Nubian Forum: Troy Davis Execution n

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Is Facebook Dooing Too Much? n

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“The Cipher is So Unkindn 7

NUBIAN MESSAGETHE SENTINEL OF THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY AT N.C. STATE UNIVERSITY

RALEIGH, N.C. n VOL. X, ISSUE 5 n THENUBIANMESSAGE.COM n SEPT. 28, 2011

PASS THAT BILL!

Photo by CJ Guion

President Obama visited NC State on September 14th to push the Americans Job Act. He urged students to call their representatives to get the bill passed in Congress.

African American Student Advocacy Organization Urges Representatives

to Pass Jobs Act

JASMINE HARRIS | MANAGING EDITOR

The Society of Afrikan American Culture (SAAC) will be hosting a program this week entitled “PASS THAT BILL!” The program will provide students with political aware-ness on what they can do to make a difference in the political process. Also, the purpose is to fulfill the mission of SAAC to be the politi-cal voice of the university.

SAAC came up with the idea for the pro-gram during their last general body meet-ing. The SAAC executive board discussed the American Jobs Act with the general body following President Barack Obama’s visit to campus to speak on the bill. SAAC also dis-cussed the importance of knowing Congress and who our representatives are. One of the members of the general body suggested the idea of calling representatives and sending letters during a SAAC meeting, and the idea developed from there into a educational pro-gram the organization would provide to all students.

Students will learn more about the bill, in-cluding how it presents the grand possibility that the nation’s economy will be boosted, and provide a better situation for all Ameri-can’s economically. Students will be encouraged to call represen-tatives, write letters and send e-mails to help President Obama pass the bill that may salvage our country.

“As a political voice, we want to make sure that all students are politically aware, and that we want to make sure that students are making the right choices when it comes to elections. We also want to make sure that students are able to get good jobs when they graduate, as well as make sure that our economy improves,” said Jazzmine Small, the president of SAAC. She mentioned how it was important for students to know what’s going on, since political decisions affect us all as students, even in indirect ways. “If we don’t know what’s going on we don’t know what to do when it comes to finding jobs after graduation and will struggle after graduation in building a stable economic base.”

The act may affect Americans in countless ways; it could affect the families of students and even affect schools. Over the past six years, many teachers have been laid off, and the jobs act could restore many of those jobs that were lost. Not to mention that it will also provide jobs for the working classes, so that they will be able to progress to even higher positions in their fields.

“We want to urge students to do their research and find out what’s going on in our surrounding community. We only decide to vote in the bigger elec-tions, but we must realize that the mid term elections matter,” stated Debra Buck, the vice president of SAAC. “The choices that we made during the mid term election are effecting us right now. The senators and representatives vot-ed in determine voting districts, State bills, and make decisions about things that effect us in our day to day lives.”

SAAC is also looking forward to working with other organizations of the African

American Student Advisory Council (AASAC) in the future to bring aware-ness to campus about many issues facing our community. They desire to be-come a united front.

Society of Afrikan American Culture “PASS THAT BILL”

When: Thursday, September 29th

Time: 6PM

Where: Washington Sankofa Rm. 126 (Witherspoon)

Purpose: The organization will be writing letters and making calls to Congressmen/women in an effort to urge them to pass the American Jobs Act which was introduced by President Obama

NUBIAN MESSAGEPAGE 2 | SEPT. 28, 2011

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STAFF WRITERS: MADAVIA JOHNSON KELVIN CARTER HIND MALIK KIERRA LEGGETT

YOLANDA RAY SHALIESE HARDYALEXIS TEASDELL TEVIN BYRD

COURTNEY PREISTER CHELSEA GARDNERKAREEM WILLIAMS SHAKIL JEFFERSON

NEWS

George Stinney Jr. was the youngest person ever executed in the United States Judicial System. He was 14 years of age at the time. Stinney was convicted of murdering two young white girls. Many questioned his guilt. His trial only lasted one day and no witnesses were called to testify.

Samuel David Crowe was a convicted killer who re-ceived a stay of execution in the state of Georgia hours before he was supposed to be executed. He admitted to killing a store manager during a robbery at a lum-ber company. Crowe shot the manager three times with a pistol, beat him with a crowbar, and a pot of paint. Instead of death, he was given life in prison for good behavior and remorse.

Troy Anthony Davis was executed on September 21st for the 1989 murder of a police officer Mark MacPhail in Savannah, Georgia. For 22 years Davis continued to maintain his innocence of the crime, but never received an appeal. He received a stay of execution on several occasions. Months leading up to the execution, many of the witnesses responsible for his conviction recanted their statements. However, hours leading up to the execution the Supreme Court denied Davis’s final stay of execu-tion. His last words were “May God Have Mercy on Your Souls.”

