President Barack Obama’s biggest focus, judging by his re-election campaign website, seems to be on America’s foremost concern, the economy. He signed the America Invents Act, allowing entrepreneurs to bring their inventions to the market soon which would subsequently allow for more businesses to enter the market. He also created the National Export Initiative which intends to double exports of our goods by 2015.

Obama supports more homegrown efforts and a high-technology homefront to compete with the global market. Taxes will be raised for the upper crust and maintain at a steady rate for the middle and lower class workers. As recent as a couple of days ago, Obama publicly admitted to an evolution of opinion on gay rights. Though he still believes it is up to each state, he supports gay marriage and equality (just in time for North Carolina’s vote to make gay marriage unconstitutional).

Education is also a priority to Obama. He intends to reform the No Child Left Behind Act and raise standards for K-12 education, while already almost doubling investment in secondary education. His website does not contain any standpoint on the Afghanistan War.

Mitt Romney’s website has many more of his standpoints than Obama’s, but his main efforts are also geared towards the economy, with the Afghanistan War and foreign policy being a close second. He intends to reduce and stabilize federal spending while making an across-the-board twenty percent cut in marginal rates for individual taxes. His ideals for labor and trade are all about freedom: free enterprise, free choice, free speech, and renegotiating the business relationship with China. To safely exit the war between our troops and the Taliban, he wants to ensure the training of the Afghan forces through communication with American military commanders — all of which depend on the support of both the Afghanistan and Pakistan government.

Romney believes in marriage solely between the opposite sex and plans to enforce a Federal Marriage Amendment to the Constitution, keeping marriage heterosexual. He supports a world class education for Americans and proposed a scholarship in Massachusetts that gave the top twenty-five percent performers of each high school full tuition for any Massachusetts institution. He wants all states to work on education reform at an individual level than at a federal reform.
Many of the younger voices have strong opinions but are not registered to vote. Keira Crowther, a second-year fashion marketing major, says, “I’m not registered to vote at the moment, but I definitely plan to be before the election. It’s just a matter of getting home to register.” Luckily, people are trying to facilitate voter registration to encourage voting.

Rock the Vote is a nonprofit organization geared towards younger Americans that has an online process for registration. It has registered over five million of its targeted audience over its twenty-one years as an organization and constantly updates its website. The Department of Motor Vehicles also encourages voter registration by giving everyone the option of registering when renewing licenses. There is no extra fee or form to fill out.

The two were presented with an Andre Leon Talley Lifetime achievement Award at SCAD’s 2009 fashion show.

Isabel Toledo is best known for designing Michelle Obama’s presidential inauguration ensemble.  Women’s Wear Daily says she is, “One of the 100 designers that count.” Vogue labeled her, “An important raw talent.”

Ruben Toledo is a world-class, fashion illustrator, painter, sculptor, reporter and fashion chronicler. His work can be found in The New Yorker, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, The New York Times, and more. He’s also worked exclusively for Louis Vuitton and Nordstrom.

The duo recently collaborated on their book “Roots of Style: Weaving Together Life, Love, and Fashion.”

The event will be co-chaired by John D. Oetgen, John H. Lineweaver and Ginny and Charles Brewer. The event includes a fine art auction curated by Fay Gold. Special guests are Stephen Burrows and Raul Melgoza – SCAD Style Lab mentors styling the senior collections of SCAD Atlanta fashion students.

VIP tickets are $275 and include an exclusive reception at 6:30 p.m. Tickets also include a buy-it-now option for the auction and a catered cocktail party.

Cocktail tickets are $150 for the main event at 7:30 p.m. Tickets include cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, live music, and a silent auction with artwork from the SCAD community.

Hugo Boss is the title sponsor leading the fundraising effort. Other sponsors include AT&T, Coca-Cola, ABM, Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty, Bernstein Global Wealth Management, Candoni Wines, Dennis Dean Caterin, Fifth Third Bank, Follet, Georgia Crown Distributing Company, J. Christopher’s, Lord Aeck and Sargent, Schiff Hardin LLP, Re/Max Real Estate Group, Shane Thomas, Stage Front Production Services, Standard Press, Taylor English Duma LLP, The Framers of Peachtree, The Warehouse and Thomas ASAF Group.

