Photo by Flickr User Claudio.Núñez

Rojas, who created the Boston Students United for Chile Facebook group, said that it has been difficult to get momentum going to fundraise for Chile.

“Everyone is pretty exhausted from the whole Haiti thing so Chile is one of the last things on their mind,” she said.

The relief effort has been “almost nonexistent” said Rojas on Wednesday.

However, in the last two days a fund raising event featuring the co-ed acapella group, The Allegrettos, has been organized.

Explosión Latina, an annual show hosted by Alianza Latina, also plans to donate half of the proceeds to Habitat for Humanity for Chile.

The earthquake, which hit the cities of Concepcion and Santiago the hardest, killed 720 people and displaced 1.5 million.

Although the magnitude was greater than the earthquake that rocked Haiti, there was less devastation because the buildings were better built to sustain earthquakes.

“It’s frustrating because I understand that Chile is nowhere near as destructed as Haiti but we are still getting aftershocks and we are still being affected,” Rojas said. We are being left to fend on our own.”

Rojas was born in Chile but raised in Long Island, New York. Most of her extended family who still live in Chile are okay because they live north of the capital, she said.

BU is also “seriously slacking” compared to other Boston schools, she said.

Harvard and MIT had joined forces and created a website where students can donate money that goes directly to Chile non-governmental organizations, she said.

The United States has been slow in helping Chile as well, said Rojas.

“They think that the former President of Chile originally said that she did not want help, but really she did not know what kind of help she wanted. A lot of counties and the U.S. took it as Chile did not want help at all.”

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Photo Copyright MG Ico

While it seems like celebrity designers are a dime a dozen these days, some have the potential to impact the industry, which is exactly what Madonna plans to do.  The pop star will partner with Iconix Brand Group, Inc. to launch style company MG Icon. The first line under the company, Material Girl, will launch in August 2010 at Macy’s.  The junior collection will include clothes, shoes and accessories priced between $12 and $40.  MG Icon will also join forces with Dolce & Gabbana to design a collection of six high-end sunglasses to hit Dolce & Gabbana and Sunglass Hut stores in May.

Ever witness a hipster tie the knot?  You’re about to.  Urban Outfitters Inc. announced it will launch a wedding line in Spring 2011.  The company, who also owns Urban Outfitters, Free People, Anthropologie and Leifsdottir, will sell the collection online and in select US stores.  Designed by the Anthropologie team, the collection will feature wedding gowns, bridesmaid dresses, occasion dresses and accessories with prices ranging between $200 and $5,000.  Vows not included.

Photo Copyright French Connection United Kingdom

Not looking to expand anytime soon is French Connection, whose borderline expletive “FCUK” logo that drove the British company to success has failed to combat declining revenue.  In addition to closing over 40 under-performing French Connection stores in Japan, Europe and the United States, the retailer will sell the high-end Nicole Farhi brand to OpenGate Capital LLC.  The brand is currently looking to advertising, as it has done in the past, to revamp its brand image.  The newest campaign features a stark look coupled with short films to portray the brand’s sophistication.  My only confusion is the shoddy English that accompanies it: “This is the woman.  She is knowing we are looking.”  The good news?  French Connection on Newbury Street will remain open, which means I don’t have to start job-hunting— yet.

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By now, everyone has seen an episode of or at least heard of the best show ever created, “The OC.” I was absolutely obsessed with seasons 1, 2, and 4, and mildly interested in season 3 (seriously, they just went too far with that one, am I right?). But at the start of it’s 3rd season, Fox premiered a new show right after “The OC” that almost made me lose interest in Seth Cohen all together; The show was called “Reunion,” and it centered around 6 high school friends who reunite 20 years later to be interrogated for the murder of one of the friends. The cast was gorgeous and the love triangles were unending:

Will, played by Will Estes, is the gorgeous nice guy who is best friends with Craig, played by Sean Faris, the rich bad boy who’s dating Sam (Alexa Davalos), the pretty, hardworking nice girl, who’s pregnant with Will’s baby. On the night of their graduation, Craig and Will get in a car accident, killing the other driver. Since Craig is drunk and Will has only had a couple drinks, they lie and tell the police that Will was driving, thinking that everything will be ok because the accident was the other driver’s fault anyway. But unfortunately Will’s Blood-Alcohol Content was just high enough to land him in jail. Craig walks away scott free and heads off to college. Meanwhile, Sam hides her pregnancy from both Will and Craig and heads off to school in London, where she gives the baby up for adoption.

