Megan C. Kenslea

Getting rid of the ‘Mean Girls’ sentiment

By Megan Kenslea

On a recent Saturday night of drinks and conversation with friends, a female acquaintance emphatically declared, “I hate girls.” In a group of about seven college males and females, the comment went practically unnoticed. Yet, the next morning I woke up angry.

Girls who hate girls seem, unfortunately, to be the norm these days. Pop culture – from shows like Gossip Girl to popular young adult series like The Clique – glamorizes and emphasizes the often cold and calculating “girl world.” Psychologists have done endless research on interpersonal relationships among females at all ages. One such book, Queen Bees and Wannabes, by Rosalind Wiseman, was even adapted into the 2004 box office smash “Mean Girls.” 

For some reason, though, my friend’s comment struck a nerve. I couldn’t pinpoint exactly why – especially because the same phrase was one that I myself touted often in high school.

By the end of middle school I had dealt with more than my share of girl drama – bcc’d emails, three-way call attacks, ditching friends on the way to school – they type of petty, small conflicts that so often tear and eat away at a girl’s self-esteem. I wasn’t entirely innocent, but by my freshman year of high school, I needed to get away. I retreated into a bubble – partially of my own creation, partially a result of ostracization by my social-climbing former BFF.

When I finally decided to branch out from my self-contained world a year later, it was my male classmates, not female classmates, whom I befriended. And I began to dismiss my lack of female friends to my mother with that very same phrase – “I really just hate girls.” 

Now, though, I was smarting, even if I recognized my own hypocrisy. I took the comment as a personal insult. 

But why the change? 

Part of it is that I have made some incredible female friends since coming to college. Supportive, intelligent, friendly women who will help their friends with no ulterior motives. My college friendships are a far cry from the few competitive, aggressive friendships I had with girls in high school.

I also began to educate myself, seriously, on women’s rights worldwide. Worrying about which parties you weren’t invited to seems a lot more trivial when viewed alongside female genital mutilation in parts of Africa or female infanticide in parts of Asia. 

My mother, a stay at home mom for most of her adult life (and a women who, admittedly did not vote for Hilary Clinton in 2008 solely because she “just didn’t like her very much”) was amused at my sudden and strong feminist tendencies. My dad, who has been pushing me towards strong female role models practically since my conception, was overjoyed.

Mostly, though, I began to realize that by letting a few bad experiences in middle school define my perception of my entire gender, I was just as bad as the rest of them. 

Around the same time my friend made her comment, Bristol University student Rosslyn McNair wrote a blog on the very subject for the Huffington Post. McNair argued that in today’s society, where women can have it all, “there is unavoidably going to be competition and a degree of jealousy towards women who are seemingly swimming a little better against the tide of obstacles that stop women from achieving this existence.” Instead of being impressed with and respecting the beautiful, successful, intelligent woman next door, we react negatively.

McNair hit the nail on the head, I think. After my mother’s generation fought so hard for Title IX, after my aunts battled old, sexist partners at law firms, young women today are facing a new problem. Too many of us are smart, successful, intelligent, and above average, that we find ourselves competing fiercely amongst ourselves for our dream internship, a spot at an Ivy League college or a prestigious scholarship. Long gone is the battle of our mothers’ generation just to get a foot in the door of the old boys club. Today’s battles are just as hard, but this time, they are against each other.

In a keynote speech, Madeleine Albright, the first female Secretary of State in the U.S., said “there is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” There are many successful women out there who do extend a hand to help, promote and encourage other women. Yet, every day, I see just the opposite. 

Some of it is the pressure. When I was a junior in high school at Newton North High School in Newton, Massachusetts, several senior girls were the subject of a New York Times feature about high-achieving girls titled “For Girls, It’s Be Yourself, and Be Perfect, Too.” 

The author, Sara Rimer, made a point similar to McNair’s. For girls today, Rimer wrote, “If you are free to be everything, you are also expected to be everything.”

My mother, who now works in admissions at a competitive private high school in Massachusetts, has told me that every year, the school has to reject more and more qualified girls. When they turn to the waitlist, they look for certain demographics, not necessarily skill and qualifications, to fill empty spots. And that means that a lot of girls miss out. 

This unfortunate truth has fomented into an underlying thought that other women are “a threat to the harmony of our own lives,” as McNair said.

I’m tired of hearing that girls hate other girls, though. That feminism is “annoying.” Today’s generation of women can be as impressive as our mothers’ generation, but only if we stop bringing each other down and start pulling each other up.  

Syrian Refugees Take Cover in Lebanon

By Megan Kenslea

As the ceasefire in Syria appears to be holding and the U.N. and major world powers debate over what to do next, eyes are turning now to the humanitarian crisis that has erupted within and outside of Syrian borders. Thousands of refugees are fleeing or have fled the violence, spilling over the border to Lebanon, Turkey and other neighboring countries.

Some have fled to refugee camps, where conditions vary enormously. Others have sought a more stable cover in the homes of family members living abroad. But for those living with family members, the stability comes at a price – technically, these refugees have entered a new country illegally. Now, most are struggling just to get by.

