By Andrew Fraley

Contrary to popular belief, not all presidential candidates are in support of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout plan. A dedicated and passionate coalition of local community leaders and candidates are leading a fight against what they have termed, “The bailout of casino capitalists.” At the vanguard of this movement is presidential candidate Ralph Nader. On Thursday, October 16, hundreds of protesters and thousands of onlookers and passers-by were in attendance for a rally at the foot of the New York Stock Exchange, in the heart of Wall Street.

“Just the usual gloom and doom,” remarked the street vendor on Wall Street, who has seen the usual ups and downs of the financial district. But on the steps of Federal Hall, in front of the statue of George Washington, protesters thronged the streets as traders and executives nervously looked out of the windows from inside the NYSE. As Titubanda, an activist marching band from Italy, played spirited songs, the Reverend Billy, a performer from the activist group The Church of Stop Shopping, preached of the coming of the

Shopocalypse. “We’re here to fight the fundamentalist religion of the free-market.” Accompanying Reverend Billy were the parodical “billionaires for bailouts.” Dressed in gaudy, stereotypically rich attire, they were a representation of the excesses of wealth, and the villains

of this particular event. “Just give us the money,” read the signs of the billionaires, while the protesters donned their “socialism saves capitalism” signs. The energy in the air was palpable as the first speaker took the stage.

The Rev. Billy played MC to the rally, introducing each of the speakers. Before Nader and his running mate, Matt Gonzalez, came on, there were a couple speakers to pump up the crowd. The first was Carl Mayer, author of the book Shakedown: The Fleecing of the Garden State. The first independent elected in Princeton, Mayer was once called a “populist crusader and maverick lawyer” by The New York Times. Mayer started by pointing out the

Rev. Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping

inherent hypocrisy happening right now with the financial crisis. He used New York’s multiple stadium plans as a prime example. “Whenever billionaires want a stadium built,” exclaimed Mayer, “they get it—with our tax dollars.” The bailout plan is opposed by the Bush administration’s head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. It’s never a good sign when the financial heads of the current administration oppose the plan.

“[Recently] top leaders of banks all met to discuss causes of the financial crisis…none would accept blame,” declared Mayer. The major banks refuse to acknowledge the fact that the reason for this debacle lies with the speculative actions of the corporations and traders. Treasury Secretary Paulson didn’t escape Mayer’s harsh criticism either. At the end of his speech, Mayer incited the crowd to chant, “Jail time yes, bail time no. Henry Paulson’s got to go!”

After a continued chant by Reverend Billy, the Reverend Jarrett Maupin, protege of Al Sharpton, hit the stage with his fiery rhetoric. Maupin in almost every way resembles Al Sharpton, and his speech was inspired. “These two nominees [McCain and Obama] have put their full faith in the advisors of Bush,” he exclaimed. The bailout plan, proposed by the Bush administration, has run nearly unopposed by the two major parties. Maupin, as a liberal African American, is making a statement by not supporting Obama. He went on to reiterate that the bailout plan cannot save Americans. Americans should not have faith in the current system. “How can someone with a knife in your back save you?”

Maupin emphasized the need to prosecute the crime being committed on Wall Street. Underneath the statue of Washington, Maupin informed the audience that, in the time of George Washington, these corporate crooks would be tarred and feathered and paraded around the city. Maupin ended his speech, asserting that this wasn’t a radical liberal movement. It affects all Americans. “We know what’s best for Americans because we’re the Americans.”

Matt Gonzalez Does Not Fork Around

Reverend Billy excitedly announced the arrival of the great Matt Gonzalez, Vice Presidential running mate of Ralph Nader. The 43-year-old Texas native has been actively involved in politics in the San Francisco area since 2000. Originally a Democrat, he switched to the Green Party in 2000 in what he described as a

“political or moral epiphany.” Gonzalez walked up to the stage with one purpose in mind; to get

his point across. He was succinct and exact, and did not pull any punches. “There is a narrative about these candidates, by the candidates themselves as well as journalists, that one party is for deregulation and one is against it. This is simply not true.” He unrelentingly went on to describe what got America into this mess.

