It’s May already? I’m graduating in two weeks? How did time pass by so fast, especially in these last few months? For some of you, these next few weeks mark the end of your college experience and for others just the beginning.

Working with Liana on these last 26 issues has been an absolute pleasure. Despite her telling me that when we first met she instantly thought, “I’d never be friends with that girl” (I will never let that go), we’ve developed such a strong friendship and amazing working relationship. Thank you Liana for putting up with my poor singing, crying, and constant dancing…sometimes all at the same time. I hope we’ve continued to serve the Bulletin and hold it to the same high standards as previous editors. Mostly, though, I hope we’ve created a paper which may have sparked in some feelings of fondness or anger, but ultimately made students want to pick up an issue each week.

Everyone has a different college experience, but at the root of it all, I hope you have all made the most of your time here at UNH and have seen yourself grow academically and spiritually. I know that I would not have traded the last four years of my life for anything. My time at UNH has allowed me to have so many wonderful experiences that have enriched my education and sparked my research interests, which have lead me to enter an international Master’s program this fall.

Serving as a staff member of The Charger Bulletin for all these years has helped me develop my voice as a writer, learn some serious time management skills, and forced me into caffeine addiction. Although this paper frequently plagues my nightmares, it will always hold a special place in my heart. I am so grateful for the opportunities I have had within the paper all of these years. I am especially appreciative to everyone on our awesome staff that has week after week proved their dedication to this publication.

I hope that all you readers enjoy the many changes The Charger Bulletin underwent this year. I send my very best wishes to the incoming Editor-in-Chief Liana and Assistant Editor Sam. I have no doubt that you both will do a phenomenal job, and I look forward to seeing your progress next year! Congratulations to the Class of 2013 – we survived!

Well, here it is…the last issue of the Charger Bulletin for the year. It’s an odd feeling to tell you the truth. No more editing, no more article lists, not spending my Sunday afternoons cooped up in the Office of Student Activities. Although this comes as a huge sigh of relief with finals approaching, I’m going to miss working at the newspaper on a daily basis. As I’m writing this, I realize many of the people (hopefully) reading this editorial are seniors, are my friends, are people I won’t see on a daily basis once classes resume in August.

One of these fantastic people is Elizabeth Field, the current Editor-in-Chief. When I received the position of Assistant Editor last spring and met Liz for the first time, I had no idea we would form such a strong friendship (if staying up until 2 a.m. and singing Taylor Swift at the top of our lungs whilst editing the newspaper doesn’t make us soul sisters, I don’t know what does). I could never have gotten through every twist and turn that has come our way this year without Liz’s help and guidance throughout this entire process. As much as it saddens me to see her graduate and move to Ireland for grad school, I am confident she will succeed in anything and everything she does in the future.

We have come so far and accomplished so much in the past year; we have seen Charger Bulletin grow and expand in ways we never thought possible. To me, Charger Bulletin was, and still is, my pride and joy. I have spent more hours this year slaving over my office desktop than I have on actual schoolwork. And while some may see this as a problem in the long-run, I am thankful to have the opportunity to produce something I am truly passionate about. I came to UNH knowing I wanted to work toward a career in journalism, and being a part of the newspaper has only made my experience at UNH that much more enjoyable.

Looking back on this past year, I find myself overwhelmingly grateful for the opportunity to be Assistant Editor and even more grateful to be named next year’s Editor-in-Chief. Also, I would like to congratulate Samantha Mathewson, who will be the new Assistant Editor for the 2013-2014 school year. I know, without a doubt, that she will be a great asset to Charger Bulletin and bring a new, creative perspective to the newspaper.

Good luck during finals everyone, and have an even better summer. Until next time, loyal readers.

College is the time in your life when you finally get to make decisions for yourself, and one of the those decisions is what you plan on studying to later get a career in the field of your choice.

When coming to the University of New Haven, I planned to study communications and photography so that I could later become a photo journalist. However while that was my initial choice, it opened the door to so many amazing opportunities that I never could have expected.

