This summer, however, is looking like a pretty hefty year for the movie industry, with Comic-book movies, reboots, and various sequels dominating the playing field.

As tradition, the season began the first weekend in May; a trend that originally started right at the close of the school year in June, but moved to Memorial Day weekend, and now to the start of the month. Iron Man 3 started the season off May 3rd. The 2nd sequel in the Iron Man series follows directly after the events of the Avengers, taking a darker tone as compared to the previous installments. Shane Black takes the healm over from former director Jon Favereau as he introduces a new threat to Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark; The Mandarin, played by Sir Ben Kingsley. The following week, Baz Luhrman’s adaptation of F.Scott Fitgerald’s The Great Gatsby finally hit the big screen. Originally set to come out in Christmas 2012, the film was pushed back to the Spring to avoid competition with Les Misérables and Django Unchained, both released on the same day. The film stars Toby Maguire, Carrey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, and Leonardo DiCaprio as the titular hero, Jay Gatbsy. Ending the month is the sequel to 2009′s Star Trek, and the second sequel to the smash hit comedy The Hangover.  It looks to be a pretty financially well start to the season.

June rolls around with the return of the great American icon, Superman! Man Of Steel, directed by Watchmen and 300 director Zack Snyder, follows the same trend of the “dark and gritty” superhero reboots, being produced by The Dark Knight Trilogy director Christopher Nolan. Early reviews from preview screenings are beginning to pour in, claiming the film to be “one of the best of 2013.” While a pretty bold statement with names like Nolan and Snyder attached, it’s possible, but we’ll see come June 14th. Also this month are the zombie apocalypse-set film World War Z, a loose adaptation of the novel by Max Brooks, and the kid friendlier Monster’s Univeristy, Pixar’s prequel to 2003′s Monster’s Inc, both set to be released June 21st. Take your kids to an action packed Brad Pitt thriller, or to laugh and love Mike and Sully’s days in college, otherwise have fun.

School is out, and come July, it will be the biggest month for business at the theaters. Despicable Me 2 and Gore Verbinski’s Lone Ranger start the month off to bring in the younger audiences; the former is a sequel Dreamworks’ 2010 hit, and the latter is the director of the Pirates trilogy’s adaptation of the old west serial starring Armie Hammer, and Johnny Depp as Tonto. A week later is the sequel to the 2010 comedy Grown Ups, starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Andy Samberg, and numerous other familiar funny faces. Also on this day, Guillermo Del Toro’s Pacific Rim smashes the big screen: Giant Robots VS Giant Monsters, what’s there not to get excited about? At the end of the month is James Mangold’s The Wolverine, the long awaited reimagining of everyone’s favorite six clawed mutant, reprised once again by Hugh Jackman. The film serves as both a sequel to the original X-Men trilogy, and a fresh start for the character, with Jackman claiming it to be a completely standalone, more character driven movie. Exciting end to July!

August closes out the season as kids and collegians begin getting ready to head back to school, as fall rolls around the corner. Two of the biggest releases this month are the sequel to the cult hit Kick-Ass, and the first adaptation of the fantasy novel series The Mortal Instruments. Kick-Ass 2 was originally set to be released in June, but was pushed back to August to avoid competition with the likes of Superman and hordes of zombies. The film is set a few years after the events of the first film, adding Jim Carrey and Scrubs star Donald Faison to the cast list for more crime fighting and wise-cracking. It should be another action packed, hilariously crude time! Following the likes of Harry Potter, Hunger Games, and Twilight, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones looks to span another franchise of young adult fantasy novels turned to films. With magic and demons, and stars such as Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell-Bower, and Robert Sheehan, will it be able to spread some wings for a sequel, or will it fall victim to another lost franchise, similar to 2008′s The Spiderwick Chronicles or 2004′s A Series of Unfortunate Events? Well, if Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief can spawn a sequel while not performing tremendously well, then it’s possible, but we’ll have to wait and see.

And thus ends the summer season. Quite a jam packed line up, is it not? Below is a list of some more movies, as well as the highlighted films mentioned above, listed in order from May through August releases. For more information on these releases, visit IMDB or Movie Insider. Enjoy the summer, and have fun at the movies.

MAY

• (May 3rd) Iron Man 3
• (May 10th) The Great Gatsby
• (May 17th) Star Trek Into Darkness
• (May 24th) Hangover Part III, Fast & Furious 6, EPIC

JUNE

• (Jun. 7th) After Earth
• (Jun. 14th) Man of Steel, This is The End
• (Jun. 21st) Monster’s University, World War Z
• (Jun. 28th) White House Down

JULY

• (Jul. 3rd) Despicable Me 2, Lone Ranger
• (Jul. 4th) Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain
• (Jul. 12th) Grown Ups 2, Pacific Rim
• (Jul. 26th) The Wolverine

AUGUST

• (Aug. 2nd) 300: Rise of an Empire
• (Aug. 9th) Elysium, Metallica Through the Never
• (Aug. 16th) Percy Jackson 2, Kick-Ass 2
• (Aug. 23rd) The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

The premise behind every Harlem Shake video is basically the same.  It revolves around a group of people sitting or standing casually, the number of people in the video varying from a mere 3 or 4, well into the hundreds (as seen in some of the ”University” Harlem Shake editions with schools such as Ohio State taking place.)  The song Harlem Shake by the artist Baauer well begin playing at the beginning of each video, and while everyone is sitting or doing another sort of casual task, a single person (usually wearing some odd costume or article of clothing) will begin dancing or flailing about around the other people.  Now the bystanders appear not to notice this odd ball until the bass drop comes in the song, ushering in the catchy electronic beat that is now well recognized   At this point, everyone on camera will all begin dancing or doing some completely random unrelated thing, often with completely random unrelated clothing and props.

