It’s been a while since a turned 18 and became legal, but I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I have never cast a vote — not for a local, state, or national election. My first opportunity to vote was the midterm elections in 2006, and I just wasn’t informed enough about the House and Senate to make a smart decision. So I didn’t.

The other thing that paralyzed me, and that made me think it wouldn’t matter if I voted even in the presidential election, was the electoral college. I’m from good old Massachusetts — you know, the first state to legalize gay marriage, the so-blue-we-don’t-even- see-the-color-red state, the most liberal state in the union. There is never a contest about who wins our state’s votes. In fact, the politicians don’t even try; in the last election, I didn’t see a single presidential campaign ad.

So why bother voting? My vote amounts to a spit in the wind, and as long as we’re not talking about national popular vote as an option, things are going to stay that way. Still, though, I felt a renewed urge to cast my vote this year, because more than ever it seems like a year when a tremendous amount is at stake. Like hundreds of millions of others, I’ve seen my country slowly going down the tubes in the past eight years. It’s gotten a lot harder to be proud of my country, and I see the ideals it stands for increasingly obscured by smoke.

That’s when I found out that several states — including my college’s state of New Jersey — have voted to pledge their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular election. Hot damn, my vote counts for one vote again! It’s a very exciting and rebellious move on the part of several states who are tired of only Ohio and Pennsylvania getting all the love.

So I registered! Read More »

5. Put YouTube terminals in the voting booths
You wanna know something? Us college kids are really just big magnets. If you open a dumb video of an overweight thirteen year-old kid singing a pop song from the Falkland Islands, every single student within a mile will be chuckling over your shoulder within fifteen seconds.

If our presidential candidates really want to get the 18-24 crowd out and voting, they should start making films of themselves running drunk and naked across the interstate. Right now, candidates are mostly remembered for being a bunch of lumpy old guys who still haven’t lowered the drinking age. They can do so much better: the McCain/Romney version of “Daft Bodies”, for example, would totally steal the election. I’d vote for them.

4. “Reframe the debate”
This year, the American people are concerned with economic something and whatever with foreclosure blah blah drilling offshore and climate change, very important to something Iraq timetable mumble mumble. Man! The issues are tiring! I need a nap!

So it’s not surprising that college students don’t get out to rep their favorite pols. All they talk about is boring crap that sucks! You know what college kids like? Movies. It’s what we care about. “Iraq” is far away and hard to pronounce properly. All those cutthroat late-night debates need to be centered around the real questions — the tough questions, the ones that will get students waving big posters and burning their underwear.

“I understand that Christian Bale’s a great Batman, Senator Obama, but what’s up with that police run-in? In light of his creepy bevhavior, have you reconsidered your recent “pro-shirtless Bale” position?” “Senator McCain, what’s your stance on Pierce Brosnan singing ABBA? Awful enough to be funny, or just awful enough to suck?” “If elected, what measures do the candidates plan to take to ensure that George Lucas doesn’t ruin another franchise, ever?” Read More »

Everybody knows college is expensive, but did you know that for a growing majority of college students — gas is trumping tuition?

According to the always lovable and informative New York Times, the numbers of students enrolling in online college courses — so they won’t have to spend all their extra dolla dolla bills driving to and from campus — has drastically increased.

“The vast majority of the nation’s 15 million college students — at least 79 percent — live off campus, and with gas prices above $4 a gallon, many are seeking to cut commuting costs by studying online” claims the article, which goes on to say that certain colleges are experiencing a 50 to 100% increase in enrollment for their online courses.

As if plunking ourselves down in front of a computer (where there’s every distraction from bad reality TV to that f*cking amazing turkey sandwich waiting for you in the fridge) in an attempt to learn wasn’t spelling enough trouble for our education, certain people (like the president of Brevard Community College, as interviewed by the NYT) fear that our sh*tty economy, combined with the price of gas, might cause certain college students to drop out of school completely. Read More »

Between morning bagel runs and afternoon Margaritas, the CollegeCandy staff like to spend a little time brainstorming new ideas. You know; things that our readers might benefit from. While we consider ourselves pretty damn smart (thankyouverymuch), we have recently realized that we may not know it all.

