TBL Blog

Pick-pocketing LGBTQ Consumers

2008-12-12T12:12:00.001-05:00

A noticeable area in which the Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer (LGBTQ) community is largely ignored is in the world of advertising. I don’t know how many times I’ve flipped through a copy of Elle or Cosmopolitan without seeing a single gay advertisement or even photo spread containing same-sex affection. Opening a copy of The Advocate is an entirely different story, of course, because just about every ad in this publication is directed specifically to gays and lesbians.

According to Echelon Magazine, the source for GLBT Professionals, many national companies are hesitant to publish advertising directed towards the gay community in fear of retaliation from the largely intolerant conservative Christian Right. Companies fear that conservative readers and stakeholders will cancel subscriptions, sell their shares and pull advertising from the magazine, causing cuts in profits that the publication is not likely to recover from.

In the article “Lavender Dollars are Very Green” by David W. Unger, he explains that the proportion of advertising dollars to the amount of disposable income in the gay community is completely out of whack. According to the 2009 Gay Market Report on PinkBananaMedia.com, in 2007, there were an estimated 15 million homosexuals in America, giving this group about $690 billion in buying power. This group of homosexuals had greater buying power than both the Asian American and Hispanic American markets! That is a lot of money to be spent on products and services!

Not only that, but the buying power is estimated to reach $712 billion in 2008 and $835 billion in 2011. You would think that because the gays have such huge available spending power, companies would be vying to compete in advertising to get these dollars.

A minimal amount of $20 million is spent annually on advertising targeted to the gay consumer population, most of which Unger says is spent by HIV drug manufacturers. $20 million is spent to sway 15 million gay consumers to spend their $712 billion in disposable income on their companies’ products and services. That is roughly about $1.00 per LGBTQ person in America. If companies aren’t willing to put out the money to attract this largely untapped market, why should LGBTQ individuals support their companies by buying their products?

Unger stresses that “[the gay community] needs to be more loyal to those national advertisers who support [the community] in a big way.”

By spending money on products produced by companies that make no effort to draw in the LGBTQ community, the gay consumers are saying it’s okay to treat the community like they aren’t worth any money.

One way to tell how supportive a company is of the LGBTQ community is to check out Commercial Closet Association’s website. This non-profit rates companies and their ads on a scale of 1 to 100 based on how they incorporate themes of equality into their ads.
Among Commercial Closet’s top-rated companies were Levi’s, HBO and Apple. Among the worst were Wal-Mart, Dunkin Donuts and Cracker Barrel.

Sex: The Wonder Drug

2008-12-09T21:56:00.004-05:00

Yeah, as if you need more reasons to do it...

Lately all I’ve been hearing about are the negative effects of sex. Don’t get me wrong, unprotected sex is a definite one-way trip to STD land and/or pregnancy, but when done properly (and with protection), sex has many amazing healing properties. But remember, like most medicines, this one can prove to be quite addictive, so please take in moderation…

Throw away your aspirin!
Usually headaches are used as an excuse not to have sex; but the truth is, during and post-sex the body releases so much tension that the blood vessels in the brain expand, alleviating most headaches. Likewise, sex is a great cure for hangovers; it gets rid of the throbbing inside your head and relaxes abdominal muscles that strain during waves of nausea. Why spend the day with your head in a toilet when you could bang over your hangover?

Reduce your risk of prostate cancer.
Whether you’re fond of one-handed loving or intercourse, studies have shown that men who ejaculate often have a lower risk of developing prostate cancer.

Get some Zzzz’s.
Having an orgasm relaxes the body (almost the same as getting a full-body massage) and can induce a deeper and more satisfying sleep. That is, unless your partner snores.

Can’t get it up?
This one is for the men out there: Having problems getting or keeping it up? Try delaying ejaculation during intercourse; this is a type of Kegel exercise that helps strengthen the muscles in the penis that control the firmness of your erection and performance longevity. It can even help to cure erectile dysfunction.

Who needs calamine lotion?
The sweat produced from sex acts as a cleanser for your pores; it cleans out trapped dirt and bacteria that causes rashes and other skin irritations. It can even help clear up acne.

Charley Horse?
Potassium-rich bananas are a common and quick fix for the charley horse-sufferer. But the next time you’ve got a cramp in your muscle, grab the ‘other’ banana and get down to business. Sex relieves the stress and tension that cause cramps and charley horses.