Then there’s Carla, the awkward artsy girl who’s in love with Aaron, the cute geeky guy who drops out of MIT to start what eventually becomes a multi-million dollar internet company. But Aaron is in love with Jenna, the bombshell who moves to Hollywood to make it as an actress.

Phew! that’s a lot of drama. And I haven’t even gotten to the plot yet:

Each episode shows another year in the life of these friends. Sam and Craig get married and Will stands on the sidelines pining for Sam. The only person Sam confides her pregnancy in is Carla, and together they search out Sam’s daughter Amy, who happens to live nearby in New York. Soon Carla enters into an abusive relationship with Amy’s adoptive father, after Aaron gets some french chick pregnant and marries her. Jenna desperately grasps at her 15 minutes of fame for several years before moving back to New York and starting a relationship with Aaron after his wife leaves him.

Flash forward to 2006: each episode also features an interview with each of the 5 living friends. They are all suspects in the murder of the 6th friend (who is it????), and each of them have a good reason for wanting him/her gone. Ok, ok, I’ll tell you, but only because you begged! It is Sam who has been killed. Happy now?

So why was this show so fascinating? Because it was told in such a unique way. We got to follow these lovable characters through their who lives and really feel their pain and care about their dilemmas. Every week I was praying that Will would just grab Sam and kiss her so they could run away, find their daughter, and start a family together. But like all good things, the show was not appreciated in its time. “Reunion” was canceled after only 9 episodes, and to this day I am still frustrated. I frequently wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, frantically wondering who Sam’s killer is and what their motive was. They only filmed 13 episodes out of the planned 22 episode season, and they have not released any of the episodes on DVD. If anyone knows where I can find them, I’ll love you forever. Or at least until I finish watching all the episodes again.

“Reunion” captivated a small following from “The OC” watching crowd, but it wasn’t enough. Although Fox released some statements on who the killer probably was (they don’t even know?), we’ll never know for sure who it was, and we have no clue why. It haunts me everyday. Does anyone else suffer from my disease? Maybe we can get together and write our own ending to this sad tale. I’m willing to start protesting as well: Reunite “Reunion”! Who’s with me?

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From Wikicommons

From ESPN:

“Welcome back to the best time of the year. Put your pens away, take your brackets out and let the games begin.”

Welcome to March Madness, the happiest time of the year! Coming from an area where college basketball is at least on par with college football in terms of devotion and attention, I’ve experienced quite the culture shock at BU — wait, it’s actually possible to get tickets to a basketball game? You mean, everyone wants to experience twenty-degree temperatures instead and watch hockey? Snarky jabs aside, it’s been difficult to find someone with whom to commiserate whenever my teams (Stanford, and Arizona – I’m from California, I’m obliged to love the Pac-10) slowly faded into obscurity with each new loss. Which is why March is my favorite month of the year; the NCAA tournament is the great equalizer, the party that everyone can be excited about — and much like aforementioned parties, if you don’t know anyone playing, it don’t matter.

Today marked the first day of March Madness, and as always, it didn’t fail to disappoint. The first and second rounds are especially known for their propensity for upsets, and today’s games lived up to all expectations. The prize for the biggest upset of the day may possibly belong to Ohio, who was seeded fourteenth in the Midwest and faced a tough first-round competitor in third-seed Georgetown. The Bobcats, who were the MAC tournament champions but hadn’t won an NCAA tournament game in 27 years, handed the Hoyas a first-round out with a score of 97-83. Georgetown had been seen by many as a possible contender for a Final Four run, and it’s true that after the game ended, I was catapulted to the top of my pools. (When filling out my bracket last night on Facebook’s Citizen Sports application, the percentage of people who had chosen Ohio to win the game was ~4%.)

