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HallWay Fashion

April 23, 2015 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Ari Haven

Who influences your outfits?

No one in particular. I just kind of look at the media and pick up on trends.

What style of clothing do you categorize yourself as wearing?

Casual-yet-cute, I like to be comfy and confident in my fashion.

What clothing store is your favorite?

I don’t have a favorite store. But I like H&M.

What clothing store do you shop at the most?

I honestly don’t shop at any one store in particular.

Who picks out your clothing?

I pick my own clothes

How did you develop such a good sense of clothing?

Last year my fashion was all over the place. But this year, I feel like I finally understand my style, and likes and dislikes in fashion.

What kind of fashion advice would you give people?

Be yourself! Fashion is a great way to express yourself and your creativity. Don’t be afraid to let your personality shine through.

Mental Illnesses in the Workplace

April 22, 2015 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

by Leah Kelly

Staff Writer

At the end of March, a Germanwings plane crashed into the French Alps, leaving all 150 passengers and crew members dead.

At first, medical personnel, airline employees and police did not know what caused the plane to crash on what seemed to be a relatively clear day. However, as the transmitter box was located and audio from the cockpit recovered, officials were able to draw a few conclusions.

From the information provided, it seems as though one pilot exited the cockpit, leaving co-pilot Andreas Lubitz alone. When the pilot tried to re-enter, Lubitz would not open the door for him and due to safety measures put into place after 9/11, the cockpit can only be opened from the inside.

The audio recovered reveals the pilots initially tapping on the door and asking to be let in. Then, banging on the door louder and demanding to enter. He next tried to break down the door, as the screams of passengers began to fill the background. The only audible information received from inside of the cockpit was Lubitz’s slow, steady breaths.

After further investigation into Lubitz’s background, officials found that he had a history of mental illnesses such as depression, but had never revealed this to his employer or his company. In the days leading up to the crash, officials found that Lubitz had researched different suicide methods, which had lead him to searches about cockpit doors and the security methods associated with them.

Due to the information that was recovered as well as Lubitz’s background, officials deemed that he had purposely crashed the plane as a suicide action, while taking 149 innocent lives as well.

While this event in and of itself is a huge problem and tragedy, it opens the door to examine the larger issue at hand here: Why didn’t Lubitz tell his airline about his mental illness?

Was he scared to be honest because of the stigma depression brings, especially in professional adults? How many other adults struggle with mental illnesses, and what kind of problems could that hold in the future?

The Germanwings crash may be an extreme example, but it turns out that 46 million adult Americans, which is 1 in 5, experience a diagnosable mental, behavioral or emotional disorder. Many of them do not communicate their issues to their employers or others at their job because of discrimination.

However, employers are legally not allowed to discriminate against people who are honest about a mental disorder that they struggle with, but there have been multiple cases that show people with mental illness have the highest rates of unemployment of all disabled. Studies also show that half of U.S. employers are more reluctant to hire someone with a past psychiatric history or who are currently undergoing treatments for depression.

Therefore, due to these very real statistics, it is no wonder that the majority of adults hide their mental illnesses from employers so that they can get a job. However, through the case of the Germanwings plane crash it is clear to see that there can be major consequences if issues such as these remain in the dark.

The case with Lubitz should act as a wake up call for all of us: we need to become more comfortable with addressing and accepting these issues. For one thing, it will help prevent tragedies such as the plane crash from happening again. and so that we can create a happier and healthier community. It will not only help those struggling with mental illnesses, but will also protect those who could be affected by their actions.

The Empire Formula: Changing the Dynamic of Television and Entertainment; Millions of Viewers at a Time

April 21, 2015 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Sean Morris

Staff Writer

Whatever television show comes out this year will be unlikely to top 2015’s early champion of the year- and for the past several years for that matter- Fox’s hit Empire. Surpassing even the most generous expectations Empire did the impossible- added to its ratings for an entire season without ever dipping, only growing.

Empire’s success cannot be underestimated and represents many changing ideals and important facts to consider moving forward:

It’s primarily POC cast and a massive hit. While many shows have diverse casting, sometimes with its main character being a POC, its rare to see its entire main cast being composed of non white characters, and of those that do, it makes empire its most successful, showing strong strides in representation in television, which will likely play into fall’s pilot season.