A lay a day keeps the dentist away!
Your mouth speeds up saliva production during kissing and oral sex. The saliva acts as a cleaning agent for your teeth; it removes food particles, erodes plaque build-up and can even help prevent tooth decay.

Make love, not coffee.
Need an energy fix? Forget your daily brew, and hop in the sack instead! Having sex releases endorphins, gets your blood pumping, and stimulates your muscles and mind. It’s cheaper than coffee and there’s no crashing once the kick wears off because the energizing ‘agents’ come from within your body.

Books for the Bloodthirsty

2008-12-09T21:43:00.006-05:00

What to read now that you've read Twilight ten times already...

Wondering what to read, now that you’ve exhausted the Twilight series of all it has to offer its swooning fans? Edward Cullen may have brought sexy back, but these juicy reads can offer you a lot of bite for your buck.

The Sookie Stackhouse series

By Charlaine Harris

I’m not really into thriller or

mystery genres normally, but after reading the first book in the series, Dead Until Dark, I decided to make an exception. The series has become so popular that the books have even been made into an HBO television series, TrueBlood, starring Anna Paquin. The books follow Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic waitress in Bon Temps, Louisiana, where vampires have recently ‘come out of the coffin’ to the general public. Sookie finds that the only people she cannot read the minds of are the undead. So naturally she becomes tangled up in their world…and their beds. If you are looking for a fun, quick and sexy read, Harris publishes a new novel in this series twice a year, so readers never have to wait very long for another installment of Sookie’s life as a ‘fang banger’.

Blue Bloods series

By Melissa De La Cruz

The Blue Bloods series is a relatively new series that is very Gossip Girl-esque in the fact that it is set in New York’s Upper East side, in a boarding school for Manhattan’s elite. The main character, Schuyler, is wealthy, but chooses not to dress expensively. She’s well-liked, but prefers to spend her time as a societal outcast. Around her sixteenth birthday, she starts blacking out unexpectedly. Suddenly students begin disappearing, some turning up dead, and Schuyler is a suspect. Upon a visit to the family doctor, she is told that she is a Blue Blood, one of an ancient cult of vampires. And not only is she a vampire, but most of the people she’s ever known are Blue Bloods too. Schuyler has to find out who is murdering her classmates before someone accuses her.

Vampire Academy series

By Richelle Mead

This series is definitely worth a read. The protagonist Rose is feisty and a total ass-kicker in a boarding school for vampires and their guardians, giving the books a Harry Potter-meets-Buffy the Vampire Slayer feel. Strigoi, an evil vampire cult with the thirst to kill, seem to have broken through the protective wards around the school and now threaten life at St. Vladimir’s Academy. All the while, Rose is falling for her hot, taut-bodied instructor, though she and everyone else knows that two guardians cannot be together. Not to mention a student and an instructor! This series is definitely tantalizing and Mead continues to add to it; the latest installment, Shadow Kiss, was just released mid-November.

What's on your XXXmas List?

2008-12-09T21:27:00.006-05:00

Hot Toys in Santa's Sack this Year

When it comes to shopping for your significant other, it can get kind of boring after a while. Same lame gift card, different year. If you really want to impress your other half, it takes some thought and effort, but thankfully, I’ve taken care of that for you. Here are 5 sexy stocking stuffers that are sure to get your S.O. ho-ho-horny!

BodiTalk Escort ($59)

You’ll never have to have awkward phone sex again because this teeny tiny bullet vibrator is perfect for couples who will be separated for the holidays! The vibrator is programmed to your cell phone to send out pulses as soon as you make or receive a phone call. Now you’ll feel better about going over your minutes this season!

Good Clean Love ($16)

Become a lean, green, lovemaking machine whenever you feel like jingling your bells this winter! This almost all-natural lube is made from 99.99% vegan ingredients like lemon and vanilla, and it’s petroleum free, so there’s no goopy mess. GCL comes in both flavored and non-flavored styles.

Nipplettes Vibrating Clamps ($22)

This is a great gift for the kinky people out there. The pinchers provide a very subtle sensation, rather than a ‘clamp’ because of their velvety texture. Nipplettes Vibrating Clamps are the next step up from fuzzy handcuffs, and they make an awesome sexy stocking stuffer!