I have studied abroad in one of the most beautiful countries (Iceland) for photography and photojournalism. I might be biased because that is the only country outside the United States that I have visited, but it truly and surreally is beautiful. It gave me a medium to work with that I would have never been able to predict or expect to receive in a classroom. It has further interested me in pursuing a career in travel writing and photography, because I am sure there are many more beautiful places in this world outside of Iceland.

Now I am welcoming my newest adventure. While I am staying in the U.S. for this one, I am just as excited about it. I knew I wanted to start writing for the school’s newspaper when I first arrived as a freshman. In addition to it being one of the many steps along the path to later becoming a journalist, it has strung the right chord, not only in preparing me for the future but truly finding what I love to do. I will be the Assistant Editor of the Charger Bulletin next year, and this is a risk I am more than willing to take.

This position will be challenging and it will be hard, but most of all it will be fun. I look forward to my late nights of putting a paper together for the study body at UNH. I encourage everyone to welcome a challenge. Make something that is easy just a little more complex, simply because it will test you. When you see that you can overcome that, you will soon see that you are more talented than an A on a test could ever prove to you.

Sliding by is fine for high school. But we are all in college now, and it is the time to take risks, welcome challenges, and either fail miserably or succeed to great lengths you never thought possible. I promise that if you want something bad enough, you can achieve it; personally, getting the Assistant Editor position is proof of that

As the editor-in-chief of The Charger Bulletin, I receive a lot of emails every day, some from students, some from potential advertisers, and then a whole mess of press releases. I don’t mind the quantity really; it’s easy enough to sort through the riff raff. However, what drives me completely insane are emails sent with no thought at all. Is it really that tricky to read through and proofread a handful of lines of text? I’m going to compose a brief list of do’s and don’ts to consider when writing emails.

DO:

-Use pleasantries. Who doesn’t want to get a nice good morning, hello, hi, hey, or yo at the beginning of an email?

-Write in complete sentences. You know what’s frustrating? Not being able to read a single clear coherent thought because there are fragments up the wazoo in an email.

-Use punctuation. I know that in this day and age, it’s really easy to just ignore proper punctuation (and capitalization for that matter). But if you’re sending an email to someone other than a personal friend or relative, you should probably be using all your periods, commas, semi-colons, colons, and whatever else you need.

-Sign your name. Sure, if you setup your email right, it will say your name by your email address. But still, it’s nice to know that there’s a real person on the other end writing back to me, who cares enough to sign their name!

DON’T:

-Not respond to an email. Just because you know you received the email doesn’t mean the sender does. It sets my mind at ease when I know that my emails are getting through, because people respond.

-Use obscure acronyms. Just because you know what a certain acronym means, doesn’t mean everyone does. One time, after receiving an email with an unknown acronym, I asked for an explanation. The person responded by ignoring my question and used the acronym again. ARGH!

-Harass for a response. If it’s been less than 24 hours, don’t send a second email asking if I got your email. After a full day has gone by, have at it, but until then, the last thing I want is eight more emails asking me the same question.

-Assume anything. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve received an email that is just an attachment or a handful of words. I don’t know what you want if you don’t tell me! Sure, I could guess, but what if I guess wrong? Then you’re out of luck.

Here’s one last tip; if you are sending an email from a phone, that does give you a little bit of leeway. I wouldn’t suggest skipping the steps above, but you can be much briefer, especially if your signature says that it was sent from a phone.

Don’t be a jerk and ignore these tips when you send emails, particularly to me. Poorly written emails make me cranky.

The 2010 Midterm Elections are just around the corner, and the news is always full of stories pertaining to that particular subject. These elections are scheduled to be held on November 2, 2010 for 37 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate. 34 of the seats are for six-year terms that will begin January 3, 2011 and end in January 2017.

With such important elections coming up, it’s not hard to turn on the news or pull up a news website and find some information on the issues. Every day there is an article about this candidate or a commercial for that one. So, wouldn’t it be safe to say that students on this campus are fully aware of the issues and know how they will be voting come November 2? Actually, shockingly, there are students who do not even know that elections are about to take place. Would America’s future please wake up!

