Rocloop.com Brings Rochester Life to College Students

Do you pick up a newspaper every morning when you eat breakfast? Of course not. In fact, most college students barely have time to slam a bagel or down a cup of juice on their way to their first class. The website Rocloop.com aims to change all that, bringing pertinent news, stories, and other information to area college students.

We receive our news much different than our parents do. They read the paper, we read the blogs; they watch the six o’clock news, we check Youtube; they listen to talk radio, we listen to podcasts. Rocloop.com is a website sponsored by the Democrat and Chronicle, created by college interns geared towards bringing the Rochester community to the local students.

A visit to Rocloop.com will show the story of the day, with an array of other information on the sidebars. Navigation on top menus will direct you to different areas of the site, feature sections stuffed full of information. The guides section is a course in “Rochester 101,” where you can find the best places to get coffee, watch sporting events, see a concert or art showing. Unique to Rocloop.com, the 360° panoramic views of various coffee shops will give you the scoop on a good cup of java for a study break. If you want to know bar specials, or band appearances, you can find it on the calendar that hugs the right side of the home page.

While the site is a wealth of knowledge, there are also many fun features only available on Rocloop.com. The “60-Second Rant” and “Someone to Know” segments offer a closer look at people and issues that interest college students. From RIT ice climbers, to gripes about Bluetooth Headsets and Naz Parking, the features of Rocloop.com are sure to keep you reading.

Registration at Rocloop.com is a great way to stay connected, and also a great way to win prizes. When you register you are automatically entered into a drawing for a weekly $20 gift card, and become eligible for other upcoming promotions. Rocloop.com is a place for college students to interact because, as Rocloop.com’s motto states, it is “Your College, Your life, Our Rochester.”

ROCLOOP.COM IS GIVING AWAY A NINTENDO Wii AT THE END OF THE SEMESTER...

ROCHESTER AREA COLLEGE STUDENTS 

CAN REGISTER WITH A .EDU EMAIL ADDRESS

WIN A Wii!

Nazareth Chosen for Princeton Review's "Best 368 Colleges: 2009 Edition"

My college, Nazareth College is one of the nation’s best institutions for undergraduate education, according to The Princeton Review. Nazareth is one of only four schools in the nation to be added to the forthcoming edition of The Best 368 Colleges: 2009 Edition (Random House/Princeton Review Books, $21.95 paperback). The book will be available in bookstores in late July 2008.

“We chose Nazareth College as one of our ‘best’ undergraduate colleges for this, our flagship college guide, based on several criteria we consider when reviewing schools for the book. First, we must have a high regard for their academic programs and other offerings. Our selections also take into account institutional data we collect from the schools and the opinions of students attending them whom we survey. We also greatly value the feedback we get about schools from our college-savvy staff across the country as well as from students, educators and parents who use our services and books," said Robert Franek, V.P. & Publisher-The Princeton Review.

“The announcement that our college was selected for this honor has created a buzz of excitement on the Nazareth campus,” said Nazareth President Daan Braveman. “We have been included in Princeton Review’s Best in the Northeast and now are pleased to be included in the national ranking. As one of only four schools to be added to the 2009 edition, Nazareth is extremely proud of its work to earn this distinction.”

Nazareth College is also one of only two institutions in New York State that The Princeton Review is adding to the book this year. The other is City University of New York / Baruch College. They join 40 other schools in New York State in the book.

“The Best 368 Colleges: 2009 Edition presents a wide range of colleges in the book. Only about 10% of the colleges in the nation are in it, and they vary by region, size, selectivity and character,” said Franek. “Each one is an outstanding institution we highly recommend to college applicants and their parents. In our opinion, these are ‘the crème of the crop’ institutions for undergraduates in America. "

What distinguishes The Princeton Review's annual Best Colleges guide from all other college guides is that it is the only one offering both two-page profiles on the schools and student survey-based college ranking lists in over 60 categories. The lists report the book’s top 20 colleges in categories that range from the teaching ability of the faculty (“Profs Get High Marks”) to campus amenities (“Best Campus Food”) to aspects of the campus culture (most liberal / most conservative student bodies).

The Princeton Review itself does not rank the colleges in the book hierarchically - 1 to 368 – either for academics (the company believes all 368 schools are first-rate, academically) or by any other category. The book’s school profiles include dozens of quoted comments from surveyed students at each school.

Nazareth College is an independent, coeducational college with studies in the liberal arts and sciences, and professional programs in health and human services, education, and management at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Nazareth is committed to experiential learning, civic responsibility, and student/faculty engagement. In the past decade, twelve Nazareth students and eight professors have been awarded highly competitive Fulbright scholarships. For updated information on the College and its initiatives and programs, visit www.naz.edu.

Role Models for Girls Suck Sometimes...

Originally Published in the March Gleaner Issue...

Why can ANYONE in the entertainment business, at any time, become an “aspiring singer?” These artists are just trash, and their music is over commercialized for the consumption for the mindless MTVers that buy the songs. Very few female artists out there now promote a positive message for girls. Stars these days seem to have some racy mishap surrounding their careers. I’ll count down from number four to number one of ladies that are ruining music right now.




Have you seen Heidi Montag’s (#4) new video? If you haven’t seen it, the song is called “Higher” and it features Heidi and her new “twins” rolling around a deserted beach in a teeny weeny little bikini. This Hills star is the just the newest “celebutant” on the block.




Coming in at number three is Brooke Hogan. She starred on VH1’s Hogan Knows Best, leading to her official debut album in 2006. She had a semi successful hit in “About Us” with Houston rapper Paul Wall, made popular only by the viewers of her show. Her father/manager, Hulk Hogan, has done everything he can to keep her positive and “clean.” However throughout the season of the show we see her desire sex up her appearance for the limelight. Since then she has had little to no success.





Number Two. Lindsey Lohan. The interesting thing about Lindsey is that she’s had a fairly decent music career sales-wise. Her first album, Speak, actually went platinum (one million units sold) and her second album, despite lack of promotion, went gold (500,000 units sold.) However since then she has been in the news as a frequent partier and cocaine aficionado, which is exactly what shouldn’t be in music marketed towards teens. While she and her manager may claim that her music is for adults, her fan base is comprised largely of young teens. Her role model status fails in my eyes.




Finally We’re at Number One. You know her, you love to hate her…Paris Hilton. Through her rich upbringing, she’s moved into the celebrity class, starring in a number of failed movies. She is the quintessential B-Actor, so naturally she decided to try her hand at music. Led by the single “Stars are Blind,” which became a dance club hit; her 2006 album Paris was a flop. To this date she has sold only 607,000 copies worldwide. She’s also had a nice video adaptation of her romp in the sheets, as well as her stint in jail for DUIs.

These girls are treated as stars by the media and by many of our very own friends and siblings. The problem with these four stars is the message they portray to our youth. Each of them has had some controversial situation that we would not want our sisters or daughters to emulate. Why should we allow this to happen? We are the ones perpetuating them by watching their TV shows and movies. As many of you know I am a music producer, and am starting to experience many of these people first-hand. What I have seen is that the businesses COUNT ON VIEWERS TO SELF-PROMOTE THE MUSIC. I am asking that we all stand up for good, meaningful music from quality acts. Now I haven’t mentioned rock or rap groups, and trust me they’re not faultless either, however these acts seem to have more of an influence on older people, who have a choice on their behaviors. These young people are shaped by their surroundings, and need more Miley Cyrus’s and Hillary Duffs to look up to.