Another Super Bowl is in the record books, this time it being a 30-17 upset by the underdog New Orleans Saints over the Indianapolis Colts. Can you say WHO DAT?
Granted, New Orleans is a pretty exciting city on any given Sunday, but with the win last night and Mardi Gras just around the corner, we’re thinking that Bourbon Street was the place to be last night…and probably during the wee hours of the morning, too.
No one—unless you are a Colts fan, of course—can really begrudge the Louisianians, either, since there are still many painful memories of Hurricane Katrina. So in honor of the Saints’ one and only trip to the Super Bowl (so far), let’s take a look at some of the colleges and universities that are part of “The Big Easy”:
Tulane University. Founded in 1834, this liberal arts university has enjoyed a legacy of excellence in academics and research. Among the many famous Tulane alumni are politician Newt Gingrich, model Lauren Hutton, and talk show host Jerry Springer.
University of New Orleans. Part of the Louisiana State University system of higher education, UNO is made up of nine different colleges, offering dozens of options in undergraduate and graduate programs. Most students hail from Louisiana, but about 10 percent of students come from other states, attracted by the school’s opportunities, as well as its location just minutes away from the French Quarter.
Dillard University. Dillard is a historically black university that got its start in 1869. The campus boasts a tight-knit community that serves to inspire and challenge; many students go on to graduate school within five years of graduating Dillard. Notable Dillard alumni include early “Saturday Night Live” cast member Garrett Morris, jazz musician Ellis Marsalis, Jr., and current Brown University president Dr. Ruth Simmons.
Loyola University New Orleans. A Catholic university in the Jesuit tradition, Loyola University New Orleans offers more than 60 undergraduate majors and 10 graduate programs. Even if freshmen don’t know what they’d like to major in just yet, chances are something will pique their interest at Loyola University New Orleans.
Our Lady of Holy Cross College. One of the eight Holy Cross colleges in the nation, Our Lady of Holy Cross offers many different academic programs; however, it also enjoys a long tradition as a teaching college, preparing educators for the classroom and school administration.
Xavier University of Louisiana. This school is noted for being the only historically black Catholic university in the country. Catholic values are instilled in the academic programs at the university, though all are welcome to study at Xavier.
Southern University at New Orleans. A part of the Southern University system, SUNO enjoys a diverse campus community, as well as many undergraduate and graduate programs in fields of arts and sciences, business, education, social work, and public administration.
–Barbara Bellesi
February 8th, 2010
During your college search or perhaps even during a campus visit, you might have heard the term “college endowment” come up in conversation. And since it is often mentioned as a point of pride for a college or university, you might have wondered, “What is a college endowment?”
A college endowment is a sum of money that is granted by an individual or a group of people to a school as a permanent funding source. Usually, the endowment is so great—we’re talking millions in many cases–that the school can use just the interest earned on the investment to support the department, program, scholarship, or whatever is being funded. But if that’s too much math for you to wrap your head around, just know that endowments are a BIG deal in the college world and that the more endowments a college or university has, the more great things they can offer their students.
So should you worry about college endowments when it comes to choosing a school? The short answer is no, which is a good thing, since the Council for Aid to Education has recently reported that college endowments are down because of—what else?—the economy. Endowments certainly add to a school’s prestige, but they are not used to determine college rankings. So instead of seeing how much coin a college has, consider things that will more directly affect you, like academic programs and campus life.
While endowments are suffering right now, they, along with everything else, will eventually rebound. It’s not like the Ivies are going to close their doors any time soon, and after all, there are plenty of colleges out there with very small endowments that are doing just fine. So don’t shed a tear for Stanford University, which only got $640 million in endowments. Somehow, I think they’ll get by.
–Barbara Bellesi
February 4th, 2010
Last night’s premiere of “Lost” was a bittersweet event for fans of the ABC series. Yes, there was plenty of excitement in the air as the show FINALLY returned after a long hiatus, but knowing that this is the final season for the show has got to hurt a bit for those whose Tuesday nights revolve around intriguing characters and crazy plot twists.
