End

It has been great blogging. I am going to continue this - I hope.
The last week of school, and oh boy am I psyched.
I have an Accounting final, a in class essay for writing for the media, a 15 page paper for Minorities in the Media and finally a Statistics test on Friday to wrap it up.

I leave back to Indonesia on May 5th to spend a month and a half with family and friends. Then i go to India during mid June to visit my extended family and return to NY on the start of August.

Next semester, I will be the President of International student organization and will be having an internship at Smith Barney. I will be a full time student with 17 credits, next semester will be one tough semester.

This semester has been one that is filled with great memories. I will definitely miss my buddies who are going to graduate, but thankfully they will still be around the area.
It is not good-bye yet.

I am really looking forward to my senior year, to see what fate has for me.

Cheers!

Stylebook

Whilst flipping through the Associated Press Style book, I came across couple of interesting things. Firstly when you look under the world children, it states that “in general, call children 15 or younger by their firs name on second reference. Use the last name, however, if the seriousness of the story calls for it, as a in a murder case, for example. For ages 16 and 17, use judgment, but generally go with the surname unless it’s a light story. Use the surname for those 18 and older.” This was very interesting as I read it. I never knew, one classifies it like that.

Another awkward abbreviation I read was, SRO – standing room only. I though SRO meant – “single room occupancy,” and this was associated with the help of homeless people. “The SRO Program provides rental assistance for homeless persons in connection with the moderate rehabilitation of SRO dwellings. SRO housing contains units for occupancy by one person. These units may contain food preparation or sanitary facilities, or both.”

The associated press is a very interesting read, learn a lot of useful and interesting information.

Seven Dwarfs = Seven stages of coke

I read a very intresting article on how Snow White and the Seven dwarfs maybe a representation of the seven stages of cocaine.

"It took me awhile to actually think about this, and make sure it made sense. After much thought, it does make sense. Snow White is a movie that indiscretely makes reference to the white gold. For one her name is Snow White, the color of cocaine. That right there is a dead giveaway, but wait there's more. The names of the dwarves are named after, what i think, the symptoms of cocaine usage. Their beards were also white, it seems they would be that way because they are old, but it's only that way to the untrained eye, but to someone like me, who wastes their time on stupid things and points out the flaws of things, i take this into consideration when wondering if Snow White has anything to do with cocaine. It also looks like they work in a diamond mine, but those are no ordinary diamonds, they are crack diamonds, which they process into their sweet drug of cocaine.

All of them but Doc are guilty of the crime of being a drug reference. Lousy german midgets. Always with the drugs, well at least they will stay away from my family. 1. Dopey - When you hear Snow White, you either think of her or this dwarf. He may be the goofiest of the dwarves, but wouldn't you be if you were a cocaine symptom, he always run around with the oversized tunic and ears looking ridiculous and also crazy. He's pretty much level-headed when he doesn't take his cocaine, which i think he should stop doing. 2. Grumpy - After a while in the cocaine high, you get angry, or at least seem that way, but this curmudgeonly old bastard doesn't need cocaine to be angry, he just has a mental imbalance. Without his cocaine he's a rambling psychotic, dangerous to talk to and more dangerous to interact with. 3. Sneezy - Now this is a sad case, to most people when he has his finger up to his nose it may seem he is stiffling a sneeze, but in reality, this poor midget is getting his fix of coke by putting it on his finger. The other dwarves think he has a sneezing problem, but he is much smarter than them. Hiding your habit by putting it on your nose, you card. 4. Happy - Cocaine puts you in a euphoric state of mind, and this guy is the perfect example. So much cocaine usage has left him in a blissful state. It's tragic. 5. Bashful - When you do cocaine you sort of go into withdrawal, but most of the time you are hyperactive and full of energy. This guy is a case of the former choice. 6. Sleepy - I'm not sure if you become sleepy from doing cocaine, seeing as how i haven't tried it yet. But i am pretty sure doing cocaine takes it out of you. Too much cocaine makes this guy seem like a sufferer of narcolepsy. "

This shot article was a very interesting read. I have definitely heard about Disney referring to sex. Supposedly in Aladdin, Aladdin after the song, “a whole new world,” he whispers to jasmine – “Take off your clothes.”

