The Paw Print

A news publication created by Baruch's College Now high school journalism class

Archives for July 2011

Beating The Heat in Long Island

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We are in the middle of July and the weather has begun to skyrocketed into the 90s, even the 100s! Although I wish I would of  stayed home under the cool breeze of my fan on Saturday, I was awaken at 7am to get ready for Long Island. 
As I made my way outside, I wanted to rush back into my house so bad. The humidity was driving me insane. I felt like I was in boiling water, and being cooked as much as possible. 
The sun was hitting me hard as I put on my sunglasses on and headed to the car.
Long Island is a peaceful place. It’s just how I pictured it. Houses with mailboxes are the first thing you see. A person has to drive miles to get to the nearest supermarket, and there are lots and LOTs of trees.
Long Island is one thing. Sitting in a car for hours in the middle seat is another. It is not pleasant. I was more excited to stretch out my legs then meet my aunt’s friends.
Her friend’s house is a one floor house with so much grass area. As we made our way through the back, the pool came into view. With the extreme weather Saturday had brought us, it was a good idea to spend the day near the pool.
My family and I were grateful to be invited into their home. I got to have a look at the house and I got to know my aunt’s friend’s daughter, who is a big fan of Twilight from the looks of the massive posters in her room.
After that, we got ready to eat. There were so many choices of food that they and my grandmother prepared. After eating, I finally was ready to dip my feet in the cool water. 
The water beneath my feet felt so good. I no longer wanted to run back to my fan at home. 
Long Island sure knows how to cool people off.

An Adventure for Cheesecake

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This past Saturday, all I could think about was devouring a delicious slice of cheesecake with raspberries on top. I tried to suppress my craving, but all the snacks I ate did not match up to the taste of cheesecake, specifically from TGI Friday’s. I could not help but think about how delicious those slices are. They are covered with caramel and strawberries and I couldn’t resist to have more than one slice, well actually five. This memory increased my craving so much, to the point that I went outside, in the boiling heat, and endured a 45 minute commute to the Friday’s on 42nd Street. Once I got there, I told the waitress I wanted a slice of cheesecake to go. I figured after I got it, I’d go into the nearest Starbucks to order a tall ice coffee with no milk or sugar and relax in the AC, while eating my cheesecake. However, my vision quickly shattered when the waitress informed me that there was no cheesecake left, “Try going to an Applebees,” she said. Disappointed, but willing to make another 45 minute commute, I went to the Applebees on Dekalb Avenue. By this time, I was starving and ready to eat anything. But, my conscious refused to allow me to go back home without eating a slice of cheesecake.

When I stepped into Applebees, I was once again sent to another place to get my cheesecake. Unfortunately, Applebee’s does not sell cheesecake at all. One of the waiters sent me to a bakery called Junior’s, which was a couple blocks from where I was. When I finally arrived to Junior’s, I realized they did not have the type of cheesecake I wanted. Instead, they had one with raspberry mixed inside, so I just took that instead. I paid almost $7 for the slice, but it was $7 well spent. The taste of the cheesecake made me forget about the hassle of getting it. The things people will do when they really want something are unbelievable.

The New Planking?

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Today, I stumbled across a Yahoo! slideshow that showed people diving into a pool. Right before the person fell in, someone would take a picture of them doing a leisure pose.
In my opinion, this is way cooler than planking. Would you rather see pictures of people laying down on things, or see pictures of people posing in mid-air? Of course, I pick the latter of the two!

Admit it–you’ve tried taking a picture with your friends jumping at the same time, we’ve all done it before. And doing it while jumping into a pool makes it fun. To be honest, I doubt it’s going to become the next planking or owling, but mostly because not everyone lives in an area where they can dive into a pool all year-round. The idea of being in a swimsuit in the middle of January, in New York City, or diving into a pool for a picture, seems crazy. But who knows? Maybe people in the South (Miami!!) can continue this new thing. I sure hope so. The idea of coming home on a winter night to see cool pictures of summery things sounds appealing. But for now, while it’s still summer, let’s all go out with our friends, bring our swim trunks (or bikinis) and our cameras and get diving!