To purchase tickets, make a donation or preview auction items, visit www.scadfashionseen.com. For any other questions, contact Emily Davis at edavis@scad.edu  or 404-253-2775.

May 10
3:30 p.m. – A student cut two fingers while working in the fashion department. She was treated with first aid and then transported for evaluation.

May 11
No incidents reported.

May 12
12:51 p.m. – A student approached security who was not feeling well. She was transported for treatment.

May 13
3:20 a.m. – An individual entered the Spring House gate and ignored the guard’s request for ID. He sat down on the curb area inside the gate, appearing highly intoxicated. The shift supervisor responded and told the individual to leave. He departed at 3:30 a.m., and returned at 3:35 a.m. He was told again to leave or he would be arrested. He left and did not return.

Nowadays, neither my parents nor brothers are around often enough to eat cereal with me. But when my brothers and I do get together, cereal is the one love we know we all have in common. We head straight to the grocery store for two boxes of cereal and a gallon of whole milk to accompany a list of Adam Sandler comedies and our parents’ deep-seated couches. But we always face the same problem when arriving at the cereal aisle and picking our victims for the night: where did all the good cereal go? And I’m not talking good like Cheerios, Special K, and Kashi. No, I’m talking about Waffle Crisp, Rice Krispie Treats, and French Toast Crunch. The sugary goodness that is the building block of our childhood. Nights dedicated to this topic with my fellow Cerealeans have yielded nothing but frustration and unsatisfied hunger. But the internet has given these cereals of our childhood another chance at life (or death?) so that we might live out our youth for a little bit longer.

Waffle Crisp
This cereal may or may not have dictated my priorities in life at one point. They were mini-waffles that were more crispy than crunchy, and got extremely soggy after five minutes of being in the bowl. This is why and how I learned to eat cereal quickly — because there are only a couple of cereals in this world that are better soggy, and they involve the Flintstone’s. Waffle Crisp’s mascot, at its peak of tastiness, was a group of elderly women who slaved over the making of Waffle Crisp. So you know they tasted the way Grandma would make ‘em. She wouldn’t worry about the sugars or the calories. And that’s exactly how Waffle Crisp tasted. They smelled like syrup and brown sugar. They tasted more like that than a buttery waffle. And the milk turned a light beige and tasted almost like the smell of cinnamon rolls. Waffle Crisp actually has not been discontinued yet. For some reason, Post cereal has just drastically reduced its production of it. I found it once in a North Georgia Ingles. I was dizzy with excitement and hope for the future of Waffle Crisp. Over the years, Kellogg’s Eggo Cereal took Waffle Crisp’s spot in major grocery stores. The upsetting part about Crisp’s competition is that it really isn’t the same. It’s like drinking skim milk after having whole milk for ten years. There’s less sugar, less texture, and the Eggo’s are thinner. They pale in comparison. But fear not, the Waffle Crisp market on the internet is vast, affordable, and easy to find.

Rice Krispie Treat… the cereal edition
Okay, so Kellogg’s got it right when they decided to give RKTC a chance. It first appeared in 1993 and judging by the profits Kellogg’s got by my family alone, I’m pretty sure it had no problem selling. But over the years, it vanished, and is also in limbo with Waffle Crisp… not officially discontinued, but also not easily found at any grocery store. However, when I was seventeen or so, Kellogg’s pushed it for a limited time in numerous major grocery stores. I literally gave money to someone from work, while I was on shift, to run over to Wal-Mart and buy three boxes for me. It might’ve made me a candidate for sainthood in my brothers’ eyes. RKTC is portioned off pieces of Rice Krispie Treats that are dry enough to avoid the goop of fresh, homemade Rice Krispie Treats, but sweet and frosted enough to rule out the sweetness of Frosted Cheerios, Frosted Flakes, and Frosted Wheaties combined. RKTC cannot be found on the shelves anymore, though I hope Kellogg’s goes for another push with them, but there are options for the RKTC addict: 1.) The internet 2.) Making Rice Krispie Treats and allowing them to set at room temperature for three days. At that time, they are dry enough to put in milk and enjoy, and you actually have control over what goes into the making of the RKTC.