The plight of these refugees is something a group of American students studying abroad at the American University of Beirut learned firsthand last week when they spent the day in Barja, a small town that currently plays host to a large, though unknown, number of Syrian refugees. The students, who traveled to the mountain village Barja on a trip organized by the Syrian Cultural Club at AUB, spent the day parceling out and delivering food to refugees.

While there, they encountered a wide socioeconomic spectrum of living conditions – from families living comfortably in clean, well-furnished homes, to families that did not even have a table to eat off of.

“The astonishing thing wasn’t so much the living conditions, but rather the length of time the refugees had been there,” said Marshall Schurtz, a junior at B.U. studying archaeology at AUB. “It wasn’t squalor, but it wasn’t any way to live for a year of hiding from the conflict.”

The group spent the morning working with a local Sunni mosque and community center putting together small food parcels for many of the Syrian families living there with their relatives. The food came from a variety of places – some was from donations collected at AUB, while other parcels were clearly marked donations from U.S. AID and AfD, the French Development Agency.

They spent the afternoon traveling to homes to hand out the parcels. Their encounters with the refugees were at times both heartwarming and heartbreaking. One thing the students said they did not expect, though, was the fear in some of the refugees eyes when they came to the door.

“The conditions we saw ran the gamut from slums to extremely comfortable,” said Sam Leone, a junior at Boston University studying abroad at AUB. “But one thing was the same, irrespective of the conditions they were living in – they were all terrified of strangers coming to the door.”

Leone said he and his friends were confused by this reaction. One of the men from the village, who had also volunteered to take the students around to distribute the food, explained that the refugees have been harassed repeatedly by Mukhabarat, the Syrian secret police controlled by Hezbollah that operates out of Lebanon.

“What we learned later was that Hezbollah and Mukhabarat are going around, harassing [the refugees] and taking down their names,” Leone said. “Occasionally, they will arrest the refugees and send them back to Syria, which means torture or death. The less extreme case is that they will ship the names back to the Syrian government, which will target family members still in Syria.

“Even the family members who are in Lebanon legally don’t have many political rights, so they are lying low as best as they can.”

Despite the initial fear, Leone and Schurtz said that most of the refugees welcomed them once they realized they were there with good intentions. They played pick up games of soccer with Syrian children, and chatted with their parents.

Even some of their funnier experiences put the plight of the refugees in perspective, though, Leone said. At one of the more impoverished homes the group visited, a miscommunication nearly sent the group into a tailspin.

“As we were about to leave, the man of the house called over [the local guide escorting the American students] to talk to him about a problem he was having,” Leone said. “He came back and said to us, ‘Oh my goodness, his wife is going into labor and he wants to know if we can pull some strings to get her into a hospital.’”

Leone described the minor chaos that ensued. “These families are not supposed to be there, and they won’t be served if they just show up at a hospital,” he said. “We started freaking out. The man we were with got on his phone trying to call people, anyone he knew, who might have some connections to get them in.”

Meanwhile, he said, he and the other two American students with him brainstormed what to do if they could not get the woman to a hospital in time. “We were honestly just trying to remember what we had seen in movies – we thought hot water and blankets, but that’s all we could think of.”

However, the man of the house – “who was oddly calm through the entire endeavor,” Leone said – quickly realized there had been a miscommunication.

“He called us over and said ‘No, no, my wife’s not in labor now, but she’s eight and a half month’s pregnant, and I’m just trying to be preemptive,” Leone said. While the crisis was averted while he was there, his impotence in the situation stuck with Leone, he said.

“I don’t know that we did any good,” he said. “We gave them a day’s worth of food, but we couldn’t go back. Every problem in the world, especially in the Middle East, is the result of political disorder. You can do community service projects all day long, but until you have a situation in the Middle East [where different groups aren’t killing people’s families for political reasons], that’s not going to do a lot of good.”

Schurtz, who traveled with a different group, that day, agreed. He said it was difficult to only be able to do so little.

While Leone said his visit with the pregnant woman was atypical, the struggles different families faced were real and palpable to the visitors and aid workers trying to help. There were some richer families that faced their own struggles, but the number of poor families far outweighed the rich ones, Leone said.

One family they visited still haunts him. “They lived down the side of a hill sort of near these garbage piles,” he said. “When we dropped of the bags to their home, unlike the other families, they had no furniture.”

Dejected women sat inside the home, while their children and grandchildren played a makeshift game of jump rope in a dirty puddle outside.

“I was really struck by how oblivious these kids were,” Leone said. “They weren’t just economic migrants. They were fleeing for their lives.”

Mastering the Art of Haggling in Beijing’s Silk Market

By Megan Kenslea

It is easy to lose yourself in Beijing’s Silk Market. The famed market – known for bargains on everything from fine porcelain and silk to knockoff designer goods – is not the classic outdoor market most would expect. Rather, it is a seven-floor super mall, each floor a veritable maze of open shops stuffed to the brim with colorful goods. 

I spent a week in Beijing last summer with a group of college students from the U.S. We hit the typical tourist spots – Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Great Wall of China – but every day without fail, we found ourselves wandering back to the Silk Market, haggling with the Chinese shopkeepers for sport, and buying more fake Tory Burch flats than anyone could ever need. 

The Silk Market is a mainstay in Beijing and a first stop for tourists looking for inexpensive souvenirs. Those who know where to look and how to shop are rewarded handsomely with bargains galore. But bargaining in the Silk Market is no easy feat – something my friends and I learned the hard way.

