I have been sitting at my desk for what feels like 48 hours staring at my computer screen. I leave only for bathroom breaks, to shove food in my mouth or to refill my caffeine fix. I have research papers, presentations and finals on my mind. I am a perfect example of what not to do as a student at the end of a semester.

Like many of you, I am a procrastinator. I have had three weeks to work on a presentation, but instead I stayed up until 2 a.m. working on it and will finish it an hour before class starts. Some of you are thinking 2 a.m. is an early night or think I am lucky I even got to go to sleep. This is the life of a college student.

You probably have said at the beginning of every semester that it will be different this time. But 14 weeks later you find yourself sleep deprived and cramming for classes. There is nothing you can do now besides put your head down and trudge through it, knowing that a week and a half from now you will be on summer vacation and all your current worries will be gone.

So to get through the rest of the week and finals week, here are some suggestions.

Take a break. Sitting and staring at the screen thinking about what to write is not always the best process. Get up and walk around, step outside for some fresh air and sunshine. It will not only clear your find for a fresh slate to brainstorm, but will also regenerate you.

Eat smart. Though McDonald’s is cheap, fast and open 24 hours it can tempt with fatty, greasy foods that do not mix well with studying. If you must eat there, grab something that’s not fried. Better yet make a simple PB’J or a grilled cheese sandwich in the comfort of your home. Grab an apple as a snack instead of chips. Apples have glucose that works like caffeine and will definitely pick you up.

Organize. Make a list of everything that needs to be completed between now and May 15 and make a schedule. Take it day-by-day. Don’t over think and overwhelm yourself with everything you have to do, just what you need to complete that day. Don’t plan for the one hour break between classes to start and finish your five-page paper. Instead use that time to read over what you wrote at 3 a.m. to make sure it makes sense. Or use the time to start another paper or start outlining chapters to get a jumpstart on studying for finals.

Try to get some sleep. Especially during finals week. Getting a good night’s sleep is more beneficial to you than staying up all night to study.

Take advantage of free services. The University Student Union will offer 24 hour study rooms in the Satellite Student Union beginning Monday, May 11 through Thursday, May 15. From 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. they will be offering arts and crafts, games and massages. Study kits will be given out as well as coffee, tea, cocoa and snacks.

Sixteen weeks have flown by once again and we find ourselves at the brim of summer break.

Though we are not quite at the end, there is no reason why we can’t think about making plans. So here are some suggestions and tips to do for the next three months without school.

There is a chance that there will be one day where laying out at the beach or by the pool will just sound boring.

For the sports fan or anyone looking for a fun crowd, L.A. Dodger game tickets can be purchased for about $20, get there early and pop a few drinks in the parking lot (if you are of age, of course) before the game to save a couple of bucks on alcohol. Checkout where you will be sitting if you’re going to a day game, the sun can be a killer so be prepared.

Same goes for college football, UCLA Rose Bowl tickets range from $20 to $500. There are always bar-barbeques in the parking lot before the game. Afterwards, you can head to Old Town Pasadena for a game of pool and some drinks at Jake’s Diner.

For a little culture, hit up Los Angeles Contemporary Museum of Art on a Friday night. A free jazz concert is hosted every Friday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Los Angeles Times Central Court.

The Getty Center also does an “after-work event” the last Friday every month through September from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. “Fridays Off the 405″ features live music and a cash bar. After, hop back on the 405 or grab a taxi to head down the street to West Lounge at Hotel Angeleno.

For the fitness buff, check out the free hatha yoga class from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. every Thursday in June at the Church in Ocean Park in Santa Monica. There are plenty of restaurants nearby Third Street Promenade with healthy choices to save the calories you just burned. Or to stick with the relaxing mood take a walk down Santa Monica beach before heading home.

Most cities have a free farmer’s market whether you are on the prowl for some great produce or just to go for a stroll. The Northridge Mall is the sight closest to campus and is held every Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. For other farmer’s market locations, head to Farmernet.com to check out one near you.

For other great finds, check out the Rose Bowl Flea Market on the second Sunday of every month. Admission prices range from $10 to $20 depending on the time of your arrival. Or to do some shopping with the coastal breeze, Ventura Flea Market is held on the third Sunday of every month, admission is $5.