Fire Overwhelms Park Avenue, Killing an Elderly Man

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Saturday was an evening too hot to enjoy outside, because of the heat and humidity. I decided to spend the night at home with my friends. Around 1am, I noticed flashing lights outside my window. I took a peep out the window, and noticed smoke building from the second floor of the apartment building across the street. I jetted to Park Avenue and 75th, where I saw about 13 fire trucks and around 30 firefighters. There were several ladders dispatched through the second floor windows. Firefighters were on ladders and breaking window bars to get access inside of the apartment. This made it easier to take anyone out of the building. 83-year-old Howard Bogard was removed from the building after passing out from smoke inhalation. Bogard later died in the hospital. Such activity is rare in the Upper East Side, which made this a stimulating occurrence. My condolences go to his wife. Seven firefighters were also injured in the fire.

Not So Happy Ending

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“500 Days of Summer” is honestly the best movie in the world. The story starts off with a narration that says, “Let me tell you up front this isn’t a love story.” The plot is about two people that begin with a semi-platonic friendship that turns into a one-sided relationship. The sad part is that the girl Summer was never in love with her friend Tom. They went through many ups and downs, and gradually their confused relationship disintegrated. The character Summer always preached that having a boyfriend and girlfriend is unrealistic and how she doesn’t believe in love. But a few months after her and Tom ended their friendship, she got married. The thing I love most about this movie is that it’s realistic. Love does not always prevail; everyone does not always have a happy ending. Romance movies usually have tragic events throughout the film, but ultimately the couple ends up together and of course blissful. This movie shows the other side, the real side. this movie shows that you do not always end up with who you love most, or the person you love may not love you. Romance movies are my favorite so it’s kind of weird that I would like the one with the least happy ending. One can say Romeo and Juliet is a tragic love story without a happy ending, but I disagree. Yes it was tragic, but Romeo and Juliet died with the thought of knowing that they were being unconditionally loved by another being. What more can someone ask for? In “500 Days of Summer” Tom has to live with the fact that the perfect girl for him was off making someone else happy.

Its Summer! Chill out people!

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Its the SUMMER. And for some odd reason people get really offended about the way females dress. Like wearing crop tops , bandeau tops , high waisted shorts , etc. When I’m on the train or walking, I get weird stares from many older women. Once I had a woman tell me that I should not wear those kind of clothes because men are going to “get the wrong idea” or that I’m attracting the “wrong attention”. In my opinion, men are going to stare regardless because they’re men. It’s human i guess. Why would i over dress myself when its almost 100 degrees outside? Also, I think if my parents are not saying anything about my outfits then a stranger has no right to tell me anything. Strangers may assume I’m not raised right, but both of my parents work for the law enforcement, so its expected for them to say more than a stranger. I am not saying its okay to be half naked all the time, because I’ll admit there are a lot of girls who really go over board and wear things that are basically under clothes. Honestly, at the end of the day, people are going to say whatever they want because they feel their two cents is so important. Oh, well.

The Words of Love

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It occurred to me one day that almost every song that I listen to sings of love. I haven’t written poetry since my heart was broken, and now that I’m in love, I feel the sudden urge to pick up a pen and write.

Why is it that it’s the easiest to write and be creative when it has to do with your heart? I know bands that have entire albums dedicated to a girl. I mean take Taylor Swift. I have never heard a song of hers that hasn’t been about romance. Hell, facebook began  because of a bad break up.
As I doodled in my journal, I realized something:
Love is the universal language.
It’s like the math of emotions. No matter who you are, you can listen to a love song and identify with it. Maybe not completely, but there’s always like a sense of understanding between the artist and the listener. At least for me.
Then I started thinking, how would a person who isn’t a hopeless romantic relate to the endless mentioning of love in the media? Would they?
I’ve always wanted to meet someone that didn’t believe in love and ask them what they thought of love being the universal language.
I imagine it would go like this:
Me: Hi my name is Michelle. I just want to ask, what would you say to someone who said love is the universal language?
Tom (yes I made him up): (laughs) Love? A universal language? That’s funny. 
Me: Why do you think so?
Tom: Love…It makes you do irrational things, makes you forget what’s really important in life. like what your future holds, and I mean the real future, not what you’ll have for breakfast tomorrow. I’m talking about where you’ll be in ten years, you know? It makes you forget about all that stuff. And for what? It gets you all off track and then dumps you. My motto is, it’s better just to live life and have fun while you can.
Maybe it won’t go that way. I don’t know. I just know that these people exist,  and I would love to tell someone’s story why they feel that way.
Because isn’t that what journalism is about? Telling the stories of the people who don’t have a voice in society, and get their words out.