As per tradition, there were plenty of other upsets during the day’s sixteen games — the Pac-10 showed some grit with eleventh-seed Washington beating sixth-seeded Marquette and extending its late NCAA run to the second round for the second year in a row (originally, Cal was the only team expected to play in the big dance from the Pac-10 conference). In another 6-11 pairing, Old Dominion handed Notre Dame a 51-50 loss, with the latter team shooting only 36% from the field. Thirteenth-seed Murray State also narrowly slipped by fan favorite and fourth-seeded Vanderbilt by 1, and tenth-seeded St. Mary’s beat seventh-seeded Richmond to extend their postseason a bit longer. It wasn’t all just upsets, though — heavily favored teams such as Kansas, Kentucky, and Kansas State sailed by their opponents in the first round.

For a complete listing of today’s results, click here.

Here’s a listing of tomorrow’s games — you can watch them on espn.com if you don’t have access to a TV. All game times are listed as EST:
12:15pm – (15) Morgan State vs. (2) West Virginia
12:25pm – (11) Minnesota vs. (6) Xavier
12:30pm – (12) Cornell vs. (5) Temple
2:30pm – (13) Siena vs. (4) Purdue
2:35pm – (10) Missouri vs. (7) Clemson
2:45pm – (14) Oakland vs. (3) Pittsburgh
2:50pm – (13) Wofford vs. (4) Wisconsin
4:45pm – (12) Utah State vs. (5) Texas A&M
7:10pm – (9) Florida State vs. (8) Gonzaga
7:15pm – (10) Georgia Tech vs. (7) Oklahoma State
7:20pm – (12) New Mexico State vs. (5) Michigan State
7:25pm – (16) Arkansas-Pine Bluff vs. (1) Duke
9:30pm – (16) Vermont vs. (1) Syracuse
9:35pm – (15) UC Santa Barbara vs. (2) Ohio State
9:40pm – (13) Houston vs. (4) Michigan
9:45pm – (9) Louisville vs. (8) California

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Bus 1 Boston University volunteers: James Getonga, Erica Kurtzman, Stacie Rosenberg, Leia Poritz (me!), Abby Gavens. Photo credit Erica Kurtzman.

Over spring break, I, along with four other Boston University participants, had the privilege of going on the Jewish National Fund (JNF)’s Alternative Spring Break (ASB) to Israel. I had heard about the program through Boston University Hillel, and since I am actively involved in community service at Hillel, I was encouraged to go. In order to go on the trip, each participant was obligated to raise $975, which goes directly towards the Blueprint Negev Project, the dream of Israel’s first prime minister, Ben Gurion, of populating the Negev, the desert area of southern Israel.  The actual trip was free—anonymous donors funded the $2,500 cost per person of sending us to Israel.

As we sat in a circle at the Caesar Hotel in Jerusalem for one of our final discussions at the end of a long week of hard work, our three staff members, Jenn, Kineret and Larry asked us if we thought the work each of us did over the course of the week was worth $2,500. Before I give you the responses of the group, let me describe the activities that we did.

Over the course of the week, our bus of 45 people ages 18 to 30 spent hours of work in the 90-degree heat each day helping to fulfill Ben Gurion’s dream. While spending most of our time in the Be’er Sheva area (the largest city in the Negev), we managed to weed a field of olive trees, pull up and collect over a ton of beets, paint an apartment complex, build terraces, and so much more. Each day we could visibly see the improvement we had made on the environment around us. Here is the breakdown of each day:

Saturday, March 6/Sunday, March 7:

We boarded the El Al plane at JFK airport at 11:50pm on Saturday, March 6. After a ten hour flight to Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, and then another two hour drive down to the Negev, we finally reached our destination: the Beyachad Guest House in Yerucham, the hostel that would be our home until Thursday. It was 8pm Sunday night by the time we got settled, and we were all exhausted from travel. After a group discussion and icebreaker, it was time to put on our pajamas and hit the sacks—we would be getting up at 6:45am the following morning and almost every morning for the rest of the week.