SYSTEM OF INJUSTICE?

NUBIAN MESSAGE SEPT. 28, 2011 | PAGE 3PERSPECTIVES

The Nubian Forum: The Troy Davis Execution CHELSEA GARDNER | STAFF WRITER

On September 21, 2011, the nation was stirring with the de-

cision on the Troy Davis Case. Our media sources were show-ing coverage throughout the day as we anxiously waited to see if justice would prevail.

I have never placed any security in the death penalty. I have always felt that it was a way of having too much control, and playing “God” by determining who gets to live. I have also felt that there is always a chance that the person could be in-nocent as in the case with Troy Davis.

For many of us September 21, was just a regular day, but for Troy Davis it was his date of death; that day will for-ever be noted as a day of downfall in our justice system. Troy Davis, whether he was innocent or not, should have been granted a new trial. The evidence and testimonies given by the witnesses were full of reasonable doubts and uncertainty. The witnesses in the trial even recanted their testimonies. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected his bid for a stay of execu-tion, even though the court could not clearly link Davis to the murder scene. It is situations like this that lead me to be completely against the death penalty. As a country, we often pride ourselves on our justice system, but as a lawful, abid-ing citizen I am appalled, shocked, and disappointed. Our justice system has many flaws and if we continue to support the death penalty we will continue to exacerbate those flaws. This case should be proof to everyone that the death penalty should be banned.

The response to this case is evident. People are an-gry and seeking out answers. Why did this case turn out so differently than the rest? Why did the Supreme Court deny

his appeal to prove his innocence? Where was the justice in his case? Why did this 42-year old African American male die from lethal injection, when it was obvious that he should have been granted a new trial?

Troy Davis died proclaiming his innocence. Davis’s final words as reported by the Associated Press were:

"… I'm not the one who personally killed your son, your fa-ther, your brother. I am innocent. The incident that happened that night is not my fault. I did not have a gun. All I can ask ... is that you look deeper into this case so that you really can finally see the truth. I ask my family and friends to continue to fight this fight. For those about to take my life, God have mercy on your souls. And may God bless your souls."

His fight and determination were apparent. There was no evidence pointing towards him, and the reservations were overwhelming. Our legal system did a poor job of handling this case. Holding someone’s life in your hand is a serious matter and therefore, every case should be detailed and thor-ough. Eyewitness testimonies cannot be the sole basis of evi-dence. In most cases, they are not reliable sources. In this day and age, it is imperative that other means of evidence be tak-en into consideration, such as DNA Testing. Too often, people find themselves in jail based off of false witness statements or potential biases.

Judge Greg Mathis addressed the public and spoke out on the Troy Davis Case. He called Davis’s trial, without a doubt, “a grave miscarriage of justice.” “We’ve long known our jus-tice system is broken. Davis’s execution shows us just how flawed the system has become…It is criminal that this man was executed with so much doubt surrounding his case and Georgia has blood on its hands,” he said.

State of Georgia Has Blood on Their Hands

MADAVIA JOHNSON | STAFF WRITER

Troy Anthony Davis, an African American man, was ex-ecuted on September 11, 2011 in Jackson, GA; after his case was reviewed and denied by the Supreme Court. This caused a public outrage all across the world because everyone be-lieved that an innocent man did not receive justice, and was wrongfully executed because of his race instead of the evi-dence against him. Troy Anthony Davis was accused of gun-ning down an off-duty cop by the name of Mark McPhail in 1989, and this carried a capital offense. Prior to his execution Troy Davis spent 22 years in prison and no one found any other evidence or suspects, which leaves a lot of doubt in my mind.

First of all I would like to start off by saying that I do not believe in the death penalty and I do not agree with Troy Davis being executed. However, was he innocent? It was clearly stated that bullet shells where found at the crime scene were from a shooting that Troy Davis committed earlier that day, but no weapon was found. Does that mean he did not do it? Does that mean that while Troy Davis was at the scene, where the officer got killed, that someone came behind him and snatched the gun out of his hand killed the cop? Was it the homeless man? Some people may say it could be, but the Supreme Court and the jury from the 1989 tail said, no. To me that is like saying he walked under 12 ladders, broke 50 mirrors, and a cat just happened to walk in front of him because all odds were against him on that one particular day. Two shootings from the same gun, however no gun was found. Again, does that make him innocent? How did the bullets enter the bodies of the victims? What if the gun was found? What are the chances that his fingerprints would not have been found on it? Especially after knowing he used it in a previous shooting. His DNA would have been found on it regardless. Everyone wants to explore the reasons why they think he did not do it in order to save his life, but you have to

look at it from the same perspective that the Supreme Court, eyewitnesses, and the Jurors of 1989 did.