Also is the Lion King, the clouds spell sex and in the little Mermaid on the cover, or at least on the older boxes, there is a picture of a palace with many persians-looking towers on the back. One of them is a giant penis, erect and sticking out of one of the turrets of the Palace.

Water -

A recent movie I watched was Water by Deepa Metha. Water shows a story about a group of Indian widows. The movie shows the struggle of an Indian widow in society and how she survives in a patricarchal society. Deepa Metha, to a certain extent exaggerates the problem Indian widows go through. Not all widows are treated like this nor does all Indian sub-sects look down upon widows. But there are that still do treat them like this, and Water shows how pathetic and cruel society can be. Water revolves around widows; widows who don't burn themselves on their husbands' funeral pyres, live in the strict ashrams (a residing place of some sort of group), awaiting the purification of death.

“Water” revolves around the central widow, Chuyia, is only 8. She is dumped into the ashram, and is expected to lead a life of denial and forbidden from society. In this ashram, this 8 year old girl will be forced to lead a life of an 80 year old woman; her hair will be shaved, she will wear white robes for the rest of her life and be an outcaste from society, this movie exploits the atrocity of Hinduism. Chuyia at the innocent girl starts to question Hinduism, and become a rebel. Another central figure in this movie is a Kalyani also a widow, played by Lisa Ray. Lisa Ray lives in the ashram as well. She is the one who primarily takes care of Chuyia, and thanks to Chuyia she meets a lawyer and eventually falls in love. Deepa Metha shows the human emotion of love conquering Lisa Ray’s feeling even though she is a widow. It is a battle of love versus society.

Metha forces Lisa Ray to break taboo rules. Ultimately Kalyani, ends up committing suicide as she cannot live in a society that won’t accept her love with this lawyer.

The movie ends with a quote “There are over 34 million widows in India according to the 2001 Census. Many continue to live in conditions of social, economic and cultural depression as prescribe 2000 years ago by the sacred texts of Manu.” This quote shows the ignorance which many people decide to live with.

Liverpool - We will never walk alone.

Liverpool and Chelsea are going to face each other in a high profile match of the second leg semi final of Champions League 2007-2008. The first match ended in a 1-1 tie, at Anfield, Liverpool’s home ground. An own goal, by the substitute Rise at the 95 minute, ruined Liverpool’s clean sheet. Now having the disadvantage, Liverpool go to Chelsea this Wednesday, to make their dreams come true.

Liverpool has nothing to gain in English Premier League as they are currently 12 points behind leader Manchester United with three matches yet to go in the season. They are currently fourth in EPL with five points difference between third placed Arsenal and themselves. Liverpool is now fully focused on Champions League as they have nothing to achieve in EPL, except the fourth place to secure the ticket of Champions League next season. So, it seems to be an unwanted advantage for Liverpool.

In their way to the semi final of Champions League, Liverpool defeated Arsenal in the quarter final and confirmed their third Champions League semi final in four years. Liverpool was the winner of Champions League 2005 and they have been consistently doing well in Europe, which is way contrast to their inconsistent domestic form for the last few years.

This Wednesday will decide the fate of Liverpool and Chelsea. Me being a Liverpool supporter I really wish Chelsea would suffer a massive defeat.
Lets go Liverpool – we will never walk alone!

Jihad

In the Associated Press Stylebook, the word Jihad is defined as, “the Arabic noun used to refer to the Islamic concept of the struggle to do good. In particular situations, that can include, holy war, the meaning extremist Muslims commonly use.


