October 2, 2013

The undefeated Aggies will face the Bulldogs (2-1) this Saturday at the 25th Atlanta Classic.

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SERVING THE AGGIE COMMUNITY FOR OVER 80 YEARS

Professor runs for city council LACI OLLISON

Register Reporter

As a 2010 graduate and professor at N.C. A&T, Jamal Fox says that he understands the needs of the A&T student body as well as the Greensboro community.

That is why this 2 5 - y e a r- o l d has decided to run for City Council Representative of Fox Greensboro District 2.

“Since I’ve been here, I’ve read and heard about so many issues that are going on in Greensboro, and have even had the chance to speak with people about those issues,” said Fox. “For young professionals, I felt that it was time for us to assume responsibility over our own future.”

James Mayes, the Interim chair of political science and criminal justice at A&T, taught Fox during his undergraduate years. “I have always found Professor Fox to be an engaging student. Also, someone who’s been aware of current events and has always had a plan.”

Mayes said during Fox’s undergraduate career, he never thought he would have run for city council. “I knew he was going to run for something, but I never thought he would run for city council and so soon. “ Professor Fox said that he wanted to do something for his generation so that others can see him as a role model. He exhibits this through his volunteer work with young men in the Guilford County School system.

One major goal that Fox hopes to accomplish through his campaign is creating unity and spreading awareness about major issues within the Greensboro community.

Fox also believes various attractions should be created for the city so that college students will want to form a permanent residence here.

The A&T professor thinks that excess land should be used to create a facility where students will have the opportunity to interact and train the community in the students’ areas of specialty.

Campus and neighborhood safety is another initiative of Fox’s campaign. “Since I have been here I have seen too many robberies, deaths and too many issues as it relates to the police department. I want to strengthen the relationship between our police, students and our community.”

Although Fox cannot discuss his campaign during his classes, he tries to do what he can to reach students outside of the classroom.

“When you’re sitting in a classroom, you never know what

OCTOBeR 2, 2013

THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF NORTH CAROLINA A&T

Handguns are now permitted on campus KARMEN ROBINSON Editor-in-Chief

As of Oct. 1, concealed handgun permit holders were legally able to have handguns on North Carolina A&T’s campus.

Last week, University Police Chief Glenn Newell issued a memorandum to students, faculty, and staff explaining that A&T will observe the amendment to G.S. 14-269.2 that now authorizes permit holders

to transport and/or store their personal handguns in a locked vehicle, in a locked container while traveling or parked on educational property.

The legislative changes were signed into law on July 29 by Gov. Pat McCrory.

Though permit holders are required to keep handguns in a locked container, they are not obligated to notify any campus officials that they will store a weapon in their vehicle, however, if their vehicle is stopped

by a police officer, they are required to inform the officer that they are transporting a gun.

“If anyone brings a weapon on campus, they better make certain that they keep the weapon in the vehicle,” Newell said.

“The minute that they have a weapon outside their vehicle, it will be a violation of the law and they will be charged.”

Though Newell believes the new amendment will not impact the campus tremendously, some security officers, who are

not equipped with firearms unlike university police, do not like the threat of having weapons on campus and are concerned about the safety of the campus community.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” said James Poe, a security officer with Lankford Protective Services. Poe served in the military for 20 years and also teaches weapon safety classes. “To me, it makes no sense. I don’t think they should be allowed on campus.”

Some students are also shaken up about the new gun laws, specifically because of the rise of shootings that have occurred in the U.S. and on school grounds.

“Guns being allowed on campus is going to be dangerous,” said Devante Hicks, a senior criminal justice major.

“Now that guns are in a closer proximity, students that do want to take that action legally  See HANDGUNS on Page 3

A&T is Tom Joyner School of the Month TRISTAN BAILEY

Register Reporter

consequences.” The new center allows students to practice and learn in a low-risk environment.

An area where real situations are created in a controlled environment, Catherine Sykes, director of simulation and virtual learning for A&T’s School of Nursing, played a big role with establishing the lab. Sykes stated this center gives students a chance to not only practice clinical skills, but to apply their critical reasoning skills in order to be safe nurses.

“They [simulators] can talk back so they [students] get that immediate feedback from the patients based on what they say or what they do,” Sykes said. “It is really a wonderful tool, not just to work on their critical reasoning, but for team work and communication, for practicing the organizational skills that they need.”

According to Sykes, schools have transitioned into using more simulators that are computer operated within the last 15 years. With an estimate of over $170,000 in equipment, new and old, the mannequin

For the third time, North Carolina A&T has been selected as Tom Joyner’s School of the Month for October.

The university will be promoted by the Tom Joyner Morning Show and receive funds raised from listeners, alumni and other interested parties this month. All of the proceeds are given to the donor’s choice of universities. The show, airs in 115 markets around the country and reaches nearly eight million listeners every week.

The School of the Month is an annual program developed by the Tom Joyner foundation.

The Foundation raises funds for scholarships and community development for 12 HBCUs each year. A&T was also selected for School of the Month in 2000 and 2006.

Since A&T was announced as October’s school of the month, Carletta Simmons, A&T director of annual giving, has created initiatives to boost alumni support. Students, alumni, faculty and staff will raise money for scholarships and community development.

“This campaign will raise much needed funds for well deserving students,” Simmons said. The goal is to raise $100,000. In addition to messages at home football games, Simmons is speaking one on one with alumni and using social media sites to raise funds.

“Everyone has until the end of the financial year to make donations. I hope students understand the importance of philanthropy and how this affects them.”

Nationally acclaimed radio personality, Tom Joyner, founded the Tom Joyner Foundation in 1998. Founder of REACH Media Inc., and BlackAmericaWeb.com, Joyner, a graduate of Tuskegee University, has always been a strong supporter of historically black colleges and universities.

The Tom Joyner Foundation seeks to provide students with an opportunity to attend an HBCU despite their financial background, in addition to

 See NURSING on Page 3

 See JOYNERon Page 3

PHOTO BY SYMONE’ AUSTIN • thE A&t REGIStER

VIRTUAL LEARNING AND SIMULATION CENTER (Above) Sheneka Jones checks the human-like robotic simulator in A&T’s new simulation center in Hines Hall that opened on October 1, 2013.

(Below) Nursing professor, Sharon Allen, demonstrates to students and guests how one of the infant simulators works during a tour of the center.

School of Nursing gets simulation lab KIMBERLY FIELDS

Register Reporter

They can blink, moan, speak, and they can even cough. What is that, you ask?

The computer operated simulators in the new virtual learning center.

Celebrating 60 years of teaching, N.C. A&T’s School of Nursing opened a new simulation center in Hines Hall on Oct. 1 to help advance the skills of nursing students in a safe environment.

Funded mostly by Title III, or federal grants, the simulation center is where nursing students will go for hands-on clinical learning experiences.

After two years of planning and building, Inez Tuck, Dean of the School of Nursing, was able to give her students a modern laboratory to help them confidently enter into their profession.

“The lab experience that I had as a student here was very low tech,” Tuck said. “Practicing these skills and even making mistakes in clinical judgment under the guidance of a faculty member, cause no harm and have no long term

 See FOX on Page 3

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McCrory promises to fight lawsuit issued by U.S. Department of Justice regarding new voter ID laws.

African-Americans seem uninterested in politics unless candidates are from the same background.

John Grant encourages fans to attend the “best HBCU experience” at the Georgia Dome.

The Register Staff recaps the most jaw-dropping and heartpounding moments of ‘Scandal.’

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events

NC Republicans vow to fight US DOJ over voter laws PETE YOST & MICHAEL BIESECKER

Wednesday

2

Chocolate With the Chancellor Stallings Ballroom 6 p.m.

Associated Press

RALEIGH — North Carolina’s Republican governor is vowing to fight a lawsuit by the U.S. Justice Department challenging the state’s tough new elections law on the grounds it disproportionately excludes minority voters.

Gov. Pat McCrory said Monday he has hired a private lawyer to help defend the new law from what he suggested was a partisan attack by President Barack Obama’s Democratic administration.

“I believe the federal government action is an overreach and without merit,” McCrory said at a brief media conference

during which he took no questions. “I firmly believe we have done the right thing. I believe this is good law.”

North Carolina’s new law cuts early voting by a week, ends same-day voter registration and includes a stringent photo ID requirement. The measure also eliminated a popular high school civics program that encouraged students to register to vote in advance of their 18th birthdays.

More than 70 percent of African-Americans who cast a ballot in North Carolina during the past two presidential elections voted early. Studies show minority voters are also more likely to lack a driver’s license.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in Washington on Monday his agency would show in court that the intent of the North Carolina law is to suppress voter turnout, especially among minority and low-income voters.

“By restricting access and ease of voter participation, this new law would shrink, rather than expand, access” to voting, Holder said.

“Allowing limits on voting rights that disproportionately exclude minority voters would be inconsistent with our ideals as a nation.”

