The name may not sound fierce to you (in fact, it may sound more like a group of Paris Hilton and friends who wreak havoc on designer clothing stores), but the group of pink-clad women in Banda, India are instilling fear wherever they go.

Sick and tired of gender inequality, political injustice and other unfair atrocities that run rampant in the corrupt Indian government, a group of Indian women, who call themselves the Gulabi (pink) Gang, have decided to take action into their own hands.

“Nobody comes to our help in these parts. The officials and the police are corrupt and anti-poor. So sometimes we have to take the law in our hands. At other times, we prefer to shame the wrongdoers.”

It is hard to imagine the need for such a vigilante group (or the strength required by women to stand up and start one), but that is because we don’t have to face the same discrimination that women in India do. The Indian society, especially in the poorest areas, is one dominated by men, where women have no choice but to marry to get ahead in life. Most women are not educated, are married off at an extremely young age, and are blamed for everything that goes wrong in the household. Read More »

I, like you, went to high school. When I was in high school, I already knew that I wanted to be a musician and a writer when I grew up. Even though neither of those professions require a degree, I was made to believe that I had to go to college to be successful in life. And so I packed my nervous bags and made way to New York by way of Ohio. I apprehensively took my place among thousands of other students at my school and I felt out of place immediately.

You see, I was always a ‘good’ student. I graduated high school with nearly a 4.0. I aced tests and papers without wincing and was in every club. Kids like me were supposed to go to college. Period. But I never wanted to.

I went because my parents wanted me to.

I dragged myself through four and a half years of college. I transferred schools. I worked 2 jobs (yes, 60+ hours a week) on top of being a full time student. I was miserable. I was utterly, thoroughly, entirely, unexplainably miserable until I decided not to go back to college. I was only a semester or so shy of my degree and I woke up and decided I was done. I made a decision for myself and not for my parents. Finally, I took control of my life and my happiness and I have never looked back since. Read More »

College students in the State University of New York (SUNY) system are outraged. According to a proposal from their Student Assembly, SUNY students want their tuition raised!

Wait, what?

The unlikely resolution to raise state college tuition comes from the executive board of the SUNY Student Assembly, representing 427,000 students within the system. According to the Albany Times Union, the 122 representatives of the Student Assembly will have the opportunity to vote on the resolution this weekend. Officially, the state legislature and the SUNY Board of Trustees have authority over tuition rates. But the cry from the Assembly executive board is a loud one.

“I think this is a strong indicator of the state that New York is in right now ,” said SUNY Albany student David Belsky to the Times Union, “that we’re in such a dire economic situation that students themselves are standing up and saying we’re willing to pay a little more for a public education to protect the quality.”

The concern is that the SUNY system does not meet its fellow state university competitors when it comes to university spending per student and campus resources, and students are acknowledging the fact that they may have to dig deeper into their own pockets for a quality education. Currently, tuition at any SUNY school stands at $4,350 per year.

To everyone representing state colleges nationwide, do you believe your tuition price is fair? What would you do if a tuition hike was proposed by students in your state? And if there are any SUNY students who would like to sound off, tell us what you think about the resolution.

[image of SUNY Geneseo courtesy of wikimedia.org]

As a creative writing major, I’m extremely lucky to have parents who didn’t scoff at getting the arty side of a liberal arts education. My parents are voracious readers who have a high level of respect for the arts, and as a result they can be happy for me, even when my class schedule looks distinctly impractical.

Love in the Novel
Nabokov
Intro to Buddhist Thought

These are the kind of classes my parents put up with throughout my college career, with nary an Econ class to be found among the lot.

Many students feel a lot of pressure, however, to take classes that will turn around into the best profit. They know their parents are dropping some major Benjamins to keep them in a good school, and they want to return the favor by, at the very least, not making their parents go gray worrying that their children will be living in a box on the street. So they take Econ and finance classes. They try to become good little doctors and lawyers and I-bankers.

But most of the people I know taking that path aren’t particularly happy doing it. Read More »

The University Experience sure has changed. It’s now normal to take longer than four years to complete your degree; students are known to switch majors repeatedly (and often at the last minute); and transfer admissions offices are swamped with applicants who realize that the college they chose senior year of high school just isn’t making the grade.