Haggling in China is a sport, and good hagglers get their start early on. The markets are cutthroat – if a shopkeeper senses weakness, they will pounce. I took Chinese for nine years, from elementary school until my freshman year in high school, but the only thing I really took away was how cutthroat the markets are. Still, despite what one might call extensive training, I was ill prepared for the reality of the Silk Market. 

Thankfully, we had a tour guide to help us navigate through the cornucopia of shops and aggressive storekeepers. Zach Stone, now a senior at the University of Pennsylvania, traveled with us for most of the week. The Chinese major, who is fluent in Mandarin and has been to China 9 times, is something of an expert on the Silk Market, and was only happy to help us in our quest to score the best bargains. 

Before we set out on our own, he made sure we were well prepared with the insider tips and tricks to getting the best deals at the Silk Market.

1. Prepare to Be Overwhelmed

The Silk Market is enormous and overwhelming, and shopkeepers take advantage of those bewildered by its size to pressure window shoppers into making purchases they might not want. “When you get to the Silk Market, or other markets like it, you should expect tons of products and lots of angry and pressure filled store owners,” Stone said.  “Expect a lot of people overwhelming you and trying to sell you things.” Before you commit to any purchase, make sure to look around. Typically, similar goods are located near each other. Casually browsing before you try to make a purchase is important to acclimate yourself to the market.

2. Play it cool as a buyer

The worst mistake a buyer can make is seeming overeager. Even if you’re drooling over a fabulously inexpensive pair of knockoff Christian Louboutin heels, play it cool. 

“Don’t seem like you’re super interested in a product – you have to play hard to get a little bit,” Stone said. “If they know you need a product or are intent on it, they’ll drive the price up by half.” Instead, casually ask questions while remaining noncommittal. 

3. Start the bidding low

Really low. “I take the asking price and cut it to 10 percent – that’s where I’d start,” Stone said. It might seem rude, but you risk missing a better deal if you start too high. Don’t be fazed by the shopkeepers who feign anger and offense when you lowball them – it’s all a part of the art of haggling. 

4. Bid in English

For those who speak any Chinese, it might be tempting to try out your haggling in Mandarin, but the Silk Market is not the place to test your language skills. “I think it’s better to bargain in English, because when you bargain in Chinese, it gives them the impression that you know the system,” Stone said. 

In a place like the Silk Market, where most tourists go, shopkeepers will typically know Chinese, English, French, Russian, and sometimes Arabic and Japanese. “These people are impressive,” Stone said. 

One thing to be wary of is switching to Chinese after securing the best price in English – something Stone said he likes to do for fun. “Once I get the price down to what I want, I switch back to Chinese, and they get really mad. I was trying to buy shot glasses, so I bargained in English and we agreed on the price,” Stone said. “When I switched to Chinese, the girl freaked out and started yelling at me, and refused to sell them to me. But I just watched to the next one and started bargaining from there.” 

5. Pick your goods carefully

As tempting as it can be to spring for flashy items – like “Rolex watches” or “Callaway golf clubs” – it’s important to remember that the quality will not be up to par with the real goods, so you should pay accordingly. 

“You can always go and buy an iPod there, but it will break,” Stone said. “When you buy a watch, there will be a high proclivity of it breaking. Suits won’t last long.  

So, what should you buy?

“Most of the basic clothing is pretty decent quality, at the Silk Market in particular,” Stone said. “You can get really good deals on bags and suitcases, too.”

Stone said his favorite things to buy are shoes, shot glasses, and little red books as souvenirs. I bought my friends funny flower head pieces. For myself, I bought the entire series of LOST on DVD.

You can find pretty much anything you want in the Silk Market if you look hard enough, but once you master the art of haggling, the fun part isn’t what you buy – it’s the actual process of buying it.

Girls Just Want an Education: the Fight for Women’s Schooling in Afghanistan

By Megan Kenslea
For the International Relations Review 

In 2006, Afghan president Hamid Karzai cried during a speech he made in Kabul on International Women’s Day. “From fear of terrorism, from threats of the enemies of Afghanistan, today as we speak, some 100,000 Afghan children who went to school last year, and the year before last, do not go to school,” Karzai said in his speech. Karzai spoke of the violent attacks on schools in the southern provinces of Afghanistan that have become an unfortunate, yet endemic part of life in the nation since late 2005.

After the fall of the Taliban in 2001, sporadic attacks on schools were rare, though not unusual. The increased violence and targeted attacks on schools began in late 2005, when militant Islamist extremist groups, including the Taliban, began to resurge. The attacks continued to increase through early 2006, and by mid-2006, “were averaging one school a day.” Specifically, the schools that were targeted either received foreign funding and support, or taught girls.

Motivations for these attacks are twofold. One motive is the ideological opposition to female education in Afghanistan. Another motive for attacks is that they force schools to close, spreading “fear and instability to undermine the authority of the state locally.” Regardless of the motive, the attacks have been successful in driving students, particularly girls, away from schools. In a country where fewer than half are literate, the extremist attacks only further serve to perpetuate the cycle of extreme poverty, mainly caused by a lack of education.