The late night NBC host Jay Leno will be stepping down in 2009 so to experience the Tonight Show you can head to the NBC Studios in Burbank. NBC releases tickets the morning of the show at 8 a.m. It is a first-come, first-served basis, so get there early and tickets are not guaranteed.

Downtown? Grab a French Dip from Philippe’s on North Alameda Street and head to Pershing Square for a free concert in the park. The schedule is in the works, but checkout www.laparks.org/pershingsquare for updates.

Right now the majority of us are cramming for final quizzes, writing research papers, preparing presentations and dreading the second week of May. So hopefully, while you take a break from your work to read this, it will bring a slim ray of light into finals week.

Nearly 50 years after her death, the 1950s glamour queen, Marilyn Monroe, is still making scandalous headlines.

The infamous voluptuous blonde made the mistake a few other 21st century blondes have and allegedly videotaped her sexual escapades. The difference? Marilyn’s home video is suspected to be with a Kennedy brother and the video sold for $1.5 million by a private buyer, who has vowed the video will stay sealed away from curious, public eyes.

In contrast to the last few years, Pamela Anderson’s home video became a top rental at video stores. Paris Hilton’s less than enthusiastic performance garnered Hilton sex tape preview parties and outrageous internet downloading.

The Monroe tape reaction only highlights the class lost in Hollywood and in society. We click away to see Britney and Lindsay not wearing underwear. Or Vanessa Hudgen’s and Audrina’s nude photos. Yet here one of the most iconic women will be respected and her private affairs not exploited. Is it the manner Marilyn carried herself during her time that demands respect? If she had walked around without panties would her fellatio performance be posted on Youtube.com? But wasn’t she known for being a bit of a floozy? So is it out of respect for the deceased? The businessman only said the video would be kept private to prevent any damage to the image of Marilyn.

Then again, Britney and Lindsay have not come close to stardom of Marilyn. She is an icon, worshipped and idolized. Women have tried to recreate her curls, painted red lips and drew moles on their cheeks to try to hold a piece of her sex appeal.

Madonna and Cindy made attempts, but could not come through and so women across the world continue to copycat the one and only Marilyn.

Imagine the money that could be made by learning the secrets of Marilyn behind closed doors. Imagine the women and men who would gather to see what enticed so many famous men to her bed.

But, no, her tricks will remain concealed for now. The only two copies of the tape will reamin private. One locked up with the F.B.I. since the lucky man could possibly be John or Bobby, and the other locked up with the wealthy businessman.

You have probably been told sometime in your life to read everything you sign. But, if you have ever parked in parking structure B3, you probably have not heeded this advice.

The parking structure is one of the favorite spots for off-campus individuals to gather signatures from students.

The majority of students at some point in their college career have been solicited for a signature on some petition. However, the issues of these petitions are becoming a little more controversial month after month. A few weeks ago a woman was asking students if they would sign in support of gay marriage. And a few weeks before that I was asked if I wanted to see gang members punished. Those are serious topics and a petition that would need to be fully read before I would put my John Hancock on it.

I did not stop for either petitioner, not for my lack of support or not, but that I am generally always running late to something. My curiosity now has me wondering if this is a new approach. Do these petitioners just ask shocking questions to get our attention instead of what the topic is really about? I mean if they stood and said, “Do you support your local PTA?” how many students would stop? And how many students are actually reading what they are signing? In the rush to class after battling the parking structure many students are too reliant on the petitioner to summarize the petition for them before scribbling on the line.

According to the Matador Involvement Center, individuals who are seeking signatures of students must submit the petition they will be seeking signatures on and it must be approved by the MIC. The Center said, however, that once petitioners are on campus, no one really checks to make sure they have approval or not. Also, any political or religious groups are allowed to be on campus as long as they have gone through the appropriate procedures and approval from the MIC.

If the topics are those that the petitioner is selling, it makes sense these individuals come to us. We are in a relaxed cultural diverse setting for education and should be open to lots of different ideas. However, right out asking if you support controversial political topics is risqu’eacute;.

So, the next time your signature is heckled to support universal healthcare or Girl Scouts of America, stop and read the political jargon you are placing our own personal seal of approval on.

Ever wonder where your tax dollars go? Well over the last several years it may have paid for a federal employee’s dinner at Ruth Chris or maybe a pair of earrings for an anniversary gift or even a new suit.