In 1999 and 2000, Bill Clinton—a Democrat, gasp!—signed into law two bills: the Commodity Futures Modernization Act and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. These were the two laws that enabled the current crisis. The GLBA allowed for the consolidation of commercial and investment banks. Undoing the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, the law was responsible for the large scale mergings of many major bank

s and investment firms, into what is now called financial services. Combined with the CFMA, a law that essentially deregulated derivatives and credit default swaps in the financial industry. The new acts came at the height of “Wall Street and Washington’s love affair with deregulation, an infatuation that was endorsed by

President Clinton at the White House and encouraged by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan,” reported 60 Minutes. The legislature reversed decades of law, described Gonzalez. This deregulation allowed for a “sustained orgy of excess and reckless behavior” as Richard Fischer, Dallas Federal Reserve chief, put it. Making money out of money, this is the primary cause of the Wall Street recession.

“This notion that Democrats are fighting against it is rubbish,” declared Gonzalez. The bailout, as Gonzalez described, is just a bailout of the two party system. Gonzalez continued to chastise journalists for their perpetuation of the current system, and their refusal to cover independent and third party candidates. “Both candidates want to increase the military budget,” emphasized Gonzalez. The Nader/Gonzalez ticket would cut the bloated, wasteful military budget.

“You don’t fix it [the economic crisis] by buying bad credit.” To the scoffs and jeers of the billionaires for bailouts, Matt Gonzalez did not stutter or mince words. Short and sweet.

Ralph Nader Fires Up NYC

In front of a giant poster reading, “Jail time for Wall Street crime,” and a giant screw whose sign read “Congress and Wall St. turned the screws on Main St. Taxpayers,” the Reverend Billy asked the crowd to give him a “Ralphelluiah.” The crowd excitedly obliged, and the 74-year-young consumer advocate, humanitarian, environmentalist a

Total Badass

nd what many consider the last hope for democracy took the stage that Thursday at the foot of Federal Hall.

“What we’ve seen is the collapse of corporate capitalism on the backs of taxpayers,” exclaimed Nader. These are bailouts for speculating corporations, and not a rescue of the American financial system, according to Nader. The corporations are being allowed to cut workers benefits, pensions and wages to support their continued excesses. He pointed out that, if adjusted for inflation, the minimum wage from 1968 would be over $10.

There are three principles of capitalism that are being destroyed by corporate capitalism, said Nader. The first is control for owners. The corporations are property of the shareholders, and the current situation is the exact opposite. CEO’s are egregiously mismanaging their companies, inciting shareholders to jump ship and sell their stock. The second principle is the potential to fail, which means no bailouts for the companies that cannot sustain themselves. The third is no governmental manipulation or intervention; free market fails when government intervenes. These principles are all being ruined by the bailout plan, and both major parties are allowing it to happen.

“Senator McCain and Senator Obama are corporate puppets,” stated Nader, about his opponents. Concerning the debates, he had a few choice words as well. Calling it petty pandering to the public, the consumer advocate described the debates as a “bipartisan avoidance of addressing concentrated corporate power.” Without acknowledging that problem, it is impossible to effectively deal with a living wage, universal health insurance, pollution or the massive deficit and how to deal with it. “[The debates are] a charade…a disgrace to the intelligence of the voter.”

Apparently, Nader is not alone in this, either. “Nine out of ten Americans think America is in decline; three out of four think there is too much corporate control; six out of ten think the two party system is failing,” said Nader, in defense of accusations of radical liberalism. By these figures, in fact, he is actually more of a centrist. The reason for this is due largely to the coverage (or lack thereof) provided by journalists, who didn’t escape Nader’s criticism either. “Why do you expose all these corporate crimes and then shut up the American people and their representatives who are doing something about it,” asked Nader. That is, incidentally, one of the policy changes the Nader/Gonzalez ticket plans to implement if elected.

By 1735, America had thirteen colonies under King George III. “Today, we have fifty colonies under King George IV,” shouted Nader, to the uproar of the crowd. “Today, same as 1735, it is taxation without representation.” Wall Street has positioned itself against the American people, and Nader stands at the vanguard against them. As he looked directly at the NYSE, Nader closed his speech with an emphatic, “Mr. Niederauer [CEO of the NYSE], tear down this wall, before the American people do it for you!”

