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> CR Interviews
A Short Interview With T Edward Bak
posted November 10, 2007
A lot of comics cross my desk. While I'm pleased by a great many of them, I'm surprised by very few. The biggest surprise in recent memory came just a couple of weeks ago in the form of T Edward Bak's Fall release from Bodega,
Service Industry
. I missed out on both the serial version and the mini-comics version of this work, and I think my sole exposure to Bak's comics was his crude but energetic contribution to the Victorian horror anthology
. I was therefore unprepared for the visually engaging cartooning, smart writing and formal playfulness of the new, over-sized publication. I read it three times in a row. A mix of autobiography touching on the cartoonist's time working in restaurants, fantasy and polemic, Bak leaps back and forth between settings and storytelling modes with ease and grace. It's a solidly crafted and narratively compelling comic book, done in an idiosyncratic style that distinguishes it from other works of its type. I dream of a world of constant discoveries like this one. By the end of the book, I was thrilled to add to my list yet another cartoonist I plan on following for a good, long time.
I spoke to Bak at his home in Vermont, where he was getting ready to watch
Five Easy Pieces
Am I right in thinking you're some sort of artist-in-residence at CCS?
Basically, I'm the fellow for the
Center for Cartoon Studies
right now. It's kind of an artist-in-residency position. I was awarded the fellowship and came up for the 2007-2008 school year. They have a two-year program here.
I don't want to say it landed in my lap. I went after it. I was living in
at the time. I had been living in
and moved back to Portland a couple of years back. I was out having breakfast with
Zack Soto
James Sturm
called me right before we sat down. That was March or April this year. I started talking with people here at the school, and they were telling me, "Come on up! The sooner the better, you can get settled and acclimated." I'm like, "That sounds great." So I get up here in June and there's nobody fucking here.
They're all gone. I just got here and sat around and started to try to get acclimated -- but I still don't feel acclimated.
Rural Vermont
, it's like 2500 people in
this community
. Athens is like 50,000 people. This is so much smaller. It's New England, so there are all these little towns five to ten miles apart. It's not totally isolated. But there are no big cities around here at all.
Did the fellowship come from the school itself?
Yeah, it's from the school.
So what do you do as a fellow? Do you teach? Are you there as a resource?
I work on my own projects and I'm a resource if they want to use me. I don't think I've been very useful. [laughter] I think they're like, "He doesn't have anything to say; we're not going to consult him for anything." I'm accessible to the students if they need me. I've made one presentation so far, and I'm expected to make more. I might have a presentation next month;
Steve Bissette
asked me to do something.
I'm working on a project with the students that's a rotating door comic strip, so each one will do a strip about something historical in the area.
Upper Vally Ephemera
. I'll be the editor and pitch it around to newspapers. This is my idea; I want to get them involved, get them published, see how deadlines can be worked out and give them an idea of what it's like to do a weekly strip. I'm sure we can get a newspaper in the area to pick it up. I'm into doing small projects like that with the students.
I know that dealing with students can be interesting for artists because you're facing younger people and playing a different role than you might be used to playing. That can be unsettling for some people.
I've never been in a position like this, I can tell you that. I've found it to be quite a challenge, because I don't feel like... I was actually just talking about this earlier. I felt pretty enthusiastic about being involved with the school in this aspect because I thought these students have to be really amped about new comics, new work, new artists, and thought this would be a good opportunity to see what they think, see what they're going to do, see what they're interested in doing. Some of them are interested in new stuff, but there's a really solid focus on history and on homework that's comics based, they're very involved in school work that I've kind of had to get into the position where I hang back. I need to be focused on my work and the project I'm working on with the students. They have enough to deal with it as it is; they don't need me as the fellow or whatever bothering them. I don't want to challenge the instructors and contradict anyone. Just trying to have my own space and my own work at this point.
The first time I remember ever seeing your work was
. Were you a latecomer, or was I just not aware of you for a very long time?
I'm a latecomer. I had done a couple of small, self-published runs of things. I had done a comics/card project
Firefly Waltz
that I was really excited about at the time which was handmade and was really different. A few people got that. That was the second time I lived in Portland and I was beginning to make friends with some cartoonists on the west coast. Around this time,
Dylan Williams
Ben Catmull
asked me to participate in the
project. I was really excited because it was the first real anthology I was going to have anything to do with. So I jumped at that. I hadn't really done anything like that before. That was 2002, I think.
The earliest thing I had done before that on my own was
which I started in Georgia. I think the first one was 2002, and I think
Firefly Waltz
was 2002 and
came out a little bit later. That's basically how I kind of got started doing my comics. I had always had an interest in it, but I don't think I was ready until '99 or 2000 to really get serious about it. I had been working on a lot of different ideas up until that point.
How do you look back on the FLUKE experience? One thing that someone wrote about FLUKE is that it was more about celebrating that scene than about a showcase, that it was great just to find out who was in town and who was working on what. That's not exactly a big commercial aspiration. Seeing that was five years ago now, how do you look back on that time?
In Georgia I was isolated from the cartoonists who I felt more of a kinship with on the west coast and in
New York
. I really wanted to do something different. I thought, this is Athens, Georgia, which has a reputation for its music scene. There's a lot of arts, too, and I thought it would be interesting to have everything together in one place, music and comics, have it all in one space, and encourage everyone who was doing comics in the area to come. I didn't even know about
at the time, I had no idea what I was doing. I had no idea to delegate authority. I had no idea what was going on.
On a whim I got a hold of
Jeff Mason
and Chris
. They were like, "Sure, we'll help you out." So they ended up being a couple of early sponsors with
Top Shelf
. We had local businesses who chipped in here and there. We set it up in a bar. We did the comics thing with local people. One or two people came from way out of state. One guy came from Texas. The guy who does
Optical Sloth
, Kevin [Bramer], he came down.
Sam Henderson
Rich Tommaso
came a couple of the years I was involved.
I had no idea what I was doing. I was homeless at the time. My girlfriend had just kicked me out. [laughter] I'd lost my job. I had nothing. I was losing my mind, and this was the only thing I had. It gave me some focus. One of the artists who worked for the local newspaper really liked my card thing and she offered to put it on the front cover of the newspaper. For me that was like, holy shit. It was some kind of validation. People responded to it. Later that year I began working on the
Service Industry
comic strip.
That kind of community building -- has that been good for you to have these relationships?
Yeah. I think I was skeptical of SCAD artists in the beginning, and I didn't know how that was going to turn out.
Drew [Weing] and Eleanor [Davis]
moved to Athens and started working with Robert Newsome and
Patrick Dean
. I don't know if you've seen
the new FLUKE anthology
, but it's fucking unbelievably beautiful. It's one of the nicest anthologies I've ever seen. That's five years after we did this hand-stapled Xeroxed thing. I haven't had anything to do with it over the past few years, but seeing that is like, "Wow." Seeing it at
just blew me my mind. It looks so beautiful. They did such a great job. Drew and Eleanor are phenomenal cartoonists, too.
They're horrible people, though. Jerks.
[laughs] Yeah, especially Eleanor. No, they are both genuine sweethearts.
Can you tell me how
Service Industry
started in terms of the concept involved?
Originally, the idea came from how I had been working in food service and hospitality since high school, off and on, odd jobs. After FLUKE I finally did land a decent job working in a public library. I was also working nights in a restaurant in downtown Athens. I'd had this idea for many years, that it would be great to have something set in a restaurant, a day to day kind of thing. I wanted to do a strip about this and started working on this idea with this ensemble cast, all these great characters. All these interactions. But none of that actually worked out in the strip. I kept writing this autobiographical stuff over and over. I never had the chance to put these characters in there.
It ended up being a monologue with the occasional character popping in and saying something. Then for a while it had an anti-war angle because for the first time since high school I was fired up about what was going on. It was so mind-boggling. I started reacting to that stuff in the comic strip. I wanted to do something more autobiographical, more about me and my life. I started working on this story and wanted to examine some personal stuff. I had nothing to lose, so I could throw everything at it. It was very stressful. When it was finished I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown, actually. But it turned out OK. It enabled me to clear some family cobwebs out, too.
So the book that
's done is that story, the more focused autobiographical run.
Now, it was
that was running this originally.
Flagpole Magazine
, yes.
It's an over-sized book; how big were the pages that ran in
Each page was one week of the strip.
Good lord.
Yeah. [laughs] If you jumped in like week four or five you were never going to get it. And some people didn't!
Charles Burns
had warned me, "Don't try to give them anything more than four or five weeks. You'll lose them." I'd seen it with
Big Baby
; that was tough to follow. I was like, "I don't care! I'm going to throw everything into this." So I did.
The thing is, not all of it really ran in order. I'd get working on a week and I'd be too close to a deadline and have to crank something else out which didn't end up in the book. It would totally throw people off. I tried to keep some sense of continuity, but some weeks it didn't work. I was really excited when I first self-published it, because people could read what I'd originally intended. Some people did and they were like, "This is great." So I knew it was okay after that. That was how I'd wanted to build the story.
gave me a great opportunity. I'd like to thank Larry Tenner and Pete McCommons, the production guy and the editor respectively, who encouraged me from the beginning.