Naughtibod ($69)

This neato vibrator syncs to your MP3 player to send out pulses to the beat of your favorite songs. The best part: no batteries necessary! Just plug it in to your iPod and, well… plug it in! And if you’re really in the (holiday) mood, make a Christmas playlist and turn a Silent Night into a more scintillating one.

Onyx Sexual Exploration Game for PC ($35)

How many times have you had to drag your boyfriend away from his vide

o game to spend time with you? If you had to pause to count, then Onyx was made for you and your gamer. Onyx is a sexual exploration game for your PC that invites 2-6 adults to play at a time. The game involves different sexual scenarios and timed challenges with a game board-feel. The makers of Onyx describe it as a cross between Monopoly and Dungeons and Dragons. There is a free download version as well, but the ‘Spice Level’ is limited to mild, so I’d suggest purchasing the full version. So if you’re looking to crank up the heat this winter, shut off the Xbox and turn on your seXbox.

Obama: the 44th white president?

2008-09-19T21:08:00.004-04:00

Most people would say this girl is both black and Asian.

Then how come...

Obama is automatically labeled black? I have rarely heard him referred to as white. He's half white obviously meaning he is just as white as he is black. How come even if just one of your grandparents is black, are you labeled black? This doesn't seem to happen to people who are mixed black, Asian or Hispanic, or does it?

"As he campaigns to become the nation’s first black president, Barack Obama likes to say that we’ve begun to put that divisive history behind us." - New York Times.

I sat in a field for 3 hours on 9/11

2008-09-11T00:53:00.005-04:00

My 9/11 experience was really strange. At the time I was attending an Sudlersville Middle in Sudlersville, MD on the Eastern Shore. My school had a student body of about 300.

It all started around 8:00AM. I was in Mrs. Massey's 8th grade chemistry class. I think we were doing 'current event' reports when all of the sudden Mr. Bolyard, the social studies teacher came in the room and started whispering frantically and making all sort of emphatic hand gestures.

Teachers retreated to the teacher's lounge and closed the door so that students couldn't hear the TVs. Someone started a rumor that a bomb went off in New York. It didn't make much sense and the teachers wouldn't tell us anything. Then Mr. Bolyard turned on the news in his classroom (a move that I later heard got him fired) and his social studies class spread the news that an airplane had hit the World Trade Center.

By the time the Principal Sharp made an announcement to evacuate the school, the second plane had hit and there were rumors that there were more targets to come. All 300 of us were taken outside where we sat in the athletic fields for at least 3 hours. Sharp told us that we were a potential target because Camp David was in close proximity to the school. She said that it would be a while until the buses came because they were taking the elementary school children home, then they'd come for us and the high school students.

Some kids started singing patriotic songs and one teacher brought a guitar. It was very hippy-ish. A lot of girls held hands and sobbed on each other. My bus was the very last to come, but I eventually got home. After that I don't remember much. Just that we went to dinner at some place on Kent Island and watched George Bush in his dirty sweatsuit addressing America. And then we went to K-Mart to buy red,white and blue nail polish, ribbons, flags, you name it.

The strange part about the whole experience was that a few years later I found out that Camp David is about 4 or 5 hours away from the middle school I went to. So I'm not sure why the principal seemed to think that our tiny pinprick-on-the-map town was under fire.

This experience definitely influenced my view on censorship. I felt belittled by the fact the the teachers would not let us watch history happening in front of our eyes. I think by the time students are teens they are able to comprehend a national crisis.

So hard to believe it's been 7 years...

2008-09-11T00:49:00.004-04:00

...and even harder to believe I was only 13 when it happened. I was just a baby, practically-- I had no idea what the world was going to be up against. The passing of time doesn't really help though, does it? Nothing ever could.

It was only the second week of my freshman year of high school. I was in my third period class, which happened to be ROTC, and my principal (the great one that everybody loved, not the horrible replacement that came two years later) came on the intercom and changed our lives forever. His voice was shaking; he knew there were no right words. There was no sugar coating: "It looks like a plane has hit one of the Twin Towers." There was plenty of nervous laughter in our classroom at first. How bad of a pilot could someone possibly be? And then we turned on the TV and all the laughter stopped.