Since 2005, the Taliban campaign “has been largely aimed against education.” Attacks on schools have been widespread, particularly in rural areas that lack strong infrastructure and southern provinces, where the Taliban resurgence has been particularly strong. However, most of the attacks have specifically targeted schools and teachers that educate girls, as well as female students themselves. The attacks have taken many forms, including bombings, arson, and shooting attacks.

The most common form of attack is “night letters,”[1] distributed in public places including mosques, schools, and routes to school, which “[make] credible threats of violence” to students. Some of these attacks have been successful. Students throughout Afghanistan, particularly girls, have dropped out of schools after attacks or threats, fearful of their safety. Yet the number of teachers and students who remain in school defying attacks still abounds.

History of Women’s Education Under the Taliban Rule

Under Taliban rule, from 1996-2001, women were severely restricted in all aspects of society, particularly from education. Education for women has historically been undervalued in Afghanistan, but never more so than under the Taliban rule. “Arguing that the education of women is un-Islamic, [in 1996, when the Taliban came to power] officials immediately closed down schools for girls, dismissed women teachers, and prohibited females of any age from attending any school not strictly for the teaching of the Qur’an.”

When the Taliban regime was toppled in 2001, “over 80% of the population was illiterate and a third of the country’s 8,000 schools had been destroyed.” In late 2001, the outlook for education, specifically for girls, seemed promising. At the time, the World Bank estimated that just 775,000 children were in school. By mid 2006, that number was close to 5.2 million. These gains are, of course, noteworthy. For about three years after the fall of the Taliban, “everybody wanted to send their daughters to school. For example, in [the] Argandob district, girls were ready, women teachers were ready,” said a provincial official in Kandahar (to Human Rights Watch).

However, once attacks on schools began to spread in 2005, attendance at schools began to drop. “When two or three schools burned, then nobody wanted to send their girls to school after that.” After the influx of violence by the Taliban and other rebel groups, particularly in the south and southeastern regions, some speculate that hundreds of thousands of students who once attended schools no longer do. The attacks on schools in Afghanistan have forced entire districts to close, and today, Human Rights Watch estimates nearly one-third of districts in Afghanistan no longer have girls’ schools. For long-term development to be successful, infrastructure, including educational infrastructure, must be built up and protected. “Education plays a significant role in providing the productive skills that are necessary for the implementation of development goals in agriculture, industry, and health;” if access to education is continually denied, much of Afghanistan faces a future steeped in a cycle of poverty.

Situation as it Stands

One of the only solutions that has been successful in some areas is a community-wide effort to return to schools after attacks. According to a UNESCO report, some communities have formed school protection committees, with the support of a national system that tracks, monitors, and advises on security developments. Other strategies that have worked are UNICEF-assisted efforts to establish smaller schools within communities or homes – “mini-neighborhood gathering places” – to keep schools unobtrusive and shield them from attacks.

Unfortunately, the grave reality of the situation is that no community or school can be effective without the support of the Afghan government and international aid organizations; two groups that “have largely failed to provide adequate assistance to promote and protect the development of Afghanistan’s education system.” There are myriad obstacles in the way of reviving the education system, which just a few years ago seemed poised to prosper. The major obstacle, though, is the lack of commitment within the government to report attacks and school closures. “The pressure to present a positive image about advances in education in Afghanistan,” coupled with a fear that reports of attacks and closures “could cause donors to cut off much-needed funding” has led to a gross underreporting of the attacks. This, coupled with the lack of infrastructure to monitor attacks and their effects, are the largest detriment to any progress the Afghan education system can make.

[1] “Night letters” take two forms: some stand alone, as just a threat of violence, while others are coupled with attacks (Coursen-Neff and Zia-Zarifi, Lessons in Terror, 4)

Implications of the Gendercide Culture in Asia

By Megan Kenslea
For the International Relations Review 

In 1990, Harvard economist Amartya Sen compelled the world with his essay about a growing phenomenon in Asia: an extreme shortage of women among the populations. Although published over 20 years ago, Sen’s essay, “More Than 100 Million Women Are Missing,” remains more relevant than ever today.

In his essay Sen wrote that 100 million women were missing in Asia; now, more than 20 years later, that number is surely larger. Death rates for infant boys are slightly higher than for infant girls, and biologically, the natural birth rate hovers between 103 to 106 boys for every 100 girls (Economist). However, over the past 25 years, the sex ratio in some Asian countries has increased to around 123 boys to every 100 girls, rates that “are biologically impossible without human intervention” (Economist).

Factors driving “son preference” in Asia

Assumptions abound about the gender imbalance in Asia and the factors that have caused the skewed gender population. Sen identified two common assumptions about the roots of gender imbalance – the first, that the imbalance is due to economic development (or underdevelopment), and the second, that the imbalance is due to an “East-West” divide.

While these two assumptions may contain kernels of truth, Sen argued that these explanations “fail to take into account other characteristics of these societies.” Economic and traditional factors drive son preference in Asia. There are myriad reasons that many Asian families and cultures place higher values on sons. Many Asian cultures operate patrilineal inheritance and future expenses are imposed more heavily on women and their families. In India, for example, the woman’s family is expected to shoulder the cost of often-expensive weddings.

Gendercide: the disturbing form of “human intervention”

But what form has that “human intervention” taken?

