Sonya Caesar, cohort 13, Language, Literacy and Culture, appeared on a PBS Nightly Business Report segment on student debt. Caesar is on staff at the Community College of Baltimore County, where she is spearheading a campus-wide financial literacy campaign. She discusses what students know and don’t know when it comes to taking on student debt – the challenges of managing their money and paying back student loans which are never erased from their records.

The espisode aired on Tuesday, October 25, and can be watched here. The segment on financial literacty begins at about 17:00.

Caesar previously wrote and co-produced a mini documentary, “Beyond the Classroom Walls” for CCBC. The short film is one component of the campus’s financial literacy awareness campaign.

Today we launch a new regular feature  for USDemocrazy.

We, like so many young Yanks, love cinema. It can be entertaining, engaging, infuriating, disappointing… but never dull.

To help cover the bright lights and back-stages of Hollywood we have added an experienced Movie Maven to our team.  Our film columnist will give you a heads up of what’s available in the cinema plus back ground, trivia and tidbits to get you ready for the weekend.

Here’s the previews for this week…

The Rum Diary

Johnny Depp stars in this film based on the Hunter S. Thompson novel. It’s supposed to be sort of a wacky, inebriated adventure that probably won’t be on the level of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas…but we’ve heard is pretty funny. The supporting cast is something to get excited about–Richard Jenkins, Aaron Eckhart, Giovani Ribisi, and Amber Heard who has slowly been making a name for herself. This film might not be terribly exciting but it seems worth the watch on DVD… if not in theaters.

In Time

Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried take on sci-fi in this flick where time=money literally. This seems like a perfect escapist movie if you can completely suspend your disbelief and desire for a well-written screenplay.

Anonymous

This film depicts the theory that William Shakespeare was not the true writer of his attributed literary works. The director Roland Emmerich is known for huge productions that range from the more well-liked such as Independence Day, to the more ridiculed, 2012. If anything this film should be a lot to look at which might make the theater experience worthwhile, although it could either go over-the-top in the good or bad way.

Puss In Boots

The latest animated kids movie that you will probably enjoy if you liked the Shrek franchise otherwise.

OUR RECOMMENDATION: It’s halloweekend so go see Paranormal Activity 3, which came out last week. Any of these 4 movies could be enjoyable depending on the film attendee but wait until next weekend when the offerings seem to be so-so. PA3 is full of delightful scares and if you’re a fan of the first two you should definitely get a kick out of how they expand the story.

Look out for this segment to be expanded next week! What do you want to see this weekend or if you do what did you think?