ill c1 l' I 1 l' 11 " : A Trend That Lives On

by Beth Conahan news editor

Tattoos are everywhere. Students across campus seem to have embraced the trend and these permanent pieces of body art emblazon biceps, lower backs and shoulder blades everywhere you look.

Amy Castaldi, a senior, wanted to share something permanent with her serious boyfriend What better way to show your love than to get a tattoo on your backside? She and her boyfriend went together, got engaged soon after and recently broke up. She regrets it only "because of the circumstances. That I might not be with him forever."

process, it became accessible to all people just in time for the fad to end. Tattoo artists withdrew to the less desirable areas of town.

Jen Coughlin and Casey Smith, seniors, got tattoos on a random morning when they woke and up and decided to just do it.

This was a second tattoo for Coughlin. She got her first tattoo on her 18 birthday. She laughs now when she thinks shoulder blade.

Tattoos came back into fashion in the 1960s. Lyle Tuttle became famous for tattooing celebrities, mostly women. Suddenly the media was interested in the history and tradition of the art. Today, the practice of tattooing is more accepted than it has ever been.

My friend, Amy Arcuicci, a senior, got a tattoo of a vine with purple and pink flowers in July of 2000. She was nervous and excited and scared of the pain. She waited impatiently to be called, sitting one minute, biting off all her nails and pacing a hole into the boards of the WIidwood boardwalk.

She always wanted a tattoo and always had the one she wanted in her mind. She

People have had tattoos all through time. even considered getting it the weekend we They trace back to the building of the pyramids. all went to the shore but she wasn't going to They have been important in many traditions settle for anything that wasn't exactly what and cultures. Women in Borneo would tattoo she wanted. So in a way, we almost didn't their skills on their arms and it would be a status think she was going to do it. marker of how desirable she was to marry.

But she found it. 24th Street Tattoos on Junior Laval Pinckney has a large grim the WIidwood boardwalk had exactly what reaper on his arm. He got it when he was 16. It's

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..:....--:==-r:~=::-1"!!1'!1!:Jshe had always wanted, purple flowers and a reminder of how close he came to death. The P 010 Y uSline ' uppo all. "It's a night I could never forget," she details of his experience were "too personal" to student Eugene Iacovelli went to Manayunk four years ago to get his tattoo, which said. disclose but the experience was inspiring. He stands for sincere mind, sincere heart.

"I have never regretted it," she said. "I see learned to "appreciate everything. Because one myself being a hip grandmom." minute you're there and the next you might not." about how she thought it was such a cool thing to do. On the A lot of people seem to have the same vision beTattooing lost almost all credibility at the tum of the cen- trip with her friends, she got a seashell. cause walking around campus, it seems like everyone has tury. Believe it or not, it was, before that, a big fad amongst Smith woke up that morning and designed her own tat- one. It's funny to think back in time to when tattooed peothe London aristocrats. Once there were advances in the too before they left. "It was so spur of the moment," she ple traveled with freak shows and circuses. tools of the trade and it wasn't such a long and difficult said. She forgets she has her signature butterfly on her right

eby Eugene A. /acove/11

Technology has come a long way in the past 30 years. For some, it may seem almost impossible to think that television has only been around for 50 years. Today, TV's are practically given to kids at birth. We've seen the record player replaced with the 8-track player in the 1970s. Then audio cassettes became the new electronic fad in the late 1970s, only to be replaced with compact discs by the mid 1980s. Technology changes so fast, it is hard for consumers to catch up. It seems that each decade has an electronic device linked to its period in time.

What's impressive is that technology has made listening to music and watching movies a time honored past. Record players may be the dinosaurs of music devices, but their vintage appeal make them popular with many still. It may be hard to find a record player, but used records stores can be found almost everywhere. Though records are larger than CDs and much more delicate, there is a certain listening quality that comes along with their sound. Compact discs leave out tiny bits of data. and certain tones are not picked up in recording. With the trained ear, experts claim tones can L__ __,.,.,__ be heard on a record that cannot be heard on a CD.

staff writer most music stores. The music industry went digital, producing few records or audio tapes of new artists. Music plays a huge role in many peoples every day life.

"My CDs, skates, and girlfriend are most important in my life," Sean Fogel, freshman, said. He admits that it is essential to have his CD binder with him always. Listening to music, for some, is a highly valued aspect of their life. Take away their CD player and you take away a piece of them. Music and the devices that are used to listen to it are one with their soul. Some children are given radios before they are even old enough to know how to change the dial. It seems that music in one form or another will always be around, but the way people listen to it changes almost daily.

Compact disc's came onto the music scene in the early cassette tape probably feels like an apple in an orange 1980s. By 1990, CDs began replacing audio cassettes -io fiBJd.