The Associated Press broke a story yesterday that reports the Government Accountability Office found that nearly half of the $14 billion government credit card purchases made from 2005 to 2006 were not legitimate or did not follow procedures.

Federal employees used their cards to pay for online dating services, clothes, lingerie and expensive dinners. One group of accused spendthrift Pentagon employees spent $77,700 at Brooks Brothers, a high-end retail store.

The Pentagon authorizes purchases of up to $860 per person on civilian clothing when performing official duties, which the employees used as their defense, even though they were way over budget.

Employees at the Department of Veteran Affairs charged their Las Vegas vacations on six seperate occasions in 2007, resulting in charges of over $26,000 in casino hotels on their cards.

This was tax paid money that was intended to pay for education, national security and general use, not personal use.

Some of the more disturbing items found were employees in the education department using their cards to pay for porn online. And a postal worker used her plastic to pay for online matchmaking services that caters to married women looking for a casual affair.

However, this is not a new issue. The Washington Post published a similar story in 2001 that provided evidence of misuse of government credit cards and said the use of credit cards by employees was hard to monitor and needed tighter control.

Even last year, the Washington Post reported misuse of credit card spending by Homeland Secuirty Department employees.

The AP story found one employee who reportedly wrote checks for six years amounting to more than $642,000 that paid for her mortgage, cars, dinners and clothes. The illegal spending went completely unnoticed and was not discovered until someone tipped the USDA.

The government’s response to the report? A General Services Administration administrator told AP that the majority of employees use the cards properly and the government saves $1.8 billion in administrative costs a year.

The Post said federal agencies began issuing credit cards to the majority of employees in the 1990s to quicken purchasing procedures. Cards were issued for office supplies, travel and automobile maintenance and fuel.

Many employees are provided multiple credit cards that claim to be able to provide discounts for when employees find good travel deals, they could purchase it right away.

However, the 2001 article cited the five banks that provided the credit cards had to write off about $20 million in bad debt.

The government could also not account for about $1.8 million worth of electronics purchased, including iPods. Now why an iPod counts as a necessity for federal employees I am not quite sure, but the report said the GSA and Office of Management and Budget (yes, there is such a department) who oversee the credit card program should improve accountability of electronics purchased, including iPods, so they can not be stolen.

This report comes just in time for tax season. When I am about to write my check for taxes I owe, a government employee is out there swiping their government card for a new pair of shoes.

This week students will be asked to vote between two slates and two men to lead the student body. Will we choose the tried and true or the young and new?

Current A.S. President Adam Haverstock is asking students to re-elect him based on his accomplishments of his first term. Haverstock is a 24-year-old grad student majoring in hospitality and recreation and tourism management. Haverstock lists bringing back extended hours to the CSUN Tram system, lowering the cost of intramurals, stopping a proposed fee increase to winter session and the voter registration effort as his accomplishments from 2007- 2008.

He also lists “increased effectiveness” of the A.S. Senate based on more resolutions being passed than the “last few senates” and claims to have developed an extensive statewide advocacy program.

His slate Students First is campaigning for effective government, fair funding and student issues.

Challenging Haverstock is Miguel Segura, a 22-year-old political science major with a minor in Chicano/a studies who is a one-time A.S. Senator and involved with the New Student Orientation program.

Segura’s E3 (Educate, Empower, Enhance) slate is campaigning for educating students on issues that affect them and services available to them, empowering students to make an impact on campus, and get involved and enhance the CSUN experience for each student.

The E3 website says that once students are educated and empowered their CSUN experience will be enhanced and will create more student involvement.

Their slates are quite different from one another. Segura’s slate centers more on campus to try to get CSUN students involved, while Haverstock is also working on a statewide level and calling for advocacy to stop fee increases and other student issues at the state level.

But they have their similarities. Both candidates have ties with the Greek system. Segura is a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon. Haverstock is alumni of Pi Kappa Phi.

They both are subject of minor criticism. Segura is criticized for running for A.S. president in spring 2007, but did not have a slate prepared and said he was not motivated than as he is now. He has teamed up with current A.S. Senator Nicole Umali to try again at beating out Haverstock for the presidential position.

Haverstock, on the other hand, is criticized by clubs and organizations for his senate and finance committee not fully funding clubs and organizations finance requests. He was also questioned for half of the senate resigning at the beginning of this spring semester. Haverstock credited the senators’ departure to his high expectations for cabinet members.

