February Magazine 2015

Meet A True “Dreamer” MAGAZINE Feb. 2015

NEWS ARTS LIFESTYLE SPORTS Who Are Generation Z & Why You Should Care? p5 City Council May Finally Be Helping in Jamaica’s Draining Issues

p8 PostValentine’s Day Gifts (in case you forgot) p9

Viviana Sanchez

came to the U.S. when she was 5 years old. Now, she’s fighting to prove she deserves to stay here.

York Marches With Selma

BY YVETTE BROWN

This March York College is sponsoring a trip for 30 students to attend the 50th anniversary commemoration of the historic demonstration that took place in 1965 and came to be known as “The Bloody Sunday March.”

The opportunity is being presented by York officials in honor of the first Selma to Montgomery march to address the state of Alabama and the nation to help restore voting rights to disenfranchised African Americans.

The first of three marches began on March 7, 1965 in Selma but ended on the Edmund Pettis Bridge just outside Selma, Alabama. The march was interrupted when state troopers and armed thugs attacked approximately 600 protesters. Many marchers including now Congressman John Lewis were trampled by horses and viciously beaten. Pictures and scenes of the brutality were seen across newspapers and television screens. The next march was then led by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and they were protected by federal marshals as ordered by President Lyndon Johnson.

The march was completed and ended on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol building in Montgomery where Dr. King delivered his “How Long, Not

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Long” speech on March 25, 1965. The speech was given to restore and protect African Americans in the south so that they would be able to vote. President Johnson the signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Last year nine York College students and President Marcia V. Keizs participated in the Bridge Crossing Jubilee to commemorate the historic event. This year 30 students will be selected to attend the bridge crossing. The selection committee includes Dr. Ron Daniels, Dr. Selena Rodgers, Dr. George White and Dean William Dinello. Students who want to participate in the event must write an essay of 1,000 words maximum. The essay should include why students want to participate in the bridge crossing, what lessons one hopes to learn from the experience and how those lessons can be applied to one’s educational experience at York, students must be in good academic standing (minimum 2.0 GPA), a full-time student and a sophomore or above. If more than 30 eligible students apply, those who are approved will be selected from a random drawing.

The deadline for applications has been extended to Feb. 13, and the trip is scheduled to take place from March 5 to 8. The application can be found on York’s website.

Yvette Brown is News Editor. She can be reached at Yvette@yorkpbnews.net

Uptown Special Is Too Hot!

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ritish born artist Mark Ronson is known in the music industry as a talented producer and his work as one of today’s premiere DJ. He has worked with many big name artists including Lil Wayne, Sir Paul McCartney and the late great Amy Winehouse, the last of which he produced Grammy Award winning albums with. Despite his success behind the scenes and overseas in the past decade, he still struggling to find relevance as a solo artist here in the states. With numerous albums to his name that have been successful in Europe, his fourth album “Uptown Special” Ronson produces an album that might finally make him a household name on an international level.

The standout song on the album is “Uptown Funk,” heavily influenced by the sounds of Funk/R&B and early rap, featuring the uber talented Bruno Mars. It has the distinct sound of a classic James Brown song with lyrics like “Ride to Harlem, Hollywood, Jackson, Mississippi. If we show up, we gon’ show out Smoother than a fresh jar o’ Skippy.”

The single has risen to the number one spot on the charts in the states and has already been dominating the charts in England and other countries around the world. What makes this song a hit is it’s trip to the time of Minneapolis funk. With the song’s wicked

guitar strokes, drum beat and epic horns it becomes so catchy you can’t help but to dance along. But it’s the vocals of Bruno and his band, The Hooligans, on this track that make it just as sweet and soulful as it should be.

Other notable songs include “Feel Right” which features long gone rap artist Mystikal in what seemed to be a homage to James Brown. Mystikals unique voice and sound makes it sound very fitting. And Summer Breaking, which has a low key vibe that really helps you build up to the real meat of the album.

In general the album is really well paced. It’s a party album that never slows down or disappoints. Ronson produced really good jams with some decent rest periods and turns it up when it is needed. And that is something you would expect from a DJ of his caliber..

If you like the funk era of music you will undoubtedly enjoy this album. Almost all the songs are possible radio hits and it only helps that Ronson got some great appearances by such notable artists (Stevie Wonder, Mystikal and Bruno Mars). This album is definitely one you want downloaded on to your music device of choice. While it’s not perfect it does show bits of greatness. It’s retro and reminiscent of what Ronson was able to accomplish with the late, great Amy Winehouse.