As for the eyewitness testimonies being retracted, and them saying that they were coerced into saying that Troy Davis was the murderer. I think this was all a bunch of lies; Lies told then and lies told now, and may I add lies told un-der oath. The saying as I know it is, “One lie leads to more lies, and and even bigger lies”. Who is to say that the media, lawyers, and the families did not coerce them into saying they lied in 1989 in order to save the life of Troy Davis? The deci-sion on whether a man should live or die is a big decision, and now that it was punch time maybe the guilt caught up with them from 22 years ago. I strongly feel that if anyone had to be executed it should have been them. They lied under oath, they swore to tell the truth, nothing but the whole truth, so help them God, and once convicted there is no turning back. A person cannot be tried for the same thing twice. They knew he was getting the death sentence if he was convicted, so why take the story back now? Did they want to relieve their con-scious? They probably did that, but it was too late. No matter what any public official said the conviction was in stone, and the lack of suspets and a murder weapon point the blame at Troy Davis. Was that right? No, because in the United States Justice System you have you have to be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. This is where the error was committed because when it comes to taking a person’s life you cannot have any doubts. The fact that the gun was not found did not make it certain that he did not kill the man. This case was too extreme to just let assumptions or reasoning fill in the blanks. I think he was guilty based off of my reasoning, but that is not enough for the courts to execute a man; hard evidence is re-quired. Maybe there were no doubts in 1989, but after review, with a person’s life on the line, and knowing that the person cannot be tried twice for the same crime. There should have been a life sentence instead of a death sentence.

If They Lied Before They Can Lie Again

Question of the WeekDo You Believe The Death Penalty Should Be Banned

and Why?

Jasmine Hunter, Sophomore, Chemistry

“I think it should be banned, because I tink only God should determine who should die or llive. Our judicial system is not even fair.

Elijah Gordon Junior, Chemistry

“It is a difficult decision, because each state should have their own right to decide what to do. But at the same time if we think that kiling is morally wrong why should we do it?”

Enioluwafe Ojo Freshman, Genetics

“Sort of, because I do not believe that no one has the right to kill another person. I think the death penalty should only serve as a punishment for severe crimes so it can instill fear.”

Aryana Brantley Freshmen, Meteorology

“I do not think it should be banned. It should only be used for severe crimes and should only be used as a last resort.

NUBIAN MESSAGEPAGE 4 | SEPT. 28, 2011 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENTThe Nubian Message’s Guide to What’s Goin’

On in Arts & Entertainment

BLAZIN 8 OF THE WEEK

1. Cheers (Drink To That) - Rihanna

2. How To Love- Lil’ Wayne3. Mirror- Lil’ Wayne feat.

Bruno Mars4. Marvin’s Room - Drake

5. Best Thing I Never Had - Beyonce

6. Marvin & Chardonnay- Big Sean feat. Kanye West and

Roscoe Dash7. Miguel - Quickie

8. Otis- Jay Z and Kanye West

WKNC’s UNDERGROUND

Top 5 of the Week

1. J DA NERO I’m Nice2. POLLYN Cold Sweat3. T.I.M.E. Skywalker4. REMEMBER 2 FORGET

Murs5. RAPPER BIG POOH

“Medicine Man” [Single]

Listen to Underground Radio on

WKNC 88.1 FM... Sunday 12 - 2AM

Sunday 10PM-12AMMonday 8PM - 12AM

Tuesday 12-2AMSaturday 10PM-12AM

In Town This Week

Chris Brown

Chris Brown will be in town on October 1st at the Time War-ner Pavillion which special guests Kelly Rowland, T-Pain, and Tyga

Photo courtesy of Jive Records

KIERRA LEGGETT| STAFF WRITER

CBS debuted talk show The Talk in October of 2010 and while the show premiered at number one for its daytime time slot, its ratings have since dropped significantly. Closely re-sembling the format of hit ABC morning talk show The View (which is now in its 11th season) CBS’s The Talk features a six women panel that discusses everything from Dancing with the Stars to what to cook for dinner. Although executive pro-ducers Sara Gilbert and John Redmann have done an admi-rable job of imitating The View there is no comparing the two. Quite frankly, comparing CBS’s The Talk to ABC’s The View would be like comparing apples to oranges, or for those of you that like apples, comparing US Polo Association (USPA) to Ralph Lauren Polo— seriously.