It DOMINATED social media platforms. Every evening at 8pm twitter and other platforms would be abuzz with fans talking about the show, making genuinely funny meme;s reactions all to show events seconds after it happened. While many television shows are getting into that format, Empire set the standard that maybe few, like a Shonda Rhimes show, could follow.

It’s original music was actually enjoyable. In fact so popular that it was beating madonna’s new album. Being a show set in the hip-hop world, strong music was a must have, and they certainly delivered.

It keep viewers at the edge of their seat so they couldn’t miss an episode. With so many plot twists and events happening every second on screen, and with so many spoilers being twitted by fans, or people talking about it the next day , people just HAD to tune in and made them part of the excitement,

It had a cast of primarily new actors. Aside from academy award nominee Taraji p. henderson and terrence Howard most of the primary cast are new, previously unknown actors including Jussie Smollett, Yazz(who was actually born in philly) , Trai Byers and more- which allowed them to slip into their roles more easily (which I personally consider a general rule of thumb with newer actors) and allowed for new careers to blossom.

Again, Empire’s success cannot be underestimated, its shown great strides and progression along with helpful cues into success that many shows will look toward and aspire for.

Some of those memes (with slight spoliers):

SLAMedia’s Guide to A Day in New York

April 17, 2015 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Ella Donesky
Staff Writer

New York City is known for being a popular tourism city, with more than 54 million tourists visiting the city each year. Covering more than 450 square miles, New York is the 8th largest city in the world and a huge culture hub. NYC offers activities for everyone whether they’re hipsters, athletes, families, activists, business people or students.

Over Spring Break, I took a train to New York City to visit my aunt, who lives in the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

From a young age, my family and I took frequent visits to NYC, so I’ve grown familiar with the city. I don’t consider myself much of a tourist anymore. So this time, I decided to be a tourist by visiting some of the more popular locations in New York, and to also explore some of the lesser-known parts, because I had one of the best guides by my side, my aunt, a local herself.

If you’re a high school student with a project on the Renaissance due the day you return from break, the first place you’ll go is the Metropolitan Museum of Art, located on 82nd and 5th in the Upper East Side. Besides magnificent art, at any given time of the year, the Met has one of the most diverse clusters of tourists in the city, as far as I could tell.

By contrast, The Museum of Modern Art, or MoMA, located on 53rd Street, between 5th and 6th avenue in Midtown, offers a collection of art from the last two centuries and is currently showcasing an exhibit on Björk. The entire museum spans more than seven floors. I spent the morning on the sixth floor (which featured primarily art from the cubist art movement) and the fifth floor (featuring art from the last half of the 20th century). My personal favorites were Léger and Rousseau.

About an hour walk south from MoMA is the SoHo district, or South of Houston Street. The charming cobblestone neighborhood was once home to many famous artists, and now inhabited by high end shops, many of them from Europe and taking residence in the historic cast-iron buildings.

SoHo was one of the first neighborhoods I visited. As I wandered through the inner alleys and seemingly endless rows of boutiques, I noticed that the people there were far more trendy than those in the Upper East Side, often with what seemed to me like forced chic.

I stepped into a store just off the main street which was floor to ceiling white with maybe two clothing racks in the back, the clothes of which ranged from 1,000 to 10,000 dollars, though nothing appealed to me. The whole area was expensive. Even when I found something I wanted, the only thing I could afford while “shopping” in the area was a keychain from Kipling.

In addition to shops, there are plenty of restaurants, galleries and chair shops — which I only know because my aunt was in SoHo looking for a new desk chair.

Northwest of SoHo is the High Line (located in the West Village) a recent construction which turned an old, unused railway into a complete 1.45 mile long Park, stretching from Chelsea to the Meatpacking District. The project was funded by many artists and celebrities, among them Diane Von Furstenberg, who was essential in the fundraising for the project. Residents of Philadelphia may be interested to know that the High Line was designed by UPenn graduate and professor and head of the design studio Field Operations, James Corner.

