People join gangs for numerous reasons. Usual reasons include: fun, excitement, a sense of belonging, a need for attention or status, companionship, intimidation, peer pressure, financial gain, protection and a failure to understand what being in a gang really means.

In a 1998 national school survey, 7 percent of boys and 4 percent of girls said they had belonged to a gang in the past 12 months (Gottfredson and Gottfredson, 2001). A survey of nearly 6,000 eighth graders conducted in 11 cities (that were known gang-problem localities) found that 11 percent were currently gang members (17 percent said they had belonged to a gang at some point in their young lives) (Esbensen and Deschenes, 1998).

Reasons vary, but often young people who join gangs feel peer pressure, want protection, know gang members, want excitement, seek money, feel insecure, have an unhappy home life, grew up with violence, feel hopeless, or want a replacement for the family.

Gang activity is seen to some degree throughout Fairfax County with more dense concentrations in a few specific areas.

Overreliance on one strategy or another is unlikely to produce fundamental changes in the scope and severity of a community's gang problem (Curry and Decker, 2003; Wyrick and Howell, 2004). A balance of prevention, intervention, and suppression strategies and programs is likely to be far more effective (see Esbensen, 2000). For example, the Gang Resistance Education And Training (G.R.E.A.T.) prevention program (http://www.great-online.

Some are new in town. Others have perhaps just gotten out of a relationship. Most are simply bored with what they've been doing and ready to make a dramatic change.

Almost EVERYONE joins by themselves, usually because the majority of their friends are married, live in different parts of the country, or don't always have the same interests they have. But members never have to worry about being the only "new person" at an event because E&A is always enrolling new members.

We all find other distributors by advertising our business whether by word-of-mouth or other means. By taking the business seriously yourself and following our proven System enthusiastically and diligently you will find that more serious people are attracted to you. Plus, you only need two good people to earn significant royalty income. There are many ways we use to advertise the business.

Some of the gangs that have emerged in the past decade are noticeably different from those that emerged before the mid-1980s (Howell, Egley, and Gleason, 2002; Howell, Moore, and Egley, 2002). These gangs are commonly described as having a "hybrid gang culture," meaning they do not follow the same rules or methods of operation, making documentation and categorization difficult (Starbuck et al., 2001).

From your Artist BackStage, fans can click the gray "Join Fanclub" button, located below the video player.

While you can always send individual e-mail invitations, the http://groups.yahoo.com/ system allows you to send a note that has all the information about the group and allows the invited guest to simply select "reply" to subscribe. You can access this option by signing on, selecting your group, and selecting the Members option. Near the top of the page you will see "Add/Invite" option.

Social opportunities, philanthropic projects, community service, tradition, career networking, and becoming part of an international organization are all reasons mentioned for becoming part of the Greek community, but the one cited most often by members is the sense of brotherhood/sisterhood. After all, you don't have to join a fraternity or sorority to have a great social life in the University. You don't have to pay dues to a Greek letter organization to volunteer or raise money for a cause.