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08.29.14Vol. 62, Issue 1Vol. 62, Issue 10 03.27.15

TopSTorieSi n S i d e

40th anniversary of the MCJR department on the horizon

dia conferences and fea-tures alumni who serve on conference panels and conduct workshops for students. Students use this time to learn more about specific interests and secure internships and employment oppor-tunities before or after graduation.

The department is bringing in local media industry professionals to connect with students for the purpose of expanding networking opportuni-ties.

Since its creation, MCJR Week has had a number of celebrities that have made appear-ances, of which includes

Robin Roberts and Al Roker. According to Dr. Wanda Brockington, chair of the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism, the most popular day was when the alumni panel was held. The panel allowed for students and alumni to share identical stories in addition to sharing guid-ance and inspiration.

“It’s the most amaz-ing thing because they don’t just come back and they don’t just give back, but they don’t ask for anything,” said Brocking-ton. “They’ve come as far

by Antonio GArlAnd

NSU’s Mass Communications and Journalism Depart-ment will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of the department during this year’s MCJR Week, hosted by a multitude of events & interactive seminars with MCJR alumni.

Young African-American men more likely to be imprisoned than employedby t’ney StAllinGS

Former University of Louisville basketball player Chris Jones is handcuffed after being ordered under home incarceration af-ter he plead not guilty to rape and sodomy charges, Thursday, Feb. 25, 2015, in Jefferson District Court in Louisville, Ky. The allegations involved two women, and the rape is said to have occurred Feb. 22 at a private apartment off campus, university police said. Two others are charged in the alleged attack on the second woman. (AP Photo/The Courier-Journal, Matt Stone,)

The United States has the highest rate of juveniles incarcerated when compared to other nations. According to the U.S. Department of Jus-tice (DOJ), about 70,000 juvenile criminal offend-ers live in detention facil-ities and about 68 percent are racial minorities.

For every 100,000 Af-rican-American juveniles in the United States, 521 are in a residential facil-ity, compared with 112 among white youth, ac-cording to 2011 DOJ sta-tistics. Approximately 60 percent of people serv-

ing life without parole for crimes committed in their youth in the United States are African-Amer-ican.

According to the Co-alition for Juvenile Jus-tice (CJJ), the arrest rate among African-American youth ages 10-17 is near-ly twice the rate of their white peers. Young Af-rican-Americans are 1.4 times more likely to be detained among all ra-cial groups. In addition, African-American stu-dents are far more likely

• Continued on p. 3

• Continued on p. 2

Milwaukee Bucks retiring former NSU great Bobby Dandridge’s jersey

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“If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late”

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The Spartan Fest

From March 30-April 4, Mass communication and Journalism (MCJR) Week will mark the 40th anniversary of the MCJR Department. Students

and alumni are encour-aged to come out to the events to build connec-tions and relationships, which can last a lifetime.

MCJR Week hosts me-

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Students’ skills improve within the LLCs

Recent studies show students in a Living Learn-ing Community (LLC) per-form better academically and had higher GPAs than those not in an LLC. Partic-ipants tend to be more en-gaged in campus life, meet people with similar inter-ests and connect academic and residential experiences.

The LLC’s retention had a steady increase from fall 2013 to spring 2014. In fall 2013, students in an LLC had a retention rate of 79 percent, while regular stu-dents were at 68 percent. In spring 2014, LLC retention rates were 94 percent, while regular students were at 84 percent.

GPAs also increased gradually. In fall 2013, GPA averages were 3.15, while non-LLC cohorts averaged 2.66. During fall 2014, LLC participants’ GPAs averaged 2.94, while non-LLC cohorts were 2.63.

The Proficiency Pro-file assesses critical think-ing, reading, writing and mathematics. It provides norm-referenced and cri-terion-referenced scores. Students who take the Pro-ficiency Profile and are in-volved in an LLC obtained

by Antonio GArlAnd

•Continued from front page

Young African-Americanmen more likely to be

imprisoned than employed

than their white peers to be suspended, expelled or arrested.