What makes these videos so unique is that they are filmed in almost every location imaginable.  Parks, diners, the Marine Corps, schools, and government buildings are just a few of the places where popular Harlem Shake videos have been filmed.  But even more varied than the locations for these videos are the people in the videos themselves.  Students, teachers, soldiers, politicians, firemen, police, toddlers; it seems like everyone wants to get a piece of fame that this internet craze is generating.

Even our hometown of Kingston, New York can’t escape this web sensation.  Many graduates who attend SUNY Ulster created a Harlem Shake video.  The video was filmed with the staff and students doing random and wacky things all throughout the campus, having a great time.  Our own Walter Briggs and the  track team also made and posted their own Harlem Shake video which gained popularity on Facebook.  There has even been talk of a “teacher’s edition” Harlem Shake in the making, but as students we can only hope and dream of such a wonderful, hilarious event.

Throughout the movie, “who is the abusive husband?” was the question that kept me on the edge of my seat all through the movie.

I was floored to see who the beast was  in the end. The main character, Katie, played by Julianne Hough, was a women with a dark past.

As she escapes her nightmare she unintentionally falls in love with a struggling father of two named Alex (Josh C. Duhamell).

When Alex is surprised about Katie’s dark past he quickly jumps to conclusions and thinks the worst.

He later realizes it’s not Katie’s fault and that his love for her is irresistible.

When Katie’s nightmare follows her she switches to mother mode and the only thing that is on her mind is the safety of the kids.

Alex never truly knew how much she was apart of the family until these dangerous events occur.

I 100% recommend this movie to ages 13 and older. Safe Haven incorporates funny, mystery, and suspense to the movie.

My favorite scenes about the movie were all the flashbacks of her dark past.

Nicholas Sparks, writer, added a sense of fear to the layout of the movie. Many different genres were incorporated into this movie to create a unique touch that made the movie such a popular watch.

PHILADELPHIA (MCT) –The case before the admissions panel holed up in a small room at Lehigh University was complex.

The applicant had scored 1300 on the verbal and math portions of the SAT, on the low end for the highly selective, private research university in Bethlehem, Pa. He had taken only one of the 14 advanced placement courses offered at his high school in New England — not as rigorous of a schedule as Lehigh likes to see. And though he had a strong grade-point average, he received a couple of C’s.

“This is where it gets rough,” admissions staffer Neil F. Gogno told his 16 colleagues, while a summary of the applicant projected on a screen.

The teen, Gogno said, was a victim of a hazing incident, the details of which drew gasps from those in the room.

“Oh my God,” one of the staffers said. The room momentarily fell silent.

The teen’s application was one of about 100 the committee considered that late February day — crunch time in college admissions. Lehigh received more than 12,560 applications, and staff agreed on the fate of the vast majority on first read. It’s the cases in dispute that come before the team where they are reviewed and voted on. Simple majority rules.

Deciding cases on the bubble is an age-old part of the process, one playing out on campuses across the nation as colleges craft their incoming freshman classes for fall 2013. Most colleges are now announcing admission decisions.

During the last month, on two occasions, The Philadelphia Inquirer has spent a total of about eight hours in the room with Lehigh staff members as they made sometimes difficult and agonizing decisions. It was a window into a highly competitive, emotionally charged process, often kept secret. The Inquirer agreed not to identify applicants.

From their candid conversations, several things became clear:

Getting bad grades in senior year, even with a stellar record previously and sky-high SATs, could sabotage a student.

A student with a perfect SAT score could find himself on the bubble if he hasn’t visited campus or shown other real interest.

Having a parent, grandparent or sibling who attended Lehigh — known as a legacy — can help, but it’s no guarantee of admission.

The student’s high school can have a major influence on admission chances, depending on the rigor of the curriculum and whether a student took the intensive courses.

With so much competition, students must distinguish themselves, whether it’s in the essay, in the interview with a staffer, or through an entrepreneurial activity.

Sometimes pure geography plays a role.

At Lehigh, the 15-member admissions team is a vibrant bunch: About half are age 30 or under, and that’s by design, according to J. Leon Washington, dean of admissions and financial aid, because they relate exceptionally well with high school students. But the staff also includes several seasoned members, including Washington, who has more than 40 years in the business, and Bruce Bunnick, director of admissions, a veteran of more than 20 years. Six have received one or more degrees from Lehigh. Each is responsible for certain regions of the state, the country and the world, as Lehigh over the last decade has extended its reach in becoming a national university.

Admission officers spent last fall fanning out across their geographic area, meeting with prospective applicants and their families. Since November, they have been reviewing the just over 1,000 applications that came in for early decision, a process in which a student applies only to Lehigh and promises to attend if admitted. More than half of early-decision applicants were accepted for the incoming freshman class, targeted at 1,200. That left about 680 open spots for regular-decision applicants.

