The News Argus, December, 2003
HIV/AIDS: Exposing an epidemic
Students from the Desktop Publishing class left with a few dollars in their
pocket as they took part in the 2003 HIV /AIDS Awareness poster content.
Cheri Coefield, Ava Fails and Kristie Swink took home the top three prizes
respectively. They were also aware monetary rewards for their posters.
The contest was sponsored by the Student Health Advisory Committee. The
entries dealt with AIDS/HlV related
Associate vice chancellor of student affairs. Art Malloy, and nurse Tamera
Alexander from the A.H. Health Center, were on hand to present the winners with
their montery awards.
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Death hasn’t silenced Tupac Shakur or legacy
By Rebecca Louie
New York Daily News (KRT)
Though the multi-platinum rapper
died from gunshot wounds in Las
Vegas in 1996, six CDs of his original
material have been issued since, along
side several compilation albums and a
book of poetry.
In "Tupac; Resurrection," a documen
tary opening recently, Shakur tells his
life story, alternating between rage and
joy and proving startlingly prescient
about his fate. Culled from hundreds of
hours of taped interviews, his narration
is like a troubled voice from the grave.
This latest posthumous work helps to
transform the way we remember
Shakur. At the time of his death, the 25-
year-old rap star was a controversial
figure who had done jail time for sexual
assault and was charged in the shooting
of two off-duty police officers. His
lyrics upset conservatives and fueled
his longstanding beef with the rapper
Notorious B.I.C. (who was killed six
months after Shakur).
However, Shakur's haunting com
mentary in "Tupac: Resurrection" pre
sents him less as a dangerous hoodlum
than as a misunderstood prophet.
'Tupac was vilified in life but when
he died, God gave him what they call
an extra portion," says his mother,
Afeni Shakur, who is an executive pro
ducer on the film and CEO of Amaru
Entertainment/Amaru Records, which
owns Shakur's unreleased work.
"It's like God put a little paintbrush
over him so the vilification stopped,"
she says. "Tupac didn’t go any further
down. He just got lifted up."
Shakur's prolific afterlife creates the
illusion that he is still in the studio,
cranking out the tracks that moved a
generation of hip-hop fans. Forbes.com
recently named Shakur the eighth high
est-earning dead celebrity. He pulled in
$12 million between September 2002
and September 2003.
"Today's rappers still have to com
pete with Tupac," says Mimi Valdes,
editor in chief of Vibe magazine.
"He’s released a new album almost
every year, and they are all incredible.
It makes you think, 'He is way more
talented than we ever got to see.
Imagine what he could have done if he
had lived.’ When people realized that
he had all of that material, he got
respect. It made him even bigger in
death."
"Tupac: Resurrection — Music From
and Inspired by the Motion Picture"
features four previously unreleased
tracks by Shakur. The album's first sin
gle, "Runnin' (Dying to Live)," features
verses by Shakur and the Notorious
B.I.G. and is produced by Eminem; The
song already ranks in the top 20 of
Billboard’s R&B/Hip Hop charts. A
companion book for the film will be
released by Atria Books.
Shakur's unsolved murder has also
been the source of rabid fascination.
Sylvester Stallone is writing a film
about the deaths of Shakur and
Notorious B.I.G., tentatively titled
"Rampart Scandal." The "Rocky" star
plans to direct the film and play the
role of real-life LAPD Detective Russell
Poole, who alleged that the LAPD’s
Rampart division was linked to the
murders of the two rappers. Poole was
a key source for Nick Broomfield’s 2002
investigative documentary
"Biggie and Tupac," which explored
various theories of the rappers' deaths.
Bom Lesane Parish Crooks in New
York, Shakur was the son of two Black
Panthers. Reared in Maryland, he culti
vated his creativity at the Baltimore
School of the Arts before he settled in
Marin City, Calif. His first professional
gig was as a dancer and rapper in the
playful rap group Digital Underground.
However, it was the 1991 release of his
first solo album, "2Pacalypse Now"
(Interscope), that earned Tupac wide
spread recognition and the wrath of then-
Vice President Dan Quayle. The album
was a gritty portrait of what Shakur
would come to describe as 'Thug Life."
Photo by KRT
The life and times of deceased Rap
star Tupac Shakur Is explored In
the new movie "Tupac
Resurrection," from Paramount
Pictures.
TRIPS, from page 5
attending a trip organized by the univer
sity. Twelve other WSSU students, all
selected on merit, attended the Ohio
State University's Graduation and
Professional Schools Visitation Days,
which was held over the course of thjree
days in November.
Nasif Gordon, who is working toward
a dual degree in biology and chemistry,
said the Ohio trip op>ened his eyes to the
"real world."
Gordon said he returned to Winston-
Salem State University more determined
to achieve his academic and profes
sional goals. He attended various net
working events during the trip and also
spoke with professionals in his chosen
field.
The Ohio State University Graduate
and Professional Schools Visitation
Days was sponsored by WSSU's honors
program. Students chosen to attend the
visitation days had to have a cumulative
grade point average of 3.4 or better on
a 4.0 scale, including any transfer cred
its. Winston-Salem State has been a par
ticipant in this program since 1985.
Mrs. Avis Gray, an instructor in the
Department of English and Foreign
Language, serves as the faculty repre
sentative for the trip every year and she
is also a "product" of the program.
"I received my master's for free
because I attended this when I had the
opportunity to do so," Gray said. "The
program is for graduate-school minded
students with aspirations of receiving a
post-bachelorette degree."
The 3 rd Annual Thurgood Marshall
Leadership Institute and The Ohio State
University Graduate and Professional
Schools Visitation Days are part of
WSSU's ongoing efforts to prepare stu
dents for life after graduation.
"I feel as if my attendance in Ohio
served as a wake-up call,"Gordon said.
"The trip gave me the opportunity to
gauge not only my academic abilities,
but to test my interpersonal skills with
other students as well as potential
professors."
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