#Internships: Friend or Foe?

@Ed2010 recently interviewed Diana Wang, the former Harper's Bazaar Intern who is now suing the company. Wang claims that by having her perform" dangerous work" unpaid.

Now she has gotten a lot of flack, with many bashers pointing out that she knew the position was unpaid when she accepted it. And that internships are meant to help you gain experience. 

However, if they have interns doing meaningless free-labor activities, is it worth it?

As I was broke and paying for college and NYC life, I wasn't able to have an unpaid internship as a Freshman. And I certainly couldn't afford to PAY $500+ to work over the summer!
Luckily, when I finally did get my internships, I was lucky enough to get 1 that paid (Thanks ABC Daytime) and while the ones that followed were unpaid, I was given real work to do.

While my internships were beneficial, I think the intern situation should be reexamined. I don't think people should have to PAY to work.

Students who have internships over the summer shouldn't have to pay the university money for credit. They should be able to use their summer internship as a fall credit (if they are taking between 12-18 credits ) in the fall. It is disgusting that Universities profit off their students unpaid work.

I also agree that internships should be for a set time, and have a set goal. I also think think that if an internship will often require more than 40 hours per week, that should be CLEARLY communicated in the job post. Further, they should be required to give something to interns logging 40+ hours (free metro, car service, lunch, SOMETHING)

Also, companies shouldn't be allowed to make their interns do "entry level work" this isn't only unfair to the intern but entry level candidates as well. Entry level jobs are practically non-existent. Look at the average job posting Entry Level/ Assistant ____ jobs often require AT LEAST one year of experience (often with a note that they mean real work experience and NOT internships) with some requiring 5 years.

Riiiiiiiiight. Because people really are going to SPEND 5 years in the same position, and leave it ...for the same position somewhere else for the same (or less!) pay? Yeah, right.

While I believe that the  internship system needs a reboot, I don't think the whole concept should be put to an end. We all need to pay our dues, but the dues should at least have the POTENTIAL to lead to something. It should not be all manual labor/ and gofer tasks without offering and marketable skills and experience for the resume.
What  do you think of the lawsuit? Are internships illegal?

What you NEED to be doing next Wednesday Night!

The writing is a bit blurry. Doors open at 8 pm. 85 Avenue A

#MondayMusic: Par_City's Pop That (5 Thousand Bills)

Earlier this year, Par-City(@parcitizens)  dropped a freestyle to French Montana's shot caller, this week they the Bronx Duo spits over Montana's "Pop That"

You can preview the track and download as well :)

Dope Double Feature: Baiyu (@BaiyuMusic) 4 AM (Melanie Fiona)

Melanie Fiona is one of my favorite artists on the scene right now. One of the few mainstream artists still making R&B.  Check out this AMAZING cover by another of my favorite singers,  Baiyu (@Baiyunusic).






Baiyu will also been a contestant on CW's The Next. Catch it Thursday @ 8 PM

#NewMUSIC: @BaiyuMusic's Make Believe Ft. Paul Kim

Here is the newest video from one of my favorite artist's: Baiyu! This song was released back in February to the blogs and now we finally get a visual for it! Yay :) 

50 Shades of Lame: comments on #Fifty Shades of Grey

So like every other chick on the planet, I have read Fifty Shades of Grey.It makes sense that it started off as X-rated Twilight fan fiction. I can see the parallels between the two. While yes, the "plot" of FSOG was different, the writing style was similar. Long winded, and to quote Lorali and Rory Gilmore "repeative and redundant."

Unlike everyone else, I neither LOVED it nor hated it. Like Twilight, I felt annoyed by it, but still felt the need to finish it. 
Things that IRKED me about FSOG:
1. The excessive use of "holy" as an exclamation/expletive. "Holy Shit" "Holy F___" "Holy Moses" etc
2. I know it was supposed to be a sexy book, but damn, they ALWAYS were f**king. I mean damn, even those ED drug ads say "if erection doesn't go down after four hours see a doctor" sounds like homeboy should have headed to the ER.
3. How she kept calling him "Mr Grey"  and Sir and he kept calling her "Miss Steele" 
4. More than once in the book, Christian is chastising Ana about her eating habits as he doesn't think she eats enough. When asking her if she is hungry she says "Not for food" this stomach churning line appears rdo more than once. 
5. Why do girls want to date CG? I mean u can find a guy who will give you rough sex and not be a weirdo duche bag.

There were many other annoyances in the book-including its length. 500 pages? 100 would have been MORE than enough.
I have to finish the series though, my noisiness wont let me quit now.