Monday, March 8:

Working on "the monster." Photo credit Abby Gavens.

At 7:45am, we were on the bus headed for Be’er Sheva, where we would spend the day working at Earth’s Promise. It was our job to collect garbage and debris that was scattered across the land and use it in the construction of useful things like benches and playthings for children. I personally worked on “the monster,” which was a turtle-shaped plaything that we were building in a park to help entertain children. First we had to collect tires and lie them down on the ground in the shape of the turtle structure. We sloped the tail downward by layering the tires so that it would be like a slide. As for the rest, we alternated single and double tires to give the turtle a bumpy texture fun for children. Once we got the structure down, we tied it all together and stuffed the tires with garbage that we had collected around the park.

Painting a snakes and ladders game in the playground.

We were all very happy to have our work gloves on, a required item on our packing list. As our water bottles lowered and bodies dripped in the heat, we worked all afternoon to fulfill the task at hand. Finally, once all of the tires were stuffed firmly and we had taken a break for lunch (falafel!), it was time to really get down and dirty. We gathered dirt, water, and straw, mixing it together to form mud that we would coat the tires with. Although we did not get a chance to finish the project, we knew that we had worked hard and set a nice foundation for the group that would come the following day. We definitely had our share of fun as well; let’s just say I was covered from head to toe in mud after the mud ball fight I had (and no, I didn’t start it!).

Tuesday, March 9:

Painting the apartment complex.

There is no better way to bond than through community service. On our bus ride to the “Dalet” neighborhood in Be’er Sheva, I had already felt like I had made a connection with a lot of people on this trip (even though, for the life of me, I couldn’t remember anyone’s name). As we painted the apartment complex, the teamwork that we had was amazing. By the end of the day, we were able to accomplish so much. We covered so much ground (or…walls, I guess I should say, though the ground did end up with a bunch of spots as well) that we kept running out of paint. Even a couple of the local children playing outside, encouraged by Aaron, one of our bus members, came and helped us out; it was really cute. Simply being

Aaron Meister painting with the resident children.

able to interact with the different residents there was an amazing experience (especially when one of them decided to roll my back with a painting roller and then asked to take a picture with me). They couldn’t understand the fact that we came all the way from the United States to volunteer in Israel…that this trip was a vacation for us. In this way, we were stressing to them the importance of community service, and of every individual taking on a role in his or her community. To me, while the painting effort was obviously amazing, I think the most important part of the experience was the personal impact we had on the people living in the community and the interactions we had with them. They just seemed so thankful for what we were doing and amazed at all of the hard work we put in to help them.

Sderot indoor playground...yay for being 5 years old again!

Covered in paint and sweat, we headed from Be’er Sheva to Sderot, a city in the western Negev, where we were able to tour the indoor playground that JNF had recently completed. The significance of this playground was explained to us when we got there: that this was the one place that the children of Sderot could play safely. Due to rocket threats, playing outside was way too dangerous, and the children were stuck in their houses all day with nothing to do. Now, with basketball hoops, air hockey, a climbing wall, video games, and so much more, the children were given a place to have fun and stay safe. In case of rocket threats, this playground is equip with multiple bomb shelters, all within 15 seconds of any play area within the playground, giving the children enough time to hide safely when alerted. This experience gave me a sense of reality—how we take it for granted that we can go outside whenever we want. These are the people we were helping this week—these people who are less fortunate, and don’t have the resources we do.