Although there are several things about The Talk that make it subpar to The View, perhaps the show’s biggest downfall (and the thing that irks me the most) is its lackluster cast. The show’s panelist for its first season included former child star Sara Gilbert, news anchor Julie Chen, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Sharon Osborne, and actresses Leah Remini and Holly Rob-inson Peete. Going into the show’s second season however, the execs decided to give Remini and Robinson the boot and Mrs. Osborne an extended break. These ladies were replaced by “guest co-hosts” comedians Molly Shannon and Sheryl Underwood, and mother of the Kardashian clan, Kris Jenner. Relatively speaking, I wouldn’t have been as concerned with the show’s cast had it not been that Holly Robinson Peete was axed from the show, only to be replaced by Sheryl Under-wood.

Peete, the mother of four, a college graduate and a successful actress, brought to the round table discussions of The Talk the perspective of an educated African American woman. Peete was confident and secure enough in herself that she didn’t feel the need to play into the stereotypical roles associated

with black women. She actually offered her own opinions about issues and didn’t simply nod her head in agreement with what the other panelist said. Perhaps in part because she doesn’t have any children and the show is supposed to feature reactions to news and other topics from the “eyes of mothers,” Sheryl Underwood hasn’t said much. However, when she does speak it seems to me that all Underwood does is reinforce that black women are loud, inarticulate and do not have minds of their own. A veteran of the United States Army, and having earned two Masters Degrees, Underwood is obviously capable and apt enough to forgo the constant Ebonics and funny girl antics. While I’m not saying that she needs to turn into the next Stepford housewife, she does need to find a common ground, so she doesn’t dumb herself down to fit in. As my mother puts it, she needs to learn “when to turn it off, and when to turn it on.”

I’m sure most African Americans can agree that the way you conduct and carry yourself varies depending on the so-cial setting in which you find yourself. At times it may be appropriate for you to use slang and colloquialisms, but at others it is not. Holley Robison Peete had seemingly mas-tered this and The View’s Sherri Shepherd has got it down to a science. While there are plenty of times that Shepherd (who like Underwood is a comedian) jokes about her wig and acknowledges stereotypes, she never makes herself the butt of anyone’s jokes. A notable difference between Shepherd and Underwood, Shepherd’s co-hosts are laughing with her, while Underwood’s are laughing at her.

Whether it was intended or not, CBS made a big casting boo-boo when they decided to replace Holly Robinson Peete with Sheryl Underwood. Much like myself, I do not think African American viewers will be pleased with the sole rep-resentation of African American women on the show being Sheryl Underwood.

Can Anybody Talk The Talk ?

WKNC UNDERGROUND 88.1

Cats and Dogs is Evidence’s 2nd major solo effort and his first album since his signing with Rhymesayers. The album features ten different producers: The Alchemist, Sid Roams, DJ Premeir, DJ Badu, Rahki, Dan-iel Tannenbaum, Twiz the Beat Pro, Charli Brown, and Evidence himself. In this album, former Dilated People’s Emcee once again gives listeners a glimpse into his personal life by rapping heavily about autobiographical content. In the seventeen, really sixteen but thirteen is skipped, tracks Evidence talks about the loss of his mother, his day-to-day life, and his heartbreaks and breakups. Evidence’s confident and smooth delivery weaves the tracks together into a tapestry with the theme of self-reflection. Mr. Slow Flow has released three singles from the album, the strongest of which being “You”, and the others being “To Be Continued” and “It Wasn’t Me.” Other important tracks are, “The Red Carpet” featuring Raekwon of Wu-Tang fame, “Late For The Sky” featuring Slug and Aesop Rock, two other artists under the Rhymesayers umbrella, and “I Don’t Need Love.” I Don’t Need Love, is a particularly emotional track where, as mentioned earlier, Evidence talks about the loss

of his mother. In his interview with Hip Hop DX, Evidence mentioned that the second verse on the track was the hardest to write on the entire album. About his mother Ev has this to

say, “A certain chick who got the wrong end of the stick/ through thin and through thick/ I still miss you”. And about how it has affected him, “I’ve trashed every single girl I had since you.” Lyri-cally, Evidence is not the most complicated or eloquent, but in terms of emotion and honesty he is one of the best. The fervor from which his delivery comes is one of his defining features and is trademark of the Rhymesayers hip hop family name. With the depth of artistic talent featured on the album, hit after hit is de-livered. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire effort and appreciated the sincerity of delivery and the pas-sion with which it was pushed. It is important to note that despite

the sometimes depressing subject matter and penchant to talk about his problems on his tracks, the album in no way comes across and whiny or depressing. Also, the confines of the album, particularly track 6 produced by DJ Premeir, should serve to delight fans of the Dilated Peoples and get them excited for their upcoming reunion. I rate this album 4 out of 5 ****.

