This Douglaston beauty decided to go into modeling on her sixteenth birthday.

"I had a sweet 16 and had a photographer over. The pictures came out amazing," she said. The photographer suggested she model professionally.

As a model for Umodels.com she has done two fashion shoots, including modeling clothes for Talbot’s.

"I love taking pictures, smiling, posing, the makeup," Melanie said.

But make no mistake, this adorable young woman, educated at St. Mel’s in Whitestone and St. Anastasia in Douglaston, has a good head on her shoulders. Melanie, a senior at St. Mary’s in Manhasset, is days away from picking up her diploma. Her next stop is St. John’s where she will study criminal justice on a scholarship.

Melanie got interested in law by watching a lot of legal programs. She also likes to argue, because she always wins. She is even more successful with the guys.

We asked if she would drop her studies if her modeling career picked up. "I couldn’t drop college, I would have to balance both," she said, admitting that her parents would kill her.

Melanie likes to hang around on Bell Blvd., but doesn’t drink. After all she is underage. She enjoys rollerblading by the Cross Island. Her hobbies include working out, and dancing , but admits, "Shopping is my favorite past- time."

Melanie looks up to Cindy Crawford and gave a bit of advice to others who might want to pursue modeling, "If there is something that you really want to do, you have to stay focused- it’s not something that happens overnight."

UModels.com #5322 is how QConf discovered Melanie.

While on a hunger strike inside of the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, the Reverend Al Sharpton has had precious time to ponder the consequences of his stiff 90-day jail sentence.  The prospective 2004 presidential candidate was arrested on May 1for protesting the continued naval bombing and military exercises taking place on the Puerto Rican Island of Vieques. Does this reinforce his resolve to run in’04?

Sharpton had some bemused comments that were food for thought (but that’s all, remember he’s fasting.) "All I have to do is turn on the TV and watch George Bush, and know that any nobody can be President. Even me."

Meanwhile, the voice that roared has been subdued during his incarceration. He even sobbed while being interviewed by NY1’s Dominic Carter. An unnamed NY1 source told QConfidential, "Sharpton asked the camera crew if they had caught his rare display of emotion and urged NY1 to air that sequence.

On the other hand, Sharpton’s temper flared up when he mentioned the overtures that Jesse Jackson has suddenly made to
visit him in jail. Sharpton felt that Jesse is so disgraced that he’d win back some support by tapping
into the Sharpton support. He thought the better of going too far attacking Jesse, and backed
off, asking NY1 to disregard his taunts." NY1 obliged Reverend Al.

Is Sharpton a Jew?

It turns out that one of the most controversial black advocates, Rev. Al Sharpton, may have a mixed ancestry.

This realization came to one QConfidential contributor after a cartoon of the Rev was placed in the Tribune (and its sister paper, the PRESS) under a caricature of Publisher Michael Schenkler, who is Jewish.

An uncanny resemblance jumped out to the reporter whose job is now in jeopardy, which lead to the question, are these two related?

Does Sharpton have Jews in his lineage? Does Schenkler have Negroes in his family tree?

It has been a long time since a controversy this big has been launched into the universe of discussion, but we had to ask.

Wouldn’t it be something if it turns out that Sharpton is both Jewish and Black? He could help unite the two groups and heal the wounds from Crown Heights and other incidents and impact the ballot box in New York on Primary Day – appealing to two big ethnic blocks.

Hmmm!

Queens is home to a large senior citizen population, a baseball-loving bunch that loves to root on their hometown New York Mets. That’s why it was with great anger that seniors met the Mets’ new senior day policy.

Last year, Queens seniors had the chance to watch their team play on "Senior Day" for only a buck a game, a far cry from the ever-increasing price of tickets at Shea. However, all good things must come to an end, including one-dollar Senior Day at Shea, unfortunately.

Although Senior Day has not been completely eliminated, as some seniors may believe, inflation has set in. Although there are "more days and more benefits" according to a team spokesperson, instead of a dollar a pop seniors now pay a fee of $6.

Hey, that’s all right though – the way the Mets have played this year, there's not much to miss anyway.