Midwest BEAT Magazine

STUDENT ON STUDENT VIOLENCE...

Since starting high school, I've noticed how violent and cruel my
generation has become. I know that it has long been customary for upper
classmen to pick on freshman, but what I have witnessed lately has exceeded
simple teasing.

   During my first week of school, I was part of a group of freshman cornered
by a bunch of juniors and seniors in a hallway in a gauntlet fashion. As we
walked past them, the upper classmen would randomly punch a passing freshman.
Luckily, I was not injured, but I witnessed some of my friends get the crap
beat out of them, and that was just as bad.

    Why does this kind of thing happen? What kind of pleasure can it
possibly bring to beat up a kid who is younger, usually smaller and often
already scared of you?

    Does this kind of behavior make you a big man? Hardly!   If anything, it
makes you a bully and a jerk. Students today have enough of a tough time
facing drugs, gangs, and the ever present threat that some psycho might shoot
up or blow up the school. We don't need this crap.

   My thought is, why not upper classmen give the younger, incoming students
something to look up to and respect. Respect is always better than fear.

   Schools also need to take action against this kind of violent behavior and
stop ignoring it and accepting it as part of some twisted tradition. My
school has outlawed the use of backpacks for fear that someone might bring in
a bomb or a gun, but they do nothing to protect students from being assaulted
in the hallways.

   School officials are right to be cautious and concerned about guns and
bombs, considering what has happened in schools in recent years. But instead
of just being worried about something catastrophic, schools also need to
address the more day to day problems.

    I don't pretend to have all the answers, but schools need to make an
effort to protect its freshmen from violence. Teasing is one thing, but
getting punched so hard you lose your breath can hardly be considered
"tradition." That is assault.

   Responsibility also falls upon the student body as a whole, because
students are the ones causing the problems. Upper and lower classmen of good
conscious need to stand together to show that this kind of stuff is not
acceptable.

MMUSIC VIDEO PICKS & PANS...

BEST - "Arms Wide Open" by CREED. I think that Creed is a really excellent
band that always delivers a positive message. I love the video because I
think that it is creative, but not overdone. It is not so full of special
effects that you cannot even focus on the point of the song.

WORST - "Music" by MADONNA.   This music video disturbs me. I don't need
to see Madonna cavorting at a strip club with female strippers! I guess
that it is just more of a guy's video.

THIS HALLOWEEN DRESS UP LIKE A POP STAR!

     Well, it's Halloween again and you know what that means, it's costume
time! The only problem is what kind of cool costumes are out there for teens?
I mean, let's face it, we are long past the days of cutting two eye holes
into a sheet and calling it a ghost costume.

    So what are we supposed to wear? My thought is to dress up as your
favorite musical artist or acting star...

    BRITNEY SPEARS -- To get Britney's look in her "Oops, I Did It Again"
video, all you really need is some red spandex and a slightly altered red
rain slicker.

     CHRISTINA AGUILERA -- Her costume is probably the easiest. All you
need is a belly shirt, some baggy pants and some blonde hair dye. And of
course, a ditzy attitude to match.

   SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR (Buffy) -- To get the look of this slayer, the
actual clothes are not the most important part of the costume. You, of
course, need some stakes and plenty of crucifixes.

** (Of course for all of the above, don't forget the blonde wig or hair
dye... unless of course that's your natural hair color).

     DAVID BOREANAZ (Angel) -- Okay, now to look as heavenly as Angel is not
an easy task.   You will need to spike up your hair, get a trenchcoat, get
vampire teeth, and have a good make-up artist.

     'NSYNC -- In order to be 'NSync, you need to get four friends and
assign each of them a role. Once you have that much done, it's basically up
to each person to get their costume together on their own.

     KID ROCK -- Get a wife beater t-shirt, some baggy pants with suspenders
and a brimmed red hat. Put on a shoulder length dirty blonde wig and apply
some corn oil to make it a little greasy looking. Take marker and draw a
"Paul" tattoo on your left arm. If you have a little brother or sister, then
you too can have your own mini-sidekick to follow you around.

TASTY TID BITS...

   My boys - Firstlove - the awesome German boy band I so often rave about,
have been asked to be celebrity judges for the Miss Teen Puerto Rico contest.
Tough job guys...I'm sure they had to twist your arms.

    It's finally happened! My fave raves - BBMak are on their first HEADLINE
tour! Oh yeah!   Catch my buddies - Mark, Ste and Christian - live on Nov. 3
at House of Blues in Chicago. It's an all ages show naturally! Get there
early, because you WON'T want to miss the incredibly talented Jessica Riddle
who is opening the show. Riddle is not just another teen queen with a pretty
face...she's a sister who has something to say!

   The Backstreet Boys' third album, Black and Blue, has been scheduled for
release on November 21st. While you can hear the album track "It's True," on
a sampler available at Burger King restaurants, the first official single
from the album is titled, "Shape Of My Heart." Go to...www.backstreetboys.com

   The Spice Girls' new double A-side single. "Holler/Let Love Lead The
Way," has made its way to filesharing services like NAPSTER. Wanna hear it?
Log on to... www.napster.com

   Happy Halloween everyone!