03T03:33:00.000-08:00

Oscar Odd McIntyre was born in Plattsburg, Mo. on Feb. 18, 1884. He lived to be a well-known columnist, who used imagery to capture his audience.

Not much could be found of his life story. This is what I have compiled.

In 1902, McIntyre worked for the Gallipolis Journal in Gallipolis, Ohio. This is where he married Maybelle Hope Small.

Next, he worked for East Liverpool Morning Tribune in Ohio.

Then, he worked for the Dayton Herald as a managing editor.

Then, he worked at the Cincinnati Post as an assistant managing editor.

In 1912, he and his wife moved to New York. He worked at Hampton’s Magazine as an associate editor. This did not last long because the magazine closed shortly after he was hired.

McIntyre continued to freelance and work in public relations for some of the local celebrities, such as Florenz Ziegfield. His publicity work for the Hotel Majestic gave him free room and board.

He, then, started to produce a daily column about New York life. The Bridgeport Post was the first to run these columns.

It appeared in 26 different papers, including Journal-American. The Gallipolis Tribune ran it on its front page.

He produced this 800 word column daily and titled it “New York Day by Day”. “Thoughts while Strolling” and “Incident on Park Ave.” are a couple of titles.

He wrote in a poetic style, describing his surroundings. “Sinister shadows slithering sibilantly through the threadable mews of Chinatown always remind me of the Nick Carter stories I used to read with Butch Klutch in the haymow of his father's livery stable.”

He usually worked right after breakfast. He would keep the blinds closed and the lights on because he did not like sunlight. By 5:30 p.m., he would have completed his work.

The column soon ran in 508 newspapers in every state, Mexico, and Canada. He had about seven million readers.

McIntyre also wrote monthly essays for Cosmopolitan for over 15 years. In 1929, he published his book “Another Odd Book: Twenty-five Selected Stories”. It contained a collection of his articles from Cosmopolitan.

In 1935, he compiled his “New York Day by Day” columns into a book he titled “The Big Town”.

According to Time magazine, he lived in an expensive Park Ave apartment.

Because of his syndication, he made more than 200,000 dollars each year. He lived the high life and had many celebrity friends, including Irvin S. Cobb, Gene Fowler and Major Bowes.

This was after his and his wife’s hardships of moving to the East coast. At first McIntyre had a hard time getting editors to print his columns and barely made enough money to eat.

“His wife patiently worked the mimeograph machine, licked the stamps, kept what records there were,” wrote Time magazine. Maybelle also acted as his business manager, arranging and dictating the terms of all his contracts.

McIntyre did not have children.

He turned down radio offers of up to 5,000 dollars because he thought his column might suffer.

McIntyre died on Feb. 14, 1938 in New York City. He was buried on a high bluff overlooking the Ohio River. He was 53 years old.

O.O. McIntyre Park District in Gallipolis was named in his honor.

Maybelle died in 1985 at the age of 101 in Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

Round Table Pizza at the Hive

2009-10-26T23:17:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for a place to hang out with friends and relax, Round Table Pizza at the Hive has your solution and is conveniently located in the University Union of Sacramento State.

Like many other Round Table Pizza’s, it has an impressive display of flat screen televisions showing news and sports. However, this one also has team jerseys and banners decorating the walls, giving it a sports bar look and feel.

As you make your way to the cashier, there is a large variety of pizzas, appetizers, and drinks to look at and choose from on the menu board behind the counter.

You can build your own pizza with the variety of toppings, including veggies and meats. There is also a selection of sauces, including creamy garlic, polynesian, and zesty red.

To make it easy, you can also choose from their specialty pizzas, including “Italian Garlic Supreme”, “King Arthur Supreme”, Montague’s All Meat Marvel”, Guinevere’s Garden Delight”, “Maui Zaui”, “Hawaiian”, “ Gourmet Veggie”, “Chicken and Garlic Gourmet”, and the “Smokehouse Combo”.

There is the standard order sizes: small, medium, large and extra large depending on the size of your group.

A personal pizza is a great choice for the busy college student getting a bite to eat between classes. It is perfect for one with only four slices.