As family sizes shrink, either due to regulations like China’s one-child policy, or simply to modernization, many families have taken an active role in determining the sex of one or more of their children. “If you have only one or two children, the birth of a daughter may be at a son’s expense” (Economist). With the increased pressure to birth a son, a wave of new practices has emerged – some of which academics like Mary Anne Warren have labeled “gendercide.”

Warren’s 1985 book Gendercide identified and labeled a disturbing trend. In the early 1980s, with the advance of inexpensive ultrasound scanning technologies, sex-selective abortion emerged for the first time. It has since been made illegal in India and China, “but since it is almost impossible to prove that an abortion has been carried out for reasons of sex selection, the practice remains widespread” (Economist). Furthermore, in contrast to much speculation, these gender imbalances proliferate both in and outside of the “backwards” areas of Asia. “Modernization and rising incomes make it easier and more desirable to select the sex of your children,” making the practice of sex-selective abortion a problem that spans every echelon of society.

But sex-selective abortion is just one aspect of the much broader problem of gendercide. Female infanticide is not uncommon in rural areas of China and India. Chinese writer Xinran Xue describes an encounter with a peasant family in Shandong, where after a young mother gave birth to a baby girl, the midwife threw the living baby out with the slops. As Xue protested in horror, she writes, an elderly woman comforted her. “It’s not a child,” the elderly woman told her. “It’s a girl baby, and we can’t keep it. Around these parts, you can’t get by without a son. Girl babies don’t count.”

Implications of the missing 100 million

The implications of the gendercide culture in Asia have extended far beyond a missing generation of Asian women. The impact on the men who grew up alongside this missing generation is profound. Last year, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences conducted a study which determined that within the next ten years, “one in five young men [will] be unable to find a bride because of the dearth of young women – a figure unprecedented in a country at peace” (Economist). That same study found that in 2020, China will have between 30 million and 40 million more men under the age of 20 than it will women.

In China, there is a name for the abundance of bachelors: guanggun, or “bare branches.” A surplus of single men in any society can have serious implications for the welfare of that society. In societies where men are “untethered” to a woman or a family, crime rates – specifically violent crimes, including rape, other sex crimes and bride abductions – are on the rise (Economist). In order to offset the scarcity of women in various communities, some men emigrate to find brides, while others purchase brides through marriage brokers.

The high demand for women has created numerous problems, some of which, such as increased human trafficking, are alarming. Other problems seem less serious, but have created increased social clashes. Mixed marriages in traditionally homogeneous societies, such as South Korea, have caused social frictions that, though relatively minor, could pose greater social problems down the line.

Fixing the imbalance

Despite this rampant gender imbalance, some Asian countries have made great bounds in reversing it. In South Korea, the gap between men and women, once approaching 130:100, has begun to shrink, and has settled at about 120:100. Other countries, like China and India, have publicly outlawed sex-selective abortion. However, these laws are a shallow effort and have had little if any true impact on the endemic practice (Economist). A real solution will not likely come from any government, rather, from the eventual realization that while the practice may result in short term gains for family, it has slowly begun to cripple much of the continent now and for generations to come.

Newton Mayor Setti Warren Endorses Elizabeth Warren for Senate

By Megan Kenslea

Newton, Mass. – Just weeks after ending his own senate campaign, Newton mayor Setti Warren officially endorsed Elizabeth Warren on Thursday morning, calling her the next senator from the state of Massachusetts.

Ms. Warren, a Harvard Law professor and consumer finance advocate who spearheaded the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, joined Mr. Warren at the Scandinavian Living home in West Newton on Thursday morning to accept Mr. Warren’s endorsement and speak of the partnership with Mr. Warren that she said she hopes to develop.

Mr. Warren, who is not related to Ms. Warren, told the audience that he believes America is at a crossroads, and that the decisions made in the forthcoming years will impact generations of Americans to come.

“Although I ended my senate campaign just a few weeks ago, I still believe strongly that Scott Brown has made the wrong decisions for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and that’s why I’m here this morning,” Mr. Warren said. “I feel just as strongly that Elizabeth Warren should be the next senator for the state of Massachusetts.”

Mr. Warren said that Ms. Warren’s fight for financial reform and consumer protection will help “rebuild the middle class and ensure the country” lives up to its full potential, and that Ms. Warren will be the “strong federal partner” to work for all Americans.

“Newton needs you, Elizabeth, the state needs you, and our country needs you,” Mr. Warren said.

Ms. Warren, whose campaign has focused on supporting the shrinking middle class, told the audience that the Senate race is one centered on values.

“We live in an America that has hammered, chipped and squeezed the middle class for a generation now. That has made it tough for hardworking families,” Ms. Warren said. “But here’s what I see. We have an election coming up that is a choice, and that choice will be what kind of country we want to have.”

Ms. Warren said that she believes change is the only way forward. “We believe in America’s future, we believe in America’s hardworking families,” she said. “We believe in working families, we believe in working people, and most of all we believe in building a future for our kids and for our grandkids.”

­­­One woman in the audience expressed concern that Ms. Warren would not be able to be effective in a Washington where “it is impossible to do anything.”

Ms. Warren replied that she is ready for fight for change.