The lawsuit, filed at U.S. District Court in Greensboro, is the latest effort by the Obama administration to counter a

Art professor showcases work at museum tristan bailey

Kirby connected to a piece titled Politics as Usual where McClinton Professor Darlene Mcuses an image of actress, Clinton hosted the solo art exMarsha Hunt, on the hibit at the International Civil cover of Vogue magaRights Museum. zine but draws inspiraMcClinton, a visual and tion from Jay-Z song performing arts teacher, shared lyrics to alter the image. her passion for art on Saturday The piece is an affirmaSept. 28. Her exhibit, entitled tion that “Black is beau“Bridging the G.A.P. between tiful,” and depicts “selfGenerations & Purpose: Polirespect and well-being tics, Art, and Iconography for all women of color.” & Social Change,” depicted McClinton draws inAfrican-American icons in faspiration from her permous leaders’ poses. sonal triumphs and exAfter a small reception, periences. She describes McClinton introduced each herself as, “a woman piece featured in the exhibof integrity who lives a it. She also gave a detailed life of service.” To all description of each piece, aspiring artist, “always including the inspiration bepractice and study your Photo COURTESY OF WILLIAM C. SMILEY hind the creation. Almost fifty craft, network, market people were there to observe DARLENE McClinton (left) speaks with Lolita Watkins, a Curatorial Program Associate during the art exhibit on your art, and take on an her artwork. The program September 28, 2013. entrepreneur spirit.” concluded with a question and In addition to her chains I had been held down by,” visual and performing arts has answer segment. served as McClinton’s mentor. exhibit, she designed a mural said McClinton.

McClinton uses abstract“I painted African-American She pleaded with students to capturing part of North Carolina realism and acrylic painting to icons in notable leaders’ poses to continue to learn about African- history to be preserved at the Inconvey “political icons of the create a visual conversation be- American history. ternational Civil Rights Center past as imagery of the present.” tween two generations. The spe“We need you to read and lis- and Museum. The mural is tiIn addition, she used a combina- cific time in history that my art ten to what we’re saying,” she tled “A Celebration of Progress” tion of digital photography and speaks to is the sixties,” she said. said. “Travel, you will learn more and displays North Carolina’s traditional methods to create her “My art narrates stories of pride that way than just sitting here.” role in starting the Civil Rights thought provoking displays. and tradition. My paintings are a She also shared her experiences Movement. She has also worked Her piece, Breakthrough, series of stylized portraits of 21st meeting the celebrities depicted extensively with the African shows famous jazz singer Billie century African Americans using in her artwork.

American Atelier.

Holiday alongside contempo- popular imagery and methods to The exhibit inspired Cathy rary R&B artist, Jill Scott. “This visualize their cultural identity of Kirby.

—Email Tristan at tnbailey@agpiece shows a breakthrough in the 20th century.”

“She made valid points that I gies.ncat.edu and follow The Register my life, and a release from the on Twitter @TheATRegister Eleanor Gwynn, chairman of can take away for myself.”

Register Reporter

NURSING From page 1 simulators have human like characteristics such as heartbeats, lung sounds, and bodily fluids.

Equipped with simulated mannequins and virtual learning aids, Sykes says the center provides a more realistic environment to practice in and gives clinical groups the opportunity to do pre or post-conferences that are associated with their clinical.

“I think it is a great resource,” said Dreama Davis, a senior nursing student. “It helps bridge the gap between clinical and theory by increasing confidence in your practice and strengthening the material taught in class.”

The school of nursing is up for reaccreditation in February 2014. Sykes believes that this center will help them pass reaccreditation since the trend in nursing is increasing the opportunities for simulated clinical experiences. Another advantage students will have with the center is a debriefing room that will allow students to observe others with simulators.

“Simulation is really a must have for our students, and that was one of the things that they [the accreditation committee] have commented on in the past.

They liked that we were using simulation and they just encour-

The A&T

Register Box E-25 1601 E. Market Street Greensboro, NC 27411 Newsroom: NCB 328A (336) 334­-7700 www.ncatregister.com

aged us to do more of it,” said Sykes.

Dean Inez Tuck notes that there is no correlation between the center and reaccreditation.

“Resources are part of every accreditation process and this simulation lab will enhance the resources for the School of Nursing,” she said. “Our students will benefit from experiences that increase their critical thinking skills.”

Not just a benefit to the school of nursing, Sykes believes that it will also benefit A&T. She said that it is a good marketing asset for the university and would attract students.

Chancellor Harold Martin agrees.

“The simulation center will provide an excellent educational facility that represents a significant investment by the university in our nursing program and our students,” he said. “This new facility positions our nursing program to compete more successfully with other nursing programs throughout the state and the nation.”

The center is also expected to make sure students are successful when taking their licensure exam and becoming nurses.

“Simulation is not for education,” she said. “Simulation is where we learn to hone our practice skills.”

— Email Kim at knfield1@aggies. ncat.edu and follow The Register on Twitter @TheATRegister

FOX From page 1 really impacts your community,” he said. “In the past few months that I’ve been around in the community, I’ve had people talk to me about many issues and concerns that they have. I am going to do what I can to be a voice for the Greensboro community.”

Fox encourages students to use their right to vote so they can have a hand in developing a government that will affect them significantly, especially when they graduate from college.

The student body of A&T holds an important percentage of the population of Greensboro’s District 2. With the vote of the entire student body, it is possible to elect Fox as city council representative.

Jim Kee, another A&T

handguns From page 1 have easier access to those weapons.”

Though the law has been amended, it is still considered a Class I felony if the handgun is removed from the owner’s vehicle, and if anyone is caught having a handgun without a permit, they will be charged by the university’s police.

To obtain a concealed

editor-in-chief: Karmen Robinson Managing editor/sports editor: Kalyn Hoyle opinions editor: Meagan Jordan scene editor: Kourtney Pope online Editor: Courtney Matthews copy desk chief: Kashian Scrivens GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Taylor Wilson

graduate, currently holds the position. Kee has held the position since 2009. Both candidates have included public safety and economic development as focal points of their campaigns.

Fox also hopes to be able to extend the hours of recreational centers, build sidewalks in neighborhoods as well as create activities that allow youth to become engaged and channel their energy into positive exercise.

Fox received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from N.C. A&T State University and earned his masters from Capella University. He is currently working on his doctorate.

Supreme Court decision that struck down the most powerful part of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. The 5-4 decision handed down earlier this year freed states, many of them in the South, from strict federal oversight of their elections.

State Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger and House Speaker Thom Tillis issued a statement that rejected Holder’s argument.

“The Obama Justice Department’s baseless claims about North Carolina’s election reform law are nothing more than an obvious attempt to quash the will of the voters and hinder a hugely popular voter ID requirement,” they said.

“The law was designed to

JOYNER From page 1 helping institutions by broadening and strengthening their efforts to raise money and to maintain student enrollment at HBCUs. The foundation also partners with HBCUs as well as the university’s surrounding community to create scholarships and enrichment programs.

Joyner has other programs including the Hercules Scholarship and the Veterans Education Program. The Hercules Scholarship, named after Joyner’s late father, is awarded to a successful male student.

The Veterans Education Program helps transition veterans back to civilian life and into a university setting by providing them with counseling, support, and education.

“This is a good chance for A&T to recruit new students,” said senior, Janee Francois.

“I’m glad they’re raising money for scholarships, but I barely see that money. I hope the money is distributed to all

improve consistency, clarity and uniformity at the polls and it brings North Carolina’s election system in line with a majority of other states,” the two lawmakers said. “We are confident it protects the right of all voters, as required by the U.S. and North Carolina Constitutions.”

McCrory’s office said Monday he had retained lawyer Karl S. “Butch” Bowers, Jr., to defend the GOP-backed elections changes. Bowers, of Columbia, S.C., is a member of the Republican National Lawyers Association who served during the Justice Department’s special counsel for voting matters during the administration of President George W. Bush.

programs on campus.”

Corporate sponsors of the foundation include CocaCola, Ford Motor Company, Allstate, Denny’s, Combined Federal Charities, and Anheuser Busch (Budweiser). Allstate donates $10 to the Foundation for every insurance quote up to $200,000, and Budweiser has given over $1 million in support of numerous scholarship programs supporting minority students.

Courtney Jackson, staff writer and social media manager of university relations, is working directly with a class to develop programs to inspire students to give back.

“This is a good opportunity to get involved as a university,” Jackson explains. “When times get rough, we can pull ourselves up by our boot straps.” Students can look forward to a union takeover and dining hall takeover later this month.

—Email Tristan at tnbailey@aggies.ncat.edu and follow The Register on Twitter @TheATRegister

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—Email Laci at lkolliso@aggies. ncat.edu and follow The Register on Twitter @TheATRegister

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weapons permit in N.C, a person must be at least 21-yearsold, a U.S. citizen, a resident of North Carolina for 30 days preceding the filing of the permit application, and not suffer from a physical or mental disease that could prevent the safe handling of a handgun.

—Email Karmen at klrobin2@ aggies.ncat.edu and follow her on Twitter @KayRob17

photo editor: Symone’ Austin Copy editor: Brianna Harrison senior reporter: Kamil Lockley reporters: Jeremy Days, Kimberly Fields, Lacy Ollison, Ziris Savage content director: Anjan Basu faculty adviser: Emily Harris

The A&T Register is published every Wednesday during the fall and spring semesters by students at North Carolina A&T State University. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Register’s newsroom (subject to availability). All subscription requests should be directed to the Business department.

The A&T Register has a weekly circulation of 5,000 copies on-campus and in the community and is a member of The Associated Press, The Associated Collegiate Press and the Black College Wire.

theWORLD Mexico immigrant runs afoul of law 4

The A&T Register | ncatregister.com | Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Tracy wilkinson MTC Campus

OLINALA, Mexico— Surely, this is not the returning-immigrant experience that Nestora Salgado imagined.

At first, the 41-year-old mother of three was, in the words of a supporter, “a sensation” in her mountainous Guerrero homeland, where she returned recently after 20 years in the United States. As she led this remote town in an uprising against vicious criminals, she was fierce, confident, charismatic.