Appetizers include garlic twists, salads (garden or caesar), and buffalo wings. There are also Club sandwiches, such as turkey, ham, and chicken.

If a soda wasn’t what you had in mind, there is also a small selection of beers, including Corona, Fat Tire and Sierra Nevada. Don’t forget the lime for your Corona and you are all set.

Beware: They will card and quiz you on your birthdate. So, those unfortunate souls under the age of 21 are out of luck. It is easier for them to get into a club than order a beer at Round Table Pizza.

After ordering, the cashier will give you a number to take to your table. You can sit inside at a table, at the bar, or lounge outside on the patio.

Either one can be a little noisy depending on what time it is. But, it is nice to be able to sit outside in the fresh air and enjoy the day.

Even though it can be crowded, the wait isn’t long, about 15 minutes.

The “Smokehouse Combo” is amazing. Your choice of pepperoni or chicken, topped with Italian sausage and linguica, Roma tomatoes, red and green onions with BBQ drizzle. It also has three different cheeses on top of a zesty red sauce. Your taste buds will go crazy from all the different flavors.

This place doesn’t count calories, but you can choose from original, thin, or stuffed crust.

Hours vary through the week. Monday thru Thursday 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

No matter what time you go, there is always friendly and fast service.

Neighbor from hell

2009-10-19T01:12:00.000-07:00

Apartment living.

Everyone should experience it once in their life time. It’s one of those life experiences that you will never forget.

You share a closeness with people that is beyond what you are looking for.

The walls are paper thin. You can hear what people are doing and saying at all hours.

You can hear everything. When they pee, what television show they are watching, what video game they are playing at three in the morning, when they are arguing, when they are having sex...you can hear it.

I once had a neighbor that screamed at her boyfriend and cried hysterically all the time.

She threw dishes at him one night at one in the morning.

She once ran through the courtyard screaming for help, as if her boyfriend was going to kill her.

The police were called so many times, I lost count.

One night, in particular, I decided I had had enough with her screaming. I yelled at her to be quiet from my patio door.

Wrong move.

Never mess with a woman you have never met and who happens to be drunk.

She proceeded to scream profanities at me and stormed down to my apartment, banging on my door.

The police said they were too busy to come out.

They are so reliable.

There was no altercation. She went back to her apartment when I wouldn’t answer the door and it was quiet the rest of the night.

The next night was different.

She decided to confront me outside my apartment. She claimed that I had called her a “bitch”. I replied that she must have heard her echo because I never used that word.

This made her even more angry.

She, then, placed her body so close to mine I could feel her breath on my face. She started to shove me backwards with her body, while screaming profanities and saying she wanted to fight.

Her boyfriend, finally, pulled her off of me, while my boyfriend stepped in-between us.

This was all happening at my doorstep.

I went inside to call the police, as she yelled to me that she was going to “kill” me if I called her a “bitch” again.

The police still would not come.

Apartment security did.

The manager of security told me on the phone that they had dealt with her many times before and he thought she “needed therapy”.

Apparently, her routine is to scream and pick fights with her neighbors and then act as if nothing is wrong once security shows up.

I wish I would have known this information before I moved in.

As the manager predicted, that was exactly what she did.

The next morning, I filed a long report with my apartment manager about what had happened that night and all of the incidents I had ever heard coming from her apartment in the previous months, including the smashing dishes and the fight I had heard her pick with another neighbor.

Management placed a notice on her door that read if there was any noise reported in the next week she would be forced to move out or she could terminate her lease with no penalties. They said there was nothing more they could do in the meantime because California has so many laws to how much they can do.

Needless to say, she kept quiet for the next week.

However, my landlord was great about the situation. I told her I didn’t feel safe anymore. So, she broke my lease without charging me and set me up with a new apartment, moving me away from my crazy neighbor.

One of the women in the office told me, later, that my neighbor had moved out shortly after I moved to my new apartment.

Word of advice: Find out about your neighbors before you move anywhere.

University of Phoenix to buy CSU system

2009-10-12T17:33:00.000-07:00

In July, CSU trustees voted for no new admissions for the Spring 2010 semester, a 20 percent fee increase, and for faculty to take two unpaid furlough days a month.