It was a difficult realization to come by, to say the least.

That is why we are going to bring in the experts as guest bloggers. People who really do know what they are talking about when it comes to things like getting into your dream university, finding that must-have internship and eating healthy (because Lauren seems to think that pancakes are the key to internal health).

We have a few lined up already, but we want to know who you want to hear from and what you want to know about. Let us know in the comments section below and we will work our magic on getting them onto the site.

Keep in mind that we can’t get George Bush (not that we think he is an expert on much), so let’s not get greedy.

As with most large movements in history, young people nationwide are leading the way in the fight towards a more planet-conscious future.

College students from coast to coast are studying ways to reduce waste, toxic emissions and other harmful habits and creating more efficient and earth friendly alternatives. Others are simply making better choices; turning off lights, recycling old notebooks and using cold water for their monthly trips to the laundry room.

Some very conscientious students at various schools are even taking it a step further by living and breathing the Green lifestyle in Green Co-Ops.

Most people think of Co-Ops as Hippie Houses full of free love, pot and rarely-used showers. This new brand of Co-Op, popping up on campuses every day, may have some similar features (like pot, I’m sure), but is a far cry from the original. Read More »

After a grueling workout at the gym, the only thing I want is a huge glass of ice old water…or a deep tissue massage and an hour in the sauna, but let’s be realistic here. And, as much as I enjoy cocktail hour, the most unappealing after cardio treat is alcohol.

Apparently, I should consider changing my tastes. A new study suggests that BEER after exercise may be better than water for you. Wait, what?

Yes, it’s true, and guess who they tested this theory on? College students!

According to FOXnews, “The study results came from testing 25 college students asked to do strenuous exercises in 104-degree temperatures. They were then split into two groups, one given beer and other water to help them recover. The tests were conducted over several months. The hydration effect in those who drank beer was ’slightly better’ than those who drank water.” Read More »

It’s never too early to start thinking abut Spring Break.

In fact, you might want to start now, considering you’ll probably need to save up some cash, get a group of pals together, and figure out which sunny, tropical, alcohol drenched resort you want to take over for a week or so.

But, if I’m not mistaken (and I don’t think I am), there’s quite a few of us out there that don’t necessarily consider Cancun to be the epitome of all things “vacation”. So, imagine how interested I was when I read about what so many college students are taking part in come March.

Volunteer vacations!

Perhaps you’re thinking “working” while you’re (finally) away from campus defeats the purpose a bit. Well, it’s simply not true. However, it’s really important to fully research your ultimate destination before you head out.

According to Xola Consulting’s Christina Heyniger, who’s studied voluntourism for the past two years, “well-meaning tour operators or NGOs have initiated poorly designed and researched programs that ultimately do a disservice to the communities they seek to support.”

So, you’re interested and you want to go somewhere organized…and somewhere you’ll actually help? Read More »

I don’t know much about it yet, but I guess breastfeeding is good for your babies. So, breast milk and babies? A sensible combination.

But babies and Facebook? Not so much.

I don’t care how much Facebook is “expanding” its users. Facebook is really for college students and it should stay that way. Which is why I’m not too offended to find out that it has been removing pictures of females breastfeeding their kids.

The blog posted on USAToday said, “Karen Speed, a 33-year-old Canadian mother who describes herself as a “lactivist,” tells The (Toronto) Star that such photos led Facebook to delete her account and a support group she had established for breastfeeding mothers.”

First of all, what is Karen Speed, a 33-year-old Canadian mother/lactivist doing on Facebook in the first place? What is she possibly getting out of this? Finding out at which side of campus the next tailgate is gonna start? Checking up on her douchebag ex-boyfriend to see if he added any new skanks to his friend list?

Seriously, Karen. Seriously.

I think it’s great that mothers are reaching out to each other for support, but is it really necessary to post, what I think, are such personal and intimate photos on this particular site that is regularly monitored? Here is one of the pics that was removed from the site, and nipple or not - it may not be “obscene” as Facebook would say, but it’s still pretty needless on a college-based networking site. Read More »