This upcoming year already promises to be a challenging one. In addition to the usual student issues of parking demands, tuition increases and club fudning, the president is facing sharp budget cuts from the CSU system and the effects the those cuts will have on our campus.

Like many other elections, we are offered a choice of the established current politician or to take a risk with a new one.

With the average of about 2,000 to 3,000 students participating in the student elections, about 10 percent of the student population will decide who will lead the student body through 2008 to 2009 and lead us in a fight for our student rights.

Voting begins today at 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. and will resume Wednesday at the same time in front of the bookstore in Matador Square. Voting can also be done online.

The man who discovered the one-time 10th planet explained why his planet and Pluto are no longer labeled as planets in a lecture at the Oviatt Library Presentation Room last Wednesday.

In a humorous manner, Caltech professor Mike Brown discussed the history of Pluto and his discovery of the proposed 10th planet, Eris, before both planets were deemed “dwarf planets.”

“Every astronomer besides the crazy ones agree,” Brown said during his lecture, which was advertised as an entertaining and non-technical lecture and presented by the Office of Graduate Studies, Distinguished Speakers Program, and the physics and astronomy departments.

After eight years of research, Brown discovered Eris, a planet just past Pluto that was slightly larger than Pluto and thus named as a 10th planet. But in 2006, only after one year, the International Astronomical Union held a meeting in Prague in order to decide if Eris would continue to be recognized as a planet or not.

IAU determined Eris and Pluto would instead retain a dwarf planet status, removing Pluto as a planet from the solar system.

Brown discussed the extreme difference in size between Pluto and the other eight planets in the solar system as well as the “goofy” orbit of Pluto, a slightly tilted oblong shape.

Brown said it was debatable when Pluto was first discovered whether it was a planet or not, but was not argued until 76 years later. Pluto is located in what is known as “Kuiper’s Belt” a line of asteroids after Neptune. A similar belt of asteroids parts the four smaller planets from the four larger planets, in between Mars and Jupiter.

The crowd of about 150 was a mix of students attending for a class and students attending on their own will.

“It was accurate and entertaining,” said Marni Doyle, a 21-year-old astrophysics major.

Sergio Orozoc, also a 21-year-old astrophysics major, agreed and added that he came because the flyers said it would be entertaining.

Using slides to aid his lecture, Brown showed students how astronomers determine if an object is a planet or not. In 1930, when Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto, astronomers used photo plates to take a picture of a specific spot in the sky for two nights in a row and would analyze the pictures to see if any of the objects had moved.

Brown explained that technology today allows astronomers to take digital pictures of the sky. The digital lenses are much smaller than the plates previously used and it took eight years for astronomers to cover the majority of the sky that Tombaugh covered 30 years ago.

However, today, computers analyze the photos and look for things that are possibly moving and might be planets. Brown said he then goes through the 100 or so pictures forwarded to him.

“The majority of the time it is cat dust or a plane, but every now and then you get something no one else has ever seen,” Brown said.

The professor clarified that there was never a Planet X, which was once believed to exist. Brown explained that astronomers noticed a pull in Neptune’s movement, which was the way Neptune was discovered. Hidden behind Uranus, Neptune’s orbit would tug on Uranus and astronomers believed they had spotted it again in Neptune and would find a planet. However, there was no hidden planet.

Brown also said that he used a telescope at Palomar Observatory to find Eris, but only had to visit the observatory twice in the eight years of his research because of satellites and technology.

“Some say I lost the romance of astronomy,” Brown said and added he got married and had a 2-year-old during his research, which probably wouldn’t have happened if he had to be at the observatory every night. “I like that kind of romance,” he said.

Brown said he chose to name the planet Eris because it was one of the few Roman and Greek gods and goddesses names left on the registry. Brown joked of the correlating fate of Eris, goddess of strife and warfare, who caused a quarrel between goddesses that eventually led to the Trojan War. Similarly, the discovery of Eris led astronomers to split and argue over the correct classification of planets.

New Kids on the Block confirmed their proposed reunion tour Friday on The Today Show and confirmed all my childhood dreams of being able to attend a NKOTB concert.