Lehigh accepts 25 to 29 percent of applicants, making it much more selective than the national average of about 64 percent at four-year, nonprofit colleges.

The table was filled with water and soda bottles and an array of snacks, as the team prepared to tackle some of the toughest decisions of the season.

“We’re here at this venue to make a decision one way or another,” Washington said.

———

School performance

The Montgomery County teen had won over the staff. He was strong by all measures, including a 1540 out of a possible 1600 on his math and reading SAT. But on a recent report card, he got two C’s and a D with no real explanation.

“Oh boy, cats and dogs!” Washington said.

That applicant wasn’t the only one to see his preliminary offer turn to a rejection. Another fell off after getting an F on a midyear calculus exam.

High school performance is one of the most important factors in the eyes of the admissions staff because it has proven a clear indicator of potential success at Lehigh.

“We tell students out on the road, ‘You cannot coast in your senior year,’ ” Washington said.

Outstanding performance conversely can help a student overcome other problems.

The team debated the case of a student with an SAT of 1220 but who had the distinction of being class valedictorian.

When the committee appeared to be wavering, one member cautioned: “I just want to be mindful of the message we’re sending if we wait-list the valedictorian.” It would leave other students at the school with no hope.

The team unanimously agreed to admit the student. Washington was pleased he didn’t have to raise the issue: “I’ve got good people around the table.”

SATs

The applicant from Colorado scored a decent 640 on his math SAT, but 460 on reading. Collectively, he got an 1100, well below Lehigh’s profile. Typical scores for Lehigh range between the low 1300s to mid-1400s on reading and math. (Lehigh doesn’t consider the writing SAT.)

But there are exceptions on both ends.

“A kid who is doing everything he or she can in the high school, but just doesn’t test well, we’d take the kid,” Washington said.

In contrast, very high SAT scores are no guarantee of admission.

An applicant from Schuylkill County with a 1600 and otherwise stellar record had one flaw — he never visited Lehigh. Students who visit often end up enrolling. Those who don’t rarely do, Washington said.

The university would rather give that spot to someone who genuinely seems interested, which also has the potential to raise the “yield” — the percentage of students offered admission who enroll. For Lehigh, that percentage is typically 33 percent, compared with 38 percent nationally.

The staff offered admission to the 1600 student, but some others with similar scores were cut.

Jessica DeSantis, associate director, advocated for the student with the 460.

“He does fine in his English courses and his writing is good,” she said.

The teen had a 3.95 GPA. He’s a legacy; his grandfather attended. And he started his own business. He purchases sweatshirts, cuts them up, and sews differently colored pieces together. He sells 10 to 20 of the sweatshirts per month, cutting and sewing on his own.

“The question is,” DeSantis said, “do we let the critical reading decide this or do we let the other aspects counterbalance it?”

Staff voted 10-2 to admit, with three to wait-list.

High school rigor

The applicant was from a Connecticut high school the committee knew well. The student struggled gradewise even though she took hardly any rigorous courses. Yet, she had more than 1500 on her SAT.

“She could have a 1600 for all I care,” said Majed Dergham, director of diversity recruitment. “That rigor … I can’t believe we’re even considering it.”

In addition to the high school transcript, rigor is the other strong predictor of a student’s success at Lehigh, Washington said.

A school with a rigorous curriculum can prove a “double-edged sword” if students fail to take the advanced coursework.

“It leaves an admissions office, particularly a selective admissions office, wondering why did they not get involved in that more intense curriculum,” Bunnick said.

New Jersey students face a particularly fierce competition because they have great schools, Washington said.

The student from Connecticut? Denied, 7-2, with others voting to wait-list.

Legacy

As soon as the case flashed on the screen, Bunnick sighed. “This is a tough one.”

The applicant’s mother is a Lehigh graduate and she really wants the same for her son. She was unhappy he was wait-listed for early decision.

The teen scored under 1200 on the SAT and did not rank in the top third of his class.

The committee debated, wait-listing him again.

“The more we put this off, the more phone calls we have to make,” cautioned Sarah Knechel, associate director. “What’s worse — ripping off a Band-Aid once or ripping it off three times?”

Legacies make up 17 percent of a typical class. Lehigh hosts a program for legacy applicants in September. There, Washington lays it on the line: “Legacy is a real hook. However, it will not replace low rigor, low grades, low testing, laziness and a sloppy application.”

The student with the persistent mom? Denied, unanimously.

Other times, legacy was the charm. The team took a California student with a 1220 SAT and strong interest, mindful she has a sibling at Lehigh.

Geography

A student with a 1340 SAT but a C-plus in math — the subject he wants to study — got a second look by the committee. The teen’s mother died when he was 6 and he had been a ward of the state, largely thriving.

One more thing about him: He happens to be the only applicant from this Southern state.

“So no pressure,” Knechel told the group.

Another staffer questioned his interest.

“OK, but he also literally has no support whatsoever,” Knechel said.

The vote was unanimous. Accepted.

Interest

The New Jersey high school student was on the fence by a lot of measures, and as a result drew one of the longest conversations of that day.

But one thing that really got the team: He never opened his portal. The portal is the online site where students check on the status of their application and receive updates. The staff sees it as a major indicator of how serious a student is about Lehigh. The teen also never visited.

