Posts Tagged ‘college’

A Healthy Way of Living at Lifethyme

Tuesday, November 26th, 2013

I grew up around nature, farms and gardens, farmers’ markets, and signs that read “local” or “all-natural.” When I moved to New York City, I assumed that part of my life would come to a halt; you can’t exactly fit a dairy farm in Manhattan.

And then I found Lifethyme. Three blocks away from my college, stocked with products hailing from my hometown of Ithaca, NY, and sensibly priced for the broke college student that I am, Life Thyme was a win-win…win.

 

Organic, local veggies! Yum!

Opened in 1995, Lifethyme has made it their mission to create a complete, natural market, equipped with a juice bar, bakery, supplement counter, body care section, kitchen, and grocery store that delivers. “We wanted it to be entirely complete. We were one of the first; there are other health stores, but none just like us,” says Jason, owner of Lifethyme. And he isn’t kidding, the store has everything. Walk a few blocks and get all natural groceries, toiletries, dinner, and dessert all in one trip. They even have all natural chocolate, a fan favorite!

So much deliciousness!

 

The local organic movement was a big motivation. Products like veggies and dairy come from farms upstate and are brought down to this quaint, natural shop in Manhattan’s West Village. No wonder I felt a wave of nostalgia as I walked inside, greeted by organic sweet potatoes, organic Ithaca milk, and that unmistakable scent of fresh food, poorly replicated by the more expensive Whole Foods. I was hooked and I hadn’t even been upstairs yet.

 

Gotta love organic veggies!

Being in between two major colleges, The New School and NYU, Jason understands how hard it is to maintain a healthy, organic lifestyle on a budget, so he has one philosophy: “a store needs to be affordable for everyone, meeting the wants and needs of all economic classes.” That’s why the store is always trying to improve both product and price-wise. Each month promotional fliers are distributed with new deals and discounts, the salad bar is 50% off after 9PM, and everyday prices stay at an affordable rate.

Great already made food!

 

I explored, in awe of the quantity and variety of products. Upon walking in, I was met with the freshest of fruits and vegetables (organic apples happen to be my favorite), then I made it to some dairy products from my home sweet home, then to the prepared foods, stocked with raw-vegan, vegan, vegetarian, and even omnivorous food. Next I stared longingly at the baked goods: chocolate vegan cakes that made me want to forget about dinner. Making the full circle, I saw the grocery section and realized that I would never have to go anywhere else, as they had it all: cereal, bread, pasta, canned soup, canned vegetables, you name it. I was even able to try free samples from Garden of Life, a company that promotes raw and natural energizers and vitamins. Upstairs they had even more! Soap, shampoo, laundry detergent, candles, incense, yoga mats, make-up AND a seating area where you could eat your prepared food and rest your feet. Like I said, I was hooked.

Free samples and friendly faces!

 

Nothing is better than an organic apple!

 

Even better, Lifethyme is always looking for ways to get more involved with the community, to do more, and to improve themselves. For all of you interested students out there, Lifethyme wants you to be involved. Whether it’s through events or collaborations, the shop wants to improve their student base by including our generation in their mission for healthier living. Sounds pretty awesome if you ask me. Lifethyme cares about health in every sense of the word and when it’s only a short walk away, it seems pretty worth it.

 

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Daniela Bizzell, Eugene Lang College, The New School University.

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Frozen Delight at Orange Leaf

Friday, September 13th, 2013

Tucked away in the heart of Gramercy Park, a brightly designed yogurt shop sits on the corner of 20th St and 3rd Ave. While the neighborhood is relatively quiet, one step inside Orange Leaf and one is met with an array of exuberant color and energetic, lively music, immediately creating a fun, spirited atmosphere to enjoy a sweet cup of yogurt.