You use a really nice wash effect, and even some color. Was
able to handle that?
Everything looked like a gray-tone wash. They didn't print anything in color. They put the color strips on-line, so you could look at it there. Some people followed it that way, too. There was nothing printed in color. We ran everything as drawings. Even the color stuff looked like black and white wash drawings.
The wash was really attractive, I thought; were they printed on nice enough paper it turned out?
It turned out OK.
Were you ever worried about the production aspects of doing a work in a weekly magazine instead of in a comics publication of some sort?
Not really, because I knew it would get collected and published. I was like, "In the paper it can run like this, but when people want to see it full size..." This new book is almost to size; the originals are just a little bit larger.
I want to ask you about some of your formal choices. I don't see a lot of cartoonists doing this, but you run text through multiple panels, not quite indiscriminately, but in a way that your panels are no longer discrete units. You'll start a sentence in one panel and end it three panels later.
There wasn't enough room in that panel!
I wanted to have the juxtaposition of that visual movement accompanying, for lack of a better word, a lyrical kind of flow. One holding the other's hand through the narrative. I was aware of how I was going to do it, but I let it happen pretty naturally. I felt pretty instinctive about it. It happened naturally, but I knew that's how I wanted it to go. When I had that form to follow, I let it flow out that way.
You use a lot of different visual approaches page to page. One page is a suite of panels, others have continuous backgrounds. Did that also flow organically?
I wanted to do as much as I could but I wanted to maintain some consistency of the mood, and my own iconography, thematically the same ideas. One thing that was kind of a challenge is when I started working in the negative, the blacks, with kind of an inverted approach. I didn't turn that around, that was drawn on black paper with colored pens. I knew when I started doing that I was like, "I'm getting near the end," because the style was changing into something else. I wanted to see it all the way through, but when it was finished it was finished. I was like, "I have nothing more to say about this." I had fulfilled what I intended. But there are a lot of playful elements I'd like to return to, the submarine with the characters in there and the little ninja-bats and robots and stuff.
On those black pages you're a lot more verbal. It has a "furiously written essay" feel to it more than a comics feel. That kind of text-heavy shift isn't something that most cartoonists are comfortable doing. Were you worried about loading up on the text part of it, or is that another thing you felt was needed?
I felt it was all part of this narrative, and I knew there were symbols I could count on when I was on my soapbox. I knew I could throw them in there to get the idea across and it was something I wasn't going to rely on for the rest of the strip or the rest of the book, but the emphasis there was on the text, and I wanted to keep the visual symbolism very simple.
One of your more striking icons is the skeletal angel. Where did that come from?
That originates in a movie called
The World According to Garp
, based on
the John Irving novel
. In the movie, Duncan, Garp's oldest son, runs around on Halloween in this costume, and the youngest son, Walt, who's dressed as a bear, is telling Garp how bears aren't afraid of anything except death, and then he dies later on. There's this foreshadowing with Duncan following Garp and Walt around and jumping out and scaring them both at some point.
I'm also referring to
[Jose Guadalupe] Posada
, the Mexican printmaker from the late 19th Century, who used these types of skeletons and
in so much of his work. To me, that icon enabled me to have this visual representation of something that was culturally significant to me but also referred to these other ideas of the disguise of death, how life and death are aspects of the same thing. The figure of death moves through different aspects of the work. That was something I wanted to play around with. I'm probably too ambitiously philosophical.
There's a real ruminative quality to your work in that you're continually processing things that have happened to you. In the black pages suite, there's this death motif, and the concerns of the strip seem more immediate than reflective because of it. In general, when you hold this work in your hands, do you look at what's been collected as a satisfying statement? Do you feel it was worth working through the issues involved?
I know that it is for me. Thematically, the work for me is about making sense of things on your own terms. That's basically what I had moved towards. When I was able to get that out, for me, there was kind of a catharsis to it. It made me feel... it lightened my load a bit. I felt this was something I was compelled to do, that I needed to do, that I needed to get it out there. I still do, I still want to see what else I have to say. It's a process, something I'm continuing to figure out.
There's definitely a closed circle aspect to this book. This seems like something that you can both stand on and do new work as well as return to if you wanted later on. Speaking of which, what do you have planned? Are you ever going to do that project you talked about where you go to various cities and speak to people in the service industries?
Not right now, but I was going to go down to Georgia, there's an exhibition in Georgia, a comic exhibition I was recently invited me to. I won't be able to make it, but I'm going to do
a signing at Giant Robot in New York
. Then I'm going to come back here and Randy Chang of Bodega and I are going to
Expozine in Montreal
. I'm going to do some small signing events, including Giant Robot on the 20th. I may go back to Georgia later.
Were you happy with the way the book turned out in terms of the production and printing?
Yeah. There were some minor issues that came up. Randy and I were both stressed out about it at first. Then when I saw it, I was like, "We have nothing to worry about. This is fantastic." I think it looks swell. If it gets reprinted, we can fix a couple of colors. But otherwise, I think it turned out fine and Randy does, too.
Other than the student strip, what's next comics-wise?
There's a
Drawn and Quarterly Showcase
in the spring of 2008. I have a story in there. There's
Orchid 2
which is going to be maybe sometime next year. But my piece was finished two years ago, so now I kind of want to re-draw it.
Eric Reynolds
says he's been dying to get you into
. Will that happen?
Hopefully I can start on something by the end of this year. I do have a secret project that I'm working on, but I just had a sketchbook stolen from me with a lot of my ideas and stuff for that. I couldn't even draw for a week. I was like, "Holy shit." I kept calling the bus station and they were like, "Nobody's turned it in, sorry!" It's been over a week since I lost it and I know I've gotta let it go. It really blows. There's that. Before I left Portland I signed a contract with an agent who'll be pitching a graphic novel project to publishers early in 2008, so I'm working on that, too. It's an autobiographical examination of memory based on the story of
Orpheus and Eurydice
, and like
Service Industry
goes back and forth between different stories.
* cover to the new book is at top
* all other art taken from
Service Industry
interiors except for the
page, which is the fourth image counting down from the top
* as is usual, all copyrights to Mr. Bak or the appropriate copyright holder
* Mr. Bak would like to emphasize that we were kidding about Drew Weing and Eleanor Davis being jerks; they are indeed swell people
Service Industry
, T Edward Bak, Bodega, over-sized magazine format, 32 pages, October 2007, $9.95.
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text:
This is an easy to use prefab which has a built in animation of the Vault Door opening.
Includes the 3D StudioMax 2011 scene file for easy modification!
Easy to follow instructions to import into your project or scene included!
The Unity Web preview shows the opening animation which can be scripted within your scene or project.
Visit the web preview for a closer look at the file included. Enjoy!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Lirik Lagu
Big Tymers
Good Friday
Good Friday
Big Tymers
[Mack 10]
Hoo Bangin' and Cash Money
Hustlin' every Frday
Got a package on Wednesday, Thursday I broke it up
Now Friday done came, today we cookin' up
Ain't gettin' loaded nigga, no time for fuckin' up
I'm breakin' niggaz of with bricks from hust-a-lers
The hood done changed cause niggaz is comin' up
Ya short me, I'ma have to blow your hood up
The feds on my ass but I need my change
So I could ride Hummers, Jags and Bentleys man
[Manny Fresh]
It's that day, phat day
Kidnappin' and gun play
I need my riches from you bitches and I can't stay
Now that the flavor that I savor neighbor, 20 inch thangs
Rag on my head, white T-shirt and bagette chains
Mac like roni the one and only
Nigga Puff like Daddy and I'm pretty like Tony
Friday, lie day, tell the lil nigga I'll pay 'em
And when he come up with the product, ya'll niggaz spray 'em
Now why they
Had to do me on Friday
Chorus: B.G. (2x)
It's Friday, nigga on the block straight shinin'
Runnin' a bitch down, tryin' to get it I'm grindin'
Sellin' 2 for 1's what ever nigga I got it
Them checks came out so the set straight poppin'
[Lil' Wayne]
Listen, listen, listen, la
Weezy-We, movin' 20 ki's a week
On a good friday it's like easy street
Breakin' down whole chickens, to quarters and halves
You gould get it harded than slabs or softer than sand
If you come around my course nigga
Askin' for the short nigga
Not on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I be duckin' the law nigga
You know I got that raw nigga, bags to bricks
Whole things goin' for 10 and ounces for 6
Look it's iceberg nigga expect the worst
Friday done fell on the first and I got that work
And if I fron the whole thing, I'ma ask for 11
If I front a half a thing, I'm taxin' ya 7
Cause I gotta ride dubs nigga runnin' whatever
A CMR standard nigga got a flosser Kompressor
I got a extra 223, and my pockets to spend
And on the next Friday, I'ma do it again
Chorus: B.G. (2x)
[Mack 10]
Man first it was a hard night
And that was good Friday, I got to duck 'til I'm special on the hard white
I'm ridin' 20 inches, flossin', stay shinin'
I'm the boss, I get chickens at cost and stay grindin'
Don't make me put on the bass and so I'm bout to start hoopin'
I'll remake 2 out a 1 so I can get hootin' and recoopin'
My game gettin' strong and my profit gettin' long
I bust the whole chick down and sell it all in zones
Try to beat me or cheat me and get your shirt stained up
And run for pop those hollows towards the door and freeze your brain up
All hustlin' hit the stores and turn the flame up
Left the water bubblin' and rocked the caine up
So Baby, you Wayne and Fresh y'all get the machetes
Put it in B.G. cook it and y'all chop it when it's ready
And when you come to my hood and you lookin' for them thangs
Mack 10 is the name on the Caddy door now what
[Manny Fresh]
Why they
Had to do me on Friday
Why they
Had to persue on Friday
Why they
Had to do me on Friday
Why they
Had to persue on Friday
Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot
Daftar lirik lagu
Big Tymers
#1 Stunna
10 Wayz
Against The Wall
Back Up (feat. Gilly & Juvenile)
Beat It Up
Big Ballin'
Big Money Heavyweight
Big Tymers
Cutlass, Monte Carlo's, & Regals
Down South
Drop It Like It's Hot
Gangsta Girl
Get Your Roll On
Good Friday
Got Everything
Hennessy And Xtc
Hood Rich (still Fly)
How You Luv That?
