Looking for a way to contribute to your community? Look no further than Volunteer Match. According to the website, "VolunteerMatch is a leader in the nonprofit world dedicated to helping everyone find a great place to volunteer. The organization offers a variety of online services to support a community of nonprofit, volunteer and business leaders committed to civic engagement. Our popular service welcomes millions of visitors a year and has become the preferred internet recruiting tool for more than 50,000 nonprofit organizations.”

The website functions basically like other popular job search or dating website (which, in the quest for love or money, work about the same way). Once you register, the search engine filters all pertinent service opportunities in and around your zip code. Also, you can receive email updates based on the interests you give them. You can even post a volunteer resume to instantly send to nonprofits registered on the site. All in all, Volunteer Match is a great way to begin to connect with the community.  Magda Gonzalez  

In a city with such strong ties to Hispanic culture, even individuals in the minority without a Latin lineage are generally familiar with and typically embrace a wide range of Mexican imports and cultural practices.  However, one product that continues to perplex Gabachos, whose stomachs turn at the mere thought, is the worm at the bottom of the tequila bottle.

There are two immediate misconceptions that should be addressed (1) it's not tequila (2) it"s not a worm.  The liquor traditionally (if anything dating back to the 1950s can be considered 'traditional’ Mexican) accompanied by the deceased critter is tequila’s cousin- mezcal.  Both liquors are made from varieties of the agave plant; however, tequila is made only from blue agave and mezcal can be made from five different varieties.  Mezcal is generally a tad stronger in alcohol content.  

The ‘worm’ is actually a larva of one of two kinds of insects- the agave snout weevil and the hypopta agavis moth both that can be found in the agave plant.  The larva is said to enhance the flavor of the mezcal and also to have aphrodisiac properties.  Arguably, the most advantageous purpose is the extra kick you get from the high alcohol concentration absorbed in its little body. 

For those curious about the effects of Pop Rocks and Coke or the whereabouts of Walt Disney's cryogenically frozen head, visit Snopes.com, a comprehensive urban legends reference site.

Named after a family of nasty characters in William Faulkner"s fiction, Snopes aims to debunk popular urban legends, old wives tales, and other random facts and stories that float around popular culture. The website has been run by Barbara and David Mikkelson since 1995, and so the amount of information in their website is enough to keep you glued in front of the computer for hours on end. The Mikkelsons conduct extensive research and cite their sources, thereby confirming the veracity of their assessments. They update the website daily, shedding light on popular stories and photos that permeate the internet in the form of email forwards. So before you worry about the latest identity theft scam or marvel at images of grotesquely large animals, check the facts at Snopes.com to make sure that email is worth forwarding.  Magda Gonzalez