By Liz Kaufman

At first, the metallic “clang” against the ground, combined with blurry human figures running 25MPH through a busy New York City street caught me off guard. Adults screamed and laughed in surprise. Children got excited, begging to see acrobatics and pointing. Taxis stopped short upon seeing these semi-kangaroo humans hurdling at them, even outracing them along the streets. Tourists came to an immediate halt to crowd and take pictures. A year later, it all just seems like background noise that’s easily tuned out.

To the surprise of many, I’m referring to a normal day in my life, not a movie like Predator. Humans really can run and jump that fast and high, ignoring gravity. In 2004, Alexander Bock, of Germany, patented his invention, “Powerskips.” The term “Power Bocking” or “Powerising” refers to the actual usage of these stilts, which involves jumping and running, much like le parkour, with elastic-like, spring-loaded stilts. It combines intense acrobatics with a science fiction type look. This gives the average person 12 feet of jumping height and the ability to run up to about 25 MPH.

Bockers have been seen on the MTV 2 Music Awards (2002), The Late Show with David Letterman, and even the 2005 opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Italy.  It caused the popularity of this sport to grow drastically. Suprisingly, even though these extreme stilts have been on such popular televised events and have gained exposure, crowds of New Yorkers often oogle and point, having never seen a person use them…let alone a group of 20 or so jumping about NYC, making the entire Ellis Island ferry go ballistic and wave.

October 18, 2008 marked my second year photographing the event and my first year as a user of these kangaroo boots. Bock NYC is a yearly event for Bocking enthusiasts who meet up in the Big Apple to do what they love to do. Usually, it begins by the docks at Washington Square and progresses toward Times Square, and people gasp every bounce of the way.

Last year, Henry Holloway, an aspiring stuntman featured on The Late show with David Letterman, joined us for Bock 2007.   Holloway was the best example of what the stilts are capable of doing.  He jumped higher than anyone previously recorded, before nailing six back flips in a row. Until then, it was thought that only three to four flips and a height of no more than ten feet were the limits.

This year went even better than last year’s, with Bockers coming in from Wales, Britain, other parts of the U.S., and more locally.  About 20 people or so showed up (not including fans and those in charge of cameras), which was an increase from last year.  The increase in New York’s event might have something to do with the event called “Capital Bocking,” a yearly event that took place earlier this fall. At this event, a few hundred bockers met up, hopped, jumped, and ran all over London at once.

As far as the technical aspects are concerned, the stilts are curved, with a metallic arm. It’s the same concept of the newer prosthetic limbs by athletes. The springs and leverage mechanism ease back tension, allowing the body to jump without having a spinal impact. This allows for no back discomfort or pain and for older people to have an equal chance to enjoy them and get a great workout.

Jumping Stilts are now being caught up in the “Go Green” craze. While it is true that they can give a person the ability to keep up with traffic and not produce a carbon footprint, many are skeptical about their usefulness and ease of use. Yes, you have to strap them on and possibly some safety gear, but many bockers can do this in approximately two minutes, after familiar enough with equipment. I actually have spoken with people who do use these to get back and forth from jobs and college.

Regardless of how skilled you may be, watching people jump over your head is still enjoyable enough. No matter how many times I’ve seen it, watching one of the guys walk into a Starbucks wearing the stilts to order a drink is still hilarious after two years. From first hand experience, I can tell you that it isn’t that difficult to learn, even if you have poor balance or are afraid of heights, like I am. Children through older adults can use these and learn the same way one learns to ride a bicycle. After five hours, I was walking at a slightly fast pace around the campus, and another time I was walking in the middle of Manhattan.

If SB Press readers would like more information from a good, reputable source that sells quality merchandise, I recommend www.xphub.com. It’s important to be wary of companies selling cheaper models because, unlike your prescriptions, generic are not the same and will generally break down from poor quality parts.

For SB Press Readers who are interested in learning and enjoying the sport, email mattsdominion@aol.com for an SB Press Discount off equipment! The rep, Matt J, will give more information and references, answer all of your questions and give you a pretty decent decent discount that we cannot disclose in the paper. Simply fill the subject with with “Jump Around,” so they know it’s a Press reader.