Nationwide, they are more than twice as likely to be transferred to adult court and 60 percent are serving time in adult state prisons.

Nationwide, one of every three young black males is in prison, on pro-bation or on parole.

Juvenile detention is costly: A 2011 report for the Annie E. Casey Foundation, “No Place for Kids: The Case for Re-ducing Juvenile Incarcer-ation,” states “youth in-carceration cost $88,000 per year [nationwide].” Meanwhile, education and mentoring programs range from $987-$17,000 per year. Juvenile incar-ceration decreases the chances of high school graduation by 13-39 per-centage points and in-creases the chances of in-carceration as an adult by 23-41 percentage points.

Nearly 23 percent of all young black men ages 16-24 who have dropped

out of high school are in jail, prison, or a juve-nile justice institution in America, according to the Coalition of Leading National and Regional Education report. The in-carceration rate for Afri-can-Americans is so high that young black men without a high school di-ploma are more likely to go to jail than to find a job, causing the breakup of families and instill-ing further poverty upon them.

Since the incarcer-ation rate is highest for African-Americans, it makes it more difficult for blacks to rise out of pov-erty, receive higher levels of education and escape a life of crime.

That’s why young African-American men without a high school di-ploma are more often im-prisoned than employed. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of Jan. 2015, the unemploy-ment rate is 11.4 percent for men ages 20 and over and 30.6 percent for men ages 16-19.

Table 1 reflects the retention rate of each cohort to date (spring 2015) in comparison to non-LLC participants. Both LLC cohorts have been retained at a higher rate from their comparison groups. Specifically, the fall 2013 cohort is being retained 11% higher while the fall 2014 cohort 10% higher. Graphic courtesy of Norfolk State University

Table 2 reflects the mean GPA of each cohort to date (spring 2015) in comparison to non-LLC participants. As with reten-tion, LLC cohorts have experienced higher mean GPAs than non-LLC participants. Graphic courtesy of Norfolk State Uni-versity

higher total mean scores, 2.62 points higher than non-LLC students.

In fall 2014, total mean scores varied on the Profi-ciency Profile. LLC members scored 436.56 on the pre-test and 441.56 on the post-test on average. Non-LLC members averaged 428.50 on the pre-test and 438.94 on the post-test.

“I believe that students participating in an LLC are showing or demonstrat-ing an impact to the rate of success,” said Johnathan Walker, Assistant Dean of Students and Director of LLC. “So those students are

outperforming students in a similar comparison group. You will see nearly all of them are having higher GPAs and they also have a higher retention rate.”

Dr. Andrew Arroyo, head of the Food (in) Se-curity, said the statistics suggest students who par-ticipate in LLCs can expect a greater satisfaction with their overall college experi-ence.

“I think part of it is the motivation piece,” said Arroyo. “Being surround-ed by peers who are taking their academics seriously creates powerful conditions for learning. I think more achievement takes place when we’re having fun and a big part of learning com-munities is having fun.”

The numbers are steadily increasing with each year of LLC partici-pants. In fall 2013, 81 stu-dents participated in one of three LLCs, DNIMAS, Leadership Academy and Spartan Hope Academy. In fall 2014, 150 students par-ticipated in nine LLCs; DN-IMAS, S.U.C.C.E.S.S., Lead-ership Academy, Honors College, STARS, iSpartan, LIVE WELL, G.E.N.E.S.I.S. and EMPOWER.

Statistics from the Department of Justice and the Coa-lition of Juvenile Justice show that African-Americas are more likely to be incarcerated than employed. (AP Photo/The Courier-Journal, Matt Stone,)

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spartan news

away as Jamaica, the Vir-gin Islands, and no one’s asked for anything, they just do it and they do it to give back.”

Each year, alumni look forward to returning to share their stories and tools of success with stu-dents. The event also cel-ebrates faculty and staff for their achievements and honors the current students doing positive things with their careers.

