By Chris Cosci

Tragedy almost struck the world of teenagers across the country. Those crazy gossip columnists actually believed a rumor that the relationship between pop star Britney Spears and pop star Justin Timberlake had come to an end. However, Britney brought all rumors to a stop with a healthy dose of good ol' celebrity denial.

The near-collapse of this relationship does raise a lot of thought-provoking questions, the most pressing being, "who gives a...?" I'll let you finish that question in whatever way you deem appropriate.

In any case, the answer is, "way too many people." Let's ignore the fact that these two are celebrities. Just look at the situation. Two people, ages 20 and 21, have been dating for a while. Now, after a whole year and a half, they may have broken up. They have never been married, nor even engaged. And if we believe Ms. Spears' claim, she's not yet a woman - if you get my drift.

They are both at the age of most college students. Personal experience tells me that a relationship ending around the age of 20 is not a very uncommon event. Far be it from me to complain, but when I split up with a girlfriend at that age, there was no public acknowledgement even in our campus newspaper - and I was a musician and actor at my college.

The only difference is that Britney and Justin are celebrities. And as we all know, when celebrities form relationships, they're meant to last forever, right? I'll give you a moment to stop laughing hysterically and compose yourself.

The general public seems to have an insatiable appetite for even the most boring information about celebrities. There could be an article about Tom Hanks flossing his teeth, and people would still be talking about it around the water cooler.

Celebrity couples are the most talked-about subject, though. Remember when it was announced that Tom and Nicole broke up? Are you even worried that I don't have to mention their last names? That was big news! Media attention was focused strongly on that so-called "story."

It's all part of a growing trend that has brought up a lot of issues in Hollywood. The issues primarily reflect the greater loss of privacy as one becomes a larger celebrity. In a way, it has created an incredibly hypocritical society. People drool over celebrity gossip that has been accumulated by reporters who follow stars around and snap photos. Meanwhile, these same people would be outraged if some reporter was following them around all the time, snapping photos and butting into their personal lives.

What really bugs me, though, is that these items of gossip are extraordinarily mundane. They generally provide no real information and nothing useful or even remotely interesting. It's as if the information is supposed to be interesting just because they're celebrities. So, in the end, Britney and Justin are still together. Will they still be together in six months? A year? Five years? That's for them to care about - not us.