The colorful headbands, big fuzzy legwarmers, and an influential presence on campus that has captured the attention of many students and faculty; who wouldn’t recognize this compassionate and spirited UMB student? Most know Natalia Cooper because of her activism-never being afraid to speak up for justice; always seeking to empower. She has been spotted at countless anti-war protests on and off campus. She has brought meaning and dimension to the learning environment of a university campus bringing in numerous speakers to address a multitude of topics such as AIDS in Africa, women in war, or Muslim women and the veil. On an average day, Cooper can be found sitting in the heart of UMB’s student life between the divides of the Women’s Center. This academic year, Cooper landed the position as Women’s Center coordinator. Whether she is diligently studying or chatting with fellow UMB students, Cooper keeps the center as a warm, inviting, and most of all educational space, regularly stocking it with chocolate. The spring 2005 semester has rolled in with Coopers ideas flowing at full force. “We have a new thing we’re doing at the Women’s Center. It’s called the ‘Stitch-and-Bitch Knitting Circle’ in conjunction with the Queer Student Center.” Cooper is in her senior year at UMB, currently writing her Honors thesis on the burlesque revival. “I am not trying to prove something. I am looking primarily at female performance that incorporates old burlesque and Vaudeville, and later stuff like pinup art. My biggest focus is gender as performance and performance in gender.” Reflecting back on how she arrived to UMB, Cooper recalled, “I had a really hard time in high school. I was really depressed and had really serious emotional and psychological issues. My work was especially affected and I was eventually placed into Special Education. High school is such a nightmare.” Eventually, Cooper began what she called an “extremely strict” program at Newton North High School where she was placed with other students in an intensive learning environment. “We stayed together the whole time and didn’t get switched around. We were isolated from the rest of the school.” Included in the program was a class therapy. Upon successfully completing the program senior year, Cooper was matriculated into mainstream high school “and ended up doing really well.” By the time she was applying to college, UMB was “the only school I applied to.” When she arrived to UMB, she stated that, “I really wanted to get involved in the school somehow.” Soon after arriving, Cooper learned about The Mass Media. “I just went to the office and there was a guy there named JP who I talked to and he gave me an assignment. It was like the most amazing thing in the world to get paid for writing.” In an emotional reminiscence, Cooper stated, “He really believed in me. He wanted me to do a review on the book Hope and Glory. I worked really hard and he really liked it.” When asked why she cried, she painfully recalled the summer of 2002 when the former Editor-in-Chief JP unexpectedly passed away because of heart complications. “Things were never the same,” she said remembering that he had the ability to make people laugh at themselves even in the tensest of moments. “Sometimes I still feel like I see him around.” “I don’t think I would have stayed at UMB if it wasn’t for the Honors Program or The Mass Media,” expressed Cooper. “They have always been my solid support systems-this school is so big!” It’s a good thing for the rest of us that she has stayed. When Cooper graduates this spring, her presence will be deeply missed.