“In my mind, it’s ge-nius,” said Theresa Fer-rell of the Department of

Mass Communications and Journalism. “It keeps our alumni connected and engaged and it shows our students what is pos-sible.”

“It keeps our alumni connected and engaged and it shows our students

what is possible”

-Professor ferrell

Ferrell said this year marks 40 years of great-ness, excellence and in-novation. “Our students have always had to think out-of-the-box in order to accomplish the things that they’ve accom-plished over the years and I honestly believe that has helped them to be more competitive in the market place.”

“I just hope that I can connect with them because there’s a lot that I want to do in my field, like sound editing,” said

40th anniversary of the MCJR department on the horizon

In Oct. 2014, Norfolk State University’s Online Student Organization (OSO) was created to allow stu-dents take classes without having to come onto cam-pus and for those students were are unable to come to campus. The program as-sists those with busy sched-ules and allows out-of-state students to take classes at NSU in their home state.

The organization’s goals are to promote inter-est in online learning and provide fellowship among online learners. It also rep-resents students’ needs in regard to online learning, provides a form for the presentation of innovative ideas to benefit the univer-sity online learning com-munity and meets regularly in the forum.

The OSO consist of

Online Student Organization bringsoff campus students together

•Continued from front page

Jaina McCombs, a senior mass communications major. “I just hope that they’ll help me out, help me start somewhere.”

“[It provides] a lot of great networking and learning experiences for the students to help them progress their careers in the media industry,” said John Hamilton II, a senior mass communi-cations major. “[It also helps build] the spirit, the Norfolk State Spartans and makes for a stronger alumni base as people

graduate going on toward the professional world. People can continue to come back and give back to the students.”

Mass communica-tions is a diverse de-partment that impacts every industry, as each industry has communi-cations. MCJR week is about network, relation-ships and demonstrating excellence. Students are encouraged to take ad-vantage of networking opportunities to obtain their desired careers.

The Online Student Organization allows out of state stu-dents, students with busy schedules, and students who are unable to come to campus to take their classes on-line. Photo by Tykhari Coles

seven fully online degree programs, which are Inter-disciplinary Studies, Health Services Management, Ur-ban Education Adminis-tration, Teaching, Pre-El-ementary, History and Psychology.

According to Dr. Doro-thy L.R. Jones, Dean of the School of Extended Learn-ing, many of the individu-als who participate in on-line classes are not present on campus; however, they still want to be a part of the community. She said col-lege is more than just the academics and the organi-zation wants to help those students as a part of the on-line community.

“We’re responsible for developing you, not only academically, but we’re re-sponsible for developing you professionally, person-

ally and socially,” said Jones. “We want to do that for our online students simply be-cause [though] they are at a distance, they are still a Norfolk State student. They are still a Spartan.”

“It’s an inspiration for students who are working and continuing their ca-reers,” said OSO president, Edith Carter.

Jones said the organiza-tion wants to give OSO stu-dents the same experiences traditional students have, such as recording work-shops and playing them online for those unable to attend in person. Another feature is online video chat with professors.

The organization al-lows online interactions and brings individuals with sim-ilar interest together, share ideas and bring a sense of

belonging. OSO isn’t limit-ed to students off campus. It also brings together stu-dents in the classroom who are also taking online class-es together.

Jones hopes the OSO will bring the students in-volved a sense of belonging

and that it will be a place for them to meet students with similar goals and as-pirations without being on campus. The program al-lows student interaction throughout the entire day and not just during the day, like the majority of classes.

by Antonio GArlAnd

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spartan sports

In 1912, a meeting that would determine the future of Historical Black Colleges and Universi-ties (HBCU) and athletics was held on the campus of Hampton Institute. Nine administrators gathered and formed the first athletic conference designed for Black colle-giate sports, the Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association, now known as the Central Intercolle-giate Athletic Association (CIAA). Still standing, the CIAA serves one of the four NCAA-recognized conferences made up of majority HBCUs.