Sometimes I find it hard to believe that people can be so ignorant about the issues that drive this country. I listen to people complain and complain about problems that they feel this country is having. I listen to people complain about our government and the horrible job it is doing. I listen to people complain about how nothing ever gets done or promises are never kept. Then I ask these people if they vote in any elections. The most common responses that I receive are that no, they do not vote or that they don’t put much thought into who they vote for. Really people? How is that going to solve anything? Those people sitting high up in office are there because we voted them in. If you do not vote or vote willy-nilly just to say that you got to vote, then you have absolutely no right to complain in the end. To those who say that our country is run by idiots who have no idea what they are doing, I say look at the people holding the ballots.

President Obama spent the weekend trying to recapture some of the big-stage excitement of his 2008 campaign, imploring voters not to reward what he called “Republican cynicism and incompetence.” He told voters not to sit out the November 2 elections. Why should the president have to remind voters of their enthusiasm or even remind them to vote?

As a country of complainers we should be running to the polls to make sure some type of change is put into place. Americans are frustrated, especially about the economy. If people do not go out and vote, nothing good will come from this election. President Obama admits that we are in a hole, and that it is going to take some time for us to get out of it. But, no progress can be made if Americans are helping to dig the hole even deeper. We do not want this country moving backwards, even though some people suggest that we already are.

My advice to the student body and the young voters of America, vote! However, be an educated voter. You wouldn’t go into a final exam without knowing something about what the test was about. Therefore, you shouldn’t fill out a ballot without knowing what the election is about. If you are completely clueless, which I expect some of you are, it’s not too late. Like I said, every night there is something on the news about the upcoming elections. The internet is also a quick glimpse into all of the issues. Any news site will provide you with information from all sides to help you catch up, keep up to date, and help you form your own opinion.

Ultimately, it all comes down to laziness. Complaining is a much easier task than actually being proactive. Why would we keep up to date on the elections and the issues, when we could just sit at home and complain about President Obama on our couches in front of the television? Because, last time I checked, President Obama is not going to visit your home and ask you what you think about the issues.

You need to get up and vote to get your opinion counted. If you don’t, nothing is going to change the way you want it to. That just means another two years of complaining, not something I am particularly looking forward to. Let’s make this election count so that we can make use of the rights that we have to have our opinions heard.

By now I’m sure you have all heard about Tyler Clementi, the 18-year-old Rutgers University freshman who committed suicide on September 22. For those of you who don’t know the details, Tyler asked his roommate, Dharun Ravi, for the room until midnight. While in his friend, Molly Wei’s room, Ravi accessed his webcam, which revealed Clementi and another man. During this encounter, Ravi tweeted, “Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into Molly’s room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with another dude. Yay.” Two days later, Ravi tweeted an invitation to view Clementi via webcam again. The next day, Clementi posted on his Facebook page, “Going to jump off the gw bridge sorry.”

I think the most troubling part of this story is the fact that it was entirely avoidable. Had Tyler’s privacy not been violated, he would not have jumped. This brings me to my first point; always think before you act. If Ravi had thought about what he was about to do when he broadcast the video feed, and had it crossed his mind that it would result in Clementi’s death, I would like to believe that he would not have followed through. Another issue that plays a part in this story is the blatant stupidity behind it all. The entire situation was probably a joke to Ravi and Wei until they found out that Tyler had committed suicide.

Harassment and bullying has become an issue recently, with the list of dead teens growing every day. Billy Lucas, a 15-year-old Indiana high school student was found dead September 7, a thirteen-year-old Houston student shot himself on September 21, on September 26, 13-year-old Seth Walsh hanged himself from a tree in the backyard of his California home, and, even more recently, 19-year-old Johnson & Wales University student Raymond Chase, hanged himself in his Providence, R.I., dorm room on September 29. Action is obviously needed to prevent the past from repeating itself.

Everyone needs to understand that their actions have consequences, sometimes for better, and sometimes for worse. Either way, everyone should think about what results their actions will have on those around them. Would you want to be responsible for the loss of another life?

Beautiful weather we’ve been having lately isn’t it? First it’s hot, muggy, and utterly disgusting. Then it decides that it’s going to pour as if it hasn’t rained in years. Now we’ve fallen into 50-60° weather and I need to start wearing my boots and a jacket. Will you make up your mind already!