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More than a DREAM

“Whenever I try to talk to her, like through Skype, especially during the holidays, she’s always asking me, ‘When are you going to come home? When are you going to come see me? I’m going to die and you’re not going to come and see me,’ and so it’s a little bit sad.”

Her first involvement with immigration rights reform was an organization Make the Road NY. It was through this organization that Sanchez got the opportunity to meet Vargas, appear in his documentary and be featured with him and several other undocumented young people on the cover of TIME. “When I was on the cover of TIME with Jose Antonio Vargas, I didn’t know what exactly to tell my parents that day,” said Sanchez who worried that her parents would disapprove. “It was June 2012, before DACA (the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) was announced, and I ended up doing this because I felt like I needed to get myself out there because it’s been too long. We’ve been hiding for too long and being afraid isn’t going to get us anywhere. This is just part of an everyday movement.”

THE STORY OF A GIRL’S JOURNEY TO MAKE THE BEST OF HER SITUATION IN A COUNTRY THAT WANTS HER OUT. NOW SHE’S HERE TO HELP OTHERS LIKE HER. Right: Viviana at age 5, when she first came to NYC, with her mother and little brother.

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iviana Sanchez, a five-year-old Ecuadorian girl and her three-year-old brothers were brought to the United States by their parents in May of 1998. Seventeen years later, with her family’s visa no longer valid, Sanchez is now a 21-year-old junior studying psychology here at York making waves. She’s been on the cover of TIME Magazine, she has been featured in Documented, a 2013 documentary on undocumented immigrants directed by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Jose Vargas, who continues to fight for rights of DREAMers and other undocumented people in the U.S. As a member of the New York State Youth Leadership council, an organization led by undocumented youth, Sanchez is pushing to fight for the DREAM Act, which would allow undocumented students eligibility for financial aid.

In 1995, Sanchez’s father came to New York on a work visa, and he went back to Ecuador to visit his family the following year. He came back to the U.S. in 1997 with Sanchez’s mother and in 1998 got a tourist visa approved for the two children.

Wanting better education for their children and seeing no economic future in Ecuador, Sanchez’s parents decided to stay in the United States after the six months granted to them on their visa expired. As a child, Sanchez knew very little about her illegal status. While she lived the life of a regular child her parents struggled to find ways to get their papers. “Since you’re a kid you don’t care about it,” remembered Sanchez.

In 2000, there seemed to be some hope for her family. The Legal Immigration Family Equity (LIFE) Act implemented a provision, section 245(i), allowing certain immigrants with illegal status to file for adjustment of status. One group eligible included illegal residents who had committed visa violations. Sanchez’s family hired a lawyer to help them file for their working papers.

By the deadline in 2001, her family found that nothing had been filed under their name. The lawyer was a crook. “Everything in our case was lost and my father had to restart the case in 2001.”

Despite the legal issues her family was dealing with, it wasn’t until junior high school that Sanchez understood that she was somehow different.

“I didn’t know I was undocumented until I was a little bit older, like around 12 or so,” said Sanchez. “But I didn’t know what that meant. My parents just told me I didn’t have some sort of

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papers and the told me not to tell anyone.”

In 2006, Sanchez’s father finally got an employer to sponsor him for working papers. “He has a pending petition for a skilled worker here,” said Sanchez. “In 2007, he got his petition certified by the Department of Labor and so it’s been pending ever since that time.” The only way his case will ever go through, Sanchez says, is if congress changes immigration laws to accommodate people in her father’s situation.

The first time Sanchez was directly affected by her situation was in high school. “That’s when I started to see other people getting working papers and getting IDs,” she reflected. After being offered an externship in a hospital in Harlem dealing with HIV prevention, Sanchez went to the hospital and was handed paperwork to fill out by an administrator. New to the process, she simply crossed out the social security field, continued filling out her papers and handed them in.

“The first experience was a little bit traumatizing,” recalled Sanchez. “She ended up giving me a dirty look and yelling at me.

Telling me ‘Are you illegally here! Are you illegal!” Not fully understanding what that meant, Sanchez felt ashamed, as though she had done something wrong. “I just felt like it just completely broke me,” she said. “I remember wanting to cry right in front of her.”

After that day, other job opportunities and scholarships slipped away, as Sanchez was forced to turn them down although she qualified under all the criteria other than citizenship.

