Poetry is essentially a puzzle, the words have to be moved around a million times until they fit and the message is delivered in a descriptive way.  Rapping is a beautiful platform to recite poetry, except the foundation is slowly fading away.

In the year 2013 we have artists who want to “F*** every girl in the world” and who “Love bad B*****” and that is their “F***** problem.” Where is the substance? Where are the words that will leave us thinking?

Poetry in Hip Hop was a must in the old days you had to have a message and know why you were saying the things that you were. Tupac Shakur was known for his thug style appearance and bad boy attitude but he was also a poet. A poet in his words and in the music he recorded.

“Brenda’s Got A Baby” by Shakur is a song about teen pregnancy. Brenda doesn’t want her parents to know she is pregnant because the father has left her and she has no one to turn to. She tries to sell her body and drugs and in the end throws her baby in the trashcan. This kind of music in Hip Hop brings awareness to the struggles people not only in poverty but also in the world as a whole.

Shakur also has a song called “wonder why they call you B****” expressing that a young lady displays behavior such as promiscuity and using men for money.

Lupe Fiasco, Chicago rapper, has made controversy by not “dumbing down” his lyrics but by leaving his fans with things to actually contemplate on. In his record “B**** Bad” fiasco raps to how women are trying to take the “B” word back but have it offensive only when they seem fit.

To the plain eye it is just a way to get record sells but fiasco wanted to provoke thought on how we can change the way we see ourselves. This is the old hip-hop, the hip hop that has a impact on lives and can maybe change the world.  Rapping is a different version of reciting poetry, lets push to have our music leave us with plenty of thoughts and sweet words of wisdom.

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Bombers beware. There is a new technology available to law enforcement and it didn’t cost them anything. It’s called the public. And it’s the use of public shot and recorded pictures or video to find suspects in large crowds.

However, it’s more of a broad sword, rather than a precise tool. It’s not perfect by far and sometimes it may cause innocent people to get harassed over alleged pictures and videos, collected by their peers.

According to Yahoo News, using the crowd or crowdsourcing, may be a crime solving tool now and has been used before the Boston bombings. Vancouver and New York have used these crowd video gathering techniques to link attackers and rioters to crimes, which may normally go without suspect.

The social website Reddit.com was responsible for the exchange of pictures and videos, at the request of the Boston Police Department. Innocent people were identified as possible suspects and names and numbers were publicized, much to their dismay.

If you are asking yourself how this might invade your privacy? You are thinking correctly, it’s one of those grey areas that may infringe our liberties at some point at the cost of catching more criminals

Pawan Wallace, Financial Aid Officer at CSUS Financial Aid Office (left) and Josef Preciado, International Admissions Counselor (right), talking to ARC students during the event.

The prospective buyer, who was accompanied by another man, met the victim in the lot at 7:50 pm. The suspects reportedly spoke with the victim for a short time, then agreed on a price.

The suspect pretended to reach into his pocket before reportedly grabbing the woman’s phone suddenly and pushing her to the ground, fleeing on foot towards the apartment complex across the street.

Campus police are searching for two adult black men, 20 to 25 years old. One is approximately 6 feet, 180 pounds with a dark complexion and shaved or short hair. He is reported as wearing a blue hooded sweater and dark jeans. The other is 5 feet 8 inches, 160 pounds, with a light complexion and hair in a short afro style. The victim told police he also wore a blue hooded sweatshirt and grey basketball shorts.

Contact the Los Rios Police Department at (916) 558-2221 with any information about the incident.

Students are advised by police to stay alert to their surroundings, and travel with another person for safety. When traveling at night, students should park and walk in well-lit areas to minimize risk.

On a sunny weekend at American River College’s Beaver Stadium, the women’s track and field team prepare for their last home meet of the season. Sophomore Hannah Hardy and freshman Ariel Maroon are both strong candidates to claim State titles in their respective events. At one side of the stadium, Hardy prepares for the long jump. Directly across from her, Maroon attempts her first vault of the day. Both athletes are looking to improve on their personal bests.

Hannah Hardy was named the 2013 Most Valuable Field Athlete in the Big 8. This season Hardy won the NorCal Heptathlon with 4,146 points and she broke the record in the triple jump by jumping 11.51-meters, a record that stood for 21 years.

Hardy

Sophomore Hannah Hardy began running track after taking a dance class with ARC track and field head coach Jeanette Allred-Powless’ daughter.

“I would go over and hangout at their house. They would run, and I would run with her,” Hardy said.  Afterwards, “My dad put me in club track for Roseville,” she said.

Hardy ran at Woodcreek High School, where she holds the school record in the long jump with a distance of 18 feet. Her personal best is 18 feet 7 inches.

Hardy’s record setting continues at ARC, where she currently holds the school record in the triple jump, a record that previously stood for 21 years. She also is a member of the record-holding 4X100 relay team.

Hardy competes in the triple jump and the heptathlon, an event consisting of 100-meter hurdles, 200-meter and 800-meter sprints, high jump, shot put, long jump and the javelin throw. At the 2013 Nor-Cal Championships, Hardy’s score of 4146 qualified her for the State Championship.

Head coach Allred-Powless is grateful for the attitude and talent Hardy brings to the team.

“It is so nice, because she always says, ‘Coach if you need me put me in.  Coach I’ll do this for points,’” Allred-Powless said.  “She scored 45 points in our conference championships…that is the second most in the history of ARC. To win four events, place second in one, third in two and fifth in another all in the same meet is kind of a big deal.

Hardy has several athletic scholarship offers from Division I schools including University of Hawaaii, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Arizona State University, California State University Long Beach and Boise State.

For Allred-Powless, the best part about having Hardy attending ARC is her growth.

“Watching her develop into the beautiful woman that she has become and her athleticism has been a major blessing,” she said.

Ariel Maroons 3.57-meter pole vault at the 2013 Big 8 Conference Championships put her as the second highest vault in American River College history.

Maroon

Freshman Ariel Maroon is the only women’s pole-vaulter on the team. She currently holds the second best pole vault in Northern California and in ARC history at 11 feet 8 inches. Maroon also holds the pole-vaulting record at 11 feet at Roseville High School.

“It feels good, but I know I have a lot of room to improve,” she said. “I’m just trying to do better, one step at a time focusing on the little things.”

Maroon would like to transfer to University of California Davis or Oregon State, but has work to do if she wants to get a scholarship.

“It depends on if I jump 12 feet this year. Usually after 12 feet 6 inches people start calling,” Maroon said. “So we’ll see. I got a while.”

Allred-Powless believes she can do better this year and will continue to improve next season.

“I don’t see any problem with her clearing 12 feet. Hopefully she can get 12 feet 3 inches, maybe 12 feet 6 inches,” Allred-Powless said. “That’s where she’ll get more scholarship offers. She should have no problem with a four-year scholarship athletically.”

Maroon has a wide history with sports, having competed in gymnastics for 10 years.  In high school, she participated in basketball, tennis and cross-country along with track.

“After I quit gymnastics they said I would either be good at [pole vaulting] or diving. I decided not to go into water,” Maroon said. “I just didn’t want to dive into water. I thought it was kind of scary.”

Proving that Maroon is a leader on and off the field, Allred-Powless said, “She is our 4.0 student athlete that people look up to. She’s been around for awhile and she is very organized. [Maroon] does a great job leading the team and leading the other girls with a real good positive attitude.”