The Paw Print

A news publication created by Baruch's College Now high school journalism class

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Is Urban Music Dead

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“It was all a dream I used to read Word Up magazine salt’n’peppa and Heavy D up in the  limousine” Notorious B.I.G

The ’90s was a remarkable year for all urban music. Now Urban music struggles to stay alive, with very few MCs who bring that ’90s flow back to life.

In the ’90s, music was driven by passion of it and not just the money. Artist  like 2 Pac, Dru HIll, MS. Lauryn Hill,Erykah Badu and many other artist spent time to create quality work.

Now senseless artists come into the urban music world and don’t  uphold the standards. Artists are now unrecognizable on their tracks and only the beat carries them through.

These artists have no substance when it comes to music anymore. Many of these so called MCs rap/sing about money and females in a rather degrading way.

While urban music is constantly being torn down few MC struggle to keep it alive. J.Cole and Joey Bada$$ are two of the few artist who still bring that flare of 90s music.

Bring back the root of our Urban music.

The Beginning Of A New Era: Body Cameras

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Fatal shooting or abuse by police officers has recently gained significant attention through the media. Citizens demand justice for their loved ones who have experienced police brutality. However, it is nearly impossible to discern what truly occurred between an individual and the police without any witnesses around.

Families such as those of Michael Brown, the teenager who was fatally shot by an officer in Ferguson, Missouri are requesting that police officers begin to wear body cameras. A year long study of the Rialto, California police department showed that when officers wore cameras the rate of use of force incidents was reduced by 59 percent and “utilization of the cameras led to an 87.5 percent reduction in complaints” by citizens against cops. Police reformists and equipment vendors endorse body cameras because they often provided accountability.

“Body-worn cameras hold tremendous promise for enhancing transparency, promoting accountability and advancing public safety for law enforcement officers and the communities they serve,” Attorney General Loretta Lynch said. President Obama recently announced $263 million in funding to purchase 50,000 body cameras for local police agencies.

Many individuals celebrate the introduction of a new era for justice although the adoption of body cameras will not all happen at once. A officer from the New York police department said, “ There are so many cons to these body cameras that people are not focusing enough on. For starters, I will feel like my own privacy is being invaded at times because I will not want anyone listening in on my conversation with my partner, family or friends while being on duty.”

There is a debate about when the body cameras should be on and off. “What if I need to use the ladies room?” the officer continued “There is no way I will have that camera on. There needs to be an exception because if not, my privacy is being completely violated!”

There are citizens who believe that there will be fewer unjustified shootings, fewer acts of brutality, and ultimately, fewer unjustified arrests with body cameras. However, others maintain that body cameras will become an intrusion to their life since their everyday actions will be watched.  Despite the different opinions, body cameras has already became a reality in our world.  

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A Woman’s Line of Code

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Jennifer Gomez, an aspiring sophomore at Manhattan Village Academy who is learning computer coding plans a promising, yet challenging future in the men-dominated field of technology.

As technology becomes more prevalent in society, many aspiring young people are trying to make it a career path. Phones, computers and televisions use a variety of software. With newer technology, more people are taking on the challenge. Most of them are men.

Gomez and her family members were born in Lima, Peru. Her experience in Peru was drastically different than her life in the United States. “It’s really different from the United States, most of my family lived there and people are more friendly,” Gomez said. She moved to the United States with her parents at the age of 7.

She now resides in Queens, switching between living with her father and mother because they are divorced. The divorce does not prevent her from spending time with her parents. And through this, she was able to set a good example for her brother to spend quality time with both parents.

Gomez took coding classes on “Girls Who Code” during the summer. The summer course allowed her to be more creative and analytical in computer programming. This short session inspired her to be more like the founder of “Girls Who Code,” Reshma Saujani.

Her path proves difficult and time-consuming. However, she plans to persevere to the end.

She wants to spread awareness for women to be more involved in a men-dominated field. She hope that one day she will be able to influence and empower women to be confident and break the social norm of conventional women’s occupations.

Black Futures

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On Saturday the visual arts group took a trip to the African Burial Ground in lower Manhattan. The instructor took the kids to this burial site to expose them to how blacks in New York were treated and put to rest when they passed. From the 1690s to about 1794 free and enslaved Africans were buried right outside the settlement of New Amsterdam  later known as New York.

After watching a documentary about the history of the burial ground the arts group took a tour around the cemetery and talked about their views and thoughts of the memorial.

The Junior Scholars  Program at the Schomburg Research Center is a unique program for young people. Kids around the tri-state area attend these morning Saturday sessions to learn more about Black American studies. The young scholars are split up into special groups to demonstrate their talents and to talk about global black experience through photography, visual arts, spoken word, theater and many others. All of this hard work will pay off during the celebration at the Junior Scholars Summit in May.