There is a huge misconception about this word, the word Jihad derives from the root word: to exert ones self, to struggle to attain something. This word is only used in reference to things that are seen as difficult or undesirable. The word for war in Arabic is harab. The word Jihad is to defend Islam, Muslims or to liberate a land where Muslims are oppressed is certainly allowed (and even encouraged) in Islam. However, any such activities must be done according to the teachings of Islam. Islam also clearly forbids "taking the law into your own hands", which means that individual Muslims cannot go around deciding who they want to kill, punish or torture.

The misconception is that the word Jihad is that a war started by an Muslim against an Infidel, or one that does not like Islam. It portrays Islam as religion of war, which in reality is a religion of peace.

April 7, 2008

Christopher Kerner
LG Electronics
U.S.A Corporate Headquarters
1000 Sylvan AvenueEnglewood Cliffs, NJ 07632

Mr Christopher Kermer
Green Culture Inc has launched a new design of “green” table lamps. We would like you to be a part of it. On April 26th 2008 we are holding our event, “Festival of Lights.” This is to promote our environmentally friendly lamps. This is also our launch party, to introduce our new design for “go-green” lamps. The ‘Weeping Willow Table Lamp’ uses unique shade contains over 820 pieces of Tiffany glass. This even will be held at the New York, Roseland Ballroom, 239 W 52nd St, New York, NY.
At our ‘Festival of Lights are offering our various products and designs by our company. Green Culture Inc has produced a new design for “go-green” lamps. This promotes and emphasizes the company’s commitment to raising awareness about environmentally friendly options for lamp users.
We would like LG, to sponsor this event as you are one of the major players in the light bulb industry. We would like LG to share their views and help us promote environmentally friendly solutions. We would highly respect your partnership for this beneficial cause.
If your are interested in partnering up for a greater cause with Green Culture Inc, please write back to me or please call me at the above address. We can discuss this further in detail.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely

Starbucks

Starbucks Corporation engages in purchasing, roasting, and selling whole bean coffees worldwide. The company also sells brewed coffees, espresso beverages, cold blended beverages, food items, teas, branded coffee drinks, etc. In addition, its stores offer pastries, sodas, juices; it offers coffee-related accessories and equipment, such as coffee grinders, coffeemakers, coffee filters, storage containers, travel tumblers, and mugs. Starbucks operates primarily in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. It is not in a highly competitive market, there are not a lot of competitors for Starbucks. I am focusing on Starbucks in the United States, and their coffees. I feel that that the sodas, juices pastries are the Complementors are also the other products they sell, such as you can find Starbucks t-shirts, bags, hats, mugs so on and so forth.
“Coffee is the second-largest U.S. import, and the specialty coffee market is estimated to be worth $11 billion a year, (http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2006/10/01/8387114/index.htm.) Starbucks is not the only one who is occupying the 11 billion dollar. But it is owning most of it, the main competitors are McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, Coffee Bean, and other coffee houses. But predominantly Starbuck runs the coffee show in America.

Recent complementary services for Starbucks are Bank One. They have offer the Starbucks Card Duetto Visa. This is a stored-value card and traditional credit card. Starbucks has also introduced a T-Mobile Hotspot service which allows the Starbucks customer to have access to wireless internet for a fee. Offering more services like the Visa card, wireless internet and so on will add more value to the Starbucks experience and help draw more customers to Starbucks which will lead to higher revenues.

Starbucks has yet to force all coffee bean suppliers to only sell coffee beans to them.
The Suppliers want to be recognized as supplying to the best of the best. They have seen Starbucks Success over the past years, they have created a huge turnover each year. “Starbucks has announced profit growth of 9% in the third quarter of 2007, driven by international expansion. For the three months ended July 1, 2007, Starbucks profits rose 9% to $158.3 million, up from $145.5 million during the same period last year,” (http://www.drinks-business-review.com/article_feature.asp?guid=687F249B-A0BF-41EE-99DB-9A0DB8487489.)

