Bert Duguay, co-owner of Ebenezer Flagg Co. at the corner of Touro and Spring Street in the heart of downtown Newport has been in business for over 30 years creating custom flags for companies all over the country. The small shop is covered from floor to ceiling with flags and banners ranging from national flags to personal family banners.

I can remember my arrival: my best friend Miya was already there waiting for me, smiling like always. I had arrived with my boyfriend of the time, but the only person I needed there wasn’t, my father. He must have been running late. Didn’t he know his youngest daughter was jumping out of a plane that day?

For my 19th birthday celebration, Miya and I had planned a Rolling Stones concert and skydiving.

Thirteen of Salve’s bravest student-athletes gathered together to strut their stuff at the annual Mr. Seahawk Pageant Feb. 27, 2009.

Over 600 students piled into the Rogers Recreation Center to watch the contestants compete for the title of Mr. Seahawk.

It’s everywhere and simply inescapable. It haunts you on the magazine stands at the supermarket and pops up when you use the internet, perhaps even on your homepage. Plainly said, for the past few weeks, celebrity sensationalism has reached a record high in senselessness.

Voices are perpetually rising, attempting to speak over one another in a heated exchange. Heads are shaking, fingers wagging, veins pulsating on sweat-covered foreheads. Bodies and the luggage they carry haphazardly bump into innocent bystanders, focusing on nothing but being the first person to reach the front.