By Sophia Koulomzin Wesleyan University, in Middletown, Connecticut, is a place of new and exiting educational experiences. Wesleyan fosters these experiences by providing a safe setting in which all students can learn and feel comfortable to express their opinions. Because Wesleyan University is such a protected environment, issues such as violence or injustice are often debated and battled by the multitude of student activist groups on campus.

By Brooke A. Witters My cousin once told me that if I was lucky enough to have a dream, I should follow that dream wherever it takes me regardless of what anyone else has to say about it. This might be difficult, and there will very likely be many obstacles to overcome, but if I am lucky enough to know what I want from life, I should seize the opportunity and make my dream reality.

An interview by Sveta Vaganova,staff reporter, Girls Request Your Attention, a magazine for teenage girls in Naberezhnye Chelny, Russia [Editor: This interview was published for the readers of Girls Request Your Attention.

by Ol'ga Terent'eva (trans. V. Sperling) Publications for young women appeared on the Russian market recently -- about ten years ago. At present, this part of the market hasn't been saturated yet, although the assortment of publications is relatively diverse. The existing journals -- "YES!", "Shtuchka," "Cool Girl," "Marusia," "Mezhdu Nami, Devochkami [Between us girls]," and others -- are aimed at different readers, based on age, social status, and educational level.

Elena Kochkina’s interview made the strongest impression on me, about March 8 [International Women’s Day] and the sources of the February Revolution [of 1917, preceding the Bolshevik Revolution in November]. This makes it quite clear, the authentic history of the country is being craftfully hidden from us . I am filled with pride for our Russian women – they stood firm. Even today it is hard to imagine 40,000 women demonstrators.

by Zhenia Kenarskaya [ Editor: This article was written in the late 1990’s by a young staff reporter for the teen magazine in Naberezhnye Chelny, Girls Request Your Attention. It was based on a small survey of local youth conducted by three students of the city’s Institute of Management – Sergei Yeliseyev, Maksim Osipov, and Dmitri Ageev .] We often hear that more and more people are ill with sexually transmitted diseases.

by Olga Terent'eva, Moscow If I were a boy, then a lot would be different. Even in childhood. First of all, I would not have played with dolls, but with toy cars, and this is very interesting. I would have gotten toy trains and cars with a desk from my parents. Secondly, I probably would not have been such a "domestic" child if I was a boy. It is somehow easier for young boys to make friends with other boys.

When Colette and I discussed what would be the main theme in one of our future magazine issues, right away the subject of “young women” came to mind. We have already written about our contemporaries in the older generations – most of our issues have been devoted to the work and expectations of women who are still thought of as young by their colleagues, but who have already had their formal education, hold positions and have attained success in their public life and work.

by Aimira Urustemova It seemed nothing could spoil the peaceful existence of Kyrgyzstan. And in the summer of 1999 when ominous rumours leaked out that armed conflicts were taking place between government troops and the Mujaheddin, no one wanted to believe it, no one did believe it. But the mass media had already officially reported that in the south of the republic in Batken, there is armed conflict and captured hostages numbering more than twenty people, including four Japanese.

in Naberezhnye Chelny, Tatarstan, Russia guest editor for this section, Elena Mashkova “The Most Significant Preoccupation in Life” Olya Luchkova: When people hear about my work on a feminist magazine, they often ask me, “Why are you involved in that?” To my answer, “it interests me,” some shrug their shoulders and say, “Well, to each her own,” while others remain puzzled – somehow they don’t connect my appearance and age with the worn-out stereotyped image of a woman feminist, a coarse

by Sveta Mashkova [Editor: This is an excerpt from an article written in the late 1990's by one of the young staff reporters of "Girls Request Your Attention" for the magazine's readers in Naberezhnye Chelny] The problem of job placement for young people is at the moment one of the most acute social problems, explained by the fact that first of all most families doenot have sufficient means for a prestigious education for their children, which in most cases means a paid one.

by Susan Andrews, Minneapolis, Minnesota I have to say before I begin telling about myself that my life as a young American woman is not like most. The country in which I live has made sure that its general population will never see the faults which limit those of us who are not rich, white, and male. Our government uses public schools to instill blind loyalty to the patriarchy in all who go to be educated.

by Zamira Belekova, lecturer, Bishkek State University “The eminence of a culture is determined by its attitude toward women.” Maxim Gorky During the UN sponsored women’s decade (1976-85), women of various geographic regions, different races, religions, cultures and classes began to form organizations to improve their situation.

by Zhumadin Kadyrov The famous Kyrgyz poetess Almash Choibekova is 51 years old. She is the author of 2 collections of poetry. 60 poems of hers have been set to music, and these songs have become folk songs. In 1993, she lost her sight in an absurd event. Her husband, an ensign, came home early on that unlucky day. Opening the door for him, she was dumbfounded. In his hand, he held a pistol pointed at her. As became clear later, the reason was blind and unfounded envy.

by Irina Romanenko, student in the faculty of practical psychology of the Interdisciplinary Study and Research Center in Moscow. Her studies there were sponsored by the women’s NGO, “Femina” and the Institute of Management, both in Naberezhnye Chelny Author’s Introduction: The first study has been conducted in our city, Naberezhnye Chelny, on the population’s attitude to the problem of sexual violence and its victims.