With California’s unemployment rate continuing to rise, 12.2 percent in August, education is taking a huge hit due to the budget cuts.

A solution has arisen to the enrollment of students and the state budget cuts. The Apollo Group’s University of Phoenix has been thought of to relieve the tension and buy the CSU system.

The 23-campus CSU system, containing 450,000 students, could increase enrollment for the University of Phoenix and save California billions of dollars.

The University of Phoenix has 300,000 students on their 39-state campuses and online.

The New York Times reported that the annual tuition and fees for the University of Phoenix is $9,630, twice as much as a four-year public college. The tuition rates at the University of Phoenix varies upon degree.

To obtain an Associates degree, tuition is 345 dollars per credit and a 70 dollar per course materials fee. A Bachelor’s degree requires tuition of 530 dollars per credit and an 85 dollar per course materials fee. A Master’s degree requires tuition of 655 dollars per credit, a 105 dollar per course materials fee, and an application fee of 45 dollars. A Doctoral degree requires 745 dollars per credit, a 45 dollar application fee, and a 120 dollar per course materials fee.

The University of Phoenix offers online, class-based, and FlexNet (a combination of online and class-based) classes.

Each student can only take one class at a time. The campus-based students only have 20 to 24 hours with the instructor because each course only meets once a week for four hour classes.

A traditional university student typically meets with their professor for 40 hours per course and can take up to seven courses a semester.

This is a key reason why students at the University of Phoenix have a graduation rate of 16 percent. Whereas, the graduation rate across all universities is 55 percent.

The faculty plays a role as well. 95 percent of the University of Phoenix faculty is part-time. Whereas, 47 percent of each CSU university faculty is part-time. Part-time employees are not fully committed to their jobs as educators. They have other jobs and other responsibilities, leaving their students on the back burner.

The University of Phoenix gives students flexibility when in comes to class schedules, but they are limited as to what they can learn or degrees they can obtain. Arts and Sciences, Business and Management, Criminal Justice and Security, Education, Health Care, Human Services, Nursing, Psychology, and Technology are the only degree specialties offered.

If you are looking for english, history, marketing, journalism or digital media, you are out of luck.

If the Apollo Group buys the CSU system, students will be forced to pick another major or move out of the state to pursue their specialty.

The workforce in California would decrease dramatically. More and more jobs are requiring employees to obtain degrees.

Through the University of Phoenix it would cost more and take longer to obtain a degree. Not all of us are willing to take these risks and depend on an education system that has a 16 percent graduation rate.

Part 2 of Proposition 8 underway

2009-10-05T17:29:00.000-07:00

On Sept. 1, Sacramento resident, John Marcotte, filed an initiative with the attorney general’s office called the California Marriage Protection Act.

The initiative says: “No party to any marriage shall be restored to the state of an unmarried person during the lifetime of the other party unless the marriage is void or voidable, as set forth in Part 2 of Division 6 of the Family Code.”

In other words, this initiative is setting forth a ban on divorce, bringing communism to the ballot in 2010.

Placing this initiative on the ballot is a way of handing over our rights to the government. The only people that will vote for this is people with a strong religious background. There is a separation of church and state for a reason.

This initiative is ludicrous.

No one's situation is the same. Sometimes divorce is the only option.

“Till death do you part.” How many times does he have to beat her in order to be granted a divorce?

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, “approximately 1.3 million women and 835,000 men are physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually in the United States”.

There are many logical reasons for divorce. Lack of commitment to the marriage, lack of communication between spouses, infidelity, alcohol or substance abuse, emotional and physical abuse, inability to manage or resolve conflict, and financial problems are just some of the top reasons cited by the Associated Press.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the marriage rate in the U.S. is 7.1 per 1,000 total population. The divorce rate is 3.5 per 1,000 population.

Currently, Nevada holds the largest divorce rate in the nation with 14.2 percent of the population. California was last calculated in 2004 with a divorce rate of 4.1 percent of the population.

Marcotte is know to have engineered a number of harmless social pranks. In 2006, he and a group of friends placed a giant pair of Groucho glasses on a statue at a Sacramento retail center, reported by News 10.