At the time when these conferences were made, African Americans were still fighting for in-tegration. Once those laws were achieved, col-lege and universities were no longer allowed to dis-criminate based on race, gender or religion. As a result, black student ath-letes are now able to lead and be the face of teams that years ago wouldn’t allow them to step foot on their campus.

According to NCAA, in 2011, nearly 50 percent of Division I college foot-ball and basketball play-ers were African Ameri-can. With just 24 HBCUs competing at the Division I level, a majority of Af-rican American student athletes are playing at the predominantly white institutions.

HBCUs now face fi-nancial issues that hin-ders their chances of competing with sur-

HBCUs in Division I Sportsby KAzAhnA Joyce

rounding majority insti-tutions. HBCUs now have to compete with better funded schools, schools with nicer facilities and schools with more TV ex-posure. The inequality in funding has caused the talent pool for HBCUs to decrease drastically over the past 40 years.

Despite the success of teams in the CIAA and its popular postseason tournament, it has been reported that the confer-ence found itself strug-gling with funding.

“I don’t think if Al-abama or Texas or LSU had been under-funded for a century, they would be in the position that they are,” said Dr. Den-nis Thomas, Mid-East-ern Athletic Conference (MEAC) commissioner.

There are three in-stances of six that a num-ber two seed has been

upset in the men’s NCAA basketball tournament, all coming from MEAC teams, while in the CIAA there has been multi-ple Division II national championship wins from both men and women’s basketball.

With the reality of financial issues and lack of success in Division I sports, one football na-tional championship and no basketball champion-ships, an argument has been made that Division II may be a better fit for HBCUs.

“I don’t put much value in the naysayers,” Thomas said. “State-sup-ported schools in the South were never ade-quately funded, but given the commitment and the determination, they still excelled.”

There is a looming question about the success of HBCU sports in NCAA tournaments in comparison to other predominantly white institutions. Photo from www.face-book.com/NCAAMarchMadness/

After a season of im-pressive highs and heart breaking lows, the 2014-15 basketball season for the Spartans has finally come to a close.

The Lady Spartans managed to knock off the cross-town rival, Hamp-ton University, after los-ing 17 consecutive games to them in their annual Battle of the Bay face-off.

With the No. 4 seed in the MEAC, the Lady Spartans’ season unfortu-nately came to a halt after losing 69-64 in overtime against the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) in the MEAC Tournament semifinals.

Freshman forward Kayla Roberts and senior guard Rae Corbo led the way for NSU women’s basketball this season with their impeccable scoring and aggressive dominance in the paint. Roberts clinched seven Rookie of the Week hon-ors, ultimately earning the MEAC Rookie of the Year award.

The Lady Spartans also made it to their first MEAC semifinals games since 2005. The Lady Spartans finished fourth overall in the MEAC, with a much improved record of 14-16 (overall) and 11-5 (MEAC).

Norfolk State men’s basketball dominated early in MEAC play and managed to finish second in the MEAC with a 12-4 conference record.

Juniors Jeff Short, Rashid Gaston and D’shon Taylor were standouts for the Spartans as they were able to fight their way to the MEAC Tournament’s semifinal game.

After beating Hamp-ton University twice in the regular season, the No. 2 seed Spartans fell to the Pirates 75-64 in the semifinal game. The shocking losses for North Carolina Central Univer-sity and Norfolk State University led to an un-expected Championship game between Hampton University and Delaware State University.

The Spartans did not punch their ticket to the “Big Dance,” but they were invited to the Col-legeInsider.com Tourna-ment (CIT), where they took a first-round loss to Eastern Kentucky Univer-sity. Although the Spar-tans didn’t have the end-ing that they envisioned, they still managed to achieve accomplishments that should set them up to go even further next season

Senior point guard Jamel Fuentes ended his career first all-time at NSU in games played (133), second in assists (552), and 10th in steals (152) and junior guard Jeff Short earned first-team All-MEAC honors.

The Spartans ended their season 20-14 overall and 12-4 in the MEAC.

