Estabrook bathrooms may seem like a dangerous place on campus, but I assure you it is nowhere as dangerous as the Wellness Center. Whereas the dangers of Estabrook are purely fictitious, all the threat in the Wellness Center is real.

The recent increase in security in regard to swiping into buildings has caused some outrage among students, including myself. If you don't swipe into your building, you will receive a summons. Understandable, right?

This Thursday, Oct. 8, is the eighth anniversary of the start of the Afghan War. Eight years of fighting, yet U.S. forces are no closer to achieving "victory." A recent report by General Stanley McChrystal, the chief military officer in Afghanistan, says the U.S. must change its military strategy or it risks losing the war. But, why is this war being fought? What goal will be achieved by its continuation?

It's official. President Barack Obama has plunged from rock star status to just another lazy president. Even the unapologetic liberal sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, which at one time was falling just short of an open endorsement of Obama's bid for the presidency, now slams the president's performance in the White House.

When I was growing up, I always wanted to be famous. Now I view this past wish as a reflection of the naïve ideologies of a young boy with an overused television set. It seems these days, fame and notoriety are hardly anything worth celebrating anymore.

There's no question that multimedia has come a long way in American society by advancing our communication process. We are the generation of the BlackBerry, the iPhone YouTube, and a string of social networking sites. With all these technological nuances, however, it's hard not to take a look at the big picture and notice how our generation is, for lack of a better term, just lazy.

 In my dorm room, I have a special rack for my jackets. It's really because I'm such a Clothes Horse that the armoire the school provides us, just isn't enough space for all of my pieces! My entire room is based upon where the rack is placed. My blazers, trench, cropped-top, three-quarter sleeved and multi-colored tweed jackets are befittingly adjacent to my 24x36 inch black and white Audrey Hepburn poster. And like I said in last week's issue, I love cold weather, so it's only natural that I would put my outerwear on a pedestal; or, a special clothing rack in this case.

The reason I love my jackets so much is because I'm a sucker for layering. You just never know when you're going to be hot or cold! Layering on a few clothing items will save you the time, trouble and make you look super chic. The easiest way to layer is on top. Try putting on for size a light long-sleeve top underneath your sweater of choice (I'm a big fan of the cardigan) and then, on top of the sweater, plop on an oversized vest. For the extra oomph factor, synch your sweater at the waist with a thin belt and roll up the sleeves of your sweater and shirt together. If you're not into the heavy layers, try something as simple as putting on a T-shirt with a jacket or button down that has some character and color. The ways you can layer are endless! All that matters is you do it in cute and stylish manner. For tips and idea on ways to layer, check out style sites like lookbook.nu and chictopia.com.

 Hello, readers. If your classes are anything like ours, then all of your professors have decided to have all of their first major projects due during the first week of October. We're not sure if they do this on purpose, but it's been giving us hell and teaching us to juggle our schedules in ways we never thought possible before (going to the gym at 11 pm? Not that bad, actually). But as we're sitting here, late at night in Hammer Lab, we've come to the realization that it's quite convenient (and surprisingly rare) to have a 24 hour computer lab so conveniently positioned on campus. And that thought gets us thinking… There is a lot to be thankful for on this campus. Has anyone noticed?

It is perhaps a minority of students who are not somewhat unenthusiastic about completing Hofstra's distribution course policy. As a liberal arts college, Hofstra requires students to fulfill nine credits each within the humanities, natural sciences/math/computer science, and social sciences, in addition to fulfilling three credits for both cross cultural and interdisciplinary studies.

Hate mail is the sign for a cartoonist that what you're saying is resonating somewhere with people, and though it's negative, as any political cartoonists will probably tell you, it's oddly gratifying. When Ms. Hawkins sent her complaint to our Op/Ed section's email I called my mom because, after 19 years of being the mother of a rather loud-mouthed and opinionated young man, she knows I think hate mail is a good thing.

My problem with Ms. Hawkins' email is not with her opinion. I think dissent is a terrific thing. I hope to make my living on offering (rather boorishly) a different opinion. I disagree with how she took my cartoon. And it's important to note that this perception is just as much my fault as it is hers.

The MTV Music Video Awards was the most entertaining awards show this year. I almost missed it watching the disappointing season finale of "True Blood," a show I no longer care about. Once the boring finale was over,  the statuses on Facebook made me turn to the VMAs immediately. It was the best decision of the weekend.

Hofstra University last fall was in a national spotlight for hosting the final presidential debate. This fall we're on a national spotlight, but instead for the story of a grizzly and brutal gang rape that was then on Wednesday night thrown out as false.  The question that hangs over the campus now though is what do we do? How does a campus as a community digest a lie this damaging?

Greetings, our four readers (hi, Mom!). Welcome back to another year of Hofstra University and Two Girls One Column. For those newcomers [Freshmeat], we welcome you and look forward to seeing you drunkenly stumble across the Hempstead Turnpike within the next couple weeks. We thought we'd open up this semester with a discussion of the highly controversial topic of: Facebook applications. What are they, how much of your time do they waste, and how many ulcers have you developed since you have started playing? After much debate over Farmville, Sorority Life and Pet Pupz (hope you notice that z), we agonized until we decided to sample the brilliant stroke of genius that is YoVille.

With the health care debate still fueling the fires in Washington, accusations and fear continue to make up a large portion of the discussion. I wasn't expecting to write another article on health care; but, I was shocked by an editorial I found by Nicolas Kristof. I think this article calls for a more serious tone than my previous one. Kristof's piece is a frightening example of what happens when bickering and politics cross paths with the reality of human life.

A few thoughts regarding "The socialist beginnings of Obama and the US" by Katherine Yaremko in the September 10 issue.
On reading of "shimmering heat waves tinted in hues of red, white and blue along with specks of Constitution-inspired star dust lingering in the air," I thought I was reading the beginning of a satire. But no. It is very clear that Ms. Yaremko has permitted neither logic nor history to influence her essay. Instead, it is informed by a conspiracy mentality that is knowingly fanned by radical-right wing radio and talk shows.