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In the competitive landscape of college admissions (plenty of students get waitlisted and hold out hope that they’ll make it into an exclusive university. But in reality, not many students make it from waitlist to campus at the U.S.’s... Read the rest of this post

The latest Facebook stats are in (and look pretty impressive according to this infographic. In the 20 minutes per day users spend on the site, they click 2.7 billion “likes” and upload 250 million photos. We were also surprised to learn... Read the rest of this post

Justin Bieber has one. Taylor Swift has one. Even Hannah Montana has one. From Britney Spears to Beyonce, teen targeted fragrances are everywhere. It’s hardly a new phenomenon — Debbie Gibson had her own “Electric Youth” fragrance in the... Read the rest of this post

Disney debuted the TV movie ‘Phineas and Ferb: Across The 2nd Dimension’ on Friday (and the flick — based on the TV series of the same title — drew in an impressive 7.6 million viewers! It’s the top cable movie of the year so... Read the rest of this post

Most of our favorite YouTube videos are short, lighthearted clips that provide a quick dose of entertainment (but one YouTube user had a different idea. He created the longest YouTube video ever, which takes 23 days and 19 hours to watch! We know... Read the rest of this post

Beliebers, you may not want to read this… (apparently Bieber Fever is coming to an end. According to Ad Age’s trend report, popular fads including Bieber, Facebook, and Harry Potter are fading, while new talent and products such as Selena... Read the rest of this post

Disney Channel is connecting fans with their favorite stars in the new reality show ‘PrankStars’ (which kicks off tonight and promises to be hilarious! Check out the clips from the first episode where Selena Gomez and Debby Ryan play... Read the rest of this post

Style icon Nicole Richie and menswear designer John Varvatos joined NBC’s ‘The Fashion Star’ (as celebrity mentors and judges in the upcoming style show, where aspiring designers compete for a multimillion-dollar contract to launch their own... Read the rest of this post

The Teen Choice Awards 2011 nominations are out (and — surprise, surprise — “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” takes the lead with 12 spots. “Glee” is close behind with nine nominations, and other usual suspects including Taylor Swift, Selena... Read the rest of this post

Xbox users can stay involved (even during ads, thanks to in-game ads which use the same voice and motion technology as the Kinect console. Gamers can say a command to tweet or text, or wave their hands in front of the device to vote. Users can... Read the rest of this post

Beliebers can now get Justin in a bottle (with the launch of his new perfume, a fruity scent — tinted purple, of course — called Someday. Cuz, Justin says, “the way a girl smells is important to a guy!” Hmmm, will Selena Gomez... Read the rest of this post

Universal, MTV call truce for the VMAs (Though Viacom-owned MTV.com recently lost the rights to stream videos by Universal artists — like Justin Bieber, who's up for Best New Artist — the label will allow the site to publish its... Read the rest of this post

Ed. Note: Today's Ypulse Youth Advisory Board review comes from Meg Reid who just saw the tween-targeted film "Ramona and Beezus." As one of many readers who grew up on Beverly Clearly and the Ramona books since the series first debuted in 1955... Read the rest of this post

Ed. Note: Today's Ypulse Youth Advisory Board review comes from Meg Reid who just saw the tween-targeted film "Ramona and Beezus." As one of many readers who grew up on Beverly Clearly and the Ramona books since the series first debuted in 1955... Read the rest of this post

Today's Ypulse Guest Post comes from Monica O'Brien, marketing consultant and author of Social Pollination: Escape the Hype of Social Media and Join the Companies Winning At It. Below Monica shares one such winning social media strategy from tween... Read the rest of this post

'Where The Wild Things Are' (reviews are in from New York Times, reg. required, EW and NPR. and Critics are divided, but most are variations on this sentiment: "alternately perfect and imperfect if always beautiful." Also Wes Anderson's "Fantastic... Read the rest of this post

Borden Milk books Selena Gomez (for a birthday bash celebrating 70 years of mascot Elsie the Cow and Selena's record launch. Plus PBR sales spike with younger drinkers as the "ironic downscale chic" choice)  (MediaPost, reg. required) (Ad Age, reg.... Read the rest of this post

'VMA Side Story' (Host Russell Brand and an ensemble of celebs spoof "West Side Story" in this lengthy, slightly off-key promo for MTV's upcoming Video Music Awards. Also Britney's back.. in another promo with Russell Brand. And Boston.com finds... Read the rest of this post

It's hard to believe that Teen Vogue cover girl Taylor Momsen is only 16 years old. Maybe it has something do with the fact that she's been acting for 10 years, graduated from high school early  and, oh yeah, is verging on her third season of... Read the rest of this post

Coming of age parties (become more of a DIY affair during the recession. Plus make-up parties persist as a pre-teen birthday trend in the UK) (AP) (Telegraph) - Comfort foods vary by generation (with Boomers leaning towards classic fare, Gen X... Read the rest of this post

The Beatles: Rock Band (how the game's cinematic flourishes helps old and young fans come together over The Beatles) (Los Angeles Times) - MacKenzie Falls (Disney Channel launches a new tween-aimed webisode series based on "Sonny With A Chance."... Read the rest of this post

Today's Youth Advisory Board post is from Caroline Marques, one of the Jonas Brothers' more casual fans who caught their new Disney show the other day and wanted to share her thoughts. Remember, you can communicate directly with any member of the... Read the rest of this post

Summer start-ups (facing a dried up seasonal job market, teens turn to entrepreneurship. Also, research shows that Gen Y and senior citizens have an easier time adapting their spending habits for the recession. Plus, a sneak preview of the teen... Read the rest of this post

The other day I was pleased to come across a news piece about tween-star Selena Gomez and her work with stray dogs, satos, while filming in Puerto Rico. Besides being impressed that such a young star was being photographed feeding stray dogs rather than shopping in her Uggs with a diamond-collared, pocket-sized, purebred pooch in her arms, I was also grateful to her because this is a cause that has become dear to my family’s heart, particularly after our most recent trip to La Isla Bonita.

