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I was in Detroit preparing to give a speech last week when the news came across my Twitter feed: "Dr. Dre and music producer Jimmy Iovine donate $70 million to USC to create new degree." As one of the first university presidents from the hip-hop generation, I had to stop and read the story immediately.


The two music moguls and co-founders of Beats Electronics — recognizing that they needed a new type of creative talent for their growing music technology business — are funding a four-year program that blends liberal arts, graphic and product design, business and technology.

I understood their need to build a pool of skilled talent. But why at USC? Iovine's daughter is an alum, sure. And he just gave its commencement address. Andre Young — before he was Dr. Dre — grew up in nearby Compton, where he rose to fame as part of the rap group N.W.A. The Beats headquarters are on L.A.'s Westside.

Still, what if Dre had given $35 million — his half of the USC gift and about 10% of his wealth, according to a Forbes estimate — to an institution that enrolls the very people who supported his career from the beginning? An institution where the majority of students are low-income? A place where $35 million would represent a truly transformational gift?

Why didn't Dr. Dre give it to a black college?

Make no mistake: This donation is historic. It appears to be the largest gift by a black man to any college or university, comparable to the gift Bill Cosby and his wife, Camille, gave to Spelman College in 1988. Some 25 years later, their $20-million gift (about $39 million in inflation-adjusted dollars) is still the largest-ever private gift to a historically black college. Dre gave USC almost triple the amount Oprah Winfrey has given Morehouse College over the years. Sean "Diddy" Combs gave $500,000 to Howard University in 1999, which he attended before launching a successful career.

A hip-hop icon is now the new black higher-ed philanthropy king. We've never seen a donation to rival this from any black celebrity — musician, athlete or actor — and that fact must be celebrated.

But as the president of a black college, it pains me as well. I can't help but wish that Dre's wealth, generated as it was by his largely black hip-hop fans, was coming back to support that community.

USC is a great institution, no question. But it has a $3.5-billion endowment, the 21st largest in the nation and much more than every black college — combined. Less than 20% of USC's student body qualifies for federal Pell Grants, given to students from low-income families, compared with two-thirds of those enrolled at black colleges. USC has also seen a steady decrease in black student enrollment, which is now below 5%.

A new report on black male athletes and racial inequities shows that only 2.2% of USC undergrads are black men, compared with 56% of its football and basketball teams, one of the largest disparities in the nation. And given USC's $45,602 tuition next year, I'm confident Dre could have sponsored multiple full-ride scholarships to private black colleges for the cost of one at USC.


Maybe some suspect that a historically black college or university would not have the breadth or depth of expertise on its faculty to spearhead an innovative academy. Nothing could be further from the truth.

This future Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation is to be multidisciplinary, with a technology focus. In 2011, the National Science Foundation noted that black colleges are a major source of scientists and engineers. In fact, the top five producers of blacks who go on to earn science, technology, engineering and math graduate degrees are black colleges, as are 20 of the top 50. Once you add in the musical legacy of black colleges' choirs and marching bands, they are the perfect locations for an academy like this.

In the end, though, this is his money, and endowing a program geographically nearby, where he can have ongoing input and contact, makes sense. I do hope it will recruit and enroll a diverse class of students and not become some enclave for the already privileged student body there.

But more important, I hope this groundbreaking gift inspires other celebrities and musical artists to make similar donations to higher education. And that they will consider doing it in a manner that will be truly transformative. This gift is gravy for USC; for a black college, it would transform not just individuals but whole institutions and communities.

In the Detroit airport on my way home, I counted seven people sporting the stylish Beats by Dre headphones on the way to my gate. All seven were black men, like me. My own Dre earbuds were in my briefcase. I'm sure we all bought them not only to support Dr. Dre but because of the quality of the product.

My challenge is to figure out how to get Dr. Dre and others to listen as well, because when they support black colleges, they are also supporting a quality product.

Walter M. Kimbrough is the president of Dillard University, a liberal arts black college in New Orleans.

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Man Sets Up Cameras In House To Find Ghosts, Catches Girlfriend Sexing Son

May 22, 2013

NewsOne-An Australian man who set up cameras in his house to catch paranormal activity got another scare, when he instead caught his 28-year-old girlfriend having sex with his 16-year-old son...on camera, according to the Mercury News.

After initially confronting his girlfriend about the October 2012 incident, she reportedly downplayed it.

However, the son would end up confessing to sex with her three times in the days before the recorded encounter.

After the Father notified police, though, the woman admitted to the affair, which apparently included hotel room encounters. The woman has been charged with five counts of sex with a minor.

According to the woman, she began having sex with her lover's son after talking about driving lessons with him.

The Mercury News reports:

Crown Prosecutor Jackie Hartnett told the court in October last year the woman had gone to her stepson's room to discuss his driving lessons.

Although the pair had previously had a strained relationship, tickling led to kissing and then to intercourse, the prosecutor said.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she thought the legal age of consent in Australia was 16 (it's actually 17). She had been dating the boy's father for the past 11 years and has a younger child with him.

She plead guilty at the Supreme Court of Tasmania Monday and will be sentenced next week. No word yet on whether the Father whooped his son's a-double dollar signs — obviously, that's a video we'd love to see!

Read more: http://newsrescue.com/man-sets-up-ca...#ixzz2U8fZ7pZj

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THERE was pandemonium at the popular Alaba International Market, Lagos, on Wednesday, as five people were killed by gunmen.:eek:

The deceased were suspected cult members, who were caught unawares by a rival gang that invaded the market around 3.30 p.m.