By Najib Aminy

Are you a twenty-something and still find yourself amused by outdated seventies sitcom shows? Would you travel to a neighboring town to buy your groceries in an organic market? Have you just watched Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth and are riled up about the environment, but have no idea where to spark change? Well, grab a pack of some delectably imported Parliament cigarettes, button up a plaid jacket, and head to the nearest dive bar to join the passive aggressive fight against the establishment.

But before one can attend a dive bar, one must prepare to jump into the realm of hipsterdom, essentially signing one’s email address to receive Oxfam America spam or creating a Myspace page, with intense mental and physical preparation.

First, for one, Hipsters, according to the Nationmaster’s online Encyclopedia, originated in the 1940s Jazz era. Back then, most hipsters had been white jazz enthusiasts, and later in the fifties, they grew fond of African-American culture and avant-garde styled art. The sixties, sparked by pot-smoking, tree-hugging, non-bathing liberalism, resulted in the transformation of the word, “hipster,” into “hippies.”
Nearly fifty years later, hipsters have unintentionally hit the scene again. A socially accepted view, according to The Hipster Handbook, of a hipster is “one who possesses tastes, social attitudes, and opinions deemed as being cool by the cool. The hipster walks among the masses in daily life, but is not a part of them and must shun or reduce to kitsch anything held dear by the mainstream. A hipster ideally possesses no more than 2% body fat.”

Thus, one must appropriately dress, eat, think and act in a specific manner before raising one’s black glove against conglomerate America. The first step one must take before saving the environment or learning trivial information, such as the stepmother of Marilyn Monroe’s third hairstylist, is to get the look down. For one, kiss comfortable clothing goodbye; nut-chaffing jeans for males traditionally mark the look for any impartial hipster and potato sack dresses with spandex leggings for females. Wearing either presents the image of, “I am too busy scoffing at mainstream America to care if I stand out like a sore-thumb on any lunch line.”

Generally, to become a true hipster, one should refrain from wearing anything that represents the norm, Rather, they should create the norm and then abandon it like a bastard child as soon as it becomes a trend. One can find his or herself ahead of the curve by shopping at their local thrift store, closing their eyes, and selecting a wardrobe, of which hipster colleagues and associates will inevitably feel compelled to compliment. It is important to remember that being a hipster is not for everyone. One must sacrifice the comfort of breathing room for one’s genitals when wearing skin tight pants or adapt a new breathing style when accessorizing an 18th century French corset salvaged from the Bastille.

Aside from general clothing, accessories allow oneself to further express individuality and stamp “Anti-norm” on one’s style. For one, non-prescription thick-rimmed glasses allow one to look into their pocket mirror and remember the hipster revolutionaries, like Buddy Holly and Elvis Costello. With the resurgence of confidence, one may prevent a cool draft to their neck and cleavage area by sporting an unintended (or is it?) political statement called the keffiyeh.

Worn by Yasser Arafat, the late former leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, the keffiyeh is a symbol of Palestinian struggles against Israeli oppression. Daytime television cooking host Rachel Ray caught headlines when she wore a white and black keffiyeh in a Dunkin Doughnuts commercial after Fox News commentator Michelle Malkin said the keffiyeh symbolized “murderous Palestinian jihad.” Dunkin Donuts retracted the ad, yet the keffiyeh has now become its own symbol of hipster douche-baggery. Whether in support of Palestine’s efforts against the puppet-controllers of America, Israel, or against the media baron Rupert Murdoch, the keffiyeh lets people know that you are well aware of current events and choose to express it by wearing a keffiyeh; and that you choose to prevent being cold around your neck area despite wearing an ironic graphic small-fit tee. Or perhaps it signifies that you, too, are the fashion bastard child of St. Mark’s Street and Beacon’s Closet.

With the look covered, the next step is becoming cultured and amused by only life’s most vintage and artistic cultures. Appreciation for art many years senior to one’s generation hits the message home that one enjoys only the finest things of life, such as avant-garde oil canvasses of umbrellas or polar bears. Shifting from art to television, one must become familiar with popular seventies and eighties pop-culture and sitcoms (if, as a hipster, you believe in television at all, given that many hipsters avoid TV altogether). A good idea would be to watch VH1’s I Love the 70’s and I Love the 80’s until there is no more valuable information left to saturate one’s brain, usually after the first five minutes. It is important to withhold such valuable knowledge as hipsters, despite knowing so much about nothing, tend to spend more time reading or knitting their own clothes than watching television.