“I’ve run exactly one campaign before, and it was not a campaign for electoral office, it was a campaign to get a Consumer Protection Bureau,” Ms. Warren said. Her campaign was slow at first, Ms. Warren said. People told her she was asking for too much, that lobbyists would never allow such a bureau and that the most she could ask for was an amendment, she said.

“My view on that was ‘no,’” Ms. Warren said. “We have to make clear what we need, that this is the kind of thing that will make a difference, and then we get out there and fight for it.”

Some Newton residents at the event said they decided to support Ms. Warren after Setti Warren dropped out of the race.

“I have always supported Setti Warren, even when he was running and people were making a fuss,” said Madeline Amorosi, referring to Newton residents who discouraged Mr. Warren to run because of his lack of experience.

When Ms. Warren entered the race, Amorosi said, she was unsure which candidate she would vote for. “I felt she could win, and I think he’s so local.” She said she signed up to volunteer for Ms. Warren today.

Harry Sanders, another Newton resident, was among those in Newton urging Mr. Warren not to run. “I’ve known Setti for a long time, since he was a kid, and I told him from the beginning not to run,” Sanders, who brought his son Kenny, a Newton North sophomore, to hear Mr. Warren endorse Ms. Warren this morning. “When Elizabeth Warren entered the race, I told him this was his chance, that he should endorse her.”

Sanders, who wore a handwritten plastic badge that said “Independent Unenrolled Voter,” said he thinks Ms. Warren will be able to beat Scott Brown in the general election next year.

“She’s it,” he said. “She knows what she’s talking about, and she can help the middle class. She can win.”

Red Sox Bow to Baltimore in Last Game of the Season

By Megan Kenslea

It was supposed to be a season to end all seasons.

As the Red Sox powered through the summer, up 81 games to 42 by the end of August, they seemed unbeatable. Baseball Prospectus, one of the leading baseball statistics companies, gave them a 99.6 percent chance of winning the World Series.

But then September came. The Red Sox, poised to have one of the best seasons in the team’s recent history, went 7-20, and baseball fans around the country witnessed the greatest regular season collapse in baseball history.

Tied with the Tampa Bay Rays for second place, the Sox had to fight just to make the Wild Card. The New York Yankees clinched the American League Division title last week.

The season came down to two games. Boston at Baltimore. New York at Tampa Bay. If the Sox and the Rays fared the same, they would move into a single-game, sudden death match for the Wild Card. But if one team won and the other lost, the season would end with the victor moving onto the Wild Card.

And so, last night, Red Sox fans around the world did the unthinkable: they started rooting for the Yankees to win.

At the Bleacher Bar in Fenway Park, the optimism was palpable, said Bleacher Bar waitress Caitlin Brown. The bar, normally slow during away games, was jam-packed, and everyone was on edge, Brown said. As she and the rest of the staff switched the televisions between the two games, Brown, a Cape Cod native, said she believed the Red Sox would win.

“We were playing how we should have been playing all month,” Brown said.  “I didn’t think there was any way they would start playing like they have been again.”

The Red Sox led the Orioles 3-2 in the bottom of the 7^th, when a rain delay paused the game for an hour and a half.  The Yankees were up 7-0 until the 8^th inning.

And then something went wrong.

In Tampa, the Rays came back to tie the game during the 8^th and 9^th innings.

In Baltimore, Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon struck out two batters before letting up two hits and, finally, two runs in the bottom of the 9^th.  Baltimore got the win.

Seconds later in Tampa, in the bottom of the 12^th inning, Evan Longoria hit a two-run homer. The Rays clinched the Wild Card. The Red Sox, favored to win the World Series just a month ago, were out.

As far as Seattle, newspapers, radio stations and television stations scrambled to cover the story of the season that went so wrong. Yet despite the negative media attention, Red Sox fans around the country remained hopeful.

“It’s the Red Sox. You don’t give up,” said Janet Giorgio, a Connecticut native living in Tampa. Giorgio, who flew to Boston with her husband this morning, still made her way to Yawkey Way this afternoon, despite the loss. At the Red Sox team store, she bought team gear for herself and for friends.

“I was hopeful this year. When they win, you’re happy, and when they lose, you still root for them because they’re the underdog,” Giorgio said. “I’m from New England, my family is from New England. You’re always a Red Sox fan. It’s in the blood.”

Evan Pursley, a senior at the University of Pennsylvania, said that despite the loss, it was “one of the best regular season days ever.”

Although his campus was subdued, he said, “everyone thought it was just an interesting night for baseball.”

Like Giorgio, Pursley said he was hopeful the Red Sox would win. As he flipped between the two games, he said he never expected the outcome.

“It was just depressing to watch,” Pursley said.

Still, Pursley, who has interned for the Red Sox for the past two summers, said he refuses to believe in the fabled curse.

“I hate the whole idea that it’s a curse or a jinx,” he said. “It’s just bad playing. We’re not going to slip back to the team that always loses. We have new owners who are more baseball savvy, and we have much more money. They will definitely win soon.”

Still, lifelong Red Sox fans say they aren’t surprised that the Sox choked.

“I thought they might pull it off, but in the back of my mind, I kept reminding myself of the ’76 game,” said Kathy Long, a Boston native living in San Francisco. “In the back of my head, I kept thinking they could blow it.”

Long said she had high expectations for the Red Sox this year.