The incident occurred around Fancy and Furniture section of the market, as sounds of sporadic gunshots shook many parts of the markets.

Traders and buyers at the market scampered for safety, as many shop owners hurriedly closed their shops for the fear of being attacked.

An eyewitness, simply identified as Segun, who claimed to have arrived the scene shortly after the gunmen escaped, said five bodies were lying dead close to Ubakazon Plaza in the market.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that the victims were drinking at a joint in the market when the gunmen opened fire on them, killing five of them instantly.

A senior police officer at Oojo police station, while speaking under the condition of anonymity, confirmed that four people were killed "close to Alaba Market."

The police officer, however, denied that the deceased persons were traders, insisting that they were "miscreants," drinking at a joint.

Efforts to get the reaction of the image maker in charge of the state police command, Ngozi Braide, failed as her mobile phone was switched off.

Meanwhile, the corpses of the deceased men have been taken away by policemen from Oojo police station.

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``I have a deeper insight into the challenges that confront the Nigerian nation and even Edo as a state, and have come to the conclusion that pilgrimage is a luxury.

``Even from the point of view of the poor, a man who has no roof over his head cannot be spiritually uplifted if he goes to Israel and returns to a state of homelessness,''

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A pastor with one of the largest pentecostal churches in the country has been nabbed by the police in connection with the N200m West African Examinations Council fee fraud in Ogun State.
:eek:
So far, over N20m had been discovered by detectives in a personal bank account of the pastor (names withheld) who is one of the four directors in the Ministry of Education.

Also, four expensive cars were said to have been discovered in the garage in the pastor's house.:p:D

Our correspondent learnt from police sources that huge sums of money ranging from N10m to N15m had similarly been discovered in the bank accounts of three other directors allegedly involved in the fraud.

Police sources said when the pastor was questioned over the N20m found in his bank account, he merely pleaded for forgiveness.:D

Also, police were said to be on the trail of some proprietors of private schools in the state for their alleged connivance with the four directors to perpetrate the WAEC fee fraud.

A police source said, "We have made appreciable progress on the large-scale fraud and I want to tell you that we are not resting on our oars to get the cabal within the state ministry of education as well as their private school collaborators."

The Ogun State Government had on Tuesday said it uncovered the huge fraud in the payment of the WAEC fees for students in its secondary schools.

According to the government, the discovery of the fraudulent practices allegedly perpetrated by officials in the state education sector, spanned at least the last three academic sessions.

But the Ogun Police Command Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, told our correspondent on the phone that he was not aware of the alleged scam.

Adejobi, a deputy superintendent of police, however said, "I'm not aware of the matter. The policemen handling the matter are from where?"

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A man has died and two are injured after police responded to a reported machete attack in south-east London.

The government is reported to be treating the attack as a suspected terrorist incident and the prime minister said it was "truly shocking".

Eyewitnesses said a man was assaulted in a Woolwich street by two individuals who were later shot by officers.

Local MP Nick Raynsford said the dead man was a soldier at Woolwich barracks but this has not been confirmed.

Home Secretary Theresa May has summoned a meeting of the government's emergency response committee Cobra to assess the incident.

It is understood she has also requested updates from the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Bernard Hogan-Howe, and the head of MI5.

BBC political editor Nick Robinson said the police view is that the the attack may have been filmed and footage may exist.

People carrying out the attack were of Muslim appearance and cries of God is Great or Allahu Akbar were heard, said our political editor.

London Ambulance Service confirmed one man had been found dead at the scene.

It said two men had been taken to hospital, one in a serious condition.

One of the men was airlifted from the scene, and another was taken away by road ambulance

A spokesperson said an air ambulance and four crews had attended the scene.
Witnesses reported by the Press Association said two people had been shot after armed police were called to an incident in which a man was attacked with a machete-style knife.

One witness, identified only as James, said two men had attacked another man, aged about 20, who was wearing a T-shirt of military charity Help for Heroes.

"These two guys were crazed. They were just animals. They dragged him from the pavement and dumped his body in the middle of the road and left his body there," he told LBC radio.

He said after the "horrendous" attack, the two men, who were also in their 20s, stood around, waving knives and a gun, and asked people to take pictures of them "as if they wanted to be on TV or something".

"They were oblivious to anything, they were more worried about having their photo taken, running up and down the road," he said.

Thomas, a witness who contacted the BBC, said: "I got there minutes after it happened because you could hear gunshots from Woolwich High Street.

"Basically two men carried out an axe attack on a young army cadet walking along the street, by the looks of things the police responded and then shot them in front of the public, at the same time I couldn't really tell if the cadet was fatally or not hurt as police were crowded around him."
Meanwhile, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) confirmed it had been informed.

In a statement, the IPCC said: "Investigators have been deployed to the scene and to the post-incident process."

Scotland Yard said the incident happened in John Wilson Street, the A205, at 14:20 BST.

On its Twitter account, the Metropolitan Police helicopter team called the incident "serious".

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Officers have responded to an incident...

Head teacher David Dixon describes seeing a body in the street and hearing gunshots
"We believe at this stage officers were called to reports of an assault."

David Dixon, a local head teacher, told the BBC News Channel he walked out of the school gates and saw a body lying in the road a short distance away.

He then heard gunshots and instructed staff to lock all the gates of his school.

The air ambulance landed in the playground and most of the children have now gone home, he said.

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