The Marriage Protection campaign already has t-shirts stating, “You said ’til death do us part. You’re not dead yet.”; “Jesus still loves you if you get divorced - just not as much as before.”; and “Hell is eternal - just like your marriage was supposed to be.”

Do you smell sarcasm in the air?

Marcotte said that he was inspired by the Prop 8 campaign. He believes the California Marriage Protection Act would be a logical extension of Proposition 8. But, what is the true motivation for this campaign?

According to San Diego News Network, Doug Manchester, a supporter of “traditional marriage” donated $125,000 to Proposition 8. Is this another scam for money?

Marcotte said he wasn’t planning to ramp up outreach until petitions were prepared to circulate. There are still those who haven’t heard of the California Marriage Protection Act. But, news is spreading fast with Facebook fans of over 1,900, the website RescueMarriage.org, and statewide news coverage.

The website, RescueMarriage.org, has many comments with various ideas. One commenter is a mother who describes how her kids and she would be dead if she wouldn’t have left her first husband. Some agree with the initiative, while others joke about it and claim it will never pass.

Many websites such as, digg.com and asylum.com, are calling Marcotte a prankster.

For the meantime, the talk about banning divorce doesn’t seem to be anything to joke about.

Laundry sized drama

2009-09-27T21:39:00.000-07:00

Finding your clean clothes have been taken out of the dryers of your apartment complex and thrown onto a dirty counter is not a great start to a Saturday.

Living in an apartment complex gives people the pleasure of sharing laundry facilities. You enter at your own risk.

Sometimes there is bleach left over in the washer from the previous user. Your clothes come out of the dryer with bleach stains. It's a surprise for your wallet.

Sometimes the washers or dryers are broken. So, you have to walk a mile to find ones that actually work. A nice surprise for your patience when you are carrying two loads and a heavy bottle of detergent.

On this particular Saturday morning, I had two loads of laundry. On each apartment building there is a laundry room with two washers and two dryers. It was early enough not to worry about anyone wanting to use the laundry room on my building. So, I continued with my two loads.

Of course, I was proven wrong on this theory.

Usually, I set an alarm for when the laundry will be done. But, I was multi-tasking with breakfast. So, I waited an extra couple of minutes to get the laundry out of the dryers.

When I went down to the laundry room, I found that both of my clean, dry loads of laundry had been piled on a counter opposite to the dryers.

Someone had taken my clothes out of the dryers and started their own loads. According to the timer on the dryers, it was only two minutes prior to my arrival.

If this person would have waited two minutes, this whole situation could have been avoided.

I threw my laundry into my laundry basket and took it up to my apartment, cussing the whole way. After placing the laundry into the apartment, I stormed back down to the laundry room, opened the bottom dryer, slammed it shut, and wondered how this person will like wet clothes.

I know I reacted very childish, but I would never take someone’s clothes out of a dryer and leave them on a counter. If I was in that much of a hurry, there is another laundry facility on the next building a couple feet away.

In 2007, a man was arrested for stealing women’s underwear out of several apartment laundry facilities in Washington. An employee at one of the apartment complex's called the police and explained the man's suspicious behavior. The employee also provided a license plate number.

Police removed 93 pounds of underwear out of 24-year-old Garth Flaherty’s bedroom. Flaherty was charged with one count of first-degree theft, 12 counts of second-degree theft and was sent to jail.

Even though none of my underwear was stolen, it still grossed me out that someone had touched them.

If they had been stolen, I wouldn’t want them back.

For the full story on Flaherty visit http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/193232/man_steals_over_1500_items_of_womens.html?cat=52

Long distance relationships on the rise

2009-09-13T23:34:00.000-07:00

Any relationship is hard to preserve when long distances are involved. When you are in high school, you have a list of friends. Once you move on with your life and continue on to college in a different city or state, those friends start to dwindle. It gets harder and harder to count the number of people you once called friends on one hand.

The same reason for this is why most long distance relationships don’t work. Effort must be factored into these situations. The more effort you put into your relationship, the longer it lasts.

The Center for the Study of Long Distance Relationships concluded that more than seven million couples in the United States are involved in a long distance relationship, 4.4 million are college students.

