By Reilly Pruitt

Yes, she is our housemate, we know. But as Spotlight Editors we felt it was our duty to give everyone o little more information on Eva Thea Kuhn and our own tendency to live by stereotypes. Macalester’s own self-proclaimed “New York City Bitch”, Eva talks The City, the iPod, and her deep connection to Lindsay Lohan.Where are you from?

I’m from New York. The City. Manhattan.

You seem like you have that answer down packed.

A lot of people ask me, and I like differentiating between the city and the suburbs. It’s a completely different thing and people seem to confuse the two.

What’s the difference?

Well, the suburbs are pretty wealthy. It’s like the movie The Stepford Wives, that’s what people are like there. People from the City never leave it, but people from the suburbs are always coming in. We from the City call them the “B and T ers” because they have to cross a bridge and go through a tunnel to get to Manhattan. You can tell right away they aren’t from Manhattan. They just look different.

So would you ever consider moving to the suburbs?

Absolutely not.

There aren’t too many drives in New York City. Do you have your license?

I don’t. I have my permit and I got it because you only have to take a written test. So I studied for that. I took a couple of drivers’ lessons, but for some reason it isn’t that important to me to get my license. All my housemates have cars.

Do you mind always being a passenger?

No. I love riding shotgun. It’s my favorite place in the car. I get to control the music.

What’s your typical morning routine?

Well, my alarm goes off about an hour before I have to get up. I hate being late, so I like to leave a lot of extra time. I generally chill with my iPod for a while because it makes going to class easier. And I always have to get a latte on my way to school or else I am annoyed.

How do you get around?

I walk. I don’t see what everyone has against walking. Walking is really fun if you have an iPod. Maybe if more people had iPods they would walk more and wouldn’t be so lazy.

You sound pretty attached to your iPod.

Yeah, it’s my most prized possession. Funny you should mention it. Twice since I got to college I have broken my iPod. It was really traumatic. I live with my iPod. I use it to study, work out with it, walk with it, and sleep with it. My dad is really nice, ad I called him bawling. I was really upset. He over-nighted a new one.

What are your impressions of the Midwest?

I have been to Chicago a lot. I was born there and have family there. It doesn’t seem like here. To be honest, I hate Minnesota. There is just really boring scenery and there is not much to do in St. Paul, at least. It’s really boring and everyone looks the same

So do you think you could live here forever?

No. I mean I stayed here for two summers. And quite honestly my friends from home couldn’t understand it. I just think it’s important to move on.

We heard you recently got a tattoo. What was your inspiration?

Well, the tattoo is in white ink and on the inside of my right wrist. It says, “Pisces”. Kind of unrelated, Lindsay Lohan has a white ink tattoo, too. I’ve always wanted a tattoo that isn’t too extreme, but is noticeable to me.

Who are your idols?

Um, I don’t really have idols. The people I admire are usually the people I know. But I really like Lindsay Lohan and the Olsen Twins. Recently, just Mary Kate. I have liked the Olsen Twins since I was little.

What’s the biggest stereotype people have about you?

I think people have a really wrapped perception of me. Whenever people get to know me they usually realize I’m really different than I seem. People think that I’m crazy, and that follows me. Probably also that I’m this “New York Bitch”. But I just don’t smile much public

Is that a New York thing?

It really is. You don’t go around smiling at everyone, looking like a fool. People would think you are crazy. I would rather not act like I like everyone and maybe that comes back badly. I don’t really know why people have to pretend to like each other. I think that’s more a product of this school than anything.

What has been your greatest impression of Macalester?

The one good thing is that it taught me a lot. I learned a lot being here. I think that’s my biggest impression of here is that people take themselves too seriously. They don’t always recognize the humor and the irony in what they are doing.

That seems to have been one of the themes of your Op-Eds in the Mac Weekly. What has been your motivation?

I think that spending four years of watching people interact here inspired it. Watching the same awkward interactions happen over and over. Mac students by nature are awkward. It’s no wonder we all congregated here.

You are an English major. What has been your experience with the Macalester English Department?

As far as being an English major, it has been really hit or miss. I have had a lot of good professors and a lot of heinous ones. My creative writers have been inspiring. Well, some of them.

Do you plan on using your English major for your career? What are your plans for the future?

I want to do some sort of Features writing, not for a newspaper, but for like lifestyles magazine. I want to break stereotypes. Not in the annoying race and gender way. But I do think everyone here at Macalester defies stereotypes in some way. I feel like I am not what I represent here. I think everyone here is kind of like that. If there is any one thing this school has taught me it’s that things are never what they seem and you are always bound to piss someone off.

What are you most excited about for after graduation?

I think it’s easy to get locked into a certain perception around here. People know each other way too intimately at this school. It will be nice to go somewhere where people don’t know anything about me. And to get finally get into the “real world” if you will.

What has been your best Macalester memory?

My best memory was probably the entirety of Summer 2006. It was just a really great group of people and I was living on my own for the first time in a house. I didn’t have many responsibilities and it was the most fun I have ever had in a summer. I became friends with people I didn’t know and realized that I had been wrong about people. That’s part of what’s great about Macalester: it’s not impossible to meet new people and you generally learn something from them when you do.