The Random Things K wanted to be when she Grew Up

Top Ten Random (mostly unrealistic) Careers Kristin Dreamed of as a kid! (TV influenced many of these!)

Kindergarten Teacher
My Grandmother was a kindergarten teacher, and without bias I can say she was one of the best. No really, she was. I visited her class before I was old enough to attend Kindergarten myself. She would sing songs, teach the kids fun games, read interesting stories, and teach her kids. I remember, she was reading the class a story about Martin Luther King, and she even taught us a song about him. I couldn't wait to start school. Sadly, my teacher didn't teach us any songs about Martin Luther King, or teach us anything all. But my grandma made teaching seem so fun, I wanted to do it too!

Broadcast Journalist

As a child, I was given A Dress and Dazzle  dress up kit. Complete with bright pink microphone. Now, while this was most likely intended to be used to be be a pop star (which I also pretended to be) I also played TV Reporter.

At that time, I was obsessed with Diane Smith and Ann Nyberg,reporters from Action News 8, New Haven (They later changed it the name to something lame like News Channel 8, but they will also be Action News to me). As Channel 8, was at that time the channel of choice for both my mom and grandma, I was obsessed. I would take that fuchsia microphone and pretend I was on the scene at some big news event, usually a fire, and would end every report with "Back to you Diane."
I even got to see my hero  Diane Smith up close during the sailfest fireworks at the Sub-base, and BONUS! Her husband was right behind us! I was so excited, I though she was one of the biggest celebs ever! And her husband was RIGHT there. My uncle told him I was a huge fan, and he hardly responded. I'm sure he was thinking, "What 6 year old idolizes a news anchor? Weirdo" and uh, he'd be right, I am a weirdo.

Alas, in 5th grade, I was required to be on air for our student produced news morning show "News at 9" and I CHOKED! I made a complete fool of myself, to the point that I cringe thinking about. That was when my broadcast news dream died.


Ice Capades Performer
 When I was about this age, I went to the Ice Capades to see Disney on Ice. This was very trendy in those days. I even came home with a trendy Minnie Mouse doll clad in metallic silver and Gold (Oh, early 90s). After seeing this, I thought: I want to be in the Ice Capades!
Yes, after having gone ice skating all of three times, (and not well either) I was shooting straight for the pros!
Thankful, once I passed age 7, I came to realize that NO ONE would pay me to ice skate. They might however pay to never go near a pair of ice skates.

Actress
I dreamed of acting and playing Liezel in Sound of Music, Dorothy in Wizard of OZ, and Cinderella in Cinderella (Disney version!) or one of the evil sisters/step mom on stage. I didn't really want to act in the general sense, I just wanted to sing "I am 16" and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" to a room of adoring fans.

Magazine Writer
I dreamed of writing silly personality quizes for YM and Cosmogirls and articles on how to tell "Does your Crush Secretly Love You." Later, I dreamed of interviewing Jay-Z and Limp Bizkit for Rolling Stone and Vibe.

Dance School Teacher
Like Ice skater, my three year old self was ready to turn dance into a career after three classes!


Janet Jackson's Back-Up Dancer
As a die hard Janet fan (Though her current behavior has disgusted me...) who had at this point had three mediocre years of dance under my belt, I began to dream of the big league. The fact that the latest dance routine my class had performed for the dance recital Rolly Polly the Polar Bear featured a Janetesqe move not unlike one she did in the  Rhythm Nation Video, made me sure I was a shoe in.
Please note: I wanted to be JANET'S back-up dancer, not Madonna, Not some random one named pop star who would be forgotten about in two seconds. JANET. I had STANDARDS.

Cook Show Host
I used to love cook show as a child (GEEK!) and would play in my play kitchen and pretend I was on TV. In fact, during my first trip to Florida, I insisted on jacking everyone's parsley garnishes at the restaurant, and used it to make a parsley soup for my play cooking show. My family members possess a very embarrassing video of said cooking show.
She was my inspiration:




A Chemist
Anyone who knows me in REAL LIFE is thinking "Say what?"
I am horrible at math, and all through middle school/high school and college I was confused or bored in science class. However, as a young child, I dreamed of being a chemist. I saw teenagers  on HS dramedys doing chemistry, and to me, it looked like mixing colored water together. FUN. Mom  burst my bubble when she told me it involved a lot of math!

A Painter
I often woke up at ungodly hours as a child by choice. During those early mornings...tv selection was few and far between. BOB Ross was one of those options. Bob was so calm, and tranquil. I loved watching him mix colors (I think that was my favorite part) and when he painted, he made it look so easy! I would try to use his tricks with my water colors and tit never came out right!

#FACT