It’s a starry night in Vermont. Michael watches from afar and is shocked to say the least.

He sits in his family room in front of the fire looking over interesting ski trails for tomorrow’s day on the mountain. He looks out the window to check on his daughter Ana and her friends in the hot tub when he sees it. Ana, his youngest daughter, has a tattoo. Michael Finn, 50, is business man from Boston and is very protective and strict when it comes to his children. He feels as if he is in one of his bad dreams, only this is reality and he knows it. His youngest and only daughter has marked herself permanently, and there is nothing he can do to change it.

“Anything marking the body permanently is unhealthy.” Finn explains, “I am more against children getting tattoos rather than adults who can think clearly.”

Finn, a father of 4, has been through all the late night arguments, and teenage issues before. For example, when his 22 year old son Mark was suspended from his university because of his late night rowdy adventures. However, that situation was fixable; Mark was let back into the university and has since then graduated and now has a career in real estate. “Ana cannot go back in time and take away the tattoo,” said Finn bitterly. “She has to live with the decision she has made and I am confident that she will regret it.”

“She is only 18 years old; in my opinion people should wait until they are at least 21 to make life changing decisions on their own.”

Finn is even more outraged about the tattoo because it is so big. “There is a difference between a tattoo that is small and hidden than one that is large and in your face.” Finn says. “When a tattoo is small they won’t be judged in the future, the last thing I want for my child is there future to be affected by a stupid decision they made as a teenager.”

For Finn he has not only lost the trust of his daughter, but he has lost the trust of his ex-wife. “Even though Samantha and I are not married anymore, we are still partners in caring for our children.” Finn expressed. “We are supposed to make decisions about our children together, how do I know she is not keeping other secrets from me.”

Ana was not alone in making the decision to get a tattoo. She was greatly influenced by her older brother’s friend Chris King.

King, 22, from just south of Boston is no stranger to getting inked up.

“I got my first Tattoo in March 08 so spring of my sophomore year.” King explained. “I decided to get the word "Invictus" down the back of my right arm. I liked the spot and that you could see it in a t-shirt made me feel cooler.”

The idea to put “Invictus” on his body came from William Earnest Henley poem. The word Invictus means unconquerable in Latin.

“It matters not how strait the gate/ how charged with punishment the scroll/ I am the master of my fate/ I am the captain of my soul" This is the last stanza of the poem, this is what really moved king to get the tattoo. “That is why I got it; it really resonated with me and pretty much defined my beliefs in life.”

The fact that tattoos are permanent was not forgotten while King was getting the tattoo.

“When I first got it all I could think was holy shit I hope I don’t regret this and it comes out good.” King said. “You know it is permanent and if you don’t like it then you are screwed.”

Choosing an area of the body is very important when thinking about tattoos. The closer the tattoo is to the bone the more painful it gets. “I have a full rib piece on my left side and that was two and a half hours of pure hell. I still don't think I've ever been in that much pain before.” King said with a painful expression. “You can feel the needles bouncing off your ribs and it shakes your whole chest.”

In the end the pain is worth it. “My favorite Tattoo is easily my rib.”Said King who has Icarus from the Greek mythology falling tattooed on his side. “It is so distinctive, It was difficult to do I'm sure and it came out well.”

Values and beliefs play a large role in finding the perfect tattoo. “I have the words “Be Free” tattooed on my foot as a reminder to always be myself.” Horne Explained.

Kiley Horne, 20, a Scituate native, goes to school for physical therapy at Merrimack College while also performing as the star girl’s soccer goalie. She lets a lot of her emotions out on the field, but when she really needs an adrenalin rush she turns to tattoos.

“I got my first tattoo a week after I turned 18.” Horne said. “After the first one you think of designs and patterns and where to put them and how to do it. It truly is an addiction.”

The anticipation of getting a tattoo was not overlooked. “I was terrified it was going to hurt, and scared they were going to mess it up.” That didn’t stop Horne from getting her Celtic knot though.

In her eyes tattoos have to be meaningful. For her there is no point in getting a tattoo if it is not going to be important. However, the same can’t be said for Keirsten Stelzer.

Stelzer, 19, also a Scituate native, has five tattoos that are not all meaningful. “I have a tattoo on my foot of a nautical star that is not meaningful in anyway.” Stelzer said. “I just wanted a tattoo on my foot and I liked the design.”
This doesn’t mean she regrets her tattoo. However, she does believe you have to put a lot of thought into what you get. “You have to think about what you want for a long time, and make sure that wanting doesn’t fade away with time.”

Stelzer received her first tattoo at the young age of 16. Unlike the nautical star this tattoo holds great meaning. She has her father’s initials on the left side of her lower back. Steltzer’s father lost his battle to cancer when she was just a child, “I wanted him to be with me forever.” Stelzer explained. “It made me feel closer to him to have him remembered on my body.”

Some of Stelzer’s other tattoos are used to feel closer to people as well. Such as the tattoo she received last year on her ribs. “I got “faith” tattooed on my ribs because one of my best friends was in the hospital in critical condition after being in a car accident.” Sadly that young man never made it out; he died a week after Stelzer received her tattoo.

One of the more popular tattoos for men is the cross. It is meaningful, can express ones beliefs, and is something most people will never regret having on their body. Many men get this as there first tattoo because of those very reasons. Those were the reasons Brian Quirk received a cross as his first tattoo.