However, I do have to say that on Saturday we had really beautiful weather for Family Day. It finally felt like fall, with a decent temperature, a nice breeze, and the sun finally coming out. After a week of depressing, cloudy skies, it was nice to see a blue, clear day with all of the sunshine we had been missing. I overheard people complaining about how cold it was, but I would rather take a mildly chilly day over a muggy, sticky, rainy one any day of the week.

This upcoming weekend is Columbus Day weekend, something I think everyone is looking forward to on this campus, considering it’s all people are talking about. I think that it is a greatly needed break for all of us from the massive amounts of school work that somehow has accumulated when we weren’t looking. Next weekend is going to be catch up weekend: catch up on sleep, fun, TV shows, and probably a whole lot of school work. If you are going home, which I expect most of you are because the campus is usually deserted during this recess, have a safe and fun weekend. Enjoy this time off, because the next break is in fact our Thanksgiving recess (Anyone as excited about that one as I am?).

I would like to point out that it is already October and, pretty soon, November will be just around the corner. I feel as if it already is. These next few weeks will fly by, and we’ll have to do a double take as to where the month actually went. For the past two years here, October has always been the month that I cannot remember. Whether it’s because it’s so busy or because it speeds through its days on the calendar, October is officially known as the month that does not exist.

This year I am trying to hang tight to October and try to enjoy what time I have in it. I plan on enjoying the fall weather, which I am hoping will stick around for awhile. I am looking forward to all of the leaves changing colors and all of the fun fall trips that will be available to the campus. Apple picking and corn maze anyone? Pretty soon it’ll be time for the haunted houses and scary movies. Count me in.

Another week has come and gone, and September is already half way through. Where is the time going? Week by week time seems to go by so slow. My question always seems to be “Is it Friday yet?” But then you look back and wonder where on earth did the month go? Next thing you know, October will fly by and it will be time for Thanksgiving and Christmas. That is enough of that nonsense. I need some time to enjoy everything that I’m involved in. What good is all of it if we have to rush through everything? Life needs to build me a remote control. I mean honestly, the stores are already selling Thanksgiving stuff. Give it a few weeks and Christmas decorations will be up on the shelves.

Speaking of time moving quickly, I bet that it’s about that time of the semester when that first test for all of your classes is coming up. It’s definitely a conspiracy; I secretly believe that all of the teachers get together and plan the first test during the same week. It’s meant to test how well you can get through an extremely hard week, a week where the stress level is up to your eyes and your swimming in more information that can be absorbed in the day before three tests, one right after the other. By the end of those weeks my brain usually decides to turn to pudding. Oh the joys of college. Though, I do believe that if we couldn’t do it, we wouldn’t be here. I’m all for fast-forwarding those weeks (Skip-scene anyone?).

I find that those stressful weeks are the weeks where the littlest details seem to get on my nerves. On those days, nothing ever seems to go right and everyone is always against you. (Oh look another conspiracy.) Sometimes it seems like people just try their hardest to get on your nerves. The one thing that I always seem to notice when I’m having a “not so fabulous” day, is how many people slam a door in your face. I always hold the door open for people, especially if I know that someone is walking close enough behind me. I would appreciate it if people would do the same sometimes. Even better though, people should actually say thank you if someone holds the door for you. I know it’s tough, but if I care enough to do it then you should care enough to appreciate it. Alright, my rant is complete. I just felt that the lack of politeness needed to be addressed, especially when I see faculty and staff get treated the same way. There is no reason not to hold a door open, especially when you see someone who needs to carry something through the door. That is not acceptable.

I would, however, like to thank the people who do care enough to do nice things for people. Those are the people who can make a terrible day that much better for someone. You don’t know the type of day someone is having, but doing something so simple and nice can really help someone out. Smile at everyone you see, because you don’t know what they are really feeling, how their day is really going, or what they are really going through. All you know is that your smile could possibly make a difference in their life, even though it costs no money and takes very little effort at all. It just shows that you care. I appreciate those people.