Religion can be thought of as many things. Many people have different definitions for it. Some think of it as a way of life, or a belief in something or someone. A very popular definition for it comes to us from the Microsoft Encarta Online Dictionary, which defines religion as “people’s beliefs and opinions concerning the existence, nature, and worship of a deity or deities, and divine involvement in the universe and human life.”Religion is meant to save people, and the great number of people believes in their religions. Christianity is mostly followed by the western people from Europe and America. Islam is more likely in the western Asia and Egypt. Buddhism is mostly in East Asia such as India, Korea, China, and Japan. However, like Christianity, the belief of Buddhism has arranged in each country.

I am an Hindu and Hinduism is the oldest known religion and is very rich with literally hundreds of gods, rituals and beliefs. It is believed to have been established around 1500 B.C. but no one person founded Hinduism as it evolved over a long period of time. Hindus have many gods governing different aspects of Hindu life. The three main gods in Hinduism are Vishnu who is the sustainer; Brahma is the creator and Shiva the destroyer these three are referred to as Trimuti.

As an individual i do not believe there is a specific god, but i believe in a form of supernatural power above us. We are here for a reason.

Blog 5- Free Write

Hookah Horus
In Horus Cafe AT 6TH Street and Avenue B, Haidar Husseini jokes with friends as he takes a bit of his falafel and smokes his mint-flavored tobacco through a Hookah pipe. Horus Café is an upcoming and vibrant location in the Village, New York City. Along with different flavored hookah, and delicious Arabic food, alcohol is also provided. There is a mini bar setup to have a couple of drinks with good friends. An up-beat Arabic music fills the atmosphere.
“We do this all the time back home, its part of our culture," he says, which most of the Middle Eastern are accustomed to hookah. Haidar Husseini a Palestinian studying at Manhattanville College enjoys smoking hookah, “when we go out for hookah, it reminds me of back home. We enjoy, relax and socialize. Horus Café has great hookah flavors, especially their fresh pineapple hookah.”
Hookah is a flavored tobacco, inhaled through a tall, pipe that sits on the floor; it has long been a popular pastime in the Middle East and it’s completely legal.
On Friday and Saturday nights, it gets too crowded, that people have to wait in queue outside. . A recent attraction is the Belly Dancers nights on Friday and Saturday. If you are lucky enough you may even get to dance with one of them. There are many other hookah bars that are located in the city, but only a few offer belly dancers and a lively crowd such as Horus.
“The prices are cheap, a hookah is 10 dollars and they don’t charge for coal,” says Husseini. In comparison to other places Horus is much cheaper, on average one would spend 20 to 25 dollars for a hookah, an Arabic dish with rice or bread and a soft drink or juice.
Horus Café is an upcoming and vibrant location in the Village, New York City. Along with different flavored hookah, and delicious Arabic food, alcohol is also provided. There is a mini bar setup to have a couple of drinks with good friends. An up-beat Arabic music fills the atmosphere. “It feels like home, singing along with friends, eating home food, and socializing, it’s a great feeling,” says Husseieni as he takes a puff and makes smoke rings.
It is much more of a laid back atmosphere, and at the same time, if one wants to dance, there is a dance floor for everyone to dance. It seems to be a mix of a traditional hookah bar, and a modern dance club.
The Middle Eastern culture of hookah has fit into American society well. Anyone who is a college to a business man could be found at Horus Café. It has its own specialty of catering its need to different types of people. One can easily spend about 3 to 5 hours at Horus Café, socializing with friends.

Is Writing for the Media Really One of the Most Important Jobs in Our Society?

I feel that writing for the Media is one of the most important jobs in our society. Writing for the media is a gift, only a handful of people can keep a reader entertained. Its a special talent to paint a story or tell an event in your own words, therefore the reader can visualize it. Without these writers, we would have no form of information or no form of entertainment. These writers bring news to us; they tell the world what is going on.

Media writers no matter in which field they write in, let it be print, radio, magazine, television, they shape what we conceptualize. They help us and provide the world with information that is needed, they bring out the truth.