Clothing, finger paint art and “Welcome Back Kotter” are just a few of the things that draw the outline of the hipster. Yet, musical tastes are the crayons of neon yellow and puke green that color in the substance of any hipster. If a band is well known, then one must refuse to listen to it and may bash the band for growing soft and mainstream. Of Montreal, whose song, “Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games” was used for a popular Outback Steakhouse commercial and quickly resulted to the decline of their popularity among hipsters. In the eyes of a hipster, listening to the radio is similar to pouring molten steel through one’s ears, unless it’s a college radio station that plays unknown Indie music. Popular hipster bands tend to have obscure names and will generally be unheard of forever. Every once in a blue moon will a hipster band go mainstream.

With the look and ideology set, it is important to have the mannerisms down. For one, everything that is controlled by Corporate America® is to be avoided at all costs. A fixed gear bicycle with a pad-lock should be the number one choice of travel, as this leaves the smallest carbon-footprint, with the second choice of travel being public transportation. When it comes to food, organic food is the purest form of nourishment.

After adhering to the hipster diet for a month, one will find nothing more appetizing than mashed-up chic peas with a side of dry lettuce three times of the day. Aside from eating, one should only smoke for social reasons rather than easing one’s stress for this presents the image that one has friends and looks important yet is very discreet about it.

Coffee is an essential part of daily existence that every hipster must accept. One thing that every hipster must have memorized, besides British Imperial history, is the menu at any local coffee shop. One can jeopardize his or her character when ordering a hazel-nut flavored cappuccino with a double shot of espresso on a hot summers day or making the mistake of having a blended mocha frappuccino during the winter time. Other than the menu, coffee shops allow hipsters to congregate and discuss very important issues such as the best vegan dessert at loud decibels among a chic atmosphere. If for some reason one is alone and in need of a third or fourth coffee a day, coffee shops are number one in accommodating room for hipsters. With enough elbow room for Queen Victoria and her twelve knights, tables in coffee shops allow one to work on their MacBook Pro or read the Styles section of The New York Times.

After spending one’s college loan on outlandish clothing, four copies of the Rosetta Stone to four different European languages, and album purchases of bands no one has heard of, one can find him or herself among completion of becoming a hipster. But how does one know if they have completed becoming a hipster?

Simple, if one is accused of being a hipster, one is a hipster. The common reply, “I am not a hipster, those people are hipsters, not me,” warrants that you are in the first stage of denial and have successfully transformed into becoming a hipster. If one’s reply is yes, one would be considered a hipster amongst others, but is considered less of a hipster than the hipster who says he or she is not a hipster.

Through hipster practice, one inevitably acquires distinguished self-absorbing perception of oneself and knowingly expresses menacing glares at those deemed unworthy, essentially everyone outside one’s circle of hipster friends.  Upon gaining this enlightened vision of thinking, one may enter a dive bar, drink some Pabst Blue Ribbon and have intercourse. Afterwards, one can discuss it over coffee before entering another dive bar and experience the Hipster cycle. Periods of time between drinking coffee and attending dive bars can be filled with listening to no-name Indie music, attending some liberal arts class, or getting high.

But before you commit yourself to being the poster boy/girl for stuffwhitepeoplelike.com, realize that you may one day find yourself wandering Williamsburg or the lower east side, starving and alone, with naught to comfort you but an empty trust fund and an ironic but useless chip on your shoulder.

By Jonathan Singer

The freaks are taking over. With its “Geek Squad” technical support service, Best Buy advertises the hipness of being a nerd, while hipsters walk around wearing thick rimmed glasses to keep up with the latest fashion trends. The dreams of these nerds become reality on a steady basis. Forty years ago they put a man on the moon, then Reagan had the audacity to name it “Star Wars,” and today, militaries develop mecha suits that let people lift 400 pounds with ease.

