What’s the big deal?

I don’t know if this is big news, but golfer Tiger Woods recently had multiple mistresses and now he and his wife are contemplating divorce.

If my tone didn’t translate through the Web, then let me tell you: I’m being sarcastic.

The news broke about Woods in late 2009 and the Perez Hilton-wannabees are still buzzing about it. Even reputable journalism sources like ABC news have picked up a story or two about the rising number of women that Woods slept with outside of his wife.

Woods made a huge error and undoubtedly caused a huge stir trend of people blowing up celebrity divorce cases, even without any scandal in question.

People in the public eye, like movie and television actors and sports stars are constantly being talked about. Hell, there are countless blogs, Web sites and magazines devoted to tracking every minute of celebrity life.

I understand that people are fascinated with famous individuals, but when did splashing a less-than-scandalous divorce across page 6 qualify as news? And even more importantly, why are divorce cases being covered by major newspapers?

Case in point: 76er’s player Allen Iverson’s recent divorce from his wife Tawanna Iverson this week.

There is no evidence of domestic abuse, illegimate children or adultery. Iverson didn’t sneak around with nine(ish) women, participate in a dog-fighting ring or pretend to send his children around the state in a homemade hot air balloon.

And yet, the Philadelphia Inquirer, arguably the most prominent newspaper in the City of Brotherly Love, ran an article about Iverson’s divorce from his wife.

So let me ask you: What’s the big deal?

Iverson’s getting a divorce. Who cares? 3.5 per 1,000 people in the U.S. also split from their spouses, according to the Center of Disease Control Web site in the 2008 census.

In the case of Tiger Woods, for example, there are extrenuating circumstances because there was a fairly large scandal involved, but as of now, there is no scandal in the case of Allen vs. Tawanna. There is no reason for the split except for that the Iverson’s marriage was  ”irretrievably broken,” as claimed the article in the Inquirer.

Iverson is a very popular basketball player, and has been since he was a first draft pick in 1996. He has an impossible training schedule, is constantly traveling and clearly is not home often to be with his wife and their five children. Call me naive, but I’m sure that Tawanna probably knew what she was getting into when she married the Sixer’s star. Nevertheless, it’s no mystery why they are getting divorced.

So who cares? When did celebrity gossip get so important that newspapers like the Philly Inquirer decide to run pieces on Iverson’s unentertaining divorce? And why are people so enthralled with the rich and the famous that they want to read about celebrity heartbreak when eating their bagels on Sunday morning?

Instead of focusing on celebrity drama, major newspapers should be writing about things that actually matter, instead of making a mockery of print journalism (or at least what I thought print journalism was) by writing about drama that will inevitably be drawn out until late summer pending rumors and other craziness.

Leave that to Perez Hilton.

How Cosmopolitan ruined my life

I’ve been trying to break away from my cynical-ness lately, and I think I’ve been doing a pretty good job. Even though it’s hard to completely break a cycle (and also, I don’t want to completely break it), this is a column that I thought it was worth being cynical for. I think will speak to a lot of people, especially women my age.

Haircuts for cancer

Remember when I said that I wasn’t going to write about cancer for the rest of the semester? I didn’t even think about it when I said that I’d write this story. Oh, well.

GivesMeHope.com

FML.

It seems like almost every day I hear those three little letters that give away the outcome of people’s day.

The popular Web site FMyLife.com, based on the (obviously true) assumption that people get a huge kick out of making fun of other people’s misfortunes, must get millions of views a day.

I like the site. I think it’s funny, and I truly believe that people would much rather complain about their days than share their victories. Messed up? Maybe. But it still doesn’t change the fact that people are doing it, and have been doing it for a long time.

About a month ago, a friend at The Spectrum told me about the site GivesMeHope.com, a Web site that allows people to tell short anecdotes about what made their days happier, not worse. It’s a sweet site that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy. The tagline is “Like FML, but for optimists.”

I was fortunate enough to talk to one of the creators, Emerson Spartz, on the phone the other day where he gave me the background story of GMH and allowed me to write an article on it.

In a world that is as cynical as ours, I believe that this site really will give people hope.

Saving wildlife

Anyone that knows me knows that I’m a huge animal lover. Although I’ll always remain partial to dogs, I’ll pick up, play with or pet anything that will give me attention.
Growing up in a Philadelphia suburb, I wasn’t around hunting. I doubt that my father, born and raised in South Philly, has even touched a hunting rifle. My mom grew up in Niagara Falls and her brothers hunt now, but obviously it’s more of a man’s sport than ever.
That’s probably why I never really understood the whole hunting thing. I’ve always wanted to protect animals, never hurt them. Even though deer are overpopulated in most areas that they live in, I’ve never felt the urge, or understood the urge, to kill something.
I wrote this article about how students can take care of wildlife animals in Western New York and gives them a perspective of how the Department of Environmental Conservation helps them.