When I walked into Orange Leaf on a warm Friday afternoon, I was met with a swirl of orange and pink tiles. Michael Jackson was playing in the background and a giant, flat-screen television was behind the counter showing pictures of happy customers and all of the different flavors Orange Leaf has to offer. Even better, I was greeted with smiles: all of the staff seemed genuinely happy. Cutting up fresh strawberries and offering tastes of various flavors of yogurt was done with enthusiasm. I’ve been to my fair share of frozen yogurt shops and have seen my fair share of emotionless faces who clearly hate their job; this was not the case with Orange Leaf. The many windows let in a ton of natural sunlight and brightened everything up a bit. I was comfortable, happy, and excited to try the product.

Like many frozen yogurt shops, there were sixteen different flavors to choose from. I chose to get a wide variety, in order to look at the shop through a thorough lens. A friend joined me on my froyo excursion, so between the two of us we were able to get six different flavors. One of the best aspects of Orange Leaf is the optional cup divider. I had never seen cup dividers before, but they are amazing! If you’re a frequent froyo consumer, you know the difficulty in choosing what flavors will blend together the best. You can’t get Coconut and Peanut Butter or Mango and Coffee without the yogurts blending together to make a multi-colored mess that tastes like a bunch of foods that were thrown into a blender. With the dividers, one has three separated sections, with no unnecessary combining of flavors. Just pop one in and you’re all set! Altogether we tried Watermelon, Pomegranate, Chocolate Raspberry, Peanut Butter, Wedding Cake, and of course the classic Tart. All of the flavors tasted great and were incredibly accurate to their name! Topped with both regular and sour gummy worms, peanut butter cups, chocolate chips, and fruit, I was very satisfied and was given a really great first impression.

Compared to other froyo places I’ve visited, Orange Leaf is intimate yet energetic and definitely a nice change in scenery from the 16 Handles or Pinkberry franchises I seem to see on every street corner. Whether it’s their Ounce Card, giving you a money-back point for every yogurt purchased, or the Ipad sitting in the store allowing customers to register for a rewards card or to begin following Orange Leaf on Twitter or Facebook, this yogurt shop seems to stand out. Convenience and quality are definitely priorities.

My first visit will definitely not be my last; I would highly recommend a visit to Orange Leaf. Wedding Cake flavored froyo—need I say more?

Mother and son duo!

 

Yum!

 

Friendly Staff!

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Daniela Bizzell, Eugene Lang College, The New School University.

Campus Clipper Blogger

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Back to School and Summer Wrap-Up

Monday, September 2nd, 2013

This is my last year at NYU. It’s amazing how quickly these four years flew by.

I spent my summer at home, where I had a part-time job and a lot of time to write. I ended up in the city a few days a week, too. The summer was an experiment in seeing if I can balance my time at home with my time with friends in New York.

I’ve only dormed at NYU, which is not the norm here, but it’s been nice. I moved in last Sunday and was immediately busy. My sketch comedy team produced and directed two sketches this week; plus, I had work and I was showing my brother around the city. He moved here for college too. It’s been busy, but fun.

Because it’s my last year, I’m looking for more internships. After interning for different TV shows for a year and a half, I decided to take some of my junior and senior years to focus on my academic requirements. Hopefully after I finish the last of my required classes, I’ll be able to spend more time in a hands-on environment.

Additionally, this semester I’m focusing a lot on my craft. I’m taking another screenwriting class, and I am hopefully producing more of my work, whether it be stage or video. Not only are the connections via internships important, but the creative content you produce as a student too.

I’m looking forward to making the most out of my last year at NYU.

Embrace the start of your school year!

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Erin O’Brien, NYU.

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Mental Health Matters Too

Friday, August 9th, 2013

Whenever I tell an older person that I’m still in college, the one thing they always tell me with a glint of nostalgic desperation in their voice is that I should absolutely cherish my four years. Evidently, they fly by fast and then you’re unceremoniously kicked into the fabled “Real World” your parents are always lecturing you about.

And that’s because in some sense, the stereotypes about college are true: it is really, really fun. It may not be the booze filled sex-a-thon the movies make it out to be, but the random afternoons you spend spontaneously going to Central Park and getting into an impromptu boat race on the lake while a group of Harry Potter cosplayers yell Unforgivable Curses at you are not going to be soon forgotten.