For nearly 17 years, with the majority of her family still in Ecuador and the inability to travel back, Sanchez and her parents have dealt with painful losses to stay in America. “I remember when I was in middle school in 2006, my grandfather died and my mother didn’t get to see him at all. I never got to make memories with him and then afterwards in 2007 my aunt died of cancer.” Fighting back tears she said, “Each and every single year I have to see my mother cry because she can’t go see her mother.” Never having met her family back in Ecuador, Sanchez tries to keep in contact with them through Facebook and Skype.

Still, she said, she feels a disconnect. Sanchez especially worries about not having the chance to meet some of her elderly family members, including her grandmother.

council to get my passport renewed so I could leave the country with my family.”

Sanchez began volunteering and doing work helping other young people in similar situations fill out DACA forms. She also got involved with a youth empowerment group, where she met her first mentor, Laura Lo Forti, who encouraged her to tell her story in a nationwide audio competition, where she became a finalist.

Still struggling financially Sanchez wasn’t sure she would be able to continue college. To her surprise, on her birthday in April 2012, found out that Lo Forti had secretly been fundraising for her to go to college. “I couldn’t thank her enough,” said Sanchez.

In 2013, Sanchez got her first bank account, social security number, New York State ID, and her first job with Kaplan. Within a week of her interview, Sanchez was offered the opportunity to fly down to their office in Fort Lauderdale. This would be the first time she had been a plane since her arrival in 1998. “I was so nervous when I was about to fly for the first time! I was like ‘It took me 15 years to do this!’”

With Kaplan Sanchez writes about her experiences as an undocumented student. Her pieces can be found on the Kaplan DREAMers Education Initiative blog.

Now, Sanchez is heavily involved with the New York State Youth Leadership Council and a movement called CUNY DREAMers. With the DREAMers, Sanchez spoke up about her situation publicly in an event called “Coming Out Undocumented,” which took place in Union Square Park in Manhattan.

Speaking out on issues regarding undocumented immigrants is an empowering experience. Sanchez hopes to bring more awareness to the York College campus in the upcoming year.

Despite the struggles, Sanchez is still glad for her opportunities in the U.S. “Immigration is very complicated overall but in the end I think I’m really grateful for everything this country has given me.”

Left: TIME Magazine cover featuring Viviana with award winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas and other undocumented Americans.

Bottom: Viviana at a rally with the Youth Leadership Council.

Getting to college was a financial struggle for Sanchez. Her parents pushed her to apply despite not being eligible for financial aid. Her parents helped pay for college in 2012 until DACA was announced.

DACA was a policy change enacted by President Barack Obama in June 2012 which allowed for immigrants, who are under the age of 31 and have been in the U.S. since their sixteenth birthday, eligibility for work authorization for two years.

It has since been extended to three years with the ability to renew. Through DACA, Sanchez has finally been able to get her first New York identification card, working papers, and a bank account.

“The day that DACA was announced I’d actually given up on everything,” said Sanchez. “I ended up going to the Ecuadorian February 2014 PB Magazine 4

Tech and Social Savvy

WTF is w/ #GZ? Who is Generation Z? Are we ready for them? And What Exactly Can We Expect from a generation of Americans that will be more plugged in than ever before?

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ove over millennials because Generation Z has arrived. This group of diverse, social media savvy, hard working, entrepreneurial world changers have spurred a marketing takeover.

Generation Z or Gen Z’ers refers to those born after Generation Y, the millennials. Though there is no definitive time frame, researchers argue that Generation Z began in the mid 1990’s and stop around mid 2000’s, ranging from ages 11 to 20. Those born in 1995 onward make up nearly 26 percent of the American population outnumbering Millennials by more than one percent, according to the 2012 U.S. Census Bureau.

“I’m not very surprised because I’ve always noticed the abundance of bodies in class,” said Jaishon Miller, 19, a former Queens College student. “I was always in a classes with an average of 30 to 35 students and we often ran out of desks.” Born in 1995 Miller just makes the cut as a Gen Z’er.

Several characteristics set Gen Z’ers apart from the millennials before them. Growing up in a post internet age, Gen Z’ers are believed to be more efficient web browsers spent more time surfing the web and on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. However preferring more visual based content, like emojis, GIF’s and memes, data showed that the percentage of Instagram users has increased while 25 percent of 13 to 17 year olds left Facebook in 2014, according to Mashable.com “I have both Facebook and Instagram,” Miller said.

“I use Instagram more because people on Facebook complain too much and the solution isn’t always to block them. I like Instagram because pictures are often artistic and beautiful.”