Every year the program identifies a specific topic for the year. This year it is “AfroFuturism,” the  idea of how the black race would progress and and grow mentally to become more aware of their opportunities for success in the future.

This year the visual arts instructor kicked off the year by bringing the group to the African Burial Grounds  to start thinking about what kind of message we want our audience to receive and how our ancestors have wanted us to live our future.

“What does Black Futures means to  you?”

The instructor asked the group that question before they started taking pictures and and choosing how they wanted to present their work.

The experience of putting together the project for the end of the year celebration takes a lot  because the discussion and the brainstorming the group goes through is very intense. The visual arts group has used the archives at the Schomburg to collect old footage and documents that could relate to the topic for the summit. As the summit approaches the group will complete various pictures and edits for other scholars and parents to see.

 

Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo: Should Albums be Altered?

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“A living, breathing, changing creative expression,” is definitely an unorthodox way to describe an album.

But this is how Kanye West described his seventh studio album, The Life of Pablo, which initially released on February 14. I say “initially” because the album has been altered multiple times since its release, with the most recent version coming on April 1. Although most of the changes have been slight, such as audio tweaks to “Waves,” “Feedback,” “FML,” and “Fade,” these changes are noticeable.

The biggest change came in the form of the song “Wolves.” The original version of the song featured vocals from Sia and Vic Mensa, but the album version replaced this with a verse from Frank Ocean. After many fans (including myself) were upset that the original version of the song was changed, Kanye compromised by reverting the track back to its original, and by giving Oceans verse its spot, entitled “Frank’s Track.”

Perhaps the most controversial song on the album, “Famous,” had a line change that may seem insignificant, but helped improve the direction of the song. This verse two line was originally: “She be Puerto Rican Day parade waving,” and was changed to: “She in school to be a real estate agent.” This new lyric went much better with the following line of, “Last month I helped her with the car payment.”

There already have been multiple changes to The Life of Pablo, and Kanye’s record label, Def Jam, stated that Kanye’s album is “an innovative, continuous process. The album will be a living, evolving art project,” showing that there are more updates for The Life of Pablo in the near future.

This brings up an interesting question: should albums be altered? Kanye West is an extremely controversial artist and almost everything he does gets plenty of media attention. Kanye could be starting a trend for albums and artists of the future. Changing a product gets people interested in it again, but that doesn’t necessarily make it ok to go back and edit something. In another 5 to 10 years, will we still see revisions being made to this album?

Kanye has compared his album to a piece of art, and many people believe the title, The Life of Pablo, alludes to famous painter Pablo Picasso. But when artists showcase their art at a gallery, they don’t run around the room with a paintbrush, attempting to make last minute changes to their paintings.

By making these changes, Kanye shows his dedication to his work, and that he wants his work to stand the test of time. I think treating albums like living, breathing, ever-lasting forms of art can greatly improve the music industry. Although it may seem like cheating for an artist to go back and edit the parts that fans didn’t enjoy, that’s why music is so beautiful. It can change, it can grow, and as long as these changes are made for the right reasons, albums should be allowed to be altered.

Prom Season

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As prom approaches for most seniors, dresses are running out! Walking through the streets of Manhattan around 3 p.m., you will witness cliques of girls rushing with excitement to get to the store on time to shop for dresses.

Gianna Peralta, a current senior at the High School of Fashion Industries, is a victim of still not finding her dress nor having enough money for it.

“Prom takes place on May 21. My budget is about $150, because I pay for my own things. My parents are divorced and they really aren’t helping me out, except for when they bought my prom ticket,” she said.

Gianna goes on, about how she needs to find the perfect dress because she wants to feel like an absolute princess. “Our prom theme is Arabian. So I want to find something that goes with the theme and the weather. The weather is important because that defines if I get a warmy dress, or a cleavage dress,” she said.

But the longer she takes, she’ll have fewer options. Many girls in this school have already bought their dress, for very little money. Some have said they have found the perfect dress, and others that if they don’t find their dress, they won’t go to prom.

“I have to get heels, I need to know how I’ma do my hair, I need to set up the appointment for my make-up and I NEED MY PROM DATE!” Gianna says.

As seniors are all excited about prom, it’s causing them some stress.

Emely Pena, another student from the High School of Fashion Industries, breaks down and says “I don’t know what I’m going to do, I don’t even know what I’m going to wear, I haven’t even paid for my prom ticket and all of my friends are already ahead of me. I have to worry about college applications and how I’m going to pay my senior dues, I really want to go but I don’t know if I am,” she said. Unfortunately, most seniors pay for their own ticket.

Prom, in this high school, isn’t as good as what it seems in movies. Seniors are excited about it, but they are also overwhelmed on the stress about looking absolutely stunning on this day.