I've heard that many of the teachers at my school left the TV off and tried to go on as normal, but not my teacher. We stayed there, transfixed, nowhere else to look. I watched the live news feed as the second plane hit. I watched it live as both buildings fell. Seeing it that way had such a huge impact on the way I've seen it ever since. I could be angry at my teacher for that, but there's no use. We've all seen it a thousand times since; there's no way I could have ever avoided confronting it with my own eyes.

What will I tell my children and grandchildren? Will they feel anything when one day they see those same images? For their sakes, I hope they don't feel the same pain, but I hope they learn more from it than we have so far. And boy, do I hope we never have to see anything like it ever again.

TBL Remembers 9/11

2008-09-11T00:48:00.003-04:00

On this day seven years ago a great American tragedy happened. The Bottom Line asks everyone to keep those families who suffered losses that day in their hearts and thoughts today.

Where were you on 9/11/01?

When life gives you lemons....

2008-09-09T23:26:00.007-04:00

Most people tell you to make lemonade, right? Well, in the case of Meatloaf, popular rock artist, he prefers to state, "Life is a lemon and I want my money back!" Are there just days when you roll out of bed and feel this way? Was that day today? Or perhaps tomorrow? Or maybe even the last entire week of school?

~Jenna Bryant
Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26289444@N00/215829964/

Watermain Break Update

2008-09-05T16:15:00.001-04:00

Photo by Rose Trimper

Looks like they got the hole patched up!

FSU hugging trees tighter!

2008-09-05T11:08:00.003-04:00

I just got an email from one of my professors asking us to turn in our assignments via Blackboard rather than wasting paper and printing them. I get really excited when people take the initiative to make small changes like this because it means larger ones could be on their way to make our campus even greener.

Are your professors making an effort to be more green this semester?

New Bloggers!

2008-09-03T23:28:00.006-04:00

Welcome to the TBL Blog's new bloggers, Julie Borowski and Jenna Bryant!

Major Watermain Break by Cumberland Hall

2008-09-03T23:16:00.006-04:00

Photo By Rose Trimper

Around 6:30PM police got a call about a small water leak near the Baptist Student Ministry building located adjacent to the Mud Lot behind Cumberland Hall. The leak turned into a huge flood of water out of a watermain under the road, causing a sink hole to form. (You can see the giant hole in the photo above.) I've talked to some of my friends living in the dorms, and they say they still have running water. But who knows, maybe school will be cancelled...

Abstinence-Only Education: Is it practical??

2008-09-01T18:12:00.003-04:00

With today's announcement that GOP Vice President candidate Sarah Palin's 17 year old daughter, Bristol is in her second trimester of pregnancy, it leaves me wondering... when will people realize that we need safe-sex education, in addition to abstinence-only education?

Teens are going to continue having pre-marital sex and we need to be logical and proactive about it. So instead of decorating our classrooms with 'Abstinence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder' posters and hoping beyond hope that our kids make smart choices, we should in addition be teaching them about contraceptives.

By suggesting this I am not encouraging promiscuity. I'm thinking realistically.

Image courtesy Peregrin

Hurricane Gustav fizzling out

2008-09-01T15:42:00.003-04:00

By Monday afternoon, Hurricane Gustav had dwindled down to a category 1 storm, after unleashing its fury about 100 miles southwest of New Orleans.

A FEMA official in New Orleans stated that the levees are holding up and at the moment the only threats are minor flooding and the property damage resulting from water damage and high winds. The death toll for New Orleans is not expected to be significant, and that is what matters.

With 1,600 dead after Hurricane Katrina, the government has had to make major changes to ensure that a disaster like that did not recur.

Nearly 2 million evacuated from the city, leaving only 10,000 housebound by stringent dawn to dusk curfews, as imposed by the city police.

The storm continues to wane as it makes its way through Texas.

Image courtesy BBC News

Frostburg get your fit on!!

2008-08-31T15:35:00.004-04:00

Abs of Steel's stud Scott Cole will be hosting a health and wellness fair in the A.R.M.A.H. (Lane Center) from 1:00PM to 4:00PM on September 5th, 2008. The fair is a campus-wide initiative to get students to make healthier choices, funded by AstraZenica Pharmaceuticals.

He will be speaking on the topic of health and wellness, and shortly after there will be a 2 mile campus walk.

So stop Facebook stalking and hop down to the ARMAH for some freebies, health screenings and some eye candy!