“He’s first generation,” a staffer said. The team cuts some slack for students whose parents did not attend college.

In this case, however, the teen has a sister at another university. So while his parents may not know the ropes, his sister does.

“I had some friends who had siblings helping them through the process,” one staffer noted.

The comment frustrated another staffer: “What if he hates his sister?”

The case drew one of the closest votes of the day, 9-7, to wait-list.

Other factors

The applicant was an academic standout, but rather rude — that’s according to his high school guidance counselor. The counselor had given the student below-average marks in the area of character, prompting the Lehigh staffer, Dergham, to call.

“She told me he was basically rude to her for four years. She did say she has never before in her career given a student below average on anything.”

The student already had been admitted to other highly selective schools.

Other factors, such as character, can influence decisions. What students write on the essay — and how they write — can have impact, too, as can service to the community.

As the team evaluated a candidate who had little demonstrated interest in Lehigh but quite a service record, Bunnick, the director, quipped: “Five hundred hours of community service? That’s like Lindsay Lohan.” He got in.

Sometimes, life experience plays a role.

The committee voted to admit an applicant who had been serving in the Israeli army for three years. Some were concerned the gap in education may hinder performance, but the majority believed engineering training offered by the army and life experience outweighed that.

And the rude student? Wait-listed.

When the team finished preliminary decisions, members analyzed the admitted group, paying attention to gender and racial balance, academic quality and enrollment in majors. Preliminary admissions to business were running high; some were cut.

“This is like pulling teeth, but it’s something we have to do,” Washington told the team.

On March 29, Lehigh posted decisions online and mailed fat envelopes including offers of financial aid to 3,284 students.

One of those who will receive a fat envelope is the hazing victim, whose case stirred the committee.

“Those C’s … probably disqualified him from taking AP courses his senior year,” Gogno said. “I don’t think we can hold that against him.”

The vote? Admitted, unanimously.

“It’s really a human process in the end,” Washington said. “It’s not just a down-and-dirty number kind of thing. We look at human beings and consider the human situation.”

———

©2013 The Philadelphia Inquirer

Visit The Philadelphia Inquirer at www.philly.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services

Just days after announcing that he was going to be taking a short hiatus, Ebert was to receive radiation treatment for a most recent hip fracture he suffered back in December. With his family by his side, tired of fighting his cancer for so long, Ebert died.

“We were getting ready to go home today for hospice care,” Ebert’s wife Chaz explained in a post on her husband’s blog, “when he looked at us, smiled, and passed away. No struggle, no pain, just a quiet, dignified transition. ”

Ebert’s passing comes just one day after the 46th anniversary of him receiving his Pulitzer Prize.

Born on June 28th, 1942, Ebert lived in Urbana, Illinois with his mother and father. At the age of 15, his interest for journalism began, starting his own science fiction magazine when attending high school in Champaign, Illinois. Ebert became the editor for his school’s newspaper during his senior year, and went on to attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for his undergrad in journalism, where he published one of his very first reviews (1960′s La Dolce Vita).  He went to the University of Cape Town for his Masters, and then to the University of Chicago as a PhD candidate, but eventually dropped out to focus on reporting.

Ebert is best know for his genuine, honest film critiques for the Chicago Sun-Times, a career he held for 46 years. As well as his written reviews, he is most famous for his in depth analysis/discussions on the 1980′s television series Siskel & Ebert with his late colleague and friend Gene Siskel, and later with fellow Sun-Times colleague Richard Roeper. Ebert is the author of many film related novels such as Your Movie Sucks, a collection of reviews he has done over the years from films he outright despised; Life Itself: a memoir of his own life, and Scorsese: an appreciation for one of his favorite and most respected film makers of all time, Martin Scorsese, who was a very close friend to the late critic.

“The death of Roger Ebert is an incalculable loss for movie culture and for film criticism. And it’s a loss for me personally,” Scorsese mourns in remembrance of his friend, posted in The Hollywood Reporter. “Roger was always supportive, he was always right there for me when I needed it most, when it really counted – at the very beginning, when every word of encouragement was precious; and then again, when I was at the lowest ebb of my career, there he was, just as encouraging, just as warmly supportive.”

Roger Ebert has left a very influential mark on film reviewing and the many different film makers and writers over the years. The “thumbs up/thumbs down” system, as well as his four star rating system, are staples for modern formats of film reviews.

“Along with Gene Shalit, Joel Siegel, and of course Gene Siskel, Roger put television criticism on the map,” award winning Producer/Director Steven Spielberg says in a statement posted in Slate Magazine. “Roger’s passing is virtually the end of an era and now the balcony is closed forever.”

Whether you agreed or constantly disagreed with his opinions, you would have to admit that he was a very well informed man, and he will never be forgotten. Now, when going to the movies, there will be always be that idea that comes to mind just as the film you’re watching has ended: What would Ebert have thought?

Rest in peace, Roger. We’ll see you at the movies.

(MCT) – In its idealized conception, college is an ivory tower where students through quiet contemplation or raucous self-discovery ready themselves for “the real world.”

But as college student Korchi Yang can attest, and as 2 million college applicants awaiting their financial aid packages may soon discover, being a hardworking student these days means precisely that.

Work.