Since I was a small child I was aware of the stray dog situation in Puerto Rico, it’s hard not to be. Each store parking lot has at least a half dozen, mangy-furred, weary-eyed critters begging for food and lying under cars to avoid the blazing midday sun. But for me it was also because opinions about the creatures varied so greatly in the Davila branch of my family. My mother was brought up to believe that dogs were livestock to be kept outside and employed as security. But her stepmother, my beloved Mamita Nivea and my grandfather’s second wife, collected stray dogs like most people collect knickknacks. There were always at least a dozen mutts ranging about the house, smalls ones barking at you from under the rattan furniture, large ones loping around the exterior of the house, their fur caked with the tar from my grandfather’s trucks. Nivea would sit on the porch in her rocking chair with at least three or four of them draped across her body, their eyes closed with pleasure as she scratched behind their one remaining ear. But my grandfather hated them. I remember sitting on the porch one day as he shuffled out in his pajamas yelling towards the back yard, shaking his cane and waving a gun. I screamed as he shot at a stray that was scurrying by the pool. “They’re only blanks!” he yelled at me as if I should have known, my ears ringing from the blast. The dog took off into the bushes, its stringy tail between its legs. “If I don’t scare them away that woman would take them all in until there was no room for us!” he muttered as he shuffled back to his bedroom, cane in one hand, and gun in the other.

But he is looking down from heaven in dismay as my beloved Tía Georgina has taken after Mamita Nivea rather than him. From the day she moved out of my grandfather’s house and on her own she has grown and nurtured her own brood of disheveled but well-loved hounds, her real estate choices dictated by the now thirteen dogs that live with her. The back of her SUV always contains two large bags of dog food and a container of water. Over the years while traveling with her around the island we’ve stopped by the road on the way to El Yunque to feed the strays that wander by the road, on a side street in Humacao, and every trip to the supermarket includes a meal and fresh water for the parking lot’s canine residents. I always smiled and accepted this as an integral part of this woman I loved, but an odd one. But it wasn’t until this February that she managed to pull me and my son Carlos into her efforts…it wasn’t until then that I really began to understand.

Once we had settled into my Tío Esteban’s condo in Luquillo, Georgina arrived to take us to lunch, but said she had a stop to make on the way. We drove along the narrow side streets, wondering where she was taking us. Finally she pulled the car to a stop at a dead end. I couldn’t imagine what she was doing: there was nothing there but trash and palm fronds rustling in the wind. She asked Carlos to help her get something from the trunk, and I saw them hauling a massive bag of dog food towards the edge of the trees. I should have known. I resigned myself to watching her feed some gristled old mutts when suddenly seven tiny creatures came stumbling over the bank, all long legs, fur and ribbed torsos. Carlos and I stood transfixed as she carefully poured piles of food on the ground and the family of puppies watched with careful eyes from the shadows of the trees. Half of them looked like boxers, the other like any number of dog breeds all mixed together. The mother watched in the distance as Georgina poured some water into a discarded plastic to-go container she found on the side of the road. Carlos tried to coax them closer, but they would skitter with any movement of his arm, any step closer. Realizing we probably wouldn’t get to pet them, we contented ourselves with watching them gambol about, tumbling over one another on the grass as they waited for us to leave. We watched them begin to eat in the rearview mirror and felt happy we had helped fill those small bellies for at least one day.

Needless to say, we went back the next day. And the next. By the end of the two weeks, the boldest one would stand near as we poured the food, his brother and sisters a few feet away. As we cooed over them, my aunt offered to ship them to anyone who might want to adopt them stateside. Carlos and I lamented our asthma, our allergies. Otherwise, we would have taken at least one home. Carlos’ favorite part of the vacation was not the hours of body surfing at the beach, the shopping in old San Juan, or even the generous gift of a Nintendo DS from Titi, but rather the daily ritual of feeding the puppies. We talk about them often, even now, realizing with not a small amount of sadness that they will be full grown by the time we visit next year: that is, if they survive. A sato’s life span is not a long one, and our only hope is that the efforts of people like Georgina will pay off in no-kill shelters, and more comprehensive neutering plans. And the press attention that Selena Gomez’s visit brought is sure to help, but there is a long way to go to change the society’s perception of the canine species. But until then, when we visit the island, we will always have a bag or two of dog food in the back of our rental car, and though I’m not sure my mother would understand, Mamita Nieva is looking down at her great grandson Carlos and smiling.

Like a Rock The Vote for this election's teenagers, UR Votes Count is the latest interactive political sounding board for students. The website is sparkling and entertaining, with hip graphics, cool lingo, and millennial-friendly advertisers,... Read the rest of this post