However, there is a dark side to college that most of the time is swept under the rug and never mentioned. Underneath all of the fun is an incredible amount of stress: our finances (or usually the lack thereof), our roommate troubles, our relationship aches and pains, the ups and downs of our GPAs, and all the little things that come with newfound independence. It’s basically like if someone asked Atlas to do a quick Iron Man triathlon while still holding the entire world on his shoulders. No big deal, right?

www.augustana.edu

The constant juggling gets to everyone at some point. Sometimes it’s a little thing that breaks you– one of my roommates broke down into hysterics because there was a mouse in our dorm. She had had an especially rough week, and that little mouse making her bin of sweaters into what she called his “mouse house” was the last straw for her.

Sometimes it’s a big thing that breaks you. Sometimes a person you thought you were in love with decides to call it quits. Sometimes someone in your family passes suddenly. Sometimes your health takes an unexpected turn for the worse. We don’t think about the possibility of these things happening to us because we’re young, and bad things don’t happen to young people. But they do happen, and they’re never easy to deal with.

With all these big scary possibilities of your independent life, there is one important piece of advice to remember that I happened to get from a pair of sunglasses I bought from Urban Outfitters: “It’s perfectly okay to admit that you’re not okay.” I know my cheap sunglasses weren’t the first to say it, but it rings true all the same. No one knows you better than you know you. You have to know when it’s time to pump the brakes and think about getting some help.

www.cdc.gov

I know that nobody likes admitting that they need help, especially when it comes to our mental health, something we feel like we should have some modicum of control over since, you know, it is our own brains creating the problem. But sometimes you just have to admit that you can’t handle the weight of your own thoughts, or you run the risk of letting them consume you.

Believe me, I know how it feels to be a trapped in your own mind. It took me months to admit to someone that I needed help, because I was drowning in the daily pressures of my life. First it was just one of my friends, but she suggested I try therapy as an outlet. And when I say suggested, I mean she demanded that I call the NYU health center the next day and get myself an appointment.

Some people might think she was coming on too strong with the pro-therapy message, and I did too, at first. But she had been to an NYU counselor before when she was having a hard time, and her life had improved because of it. Thus she became therapy’s biggest proponent.

And you know what? She was right. I didn’t want to go at all; I considered running for it while I was staring at the grey walls of the counseling center, waiting for my appointed therapist to usher me into his office. But after it was over, I had a feeling of relief in my chest where I had previously felt only anxiety and stress for months. It was a no-judgment zone where I could talk about how I felt to someone who didn’t know anything about me except how strongly I agreed or disagreed with the questions they had made me answer on a questionnaire. He was kind and understanding, and, as an added bonus, he had a faint Irish accent that I found very soothing.

kerimovelnur.wordpress.com

It may be stressful and out of your comfort zone to think about taking professional steps into improving your mental health, but being in college actually makes it easier for you to do so. NYU offers all of its students 10 free sessions of counseling, able to be used at any time during a student’s four years. They also have a private hotline open 24 hours a day for anyone who needs help. Every school has its own resources for its students to use; look into your school’s specific policies regarding counseling, and you’ll probably find that it will be relatively easy for you to get help.

As fiction author and very smart person John Green said, “It hurts because it mattered.” Maybe not everyone understands why something bothers you so much, but that doesn’t mean you should feel bad about feeling bad. It hurts because it mattered to you. It could be a mouse house or a bad grade on a paper, it doesn’t really matter; what does matter is whether or not you choose to help yourself and admit that you’re hurting.

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Alex Ritter, NYU.

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What to Eat Before and After Working Out (and a fantastic college discount!)