Album Cover Courtesy of Rhymesayers

CATS & DOGS : EVIDENCE REVIEW

NUBIAN MESSAGE SEPT. 28, 2011 | PAGE 5LIFESTYLES

The Forgotten Kingdom of Nubia: What is the Message

of the Nubian?

CJ GUION | EDITOR - IN - CHIEF

On Monday, Black Entertainment Television (BET) aired an exclusive inter-view with President Obama entitled “The President Answers Black America.”

The President has received criticism from various African American leaders who believe that he is not doing enough for the community.

While 9.1% of America is unemployed, the African American national un-employment rate is 16.7%. Before President Obama took office, the rate was 13%. Also in a poll taken weeks ago, it was stated that 58% of African Ameri-cans who were polled approve of President Obama’s work in office, which decreased from 83% in April 2011.

The President has come under fire recently for various reasons including the unemployment rate, the Troy Davis execution, as well as comments that he made during a speech at the National Black Caucus.

President Obama said that it was time for African Americans to pull off their slippers, put on their marching shoes, stop grumbling, stop crying, because there is work that has to be done. He said that the beautiful thing about the community is that no matter how hard things get “we always keep the faith and keep pressing on.”

African American Tea Party Representative Herman Cain believes that the President was out of line with quite a few of the comments that he made. He stated that America was over the first African American President “Thing.”

Democratic Representative Maxine Waters also did not take very well to the President’s comments. Waters stated that she does “not cry, she works.”

When questioned as to how exactly the Americans Job Act will affect African Americans the President said that he wants to make sure that everyone ben-

efits from this bill. Every decision that he makes is for the better of all people, and not for certain people. “That’s not the way that America works. There are a lot of people all over the world who need help, and I plan to help them all.” President Obama stated.

The president also stated that the American Jobs Act will be beneficial to Americans because it will provide more summer jobs, put more teachers to work, create on the job training, and provide tax breaks/tax credits for the people who need it.

President Obama stated that he wants Americans to know that the current economic situation will not recover overnight. “It took a long time to get in this mess and it will take a long time to get out of it.” stated the president.

The president stands firm in the decisions that he has made during his term and has little regrets. He feels that things such as the American Recovery Act and the Affordable Health Care Act have been beneficial for Americans. He stated that many youth of today who have insurance are insured primarily because of initatives such as the Health Care Act.

He does however wish that he had more information regarding the economy when he took office, so that he could clearly relay the message to Americans that this would be a long road, and that this was no “ordinary” recession. However, the president believes that he can do a good job in his current posi-tion as long as Americans support him.

Obama’s last word of advice in the interview was that Americans must pres-sure congress to make the right decisions for all poeple. He made no promises that the entire Jobs Act will be passed, but feels that with pressure Congress will pass parts of the bill and eventually pass all of it. If that doesn’t happen then Americans may end up with a new congress come election time.

The President Answers Black America

HIND MALIK | STAFF WRITER When I first stumbled upon the Nubian Message publi-

cation a few years back its name left me with quite a few question. Why did founders of the paper choose “Nubian Message” to call their paper? What is the significance of the symbol on the left of the papers name? Finally, what is the “message” of the “Nubian”?

Nubia is the name of one of Africa’s greatest civiliza-tions. It derived its name from the Egyptian word “nub” meaning gold. At times it was known as Ta-Seti and it appeared as Kush or Cush in the Old Testament. The For-gotten Kingdom of Africa, as it is sometimes referred to, lay along the Nile River in what is now Northern Sudan. Archaeological sites in the area reveal the splendor of the Nubian civilization in its architecture, tools, writings, and sculptures. The great Empire of Nubia has long been overshadowed by the lower Nile civilizations in Egypt and by modern European historians who have distorted the history of Nubia molding a historical image of a “barbaric waste land” that fed the slave and min-eral trade in Egypt. Some of the famous archaeologists that excavated the ruins of Nubia claimed that such advanced architectures, technology, science, and art could not have been the product of black Africans. Some went as far as to claim that there was a relationship between ancient Nubians and Caucasians while oth-ers sufficed by minimizing the influence and the role the kingdom played in the ancient world. All are obvious attempts to reinforce European notions of superi-ority and inferiority.

Regardless of attempts to stain the history of Nubia, the remains in Northern Sudan falsify these claims. Nubia was wealthy not only in gold, ivory, incense, iron ore, and fer-tile land but also rich with culture, architecture, religion, art, and warriors and kings who for some time ruled over Egypt. Even today a greater number of pyramids than those in Egypt hold ground in Northern Sudan, preserving through the harsh desert environment. These pyramids and cities buried under the desert sand house the history of the great Nubian civilization that was intentionally kept a secret from the world.