I'm Coming
Millionaire Dream
Money And Power
My Life
My People
Nigga Couldn't Know
No Love
Numba One Stunna
Oh Yeah
On Top Of The World
Pimp On
Playboy (Don't Hate Me)
Preppy Pimp
Project Bitch
Project Chick
Southern Boy
Still Fly
Stun'n (remix)
Suge And Pac, Puff And Big
Tear It Up
This Is How We Do
This Is How We Do It
Top Of Tha Line Nigga
We Can Smoke
Download Aplikasi Lirik Lagu
Copyright © Lirikbagus.id 2022


text:
MEDFORD — It was a goal that former Tufts University president Lawrence S. Bacow highlighted in his inaugural address more than a decade ago: make admissions decisions without considering a student's ability to pay.
Need-blind admissions, as it is known, was a central element of Tufts' last capital campaign, and with that funding boost the university — long committed to meeting the financial needs of all the students it admits — was able to swing two need-blind admissions cycles.
But after the national financial crisis hit, taking many college endowments down with it, Tufts put that ambition on the shelf, where it remains. And it has plenty of company among elite colleges. The economy is improving and endowments are rebounding, but the generosity of many schools' financial aid policies is not.
In fact, colleges continue to cut back. Wesleyan University in Connecticut ended years of need-blind admissions when choosing this fall's freshman class, while Williams College in 2010 became "need sensitive" for international applicants. Many more, including MIT, Cornell, and just this month the University of Virginia, have curtailed promises to replace loans, which can burden students for years, with grants for low-income or middle-class families.
These universities all belong to a small, wealthy elite that pledge to give the students they do admit as much financial aid as they need. It is a commitment that becomes even more costly when combined with a need-blind admissions process that can boost the number of economically struggling students.
While most of the schools are setting records every year with their financial aid budgets, that money is being used to cover rising tuition costs and increased family need after decades of stagnant income growth.
At Tufts, students' needs have grown so much that the average grant for incoming freshmen is — at $36,000 — roughly $10,000 more than it was in 2007 and 2008, the years when admissions were unofficially need blind, said Lee Coffin, dean of undergraduate admissions.
Those that consider need in admissions decisions do so only for a fraction of applicants, toward the end of the process. Still, the narrowed aspirations for making college available and affordable for all has triggered criticism that colleges are turning away from their mission to serve a broad cross section of society.
Wesleyan's announcement sparked heated protests and even a sit-in at a trustees' meeting.
One 2005 alumna who signed a petition asking Wesleyan to reverse course wrote that she could no longer enthusiastically recommend the university to the Brooklyn public high school students she teaches, who can't afford to apply to many schools, "knowing that Wesleyan just became a little more out of their reach."
Yet it is hard to find anyone in the higher education field who blames these schools for cutting back. Indeed, several experts on financial aid praised Wesleyan for acknowledging openly that it was ending need-blind admissions rather than quietly cutting corners in financial aid packages or slackening efforts to recruit low-income students — as rumored at some institutions.
"The dilemma these institutions are facing is how do they remain accessible and try to attract diverse classes and how do they maintain the quality of what's going on," said Ronald G. Ehrenberg, an economics professor and former trustee at Cornell, which last summer reversed a policy of not asking students with family incomes between $60,000 and $75,000 to take out loans.
Ehrenberg, an expert on higher education finance, said colleges face "a very unstable funding model." He believes highly selective colleges will remain generous with poor students, but "what I do worry about is that the middle [class] will melt away."
At Wesleyan, economics professor Gilbert L. Skillman said clinging to the need-blind ideal may have actually worsened inequality on campus, because the school was spread too thin, unable to offer financial aid packages as generous as its peers. Among schools that pledge to fully support their students, there can still be differences in what they offer, including the mix of grants and loans.
Skillman pointed to senior surveys that showed a disquieting shift in the Wesleyan population from 2001 to 2011, even while the need-blind policy was still in place: the proportion of students from families making at least $150,000 a year grew from 30 percent to 47 percent, while students whose families make between $50,000 and $150,000 dropped from 51 percent to 37 percent.
Wesleyan president Michael S. Roth said that ability to pay came into consideration only for about the last 9 percent of the applicants admitted this year. He promised that recruiting low-income students will remain a major priority.
"It kills me, frankly, that I'm the person who had to make this decision," he said. "I was one of the protesters when I was a Wesleyan student and I'd probably be with the protesters now. But I felt like I'm responsible when I step down as president [to leave the school financially able to] do more for our students and alumni than when I came."
Tufts president Anthony P. Monaco, the son of a plumber who went to Princeton on financial aid, also said he regrets the limits he has set on the aid budget, noting that being need-aware has contributed to a plateau in the diversity of the student body.
"We would like to do better," he said.
Monaco launched a campaign last year to raise $25 million for endowed scholarships, much of it matched by the university, and he has put diversity and inclusion at the top of his agenda.
Coffin, the Tufts admissions dean, explained how financial need gets factored into admissions decisions: first, every applicant gets reviewed without considering whether they have applied for aid. Then, the financial aid office calculates what each promising candidate needs.
A forecasting model predicts how many would accept Tufts' offer — and what that would cost.
If that total surpasses the budget, the whole pile of likely students who need financial aid receives a second review. Admissions officers keep plucking out the ones they most want to bring to Tufts until the money runs out. The rest end up on the wait list, Coffin said.
This year, he estimated, 900 to 1,000 out of some 1,200 students in that group received an offer of admission.
Coffin said the profile of the freshman classes admitted on a need-blind basis was barely different from the classes that followed. But Logan Cotton, who graduated in May just behind the two classes that were admitted under the need-blind policy, said he felt like the campus grew wealthier over his time there.
To his mind, one disturbing symptom was the Tufts party this past winter at the Westin Copley Place Hotel that devolved into drunken mayhem, with students vomiting and urinating in the lobby.
Cotton said a friend, who is black, was in a crush of revelers angling to get on a crowded bus back to campus when a white student tried to push him out of the way, declaring, "I'm not waiting for this bus, I pay for your tuition."
Cotton, a graduate of Chicago public schools whose parents did not finish college, said generous financial aid, which left him with little debt, helped make it possible for him to join Teach for America.
"There needs to be more people who can have that experience," he said.
Sophomore Alexis O'Connell, who is also on financial aid, said some classmates seem unaware of how fortunate they are not to have to think about their tuition or rent, because their parents pay the bills.
"I admire so many of my peers for how much they care about the causes they are involved with," said O'Connell, who is from Colorado. "So why is there a lack of conversation about economic status, about ourselves?"
Marcella Bombardieri can be reached at bombardieri- @globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @GlobeMarcella.


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After much speculation, it's finally official, Jay-Z will team up with Will Smith to remake the classic film Annie. The remake will act as a starring vehicle for Smith's daughter, Willow. Sony Pictures Entertainment will develop it with Overbrook Entertainment and Jay-Z producing.
"The time is right to bring back ANNIE to the big screen. Of course, we're true believers in Willow's talent and believe she will be perfect in this role," said Columbia Pictures President Doug Belgrad.
While I love Jay-Z's music and I think Will Smith is a fine actor, I'm a bit skeptical about this project. The last time Smith produced a starring vehicle for one of his kids we got The Karate Kid, which wasn't great. I'm also not sold on Willow yet. I know everyone loves her song Whip My Hair but I'm still not a fan. So as of now, I remain on the fence in regards to this project. We'll have to see how it shapes up.
Check out the full press release below.