Not just the on-campus work-study variety. This is real-world work: 20 or 30 hours a week or more.

One out of every five college students works full time, 35-plus hours a week, all year long, according to the most recently released census figures. With college bills at record highs, students say it’s not a choice. It’s a must.

Average student debt now sits at $26,600. The cost to attend a public four-year college, with room and board, on average: $17,860 per year. Private: $40,000.

After subtracting grants and scholarships, tuition paid by students at public universities jumped 8.3 percent last year, the biggest increase on record, according to a report released last week by the State Higher Education Executive Officers association.

College bills have become so onerous for some, in fact, that last month The Chronicle of Higher Education reported on a brisk market for students selling parts of their physical selves: plasma, sperm, eggs, their bodies for medical clinical studies.

“It’s fast, easy money,” said Nikki Hill, a 25-year-old, full-time online student at Missouri Southern State University who previously attended the University of Kansas.

While at KU, Hill said, she sold plasma twice a week while also working at a coffee shop to pay her bills.

“College is expensive. I was making $60 a week donating my plasma,” said Hill, who said she earned thousands of dollars over three years this way. “All my friends were doing it, too. I used to round everyone up and drive them all with me to the plasma center.”

For the majority of students who don’t go to such lengths, however, the daily working world has become the prime option.

For years, studies have found that holding a job for 10 to 15 hours a week during college can actually help students perform better in the classroom. But students today are going far beyond that limit, experts say.

Too many hours has a price all its own.

“The toll it takes on students is pretty significant,” said Josh Gunn, president-elect of the American College Counseling Association and director of counseling and psychological services at Kennesaw State University. “Students are depleted, exhausted, and something has to suffer.”

At Kennesaw, Gunn said, “it has been quite evident that more students than ever are carrying a full load of classes and a full-time job at the same time.”

When students become too run-down to make it through even one more day of double duty, he said, they usually will choose to go to work over class to pay the bills.

Consider Yang, 23, who scrambles each week to keep her life in balance.

She attends Kansas City (Kan.) Community College, but next year she will pay much of her own way through Pittsburg State University — about $12,500 a year if she lives on campus.

Born the eighth of 10 children to immigrant Hmong parents, she is the first in her family to attend college.

Her father died, disabled, in 2010 after a stroke. Her mother, who doesn’t speak English, moved to California to farm after her husband died. Yang lives with a brother in their father’s home.

While taking 12 credit hours at college, she works four nights, 28 hours a week, at a Wal-Mart store from 3 to 10 p.m.

When she’s done at the store on Friday nights and also Saturdays, she changes out of her blue Wal-Mart shirt and into an entirely different outfit. She puts on heels and a T-shirt or a form-fitting dress to work crowds as a model and hostess in Westport or the Power & Light District until about 2 a.m., recruiting pretty and personable young women for CQC Promotions.

The Olathe, Kan., home-based company provides models and party hostesses to companies. Yang, who is studying fashion merchandizing and wants to be a model and designer, is featured in an ad for a coming California car show.

For her, the job offers modeling credit and fun along with the $20 to $25 an hour she makes to help save for college. She uses her Wal-Mart money to pay for her car, phone, food, gas and utilities.

“When I first started going to college, it was really hard for me,” Yang said of working full time and studying. “I never got any sleep at all. I had to work almost as much as I went to school just to pay for school.”

It was so exhausting, she said, that she urged her two younger sisters, Pachia and Seenhiam, to do everything they could in high school to get great grades and scholarships.

“I didn’t want it to be as hard for them,” Yang said.

She said Pachia, 22, is now in her third year at St. Catherine University in Minnesota. Seenhiam, 20, is at the University of Central Arkansas. Both, she said, have scholarships that have saved them from her work schedule.

Working has costs in terms of time, psychology, social life and, for many, grades.

Studies have long shown that working a few hours during college improves academic performance, said Laura Perna, a professor of education at the University of Pennsylvania and editor in 2010 of “Understanding the Working College Student.”

Those studies, however, focus on “traditional students,” she said.

They include students who are ages 18 to 24, who work 10 to 15 hours a week and who are enrolled full time while their parents foot most of their bills, she said. Among those students, limited work outside school helps develop skills such as time management, focus and responsibility.

In other words, students who are good workers outside college also tend to work well inside college. But there’s also a problem:

“The problem is that most kids don’t fit that profile any longer,” Perna said.

They’re working much, much more.

The work breakdown, according to the National Center for Education Statistics: 40 percent of full-time college students hold regular jobs. Among them, three out of five work at least 20 hours per week. Seven percent of full-time students work full time.

Among part-time students, 73 percent hold jobs. Of those, four out of five punch in more than 20 hours per week. Fully a third of part-time students work full time.

This is hardly to say that working during college is new.

National statistics indicate that the peak employment year for college students ages 16 to 24 was 2000, the year before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Percentages have gradually been ticking down ever since.

While 40 percent of full-time students now work regular jobs, 52 percent did so in 2000.

But interpreting the numbers is thorny, said Michelle Asha Cooper, president of the Institute for Higher Education Policy in Washington.

With tuition costs and student loans mounting, the notion that fewer rather than more students would be working seems paradoxical.

“It depends on how you cut the numbers,” Cooper said. “Nationally, we do have a trend of students working more hours.”

