Albertini Addiction

ALBERTINI ADDICTION

TWIN DESIGNERS TAKING ON THE FASHION SCENE

“Her hair is too flat, it needs to be teased,” says twenty-four year old fashion designer Tamika Albertini to her sister while holding a flood light next to the photographer. “Tease the hair under,” she repeats while watching her sister, attempting to spruce up the model’s hair. “You come and do it,” says her sister Tamara Albertini, a twenty-four year old jewelry designer. The dynamic duo known as the Albertini Sisters do way more than just help each other out. They are more than just young entrepreneurs, fashion consultants, models and designers. They finish each other’s sentences, have the same shaped eyes, nose and even smile the same. They are more than just sisters. They are identical twins.

According to the Economic and Social Research Council, there are about 125 million twins worldwide. Although celebrity twin designers such as Dean and Dan Caten trailed the fashion industry with “Dsquared,” also Somalian designing duos like Ayaan and Idyl who made their breakthrough debut on Oprah, the Albertini twins strive to make their own history.

Tamara Albertini appeared in online magazine spreads like AteTracks.com and both she and her sister have participated in several college fashion shows. Showcased on the Oneway 2 Magazine site is the Albertini Addiction colorful brand.

“When they know their vision, they go for it,” says Ashley Jagmohan, who works as the twin’s assistant and also models for the brand as well. “They always welcome new ideas, said the twenty year old Brooklyn native.

Their style can be described as vintage funk with a touch of class. For the modern “Fashionista,” button-less blazers with hot pink silk swirls looped around leopard-like prints with a hint of gold trimming for a punk rock feel, attracts its own statements. Picture digging in a mothers closet for items that were considered must haves in her heyday. Some of the styles seen in the Albertini Addiction clothing line are high-wasted pants and gold linked chain belts your mother might have worn back in the '60s or even '70s. Bright yellow triangle tribal earrings and an oversized hot-pink bow tie necklace to match with the button-less blazer complete the look. The Albertini Addiction signature style is put together like the originators. The Albertini sisters are blended together in a similar fashion. They go together like the perfect outfit with matching accessories.

“We were both working separately at first, we brain stormed one night and thought it would be hot if we actually worked together,” says Tamika. Right before Albertini Addiction was born around 2007, the sisters were into their own projects and taking on their separate personal endeavors. Tamika, who handles the clothing designs for the company worked with a previous fashion label called Bella Dama. Shortly after parting ways from the label, she joined forces with her sister Tamara, who is behind the jewelry designs that go with the clothes.

Tamika and Tamara are indeed a package deal. Working with them, some say, serve as twice the fun. While at a fashion shoot at a loft filled with dim lights and back drops, the Albertini models pose in slanted positions and varied angles that symbolize high fashion stances. “I love them, they are like family, says model Francesca Antoine after the photo-shoot session, “the twin thing is definitely an A plus.”

“We were meant to work together,” says Tamara when asked about the creative relationship between her and her sister. The name Albertini Addiction came about when Tamara thought about another word that started with the letter A. “We’re addicted to fashion, and we’re addicted to the lifestyle. That’s how Albertini Addiction came about.”

"The Albertini brand represents an attitude that is carefree and confident. It symbolizes the comfort of being an individual though creative expression. We just want to tell females out there, don’t be afraid to be yourself,” explains Tamara.

When making creative decisions together, quarreling and rubbing elbows isn’t an occasional happening. For the Albertini sisters, working with each other comes effortless. “It’s easy for us,” says Tamika with a smile.

Albertini Addiction-Produced By Jessica A. Laforest from Jessicalaforest on Vimeo.

Stony Brook University Students Still Swineless So Far

Stony Brook University Students Still Swine Less So Far

Hector Fonseca, a junior and Chemical Engineering major at Stony Brook University, isn’t worried about the Swine Flu.

When he walks into his West Apartment residence he sees signs that show how to properly wash his hands and he purposely keeps hand-sanitizers in his living area.

Derek Brumleve, a senior at the university, isn’t worried about contracting H1N1 either. "My mom has been bugging me to get it for about two weeks," says Derek while standing on line to receive the free vaccine available to Stony Brook students ages 18-24. He claimed his reason for getting vaccinated was to ease his mother’s worries. Derek who is also asthmatic feels the University is doing all it can.

Living on campus under close living conditions, he claims he does not think he will contract the highly contagious illness. "I believe more people are becoming more sanitary are being able to sanitize their hands better," says the senior. People sneezing into their elbows and disinfecting their hands before they eat are a couple of examples that lead Derek to believe people are taking more conscious precautions.

Influenza-like illnesses on college campuses, believed to be pandemic H1N1 influenza, increased 34% in the week ending October 23^rd, the largest jump if the academic year, according to the American College Health Association. The 279 colleges and universities that provide data to the association reported a total of 8,861 new cases and 20 hospitalizations.

Although Stony Brook University is an active participant in this ACHA Pandemic Influenza Surveillance Study, still no one on Stony Brook stomping grounds has yet to contract the infamous illness, which President Obama recently declared a national threat to the nation.

With approximately more than 9,000 students living on Stony Brook campus and an approximate overall population of 24,000, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention recently predicted that as much as 12 to 24% of the population would contract the new influenza virus this winter. That would give unvaccinated American citizens an odds spread of as little as a 1 in 10 or as much as a 1 in 4 chance of getting the H1N1 virus.