Los Angeles, Calif., January 26, 2011 – Overbrook Entertainment partners James Lassiter, Ken Stovitz, Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith have formed a joint venture with Shawn "JAY-Z" Carter to develop and produce major motion pictures. One of the projects being discussed is the re-imagination of the classic Broadway musical ANNIE as a vehicle for Willow Smith to star. The film will be developed with Sony Pictures Entertainment and produced by Overbrook Entertainment and Mr. Carter.
The partnership began over dinner with Jada, Will, James Lassiter and JAY-Z, where they decided to co-invest in the now successful beauty products line Carol's Daughter. They continued this partnership as co-producers of the successful Broadway production Fela!, which earned a total of eleven Tony Award nominations in 2010.
Additionally, Willow Smith, managed by OE Executive Miguel Melendez, signed onto JAY-Z's record label, Roc Nation which produced her first single titled "Whip My Hair," which has been certified Platinum. JAY-Z previously sampled the classic Annie song "It's the Hard Knock Life" in his chart-busting single "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)."
"The time is right to bring back ANNIE to the big screen. Of course, we're true believers in Willow's talent and believe she will be perfect in this role," said Columbia Pictures President Doug Belgrad. "Combining Willow with the Overbrook team that reimagined Karate Kid and the spectacular JAY-Z makes this a dream project. A decade ago, JAY-Z proved that the power of the underlying Broadway property remains, by showing how these songs could be reinterpreted for a new generation with Hard-Knock Life. We couldn't be more thrilled to be working with our friends at Overbrook as they launch this new venture."
"We are excited to partner together to develop and produce a wide variety of films with our longtime friend JAY-Z, with whom we share a common global vision, both commercially and philosophically, and look forward to collaborating once again with the incredibly talented executives at Sony," said Overbrook Co-Founder James Lassiter.
Stated Shawn "JAY-Z" Carter, "The Overbrook Entertainment family and I have a unified vision. We've already produced a Tony Award winning play and we're developing a true superstar in Willow. This venture into film development and production is a perfect next step with teams that are accomplished, creative, and innovative."
Overbrook Entertainment, founded by partners James Lassiter and Will Smith, is committed to offering the highest quality entertainment focused in film and television and has produced a diverse slate of both critically acclaimed and blockbuster feature films, which have generated more than $2.5 billion dollars in worldwide box office receipts and even more in home video sales. Some of Overbrook's most successful films include ALI, HITCH, PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS, I AM LEGEND, HANCOCK, SECRET LIVES OF BEES, and most recently THE KARATE KID.
Roc Nation is a groundbreaking, multi-tiered, multi-genre music and entertainment company. Founded in 2008 by Shawn "JAY-Z" Carter in collaboration with Live Nation, Roc Nation encompasses artist, songwriter, producer and engineer management; music publishing; touring & merchandising; new business ventures; and a music label.
The Broadway musical "Annie" is based upon the popular comic strip and features songs with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Martin Charnin and a book by Thomas Meehan. The show originally penned on April 21, 1977, and immediately became a hit, winning seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. In 1982, Columbia Pictures released a film adaptation directed by John Huston and starring Albert Finney, Carol Burnett, Bernadette Peters, Tim Curry, and Aileen Quinn as Annie.


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NASCAR: Bad day at Bristol for bubble busters
Published 12:00 am Monday, August 29, 2011
By Jenna Fryer
Associated Press
BRISTOL, Tenn.ó It didnít take long for Paul Menardís race to go awry at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Flagged for speeding on pit road a mere 34 laps into Saturday nightís race, the penalty set the tone for a disappointing night for Menard and a handful of other drivers trying desperately to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.
ěMan, weíre giving it away right now for sure,î said Menard. ěJust a bad night. Frustrating. If there is something that could have gone wrong, it did.î
Menard, who also ran into the back of Denny Hamlin as the two tried to avoid a wreck in front of them, finished 30th and dropped two spots in the standings to 20th. Itís a nightmare slide for a driver who just one month ago earned a breakthrough victory at Indianapolis to jump into the race for a Chase berth.
New NASCAR rules this season created two wild-cards into the 12-driver Chase field. The spots are designated for the two drivers with the most victories who arenít already ranked inside the top-10 in points.
The format has created tremendous uncertainty as to who will make the Chase with two races remaining to set the field. Four drivers at the top of the standings ó Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards ó clinched Chase berths, but of the ěbubbleî drivers, only Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin did anything to help themselves.
Keselowski picked up his third win of the season, which should almost guarantee him one of the wild cards. It also moved him to 11th in the standings, and heís only 21 points away from unseating Tony Stewart for the 10th position and locking in his berth.
ěWhoís 10th? Is it Tony? Tony is pretty good,î Keselowski said. ěBeating Tony Stewart by an average of 10 positions over two races, thatís going to be pretty tough to be honest.î
Try telling that to Stewart, who has run terrible of late.
A week after declaring his Stewart-Haas Racing team doesnít deserve a spot in the Chase, Stewart backed it up with one of the most perplexing weekends of his career. He qualified last in the 43-car field on the same day teammate Ryan Newman won the pole.
Although he vowed in driver introductions not to stay in the back of the pack for long, he was lapped early and often as Stewart struggled to a 28th-place finish.
ěItís no different than it was last week,î Stewart said. ěThe feeling is the same ó you still want to make it. Weíre working hard at it.î
Clint Bowyer was just as bad as Stewart on Saturday night, even though Bristol is one of his better tracks.
Hoping to use his push to make the Chase as a distraction to his messy free agency, Bowyer instead ran in the back of the pack near Stewart most of the race and finished 26th. He dropped a spot in the standings to 12th, and because heís winless this season, heíd be bounced out of the Chase by wild card drivers.
Itís got to have everyone at Richard Childress Racing on edge, especially since the team owner guaranteed one of his drivers would unseat five-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson this year. Instead, Kevin Harvick struggled again and dropped two more spots in the standings to fifth, Bowyer put himself in a deep hole and Menard likely needs a miracle.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., meanwhile, was satisfied with his 16th-place finish. He held pat at ninth in points, but still needs good finishes at Atlanta and Richmond to ensure his first Chase berth since 2008.
ěWe struggled all night, really, trying to get a good car,î Earnhardt said. ěWe were just slow. We didnít have enough grip. Just sliding around a whole lot. Thankful to finish where we did.î
Same goes for Hamlin, who nearly took the title from Johnson last year but has been a strong championship contender this year. His crash last week at Michigan dropped him to 14th in the standings and forced him into conservative mode to save his season.
But heís been plagued by bad luck this season, and Saturday was no different when Menard ran into him to create considerable damage to the back of his Joe Gibbs Racing car. Crew chief Mike Ford was methodical as he dictated the repairs Hamlin needed and the time the crew had to complete the work, and Hamlin managed to stay on the lead lap.
He eventually rallied to a seventh-place finish ó his first top-10 in five races.
Hamlin moved up to 13th in the standings, and would be the second wild card right now by virtue of his one victory this season.
ěI feel a lot better,î he said. ěItís been a while since weíve completed a race and been able to finish where weíre capable of finishing. We got hit and spun and I was like ëOf course, itís our luck.í But we were able to make something of it and battle back.î


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Air Algerie crash wipes out entire families 26 июля 2014, 11:36
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All passengers and crew on board an Air Algerie jetliner that crashed in Mali died in the tragedy, which completely wiped out several families, France announced, AFP reports.
As the first images emerged of the crash site, showing a charred landscape and debris scattered over a wide area, French President Francois Hollande said in a sombre televised address: "Sadly, there are no survivors."
France bore the brunt of the disaster, with some 54 French citizens among the overall death toll of between 116 and 118, according to unexplained conflicting figures given by the carrier and French authorities.
Travellers from Burkina Faso, Lebanon, Algeria, Spain, Canada, Germany and Luxembourg also died in the crash, blamed on bad weather that forced the pilots to change course.
The French army released initial images of a scene of total devastation, with twisted and charred fragments of the McDonnell Douglas 83 jet littering a scorched earth in what is clearly a barren and remote environment.
Such was the apparent violence of the crash that debris was barely recognisable as parts of an aircraft.
"It is difficult to retrieve anything, even victims' bodies, because we have only seen body parts on the ground," said General Gilbert Diendiere, chief of staff at Burkina Faso's presidency.
He was a member of a delegation sent to the crash site by President Blaise Compaore that arrived in the Gossi area, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Goa, northern Mali's main city, on Friday afternoon.
"Debris was scattered over an area of 500 metres which is due to the fact that the plane hit the ground and then probably rebounded," he added.
Meanwhile, the scale of the tragedy for some communities was becoming clear, as it emerged that 10 members of one French family died in the crash.
"It's brutal. It has wiped an entire family from the earth," said Patrice Dunard, mayor of Gex, where four of the Reynaud family lived.
And the small town of Menet in central France was left devastated when residents discovered that a local family of four -- a couple, their 10-year-old daughter Chloe and their 14-year-old son Elno -- had died.
Denise Labbe of the local town hall said Chloe had confided to her teacher that she was scared of taking a plane, which she was doing for the first time.