For some students, finding a job may be harder now than it would have been in the past. After five years of recession, students aren’t just competing with each other for work. Some are going up against their parents.

“When the economy tanks and there are no jobs, it can be hard for students to get jobs, too,” said Sandy Bauer, an education policy consultant and senior fellow at the George Washington University Graduate School of Education.

Even students with full scholarships feel the need to work to round out their college experience.

Bailey Reimer, 21, a senior at KU with a 3.99 GPA — “I got an A-minus in my first class, first semester, freshman year,” she said — receives paid tuition through full scholarship.

“But as far as my living expenses, I pay those myself,” she said, “for rent, and for groceries and for textbooks and stuff like that.”

An American studies and linguistics major, she holds two jobs with variable hours, putting in about 16 hours a week.

For one, she works out of her dorm room, going over resumes to recruit high-achieving students around the country to accept paid fellowships at Education Pioneers. The organization, similar to Teach for America, looks to recruit talented students into leadership positions in education. Reimer held an internship with the group last summer in Boston.

Her other job is helping students at Shawnee Mission Northwest High School produce their yearbook.

“Both of these jobs are things I care about,” said Reimer, who originally did both for no pay before being hired. “But I need the money, too.”

Her family, she said, is not wealthy. She is the sole child raised by a single mom. Her dad died when she was 4.

Although her jobs are not for survival, she said, they enhance her overall college experience, like a semester abroad she spent in Spain and paid for herself.

“My semester abroad wasn’t terribly expensive, but I wouldn’t have been able to do it,” she said.

———

©2013 The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Mo.)

Visit The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Mo.) at www.kansascity.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services

Suddenly, her carefully orchestrated future imploded. Livingston had no idea what to do next and considered taking the year off.

Instead, at the urging of her counselor, Livingston hastily applied to a small liberal arts college that she never heard of before — in Scotland, no less — and today she is thriving.

“People need to know that there is life after rejection,” she said. “Looking back now, I know for a fact I would never have been nearly as happy in any other school besides St. Andrews.”

With acceptance letters from highly selective colleges hitting mailboxes this week, many applicants will face heartbreak, disillusionment and self-doubt. The fact that admission rates at top-tier schools are at record lows will be of little comfort.

But there are also more than 2,000 four-year colleges in the United States, and a hard-working student can find success at any number of them, say experts.

“The selection process is just so arbitrary,” said Laura Docherty, Livingston’s counselor at Fenwick and former president of the Illinois Association for College Admission Counseling. “It’s really like gambling.”

Still, for students who receive the dreaded thin envelope — or a curt “no thanks” online — it’s hard not to take it personally. Was it that C in biology sophomore year? Not enough extra-curriculars? The essay’s limp finale?

None of the above. It’s not about merit, but math, say experts. The number of students who applied to seven or more schools has risen steadily during the last 20 years, reaching 25 percent in 2010. In 2000, the number was 13 percent. In 1991, it was 8 percent, according to the National Association for College Admissions Counseling.

It’s not just the larger applicant pool — it’s also that more seniors are vying for slots at the same 25 to 30 schools due to relentless marketing and the ease of an online application. Other drivers include the popularity of early admissions along with a spike in applications from international students.

Then, subtract slots reserved for athletes, legacies, geography, big donors, first-generation college-goers and other factors and it’s no wonder every Ivy League school admitted less than 10 percent of applicants in 2012. Harvard gave the nod to a mere 2,032 of 34,302 applicants, a measly 5.9 percent. The figures were not much more encouraging at top-tier institutions in the Midwest, which included 13 percent at University of Chicago and 15 percent at Northwestern University.

“Admissions is not about students — it’s about assembling a class on institutional priorities, whether that’s athletics, orchestra or getting more women into science and engineering,” said Patrick Tassoni of North Side Prep. “You can’t take it personally … but everyone does.”

So, it’s time for Plan B.

For Livingston, that meant starting over. The Hinsdale, Ill., resident was denied by five schools and wait-listed — the equivalent of purgatory — at Baylor University and University of Wisconsin.

Docherty knew that her student was a strong candidate. Together, they ignored brand names and went back to her original list of interests, which included studying abroad. Docherty reached out to the admissions office at St. Andrews, a liberal arts college founded in the early 1400s, to test the waters. “The last thing I wanted to do was set her up for more rejection.”

St. Andrews immediately gave her a “yes,” and now the freshman can’t imagine being anywhere else. “I live in a castle. How couldn’t I love it?” Livingston said.

She ticks off the pluses: Tutorials with an instructor and a small group of students for really delving into material presented at large lectures, classmates who come from all over the world and using school breaks to travel. Her biggest stumbling block so far: No Jif peanut butter.

The wisdom she gleaned from her experience was to not allow a rejection letter to define you.

“The key to surviving the process … is to keep a positive attitude and not give up, be open to other alternatives and to remember that, if worse comes to worse, transferring as a second year is always an option.”

North Side Prep’s Tassoni said he generally recommends casting a wide net and applying to eight schools.

“If we do our work at the front end, there should be eight dream schools,” he said.

The due diligence includes paying attention to a school’s strategic goals, which can change from year to year, but also open new doors. For example, Stanford just launched a music school, while Yale has unveiled a Center for Engineering Innovation and Design — a discipline not usually associated with the New Haven, Conn., campus.