French Toast Crunch
French Toast Crunch had a shelf life from 1995 to 2008. Apart of the Cinnamon Toast Crunch family, it took on the approach of the Crisp family (Cookie Crisp, Waffle Crisp) in that the cereal itself was shaped as small pieces of french toast. These crunchy delicacies had the ability of staying in milk for a rather long period of time without getting soggy. But when General Mills decided to make French Toast Crunch look the as Cinnamon Toast Crunch, sales plummeted… at least in my household. The flakes didn’t carry the same flavor. They actually seemed even more sugary, with a brown sugar coating, and lost the imitational taste of french toast. Along with losing the taste, they lost their texture, getting soggy at a much quicker rate. Though Cinnamon Toast Crunch is and was another favorite, the problem with this change was that General Mills lost its FTC market. And subsequently stopped manufacturing the cereal. Which is probably the biggest blow to my childhood taste buds.

Although all of these cereals lost their spotlight, they never lost their following. Many blog posts and discussions from kids of the 90’s era are dedicated to the understanding of the shelf life of perfectly perfect cereals and their disappearance. It leads me to ask one thing: if the market remains, why not give these cereals another chance? Though that question may never be answered or fulfilled, there is one thing I can promise. If it does happen, I will not hesitate to do the cereal dance once more.

The Canterbury Tales is running at The New American Shakespeare Tavern until May 27.

“Curtain Up” is a weekly performing arts review column exploring the vast and dynamic theater world in Atlanta.

When I was an undergraduate student, I went through a kick where I thought I needed to take courses on all the greats. One of those was Chaucer. Of course, all we read the entire semester was “The Canterbury Tales.” I hated it. I saw the amusing aspects and the humor, how dirty of a man Geoffrey really was, but, I never wanted to crack that book open again.

I saw that The New American Shakespeare Tavern was going to be bringing his tales to stage and I thought this could be my opportunity to truly see this classic text done in the right way. Luckily, my instincts were right and I have never been so pleased to give a story a second chance.

The Shakespeare Tavern, located at 499 Peachtree St. NE, is one of those grand spaces where you can eat, drink and be merry. Before the show, and during intermission, the kitchen and bar are open, serving dinner, appetizers, dessert and booze – which this audience consumed a lot of. I have never seen more drunk housewives in one room, and they were quite rambunctious.

I guess the atmosphere provoked such behavior. With the talk of explicit sex acts, cocks, tools and fair maidens, you can’t blame them. The ensemble cast consisting of Veronika Duerr, Nicholas Faircloth, Matt Felten, Rachel Frawley, Rivka Levin, Matt Nichie, Drew Reeves and Mary Russell kept the audience in good spirits throughout the show. Breaking down the fourth wall and allowing the audience in on the theatrics of the tale while jumping from modern day to back in the day, the cast, under the great direction of John Stephens, put a whole new entertaining spin on Chaucer’s masterpiece.

Each member of the cast jumped time periods and countries while portraying characters with vastly different accents from scene to scene, or sentence to sentence. They never missed a beat. The comedic timing was outstanding. If this group hasn’t worked together in the past, you couldn’t tell. The chemistry and comfortability with the script allowed the audience on opening night to sit back and enjoy the show.

The scenery was simple and cute. It added to the slapstick feel of the comedy with the deuce size cans of ale that littered table tops and quenched the thirsts of bus drivers. There were puppets, a stuffed horse and doors that always found their way to someones face. It all added up to a feel good night where you left with a smile across your face. The humor was adult, but if a family were to attend this together, they would only see the obvious funny moments, not the hidden innuendos. This is a perfect night out to let loose before finals approach, have a good giggle and sip on some ale.

If you read Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales” and didn’t find an ounce of entertainment value in it, it’s because you haven’t seen the way it could be done. Don’t doubt your ability to understand his old fashioned romanticized language. Once you see it on stage, it will all come together. Give it a second go. “The Canterbury Tales” is running until May 27 at The New American Shakespeare Tavern. For ticket or show time information, visit www.shakespearetavern.com.