“She had more right to be the leader because she has more guts than any man,” said Marisela Jimenez, who became a civilian adviser to the community police that eventually emerged.

On the day in October when Olinala rebelled, it was Salgado who commandeered a police patrol car and used its megaphone to call people into the streets. “Leave your fear at home! Come out!”

And, as church bells tolled in solidarity, they came out, by the thousands. Within days, they had expelled many of the crooks, villagers say.

But her adopted American “can-do” met a Mexican “can’tbe.”

Today, Salgado sits virtually incommunicado in a Mexican penitentiary, far from her home and her people, accused of kidnapping and guilty, certainly, of having run afoul of a clash of cultures, politics and generations-old clan rivalries.

Salgado left this place long ago. Already a mother of two at age 20, she followed her then-husband to the Pacific Northwest in the early 1990s, worked hard as a waitress, had another child, divorced, remarried, ended up in Seattle and became a U.S. citizen. Always tough-minded, relatives say, she learned about basic civil rights and how to demand them, and the potential power of women.

She began trips back home, staying longer each time, taking donated money and clothing to neighbors, building a house, room by room, and making plans to settle permanently.

The Guerrero she returned to, however, had changed. Los Rojos had taken over.

Los Rojos the Reds were a thuggish branch of one of the bigger drug cartels taking up

PHOTO BY TRACY WILKINSON

MARISELA JIMINEZ holds a copy of the law that allows indigenous pueblos to form community squads as she participates in a town meeting of Nestora Salgado’s supporters.

positions through central Mexico. During the last couple of years, they managed to terrorize Olinala with small numbers of outlaws who, according to many in the town, had the protection of corrupt police and recently elected politicians.

The catalyst for the uprising was the Oct. 27 funeral of a taxi driver who, after refusing to pay extortion money to Los Rojos, had been kidnapped and killed.

As townspeople buried the man, a rumor flew among the mourners that another cabbie had been kidnapped.

Passions were high. Authorities were doing nothing.

The town rebelled, thousands pouring into the streets, led by Nestora Salgado.

“Nestora brought a lot of good visions from the U.S.,” said Bernardo Ayala, an Olinala native and fellow vigilante who spent most of the 2000s working in Southern California in a mattress factory and laying concrete sidewalks.

“The people here did not

know how to defend themselves.

She was the first to take charge.

She commanded respect.”

It was a giddy moment, by all accounts, with most of the townspeople united about the need to defend themselves.

“Fear and necessity motivate us,” Salgado told an interviewer before her arrest. “We were fed up with authorities not doing anything.” She knew some of the risks: “Do not squash us like cockroaches,” she warned the government.

“She learned a lot in the U.S. She knows about rights,” Salgado’s husband, Jose Luis Avila, said from New York before heading to Washington to stage a hunger strike in front of the White House to press for his wife’s release.

“She said the whole town had been sold to the narcos,” he added. “She said, ‘How can I abandon them now?’”

The ad hoc self-defense squad that Salgado controlled is one of scores that have sprung up across Guerrero, neighbor-

ing Michoacan and other parts of central Mexico as citizens take on killers, narcos and kidnappers because authorities don’t. The proliferation of these groups is embarrassing for President Enrique Pena Nieto, challenging his ability to govern the nation and prompting him in many cases to use the army to rein in the vigilantes.

Unlike other parts of Mexico, Guerrero has a long tradition of legally recognized community policing under rules for indigenous populations that were enacted largely in response to a 1995 massacre of peasants by state security forces.

There are specific requirements and restrictions: Their guns must be single-shot rifles and low-caliber pistols. Suspects in serious crimes must be turned over to the mainstream authorities.

Salgado and her supporters said they were availing themselves of those rules for indigenous pueblos to form a community police force under

what is formally known as the Regional Coordinator of Community Authorities, or CRAC. Other towns across Guerrero followed suit.

But in Olinala, the townspeople soon began to squabble.

Some wanted the army and navy to take charge of security and remain permanently. Others objected when Salgado’s group allied itself with more radical elements of the CRAC, notably a passel of onetime leftist revolutionaries based in the Guerrero town of Paraiso (“Paradise”).

Her enemies began looking for a reason to shut her down, and she gave it to them.

This summer, Salgado and her group arrested three teenage girls and accused them of dealing cocaine for their narco boyfriends. They sent the girls to a detention center at Paraiso, overreaching their legal authority, some in the town say.

Then she arrested a politically connected City Hall official and two associates, accusing them of stealing a cow. The

three men were detained after the people who had been transporting the cow were killed in an ambush. That arrest was probably the last straw.

“We had to act (against criminals), but it should have been in a civilized manner,” said Juan Rendon, a jovial merchant specializing in glass and aluminum siding, who originally rose up in arms with Salgado but then split from her faction. She now lists him as her major enemy.

Salgado’s allies insist, however, that each time they turned a suspect over to government officials, he or she was immediately released.

“I have nothing against the lady,” Guerrero Gov. Angel Aguirre said at the time. “What I cannot permit, as governor ... is [people taking justice] in their own hands. We cannot live by the law of the jungle.”

Even her supporters say that what Salgado did may not have been illegal, but it was definitely ill-considered.

Vidulfo Rosales, an attorney with the Guerrero-based Tlachinollan human rights organization who is handling Salgado’s case, said the parallel system of policing and justice that the vigilantes are operating is necessary because the official system is so corrupt.

“Having been away from Mexico for so long,” he said, “she did not have a good analysis ... of just how much power these people have and how they would react.”

At this writing, only two people have been allowed into the prison to see Nestora Salgado: a daughter and a sister.

Each traveled about 40 hours by bus to reach the penitentiary and then spent 40 minutes with her. Because Salgado is a U.S. citizen, the American Embassy intervened to persuade prison officials to allow the visits.

The daughter, Sayra, and the sister, Cleotilde, said she was downcast, but remained strong and determined.

Rosales, the attorney, says the government is making an example of Salgado. By cracking down on her hard, officials send a message to all people of Guerrero to stand down and behave. He believes government officials fear that tumultuous Guerrero could be the center of a wider uprising.

About that, they may be right.

Australian novelist Christopher Koch dies Italy close to collapse elaine woo

MTC Campus

Christopher Koch, one of Australia’s most acclaimed novelists, whose 1978 thriller “The Year of Living Dangerously” illuminated the political and cultural turmoil in Indonesia after World War II, died of cancer Monday in Hobart, Australia. He was 81.

His death was confirmed to Australian news media by his agent, Margaret Connolly.

During a 55-year career, Koch wrote at least eight novels, which often explored Australians’ engagement with their near-neighbors in Asia.

“Highways to War” (1995), for instance, revolves around a combat photographer from the Australian island state of Tasmania who disappears in Southeast Asia. It is considered one of Koch’s most accomplished works.

But Koch, which he pronounced “kosh,” was most often identified with “The Year of Living Dangerously,” a political drama set in Indonesia during the violent period leading up to the overthrow of the Sukarno regime in 1965.

It was made into a highly regarded 1983 film directed by Peter Weir and starring Mel Gibson, Sigourney Weaver and Linda Hunt, who won the best supporting actress Oscar

for her mesmerizing portrayal of a male photographer named Billy Kwan.

Koch had mixed feelings about the fame resulting from the movie.

“If a book is made into a film, they hang it around your neck forever,” he told the Weekend Australian newspaper last year. But he acknowledged that the best-selling book “saved me from sinking into obscurity. So, I’ll never put it down. I just get a bit sick of the film being lumped in all the time.”

Born in the Tasmanian capital of Hobart on July 16, 1932, Koch left school at 15 and worked in a bookstore, where he availed himself of the opportunity to read James Joyce’s “Ulysses” and other classics. He was fired after being caught too many times reading books instead of selling them.

Later, at 17, he worked for the Hobart Mercury newspaper as an artist and occasional cartoonist before returning to school to study English, philosophy and history at the University of Tasmania. While still a student, he published his first poem in The Bulletin magazine.

In 1958, after roaming India and Europe, he published his first novel, a coming-of-age story called “The Boys in the Island.” Armed with good no-

tices, he went to California in 1960 for a writing fellowship at Stanford University, where his classmates included Larry McMurtry and Ken Kesey.

After his year at Stanford, he returned to Australia and spent more than a decade as a writer and radio producer for what is now the Australian Broadcasting Corp. He quit in 1972 to gamble on writing fiction fulltime. “People thought I was crazy,” Koch, who had just turned 40 and had a wife and child, recalled in the Weekend Australian interview.

Inspired by the experiences of his younger brother Philip, a foreign correspondent, Koch began to explore Asia.

“The Year of Living Dangerously” was based in part on his brother’s tales about covering the tumult in Indonesia. The novel’s provocative title came from a speech by President Sukarno, who said 1965 was the year Indonesia would end its dependence on the West. That year, Sukarno was ousted in a military coup.

Weir, the Australian director of “Picnic at Hanging Rock” and “Gallipoli,” was slow to embrace the novel but once he did he found that he couldn’t put it down. He bought the film rights and worked on the screenplay with Koch, who is credited as co-writer along with Weir and David Williamson.

According to Weir, his relationship with Koch was bumpy from the start because of the author’s doubts that his novel could be successfully translated into film.

Koch also was shocked by Weir’s choice of Hunt to play the crucial role of Billy Kwan. “My feeling was that it was worth a gamble,” Weir told the New York Times in 1983. “But can you imagine how horrified Chris Koch must have been to hear that a woman was going to play his precious creation?”