“I haven’t lived here for a while, and I thought they had gotten over being those angst-ridden Red Sox they used to be,” Long said. “But, of course, the Yankees kept going out of their way to screw things up for us. 

The Last First Day of School: A Senior Year Bucket List

By Megan Kenslea
for StudentAdvisor.com

This is it.

Today is my last first day of school, and I couldn’t be more petrified.

I’ve been enrolled in some form of school since I was in diapers, but for me there’s always been something magical about the first day of school, with new books, new clothes, and new classes. It’s hard to believe this is the last year I’ll go school supply shopping, worry about my first day outfit, or fret over which teacher I have. I spent my whole childhood racing to grow up, but now, as adulthood looms before me, all I want to do is go back. 

Trivial freak-outs aside, I do worry that I’ll get too caught up in the race to graduation to focus on having fun. About a month ago, I started making a list of friends I want to visit this year, and by last week, it had evolved into a thirty-item bucket list. Some of my senior year bucket list is very B.U. centric, but a few items on my list could apply to anyone. Here are the top items on my senior year bucket list:

1. Have a beer with a professor

I have friends who used to grab a drink with their professors at the campus pub, and I was always jealous of them. Not because they were drinking with a professor (although, let’s face it – that’s pretty cool), but because they knew their professors well enough to do so. This year, my goal is to get to know at least one professor that well.

2. Befriend a freshman

Weren’t you always jealous of that kid in your freshman class who seemed to know all the upperclassmen? I know I was. A cool older friend to offer some sage senior wisdom? Sign me up! Now that we’re seniors, we might not have anyone to look up to, but freshman that you don’t even know probably look up to you. Even just a recommendation for a professor could mean a lot. As a senior, we’ve been through it all, and paying it back is a nice gesture.

3. Visit friends at other schools

After high school, my friends scattered to colleges across the country, but I’ve only visited a few of them. Judging from their stories, their college experiences seem a lot different from mine. So, because it’s my last chance to do so, I’m taking some road trips this year. From tailgates in the South to small liberal arts colleges in New England, I’m excited to see what college is like for my friends.

4. Go on Spring Break

Maybe not a “girls gone wild” spring break, but I definitely don’t want to spend my last college vacation watching Grey’s Anatomy reruns in my basement, either. Whether it’s a week at the beach, Alternative Spring Break, or even just a visit to a friend, a change of scenery would do anyone good before the final countdown to graduation begins.

5. Dress to Impress

That means I’m calling for a moratorium on the leggings/UGG boots/oversize sweater uniform. Yes, it’s easy (and so, so comfortable), but jeans and flats are, too. And I don’t know about you, but I feel ten times prettier, more confident, and even smarter when I look nice than when I’m wearing a ratty sweatshirt. Shallow? Maybe, but your professors should be able to recognize you when you’re not wearing gym clothes.

6. Get out of the Apartment

After a long week of classes, work, and extracurricular activities, sometimes the last thing I want to do on a Friday night is go out. But it’s my last year of college, so this year, I pledge to rally. Even if it’s just a quiet game night with friends, there will be no more Saturday nights at home in my pajamas with the Golden Girls. You can sleep when you graduate.

7. Talk to your classmates

Most of us have mastered that perfectly timed cell phone glance every time we walk past someone we only sort of know. This year, I vow to look up from my cell phone and say hello to my classmates. What’s the worst that could happen? They’ll think you’re a little overzealous. But you could also get to know someone pretty cool.

8. Update your resume.

It’s time. I’ve had internships and leadership roles in college, yet I still have high school activities and awards on my resume. Before you begin the job hunt in earnest this year, take out the high school accomplishments, add your college ones, and bring it to your career service center to get it looked over’s. Spelling errors or grammatical mistakes might be excusable for college freshmen, but they’re definitely not okay for a soon-to-be college grad.

9. Enjoy your surroundings

I’ve lived in Boston my whole life, and I’m pretty sure that once I graduate, I’m not going to stay here. There’s so much to do in the city, yet I’ve never taken advantage of it. This year, I’m going to venture out into the city and beyond. From country fairs to Red Sox games, my last year here will be the busiest – and best – yet.

Not everyone will have the same senior goals as me – so tell us, what’s on your senior year bucket list?

Parents of College Students: Your Child is Off to College, Now What?

By Megan Kenslea
for StudentAdvisor.com

Chances are if you’re reading this, you’ve recently had to deal with that bittersweet goodbye of sending your child off to college. If it’s your first child going away to school, it may be even more difficult to adjust after achieving this milestone. As the eldest of three children, my parents and I have gone through many “firsts” together. From soccer practices to the prom, we navigated the scary waters of suburban adolescence together. Though we hit some bumps along the way, we made it to high school graduation on the whole unscathed. College was a different story.

After just one semester of freedom at school, my parents and I started to fight about everything. Nothing was off-limits: from what classes I was taking to how much money I was spending, it seemed like every conversation ended in a shouting match. I thought they were being unreasonable; they probably thought I was a nightmare. I had a whole new life at college, and I wasn’t sure how my parents fit into it.

It’s taken three years, but we’ve managed to work through a lot of problems that we had freshman year. Hopefully you can avoid the bumps in the road that I did and maintain a positive relationship with your child all through college by following these bits of advice:

Stay in touch – on their terms.