From that moment forward I began identifying myself as bisexual. During high school I kept my preferences mostly to myself in an attempt to avoid the uneasy looks from my peers and the judgmental gaze of my immature friends. While I didn’t deny or conceal my sexuality I certainly wasn’t waving it around.

Recently, I have decided to be more transparent with my sexuality and open with those around me – including them in my little secret. One day while speaking candidly with some friends I dropped what was apparently a bombshell. Upon slipping in the fact that I’m attracted to both men and women, my friends looked at me as if I had suddenly sprouted a second set of eyes. The wrinkled foreheads, shifty glances and momentary silence stunned me; after all I was sitting at a table with progressive individuals, two of which were gay men.

With their faces still twisted in judgement, my so-called friends began voicing their opinions about those who find themselves attracted to both sexes. They made jokes about bisexuals being greedy, indecisive people who didn’t know what they wanted, so they decide to go after anything on two legs. What was most jarring about my conversation with friends was their strange claim that I didn’t actually feel the way I was saying I felt. One of my gay friends chirped that although I was claiming to be more than physically attracted to both sexes, I actually wasn’t. He implied that I was just confused, or worse – pretending. This idea stunned me. A member of my own community, someone who had been told the very same ignorant thing was flinging it right back at me. After this conversation I began to realize that my sexuality would set me more apart from others than I thought.

Outside of that I am facing similar prosecution from the country as a whole. How can I possibly feel like an American when I live in a country that tells me I’m not equal to those with a different sexual preference? As a member of the LGBTIQA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, questioning and asexual) community, my country hasn’t given me a lot to be proud of as far as gay rights. With the recent passing of Amendment One in North Carolina on Tuesday night, I was feeling as disenfranchised as I felt when my home state of California, voted yes on Proposition 8 which amended the states constitution stating the marriage is only recognized when between a woman and a man. Most people who vote to eliminate rights for LGBTIQA citizens usually accredit their position to their religious beliefs that marriage is only for straights. They think that because they’re on a diet no one else should be allowed to eat doughnuts.

When I came home from school yesterday, I was greeted by a strength and support that I had never experienced before. During a surprising ABC news report President Obama gave a brief explanation of his new stance on gay marriage. After a long discussions with his wife, children and friends, he came to the realization that gay Americans deserve the same rights that straight Americans enjoy. For the first time in American history a sitting president gave his support for gay Americans to have the choice to be legally married.

Think of your favorite CD or album. Now consider why you love it and what it makes you feel. What memories are attached to this music? And, finally think of the lyrics to your all-time favorites. Many people don’t even recognize the meaning of the lyrics in some of their favorite songs, but some can recite every word. If something as miniscule as the color of a room can be proven to affect your brain’s cognitive function, how much more can words that are being replayed in your head throughout the day?

Much of mainstream music is unimaginative, purely recycled thoughts and phrases put to yet another interesting musical accompaniment. Then, you are made to listen to this small menu of songs, on various stations, over and over again. How many times can you listen to someone talking about how they are “swimming in women” or how rich and famous they are, before you start striving for the same lifestyle unconsciously?

College Student, Christina Greenwood, states, “I only listen to V-103, and 107.9 when other people are in my car. The talk of ‘riches’ and ‘b*****’ wears me out, and that’s 90 percent of what mainstream radio plays. It’s like everyone wants to party and get faded, but that’s all they do…fade away. It’s actually paradoxical that rappers like to talk about a hood lifestyle that they no longer live. If that’s all you want to say to your fans, then you could’ve stayed rapping in the hood. But the only way to change what is played is to hit them in the wallets, and boycott the stations that don’t respect the integrity of their listeners.”

Whatever your musical muse may be, you are an adult artist now that doesn’t have a hand in front of their eyes or a voice to protect them from the rawness of the world. But, one thing you do need is a filter. You need to be continuously careful of what and who you expose yourself to, including in the world of music because the changes that you subconsciously make, may not be for the better. It is stupid to think that any element that you expose yourself to isn’t laying on your skin, ready to seep in.  Even if you don’t consider yourself spiritual, or sensitive to the world around you, most creative people are in many ways sponges for everything around them. This is where inspiration comes from. And, most college students are people who want to make a positive impact on the world. Just make sure you’re not sucking up the stuff.