Thursday, July 18th, 2013

When trying to get fit, your diet is just as important as exercise, if not more.  The two go hand in hand.  A great workout routine coupled with a poor diet will not get you very far.  Let’s zoom in and explore the foods you should eat before and after your workout.

www.hfs.washington.edu

Think of your body as a car; food acts as gasoline to keep you going.  By ingesting the right foods, you set your body up for a successful workout.  Timing also plays a role in nutrition.  Avoid eating a full meal directly before a workout.  If you must, eat a light snack 5-10 minutes prior to exercise, something under 100 calories.  Ideally, you should consume a meal an hour and a half to two hours before a workout.  The meal should be light so it doesn’t drag you down during a workout.  Keep in mind that different foods take different amounts of time to digest, so you want foods that will digest rather quickly.  Some suggestions:

-Whole wheat toast with peanut butter and sliced bananas

health.com

-Greek yogurt with granola and cinnamon

-Oatmeal with fresh fruit

After a workout, you have a small window of time to ingest and replenish the proper nutrients.  Between 20 and 60 minutes after your workout is when your meal should be consumed.  Bringing prepared food to the gym in a bag may be a good option.  Also, protein shakes come in handy when you don’t have much time.  It will probably take too long to prepare a meal at home after a workout.  You may miss the time frame.  Here are some suggestions for post-workout meals:

-Grilled chicken and mixed vegetables

-Salmon with sweet potato

-Turkey and white American cheese on 9-grain wheat bread

Changing your diet comes as a challenge to most people, myself included.  I tend to fall in and out of a steady healthy diet.  Sometimes, you only have certain options, especially in a college dining hall.  Make wise choices and think about your goals before everything you eat.  Check out my upcoming post, “the cheat meal,” for more nutrition tips.  With a student ID and Campus Clipper coupon, you can walk into the Garden of Eden Marketplace and receive a special discount on healthy groceries.  Stock up!

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Joey Silver, University of Delaware. Check out my Twitter!

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Commencement – Campus Clipper Fiction

Monday, July 8th, 2013

Charlie Wickerson had always been skeptical about the availability of certain attributes within himself that are usually needed to make friends.  Before his embarkation to New York, Charlie never felt the scorn of social loneliness, but to an extent, he knew those who he called friends were just peers only interested in the most superficial and ephemeral qualities of association.  Today, though, Charlie understood the necessity of seizing this opportune time amongst his classmates before it was too late.

 

Together with his blonde and aloof Californian roommate Jackson, Charlie made plans to arrive at the opening ceremony about thirty minutes before the allotted starting time.  The boys agreed upon and stressed the importance of surveying fellow classmates as they streamed into the red-seated auditorium.  They didn’t want to sit bayside while everyone else began university life as emphatically as they had dreamed.

 

“What do you think?” Charlie asked.

 

“I reckon there are some pretty girls to the left,” Jackson said, “down there.”

 

“Well, there are pretty girls all over,” Charlie said, “There are five thousand of us rumbling in here.”

 

“Hell, I don’t know”

 

“Alright,” Charlie said, “Let’s just head down there around the left of the stage.”

 

Charlie and Jackson made their way toward the left-centered area of the auditorium and sat amongst the pretty girls previously marked, who, although they could have only been in the theater for a few minutes, found themselves surrounded by an array of suitors.  What surprised Charlie most were the girls’ radiance, which suggested that were more than delighted to be the spectacle of rows H through K. Perturbed by what they saw, Charlie and Jackson formed nothing more than the outskirts of the insular circle and found themselves only looking with envy toward their peers.  Fortunately for the two boys, they were not the only ones that had not made the cut and began conversing with some others near.

 

“Hi, my name’s Charlie.”

 

“Sam. How are you liking your first days?”

 

“They’ve been decent,” Charlie said, “What are you going to be studying?”

 

“Business and Finance,” Sam said, “What about you?”

 

“I’m not so sure yet,” Charlie said, “How did you know finance was right for you?”

 

“I just wanted to do whatever makes me money.”

 

“Oh, interesting”

 

“You should look into engineering or another STEM degree.” Sam added, “They always have great job prospects.”

 

“I’ll definitely think about it.”

 

Before the words had completely rolled off Charlie’s tongue, the stage’s red curtains were pulled back and the opening ceremony was set to begin.  For the next three hours, Charlie stared at the events without concern or opinion.  He knew he should have just stayed in his dorm

 

Alejandro Font, Student at NYU.