The University has taken several steps towards prevention including an H1N1 planning committee made up of doctors, experts and members of administration, who meet weekly in efforts to keep Stony Brook student’s swine free.

Lawremce Zacarese, the Director of Emergency Management and Chief of Police in the university oversaw the point of distribution for the H1N1 vaccine, conducted on campus.

Since Stony Brook received its first batch of vaccines over 3,000 students to date have gotten vaccinated from points of distribution sites on campus.

Zacarese, who is also the co-chair for the H1N1 planning committee, along with Gary Kaczmarczyk, Director of Environmental safety boasts of the university being one of the first universities to receive H1N1 vaccines on Long Island. The H1N1 planning committee, previously known as the Pandemic Flu Committee, were well aware that taking an active approach before the actual flu season started, could help in preventing the spread of the virus across campus. “We knew early on, we took the planning very serious our ability to plan ahead certainly gave us a distinct advantage,” said Zacarese.

Another prevention committee, which consists of Stony Brook students volunteering their time towards learning about H1N1 through training courses on how to educate other students on stopping the spread of the flu, is known as the Ili Student Information Task Force.

Ili, which stands for Influenza like illnesses, headed by Kathleen Valerio, gets students to actively engage in increasing awareness. She believes the campus is well ahead compared to many other campuses she’s observed. “I don’t see an epidemic of flu on this campus,” says Valerio who is also the Health Educator for the Center for Prevention and Outreach. “They’re learning that the flu that is being transmitted is a live virus, that it is transmitted from person to person through that beautiful display of droplets that you see when somebody coughs or sneezes. Stopping that and stopping the spread of those droplets is what is going to effectively stop the flu,” explained the health educator.

Some students beg to differ. While standing on the line for free vaccines Michael Yagudayve, a junior and on campus resident, doesn’t see the major prevention methods that health administrators claim are taking place on campus. On a scale of 1 to 10 he gives Stony Brook a six or seven. “In general I don’t feel the campus community has been doing too much,” says Yagudayve, who disclosed that he wasn’t too worried about catching the flu but also admitted that he wouldn’t know what to do if a roommate contracted flu symptoms. “If somebody has the Swine Flu, they advise them to stay home but I don’t think anyone is taking extreme measures to make sure people are quarantined or stay in their rooms or at home,” explained the Stony Brook resident.

As for residential procedures in handling swine flu, the campus website states quaranting sick individuals is not a recommended response taken by the university and self-isolation is the best tactic if feeling ill.

With all the prevention and planning that the university has undergone since September, so far Stony Brook University has no reported cases of H1N1.

As for Hector, even though he may not be worried about getting sick and he believes the efforts he and his roommates are taking to keep clean will keep the germs away, he still insisted on getting the vaccine. “I don’t mind doing it because I want to feel safe, and it is also free,” says Fonseca who bypassed the long line of students but planned on returning to get his free H1N1 vaccine.

Jessica Laforest- Stony Brook University H1N1 Planning & Prevention from Jessicalaforest on Vimeo.

Stony Brook University Point of Distribution (POD) slideshow

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Pottery On The Wheel

Pottery On the Wheel

John Markott can see with his hands.

At five years old, Markott molded and shaped the one gift that would stick with him from childhood to retirement. The block of plaster scene clay, that softened the more he rolled it between his tiny hands, became the greatest toy given to him by his grandmother’s Canadian tenants. Little did young Markott know the block of clay would carry over into his adult life gravitating him towards a career of teaching ceramics, even after he retired as a high school teacher.

The current Stony Brook University pottery instructor, who taught classes in ceramics drawing and painting for thirty years, found the Craft Center as a new beginning after retirement. “I enjoy teaching so it’s just natural for me to be here. I feel like I’m still vital to teach, retirement doesn’t mean that you end your life,” says Markott, while carving the phrase “peace be with you” at the bottom edge of his salad bowl.

Markott, who is currently one out of four other instructors for the Pottery on the Wheel class, worked at Hands on Clay in Setauket before it shut down. After discovering the Craft Center at Stony Brook, he decided to take a chance in finding a position. “I came down, introduced myself and joined. When they found out I was a teacher, they wanted me even more to teach,” recalls Markott, who also teaches drawing at the University.

Observing new students touch clay for the first time is what Markott considers fun to watch. He believes in blindfolding his students as a way for beginners to become familiar with the clay. Instead of using rigid teaching instructions by forcing a student to learn pottery a specific way, he would rather teach reasoning and principles as a method behind the craft. “Once you have it in your mind, you have to make your hands do all the seeing,” says Markott. Learning to center clay by relying on your hands and not the eyes it becomes alot easier.

Candleholders, mugs, dishes and bowls are some of the many creations you will find in Markott’s home. Majoring in art rather than science in college, he admitted that pottery didn’t come easily. “I had a hard time centering clay,” said the instructor. It wasn’t until finally graspinh the techniques of locking his hands in place and pushing with his hips to stable the clay that he then went on to teach pottery for the last thirty years.

The retired highschool art teacher, who began with a block of plaster scene clay, sculpted his love for pottery from the first moment he tried it, letting his hands create what his eyes could never do alone.

Pottery on the Wheel from Jessicalaforest on Vimeo.