Koch had a restless quality, which led to a life of constant relocation, both within Australia and overseas. Much of his moving was motivated by a desire to get away from his native Tasmania, which he said was too isolated and provincial. Yet he frequently returned to the island, which figured in most of his novels, including last year’s “Lost Voices.”

“Koch has an extraordinary power of evoking place,” novelist and critic Graham Greene once wrote, “and I feel now that Tasmania is part of my memory.”

Koch is survived by his second wife, Robin; his son from his first marriage, classical guitarist Gareth Koch; his brother, Philip; a sister, Susan; and grandchildren.

MTC Campus

ROME— The five cabinet ministers from former Italian premier Silvio Berulsconi’s People of Freedom (PDL) party have said they will quit the government, potentially causing its collapse, reported the Ansa news agency citing Deputy Prime Minister Angelino Alfano.

The announcement by Alfano, a close Berlusconi ally, was seen as the last stage before the collapse of Italy’s government, said Guglielmo Epifani, the head of the centerleft Democratic Party (PD) of Prime Minister Enrico Letta.

The PDL and the PD form a coalition government along with centrists linked to former prime minister Mario Monti.

The two parties have increasingly been at odds in recent weeks, mostly due to a guilty verdict for Berlusconi in a tax fraud case that would bar him from future public office.

Alfano said that the conditions no longer existed for members of his party to stay in the government. Berlusconi’s supporters have demanded that the legislature find some way to nullify the ruling or sentence against Berlusconi.

A Senate committee is scheduled to vote Oct. 4 on the question of stripping the scandal-tainted politician of his seat. Berlusconi supporters

have threatened a “mass departure” should it allow Berlusconi’s removal.

Letta indicated Friday that he would soon call a confidence vote to see if he had a stable majority that would allow him to govern. That vote could come Tuesday or Wednesday.

But Saturday’s actions make it increasingly likely that the current government will collapse. That would force President Giorgio Napolitano to tap Letta or some other politician with the job of forming another government.

Napolitano has, in the recent past, resisted calls to dissolve parliament and call for new elections. He has also criticized the PDL for threatening the proper functioning of the legislature, calling it absurd that Berlusconi and his followers treat a legal ruling as a political affront.

Berlusconi’s guilty verdict for tax fraud was upheld in August by the country’s highest court. The verdict relates to fraudulent offshore accounting by his family’s media firm, Mediaset. Aside from being barred from public office, Berlusconi is expected to perform a year of community service or be placed under house arrest.

Letta has challenged the PDL to outline their stance regarding Berlusconi and their plans to pull down the government during any no-confidence vote.

theBIZ Big-box stores add financial services The A&T Register | ncatregister.com | Wednesday, October 2, 2013

lindsay wise

MTC Campus

WASHINGTON—Need to refinance your mortgage? Just put it on your shopping list next time you visit Costco, alongside the jumbo paper towels and the 6-gallon bucket of cat kibble.

Big-box retail stores today offer a growing number of financial services, from check cashing and reloadable prepaid cards to small business loans and life insurance.

The products appeal to consumers attracted to the convenience of one-stop shopping and fed up with the overdraft fees, tight credit and minimum balances at banks. But retailers aren’t subject to the same federal oversight as banks, and they might not always provide the same consumer protections.

Ten million American households _ 1 in 12 _ don’t have any checking or savings accounts, according to a 2011 survey by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Twenty-four million households _ 1 in 5 _ have accounts but also rely on alternative financial services such as non-bank money orders, check cashing, payday loans, tax refund loans and pawnshops.

Major retailers are developing an ever-expanding menu of financial products aimed at this underserved population, a market that generates more than $78 billion annually in fee and interest revenue.

In addition to mortgages, for example, Costco advertises identity protection, boat and RV loans, as well as auto,

home and health insurance.

At Home Depot, customers may get home improvement loans for up to $40,000.

Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest retailer, offers tax preparation, check cashing, in-store bill paying, money transfers, and prepaid cards that function as debit and checking alternatives.

Through a partnership with American Express, Wal-Mart’s reloadable Bluebird card allows direct deposits and preauthorized check writing; has no monthly, annual or overdraft fees; and may carry a balance of up to $100,000. Last month, Wal-Mart announced that Bluebird accounts would be eligible for FDIC insurance, enabling deposits of government payments such as Social Security, military pay and tax refunds.

“We know many of our customers either don’t have a bank account or are poorly served by banks given the costs and service issues they find with them,” Wal-Mart spokeswoman Sarah Spencer said in an email. “They continue to seek alternatives that improve both the convenience and cost of everyday money services.”

Wal-Mart’s latest experiment is insurance. About 200 Wal-Mart stores in Georgia and South Carolina are testing sales of life insurance policies.

Customers at participating stores may purchase prepaid cards at the stores that may be used to pay for one-year terms.

The customers then activate the policies by calling a tollfree number and speaking with licensed MetLife agents.

Retailers’ interest in financial products isn’t new, dating

back decades to store credit and, later, branded credit cards. Wal-Mart even sought a special charter to establish its own bank, but the company withdrew its application in 2007 after facing resistance from the banking industry and lawmakers.

Spencer told McClatchy that Wal-Mart no longer wants to become a bank, and it doesn’t have plans to provide mortgages, although Sam’s Club, a division of Wal-Mart, does offer small business loans up to $25,000.

Clearly, the lack of charters isn’t stopping Wal-Mart or other retailers from providing many of the same services traditionally found at neighborhood bank branches. Often, they simply partner with thirdparty credit card companies, lenders or insurance agents to make the products available to shoppers in stores or online.

Home Depot’s loans, for example, are backed by a consortium of mid-tier banks. The customer applies in the store, then the application goes to a financial provider that “operates a little like a LendingTree,” said Brandon Hayes, the director of financial services at Home Depot. “They have a series of banks behind them that set up the loans. ... It’s still a Home Depot product, but we’re not the one doing the direct lending. The risks sit with the banks behind us.”

Hayes said Home Depot didn’t see itself as a financial services company. “We are a retailer that uses financial services to facilitate a sale,” he said.

Bankers consider big-box stores competitors, however,

and they want retailers that offer financial services to be supervised and examined by the same federal regulators that oversee banks.

“If they want to play the game let’s play it, but let’s play it fairly,” said Richard Hunt, the president and CEO of the Consumer Bankers Association, the trade association for retail banking.

Retailers see little need for further regulation.

“We have a positive ongoing dialogue with relevant regulators and believe that our products are properly and adequately regulated,” said Spencer, the Wal-Mart spokeswoman. “In many cases, the regulated entity is the financial services partner that ‘manufactures’ the product.”

Consumer advocates say expanding financial services to people who might not otherwise have access to bank accounts or credit might be a positive trend, although they’re concerned about the lack of legal safeguards.

People who fail to read the fine print might find themselves paying high fees and shelling out extra money for fraud prevention or customer service calls or to check balances, said Pamela Banks, a senior policy counsel for financial services at Consumers Union, a nonprofit advocacy organization in Washington.

“I think Costco and WalMart have done a business assessment and realized that there are a lot of people that don’t go to traditional banks, and they’re trying to fill that void,” Banks said. “Hopefully they’ll do that in a way that’s fair to consumers as well as a

Fiscal cliff throws off experts tax advice Dale kasler

MTC Campus

At 72, Paul Nagorski likes to own stocks that come with their own payday. Dividend checks add to his income.

The Kansas City, Mo., resident soon may be sharing more of his investing income with Uncle Sam. Like other investors, he’s heading for a tax cliff on Jan. 1.

“I’ll pay more,” Nagorski said. “I can afford to do it. I don’t like to do it.”

Now that the election is over, attention has turned to how President Barack Obama and Congress intend to deal with the automatic tax increases and spending changes set to kick in on New Year’s Day. Lawmakers had set up this fiscal cliff to force themselves to negotiate a long-term reduction in the federal deficit.

Failure to reach a deal would mean a sudden drop in federal spending, an end to the Bush-era tax cuts, and other tax changes on Jan. 1.

Dividends, stock gains, estates and even ordinary income would be taxed at higher rates _ with the impact being felt broadly in the investing world.

Even investors inside taxdeferred accounts such as 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts could feel the lingering changes wrought by the tax side of the fiscal cliff. This automatic rewriting of tax rules stands to make many investment choices less attractive, and a few more valuable.

The traditional year-end advice from tax experts has turned topsy-turvy. The standard advice, to sell losers to offset profits and reduce taxes, is morphing into recommendations of selling winners to take advantage of lower capital gains rates that are set to rise in 2013.

Some companies flush with cash are cutting special dividend checks to shareholders before the year ends. Those dividend benefits may be harder to come by next year if tax rates climb and companies decide to pay out smaller rewards.

If bracing for the tax cliff seems complicated, January’s

changes are only half of it.

Washington may call off all, part or none of the scheduled tax changes.

“It’s all up in the air,” said Rich Romey, president of ETF Portfolio Partners Inc. in Leawood, Kan. Lawmakers are under great pressure to stop the fiscal cliff from happening.

Economists warn that the combination of $400 billion in higher tax bills _ including the end of the payroll tax cut and extension of the Alternative Minimum Tax to 30 million Americans _ and $200 billion in federal spending cuts could send the slowly recovering economy back into a recession.

And a recession won’t help anyone’s investments.

Investors may not know it, but they’ve been enjoying a decadelong tax break.

Thanks to Bush-era tax changes, most investors pay a 15 percent tax rate on stock dividends and capital gains.