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Why Work Out? Utilize College Discounts While You Can!

Tuesday, June 18th, 2013

According to the Harvard School of Public Health, college students should get at least one hour of physical activity per day.  But for many students, working out feels like an impossible task. Between classes, schoolwork, extracurricular activities, social life, love life, and sleep, it seems that there is simply not enough time in the day.

alumni.nyu.edu

However, making time to work out can benefit all students. Physical activity boosts productivity and clears the mind, gives positive energy and instills confidence to take on challenges. It also makes you feel good about yourself, boosting self-esteem, a serious concern for many college students.

A good workout is about balance, no matter your gender. Walking into a college gym, you usually find the women on the treadmills and elliptical machines, while the men lift weights. Oftentimes, men think that they need to lift weights and chug protein shakes in order to stay fit, while women tend to steer clear of the weight room because they fear looking like female bodybuilders. These beliefs are workout myths. Reaching a body type of a bodybuilder is unlikely without intense workouts, extreme dieting, and heavy supplementation. Weight-lifting can boost metabolism, improve posture, and build muscle, which helps burn fat faster; therefore, it can benefit both men and women. However, weight-lifting is not essential to staying fit. Alternative forms of exercise like biking and running benefit the heart and rest of the body in ways that weight-lifting does not.

But you don’t need to become a “gym rat” or a “fitness freak” to stay healthy and fit. There is a myriad of quick and easy ways to work out during your college years. Students can stay fit without even going to the gym through activities like bike rides, yoga, Zumba, swimming, team sports, parkour, or jogging outside with a friend. For those not sure where to start, Tao Yoga, Sacred Sounds Yoga, and Moksha Yoga in New York City are excellent for beginners and yoga masters alike.

www.huffingtonpost.com

The hardest part is finding the motivation to go out and get moving. It is crucial to get into the habit of working out consistently while in college because once you have a full-time job and a family to support, the motivation is more likely to disappear.

Don’t get accustomed to a lethargic lifestyle, because it only gets harder to change. Go now, while you don’t need to pay for a gym membership. If a trip to the gym consumes too much time, complete a body weight workout in your dorm room or apartment. All it takes is 60 minutes a day to get on the right path.

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Joey Silver, University of Delaware. Check out my Twitter!

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College Concerns and Worries

Wednesday, September 5th, 2012

As young adults, we are prone to taking a “trial and error” approach to life. We know one of the many goals associated with college is the promise of a better life. We also know getting through college is a mission itself, filled with all types of twists and turns we never see coming. Here are a couple of concerns you may or may not have experienced, and some pretty good solutions to help keep your stress leveled.

 

Finances

 

Money will always be a major issue. Unless you hit the lottery or were born into royalty, you’re probably counting every penny you spend. Everything from getting to school to the afternoon snack craving can become a problem.

As college students we tend to want to blow our money on the first things we can think of. Saving is a minimal priority. HelpSaveMyDollars.com’s creator Scott Gamm developed a theory stating fifty percent of college students have 4 or more credit cards. An even more shocking statistic is that eighty percent of students fail to pay off their credit card bill.

The key is to keep an eye on your money and always track what you are spending. I’ve written an article entitled “College Savings Doesn’t Mean College Boredom” in which I talk about having fun in New York the cheapest way possible.

 

 

Social Life

Balancing school and anything else can prove to be quite complicated. Whether it’s a job or an internship, you will find you don’t have much time for anything else. Twenty three percent of full-time undergrads, who are 24 or younger, work 20 hours or more a week. With hours like that plus the 15 hours or more you plan to spend in classes and on after class activities (labs and group projects anyone?), you won’t have much time for anything else.

Although having any kind of social life can seem like an extra burden, it’s not impossible and is more than healthy for a college student. Someone paying you a visit after you come home from work is one way that comes to mind (because you know . . . you’ll be too tired to go out and all). Someone can come meet you at your job after your shift. Meeting people at school is also a good way to kill two birds with one stone. Trust me . . . you’ll be spending A LOT of time with these people, so you might as well get to know them. You might like them.