If they’re lucky, they’ll be so caught up in the excitement of freshman year that they might forget they have parents all together. Don’t worry if they don’t call you back right away – in most cases, that’s a good sign.  Whether it’s a weekly phone call, regular emails, or a sporadic Skype session here and there, let your student figure out what ways of communication work best for them. Don’t be afraid to nag them a bit if they fall completely off the grid, but it’s important to let them adjust to their new surroundings without having to worry about calling mom back every five seconds.

Understand that their social lives have changed.

For most college freshmen, it’s the first time living away from home, and with that comes the first taste of freedom. Different students will have different reactions to their newfound freedom, but their first visit back home will be rough for both of you. Family rules that worked in high school probably won’t anymore. Instead of laying down the law right away, talk to them and work out new rules that you both think are appropriate. Curfews, family time, cars, and computers are all things you should talk about. Be flexible, but also make sure your child knows the consequences for breaking the rules.

Let your student take control of their academics.

Lots of parents want to be involved in their child’s academics, and with good reason. With the cost of college so high, it’s natural to want to make sure your student is making smart choices, but there is a line between offering advice and meddling. Feel free to give them advice about choosing a major, picking courses, or talking to professors – if they ask you for it. Things you should never do? Call their professors, edit (or write) their papers, or call them constantly about studying for test. Your student will learn the hard way that pulling an all-nighter is miserable – and be the better for it.

Teach them how to manage money.

College is the perfect time to teach your child how to manage a budget and spend responsibly. A great way to do this is to help them create a budget. If you’re going to give them spending money, figure out how much you can afford each month and help them budget for expenses like laundry, food, school supplies, and personal care items. If your child will have a car on campus, make sure to allot for gas, insurance, and maintenance fees, too. If you’re not giving your child money, you can still help them figure out how much money they’ll need to make or save each month. Make sure to talk your child about overdrafts and credit card debt, too – before the bills pile up.

How to Save Money Traveling on a College Student Budget

By Megan Kenslea
for StudentAdvisor.com 

I’ve had the travel bug for as long as I can remember. Even as a little girl, I dreamed about seeing the world – of backpacking through Europe, tangoing in Argentina, and riding elephants in India. The list of places I want to visit is much longer than the list of places I’ve actually been, but after I graduated from high school, I slowly, steadily started to check countries off my list.

The biggest obstacle in my path? Financing my trips. I’m lucky enough that my parents understand my never-ending wanderlust, but I’ve had to make large contributions to most of my trips. While I’d love it if cost were no object, spending my hard-earned babysitting money on weekends in New York City or adventures in Brazil has helped me appreciate every place I see more – and, most importantly, to become a more thrifty traveler. Here are my top tips for college students traveling on a budget.

1. Get an International Student ID

If you’re like me, you take advantage of student discounts everywhere you go. But I learned the hard way that a lot of places don’t accept foreign student IDs. The International Student Identity Card is an easy way to take advantage of student-only discounts and opportunities around the globe. They also have iPhone and Android apps in over 15 languages to help you scout local discounts – perfect for students on the go.

2. Use Public Transportation

It’s easy to fall into the habit of taking cabs, especially if they’re cheaper than they are at home. But if you take taxis everywhere, the cost will start to add up. Many cities have expansive, organized, and highly efficient subway systems that rival (or even beat) your own local public transportation, so save the money you would spend on a cab and take public transportation for a fraction of the costs. It’s one of the easiest ways to save money – and acclimate yourself to your new surroundings.

3. Eat Like a Local

Local restaurant chains and American menus may be comfortable for homesick tourists, but they’re typically much more expensive. One of my favorite parts about traveling abroad is finding hole in the wall restaurants. They’re usually cheaper, plus you get to sample the local cuisine – my favorite part about traveling. I’ll try anything once, but even less adventurous eaters can find basic meals on almost any menu. If you’ll be in once place for a while, consider stopping at a local supermarket for basics like bread, crackers, and deli meats to make sandwiches for a quick meal.

4. Study Abroad

If you have the opportunity to study abroad, take advantage of it. Whatever region you choose, studying abroad will open up doors to different parts of the world. Explore local cities and neighborhoods on weekends, and travel further distances on academic breaks – if you have friends studying abroad in neighboring countries, arrange to stay with one another to save money on hostels.

Some study abroad programs actually cost less than a semester of college, especially if you enroll directly at a foreign university, so do your homework – you can put the money you save on tuition toward your travels. If you’re just thinking about studying abroad don’t forget to check out StudentAdvisor’s Study Abroad Guide.

5. Plan Ahead

Wherever you go and whatever you do, make sure to do at least a little bit of research before you get there. Clueless tourists are an easy target for scam artists, so figure out what the conversion rate is for the local currency, and familiarize yourself with local costs (typical cab fare, meal prices and hostel rates are a good start). Other things to include in your research are hostels, restaurants, and bar prices. Guidebooks like Lonely Planet, my personal favorite, will include price ranges for places they highlight, so you can pick and choose where you want to save money and where you want to splurge.

You can be a savvy traveler on any budget. No matter the size of your wallet, try to learn at least a few words in the local language, be a little adventurous, and keep an open mind while traveling. You never know what you’ll learn – about the local culture, and about yourself. Most importantly, have fun!