NYC Highschoolers fuming over spring break

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In New York City, spring break is much later than other spring breaks nationwide. Spring break in other states such as California or Maryland, is in late March/early April. However, in New York, the DOE placed Spring break on the week of April 25.

Any normal high scholar would agree. Jadah Stone, a 10th grader at Manhattan high school, says, “It’s completely bogus, I wish that my spring break was earlier. I hate having to wait two months for another break.”

This voice is not alone, I took a survey of ten random high school students at Tompkins Square Park, and seven of them said that they thought that this spring break is too late in the year. One of them, Jack Capello, an 11th grader at East Side Community High School, thinks that spring break should be two weeks instead of just one.

The debate about breaks is strong among students in New York City’s high school system. Many students are angered about most schools in the nation getting off for summer break in May, while the last official day of school in New York City is June 28.
Is there a legitimate concern over a student’s mental stability? Or are New York City high scholars just lazy. New York City has something that most other cities don’t, a mid-winter break, in February.

School Uses Writing Based Assessments Instead of Testing

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There is something unusual about School of the Future. While students in other schools are preparing for state exams, students at School of the Future are getting ready to present a semester long study.

School of the Future is known for its exemption from taking the Regents, a statewide exam covering all core subjects. Instead of the Regents, students are required to demonstrate a core skill through a paper and presentation known as exhibitions. Mr Fanning, the high school director comments on the exhibitions. He stated: “This is what we feel prepares our kids most for college and beyond”

Mr Copeland, the 11th and 12th grade history teacher and musical director stated: “We encourage students to investigate something that they find interesting. We hone their skills, their research skills, their writing skills.”

Many students have mixed reviews on the presentations. Some believe that the presentations truly represents a deeper understanding of the material while others would rather take the Regents.

One student commented: “I love exhibitions because they allow me to immerse myself in a topic of a subject that I otherwise might not have learned from a test”

Other students disagree with having to do exhibitions. One student commented: “I would rather just take a test and be done with it.”

Exhibitions take place twice each year, one per semester. They are broken up by into each core subject. Which consists of history, english, mathematics, and science.

Currently students are working on their second semester exhibition, and for many seniors it is their last exhibition and will determine if they graduate on time.

One student is working on a history exhibition that focuses on the contradiction between Thomas Jefferson’s personal life and his political rhetoric.

While another student is focusing on why the Women’s Suffrage Movement got underway when it did.

The Raft of Fashion Industries

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As the Class of 2016 sat in the school auditorium, everyone seemed to be chattering and catching up with their friends before graduation in June. About 10:30 in the morning the principal walked on the stage, with a stern strict face. He proceeded to tell the Class of 2016, news that will devastate the entire class.

Every year the High School of Fashion Industries senior class goes on an overnight trip, that includes going to a spa, or an amusement park.However last year, the day after the trip no one came back to school. Not one student that went on the trip, and not one  teacher that went on the trip. The principal stated that this was not acceptable, and so this won’t happen again there will be no more overnight trips. The principal had used last year’s trip as an example as to why the class of 2016’s senior trip was taken away.

“I waited 4 years for the moment for it to be taken away”. seventeen year old Seshem Sinclair uttered said  when the principal made this announcement.

“As your senior class president, this is an utter shock but we cannot act out because it would only hurt us.” Ana Rivera senior class president said these words yet you could hear the disappointment in her voice.

The senior class of Fashion Industries have been through a lot of trials and tribulations over the past year,however this has been the biggest disappoint for them. The senior class has been given the opportunity to go to Dorney Park, but many kids feel this is not a senior class trip, because this is nothing special.

Damaris Guerrero had publicly displayed her disgust in the school’s decision by making an unappealing in the auditorium. She didn’t feel that the class of 2016 should be blamed for the previous classes actions.

Seniors Anxiously Waiting for College Letters

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March is considered an  important month for many high school seniors at E.B.C High School in Bushwick who are now receiving letters from colleges they applied to early in the school year. One by one students are posting their acceptance letters on the school’s college bulletin board.

For many seniors, college is quickly approaching and high school days will be over. Seniors at E.B.C have been applying to many colleges since the start of the school year, and March has been the month that seniors have been longing for.

“I’m kind of happy to be leaving E.B.C only because I need to see a different world than high school, but I’m also sad because I have made a lot of friends at this schools and meet teachers who were there to help me when I needed academic help or guidance,” says Giselle Flores, a senior.

“I have worked hard to earn the best grades these past four years and I am so excited that my dedication has earned me a spot to attend Columbia University,” says Janine Bautista.

While many are excited to hear good news from colleges, others are not hearing the best news from their dream schools.

“ I applied to N.Y.U only to hear that I was not accepted. It was one of the first colleges that I was very excited to apply for,”  says Michael Rodriguez.

Many students are already in college spirit since receiving letters and planning to take a few trips on the weekend to see the schools they soon will be attending.