Hollande's office said he would meet families of the victims on Saturday.
Pilots 'very experienced'
The McDonnell Douglas 83 jet, operated by Spanish charter firm Swiftair on behalf of Air Algerie, went down shortly after take-off from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso on its way to Algiers.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said weather conditions appeared to be the most likely cause of the accident -- the worst air tragedy for French nationals since the crash of the Air France A330 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris in June 2009.
But Hollande insisted that no potential cause for the accident was being ruled out.
Swiftair has a good safety record, and the head of France's civil aviation authority said Thursday that the MD-83 had passed through France this week and been given the all-clear.
The Spanish pilots' union Sepla said the plane's two Spanish pilots were "very experienced".
Airline disaster week
The Air Algerie crash was the third worldwide in the space of just eight days, capping a disastrous week for the aviation industry.
On July 17, a Malaysia Airlines plane was shot down in restive eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.
And a Taiwanese aircraft crashed in torrential rain in Taiwan on Wednesday, killing 48.
France was extremely active in the search and retrieval efforts for the Air Algerie plane, dispatching military forces and crash experts to the site after one of its drones found the wreckage.
There was already a strong French military presence in the area because of an offensive France launched in Mali last year to stop Islamist extremists and Tuareg rebels from marching onto the capital Bamako.
French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters that around 180 French and Malian forces had arrived on the crash site, as had 40 Dutch soldiers from the MINUSMA UN stabilisation force in Mali.
"Their mission is to make the zone secure and to allow information to be gathered, which will be essential for the investigation," he said.
To assist the investigation, 20 French military police were already preparing to leave their base at Villacoublay for Gao in Mali.
The black box flight recorder of the plane has already been recovered, Hollande said earlier.
Because of the disaster, a summit of the leaders of four Indian Ocean nations with Hollande in the island nation of the Comoros was cancelled, with no new date set.
Air Algerie flies the four-hour passenger route from Ouagadougou to Algiers four times a week. The Spanish crew had already flown it five times with the same plane, Algeria's transport minister said.
This year has already seen Algeria mourn the loss of another plane accident when a C-130 military aircraft carrying 78 people crashed in February in the country's mountainous northeast, killing more than 70 on board.
Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced a three-day period of national mourning for the latest crash, starting from Friday.
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Israeli Innovation is a true global success story of its own, with Bloomberg ranking Israel in the top 10 most innovative countries in the world. Here you will find samples of our own success stories, where we support international collaboration to make a huge difference in Research and Development for technological and scientific growth.
With the help of national policy, which promotes collaboration and entrepreneurship, we've seen tremendous success, from start-ups and singular academics who want to bring their ideas into fruition, all the way to mature companies who are developing the next in their line of new products. We work with international corporations who are looking to utilize the best of Israeli technology, as well as companies who are just working out what their business needs will be, and how they fit in the market as it stands.
Take a browse through our success stories, and see how you could take your innovation to the next level with the help of an Israeli partnership.


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Whatever Happened to the Girls of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'?
The titular hero of Joss Whedon's 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' battled demons (both real and metaphorical) every day on the Hellmouth that was Sunnydale, California. Lucky for Buffy, she always had a little help from her friends. And lucky for us, most of her friends were played by some of the best actresses to ever grace the small screen.
There have been rumors of a 'Buffy' reboot (sans Whedon) circulating over the past several months, but it's hard to imagine a new cast taking over the iconic roles of 'Buffy,' played by Sarah Michelle Gellar in the series, and her Scooby Gang. It's unlikely that a new crop of slayerettes and sexy vamps could outshine the original players. Let's take a look back at the shows impressive female cast members, explore what made them so memorable, and find out what happened to the ladies of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer.'
Julie Benz — Darla
Then: When 'Buffy' premiered in 1997, Benz was a relatively unknown actress with a lot to prove. She reportedly auditioned for the role of Buffy, but Whedon cast her as the villainous vampire Darla, the sexy but sadistic ex of Buffy's first love Angel. Benz was so strong in the recurring role that she later appeared regularly on the 'Buffy' spinoff 'Angel,' where her character was given more depth and an engaging, intricate back-story.
Now: Benz's career took off shortly after her final appearance on 'Angel' in 2004. She's appeared in countless TV series, including 'NCIS,' 'CSI,' and 'Supernatural,' and she famously played Dexter Morgan's wife Rita on Showtime's 'Dexter.' After 'Dexter,' Benz landed a racy recurring gig on ABC's 'Desperate Housewives' and a lead role on the network's cuddly superhero drama 'No Ordinary Family.' She also appeared in the recently canceled series 'A Gifted Man,' and has landed a leading role in Syfy's upcoming multi-platform science fiction project, 'Defiance.'
Emma Caulfield — Anya
Then: Caulfield's impressive range as an actress was put to great use playing the former demon turned hot chick Anya, who provided a lot of the show's comic relief and was also responsible for some of its darkest and most heartfelt moments. Caulfield was originally hired for a guest spot on the show, but she later landed a series regular gig after impressing Whedon and crew with her comedic timing and dramatic skills as the ever out of place Anya.
Now: After 'Buffy,' Caulfield added writing and producing to her resume. She co-wrote the cult web comic 'Contrapussy,' and she produces and stars in the web series 'Bandwagon,' originally shot as a feature film, in which she plays a comically exaggerated version of herself. Caulfield has also made several memorable guest appearances on network TV shows, most recently on ABC's 'Once Upon a Time.' She also played the female lead in the 2003 horror flick 'Darkness Falls,' but it's probably best if we don't linger on that for too long.
Michelle Trachtenberg — Dawn Summers
Then: It's not a stretch to say that 'Buffy' fans HATED Buffy's little sister Dawn, played by then teen actress Trachtenberg, when she appeared out of nowhere and with no explanation in the show's fifth season. But after many episodes featuring Dawn whining and moping and almost getting everyone killed, Buffy's lil' sis finally grew into a sharp, strong and loveable character. Trachtenberg pretty much grew up on the show, and she got to show off her impressive ballet skills in the fan favorite musical episode 'Once More, With Feeling.'
Now: Much like Caulfield and Benz, Trachtenberg has appeared on several hit TV series, like 'House,' 'Six Feet Under,' and 'Weeds.' She landed a leading role in the 2004 teen sex comedy 'Eurotrip', where she flaunted her obvious sex appeal as well as her considerable comedic chops. Other notable film roles followed, including Disney's 'Ice Princess,' horror remake 'Black Christmas,' and '17 Again' with Zac Efron. Trachtenberg eventually landed on the show that all young super hot TV actresses eventually seem to end up on, The CW's 'Gossip Girl.'
Charisma Carpenter — Cordelia Chase
Then: If any one member of the 'Buffy' cast could be described as a "bombshell," it's Charisma Carpenter. The gorgeous actress helped create one of the series' most complex and popular characters, Cordelia Chase. Carpenter originally auditioned for the role of Buffy but landed the supporting role of Cordelia, an arrogant, seemingly vacuous, status-obsessed rich girl who seemed to incur the wrath of undead bloodsuckers at every turn. After the show's third season, Carpenter's became a lead in the spinoff 'Angel,' where Cordelia blossomed into a powerful, self-possessed hero and viewers were treated to one of the most rewarding long-form character arcs in genre TV history.
Now: Carpenter was recently seen as Jason Statham's main squeeze in 'The Expendables.' She's also appeared on the genre TV shows 'Veronica Mars,' 'Legend of the Seeker,' and 'Supernatural' (alongside former 'Buffy' alum James Marsters). While most of her post-Cordelia performances have been memorable, it's probably Carpenter's nude 2004 Playboy pictorial that her fans will never forget. She's returning for 'Expendables 2,' which opens in theaters this August.
Eliza Dushku — Faith
Then: Like a swift kick to the face, Dushku's vampire slayer character, Faith, shook things up in Sunnydale and left Buffy and her pals spinning after her sudden arrival in the show's third season. Dushku's committed performance as the "dark slayer" helped make season three one of the show's most memorable and well-received seasons, by both fans and critics. Dushku later appeared as Faith for two awesome arcs on 'Angel' and returned to 'Buffy' to play an important part in the show's final season.
Now: Dushku starred in a pair of short-lived genre TV projects shortly after 'Buffy' – 'Tru Calling' and Whedon's 'Dollhouse,' both of which aired on Fox. 'Dollhouse' was a winner with critics, but it failed to earn a steady audience, even though Dushku basically played a scantily clad sex slave in several episodes and sported full-on dominatrix gear in one hard to forget sequence. She recently appeared on FX's 'The League' and the Hulu series 'Leap Year.' Dushku also voiced Catwoman in last year's animated DVD movie 'Batman: Year One.' She's currently filming the feature film drama 'The Scribbler,' co-starring Michelle Trachtenberg.