But success isn’t about the sticker on the back of the car; it’s about fit. “This is not a prize to be won, but a match to be made,” Tassoni said, a sentiment frequently repeated by area counselors.

Fanny Lau, who graduated from North Side in 2010, ignored that advice, she said. “I was so blinded by prestige that I refused to even consider schools that my parents never heard of.”

Ultimately, she was turned down by 10 schools. And in the digital age, the denials get magnified, with jubilant peers posting their good news, along with photos of themselves wearing Dream U. gear.

“When I received my final rejection letter, I broke down during dinner,” she said. “I thought that there was something wrong with me.”

Lau regrouped and applied to Tassoni’s alma mater, Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis. She was still wary when she stepped on campus three months later. “I fell in love and never looked back,” said the anthropology major.

Her brother, who is just starting his college search, has been the beneficiary of her setbacks. “My parents are far more open … I transformed their idea about what is a good school. Know that you are going to college for you, not your family.”

Isha Mishra had her heart set on Georgetown University when she graduated in 2010 from Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora, Ill.

When she was passed over, she ended up at University of Illinois — a choice she was not initially excited about because she thought it would be just a larger version of her high school.

“I’m so happy with how things worked out, and saving the money was definitely worth it,” said Mishra, a junior majoring in supply chain management who snared an internship at Boeing in Seattle this summer. “There’s a better balance between social and academics. Here, everyone wants to succeed … but we succeed together.”

Each year, Marybeth Kravets, a now-retired college counselor at Deerfield High School, sees applicants delaying a decision until mid-August, clinging to the wispy hope that they will be plucked from a wait list.

Her advice: Be disappointed for a while, then move on. To help with the letting go, the counselor would hold a “rejection” party in her office each year. Only those with a “We regret to inform you” letter were invited.

For Kravets, it wasn’t just terrain she knew professionally, but personally. She was turned down for admission three different times by Northwestern — for a high school enrichment program, as an undergraduate and for a Ph.D. program.

“I got to do exactly what I wanted with my life,” she said. “I just didn’t do it there.”

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COLLEGE REJECTION TIPS BOX

Thousands of students are denied admission into their dream colleges and go on to have a happy life. Experts offer the following tips on how to rebound:

• Even if you’ve been rejected from your top school, be sure to thank your teachers and those who wrote letters of recommendation for all of their help in your application process, according to IvyWis, a private, college consulting firm. You never know when you’ll need to lean on a teacher for help down the road.
• Once you’ve settled on an alternative, do a pre-orientation program over the summer to dive right into campus life. Research shows that students who do pre-orientation programs have higher retention and graduation rates.
• If your friend got accepted but you didn’t, try to rise above it, says Allison Singh, author of “Getting Over Not Getting In,” who runs collegerejection.com. “The fact that they got in should be additional proof that the process is flawed,” she said, adding that humor helps maintain a healthy perspective.
• Don’t dwell on the past. Embrace your new selection and be prepared to fall in love.

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©2013 Chicago Tribune

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Distributed by MCT Information Services

With cable prices of premium stations such as Showtime and HBO costing around $13.50 each per month, it’s no wonder people are switching over to Netflix. Subscribers pay around $7.99 per month for instant streaming and DVD-by-mail services, combined roughly around $17 per month. Viewers have much more of a selection to choose from as opposed to premium stations, which may only have a few movies on at a time. Netflix offers new movies through its mail service, while you have tons of older movies and TV shows to choose from on instant streaming. There’s almost no way you can’t find something to watch with the service.

Many people tend to spend a lot of their time watching Netflix as opposed to television nowadays.  An average of two billion hours were spent by Netflix members last year. It’s no surprise with such a large selection. Some people even prefer Netflix as opposed to having regular cable, and it does save them money. Netflix also, when compared to other such streaming/DVD rental services such as Hulu Plus, Redbox, or Amazon Prime, reigns as the most popular and convieneint service with teenagers and young adults.

Top 10 Suggestions to put into your Netflix Que:

The Walking Dead: The zombie themed drama on AMC is smashing records across cable, and there is barely anyone who has never heard of the show. Every Sunday, Facebook is often flooded with messages about “OMG WALKING DEAD,” and excitement for the next episode. Starting in October of 2010, the show is currently on its third season, continuing to pull in millions of viewers each episode. The first two seasons are now available, so don’t “zombie-crawl,” but run to catch up soon!

Memento: You know that guy who did the Batman series and Inception? Yeah, he made movies before that; this is one of them. Christopher Nolan’s Memento has some of the most unique, brilliant storytelling I’ve ever seen on screen. Leonard Shelby, played by Guy Pearce, suffers from short term memory loss while trying to piece together the events that led up to his wife’s murder. This is all that can be said without spoiling anything. Highly recommend putting this film in your que if you’re a fan of the neo-noir genre.

Breaking Bad: High School chemistry teacher gets terminal lung cancer, and decides to start cooking methamphetamine to earn his family money before he dies. Seems like an interesting premise, right? No, it’s way better. With fantastic writing, brilliant story, and amazing acting, AMC’s Breaking Bad is one of the best reviewed shows on television, and it’s really good! The show, currently on hiatus in the middle of its 5th season, stars Bryan Cranston as chemistry teacher Walter White and Aaron Paul as his lovable accomplice/former student Jesse Pinkman. Season 5 resumes Summer 2013, so you’ll have time to catch up on the first four full seasons, and I’d definately recommend it. Quality TV at its absolute best!

