"HANDFUL OF LOVE"ISSUE IV

FEBRUARY 2015

THE HAND OFF

Welcome back, hope everyone had a great break. In this article I will be discussing the negative effects of social media image crafting. Social media image crafting is purposely posting certain things on posting certain things on social media to make yourself more appealing. Social media image crafting can range from posting statuses about your amazing trip to Italy, talking about your date night with your date night with your newdoctor boy-friend or girlfriend, or posting digitally enhanced pictures of you reading a book while sipping on Starbucks. The goal of doing this is for people to perceive you in the way you want to be looked at, the adventurous girl who loves to travel or the guy who’s always at the gym and eating right. This is dangerous because now people have unrealistic expectations for themselves.People start comparing themPeople start comparing them-selves to the social media ver-sion of themselves. We start to believe that our self-worth is de-pendent on the amount of “likes” we get on our pictures and statuses. Image crafting hurts friendsand family, because of image crafting we lose the ability to connect with our loved ones authentically in person.

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malemales have body issues too. One third of males want to be thinner andand one t h ir d want to

be bulkier.

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SOME WARNING SIGNS OF BODY ISSUES

• DISTORTED EATING HABITS• OBSESSION WITH WEIGHT

AND EXERCISE• BEING CONTINUALLY

SELF-CRITICALCONSTANTLYCONSTANTLY COMPARING

BODY SIZE

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My name is Sarika and I am a member of the Civic Engagement Committee on the Hand E-board. . I am a freshman majoring in biology on a freshman majoring in biology on the pre-med track, just like half the population in Stony Brook! My dream is to be a dermatologist one day. One of my reasons for choosing Stony Brook was to inter-act with studentsfrom all over the world. I have lived in India all my life and this is the first time I world. I have lived in India all my life and this is the first time I am studying in another country. Adjusting to this turned out to be much easier than I had expected because of the help and warmth of the Stony Brook community. I made friends from different parts of the world, attended many events and joined different clubs in order to make the most of

my time in Stony Brook.As a part of the community outreach comof the community outreach com-mittee of Camp Kesem, I have been able to help reach out to

children whose parents have been affected by cancer. The Kesem commu-nity organized events, making

cards and preparing breakfast at AppleBees in order to raise funds for a camp over summer to help these children. By taking part in this club I have been able to meet new people, create new memories and help spread happiness to all. I am also a member of the Stony Brook Sailing Team, which has not only taught me how to sail, but also given me the opportunity to represent our school at given me the opportunity to represent our school at an intercollegiate regatta. Apart from Sailing and Camp Kesem, my hobbies include hang-ing out with friends, watching romantic comedy movies, attending basketball games, playing the piano, eating good food, and going sailing on a Friday afternoon. If you ever need a help-ing hand in any of the basic courses of Chemistry or Calcu-lus I would love to help you out.

E-BOARD spotlight!

To me, door decorations are simple and beautifulbeautiful. While they may not seem

like a lot, we take a lot of time to get them done. They are personalized, usually well thought out, and thorough. Door

decs let you know that you are a part of a community every day when you get back from your last class. You see your familiar name on the door, smile, and key in to your own room. It reminds you that-- after all your classes are finished and when you're ready to start doing homework-- you belong in Hand College, and that your roomroom is your special place. Every single person is appreciated and should feel com-fortable, and the door decs are the RA's way of saying "Hey, we appreciate you and we're thinking about you!" When, sadly, a residents' door dec falls off of the door or get stolen, my heart breaks for that resident. These door decs are there to remind you that someone cares about you, and when that reminder isn't there, sometimes we fall in to the rigmarole of going in to our room without feeling appreciated on our floor. I love the door decs that other RAs amde for me, and I love the door decs that I've made for my own residents-- each one has its own personality!

Bulletin boards are super important to me as an RA. They allow me to get a little more creative and show my artsy side. Surprisingly, those things can take hours to make. They allow me to appreciate you, show you a few cool facts, and maybe even give you the opportunity to

appreciate somebody else! My current board, for example, has post-its and designated squares for certain rooms, so any resident can leave a nice message for one of their suitemates or floormates. This allows us to get to knowknow one another and show a little bit of appreciation and love. The bulletin boards are also important to me because I can spread positivity that way! The board is also important because I can be expressive and arts-and-craftsy, by

painting. The current board on my floor is about love and how to appreciate people, and maybe even get that date for Valentine's Day!