Another change in technology that has exploded onto the movie world is the birth of digital video. With the turn of the twenty-first century, we've been introduced to a new electronic toy. The VCR just may be on its way out, replaced by DVDs. DVDs, digital videos, provide viewers with a clear, crisp picture. They also come with a lot more extras than VHS tapes. DVDs provide audio commentary from the actors in the film, directors-commentary, and bonus scenes that are left out in the theatre release. DVDs seem to be slowly replacing VHS in most of the larger "video rental" stores. Will any one remember the VCR a few years down the digital road, or will the VCR fade away like the Betamax did in the 1980's? Time will tell.

by Tanya McCausland staff writer

Rainbows have been used in many different fields ranging from symbols to television. The gay and lesbian community uses the rainbow as their symbol, Skittles candy tells you to "taste the· rainbow" in their advertisements and Rainbow Bright brightened the world with her rainbow crystals. We are so used to seeing them around that we never think directly about why exactly they happen in nature.

Donald Ahrens, author of "Meteorology Today" describes a rainbow as "one of the most spectacular light shows observed on earth." Tiris may seem like an overstatement, but after one realizes the intricate details of a rainbow we will all agree with Ahrens.

After a rainfall the sunlight enters a raindrop and is bent and reflected from the drop in such a way that the light appears in a spectrum of colors. However, the colors can only be seen by the human eye when the angle between the sun, the drop of water, and the observer's line of vision is between 40 and 42 degrees. The rainbow is always formed opposite of the sun. In other words, the sun is always behind the viewer of the rainbow.

Rainbows actually form a perfect circle instead of a "bow." We don't see a full circle because the earth gets in the way. The lower the sun is to the horizon the more of the circle is visible.

The usual description for a rainbow is that it is made up of seven colors - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet The colors are an entire continuum from red to violet and beyond colors that the eye can see. The colors in a rainbow appear because sunlight is made up of the entire range of colors that the eye can detect. When combined the range of sunlight colors looks white to the eye. When a rainbow is formed, the water breaks the light to form the colors. No matter where we may see rainbows, it is good to remember that they are a spectacular sight of nature that is rare and special to each on of us.

bySbloaooQw a $3 million ad campaign thatproclaimedhim one of the stafl writer "FourGreatAmericanDesignersfor Men." The other duee designerswac Calvin KJdn.Pmy Ellis andRalph Lauren.Today, 16 years after the introductionof bis label, -~- his $25 million bas turned into a $400 million a year "fashion empire."

The new fashiontnlDdnowadaysseemsto be traditional Americanawear. Following the tragedyin New York and Washington, flag handannal, red wbilj:,llld NtRJ_..

Nlllb1a;anilkaiira wida "Goe( Bless Amcric:a""sprawled across the froDt a seen pretty much everywhere. For most peoplethis display of paariolismis newly found.but for one designer the colors of the flag me a basic ingredient for his successful clod1ingline.

Originally worn by American middle-aged.middle-class white males, Tommy Hilfiger clothing made a huge IRak into other markets with the appearance of Snoop Dog in 1994 on Saturday Night Live wearing a Tommy red, white, and blue rugby shirt. This gaveHilfiger the

Tommy Hilfiger,

During the 70's. Hilfigerdesignedclothesfor Jordacbe before launcbinJ bis own label in 1985. By 1990, Tommy HilfiFsales bad brought in $2S million thanks in part to atrectweardemands. pllOfobyJulh~ chanceto design bagHllfi(ler'Bpatilotlc line canbe..,,- ontfiplay all BCIOSSthe U.S. gier, more casual clothes to meet bom in 19'2, beambis businessin 1969when be toot bis $150life saviap and drove to New York City to buy a pair of tn:ndy bell-bottomjeans. Ho returnedto his hometown of B1mira,N.Y. and sold the jeans to his neighbors and local tmf:lta&en.Witfl41reprofitlthat be made. be WU able to open People'sPlace, the tint of 10 "hip" specialty shops in upstate NewYea lbatbe Obed by tileageof 26.

His public popularity.not just with the faabion world, wasmadeclear withan awardfJOmVH-1 in 1995. "From the CatwaJtto the Sidewalk"awardwas given to Hilfiger for bis clothing's abilityto be wenso easily by the peraoo on the streetwithouthaving to make alterations. Also in 1995, the Council of Fashion Designersof America voted him MenswearDesigner of the Year. One fan of Ralph Lauren in 1992 summed up Hilfiger's success saying, "Tommygot the colors."

Rainbow Trivia

Why can rainbows be seen more often in the summer than in the winter?

In order to see a rainbow you must have rain and sunshine. In the winter, water droplets freeze into ice that don't allow the sunlight through in the right angle instead they form other interesting patterns. Do two people ever see the same rainbow?

In Humphry's "Physics of the Air;' he points out that "since rainbow is a special distribution of colors (produced in a particular way) with reference to a definite point - the eye of the observers do not and cannot, see the same rainbow." Each eye sees its own rainbow. How far away is a rainbow?

It can be nearby or far away. It depends on where the raindrops are, extending from the closest to the farthest illuminating drops along the rainbow.