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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 23, 2000)
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After working as a columnist for the campus paper, the Indiana Daily Student, he spent the summer of 1995 as an intern for “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.” That summer, he visualized cre ating a national forum where col lege students and young adults could share their thoughts and re ceive laid-back responses full of useful information and humor. Help Me Harlan! was created for the students of IU from Cohen’s vi sualization. When he met with the editors of the Indiana Daily Student to pro pose his idea, they wanted sample columns, which he wrote using his own personal problems. They took the bait with the catchy Q&A, and the column began its life in the paper. Starting off slow, Cohen was forced to write and answer letters to himself to publish in the paper. When he noticed he was actually helping himself, he realized he? might be onto something and be gan writing up his friends lives. Before long, real letters were rolling in, seeking advice on is sues ranging from roommates, re lationships, sex, loneliness, drink ing, drugs and parent issues. “This whole thing has been a challenge,” Cohen said. “I want to keep it consistent, funny. I want people to open up.” Six years later, the column ap pears in more than 60 daily and college newspapers and can be ac cessed on the Web at http://www.helpmeharlan.com. With established success and a plethora of answered letters — currently rolling in at more than 100 a week — to choose from, Co hen is now publishing his first book, due out this month. “Campus Life Exposed: Advice from the Inside” reads a little like “Chicken Soup for the College Soul” meets Dave Barry. The book is on sale at most major book re tailers including Borders and Barnes and Noble. Chapters include “And the Minivan Pulls Away,” “Dating and Hooking Up on Campus: The Most Important Chapter” and “No One Ever Said College Would Suck and Other Random Prob lems.” Cohen spent three years work ing on the book, compiling letters from his column and personal sto ries, as well as the stories from hundreds of college students na tionwide. The issues Cohen addresses are a universal part of college life and the reason his column is being syndicated by TMS Campus, which will soon distribute his words of wisdom and wit to more than 200 daily and college papers and 60 high school publications. The following excerpt is part of Cohen’s introduction to Chapter 2: “My disgusting, angry, irresponsi ble, alcoholic, pot-smoking room mate.” “Before you get any further into this chapter, I want to remind you that not all roommate situations belong in a chapter on dysfunc tional roommates. While the fol lowing pages might make it seem like you’re destined to live with an angry, oversexed, underachieving, beer-drinking, drug-sniffing, mas HAIRCUT EXPRESS Haircuts for Everyone! No Appointment Necessary Open M-F: 9am-7pm Sat: 9am-6pm Annette Kritz & Mary Russell 29th & Willamette Inside Rite-Aid 302-6100 p t tov •itwlfs ami a<tvi<v ; X ;ni :i >: * < > >h* Courtesy Peterson's/Thomson Learning No topic is taboo in Harlan Cohen’s new book, which is now on the stands. turbating, inconsiderate, lying, stealing, cheating, psycho room mate, chances are you will end up with none of the above. “Then again, there is the chance you might. If that’s the case, you’re actually lucky because this may be the only time in your life that you’ll be able to live with a totally insane, alcohol-swilling, beer drinking, snoring, gas-expelling, feet-stinking roommate. (Then again, if you ever shared a room with a brother who drank like a fish, smoked like a chimney, touched himself, ate lots of roughage and bathed irregularly, this kind of roommate might actu ally be comforting to you!)” - Thje success of Cohen’s column stems from the fact that it is actual ly an anti-advice column. He says he feels most advice columns are very “blah” and tries “to make it sarcastic and funny at times but with an underlying theme that we’re all part of the same commu nity.” “You don’t see it in the brochures that college might actu ally suck at times,” he said. “Campus Life Exposed” is more than just 250 pages of college geared Dear Abby. It’s an honest insight into the ironies of campus life, complete with all of the strug gles and humor that make college such an experience. And with Harlan Cohen’s help, you might actually get some good advice. 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