Ethan Adelman is a twenty one year old student at Vassar college in Poughkeepsie, NY where he studies American Culture and Painting. He was born in Houston, Texas but grew up in Montclair, NJ where he and Sam met when they were eight years old. In addition to his stint as a web journalist in Ecuador, he has also written for the Poughkeepsie Beat and reported on local politics for WKIP News radio in Poughkeepsie. He has also spent two years as a student intern at the Greenhaven Maximum security prison in upstate New York where he worked with a prisoner run pre-release program that prepared other inmates for their return to society. He is extremely excited to be participating in a project that meshes journalism, the internet and the fight against poverty.      Sam Laybourne is a 21 year old Senior at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. He is an English and American Studies major, focusing on American literature and cultural studies. Sam lives in New York City, but is not ashamed to admit that his formative years were spent in in New Jersey with long-time friend, Ethan Adelman. He is excited to be working as a web journalist this summer because it combines his interests in photography and writing. Sam has worked at the International Center of Photography in New York City as a lab technician and teaching assistant. He is presently working on a creative thesis focusing on the cultural identity of American teenagers. Sam also does modern dance and sings in a rock and roll band at Wesleyan.

Written 1996