But the breaks expire in seven weeks and older, higher rates kick in, barring 11th-hour compromises. Investors with larger incomes also would see a new tax on their dividends and higher capital gains rates starting Jan. 1.

Expect stock prices to suffer.

“The tax side of the fiscal cliff is onerous to all stocks,” said Mark Eveans, chief investment officer at Meritage Portfolio Management Inc. in Overland Park, Kan. One simple reason is that higher taxes mean investors will keep less of the rewards. If owning a stock is less rewarding, investors won’t be willing to pay as much.

The tax on capital gains would climb to 20 percent after the fiscal cliff.

Stock dividends would be hit even harder in the 2013 tax world.

Instead of owing 15 percent, investors who collect dividend checks would be taxed at their regular individual income tax rates. And those rates would go up Jan. 1 as other parts of the Bush-era tax deal expire.

For many investors, Uncle Sam’s dividend bite would jump

to 28 percent or higher as some tax brackets disappear and the higher tax brackets begin to apply at lower income levels.

For example, the 15 percent income tax bracket currently extends to $70,700 of income for a couple filing jointly, according to H&R Block. Come Jan. 1, it applies up to only $58,200 in income. And the 25 percent bracket disappears, setting 28 percent as the next bracket, according to Block.

The highest tax bracket climbs from 35 percent to 39.6 percent in the New Year.

But the tax cliff doesn’t stop there. Individuals with incomes of $200,000 or more, or couples earning $250,000 or more, would start to pay a 3.8 percent additional Medicare surtax on their investment income, including dividends.

Combined, it means higherincome investors would see their dividend tax rate jump from the current 15 percent rate to 43.4 percent.

Investors inside tax-deferred IRAs and 401(k) accounts shouldn’t feel immune to the tax cliff.

“Even if you do nothing because of this, other investors will do things,” Romey said.

Corporate dividend plans already are shifting to accommodate the approaching tax cliff.

Commerce Bancshares Inc., which operates in five states, last week announced a $1.50 a share special dividend to be paid Dec. 17. It means Commerce’s stockholders can still claim the 15 percent dividend tax rate that is set to be wiped out by the tax cliff.

Jeff Aberdeen, the bank’s controller, said it’s the first special dividend in his memory.

“You try and make money and keep a safe bank, but also you try to figure out how to give the best returns to shareholders,” Aberdeen said.

After the tax cliff, dividends would be less valuable to many investors, and companies would recognize the changing math.

Eveans said that means dividend increases, which can be a big boost for shareholders, may be less common after the tax cliff.

Traditionally, they suggest

selling some losing stocks late in the year. The losses can offset other income and lower their overall tax bill.

“People have always tried to harvest losses. Now it doesn’t make sense,” said Scott Slabotsky, lead managing director of CBIZ MHM LLC in Leawood.

The new advice: Consider saving some stock losses to take next year when they would protect income from higher tax rates that could kick in Jan. 1.

The tax cliff also means it makes sense to consider selling winning stocks before the New Year.

All this advice comes with a big caution. Don’t make any investment decisions solely because of taxes.

Jan. 1 also may bring changes to estate taxes and gift taxes, influencing the advice from estate planners.

The 2012 tax rules exempt $5.2 million from the 35 percent estate tax. Next year, the exemption falls to $1 million and the rate jumps to 55 percent.

During a September conference call with clients, a Commerce Trust Co. planner suggested clients “think big” in terms of gifts this year before scheduled tax changes next year make them more difficult to do.

Small gifts to charities and other regular charitable deductions, however, would be more valuable next year when income tax rates are higher.

That is, unless Washington steps in to address the fiscal cliff before it happens.

Lawmakers may simply extend the current tax rules for six months to give them more time to address the long-term problems that led to the crisis in the first place. But the same questions about raising taxes and cutting spending will come back up.

“They can’t kick the can down the road forever,” said Dave Anderson, a portfolio manager at Financial Counselors Inc. in Kansas City.

business plan that works for them.”

Of special concern are prepaid cards. Consumers are expected to load $200 billion on such cards this year, according to the Mercator Advisory Group, a Massachusetts-based research firm.

Prepaid card issuers don’t have to disclose fees, and if cards are stolen or lost, federal regulations don’t guarantee that cardholders will get their money back. Some issuers provide fraud protection, fee disclosures, dispute-resolution rights and FDIC insurance even though they aren’t required by law.

“They could in theory wake up tomorrow and decide not to do that anymore,” said Tom Feltner, the director of financial services for the Consumer Federation of America, an advocacy group.

That might change soon.

Last May, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a government watchdog agency, published notice of proposed rulemaking about prepaid cards. The bureau is reviewing the comments it received before it announces any policy decisions.

“The people who use prepaid cards are, in many instances, the most vulnerable among us,” the bureau’s director, Richard Cordray, said at a field hearing in Durham, N.C., where he announced the potential new rule. “All consumers need, and deserve, products which are safe and whose costs and risks are clear upfront.”

The bureau had no comment on the financial products or services offered by Wal-Mart,

5

Costco or other retailers.

For now, people should make sure they read and understand the terms of whatever financial products they’re considering, advised Jeanne Hogarth, the vice president of policy at the Center for Financial Services Innovation, a Chicago-based nonprofit group that focuses on helping underserved consumers get access to quality financial products.

Don’t assume that because you’re at a discount store you’ll get the cheapest transaction fee or the best deal on a loan, Hogarth said.

“If you’re at the Home Depot and you’re thinking about taking out their loan for this project you’re doing, you’ve got your smartphone in your hand and you can punch up the information from your credit union,” she said. “You can do real-time comparison shopping for your loan as much as you can do for your floor tile.”

CONSUMER TIPS ON PREPAID CARDS: 1. Read the fine print to see what fees you could be charged and other policies.

2. Find out the rules for replacing your card if it is lost or stolen. Write down the card number, security code and customer service number and keep them in a safe place.

3. Keep your card until you are sure you will not be making any returns. Some merchants may require that refunds be added back to the card.

SOURCE: Office of Consumer Education and Engagement, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

California Democratic fundraiser is victim of identity theft Dale kasler

MTC Campus

SACRAMENTO, Calif.— California power broker Darius Anderson made a splashy, public attempt to buy the Sacramento Kings last year _ and wound up a victim of identity theft.

In a bizarre case that may have been sparked by Anderson’s offer for the Kings, a Sacramento, Calif., man was charged this week with stealing the prominent lobbyist’s identity, hacking into his bank accounts and moving massive amounts of his money around.

At one point, court records show, the man allegedly transferred $150,000 from one Anderson bank account to another, to prove to himself that he had gained access. Ultimately, the defendant, 28-year-old Clinton Beau Babcock, was charged with stealing around $1,300 from Anderson’s accounts. He has yet to enter a plea.

Anderson said Friday it took eight months to sort everything out.

“It was a bloody nightmare,” he said.

The case shows how easy it is to steal someone’s identity. Anderson said he thinks the alleged scheme began with the theft of a credit card offer mailed to his lobbying firm’s office on K Street in downtown Sacramento.

“You need that one piece of information and you can parlay it,” said Ken Lin of Credit Karma, a San Francisco creditscore company.

A highly successful lobbyist, developer and Democratic fundraiser, Anderson has been a major player at the California Capitol for years. But he believes it was his stab at wresting control of the Kings that grabbed a thief’s attention.

In April 2011, Anderson and Southern California billionaire supermarket tycoon Ron Burkle went public with

their bid to buy the Kings from the Maloofs, who were threatening to move the team to Anaheim, Calif. Anderson unveiled the offer in New York, where he accompanied Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson to the annual meeting of NBA owners.

Federal prosecutor Michelle Rodriguez said the victim’s prominence appears to have played a role in the alleged crime.

Babcock “knew it was a person, an enterpreneur, well-established in the Sacramento area, a person of some assets . . . with the means to buy a sports team,” said Rodriguez, an assistant U.S. attorney.

Lin said it’s often easier for identity thieves to go after wellknown people.

“When you’re a more prominent person, you’re going to be more in the media,” the credit expert said. “You’re going to have more public records.

Babcock was arrested earlier this month and has been held without bail. He was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday for aggravated identity theft, bank fraud and other charges.

He is scheduled to be arraigned next Tuesday in U.S. District Court. His lawyer couldn’t be reached for comment.

According to court records, Babcock gained access to Anderson’s Wells Fargo accounts in May 2011. He also changed the mailing address on Anderson’s credit card to his own home.

“The flag went up,” Anderson said. “The guy figured out the wrong account to go with.”

Still, the scheme didn’t end there. A few days later, according to court records, Babcock managed to get a new credit card in Anderson’s name mailed to his home. And within a week, “six fraudulent charges” totaling $1,300 showed up on Anderson’s account, the grand jury charged.

Court records say Babcock spent the bulk of the money on a Hewlett-Packard notebook computer.

theWORD 6

The A&T Register | ncatregister.com | Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Does the ‘Black vote’ negatively impact our race?

According to The News and Record, mayor candidate Robbie Perkins is depending on the “Black vote” to elect him for a second term. Apparently, the “Black vote” was responsible for voting him as mayor in the previous election.

What exactly is the “Black vote?” During the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, many African Americans were interested and onboard with the issues Obama stood for.

Many would argue, blacks voted for Obama because he would be elected the first black president.

Society makes it seem that

all black people think alike, and we are only concerned on issues that primarily affect our race and our race only. Am I the only person who feels that the “black vote” belittles the thought process of African Americans’ MEAGAN political views?