 

Professors

 

We’ve all heard it before, “I have to take Professor (place name here). He’s an easy A” or “I don’t want Professor (alchy). He’s always drunk.”

Okay . . . maybe the last one is just me, but you get the idea.

There are those out there who simply don’t care who ends up teaching them a specific course, but for many of us, there’s that one professor that just gets us. Early registration is the key to getting the professors you want, the classes you want, at the times you want to take them. Some schools even give you cash stipends for early registration, which is even more of an incentive.

Personally, I never understood math until I had this one professor. She never let me (or anyone for that matter) leave class until she was sure we understood the material. This may seem like torture but I didn’t fail a test that whole semester . . . . . So I guess it worked, at least in my case

 

Personal Problems

 

We all have lives outside of college and many times it’s hard for our personal issues to not get in the way. Students with children have to constantly worry about their kid as it will always be one of their top priorities. Students can be involved in relationships that just swallow up their time (and if this is you, you should really learn how to prioritize) among other things.

I’ve been in three different living situations ever since I started school and I’m working on a fourth and hopefully my last for a while. Going to school and not knowing if I’ll even have a home to come back to has definitely been one of the hardest things I’ve had to deal with in my life. All the “stay focused” and “keep your eyes on the prize” speeches never made any sense until I reached this period in my life.

Even though life can overwhelm you at times, it is important to know why you enrolled in this first place. It’s easy to forget why we started on this journey when all the unnecessary crap is constantly thrown in our face. Whatever the issue is, it’s important to know you have the strength, the tools and the support to get through whatever you’re going through. Also, you ARE working towards a better future and that’s more than most people can say.

 

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Carlos L., Monroe College. Read my blog!!  Follow me on Twitterand Facebook :)

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Professors 2.0

Tuesday, August 14th, 2012

It’s about that time: school is right around the corner and so are professors! Not only do you have to worry about making sure your bank account is on point and getting your student savings, but you have to make sure you make a good first impression with your professors.

 

Meeting a professor for the first time  

Particularly if you’re a first year student en route to your first real college class, you might be a little nervous when classes start. Depending on how big your College or University is, a typical 100-level class can range from 60 to 200 students! The professor can try his or her best to get to know everyone, but seeing as professors’ schedules are so busy, it’s up to you to make them notice you. You also have to keep in mind that in the future you may need a recommendation from a professor for a job. With that being said, not only do you want to do well in the class and build an academic relationship, but you also want to build a personal one. One tip is to simply go up to the professor after class and introduce yourself. You can choose to introduce yourself with your name and year in school or perhaps just your name—it’s up to you. Then, simply tell him or her that you are excited to be in the class this semester. These simple lines are going to introduce you to the professor but will also tell them that you are serious about the class and care about forming a relationship.

 

Taking a class with a professor you had before

If you have had the same professor for a new class, you are already at an advantage in terms of building a quality professor-student relationship. However, whether a great deal of time has passed or not, you still want to be able to maintain that relationship. After the first class with a well-acquainted professor, go and say hello. Tell him or her that you are excited to be taking the class and look forward to having a great experience like that of the last class you had with him or her.  This move and can make your relationship stronger and will let the professor know that you are a serious student.

 

Note: the above advice is intended if you did well in the previous class with that same professor.  If you failed or didn’t do as well in the class as you hoped, and you end up taking the class over, I would advise something different.  Instead of going up to the professor after class, you should visit the professor during his or her office hours. Meeting a professor during office hours can set a more intimate and professional meeting atmosphere and gives you more time to communicate. Tell your professor that you are thankful to be allowed to take the class over and that you look forward to doing better this time around. Your professor will know that you mean business, and he or she will have a clean impression of you instead of the one you last made.

 

I have only touched upon a few of many ways to make good first impressions on professors. If you would like more tips or advice, leave a comment and I will get back to you!

 

Joanne, Simmons College ’15. Read my personal blog!