Long distance relationships are becoming more popular due to job opportunities. Because of the failing economy, people are forced to go where ever the jobs are.

According to David Coleman, the “Dating Doctor”, 90 percent of all long distant relationships end within a year. There are several reasons why this situation can lead to a relationship’s demise, such as infidelity, loneliness, jealousy, lack of stability and not enough effort.

Infidelity is a touchy subject, but it is brought upon by lack of physical closeness. The best thing to do is visit as much as possible. However, this can get a little expensive. The alternative is to use technology to your advantage. Set up online dates with web cams. Seeing the person is better than just hearing their voice over the phone. Sometimes things that are said can be taken the wrong way, but with seeing their facial expressions nothing can be misinterpreted.

Loneliness is inevitable, but keeping yourself busy with friends and family can be a great help. Make sure that every day has an activity. It is easy, as college students, to drown yourself in homework, but make sure you set some time aside to contact your significant other.

Jealousy can tie in with insecurities about your relationship. Trust is essential to overcoming these insecurities. The “what if he or she cheats or finds someone else” is going to come out, but you must fight it off. When you bring up these insecurities to your significant other, it can make the situation worse by instilling doubt into the relationship. This leads back to finding distractions with friends and family because the only time these insecurities arise is when you are alone pondering about the “what if” situations.

Lack of stability arises when the communication is inconsistent. Setting up times to talk or meet by way of web cam every day can help with this situation and form a sense of reliability. Sharing the events of each other's day can ease the tension of being apart.

Effort is key. Without effort you don’t have a relationship. Writing letters, calling, dating through web cam all takes effort. If the relationship means anything, there will be a common effort. Effort shows whether or not the relationship will last. Only you can decide whether your relationship becomes just another statistic.

Sac State professors and students rally against fee increases

2009-09-06T23:13:00.000-07:00

“They say cut back, we say fight back” echoed though the quad of Sacramento State Wednesday by angry students and professors.

For the Fall 2009 semester tuition has skyrocketed, leaving some students unable to make the payment. Sacramento State has been know as the cheapest university in the state of California. This may not be for much longer with the increase in tuition of 32 percent.

Many students are also finding that some of their classes have been cancelled. These classes include those needed for graduation, such as Coms 26 for Digital Media majors and minors. An email was sent out in July to students, who were expecting to take this particular class, to inform them of this cancellation.

Of all forms of communication, they chose to send an email. A nonchalant way of screwing students in the ass before they are expected to graduate. The email did ensure students that the class would be available in the Spring 2010 semester. Of course, this is not a guarantee.

For the first time, professors are also expected to choose furlough days during expected class time. This is added to the frustration of students. Not only are fees increasing, but now students are receiving 10 percent less class time. How are Americans supposed to get the economy back on track when the next generation is unable to afford an education?

During the rally, students and professors expressed their feelings about this situation. Many blamed CSU Chancellor Charles Reed and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, while others explained their story and asked for their fellow students to ban together to fight back. ASI President Roberto Torres suggested a march to the state capitol this spring.

No matter who you point the finger at, nothing is about to change any time soon. It can only get worse from here and it is expected that tuition will keep rising.

Tuition had been increasing over the years, but students could not have prepared for it to rise at this explosive rate. It has been said by Reed that tuition will continue to rise in the following year to about 5,000 dollars a year.

There is no reason to stay and watch the university crumble. But, will it be a bigger hassle to transfer to another university or suck it up and pay the increasing tuition? Only the students will decide which is the greater hassle and we will watch as the population of students changes.

While professors and students sang “The Furlough Blues”, CSUS President Alexander Gonzalez was no where to be found. In 2007, it was well known of Gonzalez’s raise that angered many CSUS students when they first started to see a slow increase in tuition. According to the Sacramento Bee’s state salary database, Gonzalez’s 2008 income was 368,584 dollars.

This puts in perspective the saying “the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer”. While professors are losing health benefits and pay and students are struggling to further their eduction, administrators are driving their Mercedes and sleeping in their mansions. When are students going to see the light at the end of the long, dark tunnel?