Spartan men and women fall short of MEAC crownby KAzAhnA Joyce

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spartan sports

Norfolk State Uni-versity (NSU) basketball standout, Bob “the Grey-hound” Dandridge, has received the honor of get-ting his number 10 jersey retired by the Milwaukee Bucks. Dandridge will be the eighth player in the franchise’s history to have his number retired and the first since Basket-ball Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s number 33 was retired in 1993.

Upon the announce-ment of the upcoming number retirement cer-emony held on March 7, Bucks Co-Owner Wes Edens shared a statement reminding people of Dan-dridge’s importance to his team.

“As a player, Bob Dan-dridge embodied every-thing we want this fran-chise to stand for: hard work, passion, toughness, and above all else, excel-

Bob Dandridge’s number retiredby the Milwaukee Bucks

by dAvonte Smith

lence.” Dandridge, a Rich-

mond native, scored more than 1,700 points during his four years and ranks second all-time with a 22.5 career scoring aver-age at NSU.

“He was not only a very good offensive player, but an out-standing defender and team-

mate.” -Brian Winters

His outstanding play with the Spartans helped lead NSU to the CIAA title in 1968. He also holds the school’s single-season re-cords for field goals made (332) and attempted (601) as well as scoring aver-age 32.0 points-per-game and rebounding average 17.3 per-game, all coming during his senior year in 1968-69

Brian Winters, a teammate from 1975-77 and then again in 81’-

Just days ago Nor-folk State’s very own Jacqueline Nicholson was inducted into the Gloucester County, New Jersey Sports Hall of Fame (GCSHOF) along with 13 other former ath-letes in the area. Before sustaining her position as Norfolk State University’s assistant athletic direc-tor for academic support, Nicholson was a college athlete at Virginia Tech.

The Clayton, New Jersey native attended Clayton High School pri-or to attending Virgin-ia Tech (VT) where she would receive a bache-lor’s degree in human de-velopment. As a student athlete, Nicholson re-ceived recognition from VT with Virginia Tech all-academic team and athletics director’s honor roll honors. She was also a four-year letter winner

NSU’s Nicholson induct-ed into Gloucester County

Sports Hall of Fameby KAzAhnA Joyce

for the Hokies track and field team as a sprinter and hurdler.

The Gloucester County Sports Hall of Fame was established in 1980 when former sports-writer for Gloucester County Times, Gus Os-trum, and former track and field coach Jim Haw-kins drew up the idea of a county-wide Sports Hall of Fame. The first cere-mony in 1981 was located at Auletto’s Ballroom in Almonesson, New Jersey, and remains the home of this prestigious ceremo-ny.

The 34th annual hall of fame induction cer-emony took place on March 25 at Auletto’s Caterers in Almonesson, New Jersey. Gloucester County will be honoring 13 other athletes along with Nicholson.

Norfolk State assistant AD Jacqueline Nicholson was en-shrined into the Gloucester County (New Jersey) Sports Hall of Fame in March 2015. Photo from NSUSpartans.com

82’, told reporters, “Bob Dandridge was one of the best players that I had the privilege to play with during my NBA career. He not only was a very good offensive player, but an outstanding defender and teammate. He was a start-er on the Bucks cham-pionship team and on the Washington Bullets championship team. I am very pleased to see that his number is going to be retired in Milwaukee. It is well deserved.”

Dandridge averaged 18.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists in the nine seasons with Milwau-kee. He also won a pair of NBA championships with the Bucks in the 1970-71 season and with the Washington Bullets in his 1977-78 season. Bob Dan-dridge also went to the All-Star game four times during his career.

The Milwaukee Bucks will be retiring the #10 jersey of former NSU great Bobby Dan-dridge. Dandridge is often mentioned as one of the NBA’s best forwards in the 1970s. Photos from www.facebook.com/milwaukeebucks/

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spartan lifestyle

Spartans lend a helping hand

Community service is an activity that many peo-ple pride themselves on as being something that they enjoy and do for the better-ment of those around them. Many organizations on campus help to reach out to the community around Norfolk State University.