The logo of the publication is the Gye Nyame symbol. It is one of the Adrinka symbols which are ancient Akan visual symbols used in Ghana and Cote de ’Ivory in West Africa. Gyne Nyame is one of the Akan highest spiritual symbols. It literarily means “except for God” and it signifies the su-premacy of God; the omnipotence, the omnipresent, and the

immortal. It also means that one should fear no one except God. In other versions it said to simply mean “I am not afraid of you.”

So what is the Message of the Nubian? Equipped with the basic information above, I believe each and every one of us can reach a different conclusion. To me, the title and logo speaks of continuous strength, courage, and confidence derived from a bloodline of brave warriors and intelligent inventors. It says that in each of us is a fearless Nubian warrior or warrioress with a message to deliver.

NUBIAN MESSAGEPAGE 6 | SEPT. 28, 2011

AASAC Organization Spotlight:

National Association of Black Accountants

President: Amanda Purefoy

The National Association of Black Accountants, Inc. (NABA) was founded in 1969 by nine deter-mined individuals who wanted to see the number of African-Americans participating in the field of accounting and the number of Certified Public Accounts (CPA) increase. Today, there are over 200,000 African-American accountants and over 5,000 CPA’s. The goals of NABA are to promote and develop the professional skills of the members, to encourage and assist minority students in entering the ac-counting profession, to provide opportunities for members to fulfill their civic responsibility, and to represent the interests of current and prospective minority accounting professionals.

The North Carolina State University NABA Chapter has been around for more than fifteen years and is continuing to go grow and develop young professionals within the Poole College of Manage-ment.

NABA Benefits:• Networking Opportunities• Scholarships• Internships and Full-Time Employment• Career and Professional Development• Leadership Opportunities• Accounting & Business Knowledge• Annual Student and Professional Conferences

NC State NABA Events:• Southern Region Student Conference – Atlanta, Georgia• Speaker Presentations with Accounting firms (Pricewa-

terhouseCoopers LLP, Ernst & Young LLP, KPMG LLP, Deloitte LLP, Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP)

• Community Service Events• Social Events• Career and Professional Development Workshops"Lifting As We Climb"

ASHLEY GAIE | STAFF WRITER Facebook has definitely come a long way from its beginning, once being a col-

lege-student restricted social website. Today networks on Facebook range from universities, companies, high schools and even middle schools. The live news-feed updates users with top stories from their friends. Fortunately, one has the option to hide updates from those who they do not associate with on a regular basis. We can tag friends in photos, accept being tagged in others photos and even see who tagged us in a photo.

Last week after clicking the login button, my computer screen was bombarded on the right side by a live stream, and newly uploaded pictures which took up a quarter of the screen.

Similar to Twitter’s live timeline, Facebook allows you to hover over the up-dates’ of friends and respond instantly. The ticker stays on the side of the screen as you wander onto other people’s wall and into their albums. Facebook makes multitasking easier for the curious and the procrastinator. Along with the ex-tremely busy ticker, Facebook has also made some aesthetic improvements. The website is a bit more appealing to its diverse crowd.

Mashable.com a website that reports on social media posted a cartoon last week regarding the new Facebook. In the cartoon, a guy is looking at his friend, who is on the computer making wild hand gestures. He asks “What the hell are you doing?” The friend replies” Facebook introduced a new secret handshake for

accepting friends.” The message is clear. Facebook, while trying to compete with Twitter and the new Google+, is doing more damage than good. The “ticker” produces live feeds of not only status updates but comments, likes and continued conversations.

It seems that Facebook has answered invisible complaints. Many statuses read, “If its not broken, why fix it?” in regards to the updates. While many complain, others have been forced to other social media sites such as Twitter, Google+ and even LinkedIn. Facebook has become too busy, full of ads that cater to your per-sonal interests and a total invasion of your privacy. Facebook tracks friendships, as well as mutual events and groups. Facebook even reports your location with-out your permission. It is getting to a point when we must ask ourselves are we too connected to the World Wide Web? Do social media and the internet elimi-nate physical interactions? Will we no longer update our friends about our lives over a quick lunch or dinner? Will we one day tell our relatives to check out the album of our newborn on Facebook rather than mailing them a 3x5 or 5x7 photo? When and where do we draw the line between technology and reality? Today I ask, is Facebook just doing too much?

Check out Mashable.com and the Facebook blog to stay updated on Facebook’s continuing improvements.

Facebook: Too Much Change?