I am as giddy as the six-year-old sitting in front of the television in 1989 watching the “Hangin’ Tough Live” concert on pay-per-view.

I am part of the mid 20 to 30-year-old age group that companies are marketing at with the revival of ’80s products. They are remaking “classics,” iconic toys we played with as kids, and cartoons we watched on Saturday mornings.

It started with the fashion industry bringing back mustard yellow and royal purple. Then came the leggings. A side ponytail and leg warmers can be spotted here and there. Bangles and chunky plastic bracelets can be found on wrists of many of today’s fashion icons, and the return of the straight-legged jeans on boys and girls alike.

Then the movie studios jumped on board and presented us with “The Transformers,” which lead to twenty-something-year-old boys squirming in their chairs as they watched Optimus Prime transform from a GM big rig truck to the robot from another dimension.

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” followed, though failed, along with “Rambo.” While the unveiling of the “G.I. Joe” movie still teases us from week to week.

The car industry hopped on the ’80s remake train too with the two-hour advertisement for General Motors in “Transformers.”

Thought GM was old and out of style against the new Ford Mustang or Toyota Scion’s funky models? They tried to prove us wrong with their Pontiac sports car, Cadillac SUVs and of course the new Camaro-which actually does have me squirming in my chair for the arrival of 2009.

The music industry is now catching on and sending the now 40-year-old version of NKOTB to a town near you. The boys, now men, have said they will sing, dance and “do it all,” which might be more entertaining than hearing “Step-by-Step” again.

Guns N’ Roses started touring again in 2001 after a few years away from the scene. Brett Michaels and Poison went back to touring during the summer of 2006 and have continued for the past two years.

I’m not sure if the entertainment industry has run out of acts or if they just know that 25 to 30-year-olds have an extra $300 a month to spend as they please.

That translates to $20 for the NKOTB Reunion CD, $20 for the “Transformers” DVD, $10 for a “G.I. Joe” movie ticket, $70 for a concert ticket and $200 for the relaunched Members Only jacket.

So why do we buy into the recycled products we once begged our parents to buy for us?

Some Freudian followers may say that we are welcoming the resurrection with arms wide open, recoiling back to our childhood when times, and the economy, were good, compared to the uncertainty of our future consisting of weapons of mass destruction, war and the polar ice caps melting.

I am not too sure what it is, or why we are so quick to embrace the peltora of ’80s remakes, but excuse me while I listen to “You’ve Got It (The Right Stuff)” and practice my dance steps.

While I was lying out at the beach on Monday enjoying our day off to observe Cesar Chavez Day, it occurred to me that we rarely, if ever, receive a day off from school.

In fact, just a month and half earlier all my friends were off from work for President’s Day while I dashed off to school. On this Monday though they were all at work. What made Chavez the exception?

In high school I learned about Cesar Chavez, the revolutionary for farm workers, the civil rights leader in the 1960s who co-founded what is now known as the United Farm Workers. Chavez demanded improvements to the harsh working conditions of laborers.

However, in high school we did not get Mr. Chavez’s birthday off to observe the great things he did, but we did for President’s Day to observe Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Washington’s accomplishments. So why now at a CSU do we celebrate March 31?

According to the CSUN academic calendar, CSUN consolidates holidays in order to provide a longer break during the end of December. So we observe Lincoln’s Birthday the day after Christmas, Washington’s Birthday on Dec. 27 and Columbus Day on Dec. 28.

So I understand why we did not get President’s Day off, but why isn’t Cesar Chavez Day observed at the end of December also?

After talking to someone at the CSU Chancellor’s Office and to someone in the Government Affairs Office at the California Department of Education, both of whom seemed rather confused by my inquiry and their first response was, “I don’t know.”

I was finally able to piece together that Cesar Chavez Day is not a federal holiday and therefore cannot be “moved” to a later date. At the same time, unlike federal holidays, Cesar Chavez Day is not a mandatory day for schools to close campuses. Several school districts did not close their campuses, while majority of Sacramento government offices were closed. It is state law that if a school remains open there must be an activity educating students about Cesar Chavez.

For the last few semesters I thought we were getting screwed of days off at CSUN, but in actuality any days the employees can get off, they take off and that translates into us getting the day off from classes.

Though we may not celebrate a particular federal holiday the same day as the rest of the state or nation we do celebrate it – it just might be the day after Christmas.