Alyson Hannigan — Willow Rosenberg
Then: It wasn't long until Rosenberg's mousey Willow became a 'Buffy' fan favorite. She started out as an under confident nerd and evolved into a hot lesbian teen witch over the show's seven seasons. Willow even became one of Buffy's toughest foes in the show's dark sixth season. Hannigan handled Willow's rewarding, if sometimes awkward, character transitions like a pro, fully committing to the role and rooting Willow's journey in genuine emotion.
Now: Aside from Sarah Michelle Gellar, Hannigan may be the only 'Buffy' alum that has become a household name. She's starred in one of the most successful comedy movie franchises of the past 10 years (featuring pie sex), and she plays Lily Aldrin on the hit CBS sitcom 'How I Met Your Mother.' Hannigan married fellow 'Buffy' alum Alexis Denisof. They had a child in 2009 and are expecting a second baby this year.
Sarah Michelle Gellar — Buffy Summers
Then: Gellar reportedly originally auditioned for the role of Cordelia, which went to Charisma Carpenter, but Whedon recognized her potential as a leading lady and offered her the plum role of Buffy Summers. While her cast mates definitely shined over the show's seven seasons, Gellar's committed performance as Buffy was always the heart of the show. Buffy was the bright burning sun that all the other characters looked to for guidance. Plus, she saved the world, like, a lot. It's not surprising that many fans still find inspiration from the phrase "What Would Buffy Do?"
Now: Buffy was Gellar's biggest role, and she'll be forever associated with the iconic ass-kicking character. She's also starred in a number of hit, if not critically adored, movies, including 'Scooby-Doo' and 'The Grudge.' Gellar recently returned to TV starring in the CW mystery show 'Ringer,' which was cancelled just a few weeks ago. And just between you and us, our second favorite SMG role after Buffy has to be Krysta Now, the slow-witted but crafty porn star she played in 'Southland Tales.'


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Making small easy changes to our eating habits on a consistent basis - 25 days or more per month - can lead to sustainable weight loss, according to research by Professor Brian Wansink in Cornell University's Food and Brand Lab. The challenge is to figure out which changes work for specific individuals and how to stick with changes long enough to make them second nature.
To explore this issue, Cornell researchers launched the National Mindless Eating Challenge (NMEC), an online healthy eating and weight loss program that focused on simple eating behavior changes, instead of dieting.
NMEC participants, after answering questions about their eating goals, background and well-being, were sent three customized tips to follow for a month. All tips were founded on research and based on Wansink's book "Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More than We Think" (Bantam, 2006). Participants could download a checklist to track their adherence to tips and receive email reminders to keep them on track. At the end of each month they were expected to send in a follow-up survey. Of the 504 participants who completed at least one follow-up survey, more than two thirds (42 percent) either lost weight or maintained their weight (27 percent).
Weight loss was highest among people who made changes consistently.
Those whose adherence was 25 or more days per month reported an average monthly weight loss of 2 pounds, and those who stayed in the program at least three months and completed at least two follow-up surveys lost on average 1 percent of their initial weight.
According to the study, which is published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Medical Internet Research (Nov-Dec., Vol. 14:6), common barriers that prevented people from making changes included personally unsuitable tips, forgetting, being too busy, unusual circumstances such as vacations and emotional eating.
"These results confirm that small, consistent changes in our daily eating behavior can result in gradual weight loss and in developing healthier eating habits," said Wansink, a marketing professor in Cornell's Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. Results of the study also show that it is a challenge for many people to stick to a program for a long period of time. For those who want to lose weight or eat more healthfully, the researchers conclude that finding an initial set of tips that are relevant and doable for an individual can be enough to learn the general principle.
"Later come up with your own changes and succeed at reaching your goal," Wansink said.
The NMEC participants said that the most effective tips they received were:
- Keep counters clear of all foods but the healthy ones.
- Never eat directly from a package – always portion food out onto a dish.
- Eat something hot for breakfast within the first hour of waking up.
- Avoid going more than thee or four hours without having something small to eat.
- Put down your utensils between bites to slow down your eating.
Journal of Medical Internet Research


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Children of Homosexuals Fare Worse on Most Outcomes
By Peter Sprigg – Family Research Council June 2012
In a historic study of children raised by homosexual parents, sociologist Mark Regnerus of the University of Texas at Austin has overturned the conventional academic wisdom that such children suffer no disadvantages when compared to children raised by their married mother and father. Just published in the journal Social Science Research,[1] the most careful, rigorous, and methodologically sound study ever conducted on this issue found numerous and significant differences between these groups–with the outcomes for children of homosexuals rated "suboptimal" (Regnerus' word) in almost every category.
The Debate Over Homosexual Parents
In the larger cultural, political, and legal debates over homosexuality, one significant smaller debate has been over homosexual parents. Do children who are raised by homosexual parents or caregivers suffer disadvantages in comparison to children raised in other family structures–particularly children raised by a married mother and father? This question is essential to political and ethical debates over adoption, foster care, and artificial reproductive technology, and it is highly relevant to the raging debate over same-sex "marriage." The argument that "children need a mom and a dad" is central to the defense of marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
Here is how the debate over the optimal family structure for children and the impact of homosexual parents has usually gone:
Pro-family organizations (like Family Research Council) assert, "Social science research shows that children do best when raised by their own biological mother and father who are committed to one another in a life-long marriage." This statement is true, and rests on a large and robust collection of studies.
Pro-homosexual activists respond, "Ah, but most of those studies compared children raised by a married couple with those raised by divorced or single parents–not with homosexual parents." (This is also true–in large part because the homosexual population, and especially the population of homosexuals raising children, is so small that it is difficult to obtain a representative sample.)
The advocates of homosexual parenting then continue, "Research done specifically on children raised by homosexual parents shows that there are no differences (or no differences that suggest any disadvantage) between them and children raised by heterosexual parents."
Pro-family groups respond with a number of critiques of such studies on homosexual parents. For example, such studies usually have relied on samples that are small and not representative of the population, and they frequently have been conducted by openly homosexual researchers who have an ideological bias on the question being studied. In addition, these studies also usually make comparisons with children raised by divorced or single parents–rather than with children raised by their married, biological mother and father.
In fact, an important article published in tandem with the Regnerus study (by Loren Marks, Louisiana State University) analyzes the 59 previous studies cited in a 2005 policy brief on homosexual parents by the American Psychological Association (APA).[2] Marks debunks the APA's claim that "[n]ot a single study has found children of lesbian or gay parents to be disadvantaged in any significant respect relative to children of heterosexual parents." Marks also points out that only four of the 59 studies cited by the APA even met the APA's own standards by "provid[ing] evidence of statistical power." As Marks so carefully documents, "[N]ot one of the 59 studies referenced in the 2005 APA Brief compares a large, random, representative sample of lesbian or gay parents and their children with a large, random, representative sample of married parents and their children."
To summarize, we have been left with large, scientifically strong studies showing children do best with their married mother and father–but which do not make comparisons with homosexual parents or couples; and studies which purportedly show that children of homosexuals do just as well as other children–but which are methodologically weak and thus scientifically inconclusive.
The New Family Structures Study–Restoring the "Gold Standard"
This logjam of dueling studies has been broken by the work that Regnerus has undertaken. Unlike the many large studies previously undertaken on family structure, Regnerus has included specific comparisons with children raised by homosexual parents. Unlike the previous studies on children of homosexual parents, he has put together a representative, population-based sample that is large enough to draw scientifically and statistically valid conclusions. For these reasons, his "New Family Structures Study" (NFSS) deserves to be considered the "gold standard" in this field.
Another improvement Regnerus has made is in his method of collecting data and measuring outcomes for children in various family structures. Some previous studies collected data while the subjects were still children living at home with their parent or parents–making it impossible to know what the effects of the home environment might be once they reach adulthood. Some such studies even relied, in some cases exclusively, on the self-report of the parent. This raised a serious question of "self-presentation bias"–the tendency of the parent to give answers that will make herself and her child look good.
Regnerus, on the other hand, has surveyed young adults, ages 18 to 39, and asked them about their experiences growing up (and their life circumstances in the present). While these reports are not entirely objective, they are likely to be more reliable than parental self-reports, and allow evaluation of long-term impacts. The study collected information from its subjects on forty different outcomes. They fall into three groups:
Some are essentially yes-or-no questions: are you currently married, are you currently unemployed, have you thought recently about suicide?
Other questions asked respondents to place themselves on a scale–for example, of educational attainment, happiness or depression, and household income.
Finally, "event-count" outcomes involve reporting the frequency of certain experiences–e.g., smoking marijuana or being arrested–and the number of sex partners.
Nearly 15,000 people were "screened" for potential participation in the study; in the end almost 3,000, a representative sample, actually completed the survey questionnaire. Of these, 175 reported that their mother had a same-sex romantic relationship while they were growing up, and 73 said the same about their father. These are numbers just large enough to make some statistically robust conclusions in comparing different family structures.