Stovall Says “Writing for the mass media is one of the most important jobs in our society. The people who do this job have a tremendous impact on the shape and direction of the community.”

We depend and we need these writers so we can know what is going on in the real world. These writers have posses something only a few could do, it is amazing how they do it.

"Some people say that a certain consistent style restricts creativity others say it enhances, what are the arguments on both side?"

I feel a certain consistent style does restrict ones creativity to some extent. Creativity comes from the writers mind, and he or she needs to be willing to let it flow. A writer needs to learn to adapt him self into different writing styles.

Writing the same way makes one a strong writer in their particular field or in their particular style. It is definitely a gift to write they way they can. A sports writer, writes to entertain his audience, and is not the same as journalist in Economy Today. Both writers have a gift of expressing what they are best in. Each writer is creative within their own field, they know how to grab the attention of their readers and they can be creative in their particular area.
On the contrary using the same style, the writer will start to repeat and reuse the same method or approach to each piece of writing; it does not let them go wild. I feel a strong writer is one who is brave enough and confident enough and can prove that he can explore the fields and one who can adjust and adapt to the circumstances. An example of someone being constricted by their style would be my father. He writes in the English newspaper back home. His style I would say is writing humors articles. He enjoys is making fun of what he listens, sees, basically his environment and he loves to “word play” with the English language. He is too used to this certain style and if you were to ask him to write a serious piece on the issue in the Middle-East or the Terrorism or the Economic Crisis, he would really struggles to get half a page. Writing in one certain style does lead to a mental block to some extent; you’re limited and your mind starts thinking only in one way.

Writing is Thinking

The statement “writing is thinking,” to me makes sense. When one writes a piece, a poem, a reflection, etc, it’s their idea; it is their thought on a piece of paper or on a computer screen. When one writes, their feelings, their emotions, their perspective and their ideas are portrayed.

A writer writes about what they are motivated by, or something that affects them, something that instigates them. They write it out and they express themselves, they express what they think.

Even we, while we do school work, research papers, essay, it consists of what we think about a particular topic and we are writing about it. Therefore “writing is thinking.” However writing is not the only means of thinking. One can think without writing as well. When it comes to writing, the writer has to think, collect information, ideas, different stand points, and then he writes what he or she “thinks.”

Writing is a form of thinking, but it is not the only form of thinking. Different people have different strengths and weakness. Some express themselves better on a paper, and others people use other mediums to portray what they think, such as Art, instrumental music, gestures, etc. Art shows what a person thinks or feels. The painting speaks for itself. An example is when school children in Iraq were told to paint something, a handful of them drew pictures of war and violence. This is their way of expressing their view of their current state. An artist lets his paint brush do the writing.

Writing is thinking, but definitely not the only way.

Blog 1

I graduated half on May 2005, from Jakarta International School in Indonesia.

I traveled half way around the world for a college education in the States. I have been very persistent and clear cut on what I have wanted to do. The aspect of management and marketing has always fascinated me, therefore my major – Management with a concentration in marketing. I love talking to people, communicating, and I’ve always been told I am a people person. I thought, why not put this skill to use. I am double mentoring in Communication and World Religion. Communication acts as solid counter part to Marketing, and I have been advised that both do go well. As far as World Religion, I have always been curious and eager to learn about different religions. I am a practicing Hindu myself and I have been curious on other peoples take and other peoples view on the world, the creation, the aspect of God and so on and so forth.

After Manhattanville I would like to work somewhere in the States for a year or two, and go for my Masters. But my future definitely is somewhere in Asia. I have a very diverse background. I’m originally from India, but lived all my life in Indonesia. I have to say my future is in either one of those countries.

I have taken this course to improve my writing English is a second language to me, therefore I put in extra effort. College in general has improved my writing, I feel writing only by taking more writing courses I can improve as a writer. I hope to find my own style of writing and learn different styles as well.