So what will “Lost” fans do once the show ends? One can only hope that another show that is half as mind-bendingly addictive takes its place. Sure, there’s plenty of stuff to watch already, but there are some shows out there that are the equivalent of eating an entire pint of ice cream by yourself—good at first, but then you feel really, really bad about yourself later on (cough “Jersey Shore” cough).
For those college-bounders who are waving their hands in the air saying, “Yes! I know what people want to watch!” then perhaps you’ve applied to or are planning on applying to schools with a television production degree program. But if you’re thinking that the only way to make it in the biz is to pack up your stuff and head to Hollywood, think again. There are plenty of options in television production outside of La La Land.
Remember, every state and major city or region has at least one television station to produce the local news. So no matter what state you go to for college, there will be plenty of opportunities for you to hone your skills behind the camera. Consider some of these schools:
Brooklyn College. This school, which offers a major in TV and Radio Production, is part of the esteemed City University of New York (CUNY) system. This means public school tuition for a top-notch education that can really make you go places in the industry. Plus, Manhattan, which is home to major TV networks, is just a subway ride away.
Emerson College. USC and UCLA have met their match with this school situated on the corner of the Boston Common. Rumor had it that the school’s state-of-the-art Visual and Media Arts department has seen some Hollywood bigwigs coming in for a visit to see how it should be done.
Arizona State University. The Film and Media Studies department in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences is a good way to learn TV techniques to be used in the Grand Canyon State and beyond.
University of Central Florida. At this third largest university in the country, chances are you’ll have good company in the radio and television undergraduate program. If you’re a baseball fan, spring training in Florida might be a good chance to learn a few techniques out of the classroom.
Michigan State University. Michigan is known for its colleges and universities, so Michigan State University would be a great place for just about any major. But it just so happens to have a pretty large Communication Arts and Sciences department that has several programs in media studies.
Why stop at five? Because there are so many schools, both large and small, that offer programs in television production. Be sure to consider all of your options when choosing the place where you’ll major in television—LA is awesome, but certainly not the only way to go.
Stay tuned to this blog for more info coming soon about television and media programs.
–Barbara Bellesi
February 3rd, 2010
As we’re counting down the hours until the final season premiere of “Lost” tonight, we can’t help but notice some connections between the confusing plots and intense storylines of the ABC drama and the college admissions process.
Since we can’t wait to see what happened to Kate, Sawyer, Jack, Locke, Jin, and Sun (and oh, poor Juliet!), we’re turning work into pleasure today and found four ways in which college admissions is like “Lost”:
1. Although characters may leave (we were so saddened by the deaths of “losties” like Charlie and Boone), those and others who have left the island one way or another might come back this season. That’s kind of like when you’re put on the wait list – you think your college hopes are dead, but there’s a chance they could be brought back.
2. The Jack-Kate-Sawyer love triangle may sound familiar to you if you’re choosing between schools. Let’s say that two schools both want you, but they’re very different. One could be a school that’s more traditional that maybe your family attended (Jack) and the other a school that may be a little more risky of a choice for you, but equally appealing (Sawyer).
3. The endless questions (What’s up with the smoke monster? How about the four-toed statue? Will we ever learn more about the black rock? What is Jacob’s purpose?) may not all be answered in the exact way we want. That could be how you feel if you don’t get accepted for a top-tier school and wonder why the admissions panel didn’t choose you. Sometimes the answers aren’t concrete, and as you know, the island, like an admissions counselor, has its secrets.
4. The time traveling done in “Lost” actually is something some students wish they could do. Imagine getting to go ahead into the future and back to the past, just like the twists and turns we see in “Lost,” to change something on an application that could land you a spot in the college of your choice.
But no matter where you get into college, rest assured that even my college degree hasn’t helped me figure out the confusing plots of “Lost.” But shows like this aren’t just entertaining; they allow us to use our minds, too. And that’s something any admissions panel can appreciate.