Aside from social media and online shopping, Gen Z’ers were also considered efficient researchers, using social media productively. 52 percent of teens used YouTube and other social media sites for research on school assignments, according to a 2012 Pew research study. Research also showed that Gen Z’ers are more tech savvy and prefer to work and communicate across multiple platforms including television, computers, tablets, smartphones iPods and other mobile devices.

“I’ve never really used YouTube for anything related to my school assignments,” Miller said. “Mostly funny videos and music videos. I did use YouTube to learn how to tie my tie for graduation.” He also does not consider himself tech savvy.

Computer Sciences major, Arban Nichols, 30 is considered a millennial and agreed that Gen Z’ers may be more efficient researchers then those in his generation.

“From the time they were babies the internet was there for them,” Nichols said. “For them it’s as simple as, sit down, log on and click search.”

Speaking from personal experience Nichols said his first experience with a computer was in first grade, a time when the internet was still fairly new.

“The internet was just becoming a thing for people to use,” Nichols said. “It still had a lot of bugs and it wasn’t as advanced as it is now.

As far as using social media for research, Nichols believed it should be strongly advised against.

“It’s a good way to get a person more familiar with a topic, but as far as research goes you have to be careful where you take information from especially on the internet,” said Nichols.

Future Businesswomen and Businessmen As well as being internet and tech savvy, data suggested Gen Z’ers are eager to work, have entrepreneurial oriented goals and mature faster than millennials.

55 percent of high school students feel they are pressured by their parents to gain early professional experience, according to Entrepreneur.com.

“I started working at 14 because my family isn’t the most luxurious, so I needed mula for myself,” Miller joked.

72 percent of high school students want to start their own business and 61 percent want to be an entrepreneur rather than an employee, according to Millennial Branding and Internship.com “I think they see now that the old ways of going to look for a job aren’t going to work. Its much harder to find a job and much easier to lose a job,” said Nichols.

In an effort to get a job, Nichols said teens are using digital media and different sites like LinkedIn to get the information they need and network with people to start their own businesses. Nichols described LinkedIn as a “very professional Facebook.”

“I know of LinkedIn but I don’t use it.” Miller said.

“Many of my friends use it and tell me to create one.”

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Consideration and Open Minded

Their Kryptonite

In terms of maturity, 25 percent of Gen Z teens said they were in a physical fight in the past year compared to 42 percent of teens surveyed in 1991, according a 2014 survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“I’m not surprised the percentage has decreased. I don’t believe that it’s a matter of maturity though, just that teens nowadays are less interested in fighting and maybe less confrontational,” said Miller.

Unlike Miller, Nichols questioned where the study was conducted and said it depends more on where you are looking.

“I don’t know where they did their study because if you look at high schools in different states across different economic lines you may find some teens more willing to fight than others,” said Nichols. “I don’t necessarily agree with that because around here in Jamaica, Queens people fight and they’re Gen Z’ers.”

Gen Z’ers are considered to be more concerned about the economy, the environment and their impact on the world and more willing to volunteer. 26 percent of 16 to 19-year-olds are volunteering and hope to “make a difference and an impact on the world,” according to a 2013 study by the U.S. Department of Labor.

“They’re more connected to what’s going on in the world.” Nichols said. “They see something going wrong or something that bothers them and they want to get out there and help.”

Miller used to volunteer in high school with an environmental awareness and prevention group called Green Team.

“We would encourage recycling throughout our school, and go out and help plant trees and plants. We even made reusable paper out of scraps of paper,” Miller said.

Gen Z’ers are living in an increasingly diverse world.

Interracial marriages for blacks and whites increased by more than 400 percent in the last 30 years as well as a more than 50 percent increase in the multi-ethnic youth population, according to the 2010 census.

A 2013 Mintel.com study predicted a more than seven percent increase in the Hispanic teen population over the next five years.

“There is a lot of commingling,” Nichols said about interracial relationships. “People from other countries are coming to America and some people from here are moving overseas.”

While being a Gen Z’ers may sound all good, these newbies do have their flaws. Gen Z’ers have slightly shorter attention spans than millennials. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, 11 percent of Gen Z’ers were diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD in their later years. That was a more than three percent increase than those diagnosed in 2000.

“I was diagnosed with ADHD as a kid,” Miller said. “I could never focus on one thing for too long or stay still for very long. My teacher in high school would call out, ‘Shiny thing! Shiny thing!,’ whenever my attention drifted in class. I would always look to see if she was holding anything.”