“I’ve been doing com-munity service since I was younger and it’s just some-thing I love to do, not for any specific reason; it just feels right. I love seeing the smile on someone’s face because you helped them in a way that could’ve made their life just a little easi-er,” junior kinesiotherapy major Antwon Green said.

There are many Greek organizations that focus on community service, as well as non-Greek organiza-tions. It all depends on the student’s preference as to

which type of organization he or she would like to join; however, an organization is not always necessary in or-der to be a helping hand in the community.

“I attend Gethsemane and I’m not a part of any specific organization, but I go into the community with some of my friends from church and pass out flyers and try to bring people to one of the Sunday services,” sophomore mass commu-nication major Kiana Hardy said.

If a student would like to become more involved on campus he or she can join one of the many SGA committees or campus in-dependent organizations. Log onto the NSU’s website at: https://www.nsu.edu/student-affairs/student-ac-tivities/index for more in-formation.

by mAlAun houSe

The Spartan Fest is week of fun-filled activities, games, music and fellow-ship. It is a great way for students, faculty and the community to come togeth-er and show their Spartan pride. The fest will be held during the third week of April.

“The Spartan Fest is always fun; it brings excite-ment to the student body. My freshman year probably had to be one of the liveli-est times in Norfolk State history mainly because our athletics were winning in almost every sport the con-ference allowed,” senior tourism and hospitality ma-jor Marcell Coke said.

The annual occasion brings everyone together

and gets them enthusiastic about the spring semes-ter. Like many of the other functions, this one brings out the pride in the Spar-tans and Spartanettes of Norfolk State University.

“I love the family feeling you get from being around every-one and I really love

the food! At the last one, they had a lot of food options. They even had Buf-falo Wild Wings,”

-shaquilla Davis

The Spartan Fest being held this spring semester is highly anticipated. The participation of the Spartan community is encouraged to help bring out the reple-tion of this annual event. It is encouraged that ev-eryone comes out to show their green and gold school spirit.

“I can’t wait for this year’s Spartan Fest because I always have a great time. The comedy show is always hilarious and I heard there was a special guest speaker coming; I can’t wait to see who it is,” junior psychol-ogy major Daquan Dawson said.

Come out and participate in the Spartan Festby io chAney

Black history has and probably always will be a topic that is highly recog-nized, but not as often as it should be. The month of February calls for reflection on the great accomplish-ments that African Ameri-cans have made over time. Many people in the younger generation are knowledge-able of black history, but of-ten do not understand the value and power that can come from knowing their history.

“Black history means learning who I am and find-ing out about my culture; it gives me the opportunity to learn about how things were then and compare them to how things are now. If peo-ple realized what their an-cestors went through they would not take their free-dom for granted today,” ju-nior mass communication

Black history and its futureby mAlAun houSe

Spartan pride is at its best during NSU’s Spartan Fest, annually held during “March Madness.” Photo from www.facebook.com/pages/Norfolk-State-University/

major Tyeka Bailey said. Students are often sat-

isfied with what they learn in the classrooms and from textbooks; however, there is much more black history that is not taught.

Many inventions, movements and innovative African Americans helped shape America, but stu-dents are often only taught the same elementary school black history of Rosa Parks, W.E.B. DuBois and Martin Luther King Jr.

“I’m big on educating the African American youth to help better their identity in society. In public schools we are not told the entire story. If black youth could see themselves as kings and queens and not as slaves it could better their social identity in America,” senior political science major Rod-ney Green said.

If the younger African American generation de-veloped a stronger desire to learn their history maybe there would be less black-on-black crime, more pos-itivity and a greater rate of African American graduates than prisoners.

“I feel like if I know my history, it will help me to stop history from repeating itself. I will know the signs of discrimination and how to deal with them if I am ever faced with them,” se-nior mass communication major Ebony Redd said.