Quirk, 21, hails from Quincy, attends college at University of Massachusetts and is currently studying business. At this moment he has six tattoos and doesn’t have any plans to stop getting them.

“I got my first tattoo when I was a junior in high school, 17 years old.” Quirk explained. “I honestly don’t remember what was going through my head besides the pain.”

After the cross he wanted to get a tattoo that expressed his love and respect for his family.

“If I had to pick a favorite tattoo I would say the tattoo on my left arm,” said Quirk. “Only because it is the most meaningful compared to my other tattoos. It says family first.”

Not all people have the same love for their tattoos as King, Horne, Stelzer, and Quirk did. A lot of people tend to get tattoos on a whim, not really thinking about what they are getting. In most cases this person will end up regretting their tattoo.
Ashley Silvia, 22, graduated from Boston College with a degree in marketing. She has done everything she hoped to do while she was in college; along with some added bonuses she wish never took place.

One of those added bonuses occurred as the night was winding down one weekend. “My friends and I had been drinking when we had this sudden urge to all get tattoos.” Silvia remembers. “We knew there had to be a tattoo parlor in the city somewhere, so we went looking.”

Silvia had a hard time remembering the actual process, it could have been blocked from all the alcohol she had consumed that night, or the fact that the tattoo was so painful. “All I know is when I woke up my wrist was throbbing, and when I saw I had gotten a tattoo I cried.”

Silvia and her four other friends called themselves five star, it was there group name. The morning after five star’s adventures in the city, Silvia found the number five and a star tattooed on her wrist.

“I have never liked my tattoo, and I don’t think I ever will.” Silvia said. “I do what I can to hide it, getting that tattoo was one of the most irresponsible things I have ever done.”

Tattoos are different for everyone, they can come in different shapes, sizes, languages, and they all have different stories behind them.

interview 2

September 11, 2001 is now a date in history, it is a day that Americans will never forget, on that day thousands of innocent citizens were killed, and for Meaghan Coombs it was the first day that her father never came home.
On the morning of 9/11, Jeff Coombs, 42 years old, boarded American Airlines flight 11 headed for LA. Sadly the hijackers on that plane had a different destination for those innocent passengers. Flight 11 hit tower 1 of the World Trade Center buildings. Looking back on the past, Meaghan said, “At the time I was only 11 years old, it was really hard for me to cope with the fact that my father wasn’t around anymore”.
Within the first year of the tragedy, Meaghan’s mother started the Jeff Coombs Foundation. A family friend of the Coombs’ also put together a road race; about 1000 people take part in this event each year. Each year the road race collects $30,000-$50,000 this money goes to the Jeff Coombs foundations. “It felt great to be involved in a foundation that was helping people, but I wanted to start my own project”, explains Meaghan. In 2005, Meaghan single handedly organized a concert that is held every year. Normally the concert brings between $5-6,000 each year, these proceeds also go to the Jeff Coombs Foundation as well. Meaghan’s mother continued her efforts and in 2003, Meaghan’s mother started the celebrity silent auction. The Jeff Coombs Foundation provides money towards scholarships, funeral expenses, school systems, medical bills, and troop’s parties.
Meaghan and her family came out tragedy with their heads held high. As a family they have done so much for the community, both Meaghan and her mother won the “Woman of Strength” award given out by an organization called Tuesday’s Children. Meaghan says, “I’m proud of my family and everything we have done; we made the best of what we were dealt”.

Sprague interview

STEPHEN SPRAGUE has the front of any other student on the Roger Williams campus. Like most boys he enjoys watching sports, playing video games, and getting involved in intramurals such as dodge ball. As he says, “I hail from Cranston, Rhode Island” a town right outside providence. However, unlike some students Sprague loves being at school, because he knows that when he’s here he is constantly working towards a great future.
Life at home hasn’t always been easy for Sprague. When he was a child his father had to take on two full time jobs to provide for his family, and when he was at the young age of six his parents got divorced. When thinking about his father’s struggles he told me, “I don’t want that to happen to me, I want something more”. Sprague has already dealt with providing for not only himself but for his mother as well. Sprague’s mother became depressed and was out of work for 8 months due to depression and surgery. This took a toll on Sprague mentally, it was hard for him know his mother was sick. His mother’s absence from work also forced him to take a job at CVS working four days a week, he never splurged on a cent of money that he earned, and all of his checks went right to his mother.
When Sprague graduates he hopes to live in Boston, and have a job promoting either sports teams or bands. He is already ahead of most students his age. He has earned an internship with the Paw Socks a minor league baseball team; out of 3,000 people the team chooses 10 for the internship. This is not only a dream internship for any man, but it is an especially important internship for Sprague because it has a lot to do with what he wants to do for himself in the future.
Sprague has so much drive and passion to do well for himself, to lead a life different from what he knows best. In any path that Sprague chooses to take, he will go above and beyond what ever is asked of him.

Wilson, Beck and Beale

In my mind no one should be cut off or interupted especially the president of the united states, what Joe Wilson did was wrong. He acted very immature and disrespectful. I really liked the movie clip from Network. I thought it was very similar to the situations that are going on today with our economic situation and how everyone is "Mad as hell" we need someone to step up and not just address the facts of everything thats going on, we need someone to talk about how it makes us all feel. Glenn Beck is doing making a push in the right direction by explaining how he feels, but others need to follow in showing their emotion.