Video Collection from Pittsburgh and Slippery Rock

Japanese Tea Ceremony in Wizenfluh Dining Hall conducted by Hiroko Shimbo, the best selling author of "The Japanese Kitchen and The Sushi Experience". Japanese thought by Hiroko Shimbo, the best selling author of "The Japanese Kitchen and The Sushi Experience". Basketball game at the ARC, SRU. Drums Workshop with some dancing at the August Wilson Center in Pittsburgh. "Wild Stock" performs in SRU Union.

Dr. Kathy Humphrey address the SRU Community

Dr. Kathy Humphrey, the fifth presidential candidate, met with the SRU Community in an open forum on Wednesday, Feb. 15.

Is fashion making you look good or is it just a way of separation?

Fashion has changed a lot over the history and it varies from place to place around the world.  It is influenced not only by cultural stereotypes but it also on weather, beliefs, values and sometimes even the government.  For example, in China only the emperor was allowed to wear the symbol of dragon on his clothes.

Despite all these, the primary reason for the importance of fashion is the fact that people want to look good. It is also true that the significance of fashion has to do with other factors such as beliefs that being fashionable helps you to achieve success. Often fashion is seen as a tool for success, fame and well being. The path for earning name power, success and money in this business seems easy and attractive. In the world today, even kids are conscious what are they wearing. And all of these contribute to the increased importance of fashion.

On some levels fashion can be used as a tool of self- expression. Some people dress to identify with a particular performing artist they admire. To a certain point famous people have always been an influence for the way we dress. For example in the 1950s everybody wanted to look like Elvis.

 Another fashion influence is the separation of people into groups. In high school you have “Goths, emos, skaters, hippies”; different styles are way to express yourself but they also create separation and stereotypes between groups. Some people may go even further and judge you by the brand that you are wearing.

The fact of the matter is that we are living in a global society where fashion is important to anyone who is wearing clothes; dressing can be considered a way of communication, expression or separation. Despite our temperature towards fashion, we cannot escape it. It is ubiquitous.

Saad Mohseni, the Rupert Murdoch of Afghanistan? 

Saad Mohseni, 45, was named by Time magazine, one of the most influential people for 2011 and the most influential media figure in Afghanistan..
Chairman of Moby Group, one of Afghanistan’s largest media companies, Mohseni owns ToloTV and Arman radio; the country’s most popular TV and radio networks. He also owns a music-recording, a second TV network, an advertising agency, a television and movie production company, the magazine Afghan Scene, and two Internet cafés.
Saad Mohseni is called the Rupert Murdoch of Afghanistan.  An extravagant comparison but it gives an idea of his influence and accomplishments. In 2009 he partnered with Murdoch’s News Corporation to create the Farsi 1 satellite network, which packages entertainment programs in Dubai and beams them from England into Iran.
Mohseni has been widely criticized and been denounced as “un-Islamic” by fundamentalists for allowing women to appear alongside men on his TV and radio networks. Also, for allowing women to compete alongside men on one of his hit shows “Afghan Star”, and for showing unveiled women on Indian soap operas. He has also been threatened with arrest for his comments and reports on government incompetence, vote fraud and corruption. He has been called a Zionist in Iran and an Iranian sympathizer in Afghanistan. He has been accused to be an American agent for his opposition to the Taliban and staunchly pro-American “propaganda.” As a result, when he travels, Mohseni is met at the airport by three sport utility vehicles filled with gun-carrying guards. 

If I get the chance to interview him, my question would be: After all the threats that you have received, do you think it was worth it?

The sources that I used in addition to Time are The New Yorker, NPR and USA Today.
I chose those media outlets because they are big names that have a large number of readership and they have proven over the years to be reliable sources of information.