Gen Z’ers also lack situational awareness, are often oblivious to their surroundings and are less capable of giving directions, leading some researchers to believe they have become heavily reliant on their mobile devices, according to the 2013 Pew research study.

“We didn’t always have specific tools to do the work for us,” said Nichols. “We were always doings repetitively to learn them and what they do is rely on their phones. But I don’t think it’s just Generation Z. Its millennials as well. That just comes with the change.”

While he is a Gen Z’er Miller said he doesn’t use his phone much except for texting and calls.

“I don’t think I’m attached to my phone. I’m able to leave my phone at home while I’m outside or enjoy a movie on Netflix,” said Miller.

The Market Adjusts Market researchers have studied these and other aspects of the growing Generation Z and have begun adapting strategies geared towards their characteristics.

Talking frequently, for a shorter time and communicating with the use images rather than text seems to be a common trend for marketers. Also treating them like adults and marketing more towards their entrepreneurial side by including their opinions to help improve business. These strategies are just ideas researched considered for connecting with the emerging Generation Z. When it comes to connecting with Gen Z’ers Nichols advised market researchers to, “stop talking, be bold.

Show them something they don’t readily have access to on their phone.”

While the Gen Zers are becoming more of the target consumer for marketers, Nichols suggests that Millennials time isn’t over. In fact, they are less of the target and more of the ones doing the targeting.

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City Allocates $40 Million to Help Jamaica’s Drainage

By Rosanna Singh Flooding has been one of the main issues in various parts of Queens for the past several years, since the borough partially sits on a polluted aquifer that can’t be simply and safely drained. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently announced that they will initiate the construction of a $40 million project to install an interceptor sewer in South Ozone Park in early 2015 designed to improve the capacity of the drainage system and reduce sewer overflows.

According to the DEP, the project is divided into two smaller projects in South Ozone Park under the Southern Belt Parkway.

It aims to decrease the tremendous amounts of sewage overflow coming from both the Bergen Basin and Thurston Basin which empty directly into Jamaica Bay. The two projects will allow an additional 300 million gallons of combined sewer flow to be channeled to the Jamaica Wastewater Treatment Plant yearly. It will be treated in accordance to Federal Clean Water Act’s standards and regulations, instead of being discharged untreated into the tributaries of Jamaica Bay. The Clean Water Act (CWA) establishes regulations for discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and quality standards for surface waters, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

In the spring, the DEP said they plan on installing three hydraulic levees at key junction points

within the area’s sewer network.

They claim this will optimize the carrying capacity of the pipes during rain storms and reduce sewer overflows into both Bergen and Thurston Basins. The installation of the three hydraulic levees will further help reduce combined sewer overflows (CSO) into the Bergen Basin by 65 million gallons each year and into Thurston Basin by 102 million gallons a year, according to the DEP. They claim that the installation of the three levees should be completed by the summer of 2016 and the construction of the new interceptor sewer is expected to be finished in early 2017.

During York College’s “Green Talk” series in December 2014, DEP Deputy Commissioner Jim Roberts said that whenever it rains, flooding, sewer overflows and backups are issues the Queens community continually face. Roberts said the DEP is unable to treat both stormwater and sewer waste, so they have no other alternative but to release untreated water.

“I was trained to be a professional engineer, but I also have to realize that I live in a political environment as well,” Roberts said.

“We have a lot of conversations to have with the elected officials in the areas that we serve, we work with them. It becomes one of the more challenging things that I have in my job.”

According to the DEP, there are two 36-inch sewer lines that transmit combined flow from North Conduit Avenue, under the Belt Parkway, to 150th Street and 126th Avenue, where it connects to a

72-inch sewer line which brings the flow to the Jamaica Wastewater Treatment Plant. As a result of the increasing growth and expansion in southern Queens, the twin 36-inch sewers no longer have sufficient capacity to carry the combined flow generated north of the Belt Parkway and act as a bottleneck in the area’s drainage system, DEP officials said.

When it rains heavily, the bottleneck causes CSOs to be discharged into the Bergen Basin. To avoid the bottleneck backup, the DEP said that they will build a parallel 48-inch sewer under the Belt Parkway, which is an estimated $29 million project. Since construction may interrupt flow of traffic on the Belt Parkway, the DEP said they will use a micro-tunneling machine to install the new sewer line in the fall. The machine will launch from a shaft site between North Conduit Avenue and the Belt Parkway and exit on the south end of the Belt Parkway.

The work will result in alternate closure of lanes on the Belt Parkway during the overnight hours and on weekends. The DEP said they will work with the Department of Transportation to inform the community and commuters of any closures or changes being made. They are expecting construction of the project to be completed in early 2017.