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Midnight Madness

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It has become a tradition amongst Harry Potter fans to buy their tickets in advance, get dressed up in fancy costumes and camp out for hours to watch the midnight release of the movies, and this final movie was a perfect example of this practice. People started lining up for the midnight showing at six in the afternoon, with elaborate costumes resembling all the characters- From famous Harry, Ron and Hermonie, to a group of prisoners of azkaban, the infamous Bellatrix and Draco. One extreme fan even went the extra mile to dress as Hedwig, Harrys beloved owl. The costumes and enthusiastic movie go-er’s made the wait for the movie much more bearable. For me personally, going to the midnight release of the final movie was a new experience. I always wanted to go, but I was never able to get a hold of the tickets, or never had the time to go. But I was determined to go this year. It was amazing to sit amongst the most dedicated fans and watch as they played trivia, asking questions like “what is Albus Dumbledore’s favorite flavor of jam?” and other questions of the sort. And the movie was so good, I found myself tearing up near the end. The people who were calling out Dumbledore’s favorite flavor of jam, were crying their eyes out, with tissues and everything as if they knew they were going to be sobbing by the end.
I think that it hasn’t really hit people that the series is over, and there is no more Harry Potter. However, almost all the fans I talked to at the premiere said they are going to make their kids read the books and watch the movies. So if you think about it, Harry Potter will always be there. Forever.

Zumba!

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I go to a gym in my neighborhood that offers Zumba classes. Zumba combines Latin and International music to make an exercise routine that I think is great. So far, I’ve gone to about seven 45-minute Zumba classes at my local gym and I think they’re awesome! It’s fun and not very hard. Anyone can do Zumba classes. In the classes, you see people of all ages, from 15-years-old to people in their 50s (no lie!). You also see people of all different shapes and sizes.


The music they play is usually Latin, like bachata and cumbia. Sometimes they even play  reggaeton, and the dance moves are usually the basics. If people want to try an exercise that won’t bore them and isn’t repetitive, I recommend Zumba. I see Zumba becoming bigger in the future, and hopefully most people will have gone to at least one Zumba class. I really enjoy Zumba and I think that I’ll continue going if I have the time to.

I'll Make You Proud Dad

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In a family like mine, making parents happy can be a very tough thing to do. My mother always nags me to straighten my back, because I am not tall enough. Or she insists I eat less, because I am not skinny enough. Or she pushes me to study 24/7, because a 95 average is not good enough. The same goes for my father, a man who will be deeply ashamed if I am not accepted into at least one Ivy League school. Of course, I am not angry at them. They do have a right to nag me. After all, they both have sacrificed so much in order for me to succeed in life, which means getting into an Ivy League school and getting a job that would pay me a fortune. However, what if my idea of success differs from theirs?

I would like to go into the field of journalism. I have also thought and dreamed about majoring in film. However, both of these jobs are the opposite of high-paying, and that is something my parents do not stand for. Only the luckiest people earn high wages in these fields, and high wages is something I will need in the future to repay my parents for all their hard work. It just tears me apart, thinking about my future. I would hate to have to wake up everyday in a sharp business suit and enter a boring cubicle of an office at 8 am. Money doesn’t really matter to me. As long as I have a roof over me, some food, some clothes and a job that I love, I think my future self will be satisfied. It’s just my parents holding me back from pursuing a job that I want. I need to pay them back, I just need to, and the reason I need to has been drilled into me since childhood.

So, I guess what I’m trying to say. Yeah, not everyone can live their dreams. Not everyone can be lucky. Sometimes, we have to leave what we want behind, so we can grow up and repay those that have helped us along the road. It is important to give thanks, and in order to do that, people sometimes have to give up their dreams.