–Lori Johnston
February 2nd, 2010
The January 12 earthquake in Haiti has killed close to 200,000 people, and the utter devastation in this country has encouraged people all throughout the world to donate money to the relief efforts. Some people, like the group of Union College students that we wrote about last month, have actually visited Haiti to assist in the search and rescue efforts.
Justin Woods, a senior from Roseburg, Oregon, is an International Rescue and Relief/Pre-Med major at Union College who was part of the volunteer group in Haiti. He talked with CBN about his trip.
Tell us a little about the service program that you are part of at Union College.
I’m a part of Union College’s Disaster Response Team (DiRT), which is connected to my major, International Rescue and Relief. The major has quite a few different academic emphases such as pre-professional studies (like pre-med and pre-dental), project development, social work, business, and other majors.
What went through your mind when you first heard about the Haiti earthquake?
When I first heard about the quake, I started thinking about how bad it must have made things down there. My family and I lived in Haiti back in ‘98 while my dad was working for a NGO (non-governmental organization) doing relief work. When hearing about the earthquake and already knowing how bad things were down there to start with, I was really sad at the thought of what it must be like now. I also started thinking about how I could get a chance to go down there and help.
How were you able to go to Haiti?
I attended a meeting of people interested in traveling down to Haiti to do relief work on the Thursday after the quake. We had another meeting Friday afternoon with more information about when a group might leave and what they might do. At that point, the plan was for a group to leave in 10 days. That evening, I got a call asking if I’d be ready to head down to Haiti Sunday morning. I told them yes. Four of us were chosen, and we went with a staff member down to Florida on Sunday and then Haiti on Monday.
What was it like when you first arrived in Haiti?
We got in late Monday night. Our plane had to circle over Haiti and the Dominican Republic for about an hour and a half, waiting for clearance to land since there were so many planes going in and out. We spent the first night sleeping on the tarmac at the airport with toilet paper in our ears and cockroaches running over our mats. Having C-130s and C-17s taking off right in front of us made getting sleep somewhat challenging.
The next day, we drove to the Adventist Hospital, which was still standing and was where we would be based. We went out that morning to do search and rescue. We didn’t find anybody alive in the buildings we went to. We had a search dog with us that indicated that there were only dead bodies in the buildings. The following days we did medical work at the hospital. All of us were EMTs with some extra training, so they had us working as nurses–in some cases, doing all kinds of things.
How long were you there? Is there a moment that will remain with you the most?
We were there in Haiti for about five days. The moment that I think will stay with me the most is when we had to leave. We were planning on staying a couple more days, but then found out that we had to leave somewhat suddenly because it was when we could get a flight out. We didn’t get to say goodbye to all the people we had met, and there was so much more that we could have done that it was really hard to leave and come back to Nebraska. The only consolation is that we knew another group would be down from Union soon to keep helping.
What advice would you give to students in service programs?
I think that any students in service programs are doing something amazing. The best thing we can do in life is to help others. I’d suggest that anyone who can should become a part of an organization that helps out those in need even, if it is just in the United States.
Has life changed for you after the service trip?
This trip solidified my goals of becoming a doctor and then being a part of an organization that goes and responds to disasters around the world. Medical care is needed everywhere in the world, but seeing people with absolutely nothing being so thankful for the care we were giving, even when it was sometimes painful, that just really inspires me.
–The CollegeBound Network
February 1st, 2010
Benjamin Franklin wrote, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Had this Founding Father been a high school student in the 20th or 21st centuries, he would probably have added “reading The Catcher in the Rye” to the list.
The literary world is mourning the loss of J.D. Salinger, author of The Catcher in the Rye and hero of many an angst-ridden teen. The reclusive author, who had not published in over 50 years, died yesterday at age 91.
Conservative schools banned or burned the book, while more liberal schools—including my own Catholic high school, oddly enough—embraced the classic as a permanent part of the English literature curriculum. The novel’s famous antihero, Holden Caulfield, became the poster boy of many a restless teen trying to find their way in the world.