Wednesday, March 10:

Get ready to man that hoe, because it’s farming time! Yes, the amount of dirty farming jokes were countless today as we worked in an olive field, weeding and pruning row after

Rebekah Kushner weeding an olive tree.

row of olive trees. In the heat and beating sun, the hours seemed to go on forever, but it was the funny things like dirty farm jokes that kept us going. We were really beginning to bond as a group, feeling comfortable with one another’s quirky personalities. In the midst of hours of work, someone from our bus who shall not be named (-cough- James) came running out to the field screaming, “Stop drinking the water! It’s chlorinated! You’re all going to pass out and be constipated!” which became the object of much ridicule the rest of the trip—because although people did not believe him and thought he was playing a joke, James really did think the water was chlorinated. While some people were falling asleep in the Bedouin tents, it was due to heat and exhaustion, not chlorinated water. Sorry, James.

Hiking through the Negev.

Other things we did today included an hour and a half hike in the morning through the Negev, which was a peaceful time of reflection and great way to begin the day. It was nice, because for the last 20 minutes or so we were asked to remain silent as we walked so that we could really take in our surroundings. Additionally, following the farm we took a trip to Ben Gurion’s grave, which gave us another time to reflect about Ben Gurion and his dreams for Israel.

Thursday, March 11:

The day we had been waiting for—departing the Negev for Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. Although we had enjoyed our stay in Yerucham, we were ready for a little civilization and to have the chance to meet up with friends and family. We spent the morning at Table to Table, where we divided and conquered a field to beets, pulling up and collecting over a ton. We had a nice system going, some people getting the crates and bringing them back, some people picking, and some twisting off the leaves. With our teamwork, we were able to accomplish more than what was expected of us. It may have looked like some of us had committed a murder with all of the beet juice all over us (my once white shirt is now

Pullin' those beets!

tie-dyed), but to me, this seemed like the day we really worked the hardest. Watching all of our beet-filled blue crates being stacked and taken away truly gave me a sense of accomplishment. Between yesterday and today, we had saved these farmers more than a month’s work.  Over a ton of beets! That’s a lot of beets. It was truly inspiring.

Finally, after a long week, we arrived at the Caesar Hotel in Jerusalem (which was a luxury compared to the hostel in Yerucham) and got a night out on Ben Yehuda, a famous hangout street in Jerusalem with a bunch of bars, shops, and restaurants. It was nice being able to get some downtime to meet up with friends and family in the area and discuss the trip with them. Also, you can’t have a trip to Israel without shopping…10 shekel scarves and earrings. Come on.

Friday, March 12:

Separating rocks from dirt.

And the hoe comes out again. Today we worked in Ein Kerem, another farm area in Jerusalem. We were broken up into multiple groups to do different tasks, such as building terraces, weeding, and passing rocks. My job was to separate and dig out the larger rocks from the dirt, and we made a kind of chain out of it: some of us would dig, pass our full buckets to someone, who would then toss the rocks into another pile and hand the empty bucket back to us. Although I was the victim of a bucket that “accidentally” landed on my head (James!!), it was just another aspect of the trip to laugh about later. Here it was difficult to visibly see the improvements we were making because we were simply setting a foundation for the next group, but we were satisfied by the comments of people who were on the trip the previous year who said they got to see the beautiful end result of their work.

Saturday, March 13:

A day of rest and reflection, and our final day in Israel. This is where I must return to my question from the very beginning of the article: was our work worth $2,500 per person, or would it have been better for the donors to simply donate $2,500 straight to the Blueprint Negev Project? As we sat in a circle, we were asked to think about these questions—what did the trip mean to us? How much of a difference did we make?

JNF ASB Bus 1! Photo credit Jenn Lonschein.