I know all about the stress of transferring and adjusting to a new school. When I began my undergraduate career, I wasn’t content with attending the state university that 83% of my classmates were enrolling in. Oh, no - I had to get away. So I enrolled in a small private school in London, England.

My freshman year was a blast– I was in a major city, surrounded by hot men with hotter accents, and I didn’t even need a fake ID. But eventually, reality sank in, and I opted to transfer back to the same state school that I’d once adamantly rejected in order to prevent graduating with student loans up the wazoo.

My first semester at the state university was miserable. I’d missed out on all of the freshman year bonding, got stuck with a lame random roommate, and when I did go out, it was because one of my high school friends was kind enough to let me tag along with her group. It was so bad that I took a semester off to figure out if I wanted to go through the transfer process again. I ended up going back to the state school, and - thankfully - things got better. In fact, college kicked some major ass.

So, having been on the Maybe-I-Should-Transfer fence and a member of the Transfer Students Association, I thought I’d share some pro’s and cons with anyone who isn’t quite sure that they are attending the right school. Read More »

I can’t speak for all women (even though I tend to try), but a lot of my self esteem comes from my ability to perform tasks well. Like bowling, or making people laugh or getting really good grades in school. My parents were never the type to stand over me and push me to do well. I pushed myself. Poor performance on an exam or in a class meant that I was not good at something and made me look bad next to my friends.

The fact that I did well in school left me with a lot of confidence and self worth when I moved on and began doing other things. I knew that I could do just about anything if I wanted to, which is how I approached the job hunt after college and how I continue to approach every task that is put in front of me. I know I am intelligent and capable and that leaves me with a sense of comfort and mental clarity as I go through life.

I can totally understand, then, the results of a recent study that claim that women who are expelled or drop out of high school experience a much higher rate of mental instability and depression than men.
For one thing, the inability to complete a task will weigh on anyone; especially one that will affect the course of the rest of your life. And, because women tend to be more in tune with their emotions, it makes sense that this would affect them more than their male counterparts. (Or at least what those macho, “I’m fine” boys are reporting.) Read More »

Life after college…it can be hard to fathom actually getting to the diploma, no matter how many years you’ve been in school. But what happens after graduation? Most of your peers will be joining the work force, but a decent percentage will move on to even higher education and pursue master’s degrees, PhDs, or professional certifications. While the job application process is hard, getting into and completing a post-graduate degree is even harder. Having experienced the trials and tribulations firsthand, I’m here to share some tips so you can decide whether moving on to even MORE school is the right choice for you.

Towards the end of my junior year of undergrad, I realized that I had to start thinking of a post-college plan. I was finishing a Bachelor’s in English, had no clue what career path I wanted to pursue, and was having way too much fun on Thirsty Thursdays to want to give up my laid-back student lifestyle. So, I decided to elongate my college experience by going to grad school. Boy, did I get a rude awakening.

Once you’ve finished your Bachelor’s degree, choosing a path for the future should be taken very seriously. If you are considering moving on to graduate or doctorate work, don’t make the same mistakes I made.

The first thing you need before you begin applying to graduate schools is TIME. I decided to get a masters on a whim a few weeks into the fall semester of my senior year. I found myself trying to balance fifteen credit hours, two part-time jobs, and an active social life with preparing for the application process. I didn’t anticipate simply applying to schools to be so much work, so in my mind, I had plenty of time to apply to and choose a school, while fighting a major case of senioritis (in the form of an unyielding craving for margaritas).

Before you even decide to start looking at schools, you need to ask yourself: Am I willing to set aside the time? Read More »

Last time, four new broads showed up in the house because the original season girls weren’t pretty enough.

Of course the originals think that these girls have nothing on them. Let the naming re-begin:

First girl is called Black because that’s what she’s wearing.

Second is Prototype because she says that she’s perfect.

Third one calls herself Luscious D.

The last one is supertall. Prancer thinks that she’s a man and I might too. Flav calls her Tree and says that she’s the black Bridgette Nielsen. That can’t be a good thing.

So I think that the old timers are just fine – they are going to put aside their differences to take down the new ones. Flav is unable to sleep because they are SCREAMING at each other. This happens like every night and twice a day, no?

Amid the screams, this is the only line that I hear is: “What is your education level? Do you got a GED?” Read More »