What the Study Found
The study looked at 40 different outcomes, but reported data for children with "lesbian mothers" and those with "gay fathers" separately. Therefore, there actually were 80 outcome measures that could be said to compare children with "homosexual parents" to those from other family structures. When compared with outcomes for children raised by an "intact biological family" (with a married, biological mother and father), the children of homosexuals did worse (or, in the case of their own sexual orientation, were more likely to deviate from the societal norm) on 77 out of 80 outcome measures. (The only exceptions: children of "gay fathers" were more likely to vote; children of lesbians used alcohol less frequently; and children of "gay fathers" used alcohol at the same rate as those in intact biological families).
Of course, anyone who has had a college course in statistics knows that when a survey shows there are differences between two groups, it is important to test whether that finding is "statistically significant." This is because it is always possible, by chance, that a sample may not accurately reflect the overall population on a particular point. However, through statistical analysis researchers can calculate the likelihood of this, and when they have a high level of confidence that a difference identified in the survey represents an actual difference in the national population, we say that finding is "statistically significant." (This does not mean the other findings are unimportant–just that we cannot have as high a level of confidence in them.)
Regnerus has analyzed his findings, and their statistical significance, in two ways–first by a simple and direct comparison between what is reported by the children of homosexual parents and the children of "intact biological families" ("IBFs"), and second by "controlling" for a variety of other characteristics. "Controlling for income," for example, would mean showing that "IBF" children do not do better just because their married parents have higher incomes, but that they do better even when the incomes of their households and the households of homosexual parents are the same. Again, Regnerus has done these comparisons for "LMs" (children of "lesbian mothers") and "GFs" (children of gay fathers) separately.
There are eight outcome variables where differences between the children of homosexual parents and married parents were not only present, and favorable to the married parents, but where these findings were statistically significant for both children of lesbian mothers and "gay" fathers and both with and without controls. While all the findings in the study are important, these are the strongest possible ones–virtually irrefutable. Compared with children raised by their married biological parents (IBF), children of homosexual parents (LM and GF):
Are much more likely to have received welfare (IBF 17%; LM 69%; GF 57%)
Have lower educational attainment
Report less safety and security in their family of origin
Report more ongoing "negative impact" from their family of origin
Are more likely to suffer from depression
Have been arrested more often
If they are female, have had more sexual partners–both male and female
The high mathematical standard of "statistical significance" was more difficult to reach for the children of "gay fathers" in this study because there were fewer of them. The following, however, are some additional areas in which the children of lesbian mothers (who represented 71% of all the children with homosexual parents in this study) differed from the IBF children, in ways that were statistically significant in both a direct comparison and with controls. Children of lesbian mothers:
Are more likely to be currently cohabiting
Are almost 4 times more likely to be currently on public assistance
Are less likely to be currently employed full-time
Are more than 3 times more likely to be unemployed
Are nearly 4 times more likely to identify as something other than entirely heterosexual
Are 3 times as likely to have had an affair while married or cohabiting
Are an astonishing 10 times more likely to have been "touched sexually by a parent or other adult caregiver."
Are nearly 4 times as likely to have been "physically forced" to have sex against their will
Are more likely to have "attachment" problems related to the ability to depend on others
Use marijuana more frequently
Smoke more frequently
Watch TV for long periods more frequently
Have more often pled guilty to a non-minor offense
Differences in Sexuality
When comparing children of homosexuals with children of married biological parents, the differences in sexuality–experiences of sexual abuse, number of sexual partners, and homosexual feelings and experiences among the children themselves–were among the most striking. While not all of the findings mentioned below have the same level of "statistical significance" as those mentioned above, they remain important.
At one time, defenders of homosexual parents not only argued that their children do fine on psychological and developmental measures, but they also said that children of homosexuals "are no more likely to be gay" than children of heterosexuals. That claim will be impossible to maintain in light of this study. It found that children of homosexual fathers are nearly 3 times as likely, and children of lesbian mothers are nearly 4 times as likely, to identify as something other than entirely heterosexual. Children of lesbian mothers are 75% more likely, and children of homosexual fathers are 3 times more likely, to be currently in a same-sex romantic relationship.
The same holds true with the number of sexual partners. Both males and females who were raised by both lesbian mothers and homosexual fathers have more opposite-sex (heterosexual) partners than children of married biological parents (daughters of homosexual fathers had twice as many). But the differences in homosexual conduct are even greater. The daughters of lesbians have 4 times as many female (that is, same-sex) sexual partners than the daughters of married biological parents, and the daughters of homosexual fathers have 6 times as many. Meanwhile, the sons of both lesbian mothers and homosexual fathers have 7 times as many male (same-sex) sexual partners as sons of married biological parents.
The most shocking and troubling outcomes, however, are those related to sexual abuse. Children raised by a lesbian mother were 10 times more likely to have been "touched sexually by a parent or other adult caregiver" (23% reported this, vs. only 2% for children of married biological parents), while those raised by a homosexual father were 3 times more likely (reported by 6%). In his text, but not in his charts, Regnerus breaks out these figures for only female victims, and the ratios remain similar (3% IBF; 31% LM; 10% GF). As to the question of whether you have "ever been physically forced" to have sex against your will (not necessarily in childhood), affirmative answers came from 8% of children of married biological parents, 31% of children of lesbian mothers (nearly 4 times as many), and 25% of the children of homosexual fathers (3 times as many). Again, when Regnerus breaks these figures out for females (who are more likely to be victims of sexual abuse in general), such abuse was reported by 14% of IBFs, but 3 times as many of the LMs (46%) and GFs (52%).
These data require more detailed exploration and explanation. A number of researchers have pointed out that self-identified homosexual adults (both men and women) are more likely to report having been victims of child sexual abuse. However, Family Research Council and other pro-family organizations have been criticized for also pointing to evidence suggesting that homosexual men are more likely to commit acts of child sexual abuse than are heterosexual men. And experts in child sexual abuse in general say that men are most often the perpetrators, regardless of the sex of the victim. Therefore, the finding that children of lesbian mothers are significantly more likely to have been victims of sexual touching by "a parent or adult caregiver" than even the children of homosexual fathers is counter-intuitive.
However, it is important to note what we do not know about such experiences from the data that have been published. The fact that a child of a lesbian mother was touched by "a parent or adult caregiver" does not mean that the lesbian mother was herself the parent or caregiver who did the "touching." An alternative scenario mentioned by Regnerus, for example–hypothetical, but plausible–is one in which a child is molested by her biological father; her mother divorces her father; and the mother later enters into a lesbian relationship.
Limitations of the Study
While the Regnerus study is a vast improvement over virtually all the prior research in the field, it still leaves much to study and learn about homosexual parents and their effect on children. Author Mark Regnerus emphasizes the traditional caveat in social science, warning against leaping to conclusions regarding "causality." In other words, just because there are statistical correlations between having a homosexual parent and experiencing negative outcomes does not automatically prove that having a homosexual parent is what caused the negative outcomes–other factors could be at work.
This is true in a strict scientific sense–but because Regnerus carefully controlled for so many other factors in the social environment, the study gives a clear indication that it is this parental characteristic which best defines the household environment that produces these troubling outcomes. The large number of significant negative outcomes in this study gives legitimate reason for concern about the consequences of "homosexual parenting."
The definition of what it means to have a homosexual parent is also a loose one in this study–by necessity, in order to maximize the sample size of homosexual parents. Not all of those who reported that a parent was in a same-sex relationship even lived with that parent during the relationship; many who did, did not live with the partner as well. Only 23% of those with a lesbian mother, and only 2% of those with a homosexual father, had spent as long as three years living in a household with the homosexual parent and the parent's partner at the same time. Details like this involving the actual timeline of these children's lives can reportedly be found in Regnerus' dataset, which is to be made available to other researchers later this year.
Figures like these suggest a need for more research, to distinguish, for example, the effects of living with a homosexual parent from having a non-custodial one, or the effects of living with a homosexual single parent vs. a homosexual couple. But they also point out something of note for public policy debates on "gay families"–the stereotype put forward by pro-homosexual activists, of a same-sex couple jointly parenting a child from birth (following either adoption or the use of artificial reproductive technology), represents a scenario that is extraordinarily rare in real life. Most "homosexual parents" have their own biological children who were conceived in the context of a previous heterosexual relationship or marriage, which then ended before the person entered into homosexual relationships.
The articles by Marks and Regnerus have completely changed the playing field for debates about homosexual parents, "gay families," and same-sex "marriage." The myths that children of homosexual parents are "no different" from other children and suffer "no harm" from being raised by homosexual parents have been shattered forever.
[1] Mark Regnerus, "How different are the adult children of parents who have same-sex relationships? Findings from the New Family Structures Study," Social Science Research Vol 41, Issue 4 (July 2012), pp. 752-770; online at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0049089X12000610
[2] Loren Marks, "Same-sex parenting and children's outcomes: A closer examination of the American Psychological Association's brief on lesbian and gay parenting," Social Science Research Vol 41, Issue 4 (July 2012), pp. 735-751; online at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0049089X12000580


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|Free Printable Kids Book Report Worksheet by B.Nute productions
Along with reading, I created this free printable Kids Book Report worksheet they could use to remember just a little about the book. I kept it relatively simple (after all, it is summer), but enough that at the end of the summer, they may enjoy looking back at all the books they read.