There were many different responses, and the sum total, for the most part, would be this: you cannot simply count the physical work that we had done this trip, but must also factor in the emotional aspect as well. If you are just talking numbers, it is hard to judge if you personally did $2,500 worth of work. What counts also is how the trip affected you and the people around you. I think each of us came out of this trip with a greater respect and understanding for the land of Israel. We all put down our mark on the land and learned a lot from our experience. This is an experience that will be with each of us for the rest of our lives. That is what makes this trip priceless. Not only that, but also the connection we made with the Israeli’s and immigrants on our work sights. We had an impact on the people we talked to and the children we played with. They saw what we were doing, and hopefully learned from our actions. Again, you cannot price relationships like that in a dollar amount.

“I had an amazing experience on the trip and I appreciate all the money that was raised for me so that I could go on the trip. No matter what the cost was I definitely feel that every penny put in was well spent.”

-Sarah B

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One species of fig wasp. Left: female; right: male.

During the two-day lifespan of an adult female fig wasp, each individual must find a young fig, climb inside, and deposit its eggs.  However, this isn’t as simple as it sounds.  In some areas, fig trees are sparse, and less than 1% of wasps are able to encounter the volatile cues of a receptive fig.  In addition, entry into the fig sometimes results in the loss of both wings and antennae of the females since the tunnel is so narrow.  Once inside, the female pollinates the flowers with pollen that she collected and stored in special sacs, and then uses her ovipositor (a long projection from the abdomen) to place her eggs into the developing flowers of the fig.  Afterwards, she dies (see www.figweb.org for more information).

The inside of a ripe fig.

As the fig develops, the larvae feed on plant material and reach maturity within three to twenty weeks (depending on the species).  Once they all chew their way out of the fig wall, males mate with females and then dig a tunnel for the females to leave the fruit.  Males die shortly after crafting this pathway.  Females gather pollen and then disperse to a new host fig.  Although there are exceptions, most figs have a specific species of pollinating fig wasp.  Generally, these wasps are unable to recognize cues from any other species of fig tree than their own (Cook and Rasplus 2003).

A flowering yucca. | Photo credit: Stan Shebs

A similar mutualism exists between the yucca moth and the yucca.  The moth is responsible for pollinating the yucca’s flowers, and in turn the yucca allows the moth to develop within some of its flowers.  This occurs in a stepwise fashion: a yucca moth will lay some eggs in a flower, then pollinate that flower, lay more eggs in a different flower, then pollinate that flower, etc.  Each partner is prohibited from cheating this system with life-threatening sanctions.  The yucca moth cannot lay too many eggs, or else the yucca will selectively abort those flowers, ending its supply of food.  Additionally, it can be hypothesized that the yucca moth will no longer pollinate flowers if the yucca continually aborts all of its larvae (Pellmyr 2003).

How can such relationships exist?  Essentially, the fig tree pays the wasp for its duties as a pollinator by feeding its larvae. The yucca plant also reinforces the pollinating activities of the yucca moth by providing its larvae with food and a place to develop.  Their relationships are so exact that both can only barely survive with the other.  The body of literature documenting and analyzing relationships like these is vast- the intense complexity gives rise to many questions regarding how these relationships evolved, how they can be so exceptionally synchronized, and how they can continue to exist for millions of years. Now think about how that lice got into your hair.

_______________________

www.figweb.org

Cook, J.M. and J. Rasplus. 2003. Mutualists with an attitude: coevolving fig wasps and figs. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 18(5): 241-248.

Pellmyr, O. 2003. Yuccas, yucca moths, and coevolution: A review. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 90(1): 35-55.

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That last reason is why I picked up the (mis)adventures of a good ol’ Holden Caulfield. Unfortunately, I read the book both too early in life (sometime in middle school) and too late (before sophomore year of college). So instead of ever seeing Holden as a reflection of my teenage angst and dissatisfaction with the world or having the “Salinger gets me!” notion, I just hated Holden. To this day, I can’t think of a character from any book that I dislike more, even considering those that some would consider vile. At least villains like Heathcliff have some passion about them; I’ve always considered Holden to be apathetic, or at best, inactive in response to his discontent. My dislike of Holden gave rise to a host of other personal issues with the book, including giving it a B- in terms of “stream of consciousness” quality and utter disgust at Holden’s lack of maturation as the book wraps up. All the wanton cursing I can get into; I just wish a similarly likable plot accompanied it.