New Orleans' mayor quickly resolves evacuation problems

2008-08-30T17:41:00.005-04:00

So Hurricane Gustav is now a category 4 hurricane, headed toward New Orleans. New Orleans Mayor Nagin is urging tourists out of the city and tomorrow morning the city will put a mandatory residential evacuation into effect.

There were a few bumps already in the plan, but thankfully they were resolved once Nagin realized them. See, the city arranged for buses to take the evacuees out of the area, but before boarding the city required paperwork to process each person. This created a backlog, slowing down the evacuation process. Once Nagin noticed this problem, he quickly addressed it and ordered that all processing happen once the evacuees were safely out of the city.

I'm glad to see that the government is learning their lesson after Hurricane Katrina.

Image courtesy AOL.com

Is Palin taking on too much?

2008-08-30T14:43:00.007-04:00

Sarah Palin was just chosen as McCain's running mate for Vice Pres. I was reading her bio on McCain's website and she talks about her five kids, aged 5 months to 18 years. And one of which is a 5 month old with downs syndrome.

Many say that being a mom is a 24/7 job, but then again so will the job co-running a country. By no means am I saying that a woman should give up her career for her family. I think that it's unfair that women should have to worry about how to juggle both, when you rarely, if ever, hear men worrying about that same thing. But do you think that Palin's dual role will inevitably help her or hurt her in the polls?

I want your opinions!!

Image courtesy http://gov.state.ak.us

We're Baaaack!!!

2008-08-30T14:07:00.003-04:00

Hey Everyone!

The Bottom Line's Staff Blog is up and running again this year! So bookmark this page and check back daily to see what your fellow undergrads have to say about your campus, your community, politics, entertainment and more!!

The AT Wire's Continuance After The Bottom Line

2007-04-11T12:48:00.000-04:00

Well, my finaly semester at Frostburg State University will be ending soon. If there is one thing I'm so glad that I got involved in, it is The Bottom Line. I've been going over my columns in preparation to send out writing samples and have noticed the changes in my writing that took place. I have refined my writing skills over the past two years while writing weekly columns. It has been hard work, but a lot of fun. I have written a current total of 36 video game columns, 1 feature story, and 1 editorial on professors and technology since I've been with TBL. Yet, now that my undergraduate career is coming to an end, the question remains: What now?

Jeremy Bruno, our Editor in Chief, writes a weekly column called The Voltage Gate, a column/blog that breaks hardcore science and biology down for people. It started as a blog for him and will continue to be a blog long after he has left FSU. My column, on the other hand, began as a column and, by his recommendation, has become a blog. My individual columns aren't readable on my blog because I post separate and different entries isntead of just copying and pasting my columns. Unfortunately, I didn't keep up with my blog and the last dated entry was in late January.

Well, I've realized the importance of running a blog, especially since there is a shifting of power and knowledge going on between media outlets and the people. So, I'm starting up The AT Wire blog again, and this time, I'm going to "jeremy-bruno" the hell out of it.

Blogging!

2007-04-04T20:04:00.000-04:00

People say that I write insensitive blogs. The truth is, those are the only blogs you guys respond to..... Look at the number of responses for the blog about the rainbow. I want to write blogs that aren't controversial, but you don't respond to those. Someone once told me that a great writer sparks conflict, initiates discussion, and does this by any means necessary. Someone also told me that a great writer does his/her research. I am working on this part lol. I don't mean to be offensive when I write. I just want you guys to respond. My point is, it worked.

:)

2007-03-16T03:01:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone has a nice Spring Break!!!

Is it Spring Yet?

2007-03-11T11:46:00.000-04:00

So, this weekend my mom and sister, Katie came up to visit me for the first time. It was amaaaaaaaaazing. The weather was so nice and warm, which hopefully means the snow is almost over!! Anyway, I took them both up to Dans Rock and they really like it up here.

Snow Day

2007-03-07T08:06:00.000-05:00

What does everyone have planned for this unexpected (but much needed) day off?

Trigger Word

2007-03-06T23:49:00.001-05:00

I used a trigger word in a previous blog. The word was homosexual. My use of this word didn't sit too well with readers. I want to hear from you now that the smoke has somewhat cleared. Why were you offended? What exactly did I say to offend you? And, how did you interpret my blog? I will respond only to comments that are respectful. I look forward to hearing from you!