I was a sophomore in high school when I first read The Catcher in the Rye. As an aspiring writer, I thought it one of the most well-written books I had ever read, but was disappointed that I wasn’t as in love with Holden and his sarcasm as some of my classmates were. Still, I recognized that Holden was a force to be reckoned with, as was Salinger’s insightful prose.
The strange thing about Salinger’s death is that just the other day, I bought another copy of Catcher, as my high school copy has been long lost. I felt the need to revisit the book from a fresh perspective, and now that Salinger is gone, I have a feeling that many other people will be doing the same. In fact, I’m fully expecting the novel, as well as Salinger’s Nine Stories and Franny and Zooey, to reappear on best-seller lists in the upcoming weeks.
But of course, this is exactly the kind of fanfare that drove Salinger to become such a recluse. He hated his fame, and although he continued to write each day, he never published again. In today’s pop culture, where there are too many people who are famous for being famous, Salinger’s legacy is like a breath of fresh air—he achieved fame for hating fame.
If you’ve already read The Catcher in the Rye for high school English, drag the book out and read it again. If you haven’t already, get going on it. At the risk of offending Salinger, it is one of the greatest books of our time.
–Barbara Bellesi
January 29th, 2010
Looks like Harvard University is bringing sexy back.
Pop icon Justin Timberlake has been chosen as the 2010 Man of the Year by the Hasty Pudding Theatricals at Harvard. His parade and awards presentation will be on February 5, while Anne Hathaway, the 2010 Woman of the Year, is enjoying her honors in Cambridge today.
“The Pudding” usually opts to bestow the MOY or WOY title on stage and screen stars, not music stars like JT, but then again, the NSYNC alum has known to tear it up in such movies as Alpha Dog and The Love Guru. If you’re a “Saturday Night Live” fan, then you’ve also enjoyed JT’s stints as Andy Samberg’s sidekick in some hilarious digital video shorts, as well as his turn as a leotard-clad backup dancer in Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” skit.
This is not Timberlake’s only connection to Massachusetts. His girlfriend, actress Jessica Biel, attended classes a while back at Tufts University in Medford, just a town over from Cambridge. When I lived in Boston, I actually saw Biel on the Red Line once, with a pair of pink toe shoes tucked under her arm. I don’t think she recognized me, though.
Who says you need to be in New York or LA for a dose of star power? Today and next Friday, Mass Ave. in Cambridge is the place to be.
–Barbara Bellesi
January 28th, 2010
There are many things for college-bound students to complain about when it comes to filling out college applications. Hefty application fees are usually at the top of the list, ranging anywhere from $25 to upwards of $75. (That’s right, Yale and Harvard, I’m talking ‘bout you). Unless you are approved for a waiver, you can expect to pay hundreds of dollars in app fees. Ouch.
Some schools, like The College of Saint Rose, are starting to feel your pain. The Albany college sent out a whopping 30,000 “Exclusive Scholar Applications” to high school seniors, which eliminated not only the app fee, but also the essay. Additionally, the school promised a speedy response—an acceptance or a rejection in only three weeks. Needless to say, The College of Saint Rose and other colleges and universities that jumped on this marketing bandwagon saw their application numbers soar.
According to the New York Times, some schools paid around the $1 million mark to send out “fast-track” applications to top students, but the increase in applications received makes the investment worth it. Other schools that are mailing out trimmed-down applications include Marquette University and its “Advantage Application,” Rensselaer Polytechnic and its “Candidate’s Choice Application,” and the University of Minnesota and its “Golden Gopher Fast Application.”
Even if some of these fast-track app schools aren’t on your radar, it makes a ton of sense to send in an application anyway because it increases your chances of getting accepted without further emptying your wallet. It will be interesting to see how many students end up enrolling at these schools after being wooed by a free and easier application.
Did you get a fast-track college application in the mail this year? Did you apply? Leave a comment below.
