The American Obession with Hollywood

I was trying to come up with a blog topic so I went to Foxnews.com to get an idea. I scrolled down the page and something caught my eye. I noticed that about sixty percent of the top stories and side stories were about celebrities.

I would not put Fox News in the same category as E! Hollywood News by any means, but they are reporting the same stories. Fox News covers everything from international business affairs to the war but is still posting numerous stories about Hollywood gossip as “Breaking News.” The term “breaking news” has lost all of its meaning. Every new story seems to be “breaking.”

How does Paris Hilton’s sex tape have any degree of importance compared to a bomb in Time Square? I find this to be a serious deterioration of American society. Shows like TMZ are fueling the American curiosity and obsession with Hollywood celebrities who really aren’t very interesting. Celebrities date, get married, have children, get divorced, and have affairs like many other Americans yet are the focus of teenagers and house moms alike.

The American public has not only created a culture of idolizing the rich and famous but try to live vicariously through them. It’s like Fox News and CNN are reporting all of the boring stuff like wars, epidemics, and suicide bombers, until the next celebrity dies and when they do headlines automatically switch focus:

“Michael Jackson’s car sold for millions to Madonna!”
“Just In, Day 47 and Michael is indeed still Dead!”
“Day 94, Michael Jackson’s body is STILL not doing the Moon Walk”

What is so enthralling about celebrity affairs? I believe either Americans do earnestly worship celebrities or the national media has contrived the entire obsession adding more and more Hollywood gossip shows every season.

What do you guys think? Any comments or ideas on why America is obsessed?

Benefits of Sophomores Required to Live on Campus?

A few weeks ago, I found out that by the time I graduate in 2013 (…well hopefully by then), all sophomores will be required to live on campus. A couple things came to mind of how that will change the community around me. More dorms? More Police? Higher demand in Umphrey-Lee? All of the questions I think are pretty legitimate.

I know at Vanderbilt University students are required to live on campus for all four years. All of my Vandy friends love it too commenting that it keeps everybody together, and it’s easier to meet younger and older students. That all sounds great to me, but how is SMU going to handle another class of students on campus?

Umphrey-Lee will probably have to expand to handle more students at all meals of the day, and heaven forbid we will hire more police.

Then I thought maybe this is a blessing in disguise for many on-campus organizations like IFC and Panhellenic. With sophomores required to live on-campus, it might enthuse more students to join the Greek system for a place to live that isn’t a dormitory with friends and still be on campus. Existing chapters could benefit in many ways. Houses would need to be much more livable and more money from a bigger member population could make renovations possible. We might even see some new fraternity and sorority chapters’ spring up that used to be on campus like Alpha Tau Omega (ATO) and Kappa Delta (KD).

I hope that this sophomore on-campus rule has all the effects that could make SMU a stronger community, but I’ll have to wait and see. Any other ideas or comments on how SMU might be affected?

Working in Paradise

With the school year coming to an end many SMU students are looking for a JOB. My job search was frantic, because for one I had no idea where I wanted to work in the first place. I’m not talking about what business I mean what state or even country.

Thinking back to one of my favorite books, The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson, I was inspired to look for a summer job in the Caribbean. The options in the Caribbean seemed endless with hundreds of islands to choose from, most of them having five star resorts to offer an assortment of job opportunities. The best part about it is that most islands are still British colonies so Americans don’t even need a work visa or green card. Also many expenses are cheaper in the Caribbean such as apartments and transportation.

I am simply flying to my island of choice, renting an apartment, and working at a resort as a waiter and beach service. I chose the island of Grand Cayman which had more options than most as far as resorts are concerned. Tourists who visit the Grand Cayman range from Americans to English and even Italians.

What really surprised me about the job search was that most managers were excited to get a phone call from an interested American. One manager said that I was much more qualified for the job than some of his current workers because guests would be more comfortable interacting with an American college student than one of the natives.

Though I haven’t started yet, I would suggest trying the same thing. You don’t have to necessarily go far, but I was motivated to get away from the nest for the summer. Any comments or interests in doing the same thing one summer?