Donnie Darko: “28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, 12 seconds, that is when the world will end.” The cult film about a troubled teenager who seeks to uncover the meaning of a predicted apocalypse, is quite popular with the teenage audience, as well other film goers into the dark independent films. If you like this sort of film, and want to see one of Jake Gyllenhaal’s most recognizable roles, watch this movie!

The Office: The hit American adapted version of the BBC series is currently on its ninth and final season. It is one of the most referenced TV shows within the last decade, and has certainly held up through nine years, even after Steve Carell’s departure after Season 7. The FOX series follows the random days of office drones, full of laughs and pop culture jokes. Check the show out before it comes to a close sometime in 2013.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: One of the greatest love stories on film, and arguably one of Jim Carrey’s best performances, Eternal Sunshine is definately one to check out. The film follows a broken up couple, played by Jim Carrey and Kate Winselt,  who have their memories of their relationship erased. It uses aspects of a psycological thriller with bits of sci-fi to tie together this wonderful love story. Please watch this movie, I recommend it wholeheartedly. It simply is beautiful.

American Horror Story: A horror TV show featured on FX, each season is seperated into self-contained stories like a miniseries. Currently on its 2nd season, the show began in the fall of 2011, and will be renewed for a 3rd season in 2013. It has been very well recieved by critics and viewers of the show, described as “one of the scariest things you will watch on TV today.” Check this spooky show out for a chilling good time.

The Fighter: Boxing, drama, and stars such as Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale…what’s there not to like? Nominated for seven Academy Awards, The Fighter is a biographical sports drama about the lives of boxer Mickey Ward, and his older brother Dicky Eklund. With fantastic acting, amazing writing, and great action, this film is definately one to watch. See also: Warrior, a similar styled film starring Joel Edgerton and Tom Hardy, about two brothers entering The MMA (Mixed Martial Arts).

Louie: Hey, do you enjoy comedy? Want to laugh really hard? Watch Louie; the emmy nominated comedy on FX starring, directed, and written by comedian Louis C.K. The show follows a fictionalized version of its creator, a divorced stand-up comedian living in New York City with his daughters. Prepare for a handful of really smart jokes from some really smart writing, and check out Louie.

The Grey: “Once more into the fray…Into the last good fight I’ll ever know. Live and die on this day…Live and die on this day.” Liam Neeson and a team of explorers, stranded in the brutal winter of Alaska, struggle to survive in this action packed thriller. Neeson fights wolves with his bare hands in the snowy abyss…enough said. Watch and enjoy The Grey.

Being a graduate of the Kingston High School in the class of 1991, Mr. Sammons underscored his pride for the school. “I wish students could just embrace what they have here and be a little more proud of the school we all attend.” Between the great diversity in students and extracurricular courses, Sammons feels as if the school has lost its spirit, pride, and would like to assist in bringing it back.

After his graduation, you’d be surprised to find out that Mr. Sammons never intended on being a teacher. His first dream revolved around majoring in biology. Due to the increase of a struggle in maintaining good grades as well as the suggestions of both his parents, Sammons then decided that was not the path to him. “I loved teaching and working with kids, so we came to decision that teaching might be a good idea for me,” says Sammons. Now, being both a US History and Criminal Justice teacher, Mr. Sammons can say he is happy in his positions and wouldn’t change it for the world.

“One thing that keeps me going and happy with this career would definitely be the students and athletes,” says Sammons. Being able to get through to both groups of kids is something that Sammons finds very rewarding in both careers. “Not being able to see the instant success in my students is one thing that differs between coaching a swim team and teaching a class full of kids,” Mr. Sammons said on the afternoon of Thursday, October 25th, “In the class room with all of my students, it is hard to see their progress, whereas with my athletes, I am able to first handedly see what they have to offer.” Progress being made is shown to him through the continuous meets his athletes have as well as the exams his students are require to take.

“Washingtonville, without a doubt,” Mr. Sammons replied after being asked one of his most difficult obstacles in the past. Against every other team in the league, Kingston has had a victory, except for Washingtonville. This is something he hopes to continue working on and overcome. When it comes to teaching, the lacks of enthusiasm of the students who attend his classes are what baffles him the most. “If they don’t want to be present in my class, then they shouldn’t be.”

Outside of the school, as well as the pool, Mr. Sammons enjoys anything family related – watching his son grow is one of his favorite things to do. “My son just joined the hockey team and its fun watching him on the ice,” stated Sammons. Swimming is something that he never tried to put pressure on his son about, but something that his son in fact started to gain an interest for.  “I try to be more ‘dad’ and less coach when it comes to my son.”

As expected, being both a swim coach and teacher take up much of his personal time. Between taking his school work home to grade from the previous day, and after school practices and meets, Mr. Sammons barely has any free time to himself during the seasons. All year round, he has swim practice for both club and the school team. Sammons only really has 2 months to himself which take place during summer vacation. All in all, Chris Sammons finds a way to prioritize himself throughout the years in both professions and family matters.