So, to conclude my thoughts for this week, I would just like to tell everyone to stay strong through the next couple of weeks full of assignments and tests. Our fall break will be here soon enough, though for some of you it may not come fast enough. Just remember, don’t get into a habit of just letting time pass you by without enjoying the ride along the way. Enjoy the rest of the week, and good luck on all of those tests.

As you may have known or not known, National Suicide Prevention Week was from September 5^th to the 11^th and World Suicide Prevention Day was September 10^th. Whether you have been affected by suicide, know someone that has been affected by suicide, or neither, suicide is real and when it hits, it hits hard. I was exposed to suicide in the 7^th grade when my friend took her own life. Here is the story that changed my life forever. Note: Some of the names have been changed for personal reasons.

On a Sunday morning, I was at church singing praises to my God and hearing the word. At the same time, a beautiful angel was taking her life away. Sandra was a friend. We weren’t close, but she was a friend. When I said hi she said hi. We had many conversions, none serious, but some funny. She always made me laugh. Everybody loved her. Basically, the whole town knew her. I remember sitting on the floor against some lockers with her just talking about life, school, and people in general. Just sitting there and talking to her made me picture an ocean, an ocean that flows on a calm day. There were a lot of teachers who didn’t like her and she was condemned for every little thing she did. Their problem was that they didn’t have an open mind, but her friends and I saw something in her that the teachers refused to see: a beautiful angel who made mistakes. I saw a beautiful angel who was still young and didn’t know everything. I saw a beautiful angel who loved life the way life should be. I walked in the hallways of our middle school and saw a smile all the time from her, but I didn’t know what was really going on inside.

May 21, 2004 at 2:00 p.m. on a school afternoon: it was almost time to leave school. I was walking to my locker when I saw Sandra and our other friend, Vanessa, walking towards me. Sandra left first and Vanessa noticed that she had Sandra’s CD player; so she gave it to me to put in my locker. I didn’t know that that day would be the last time I would ever see Sandra.

May 23, 2004 at 10:00 p.m.: I was watching television with my brothers when I got a phone call from my friend Kenny. My brother, Bruce, took the call. After talking to him for about a couple of minutes, Bruce said, “Sandra killed herself this morning!” I really didn’t take it too seriously. “You’re kidding, she would never do that.” I took the phone to talk to Kenny. We thought maybe she was faking it to prove a point, but we really didn’t know anything. At this point, I was getting scared. I called my friend Vanessa to see if she knew anything. Vanessa confirmed that it was true. Sandra took away her life for a reason that I will never know. We just burst into tears on the phone. “Why would she do this?” I kept asking myself this over and over again. My mom was at work so I called her and told her. She came home to be with us at this time. We were sitting in our family room crying, thinking, talking, and feeling our hearts breaking into a million pieces. “I don’t want to go to school tomorrow,” I told my mom, but she said that I had to be there. All of her loved ones would be there to comfort each other. We need to get through this together. I went to bed that night knowing in a couple of hours I would be facing the hardest day of my life.

May 24, 2004: I approach the school feeling sadness in the air. Some of the counselors were outside talking to the students. All morning I told myself that I wouldn’t break down. My mom walked with my brothers and me to my locker. I opened it and the first thing I saw was her CD player, making my heart sink. We walked to take it to the office. After, my mom hugged me and left. I walked to homeroom and sat at my desk. Our principal announced the tragic news during our homeroom period. There would also be counselors and social workers in the media center all day to talk and help people. I was fine at this time. The bell rang and I walked to my first period class, which was art. After sitting there for a couple of minutes, I finally broke down. I didn’t want to leave but my art teacher had another teacher help me to the library. When I walked to the media center, I thought the whole entire school was in there. People were crying on the floor and others were against the wall. Many were talking to counselors and hugging each other. A lot of us were there for hours. After crying, we finally started to laugh, because we were just talking about funny things that helped us remember the good times with Sandra. Then I walked with a bunch of friends back to seventh period. I felt a little better, but this was only the start.

It was time to say goodbye to a beautiful angel. I attended the wake knowing I couldn’t go to the funeral. The only thing going through my mind when I saw her lying in the casket was “Wake up angel, wake up!” I knew she would not wake up on this earth anymore. This was the last time I cried in front of everyone. This was real; she was gone. It had finally hit me and it hit hard.