I may just end up using the worksheet myself! I can't tell you how many times I want to recommend a book because "I loved it," yet I can't seem to really say why I loved it so much!
Happy reading!
|Free Printable Kids Book Report Worksheet from B.Nute productions


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More on Abortion and Murder Debate
If Mr. Levitt's theory was correct, crime rates should have started falling among younger people who were first born after the legalization of abortion, he said. He says his data shows that the opposite is true: murder rates during the 1990s first started falling for the oldest criminals and last for the youngest.
Mr. Lott said some of Mr. Levitt's data came from an organization affiliated with Planned Parenthood and assumes that states went from a complete ban on abortion to complete legalization. However, abortions had been permitted in some cases before complete legalization. Mr. Lott's data, from the Centers for Disease Control, shows that before the Roe vs. Wade decision of 1973, many of the states that allowed abortions in limited circumstances actually had higher rates of abortion than states where abortion was legal.
The answer isn't "anywhere near as cut and dry" as Mr. Levitt suggests, said Mr. Lott.


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1: But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2: and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
3: Now as he journeyed he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed about him. 4: And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" 5: And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting; 6: but rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do." 7: The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8: Saul arose from the ground; and when his eyes were opened, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9: And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. 10: Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord." 11: And the Lord said to him, "Rise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus named Saul; for behold, he is praying, 12: and he has seen a man named Anani'as come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight." 13: But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to thy saints at Jerusalem; 14: and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call upon thy name." 15: But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; 16: for I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name." 17: So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." 18: And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized, 19: and took food and was strengthened. For several days he was with the disciples at Damascus. 20: And in the synagogues immediately he proclaimed Jesus, saying, "He is the Son of God." 21: And all who heard him were amazed, and said, "Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called on this name? And he has come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests."


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This guest post is by Elizabeth Joss of Xcellent Media.
"They nailed their stakes into the earth of my life, those farmers. They knew the place in me where the river stopped, and they marked it with a new name. Shantaram Kishan Kharre. I don't know if they found that name in the heart of the man they believed me to be, or if they planted it there, like a wishing tree, to bloom and grow. Whatever the case, whether they discovered that peace or created it, the truth is that the man I am was born in those moments, as I stood near the flood sticks with my face lifted to the chrismal rain. Shantaram. The better man that, slowly, and much too late, I began to be."—Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram, p.136-137
The words of Gregory David Roberts fill me with a sense of awe and passion, and at the same time they inspire me to write. His novel, Shantaram, is comprised of moving metaphorical prose that calls readers to action, whether it be to laugh, cry, or to delve deep within themselves.
Metaphorical writing can be used to transport the reader to an imaginary world, all with the unification and comparison of two unrelated objects.
It's the perfect technique for bloggers wanting to capture readers' attention—and hold it.
Advantages of metaphors
- Metaphors add spice to your writing and can make your words sing. They add a layer of richness, making you a better storyteller overall.
- Metaphors help us relate to a complex world. They help make concepts appear more real and tangible to us and thus we are better able to digest certain concepts (note the metaphor in this sentence too!). They also help us explain complex topics much more effectively to our readers. People will then attach great importance to a topic if they can relate to it through a metaphor.
- There is a strong visual element to a metaphor, which is what makes it so effective for the reader.
- Using metaphors can propel the behaviour of your readers and usher them towards action. They are pertinent persuasive devices because they help the reader unlock a part of him or herself and enable a more thorough engagement with the writing and their own imagination.
Metaphor pitfalls
- Avoid overusing metaphors in your writing, as they can weigh your prose down significantly. A metaphor should give your blog post lasting understanding and clarity. Don't force metaphors into your writing. Rather, use one extended metaphor throughout a text for a better effect.
- Steer clear of the cheesy or clichéd metaphors we often use in speech. For example, she was blown away by his words or he cooked up a storm. The metaphor should not bring the reader to a halt while reading—its use should be as natural as possible.
- Know your audience. Metaphorical language differs from culture to culture but it is nonetheless an important part of societies and of individual cognition. People think metaphorically and they create and organize their world through metaphors. This means that different groups of individuals will have different understandings of metaphors, or even completely different metaphors than others. If you want to write for a certain group of people, be sure to research and understand their metaphor usage.
- Steer clear of using clichés and of forcing metaphors in your prose, unless you are trying to make a point that is both persuasive and effective.
How to create your own metaphor
Blog posts with metaphorical titles (similes) usually attract a lot of attention. I'm sure you've seen articles about why blogging is like dating, going to the gym, or even like The Wizard of Oz. These comparisons usually run through the entire blog post right from the title itself, thus creating an extended metaphor.
Sean Platt's The Eminem Guide to Becoming a Writing and Marketing Machine is a great example of metaphor. Writing a blog post is likened to Eminem's storytelling and rapping techniques. This controversial headline is catchy and Sean uses a popular artist to make us identify with his topic right from the outset.
Here are some useful steps to create your own metaphor (extended or ordinary) for use in your next blog post:
- Focus on the concept you are trying to explain. For example, you may be informing your readers about the benefits of yoga.
- Brainstorm the concept and write down everything that comes into your head, as I've done below:
- What similar, real-life objects or concepts (must be completely unrelated) embody the points you've brainstormed? Make a list of the first few things that come to mind using the free-association technique (where you write spontaneously as things come into your thoughts).
- Which one stands out at you the most? Once I had brainstormed the benefits, the pretzel idea immediately stood out at me—its shape is similar to a yogi's body when performing a twist on the floor! This is appropriate and it adds an element of humour as well. You can almost imagine a yogi as a contortionist or pretzel on the floor.
- Does this metaphor make your topic more accessible to your readers? The idea of a yogi as a pretzel may be slightly clichéd but people can relate to it and its humour makes it a winner.
If you are in need of some inspiration, check out Darren's post, Blogging is Like, for 42 examples of extended metaphor/simile blog posts, none of which are obvious comparisons.
Find your magic within
The above short tips are only guidelines to get you thinking about using comparisons in your writing. The trick is to think out of the box and make analogies that are not so obvious. You can use the above tactics if you are keen to create a metaphorical title. However, it is safe to say that the more you read and write, the more natural your metaphors will be and you won't even have to think about purposely employing them.
So if you don't want ideas or blog posts that are half-baked or regurgitated then look to metaphors as your food for thought. Metaphors are exceptionally powerful devices that, when used properly, will knock the socks off your readers. So don't wait around—conjure up your own marvellous metaphors!
Do you use metaphors in your writing? Or are there other literary devices you are more drawn to?
Elizabeth Joss writes for Xcellent Media, a media and marketing company based in Cape Town, South Africa. She covers topics like social media, SEO, blogging and web marketing. For more great blogging tips by Elizabeth, follow the Xcellent Media blog or add Xcellent Media on Twitter.


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Oct. 4, 2013. Appalachian State University's Division of Student Development has received a three-year, $192,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to implement a comprehensive approach to preventing suicide.
The grant will be administered by Dr. Denise Lovin, a psychiatrist in the university's Counseling and Psychological Services Center. The grant will enable the university to:
- more effectively coordinate existing suicide prevention activities through the addition of a suicide prevention coordinator in the Counseling and Psychological Services Center
- purchase an interactive online suicide prevention training program
- expand the number of faculty, staff and students who receive suicide prevention training
- create an extensive network of individuals who are trained in all key areas where student interaction occurs, including residential, academic, heathcare, co-curricular and interpersonal and family, to recognize signs, symptoms and communications of suicide and respond by connecting students to needed resources
"We welcome this opportunity to strengthen the support of students in this critical area and look forward to involving the campus community in this important initiative during the coming year and beyond," Lovin said.
According to SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in 2008 young adults age 18 to 25 were more likely than adults age 26 to 49 to have had serious thoughts of suicide (6.7 percent versus 3.9 percent). The statistics underscore why prevention of substance abuse and mental illness including suicide prevention is the first of eight strategic initiatives that will guide SAMHSA's work through 2014, according to the agency's website.
"Suicide is a preventable tragedy for college students, their families and our communities," said SAMHSA administrator Pamela S. Hyde "By working on suicide prevention on campuses and elsewhere, we can save thousands of lives."
A 2010 Higher Education Research Institute study of more than 200,000 freshmen entering four-year colleges found that their emotional health had declined to the lowest level since the annual survey began 25 years ago.
During the 2012-13 academic year, 15 percent of students seeking counseling services at the university identified "suicidal thoughts" as presenting concern and 36.6 percent of clients indicated that they had considered suicide at least once in their lifetimes.
The university's suicide prevention efforts will be integrated with and support the university's existing campus safety infrastructure: APPCares, which connects students to on and off campus health and safety resources, and "It's Up to Me" campaign, which encourages students, faculty and staff to speak up when they witness a situation that threatens physical hard to themselves or a student.