How green is our campus?

I have to admit, I’m so glad that we have staff writers that send things in because a lot of the time, I’m totally at a loss of things to write about. Most of the stories I find are totally coincidental, I have to search for stories because the things that I’m most interested in writing about are either things that make the school look bad, or things that aren’t in the open. For example, about a week and a half ago, when the editor-in-chief asked me what I was going to write about the next day, I was at a total loss. He then gave me an e-mail from a UB student who saw some very interesting things in Capen Undergraduate Library on UB North.

Jillian Pickett witnessed janitors throwing all of the recycling into the same bins as the regular trash and not even bothering to dispose recyclables in the proper fashion. For readers who do not go to UB, recycling is practically shoved down our throats: we have numerous clubs devoted to the cause (UBGreen, Student Association Environmental, etc.) and we have recycling bins everywhere devoted to proper disposal of items such as bottles, cans and paper.

However, when students see janitors not following through on the school’s mission to be eco-friendly, some students are starting to wonder how much of an impact they are actually making.

While researching my article, A darker shade of green, I found out a lot of information about what students have seen. For example, when talking to the head of SA Environmental, Chris Llop, he told me that he also saw a lack of recycling in Capen about a year in a half ago. Apparently, this has been happening for a long time. This was confirmed when I get a phone call the other day from a student representative from an environmental council on campus, who said that he too has been dealing with this problem for years.

In short, students of UB are angry. “Going green” is the latest fad that most popular status symbols are trying to become a part of, and it’s becoming more and more obvious that UB is trying to impress future students and businesses with their supposedly eco-friendly ways and not following through.

If any UB students have had experiences that they want to share with me, please let me know at rmlamb@buffalo.edu. I’m very interested in talking to you and completely unearthing whatever secrets UB is hiding from us.

Ralph Nader must be proud…

New Jersey is taking some serious strides in going GREEN…

On Monday, Gov. Corzine signed legislature stating that New Jersey residents who suffer from serious illnesses like cancer and multiple sclerosis can legally obtain medical marijuana from their physicians. Read my opinion in my column for The Spectrum.

Same old…

It’s a running joke with one of my co-workers that I only write about two things: cancer and feminism. Last semester, he brought this to my attention and before he did, I never realized it. If one would look in my archive on The Spectrum Web site, you would see that some of my articles are about breast cancer, the fight against rape, the anti-rape task force at UB, more breast cancer, stopping sex trafficking and even more cancer-related issues.
Most writers make a name for themselves by focusing on certain topics that they know they are good at writing about. The thing is, I didn’t know that I was pigeon-holing myself as a feminist martyr, speaking for struggling victims who cannot speak for themselves. It’s not that I don’t think that people shouldn’t write about fighting for gender equality or fatal illnesses, but I don’t think that I should anymore.
I think that I subconsciously fall back on these because they’re what I’m used to writing, and because I’m good at writing them. But how am I going to grow as a writer if I don’t proverbially spread my wings and fly away from cancer fundraisers and women in need?
I never make New Year’s resolutions; I forget about them or just don’t care anymore after a few days. But I’ve made up my mind: this is the last cancer-related article that I will write this semester.
I hope.

Where is the love?

For the better part of a decade, my family and I have been going to New York City the weekend before Christmas. We take the two hour drive and stay in a hotel and do New York-y, tourist-y kinds of things that mostly make me feel a little bit awkward and out of place because I don’t like to feel like I’m a tourist, even though I don’t live there. Luckily, my parents don’t walk around with huge cameras around their necks or loud hawaiian shirts. Then again, it is December.

I come from a very musical family; I don’t mean that everyone plays a musical instrument, I just mean that we’re just huge fans in general. This year, my dad decided to take us to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame annex in SoHo. Rather than carousing F.A.O Schwartz or staring with shining eyes at the giant tree in Rockefeller Center, this is something that I’ve always been interested in doing.

So, I put on my proverbial large straw hat and grabbed my digital camera (even though it turns out I wasn’t allowed to use it). Judge me, native New Yorkers. For once, I’m not phased.

Recently, the Hall of Fame has acquired memorabilia from John Lennon’s life in the city in the 70′s and 80′s, given by Yoko Ono. The entire back wing of the annex is filled with photographs, personal album covers, clothing and song drafts in his own handwriting.