According to the JORDAN Census Government, in 2012 African Americans voted at a higher rate by 66.2 percent compared to whites.

Making this the first time since the Census Bureau began

in 1996.

The study also shows that in 2012 voting rates were higher in the black community than any other presidential election since 1996. African Americans were more interested in the presidential election the year Obama ran for reelection.

Was the community interested in the race itself? Or the race of the man who was running?

On A&T’s campus, many students did not think twice to tune into the presidential de-

The myth of takers vs. makers Anne Michaud MCT Campus

An acquaintance of mine often rants about people who do no work and live on government handouts _ while she has to work for everything she has. She runs a cash business, and I suspect her belief that the government supports lazy oafs is how she justifies hiding her earnings from the tax man.

Once, tired of her rants, I asked, “Have you met any of these people who live off the government? I haven’t met anyone like that.”

She mumbled something I couldn’t make out.

My friend couldn’t produce any examples because this vast population of “takers” is a myth. Yet this myth has hardened like a knot in the gut. Many of us feel we’ve lost ground financially since the 2007 economic collapse, and some find refuge in this politics of resentment.

The resentment often attaches itself to President Barack Obama, who has presided over these tough times. I hear it from doctors and others in health care who feel that Obamacare will squeeze their earnings. Another acquaintance told me that, as whites,

my daughters will grow up second-class citizens in the majority-minority Obama world. Watch his immigration policies closely, this person says with a conspiratorial gleam.

So it seems with the House Republicans and food stamps.

The House voted last week to cut spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by $40 billion over 10 years, or 5 percent. Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) relied on a biblical passage from 2 Thessalonians to defend his vote: “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.”

Would we prefer these people to be out on the streets begging, as in so many other countries that don’t have a social safety net? Hey, mademoiselle, carry your bag?

House Republicans like to say that the food stamp cost to taxpayers has more than doubled in four years, from $38 billion in 2008 to $78 billion last year. When he was running for president in 2012, Newt Gingrich called Obama the “food stamp president.”

Those numbers are high, but they disguise other important truths. First, the food stamp program was structured so that everyone who qualifies

can receive aid. Its growth has everything to do with the millions of jobs that were lost in the recession.

Second, many food stamp recipients do work. Unemployment is still high, and many people have taken parttime jobs or lower salaries.

If they earn up to 30 percent more than the federal poverty level of about $30,000 a year for a family of four, they can combine their wages with the program benefits to put food on the table every day.

Finally, food stamp spending should eventually shrink on its own. As the economy improves, the Congressional Budget Office predicts, the number receiving benefits in the next decade will drop by almost 28 percent.

Is it really humane to grab food from people’s mouths now? My gut tells me it’s not.

Of course, the politics of resentment will whisper fables that lazy, cheating food stamp recipients are duping us. We may never know for sure, but I’m inclined to risk a little duping if it means that children, old people, the disabled and the working poor have a meal.

bates. Students who planned to vote were aware of Obama’s platform, and were mesmerized by how he and his wife conducted themselves with such dignity and suave.

In an interview with former A&T alum and City Counselor Jim Kee, he said, “ I think the African Americans look at the people who are running and cast their vote. Got to research who the candidate is and how they benefit the community.”

The issue is not blacks having similar thought processes, but the fact that we have to make sure our vote and our

voice is respected at all times.

A lot of politicians count on the “Black vote,” but it is almost like they are bribing our community.

They know what the black community cares about, and the only way to attract our attention is by giving us an ultimatum. It is almost as if we are children who will only listen to our teacher if bribed with candy.

Self education and thorough research is the only way to ensure the needs of the black community will be met.

A solid opinion is one that comes from solid research and

knowledge of specific topics.

Congress should hear our voice all the time, not just when it is pertaining to things that primarily interest and benefits black people. In order for the black community to continue to progress in society, we must hold ourselves accountable and stay knowledgeable of what is going on politically.

—Email Meagan at theatregister@gmail.com and follow us on twitter @TheATRegister

‘Redskins’ offensive to Native Americans The Washington Redskins are the poster child for Washington, D.C. athletics. Accordng to Forbes, the franchise’s 1.56 billion dollar net worth makes it one of North America’s most marketable sports JERRELL teams.

LEEPER As recognizable as the Redskin logo is, there are bigger issues the Redskins have been facing for the past 3040 years.

The lingering issue has and will continue to be whether or not the Washington Redskins will change their name because of how offensive it may be toward Native Americans.

In order to understand the present issues of the term “redskins,” one must understand the history of the word.

Washington Post did a story on this in 2005. According to the Smithsonian Institution’s senior linguist Ives Goddard, the original term meant “it came in the most respectful context and at the highest level.”

The term Redskins was first used in print in 1815,

but it was not until 1870 when the term was used in a racist way.

When the original owner of the franchise, George Preston Marshall, changed the team name from the Boston Braves to the Washington Redskins, there was no outcry of any racist remarks.

Ironically enough, it was not until the organization started winning Super Bowls that lawsuits began to take shape.

Sports personalities Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith have discussed their opinion regarding a potential name change on ESPN First Take.

Bayless is on record saying, “It’s the most shocking ongoing issue in all of sports, that a professional team gets to use their racist name.” Stephen A. Smith, on the other hand, has gone on to say, “If it is deemed offensive, the name should be changed.”

Former Redskins great Charles Mann has even offered his opinion on the issue.

“It doesn’t matter how we feel about, it’s how they feel about it,” Mann stated.

Jeff Bostic, another Redskin great was quoted on the Washington Post saying, “It’s a team.

It’s a game. They’re nothing more than mascots. That’s all we’re trying to represent.” Current owner Daniel Synder told USA Today that he would never change the team’s name.

I am a proud Redskins fan and I would be devastated by the name change. The term Redskin may not be the best. Although, if the name has been upheld for 76 years, why stop now? The name, the team and logo are not just a franchise but also a symbol of unity in the D.C. Metropolitan area.

With the constant rift in congress as well as speculations over what moves the president may make, the Skins are one of the few things that give us hope.

I honestly do not see the name being changed due to Commissioner Goodell’s support, our fan base and too many legal procedures. However, if the name change occurs, not only will this crush Redskins Nation, but Skins fans will have similar reactions to when the Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens.

—Email Jerrell at theatregister@ gmail.com and follow us on twitter @ TheATRegister

I have no idea why I am attracted to this person KEENE-ANN

Contributor

In life, people find themselves attracted to someone and they cannot understand why. Have you ever been attracted to someone and they have nothing to offer you?

This person may haven no personality, no job, and may not be the brightest, yet you are still attracted to them.

Before factors like education, financial status and religious views, the human’s sole purpose on earth was to reproduce healthy offspring.

Basic human attraction stems from the body’s want to procreate with the best possible mate, and produce the best offspring.

People with “good genes” are the most attractive. Having good genes means that this person has a healthy immune system and a well-developed reproductive system.

Estrogen and testosterone have a strong influence on attraction. These hormones help differentiate male and female bodies.

As children, the male and female bodies develop at the same pace, until puberty. During this time, estrogen and testosterone levels increase along with the body, becoming more feminine or masculine.

Men get broader shoulders and grow facial hair among other physical changes. Women, on the other hand, become more curvaceous, grow breast and other feminine features.

Why is Halle Berry, Megan Fox, Brad Pitt and Tyson Beckford found attractive by the masses? These celebri-

ties’ faces are well aligned.

Most people would never consider facial alignment a factor when saying someone is cute.

However, this is a major factor when observing the opposite sex.

A well-aligned face shows that a person’s body is well developed and they have good genes. The more feminine a female is or the more masculine a male is heightens their chances of being selected as a mate.

The celebrities listed above have well aligned eyebrows, noses, and faces that make them attractive.

People’s desires to be more attractive or beautiful can lead them to artificially alter their faces or skin to become more attractive.

According to an NPR article, “Around The World, Notions Of Beauty Can Be A Real Beast,” Julie Chen, a wellknown television personality, had plastic surgery on her eyes to help her career grow.

Long hair along with skin, smell, and one’s tone of voice create signals to the opposite sex. Long hair is the body’s sign of maturity.

Maturity indicates to the reproductive system that it is ready to procreate. Healthy skin is a sign of a good immune system.

Think about what is more attractive to you, someone with clean, clear and healthy skin, or someone who has pimples, scars and flaky skin. A healthy person’s immune system does a better job of protecting them from the bacteria that causes acne.

The immune system also shows a better ability to fight

skin damage. Skin can also show maturity. Skin tone can be artificially enhanced through make up.

Make-up companies create products to even out skin tone, cover up bruises and blemishes. This may be why most people seem more attractive with make up.

The natural smell of a woman or a man can cause attraction. Men and women have chemicals called pheromones produced from estrogen and testosterone.

Pheromones send signals through smell. Pheromones found in women are called copulins and androstenol in men. They can be found in blood, saliva, sweat, and other body secretions. Today’s perfume and body spray commercials emphasize that artificial scents can help attract the opposite sex.

Dr. Perry Mac and Dr. Joseph Whittaker from N.C. A&T’s Biology department spoke about pheromones when asked about attraction.

Dr. Mac stated at ages 11,12 and 13 (ages near puberty) each person develops their own natural scent. He continued to say that these scents have pheromones that each person of the opposite sex may respond to differently.

The pheromones may cause attraction in some members of the opposite sex or it may have an inverse effect. This shows most people still have something specific that attracts them to someone else.

Dr. Mac and Dr. Whittaker both agreed that although there is not another specific biological cause of attraction, there is something instinctual about

human attraction. Dr. Mac gave the example of two different men who are attracted to two women who have completely different body types.

