I'm a Tar Heel Born and Bred!

It is a "great day to be a Tar Heel!” suggested hashtag “#GDTBATH ” that began appearing in my newsfeed a few years ago. The tag is a product of the UNC General Alumni Association’s marketing accolades and touts accomplishments of the nation’s first public university.

Photo: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

General Alumni Association

 

The hashtag is often followed by announcements such as: Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine ranked UNC the number one best value in American public higher education for a “remarkable” 10th time in a row. UNC-Chapel Hill also topped the list of campuses that provide the best value to in-state students and the “Top 10 Best Value Public Colleges for 2014″ list published by Princeton Review and USA Today.

 

While the university has experienced unprecedented academic and athletic scandals, the past few years have not damaged the reputation of the nation’s oldest public university. The university continues to be named as one of the top public and private colleges recommended as the nation’s “best values” for undergraduate education based on more than 30 factors analyzed in three areas: academics, the cost of attendance and financial aid. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine explained its selection: “Although Carolina’s admission rate remains among the lowest on our annual list, its students are among the most competitive, and its in-state cost, at $17,000, is not much higher than the average price ($16,140) for all public universities. For students who qualify for need-based aid, the total price for this top-tier university drops to an average of $7,020.”

 

 

As a young girl, I didn't dare dream of going to Carolina until I fell in love with the campus as a junior in high school. I remember staring out of the window of the activity bus that transported the cheerleaders for the 2-A boys' basketball state championship. Many of us had never been on the campus before that evening. We had chills as we walked on the floor of the Dean Smith Center and sat on the sidelines staring up at the championship banners hanging from the rafters.

At that moment I decided to apply to UNC-Chapel Hill. As I learned more about the cost of education, my options were limited, and I considered myself lucky to live in a state that had reasonably priced options for higher education. I would like to think that even if I didn’t have limited financial resources, I wouldn’t have considered applying to an out-of-state college. After all, nothing could be finer!

 

Graduation Day!

 

 

The next time I stepped onto campus would be my freshman year in college. So when the GAA encouraged alumni to reflect on the past, present and future as the university celebrated its 22nd birthday, I did indeed. In fact, I had the privilege of sharing my birthday with the historic moment, and family and friends joined me to sip, paint and celebrate at Van Gogh’s Palette. The Duke fans gave me a hard time about selecting a painting posted by GAA a few weeks prior. Our tribute to the past was inspired by a Starry Night style painting featuring UNC-Chapel Hill’s symbolic Old Well. The structure was modeled after the Temple of Love in the Gardens of Versailles and completed in 1897.

 

 

My most recent birthday celebration with family and friends
Van Gogh's Palette
http://www.vangoghspalette.com/
 

 

During my time of reflection, I recognized that the past few years of turmoil have not defeated my school spirit. True Blue fans will always cherish the Southern Part of Heaven. We do not need accolades to confirm what we know in our hearts. UNC-Chapel Hill remains a priceless gem for our state, nation and the world, and that is why

 

EVERY DAY is a Great Day To Be A Tar Heel!!!

 

Dr. Seuss, Run D.M.C & Hip-Hop

Ever consider the connection between
Dr. Seuss, Run D.M.C. & Hip-Hop?

I know that it seems odd 

to compare children's author, Dr. Seuss, to a modern day rapper.

At first glance, it appears that the two have nothing to do with each other. Perhaps being a fan of poetry and the masterful use of rhythm

led me to believe otherwise.
So one evening
(when I was bored senseless)
I set out to consider Seuss' influence on Hip-Hop,

and apparently I am not the only one who sees the connection.

It turns out that other writers have already connected the dots.

...

First, consider the basic nature of rap & hip-hop.

"noun. 1. a style of popular music, developed by disc jockeys  in the late 1970s, in which an insistent, recurring beat pattern provides the background and counterpoint for rapid, slangy, and often boastful rhyming patter glibly intoned by a vocalist or vocalists. Also called rap."

and

“Hip hop music, also called hip-hop or rap music is a music genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted It developed as part of hip hop culture, a subculture defined by stylistic elements include sampling (or synthesis), and beatboxing.”

As an admirer of the great Mr. Theodor Seuss Geisel, it's no laughing matter when I say that he is one of my favorite rappers. Geisel adopted numerous pen names including Theo LeSieg (Geisel spelled backwards!), Rosetta Stone, Theophrastus SeussGeisel and the notable Dr. Seuss (because his father always wanted him to become a doctor), 
but his flow is more recognizable that Dr. Dre.

Rapper Run D.M.C. acknowledged Seuss’ influence in “Peter Piper;”

the first song on their crucial 1986 record suggests that he is the new

King of Rhyme...

"Now Dr. Seuss and Mother Goose both did their thing

But Jam Master’s getting loose and D.M.C.’s the king."

The Urban Daily (a website for a conglomerate of Hip-Hop radio stations) created a birthday shoutout for Seuss saying, 

"Literary master Dr. Seuss was hailed for the simplicity he infused into his work. Though simple, the sing-song rhyming style of his writing has had a profound effect on the genre known as hip-hop. How many rappers who have had any type of success employed a sing-song type flow? Countless. Ja Rule and Nelly owe their whole careers to Dr. Seuss for making simple raps favorable. "

In a recent Just Sayin' column for The Dispatch
"Seuss is a treasure beyond measure,"

I reviewed
"The Lorax"

and discovered that Seuss often had a social or political message in his rhymes.
He was quite the rebel, you see...

Theodor Geisel drew over 400 cartoons about war, Adolf Hitler, and a few controversial images about Japan. After a stint in the world of journalism, the former war correspondent responded to "Life" magazine’s 1954 report regarding declining literacy among school children. Geisel concluded that children were not learning to read because their books were boring, and the political cartoonist turned illustrator accepted the challenge to “bring back a book that children can’t put down” using a list of 348 words recognizable to first-graders.

Like most rappers, Seuss wrote about issues that bothered him.
For the most part, he did not hide his frustrations. He once explained in an interview that The Lorax "came out of my being angry.”
Another critic called it a "gloomy" book and doubted it was good for young children, but she obviously underestimated Dr. Seuss' ability to pull in another generation of readers. "In 'The Lorax' I was out to attack what I think are evil things and let the chips fall where they might.” In 1988, a school small town in California debated keeping the book on the reading list because some thought it was unfair to the logging industry.

Several of his other rhymes had strong social and political implications.

The Cat in the Hat

The Cat in the Hat is said to represent dictators.

When the Cat recognizes the potential of the working people, he sees the need for democracy.

Yertle the Turtle

Yertle the Turtle was published with connections to the rise and fall of Hilter. The book is famous for the quote, "A person is a person, no matter how small."

The Sneetches

The Sneetches has many undertones of opposition to anti-Semitism, along with religion bigotry.

Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now!

Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now! was a cleverly disguised anti-Nixon story. It appears to be about Marvin K. Mooney, a young child who needs to go to bed but later Dr. Seuss crossed out "Marvin K. Mooney" and replaced it with "Richard M. Nixon."

Just something to consider the next time you're reading the lyrical MC 
Dr. Seuss.