However, when J.D. Salinger died this past January and my disgust with the popularity of his most well-known novel was rekindled, I decided to/was encouraged to dive a little deeper. I started with “Nine Stories,” then moved onto “Franny and Zooey,” and finished with “Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction,” and eventually realized that I love Salinger. It blows my mind that “Catcher in the Rye” is considered Salinger’s chef-d’oeuvre. Creating Holden Caulfield and capturing the essence of the teenage years is not nearly as remarkable as the characters, plot, and dialogue of his other works.

If after reading this, you decide to shoulder the task of reading the rest of Salinger’s work, I would suggest that you read the aforementioned pieces in the same order that I read them. I was encouraged to follow this order by a friend, and she knew what she was talking about. “Nine Stories” is a fairly easy read, but also gradually introduces you to the variety of characters and themes that Salinger explores. (I’m still getting over the breadth of view of humanity and thought related in these short stories.) Just as importantly, you get used to his use of dialogue and monologue, which, yes, is apparent in “Catcher in the Rye,” but is not at its best, at least in my opinion. That’s found in “Franny and Zooey,” a book dominated by the conversation between two (extremely well-read) siblings in the Glass family, one of whom is undergoing a life crisis. “Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction” is really two stories, both told by Franny and Zooey’s older brother: the first, recounting events after an almost-wedding, the second, well, introducing Seymour Glass.

While reading “Franny and Zooey,” I realized that the Glass family, not Holden, is Salinger’s masterpiece. Because they are involved in nearly all of the short stories in “Nine Stories” and both novels (ignoring “Catcher in the Rye”, it would be impossible to truly convey the nature and significance of Glass family in brief. Know this: Bessie Glass’s children are, quite simply, geniuses. The knowledge and thought process required of Salinger to create stories around, dialogue between, and monologue from these children is not apparent in “Catcher in the Rye.” To expound upon teenage angst is unexceptionable, no matter how well it’s done. To remark on the general human condition through a variety of extraordinary yet flawed, and as a friend said, “brilliant and tragic,” characters is incredible. As in the bulk of literature, the character that is perfectly relatable is not as interesting as the one(s) who challenge us.

Special thanks to friend and fellow Quad writer Anna Ward for making this article possible.

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by Emily Dickinson

I dwell in Possibility –

A fairer House than Prose –

More numerous of Windows –

Superior – for Doors –

Of Chambers as the Cedars –

Impregnable of Eye –

And for an Everlasting Roof –

The Gambrels of the Sky –

Of Visitors – the fairest –

For Occupation – This –

The spreading wide my narrow Hands

To gather Paradise –

This is the first post for my column! I am uber-excited about embarking on a journey of interpretation and wonderment with you all. The column, entitled, “How aMusing” will feature a poem and a discussion once a week. The discussions will mostly steam from my general environment as a student at Boston University and as a child of the world. I will use a poem, most likely from a different time and place, as a lens for analyzing and viewing how we live today. Please: don’t hesitate to state your differing opinions. I welcome them into my life like a fat kid welcomes strawberry cheesecake into his mouth.

This week I have chosen Emily Dickinson’s “I dwell in possibility.” It is one of my favorite poems, not just because I did an oral presentation on it and because it’s about how poetry is frickin’ awesome, but because Dickinson takes the once-restricting domain of the housewife, the home, and turns it into an almost mythical force of nature that outweighs prose.

Dickinson uses houses as metaphors for poetry and prose. She states that the house of poetry is more open to interpretation and readers (see the lines “More numerous of Windows” and “Of Visitors – the fairest”) than the house of prose. Unlike prose, poetry is limitless. According to Dickinson, It has a roof made of the sky, which unleashes the infinite uses and meanings of poetry.