One male is attracted to tiny women and the other male is attracted to more tall women.

Neither one of the two men can specifically pinpoint the cause of their preferences, however, the preference of each male may come from something instinctual triggering their attraction to a specific body type.

Developing an attraction for someone can start before knowing whether the person is smart, kind or even religious.

In a documentary entitled, “The Science of sex appeal,” researcher Dr. Douglas Kenrick described attraction by saying, “We say someone looks attractive, but actually what we’re saying is that person probably has good genes and that person is probably reproductively healthy.

If I pair up with that individual and we have children, those children will do quite well.”

Our bodies direct us to who we are genetically compatible with, but that does not mean we should completely rely on it.

Picking a partner for life should not only be based on attraction, but at knowing what causes basic attraction in humans can help answer the question. “Why am I attracted to this person?”

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Got something to tell us?

Want something else in the paper?

Well, write for us!

Contributor’s Meeting Every Wednesday

5 p.m. in GCB Room 328

—Email Keene-An at theatregister@gmail.com and follow us on twitter @TheATRegister

Editor’s note:The opinions expressed on The Word are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the staff of The A&T Register. All house editorials are written and revised with input from the editorial board, staff, and is approved by the editor. All submissions must be sent to theatregister@gmail.com to be considered for submission and should be no longer than 250 words. Submissions must be received by the Sunday prior to publication at 5 p.m. to be considered. The A&T Register reserves the right to edit all submission content for clarity and grammar. Submissions become the property of The A&T Register and will not be returned.

theSCORE The A&T Register | ncatregister.com | Wednesday, October 2, 2013

A&T, S.C. State to play in Atlanta Kalyn Hoyle

Managing Editor

The N.C. A&T Aggies (3-0, 1-0) will play the S.C. State Bulldogs (3-2, 1-0) in the 25th Atlanta Football Classic at the Georgia Dome on Saturday.

The matchup will be A&T’s first appearance in the Atlanta Football Classic.

A&T is coming off of a 2719 victory over the Howard Bison (1-3, 0-1) last Thursday.

In the first half, A&T moved the ball up and down the field offensively, and was able to hold Howard to multiple three and outs defensively.

“A win is a win. We’re 3-0.

The bottom line is you play to win the game,” said Rod Broadway, the football program’s head coach.

The performance of junior wide receiver Desmond Lawrence helped the Aggies get out to a 27-10 lead in the first half.

Lawrence finished the game with four receptions for 48 yards. He also added a 38yard rushing touchdown on a trick-misdirection play in the second quarter.

“That’s a big win for us because it was the first conference game and we wanted to make sure we started out on top. Hopefully, this will give us some momentum coming into the rest of the conference,” said Lawrence.

On the ground, A&T continued to call the numbers of senior running back Dominique Drake and freshman Tarik Cohen.

Drake finished with 41 yards off of 14 carries and Cohen finished with 48 yards on six carries.

In his second start of the season, quarterback Lewis Kindle had a strong showing against Howard going 14 of 22 for 140 yards and a touchdown.

His only touchdown pass came early in the game when he found senior tight end Devin Moore out of the backfield for four yards.

Seniors, D’vonte Grant [Linebacker] and Travis Crosby [Safety] led the Aggies’ defensive unit in tackles.

Grant tallied 12 tackles, three of which were behind the line of scrimmage, and came up with a blocked field goal in the fourth quarter.

Crosby had ten tackles.

The play of A&T’s hard nose defensive back unit was

significant in Thursday’s victory.

Senior cornerbacks, Ayodeji Olatoye and D’vonte Graham made several big plays.

Olatoye finished with a pass breakup and six tackles, while Graham finished with a tackle, an interception, and two passbreakups.

Up front, sophomore defensive lineman Daniel Pinnix added two more sacks to his resume, bringing his season total to five.

In the second half, the Aggies’ offense stalled, scoring no points.

It will be important for the Aggies to flourish both offensively and defensively throughout the entire game on Saturday.

The Bulldogs’ sophomore running back, Dondre Freeman-Lewis played well rushing for a total of 140 yards on 18 carries against Hampton last week.

The Bulldogs leading rusher is freshman Dondre Brown who has 266 yards from 58 carries.

S.C. State senior quarterback, Richard Cue finished with 183 yards and an interception while completing 16 of 27 passes versus Hampton.

Cue has made it a habit to find senior receiver Tyler McDonald this season. McDonald is currently averaging over 31 yards per catch and has found the end zone 4 times this season.

Defensive end Andrew Carter salvaged 3.5 sacks and 8 tackles against Hampton, bringing his sack total to 7.5 for the season.

Against Hampton, linebacker Joe Thomas added nine tackles and an interception.

The Bulldogs are 3-0, defeating opponents by a total score of 121-12.

S.C. State has defeated Alabama A&M 32-0 and Benedict College 59-6 this season.

In the last meeting between A&T and S.C. State, A&T emerged victorious.

In the 2013 Atlanta Football Classic, a trophy will be on the line. Tune in to find out who wants the hardware more this weekend in Atlanta at 3:30 p.m.

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AGGIES RUNDOWN football TEAM

MEAC

North Carolina A&T 1-0 Delaware State 1-0 Norfolk State 1-0 South Carolina State 1-0 Bethune Cookman 0-0 North Carolina Central 0-0 Florida A&M 0-0 Howard

0-1 Savannah State 0-1 Morgan State 0-1 Hampton 0-1

OVR. 3-0 1-3 1-3 3-2 3-1 2-2 1-3 1-3 1-4 0-5 0-5

THIS WEEK’S GAME: vs. South Carolina State Georgia Dome-Atlanta, Ga 3:30 p.m. (ESPNU) OCTOBER 12: vs. Hampton Hampton, Va. 2 p.m.

OCTOBER 19: vs. Delaware State Aggie Stadium 1 p.m.

OCTOBER 26: vs. Florida A&M Tallahassee, Fl. 2 p.m.

NOVEMBER 2: vs. Virginia University of Lynchburg Aggie Stadium (Homecoming) 1 p.m.

PHOTOS BY SYMONE’ AUSTIN • a&T register

n.c. A&T vs. howard: (Top)running back Dominique Drake (32) throws a stiff-arm while reading blockers on an outside run. The Aggies play the South Carolina State Bulldogs (3-2, -0) at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on Saturday. (Bottom)A&T alum Terrance J watches Thursday’s game against the Howard Bison from the sideline. Terrance is a former host on BET’s 106th and Park and is currently the co-anchor of E! News.

NOVEMBER 9: vs. Morgan State Baltimore, Md. 2 p.m.

volleyball TEAM

MEAC

Hampton Florida A&M Howard

North Carolina A&T Maryland Eastern-Shore Norfolk State Coppin State South Carolina State Bethune Cookman NorthCarolina Central Delaware State Morgan State Savannah State

2-0 2-0 1-0 1-0 1-0 1-1 1-1 1-1 0-0 0-1 0-2 0-2 0-2

OVR. 8-7 5-6 12-5 2-15 2-11 5-11 4-12 1-14 1-13 0-17 1-11 5-10 0-18

THIS WEEK’S MATCH: Friday vs. Bethune Cookman Daytona Beach, Fla. 7 p.m.

OCTOBER 6: Sunday vs. Florida A&M Tallahassee, Fla. 1 p.m.

OCTOBER 8: Tuesday vs. Elon Moore Gymnasium 7 p.m.

OCTOBER 11: Friday vs. South Carolina State Moore Gymnasium 7 p.m.

—Email Kalyn at kdhoyle@ aggies.ncat.edu and follow us on Twitter @ATRegister

OCTOBER 13: Sunday vs. Savannah State Moore Gymnasium 1 p.m.

A&T alum invites Aggies to classic Kalyn Hoyle

Managing Editor

N.C. A&T alum and CEO of 100 Black Men of Atlanta Inc., John Grant, is responsible for reserving A&T’s football team a spot in the 2013 Atlanta Football Classic game in Atlanta, Ga. this Saturday.

This game will be the Atlanta Football Classic’s 25th Anniversary game.

The Aggies will face off against the S.C. State University Bulldogs (3-2, 1-0) at 3:30 p.m. in the Georgia Dome.

Presented by 100 Black Men of Atlanta, the classic is one of the nation’s largest HBCU football games, and will telecast nationally on ESPNU. This year will be the first time the game has been aired on an ESPN network.

“Based on studies we’ve had conducted by independent consultants, statistics show that in terms of brand value, we have one of the best classics out there,” said Grant.

The game features two schools with deep-rooted history in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

For S.C. State, this week’s game will be their first return to the classic since losing to Tennessee State 15-14, in 1995.

“We are creating the perfect environment for the ultimate HBCU experience,” said Grant.

Tickets for the game range from $10 to $50.

The Atlanta Football Classic is the 100 Black Men of Atlanta’s largest fundraiser for its mentoring, academic support, and scholarship program, Project Success.

Proceeds from the game will benefit A&T, S.C. State, and Project Success.

Grant “When you buy a ticket to the game you are providing an opportunity for others,” said Grant.

The 2013 Atlanta Football Classic will also provide a weekend of action-packed activities.

Events range from the Parade of Excellence and the pre-game Fan Fest (party) to the 100 Robotics Showcase and Battle of the Bands halftime show.

“The robotics showcase is for close to 2000 middle school students from the metro-Atlanta school system who will be introduced to STEM [Sci-

ence Technology Engineering and Mathematics] through the discipline of robotics.”