NUBIAN MESSAGE SEPT. 28, 2011 | PAGE 7

Victory

- Alexis Teasdell

LIFESTYLES

Dear Nubian,

I am a freshman this year and I have so many emotions about this experience. I am the first in my family to seek higher education and my family is depending on me to succeed. I want to be successful but sometimes I wonder if I am doing it for me or for them and I am afraid of failing. What should I do?

Sincerely,

First generation college student

Dear First Generation College Student,

You are not alone; I too am a first generation college student. There are many emotions that first generation college stu-dents face and so it is normal. Often times we may feel excitement, anxiety, pride, responsibility, resentment, pride, embar-rassment, shame, and confusion. However, you must realize that your resilience and perseverance has brought you this far and will continue to lead you along this journey.

You may also experience a greater since of responsibility and pressure in order to be the first in the family to earn a college degree. It may be tough and demanding but some of the most beautiful things on the earth are created from an enormous amount of pressure. Just keep your eye on the prize, never give up, and work harder than anyone else. Personally, I come from a working class family and I see my parents live from paycheck to paycheck. I know that in order to live comfortably and provide for my family in the near future I must work hard and ultimately get my degree. As a first generation college student our parents genuinely may not understand the difficulty of managing academics, extracurricular activities, and maybe even a job. However, at the end of the day they want nothing but the best for their child.

Also, surround yourself with positive people that have goals that are similar to yours. Get involved on campus by joining organizations, clubs, intramural sport teams, or support groups to make the transition to college a little easier. Talk about your feelings with friends and family members that you can confide in and trust. Lastly, utilize resources on campus. Our university provides excellent counseling services that are already paid for in tuition and fees. Also, the student mentor association provides freshmen with peer mentors that may be experiencing some of the same issues that you are facing.

It is okay to be afraid of failing but do not let your fears consume your goals. It is evident that you want to be successful and, it is also evident that you want to make your family proud. It is possible to achieve both. Remember, hard work does pay off and you are truly not alone.

Sincerely,

Nubian Queen

Sometimes I feel like I needed youWhy weren’t you there?Sometimes I feel like your wallet knows me more than youWhy don’t you care?Everyday I look at my peers and feel like I’m at a disadvantageAnd to be perfectly candidI can’t understand itYou say you love me on the phoneAnd it sounds so sincereBut then Christmas and birthdays come aroundAnd you aren’t thereAnd for a long time I didn’t careBut sometimes I see a father and daughter together and I stareAnd think about the tools she has been given to make itBut I know that not everyone’s father is alive so I should be elatedThat I still have the time to revive a re-lationship that diedBut every time that I try I have to fight to be on your mindWHY DON’T YOU CARE?On my biggest days and birthdaysYou brought tears to my eyes because you weren’t by mom’s sideSometimes I wondered if I told you what was on my mind if you’d cryAnd I know you understand because your father was this type of manAnd sometimes I don’t understand why I have to be a manAnd call you about dinnerOr call you to tell you my gradesAnd sometimes I wish that I could get a “that’s great!”Instead of “okay”But deep down I question if it’s my faultBecause I don’t ask you for things be-cause I don’t want to be in the wayAnd all you have to do is complain and I send my problems mom’s wayShe doesn’t deserve to have to put up with these thingsso with tears in my eyes I cry,“Why are you this way?”Why is dinner with you like dinner with a stranger?Why is it I’m a prize to you when I suc-ceedBut when I need your support I’m on a hangerI think it would be easier in collegeAs I struggle to establish who I amIf my father took the time to know who I amAnd it’s funny because I always want-ed to have a date come to my houseAnd have my dad intimidate himBut I still haven’t had the male’s per-spective on rather or not I should date himSometimes I wish I could say I was a daddy’s little girlBut it’s quite alright because I made it to a womanAnd I’m no longer a girlI no longer wish there were more pro-grams for girls instead of guys without men in their livesI no longer despise the past that I felt kept me behindI am complacent with where I standBecause I know that I still stanAnd I’ll no longer let you get in the way of me thinking I can do the things because now I KNOW that I can.I stand without you.And I feel you need to know al-though this is a weird place to share.even though you weren’tThat pain will always be there.But like I said it’s fineNo more tears will fall from these eyes because what I’ve come to realize is that my destiny in mine.