According to the DEP, there are 14 treatment plants in the city that can handle and treat all the wastewater created in NYC at an average of 1.3 billion gallons on a dry day to Federal Clean Water Act standards.

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This past Valentines Day, some couples were clueless about their plans for the holiday, while others wanted to be more creative by implementing new ideas.

Both females and males have different views about Valentines Day and sometimes issues can arise from determining how to celebrate the holiday, scheduling plans and satisfying the need of his or her significant other. Wonder what you did right or wrong this Valentine’s Day? Here’s a look into the feminine and masculine perspective on the holiday.

What is your perspective towards Valentines Day and what is your reason for celebrating it?

F

. Valentines Day is a holiday for couples to publicly express their love for one another by engaging in outdoor and indoor activities. Couples should always express their love regardless of the holiday. However Valentines Day is the recognition of all couples young and old to display affection towards their partner. Although I do not celebrate Valentines Day as much, I am very open-minded and would consider celebrating it because I want to utilize the holiday to dedicate my time to fully loving and showing compassion towards partner.

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. I’m neutral when it comes to Valentine’s Day. It’’s just a day like any other but unfortunately society forces this day upon us to be romantic which we can be any other day of the year.

Are gifts or expensive dates necessary to show your love and appreciation towards your partner?

F

. I am definitely a supporter of “gift-showering,” however money cannot buy love, or at least produce genuine love in a relationship. The best gifts are those that are unexpected and don’t need an expensive price tag to scream the words “I love you!” Yes, I love nice, expensive items just like the next girl, but I learned over the years that you couldn’t put a price on love. The thought of my partner purchasing an item for me or remembering every detail about jewelry I wear has more value than

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the most expensive Louis Vuitton bag. All I am saying is a relationship should not rely on expensive materials or extravagant dates to survive. A relationship requires balance.

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. I don’t think so because while an expensive gift may prove that you like a person, it doesn’t prove that you really care about the person. If I make a fake rose out of things I have at home which I’ll work on for a while I guarantee you I’ll get a more genuine smile than I would from buying a flower in the store.

Is sex a necessary to make Valentines Day more meaningful? Why or Why not?

F

. Sex is a vital necessity in any relationship, BUT sex in my opinion should not be a necessity to display love and affection. There are various ways to show intimacy rather than sex. Sex is very overrated due to people who change and transform the value of sex. In today’s generation, sex has lost its meaning and is just a game of selfish satisfaction and popularity. During Valentines Day, couples should try to be unique by not having sex on this holiday. By doing that, a couple is changing the atmosphere from sweaty and draining sexual intimacy to sweet and romantic mental intimacy. Sex is a great component to any relations and I believe God made it for us to enjoy and give to our future husband or wife, but sex does not make any relationship more or less meaningful.

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. Yes it is if the day is going well because if you are having a romantic evening the sexual tension is there which, guess what? It makes the sex 10x better than it would be on a day both of you at home in pajamas talking about what to do.

If you happen to celebrate Valentine’s Day is a public display of affection more effective than a private one?

Would it be a good idea to ask someone you just met out on Valentine’s Day or would it be too much pressure?

F

F

M

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. Personally, I am not a fan of public display of affection and I prefer to show my love privately.

However, holding hands, appropriate kisses and hugs and talking about how much we love one another is acceptable. Buying flowers and chocolates is also appropriate. Sometimes, couples can take extreme measure and show affection not meant to be seen publicly, so I believe there is a limit to how a couple should show affection publicly, especially on Valentines Day. . Whether it’s Valentine’s Day or not I prefer to display affection privately aside from the occasional kiss, hug, or handholding. I leave the more intimate activities like making out for more secluded area because 1. I don’t like people all up in my business and 2. I hate looking like a couple of replacement cliché performers out of “the notebook” film.

. Honestly, asking someone you just met to join you on a day out on Valentines Day can be awkward, but very bold. However, a guy who is bold to ask me out on a date on Valentines Day deserves a yes. I admire confidence in a man and sometimes being too shy may never get you the woman of your dreams. So to all the guys who want to ask their special lady out on a date, simply ask her. Of course there will be intense pressure, but you never know until you try. . It might be a little too much because first you need to know the person a little better before even being able to plan a good Valentine’s, but it all depends on how that person feels about the holiday.

I’d just ask a day of the week of Valentine’s for a date and if they suggest that you reschedule then there’s your answer.

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