It was awesome.

There were also four screens with music videos, live performances and interviews with Lennon and Ono, including a lot of humanitarian and service work that they’ve done, especially pertaining to the Vietnam War, women’s rights and human rights during their time in NYC. For example, according to the exhibit, the two musicians actually bought billboard space in 12 countries with the words “The War is Over (if you want it to be).”

Along with that, they attended protests, put out albums and wrote songs and posters to tell people what they believed in and what they thought was wrong with the world, and how to change it.

John Lennon used his fame and power to change the world. An indisputably genius songwriter and lyricist, Lennon changed the world not only with his music, but with his character.

How many famous people still do that today?

It seems that there are a lot of famous people that just want to be that: famous. A lot of money, attention from the opposite sex, people scream and run at you whenever you’re in public… I get it. Who doesn’t want that? (There’s that sarcasm again.)

But it seems that fame could be used for something other than free lattes at Starbucks because you were in some movie.

I’m not saying that when the 24-year-old Lennon left Liverpool for the U.S. he immediately wanted to stop the war and change the world, but he was able to recognize his power, when he was able to handle it, and allow that influence to alter how people see things that matter to him, like stopping violence and hatred.

One example that I can think of is when Leonardo DiCaprio and some of his buddies made a video to encourage voting in the 2008 Presidential elections.

Young voting has been on the decline in recent elections, and some might say that the race between Barack Obama and John McCain was one of the most important elections in recent U.S. History. Did you ever think that Jack from Titanic would save the world from Sarah Palin?

The world needs more people like John Lennon. And Bono. And Leonardo DiCaprio.

I’ll even take a few more like Angelina Jolie and Madonna.

Unfortunately, people don’t listen to politicians and world leaders like they used to, but they do listen to actors, musicians and other famous figureheads that believe in bettering the world.

So, it falls in the hands of those that we adore to adjust the viewpoints of young generations and let them know to recycle. To vote. To help animals. To love people.

Celebrities: where is the love?

Me, me, me

I wouldn’t say that I’m necessarily “well-known” at UB, but it’s hard to be popular at a school with approximately 30,000 people.

However, I have participated in different majors, clubs and living situations from freshman year, so to say that my circle of aquaintances is minimal probably wouldn’t be the truth.

So, as most people tend to ask themselves at one point: what do other people think of me? Am I the one who glares at you under a “conductor hat” in a 9 a.m. lecture hall on a Monday morning? Am I the girl that you see jumping around The Steer on a Thursday night? Am I the girl that you overhear cracking “your mom” jokes in Capen to delay studying? (By the way, the answer to all three of those is yes.)

Words that are repeatedly used to describe me by close friends and family are stubborn, funny, loyal, smart, and — overwhelmingly — sarcastic.

I asked friends and family members their responses and not one response was one I wasn’t expecting, according to the person I asked.

While these are representative of a person that I think I am, consistently absent adjectives were “kind” or “caring.”

Though I like to think I am both kind and caring, it isn’t surprising to me that these aren’t the first things that people say when they receive a text saying “words that describe me. go.”

I put up a guard. I know it, my friends know it, my family knows it, and the people that I work with know it. Even people who have never met me in person and have just read my articles, columns, and blogs may know. I’ve been told, I’ve been asked why, and I’ve never had someone disagree.

The thing is, I’m not sure why. Am I so overwhelming insecure that sarcasm and humor are my only weapons? Do (the few) that described me as warm not know the real me? Or are they the only ones that do?

I’m not sure how I came to this conclusion, but I have recently told a few friends that I want to be nicer to people. My best friend put on her “good one, Rach,” face, one whipped her head around so quickly I’m surprised he doesn’t have whiplash, and one literally laughed in my face.

“You’re nice when you want to be,” said one.
“That’s just not you,” said another.

When did I get that my friends laugh out loud when I declare optimism? True, I am pessimistic in nature, but when did I get to the point where I am completely denied when trying to prove an inner pleasantness?

I am not in control of my emotions more often than not. I laugh too hard, I get mad too easily, I get excited too quickly, I am disappointed suddenly, and I care too deeply.

I fight for things that I want and believe in. I care about, almost to a fault, the people I am close with. I hold grudges and am intensely loyal to my friends. But at the same time, if I’m fighting for an injustice put against me or someone that I love, does that make me a mean person?

I have to have been nice at some point, otherwise I wouldn’t have had friends to ask what makes me the person I am. Clearly people can be “nice when they need to be,” but that seems very superficial and manipulative to me.