New On-line Youth Forum Launched

Teens Get New Internet Forum for Support, Advice, and Friendship

 

Youth Empowerment Center expands reach to cyberspace to offer teens a safe environment and support beyond the limitations of geography and time

 

San Diego, CA - September 20, 2006 - The Eugene Bowman Economic Empowerment Center announced today that it has created a new online message board/Internet forum for teens. Teens that register can access the forum 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and read messages, ask questions, discuss issues, and share information about things that are important to them, but that they may have trouble discussing with current friends or family. There is no fee to use the forum, which is located at: http://forum.empowering-youth.org/

 

“We want to reach out to kids who have access to computers, but may not be able to come to our youth center,” said Lorraine Bowman, president of the EBEEC. “The forum also allows kids to keep their identity confidential if they are in trouble or scared. We want kids to feel safe in getting the help and advice they need.” 

 

Teens do not often get a sounding board for issues that affect them on a daily basis – the goal of the forum is to provide one where feedback and advice is provided not only by peers, but also experienced staff as needed so that youth can benefit from those with age and experience beyond what they may receive on teen-only systems, or public forums were caring adult supervision may not always be available. The staff members do not “police” the forums, but monitor activity and step in when as needed to present a more rounded view of situations, or present other options that may not be suggested by other teens. The staff does constantly watch for any possible forum visitors that may not be who they seem and who communicate or act in an inappropriate manner.

 

About The Eugene Bowman Economic Empowerment Center
The Eugene Bowman Economic Empowerment Center is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization located in San Diego, California that is dedicated to providing personal support, counseling, and long-term programs to low-income, at-risk youth and families in a compassionate and healing environment.

 

Since May 2003, the Youth Empowerment Center has providing counseling and information to victims of violence. They believe it is important for survivors of all types of violence to regain control of their lives. The Center empowers them to make their own decisions through the recovery process. This includes such decisions as reporting their victimization to the police, and seeking medical services and counseling.

 

With a particular concern for at-risk youth, the EBEEC works to improve the conditions of all youth. Past programs have included Emphasis on Moms, Project Success, Girl Talk, Lasting Family Connections, Young Males United, and many more. Visit http://www.empowering-youth.org/

 

Contact:
The Eugene Bowman Economic Empowerment Center
Jon Gold, Media Coordinator
Lorraine Bowman, President/Founder
4249 Manzanita Drive
San Diego, CA 92105
Phone: (619) 281-3312
Fax: (619) 281-8023

 

Press Release Unleashed By:
Nielsen Technical Service
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“Be what they’re searching for!”

Guitar World Magazine

Guitar World

 

by Larry Dobrow, Thursday, September 14, 2006

 

I ROCK. REALLY, I do. I've got the tattoos, the liver cirrhosis and the war stories ("this one time, at the Ramada Inn in Portsmouth...") to prove it. My hair swishes to and fro, all Eddie Van Halen-like, in the rare instances that my bloated frame breaks into a gallop. I regularly gnaw on bat carcasses, just for sport.

 

Plus I can actually play a little geee-tar, which is why Guitar World has been an on-and-off companion since Guitar went under. And while the publication has gone out of its way to lure younger readers in recent years -- these kids, with the loud music and the fast cars and the dungarees -- it remains one of the few enthusiast titles that ably appeals to aficionado and newbie alike. This stands in direct contrast to its younger sibling, Guitar World Acoustic, which is only useful to neophyte players hoping to bait the ladies with sensitive campfire renditions of "Southern Cross."

 

The October Guitar World showcases just about all of what the mag has done well over the years. It includes the expected slate of mini-lessons, guitarist blurbs and transcriptions (even "More Than a Feeling," for those players unfamiliar with the enigma that is the basic D chord). It gets axemen like Dave Navarro to answer "Dear Guitar Hero" reader questions and sits down with lesser-known musicians, like underrated bluesman Joe Bonamassa, to get their quick-hit impressions on a range of riffs.

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What elevates the October issue above the mag's usual standard is the cover feature on "The Greatest 100 Guitar Albums of All Time." While I'm generally not nuts about lists that exist solely to prompt debate and blog responses and such, Guitar World tries a different approach with the feature: it lets its readers do the choosin'. Judging by the choices -- "Led Zeppelin IV," also Mike Damone's pick for makeout sessions, tops the chart -- they took their responsibility quite seriously. The decision to allow readers free reign results in a host of interesting juxtapositions, such as "Highway 61 Revisited" turning up within a position or three of someone/something called "Hate Crew Deathroll." Maybe democracy isn't such a bad idea after all.

 

The mag buttresses the list with a smattering of smart sidebars, everything from Q&As to guitar-dork analyses of Pete Townshend's "Who's Next" wizardry to overly fawning examinations of the aforementioned Zep CD (note to music writers: please expunge the adjectives "astonishing" and "explosive" from your vocabulary). Better still are the in-depth looks at seminal guitar records like "Disraeli Gears," "Machine Head" and "Destroyer." If you need me to tell you which bands made those records, you're a total square, man. Get bent.

 

Guitar World could probably use a little help on the design front, especially in its overuse of several layouts: on six straight editorial pages, the mag stacks text atop two ads of the exact same size. Additionally, I wish the pub would exercise its critical faculties a bit more often, as nearly every instrument review heralds its subject as six-stringed manna delivered straight from the heavens ("The Babicz is a remarkable instrument. It's one of the most responsive and expressive guitars I've ever played"... and this isn't even the issue's most positive notice).

 

Two other random observations: First, I totally dig the forbidding, I-am-the-human-embodiment-of-evil cover shot of Metallica's Kirk Hammett. At the same time, I wonder what it would take to convince the perpetually stern axeman to pose in a baby-blue track suit with a puppy nestled on his lap, bathed in the soft-focus glow usually seen in People features on washed-up celebs going public with some personal trial. Second: a $7.99 price tag? Ouch. Good thing they pay me 8 cents per word for this column. I can afford a few pieces of taffy AND all my happy, lovely magazines.

 

So yeah, Guitar World still does it for me. When I plug in later today -- who's kidding whom, I have a guitar on my lap right now -- I'll actually have a few new phrasings and riffs to noodle around with. Given how few musician-oriented magazines provide legit fodder for thought, that's about the highest endorsement I can give Guitar World.

 

Larry Dobrow is a Contributing Writer.

 

Magazine Rack for Thursday, September 14, 2006: http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm

 

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