“The Cipher Is So Unkind”MELVIN MOORE | PHOTOJOURNALIST

Spreading quickly by word of mouth, the Cipher draws emcees from around the area to surround themselves with passionate hip hop fans near the Free Expression Tunnel. The Cipher takes place on Monday nights at 11:00 PM and lasts until the emcees leave. The Cipher began as an album photoshoot for emcee and multi-instrumentalist, Mike Green and his band, Creme de la Creme. According for Green, “My group and I wanted the look to embody the concepts of the album. So we figured having other emcees free styling near the graffiti of the tunnel embodied it the best.” The group's photoshoot was shot by Kali Rhe Rogers, a former photojour-nalist for the Nubian Message and one half of Rhedeont Pho-tography. The Cipher only began in February as a result of the album shoot and is quickly drawing attention from emcees all over Raleigh. According to Green who is also the founder of the Cipher, “Everyone just enjoyed the atmosphere and

flow of the photoshoot so much that we just decided to make it a weekly thing. The Cipher is like the backbone of underground hip hop.” Familiar and new faces continue to come to the Cipher week after week ranging from the emcees to the audience. The Cipher has a very positive and relaxed atmosphere where emcees jump in and start rapping when-ever they want. According to Carizma Thomas, a junior in media communications, “The Cipher keeps hip hop alive.” The Cipher is an event that is becoming a staple on campus and should not be missed.

Photo by Melvin Moore

Founder of the Cipher, Mark Green, unintentionally began the Cipher after shooting a photoshoot for his group, Creme de la Creme, in front

of the Free Expression Tunnel. Green states, “The Cipher is the backhone of hip hop.”

Photo by Melvin Moore

Cedric “C-Minor” Minor, began coming to the Cipher after the Creme de la Creme photoshoot. “I keep coming, because I enoy the atmosphere.

It is like a release for me.,” states Minor. When asked who is his favorite hip hop artist, Minor quickly replied Mos Def. “Mos Def is my favorite,

because his lyrical style intrigues me. He is not a ‘punch-line’ rapper. His lyrics are full of imagery and paint a picture..

Words of Advice

Need Advice? If so, send your questions to the Nubian...Editor@nubian.ncsu.edu

NUBIAN MESSAGEPAGE 8 | SEPT. 28, 2011 PERSPECTIVES

Our New Website

The Nubian Message has a new website! We’ve been working hard over the summer to create a site that can better serve the readers of our publication:

We have many new features such as:

• Anewslideronthehomepagewhichfeaturesourtopstoriesoftheweekandlatebreakingnews.

• LookingforatheNubian?Utilizeournewmapthatdetailsdistribu-tionlocations

• Keepupwiththelatestevents

• Easilyconnecttooursocialnetworkingsites

Join the experience at thenubianmessage.com

KELVIN CARTER | STAFF WRITER

“The life of an individual can only be examined if you allow the doors to be opened.” ~WOK

For many of you who don’t know, social media sites are rapidly evolving. The rankings of top social media sites are also changing. Our generation first began with MySpace. Those 80’s babies, including myself, probably will remember a little bit about BlackPlanet being the first social sites geared toward the African Americans in 2001. But for years it started off with MySpace in 2003. This is when I first got involved with social media sites. Next came along a site that was geared directly towards college students. For those who saw the movie “The Social Network” will recognize that I am referring to FaceBook. This is the time when social media sites became popular and addictive.

It started off with people saying “Go check out my music on MySpace”. Then we started hearing, “Add me as a friend on FaceBook”. Now it has changed all over the nation to “Follow Me on Twitter”. Is FaceBook losing its touch? Now, there is a new social media site that’s trying to skip itself to the top of the ratings. Google recently launched their new creation called Google +. They started off by allowing only people who have been invited, keeping many newcomers from gain-ing access. But now it is open for everyone.

So we wonder, are we going to stay on social media sites that will soon have control over everything we do? Are people going to stay on FaceBook, which will soon be the site for employers to look at as a source of your resume, when you are looking for a job? Are we going to stay on this site just to stay in people’s business by looking at their pictures and their statuses, mmmm…. maybe!

But the younger groups in our generation are starting to switch to things such as Tumblr, a blog site that keeps everyone interested. Although it’s kind of similar to MySpace, where you can create your own background, it’s the next best way of allowing people to express the things they are mostly passionate about. Even though blogging has been occurring for years now, we are noticing that the younger people are starting to get more away from worrying about dramatic things that comes from social media sites such as FaceBook, and are spending their time in sites that allows for them to remain free.

Is it a good thing that Myspace has died out and FaceBook (constantly changing its website to keep us interested) beginning to die down? Is Twitter just a new way of chatting with others about random things without anyone getting their feelings hurt, or not worrying about their invasion of privacy? Or will everyone move towards Tumblr and give the world more creative minds to take in and nurture? You choose, SOCIAL MEDIA!

Changing The Social Game

Have a Smart Phone? SCAN ME!