This year’s halftime show promises to be one of the greatest in the classic’s history. The Blue and Gold Marching Machine of A&T will square off against the Marching 101’s from S.C. State.

The Classic brings in more than 100,000 people and generates $30 million.

“We do all of this to raise scholarships for children from challenged communities,” said Grant.

The Atlanta Football Classic will host a college symposium with students from several HBCUs featuring musician and author, Fonzworth Bentley.

“We will have conversations with young men about manhood, smart decision making, and the process of creating a positive image,” said Grant.

When asked if he had any further comments, Grant said, “Just buy your ticket, go to the game, and support the university.”

—Email Kalyn at kdhoyle@aggies.ncat.edu and follow us on Twitter @ATRegister

8

The A&T Register | ncatregister.com | Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Top Scandalous Moments: Season One and Two Recaps Season three of “Scandal” premiers tomorrow. Viewers across the nation are on the edge of their seats anticipating what questions will be answered, in the opening episode.

Why did Oliva’s father out her? What does this mean for Fitz and her? Will this be the final straw for Mellie? Until the premier, theScene is reminiscing the most scandalous moments of “Scandal.” - K.P.

1. Best Villian

5. Most Shocking

Charlie is the ultimate assassin.

When a problem needs to be “handled,” he is in every heavy hitter’s Rolodex as his or her go to man.

Dad! Season two’s finale took everyone for a loop when it was revealed that Rowan of the B613 black- ops program is Miss Pope’s father.

2. Tear Jerking

4. Top Embarrassing

3. Shadiest Olivia Pope Moment As we all know, Miss Pope will do anything to protect and defend her gladiators. She is no stranger to the phrase “whatever it takes.”

When it comes to shady moments, she takes the cake for the shadiest of them all. Many viewers were confused and slightly disappointed when Olivia set David up, in order to push Abby away and protect the well being of the group.

Tears flowed like Niagara Falls when Huck’s “family” he routinely observed. A close second is when Huck has his real family taken away from him. .

Huck sees them years later.

album review

“Rebellious Soul” Fights against Critics danielle spottsville Contributor

K. Michelle recently released her debut album, and it fits the name. The raw lyrics, sleek beats, hard-hitting bass lines, and sweet melodies are enough to make women everywhere want to live out the lyrics of the song.

The combined musical elements creates a story that reveals a K. Michelle that fans do not get to see on the VH1 television show, Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta.

In this album, listeners get a little taste of everything from smooth R&B, Hip-Hop, heart wrenching love ballads, and even some comedy. Michelle starts the album with a bold track, featuring MMG artist Meek Mill, “My Life,” detailing the struggles that she experienced being from the rough streets of Memphis, Tenn. Michelle reveals why she may come across as aggressive on television and how much she had to fight to get to where she is now. Her dramafilled character on Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta may cause some to speak negatively about her, but her album proves that she is a talented artist.

No matter how bad listeners may want to resist, they will find themselves grooving to songs like “V.S.O.P.’’ Michelle shows her softer side on Debra Laws’

20

Questions

1981 track, “Very Special,” a lovey-dovey, mid-tempo track.

Her anthemic tracks like “Can’t Raise A Man” and “When I Get A Man,” speaks for those women who have been taken for granted and neglected by their lovers. The tracks also speak to those who have yet to find that special someone.

Surely, the lyrics are repetitive, but each song conveys a different message. Of course, Michelle could not skip out on expressing her sexuality with her raunchy lyrics on “Pay My Bills.” On a softer note, Michelle closes out the album with “A Mother’s Prayer,” a sweet track devoted to her son, stripping away all the noise and simply singing what is in her heart.

Though Michelle’s work may not be considered Grammy nominee material, this album is a strong start to what could be a very successful music career.

It debuted number two on the Billboard charts and sold roughly 70,000 copies during the first week.

These results are in no comparison to the likes of Beyoncé, Rihanna, or Kelly Rowland, but the album did well after being delayed for so many years. Lyrically speaking, her raw style is entertaining, but is not always appealing. With a bit of polishing, it is likely that K. Michelle will blaze the charts. As of now “Rebellious Soul” rests at a solid B.

The most embarrassing moment goes to Mellie for desperately trying to gain Fitz’s favor by seducing her husband in the shower. Mellie’s face was priceless, as Cyrus interrupted.

“Baggage Claim”: A Waste of Frequent Flyer Miles?

Prince adams Contributor

If you only had 30 days, would you fly 30,000 miles around the country to find a man to marry? The new movie “Baggage Claim,” directed by David E. Talbert is like any other romantic comedy cliché. Paula Patton plays Montana Moore, a flight attendant whose life seems to be “picture perfect.” Longing for companionship, Moore seeks to find a husband a month before her younger sister, a sophomore in college, planning to get married.

Sadly, Moore is the oldest in her family who is not married. The pressure from her mother, who was married several times, makes it even worse to deal with being alone. After finding out about her sister’s engagement and asked to be her bridesmaid, Moore refuses to go alone.

With only a month, the race is on for Montana to find a man. While plenty of women may be fine with just a date for the wedding, Montana wants a husband or at least a ring by then.

Her fellow flight attendants, Gail (Jill Scott) and Sam (Adam Brody,) develop a plan to help her with the mission. With the help of their fellow airline colleagues, they look up every ex-boyfriend she’s ever had. They devise a plan to find out when they are flying to allow Montana to “accidentally” reconnect with them on their flight, rekindle the love, and seduce him into

a proposal. While funny, this also seems a little desperate on Montana’s part.

Throughout the month, she meets up with a series of guys from her past, all of whom are

more attractive, and creepier than the next. Each backstory is more laughable than the next. Amongst them all, the ones that stand out are married Graham (Boris Kodjoe), two-timing recorder Damon (Trey Songz), scared of commitment Quinton (Djimon Hounsou) who doesn’t want a wife, but a travel buddy, and an aspiring senator Langston (Taye Diggs.)

Like any romantic comedy, there’s always that reliable and equally attractive best friend that is always overlooked. In this case, it is William, played by Derek Luke.

“Baggage Claim” makes it pretty obvious who Montana should in up with.

Instead of finding a fresh spin to old clichés, the movie simply repeats them. This is a bit of a disappointment for the audience. A fresh ending would definitely have made this movie worth a second viewing.

The cast helps keep the film afloat How hard is it not to like a movie when the main actress is Paula Patton?

Talbert did a great job with choosing the cast. Each actor is talented and charming enough to keep the audience entertained throughout the movie. If you are headed to see the movie, know that you are getting a repeat of every other romantic comedy.

Overall, a great cast to support a consistently recycled romantic comedy blueprint. If you love romantic comedies or just want to take your date out to see a movie, this would be a great pick.

— Email Prince at theatregister@gmail.com and follow The A&T Register on Twitter @ TheATRegister

Like what you see?

Are you the master of shade?

Bring the tea on Wednesdays GCB room 328 A See you at 5 p.m.

You can also email 20 Questions @theatregister@gmail.com

1. Can we all agree it has been a heck of a weekend for college girls? 2. Did you see that Howard flag girl lose her wig? 3. Were you just as surprised to see she was missing her edges? 4. Aggie Livewire, can y’all please have a seat? 5. How are y’all going to come for the Howard girl’s weave when y’all have the young man with the perm trying to be an honorary member of Golden Delight? 6. Is there domestic violence going on in this year’s Royal Court? 7. Did Miss Freshman really slap her Mister at the HBCU pageant? 8. Instead of Royal Court, can we call them Royal Ratchets? 9. Too much? 10. You know it is time to get to the nitty gritty, right? 11. How many people did not see that x-rated Instagram video already? 12. How sad is it that UNCG students were involved, but people were quick to tag NCAT? 13. Where are the real friends? 14. Were we the only ones who realized she had on no top or bottoms under that jean jacket? 15. Did you hear that there is more footage? 16. Whose idea was it to film any ways?

17. When are they going to tag both of them? 18. Perhaps we have a new Miss “Body Party”? 19. Does this prove that there is a such thing as being too turned up? 20. We just have one more question for the young man in the video, yams poppin’ or nah?

hotlist

thescene

Oct. 2 to Oct. 9 The A&T Register’s guide to what’s going on this week in arts and entertainment.

on screen Gravity Space expedition meets terror as Alfonso Cuaron tells the story of two astronauts stranded in space. The movie stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney playing Dr. Ryan Stone and Matt Kowalsky. How will both survive without a crew and limited supplies, thousands of miles away from Earth? It is every space geek’s worse nightmare. Audiences will be white knuckled until the end. “Gravity” is rated PG-13 and opens Friday, Oct. 4.

on Itunes dreamchasers 3 Meek Mill’s third installment of his mixtape series dropped Sept.

29. Many will be surprised to hear few MMG features aside from Rick Ross. However, Nicki Minaj, Ma$e, Future, and Cory Gunz all appear on the tape to make up for the lack of MMG collaborations.

Critics say its a hit.

on Shelves This is the end James Franco, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen and Craig Robinson all pack this film with comedic punch lines in the tale of seven friends hiding out in a post apocalyptic Los Angeles. As mayhem wreaks havoc on the city, things are only beginning to heat up inside as supplies deplete and cabin fever begins to set in. The group must stick together in order to survive the catastrophic events ahead.

Will their friendship survive or is it doomed like the rest of L.A. “This Is The End” went to DVD Oct. 1.

Come be a part of theScene Contributors Meetings every Wednesday at 5 p.m. in GCB 328A