–Barbara Bellesi
January 27th, 2010
You may be willing to eat all the ramen noodles that you can, but skimping on food still might not allow you to save all the money you need to pay for college.
That’s why January is such an important month, because now is the time to turn in your application for financial aid. So we want to make sure you have all the details you need to be eligible for that money.
Add these five tips from Student Financial Aid Services, a California-based student aid preparation service, to your checklist, if you’re just getting started or are about to submit the crucial FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) form:
1. Don’t miss the financial aid deadline.
The deadlines vary and some state deadlines are as early as Feb. 15.
2. Do your math.
Miscalculations can lower your aid. Also, make sure figures such as money taken from a retirement fund are being included correctly.
3. Job loss? Your gain.
A parent’s layoff could make you eligible for more money. See if you fit into the criteria for the dislocated worker question.
4. Leave off the house.
A home is a huge investment for your family, but a primary residence is not considered an asset on the FAFSA. In the New York Times’ Q&A about financial aid, Mark Kantrowitz, founder of FinAid.org, said the net home equity of the family’s primary residence is not reported as an asset, but if the home is sold, the proceeds from the sale are treated as an asset.
5. Avoid a mix-up
Read over your application to make sure you haven’t transposed your Social Security number or made some other simple mistake–like forgetting to sign the form.
–Lori Johnston
January 26th, 2010
I am sure that Heidi Montag is a very nice person. But since I have not met her, I am forced to base my opinion of “The Hills” star on the reports of her recent plastic surgeries (10 in one day!) and her new CD, “Superficial.”
While it is true that Hollywood values youth and beauty, it seems that Montag has taken her quest for physical perfection too far—and, in her words, she’s only getting started. Montag is morphing into a real-life Barbie doll right before our very eyes, and the jury is still out on which one has more plastic.
Although Montag had stints at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles, perhaps her time would have been better spent studying other arts—liberal arts, that is. With her busy schedule of staging photo shoots for the paparazzi, it’s understandable that Montag wouldn’t have time to complete a degree. But even a class or two in the liberal arts curriculum might help her realize that life is about more than simply aspiring to be like the wax version of herself at Madame Tussaud’s.
Here are some suggestions for classes that might be worth Montag’s valuable time:
Math. Montag has gone on record saying that she wants to inflate her already ample bosom even more—“H for Heidi,” she says, referring to the bra cup size to which she aspires. (Imagine if her name were Sara.) But if she took a class in math, she’d understand proportions. Specifically, she’d realize that with a body as small a hers, she can’t get much more top heavy without toppling over. (Fingers crossed that the cameras are rolling when she does!)
Music. Montag has said that “Superficial” will become a phenomenon similar to that of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” That said, I’d recommend a music history class, particularly one that focuses on 20th century music. Maybe then she’d realize the impact that Michael Jackson had on the music world and understand that “Billie Jean” has a lot more staying power than, say, “Turn Ya Head.”
Psychology. Even an Intro to Psych class will explore the topic of delusion, something in which Heidi has been happily living for some time. Although true to form, Montag probably wouldn’t even recognize the very word that describes her personality—or else she’ll miss that class in order to recuperate from yet another surgery.
Business. Really, even a calculator would be helpful at this point for Montag. She claims she spent around $2,000,000 of her own money for her recent CD and was optimistic that she would earn the money back in just the first week of its release. Since the CD dropped on the 11th, it has sold less than 700 copies. If Montag did some number crunching, she’d realize that she is far behind in her goal. So maybe a course in basic business principles would teach her that pouring big bucks into her own talent isn’t the best way to make a good return on investment.
Foreign Language. If you’ve read any blogs about Montag and her hubby, Spencer Pratt, you may begin to wonder if anybody likes them. But Montag carries on, seemingly unfazed by the haters who aren’t downloading her CD and saying she is on her way to becoming the next Cat Lady. Does this girl understand English? Apparently not. Perhaps it’s time to learn another language—maybe she’ll understand things better in Spanish. Ay dios mio!
–Barbara Bellesi
January 25th, 2010
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