There are Live Action Role Players, hackers, Trekkies, Nerdcore rappers and sci-fi novelists. Then there’s the duo of Paul Calhoun and Barry Levin, two Stony Brook University students with a knack for nerdy subcultures

And according to these two, now it’s the furries that everyone’s looking down on.

People have their rumors, and it’s the job of Calhoun and Levin to quell speculations. Those involved in furry fandom have a thing for anthropomorphic mammals, and thus some of them go as far as dressing up as exactly that. Think of a person wearing a Wolfie costume, only they enjoy it and don’t get paid for it.

Along comes Rule 34, a meme that suggests that if it exists there is porn for it. That would imply there is porn for Star Wars, Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica, along with furries who proceed to fornicate in their suits.

“Like everything there is a spectrum,” says Levin. Calhoun goes as far to admit that he identifies as a furry, but “the difference between me and the full suit is money,” he says. “And I have no yippie tendencies.”

For the record, “yippie” is a word for sex. Like many, many other furries, Calhoun enjoys the craftsmanship involved in designing and making fur suits, just like other fanboys and fangirls enjoy the craftsmanship involved in forging and wearing knight’s armor or dressing as their favorite X-Man. “It’s like the fashion industry in a different way,” says Calhoun.

Yes, some people find this attractive. Get over it.

As colleagues, Calhoun and Levin created a group to deal with these issues. While they’re yet to receive USG recognition and thus funding, the Advanced Civil Rights Organization (ACRO) is working on creating a forum for stigmatized subcultures. And as long as both parties consent, the two officers (and so far the only members at Stony Brook) support the rights of sexually charged furries.

For some reason, in a recent interview with Levin and Calhoun the subject matter would commonly shift to furries, as opposed to Live Action Role Players or Trekkies. “The human society tends to run very significantly into the anecdotal system,” says Calhoun. To put things into context, Levin asks, “if you consider it, what’s Bugs Bunny?” An episode of CSI that falsely portrayed a furry convention as being based around sex certainly does nothing to help fix stigmas. “I know a couple of people who have boycotted CSI just because of that,” says Levin, although both he and Calhoun admit they have never seen the episode.

But other nerds still have their fair share of problems, and ACRO is an inclusive organization. For example, Calhoun asks the question, “How much of a weapon is a concealed buffer sword?” For a live action role player, the right to bear arms becomes a significant legal issue. “We support the rights of LARPers in public,” says Levin.

The I-CON science fiction and fantasy convention is only once a year, and is not returning to Stony Brook in April. But these people, whom some consider “freaks,” are active all year round. Some of them choose to have sex, just as some of them choose to joust like it’s the year 1423. “We’re okay with consensual violence,” says Levin.

But both are willing to admit that, unlike nerds, no technological advancement would make furries an integral part of society. So while some people spend their weekends shooting foxes in the woods, others spend their weekends dressing up as foxes in the suburbs.

By Kelly Yu

Every choice a presidential candidate makes reflects their stance on certain issues: what tie to wear, what chips to eat, which baby to kiss.  But what seemed like one of the lesser choices the candidates had to make was which college campuses to hold the presidential debates.  This year, the three colleges chosen were University of Mississippi in Oxford, Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, and Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, not too far from Stony Brook.  The first thing one would think is, “Yeah cool!  Wait, where are these places?  Belmont, isn’t that a horse racing track or something?”  These universities have their own individual merits, but one must wonder what makes them worthy of hosting some of the most important debates in our lifetime.