Feel free to judge me on this, but this week I’m using Dickinson’s poem to highlight and emphasize the awesomeness that is to come this Friday! BU’s one and only performance poetry group, which I am honored to be a part of, Speak For Yourself (SFY), will be putting on a dazzling and mind-blowing performance at Marsh Chapel! No, your eyes have not fooled you. SFY has booked the beautiful chapel for their show, The Pen Commandments, this Friday, March 19^th, at 7 p.m.!  Doors will open at 6:30 p.m., and tickets are three dollars with a BU ID and five dollars without. Mere pennies compared to the immense amount of wisdom and insight you will gain.

Speak for Yourself’s goal is, “not only to promote spoken word poetry at BU through performances, but also to provide a forum where poets and poetry fans alike can discuss their thoughts and ideas, learn about events, meet friends and have fun.” (Taken from the group’s website at http://bu-sfy.com.)

For all of you out there who are not exactly best friends with religion: don’t fret your little hearts. The performance does not have much to do with God or religion at all, except maybe a hilarious and powerful surprise at the beginning of the show.

Speak For Yourself’s performance features a house of poems that is also as limitless as the sky in Dickinson’s “I dwell in possibility.” Their house may temporarily be a chapel, but that just makes it all the better to hear their thought-provoking and mesmerizing words vibrate like bees of truth in your mortal ears.

To learn more about BU’s Speak for Yourself and The Pen Commandments, visit the group’s website at BU or their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=info&ref=ts&gid=2200915029.

SFY's The Pen Commandments

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Some of the performing acts out of Boston are Girlfriends, The Needy Visions, The Woodrow Wilsons, and Manners. The event will also include the release of The Whitehaus Family Record Family Record, a double LP with 26 tracks that cover nearly three years of music with The Whitehaus.

The price of the show is marked on a sliding scale of $5-10.

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Lara Stone in Paris Vogue: Photo Courtesy J'adore Fashion Blog

Last month, I opened my March issue of Vogue magazine and came across an advertisement featuring models in blackface. Frankly, I was taken aback. As a black woman, I was offended, and I’m not the only one.

In recent months, the fashion industry has seen a rise in the trend of using blackface in magazine spreads. White models are caked in dark makeup to make them appear darker skinned. It began when Lara Stone posed in blackface in Paris Vogue and continued when Tyra Banks painted her competing models in cycle 13 of ANTM in dark makeup to change their ethnicities. Happily it seemed to ebb away after Sasha Pivovarova posed in blackface with Heidi Mount in V magazine. While proprietors of the trend insist that it is a creative decision meant to push the boundaries of fashion, sane-minded individuals maintain that the historical implications of blackface prevent the practice from being anything but offensive.

There are also the obvious questions that arise in a situation like this: If you want a darker skinned model, why not HIRE a darker skinned model? And though Italian Vogue has made a bold move by launching it’s new site Vogue Black to highlight black talent in the industry, fashion magazines continue to be devoid of faces of color.

International supermodel Naomi Campbell has publicly claimed that the fashion industry is an institution that remains prejudiced against African Americans and other people of color. She believes that the recession has made the situation worse, and that now advertisers are wary of using ethnic models in their campaigns for fear of economic backlash.

Lara Stone in Blackface: Photo Courtesy Black Voices

While some people don’t see the reason for the fuss (it is just a picture after all…) the fact remains that since its debut on the cultural spectrum, blackface has become synonymous with racism and racial prejudice. The very idea of blackface carries stereotypes about African-American people and their culture that still persist today, even though the practice had been all but eradicated by the end of the 19th century. Blackface mocks the progress that  people of African descent have been able to make over the last century by rehashing the negative way in which they used to be portrayed. People of other ethnicities do not appreciate being mocked for the stereotypes that have developed about them, so why should this be any different?

No matter which way you spin it, blackface has too many negative connotations to be anything other than offensive. But of course that’s just my opinion. Obviously I’m biased.

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