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2 Broke Girls: Solidifying Racial Stereotypes

Tuesday, July 17th, 2012

Created by Michael Patrick King and Whitney Cummings, the nationally-syndicated show on CBS, 2 Broke Girls, manages to transcend the thin line that constitutes political correctness. It wholeheartedly—for cheap laughs, nonetheless—embraces ethnic stereotypes and sexism and, by doing so, further solidifies it in the audience’s consciousness.

King was in a heated debate with the show’s creators in a panel discussion about the racial and sexual overtones used throughout the show:

“The big story about race on our show is that so many are represented,” King said. “The cast is not only multi‑ethnic, including the regulars and the guest stars, but it’s also incredibly not ageist. We represent what New York used to be and what is currently very much still alive in Williamsburg, which is a melting pot.”

On the show’s Asian character, Han Lee, King said:

“I like Han. I like his character. I like the fact he’s an immigrant. I like that he’s trying to fit into America. I like the fact in the last three episodes we haven’t made an Asian joke, we’ve only made short jokes … Would you say the ‘blonde rich bitch’ is a stereotype? Would you say that the tough‑ass, dark, sarcastic‑mouthed waitress is a stereotype? I like all of them.”

King uses his sexuality to try to defend his use of stereotypes, saying, “I’m gay! I’m putting in gay stereotypes every week. I don’t find any of it offensive, any of it. I find it comic to take everybody down.”

King conveniently forgets, however, that Asian stereotypes were extremely hateful up until the 1960s, when both black Americans and Asian Americans were finally given the right to vote and participate in civic duties.

There were a string of riots against the Chinese in the early and late 19th century by Americans. In Los Angeles in 1871, seventeen Chinese were massacred in broad view of public eyes. In fact, the public enthusiastically took up violence along with the perpetrators. “Hang them!” was a common phrase exclaimed by the bystanders and “as the Chinese were hauled up, a man on a porch roof danced a jig and gave voice to the resentment many Americans felt over the Chinese willingness to work for low wages. ‘Come on, boys, patronize home trade,’ the man sang out.” Seventeen Chinese men were lynched in front of men, women, and children. (Scharf, J. Thomas, “The Farce of the Chinese Exclusion Acts,” The North American Review. Jan. 1898. Volume 166, Issue 494, pp. 85-98.)

I’m surprised that the show doesn’t have Lee wear some “traditional” Asian attire and have him speak in a farcical “Chinese” language to further drive him from the realm of the American. When King says, “I like the fact in the last three episodes we haven’t made an Asian joke, we’ve only made short jokes,” he means, Asians are short, so we’re going to run with that. The New Yorker called the show  “so racist it is less offensive than baffling.”

Look at successful comedies out on television now: How I Met Your Mother pokes fun at contemporary social life with complex characters (Barney Stinson is an enigma), New Girl shows character-layering while still allowing Zooey Deschanel be her bubbly self, Modern Family portrays all likable characters who, although they may follow some stereotypes, are able to present complexity, and the cast of the long-cancelled Arrested Development consists of diverse characters all with their own specific personalities, not just a quick scheme to establish what’s already known in our collective consciousness.

Tim Goodman of the Hollywood Reporter probably put it best:

“Every time Han gets to say something on 2 Broke Girls, the undercurrent is that it’s funny because it’s broken English. Plus he’s really short and geeky and non-sexual (there may have been other stereotypes to plop on top of him, but maybe creators Whitney Cummings and Michael Patrick King thought too much was enough, which would certainly stick with the general theme of the show). In any case, what CBS is doing every Monday night is trotting out one of the most regressive and stunning racist devices a network has produced in five or more seasons.”

King does admit that he wants to flesh out the supporting characters, but that’s what stereotypes create—one-dimensional figures for the sake of cheap, unwitty and predictable laughs. Count the number of times you hear the laugh track played throughout the show—you’ll understand what I mean.

I’m surprised the show hasn’t ended up yet as two broke writers. Michael Imato and Michael Anderson call the show “creatively bankrupt” and “just bloody awful.” I also found a comment on Grantland to be very poignant:

 

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