Though the park offers many places to sit, almost everyone on the High Line was on the move, except to stop and take pictures. Its prime location along the edge of the Hudson River, and overlooking the streets of New York provides an opportunity to tour the city from a different perspective than at street-level.

The vibe of the High Line is very much in sync with the “hipsterization” of many run-down neighborhoods, where warehouses have been turned into restaurants, garages into lofts, etc. If you look down at your feet, you may notice rusted, metal railway tracks mixed in with grass, brick and cement.

Along the High Line are many sculptures, a massive window overlooking the street below and a further down a towering hotel, which was recently involved in a scandal due to the exposure of open windows and frisky individuals.

The Highline stops right in the heart of the meatpacking district, where as I stepped off the steps of the park I saw a scurrying gray-haired Matthew Broderick, bearing little resemblance to the Ferris Bueler of the 80s.

Further down from the Meatpacking district is Greenwich village, which many people mispronounce “Green-Witch.” It was the setting of the popular TV show, Friends, as well as the location of NYU.

From the Village,, we walked through Hudson Square and Canal Street down to Tribeca. I just happened to stumble upon Taylor Swift’s house, completely by accident. Surprisingly, I was one of only three girls loitering outside her home, which honestly made me feel like a bit of a weirdo. Unfortunately, she wasn’t there to welcome us into her home, as I’d anticipated she would, but I took enough pictures…

By then, I had gotten very hungry so I stopped into the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop one of two locations, on 7th and Grove Street. I ordered a “Monday Sundae” which was a chocolate and vanilla twist ice cream, soft served in a waffle cone lined with nutella and and topped with dulce de leche, sea salt and whipped cream. It was very heavy (I couldn’t finish it), but very, very good. The line was extremely long, but understandably so.

As the day came to a close, my aunt and I visited Battery Park (which had also underwent construction recently), where the Statue of Liberty could be seen from the small harbor.
We walked across another bridge to get to Wall Street, the last stop of the day. It was a specific request of mine, after having seen the Wall Street movie franchise as a child and deciding that I wanted to become a stockbroker.

Now that you’ve been introduced to the hippest places in New York, you’re probably wondering how in the heck you’ll get from MoMA to Taylor Swift’s house. The simple answer is, the subway. Though it may not be as glamorous as an cab or Uber, it gets you where you want to go, quickly and inexpensively. Of course, you’ll encounter your average crazy person, but hey, that’s New York!

Locations:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1000 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10028

The Museum of Modern Art: 11 W 53rd Street, New York, NY 10019

SoHo: West Broadway to Crosby Street, Houston to Canal Streets, Manhattan, New York City

The High Line: Gansevoort Street to 34th Street, New York, NY 10011

The Meatpacking District: W 14th Street to Gansevoort Street and Hudson River East to Hudson Street, New York, NY

Greenwich Village: W 14th Street to Houston Street and Hudson River to Broadway, New York, NY

New York University: Greenwich Village

Taylor Swift’s House: 155 Franklin Street, Tribeca, New York, NY

The Big Gay Ice Cream Shop: 61 Grove Street, New York, NY 10014

Battery Park: Southern Tip of New York, NY

Statue of Liberty: Liberty Island, New York, NY

Wall Street: Between Broadway and South Street, Lower Manhattan, Financial District, New York, NY

HallWay Fashion

April 17, 2015 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Chhievling Seng

Staff Writer

Ari Haven

Who influences your outfits?

No one in particular. I just kind of look at the media and pick up on trends.

What style of clothing do you categorize yourself as wearing?

Casual-yet-cute, I like to be comfy and confident in my fashion.

What clothing store is your favorite?

I don’t have a favorite store. But I like H&M.

What clothing store do you shop at the most?

I honestly don’t shop at any one store in particular.

Who picks out your clothing?

I pick my own clothes

How did you develop such a good sense of clothing?

Last year my fashion was all over the place. But this year, I feel like I finally understand my style, and likes and dislikes in fashion.

What kind of fashion advice would you give people?

Be yourself! Fashion is a great way to express yourself and your creativity. Don’t be afraid to let your personality shine through.