Hofstra students expressing their support hours before presidential debate

The first stop was down in Oxford, at the University of Mississippi, or as it is affectionately called, “Ole Miss.”  According to the U.S. News and World Report, U. Miss. “is one of the oldest public institutions in the South.”  The school was founded in 1844 and described itself as “the flagship university of the state.”  The university had a total enrollment of 17,323 students for 2008 and charges $4,932 for instate student tuition and $11,436 for out of state student tuition.  With an eighty-four percent acceptance rate, sixty-nine percent of the student body are from Mississippi and nineteen percent are minorities.  While Ole Miss has an amazing football team, everything else screams Christian values by day, Greek party scene by night.  According to the Princeton Review, Ole Miss is ranked the second biggest party school in the nation.  On top of the party scene ranking, the school is ranked number four for the “Students Study the Least” category, number five for “Lots of Hard Liquor,” number eight for “Lots of Beer,” and ironically number six on the “Most Conservative Students” list.  So not only do these kids love God, but they party with closets full of kegs.  Not surprisingly, U. Miss. is not even ranked on the U.S. News and World Report.  It is listed as a Tier 3 school, however that doesn’t keep their students from staying.  According to direct quotes from Ole Miss students on College Prowler, a lot of students love the campus so much that they stay for additional degrees.  “I loved Oxford so much that I stayed!” said one student.  “You’ll find that most students take their time when it comes to graduating, because Oxford has so much to offer.”  What with all the beer and active Greek life, it’s a wonder that any students from U. Miss. graduate at all.  I’m betting the Joe Six Pack at Ole Miss was excited when Vice President Candidate Sarah Palin gave him a shout out.

The second stop for the Town Hall Presidential Debate was Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.  Never heard of it?  Not surprising as it was only renamed Belmont University in 1991.  According to the university’s website, “Belmont University is a student centered Christian community providing an academically challenging education that empowers men and women of diverse backgrounds to engage and transform the world with disciplined intelligence, compassion, courage and faith.”  The school started as Belmont College, an all girls school that taught from the elementary level to junior college level.  The school eventually became coed and claimed to be “one of the fastest growing Christian universities.”  Today, their total enrollment is 4,991 and a tuition rate of $10,035 for undergrads.  According to a student quoted in the Princeton Review, “The campus looks like an indie band concert.”  The independent minded students on campus do not dilute the huge Christian influence on campus.  According to the U.S. News, this school isn’t even nationally ranked for it’s undergraduate program.  Although, the school has been called “One of the south colleges to look out for.”

The last stop for Obama and McCain is Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York (38 miles from Stony Brook).  Hofstra is a private university on Long Island, founded in 1935.  They have an undergraduate enrollment of 7,718 students and a total of 12,600 students.  The average class size is twenty-two students and has an acceptance rate of 54%.  According to a quote from a Hofstra student on Princeton Review, there are two categories of students, the kind that work hard and study hard and then there are the Long Island kids.  You know, the ones who walk in late with their Marc Jacobs sunglasses and Ugg boots talking about the most awesome party last night.  However, another student was quoted as saying, “Eat me Hofstra!  I’m finally done, and I’m not coming back.  Don’t get me wrong, this is a cool place to party, but I can’t wait to get the hell out.”  While most people don’t know much about Hofstra, one prominent reputation that they hold is having the highest prevalence of STDs on a college campus.  The reputation spread so far that Hofstra students themselves got the idea that a special disease called “Hofstra Red,” a special strain of herpes, only affected Hofstra students.  The myth has been busted and the reputation still stands even though much ickier college student bodies have far surpassed it.

These schools were chosen to host the presidential debates for one of the most pivotal election years of our time.  While the universities do not represent the candidates in any way, the choice of these universities over other more deserving or appropriate schools gave younger voters the motivation to listen and get involved.  Whether it be toasting their solo cups to McCain and Palin or waving their Obama shirts in the air, college students are becoming more aware and getting more involved because of the debates being hosted at college campuses.

By Jonathan Singer

There’s no crime in punk rock, but “Random Punk Kid” still wishes to remain anonymous. At least he lives up to his punk name by volunteering at one of the few remaining do it yourself (DIY) scenes left in New York. Coming to ABC No Rio, a “collective of collectives” in Manhattan’s Lower East Side on Saturdays, is the highlight of RPK’s week where he donates his time to keep the movement alive through six dollar shows that feature punk rock.

Real punk rock.

The music may be fast moving and aggressive, and some of the patrons may sport interesting hairdos, but ABC No Rio pre-screens lyrics to ensure no racist, sexist or homophobic bands take the stage. “This is a safe environment,” says Camilla Gonclaves, a 20 year-old volunteer in ABC No Rio’s Hardcore/Punk collective.

“Punk is about bringing people together,” says RPK, who is quick to make the distinction between skinheads (the Jamaican ones) and skinheads (the Nazi ones). “It’s about unity.”