It was a long journey for me to heal 100%. I leaned on God, my family, and friends more than anything. The two very valuable lessons I learned from this experience were to let pain run its course and to not be afraid to cry. These lessons are also great advice for others who might be in the same situation as I was. It hurts to lose someone who was so young and had so much potential. Now six years later, I think about what she would be like today. Every year on May 23, I remember Sandra as the beautiful angel that is now looking down on us from Heaven.

Since 2007, I have been an advocate for suicide prevention. I was not prepared emotionally or psychologically for such a tragedy at a young age. I did not see the warning signs and my friends didn’t either, because we did not know what these warning signs were. You can go through your whole life asking “What if I saw something or said something to prevent it,” but you will never find the answers to these questions.

Today, there are so many resources to help people considering suicide and the family and friends involved after a suicide. The non-profit organization “To Write Love on Her Arms” (TWLOHA) has helped in so many ways, including helping myself. TWLOHA has helped people find hope and freedom from thoughts of suicide and depression.

The purpose of writing this was not to make you feel sad, but to make you feel inspired, educated and encouraged to be a friend. If you see suicidal warning signs, don’t be afraid to tell someone and/or talk to this person. If you are the one who is going through isolation and depression, talk to someone you can trust and who will listen to you. The professionals at the Counseling Center here at UNH are one of the best group of people to go to. They are located in the lower level of Sheffield Hall. I can only give advice based on the experiences that I’ve had, but the Counseling Center can also give you valuable counseling and advice because they are trained to. It can prevent the same pain that Sandra’s family and friends had to go through.

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. This is the 104th issue that I have written in and worked on for The Charger Bulletin. My, how time flies by!

Throughout the past four years, I have written about all sorts of things – both positive and negative. I’ve talked about everything from Joe Lieberman and Barack Obama to mothers who are unable to control their children in Martin Scorcese movies. Yup, I’ve covered it all.

One of my favorites was, by far, an editorial about warning labels. It went over hair driers that had the warning “do not use in shower” on it. Or how about “caution: Remove infant before folding for storage” on a portable stroller? My personal favorite was a printed message appears in a TV ad when the presenter demonstrates how strong some Ingenio cookware is by using it to beat up a regular frying pan. “Using Ingenio cookware to destroy your old pots may void your warranty.” Okay, one last one…on a packet for a moist towelette, a message was printed that stated that it “cleans and refreshes without soap or water. Contains: Water, fragrance & soap.”

To be honest, there’s nothing I would have rather done at the University of New Haven than get involved. The summer before my freshman year, around June, I contacted the station manager of WNHU and the editor-in-chief of The Charger Bulletin. I became active in both organizations, and at the end of my freshman year I knew that I wanted to do more … but which should I invest myself in!? Being a rather naive individual, I applied for positions within The Charger Bulletin as well as WNHU. The night of my interview, I received a call that I couldn’t have been happier about – I was appointed the assistant editor of The Charger Bulletin. At the end of my sophomore year, I reapplied for the assistant editor position, and got it again. Then, at the end of my junior year, I applied for editor-in-chief. As you can probably tell, I was fortunate enough to receive that position as well.

I have no idea what I will be doing a year from now. But whatever it is, I know that I’ll be involved.

The sad part, however, is seeing how many people don’t get involved. By no means should everybody – nor would everybody – want to be in charge of a university organization. But how can you really not get involved in even one club? UNH offers a ton of clubs and organizations, and certainly more than one can work for everybody. Whatever…to each their own!
It has been a pleasure working on The Charger Bulletin for the past four years, and having a leadership position for three of those four. I have met and worked with some of the best people, and that’s something that I couldn’t be happier about. As I depart from this position, please join me in welcoming next year’s editor-in-chief, Matt Di Giovanni. I feel like a mother sending his child off to preschool for the first time! (Yes, “mother” and “his.” That’s right!)

But in all seriousness, it has been an honor and a pleasure to do all that I have done. Thank you for reading the past few years, and thank you for not smoking! … even those who read while smoking …