There is no exact rem-edy to help ensure that the future will be better for any generation, race or gender, but there is always the op-tion to attempt to make a difference. Learning from the past can help to pave the way for what will occur in the future.

e d i t o r s

Kazahna JoyceSports Editor

Jason GillEditor-in-Chief

DanielleKirshOnline/Managing Editor

Tykhari ColesMulti-mediaEditor

Chantelle PoliteEntertain-ment Editor

MalaunHouseLifestyle Editor

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Antonio GarlandNews Editor

MarioLawrenceGraphic Design/Layout Editor

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spartan entertainment

Not many are sure whether it’s an album or a mixtape, but what many people can agree on is that Drake has once again released a number of hits that will likely se-cure his position as one of our generation’s great-est musical artists.

At midnight on Feb. 12, Drake surprised the world with the release of what he calls a mixtape titled If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late. The mixtape’s vague mean-ing is unknown and mis-understood by some, but is excused in the event of new music that Drake fans have highly antici-pated since the release of his previous album Noth-ing Was the Same in Sep-tember 2013.

Buzz of an album/mixtape from Drake hit social media last spring when he released a couple of singles with no album or mixtape connection. The buzz got even bigger when different hip-hop Twitter pages released

rumors of him possibly releasing an album the week of Feb. 8. If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late finally graced audi-ence’s ears when Drake released the mixtape as an iTunes link on his Twitter account on Feb. 12. Spotify also got ahold of the mixtape, breaking the website’s record for most streams of a mix-tape in the United States in a day with 6.8 million streams. Those who were scrambling around for a listen also recovered links for the mixtape in which they could download for free and have to listen to at their leisure.

The track listing for If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late was com-prised of 17 songs, which in typical Drake fashion were comprised of lyrics about those close to him who offered a hand in his success as well as popular R&B samples like Ginu-wine’s 90s hit “So Anx-ious.” Drake has always been criticized for his

non-shameful display of emotion, as he constant-ly raps/sings about his failed relationships with women and troubling re-lationship with his sickly mother.

His vulnerability is in short supply with If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late. Instead, he harbors in on his alleged beef with rapper Tyga in his song “6PM In New York” spewing that “you need to act your age and not your girl’s age” and other anonymous foes in his song “Energy” with his line “I hear fairytales ‘bout how they goin’ run up on me/ Well run up when you see me, then. We goin’ see.” A line that some may view comically coming from Drake, but his artistry and lyrical use of real life emotions and story illustration is highly respected. He is far from a “gangsta rap-per,” but Drake’s some-what grumpy tone in If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late is in no denial, one that should be taken seriously.

This latest project is another work of art from the Canadian rapper that many have instantly grown to love and appre-ciate. Unlike the R&B-es-que tones that Drake pre-sented us with over the past six years, this mix-tape that Drake has given us showcases his rapping and singing talents into a collection of songs that show clear maturity and growth from the rapper. To many this mixtape so-lidifies his role as one of the best artists our gen-eration has seen to date.

The Children’s Hos-pital of King’s Daughters (CHKD) is back again for the third year to host the Dance Marathon, which will be held on April 11. The event lasts from 12pm-12am for those interested in dancing to help raise money.

CHKD will also be taking donations from afar, which can be done at following the link, http://events.dancema-rathon.com/index.cfm?-fuseaction=donorDrive.e v e n t & e v e n t I D = 5 5 6 . Donations have already started coming in and will not be cut off until the actual day of the Dance Marathon.

Any amount, big or small, is encouraged and will be put towards heal-ing the illnesses of these sick children.

CHKD’s goal for this year is to raise at least $12,000 and so far, they’ve already managed to raise $2,860. It might seem like a difficult goal

to reach, but with the help our fellow Spartans, it is not impossible.

Honorably, many of our students have taken charge of running and promoting the Dance Marathon.

Other student activ-ities and organizations have obligated them-selves to participate and have started their dona-tion processes.

Individual students have also taken it upon themselves to form their own fundraisers to help contribute.

All donation por-tals can be found on our school website or by us-ing the link provided above.

The goal is not only to raise money, but to raise awareness.

We need all of our students to come togeth-er and work for the better cause. That cause being the children of CHKD, which is actually located here in Norfolk.

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