So, if you're reading this, I appreciate you, I love you, I hope you feel special because you are special! I hope you appreciate the hard work put into your hall, because your RAs are always there for you, always working on ideas, bulletin boards, door decs, or ideas for the building, and they always have your

back.

LOVE on doors

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RA JUSTIN RA OLIVIA RA JULIO

RA ANTONIO RA CAYLA RA MARISA

RHD RONALD

to: all residents

From: RA STAFF

“weo you!”

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Welcome back Hand! Welcome back to our

Spring- even though it sure doesn’t feel like spring outside-semester. Here’s your chance to make some new friends, join some new clubs, take some classes of interest, and to have a fresh start. To me, the Spring semester of SBU can be encom-passed into one word-tradition. There is so much to look forward to in the Spring: Brookfest, Earthstock, the Tabler Block Party, and perhaps thethe most popular, Roth Regatta. But with all of these traditions and events to look forward to, it is easy to lose sight of our academic re-

sponsibilities as students. It’s very easy to get distracted by our surroundings with all these exciting events happening. Now, I’m not saying don’t go to these events and lock yourself in your room to study for hours on end! Instead, I am offering you my top 5 fa-vorite places to study on campus that I find are quiet, relaxing, and comfortable:

5. Staller Steps - Maybe not right now with all the snow this location doesn’t seem very appealing, but when the beautiful spring weather rolls in, this is a beautiful spot on campus to study and relax. Sometimes, after studying for a long period of time, it is good to simply go to Staller and soak up some sun and fresh air to relax before an exam.

4. SAC Lounge, third floor of the Student Activities Center - I just found this place this year! It is full of couches and nobody dare says a word it is so quiet and peaceful. If you need a study break or a place to

take a quick nap, this is the place to be!

3.3. LLRC - The Language Learning Center on the 5th floor of the Melville Li-brary-Shh! This is my secret hiding spot when I need to print or study quietly. It is a

bit of a hike all the way up to the fifth floor, but it is worth it. The language lab is a full Sinc site, with two full classrooms and a study area. This is like my second home! All majors (not just language majors) are welcome.

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spring timestudy spots

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Sbu basketballexperience

GAME ZONEDeveloped in an incredibly unlikely partnership with Final Fantasy developers Square Enix (formerly known as Square-soft) and beloved animated filmmaker Disney, the Kingdom Hearts series is a mash up of original Square Enix characters and many known Disney characters and worlds.

The Kingdom Hearts series follows the adventures of a young boy by the name of Sora who is chosen to wield a weapon by the name of the Keyblade, an odd sword- like weapon shaped like a key. The Keyblade is said to have the power to unlock the hearts of worlds and help defend against the darkness of the universe.

Spanning many games throughout the series across 13 years, Spanning many games throughout the series across 13 years, Square Enix created Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD Remix for gamers that may have missed some big games in the series, namely Kingdom Hearts II, Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, and Kingdom Hearts Coded. Though Coded is not featured as a game (more like a collection of cutscenes that explain the story behind the original Nintendo DS game), Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep have been scaled up to HD, giving the games a new breath of fresh air, while also being updated to their Final Mix versions. If you’ve ever missed these games when they were originally released, you should definitely pick missed these games when they were originally released, you should definitely pick this game up. With high paced action, amazing worlds, and an incredibly long story, this is definitely a series anyone should check out.

kingdom Hearts 2.5

Super Smash Bros

HD remix - Playstation 3 exc.

Nintendo Wii U, 3DS.The Super Smash Bros. series developed by Nintendo is one of the only fighting game series coming from Nintendo as a first party game. Featuring a truckload of classic Nintendo character from the Mario series to the Metroid Prime series, the

Super Smash Bros. series is known for being quite the unique fighting games. Rather than extinguishing an opponent’s

health bar to win a fight, the goal is instead to increase a health bar to win a fight, the goal is instead to increase a percentage next to their character that, as it increases higher, allows you to knock them off the battlefield, giving you points. The most recent entry in the series, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, is the series’ largest game to date, featuring a roster of over 45 playable characters.This particular entry in the series is also unique in that Namco, creator of popular fighting unique in that Namco, creator of popular fighting game series Tekken,had a hand in developing the title. With high paced action, up to 8-player multiplayer, and online play, this particular entry is one worthy of any gamer’s reper-

toire.

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