That unity is echoed throughout ABC No Rio’s space, a four-story building located at 156 Rivington Street. With Times-Up!, a New York City bike collective losing its rented space a few blocks north and west on Houston Street, it’s good to be a landowner on the Lower East Side. While Times-Up! has made the basement of ABC No Rio its makeshift home (bicycle repair workshops are Tuesdays and Thursdays), ABC No Rio, a 501(c)(3) organization, has owned 156 Rivington street since June 2006.

Before ABC No Rio purchased the building, the organization still rocked out with punk shows, a darkroom (film is punk rock), a zine library, computer center (open source software is punk rock), and a Food Not Bombs chapter. It was also somewhat controversial, as 156 Rivington Street was home to squatters in a time before gentrification took over the Lower East Side.

The building was a ramshackle, but the city sold the space to the collective for one dollar, provided they renovate and keep their activities community oriented.

“So it can’t become a bar,” says volunteer Nat Meysenburg. ABC No Rio hardcore/punk matinees are all ages and alcohol free, but over the past few years bars, as well as designer shoe stores, have taken residence on Rivington Street, next to and across the street from ABC No Rio. “We’re not the loudest thing on the block anymore, at least,” says volunteer Bill Quattromani.

Renovations are another issue, as the building has not changed since 2006. From the revenue collected by the six-dollar concert charge, ABC No Rio receives around thirty percent. There is also a plea for makeshift donations.  A collection jar is passed around the floor at the end of the concert. Since volunteers cut cap admission at 150 heads (the first floor gallery space’s legal capacity is twenty six), every dollar counts.

According to a brochure printed by the organization, ABC No Rio has already raised over $400,000 through donations (using vegetable inks on recycled paper). Since the original building is beyond repair, plans call for demolition and the construction of a new space, which would cost $2.6 million. This new building, however, will be a physical manifestation of the DIY ethos, albeit somewhat more complicated.  Designed by architect Paul Castucci, it will feature a solar photovoltaic system, a planted green roof, and a heat recovery ventilation system, among other measures. “Although at the moment it is both technologically and economically prohibitive, our future goal is to use renewable energy sources to power 100% of our energy needs,” says the brochure.

The new building would also double the size of the gallery and performance space.

Some of those donations came from artists in other cities who have never stepped foot on Rivington Street. Although the documentary film “American Hardcore” didn’t film at ABC No Rio, three months ago the popular/mainstream rock band Alkaline Trio requested to film a music video at the space. (Maybe it’s because in true punk fashion, the stage at ABC No Rio is on the same level as the floor). “A lot of people want to start riding our coattails,” says Meysenburg.

Instead, ABC No Rio books bands like Polka Madre, who tour the US in a yellow mini school bus. “I miss New York in the 70s, even though I didn’t know it,” says lead singer Eric Bergman. Unlike the other bands who played last Saturday, Polka Madre is not punk or hardcore, but, of all other possible genres, closer to neo-klezmer, a Yiddish folk music style. Members of the hardcore/punk collective are actively seeking to book independent bands from other genres, and a recent matinee show was Polka Madre’s fourth or fifth time performing at ABC No Rio, or enough times that Bergman lost count. “We didn’t even play our most Jewish song because it’s a punk show,” says Bergman.

But that doesn’t mean the assembled crowd wouldn’t be open to more klezmer. The bands at these shows come from as far as Argentina and Spain, and the fans who come to watch come from all over the New York City area. “I mostly hang out in the dance scene and not the hardcore scene,” says Robin Frantz, who recently attended his second ABC No Rio Saturday matinee. Frantz’s parents, Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth of the new wave band, Talking Heads, made a name for themselves playing as a non-punk at the more popular (and more for profit) punk venue CBGB. But the younger Frantz, 25, still has a knack for DIY. “You shouldn’t wait for approval,” says Frantz, who was born into a record industry that he says was more family oriented in the 1980s, when Talking Heads was at the height of their popularity. “You guys know about Clearchannel and how fucked up they are,” he says.

In step the “bookers” at ABC No Rio, who work for no pay but still keep real punk in New York City. Outside of ABC No Rio, Random Punk Kid also volunteers as an EMT and at an animal hospital. “Instead of donating my money, which I don’t have, I donate my time,” he says. “I like helping people out. To me, that’s what punk is about.”