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Ice Cube (born O’Shea Jackson on June 15, 1969) is an American rapper, actor and film director. Regarded as one of the greatest hip hop artists,[1][2] he began his career as a founding member of the famously controversial rap group N.W.A., and later launched a successful solo career in music and cinema. In 1992 he married Kim Jackson, with whom he has four children [3]. Later in 1992, he converted to Islam[4]. From the mid-90s onwards, Cube focused on acting, and his musical output has slowed down considerably. He remains one of the most visible West Coast rappers, having helped originate gangsta rap. He is particularly well-known for his incendiary raps on political and racial topics (such as the treatment of blacks in the United States). He has sold 13.5 million units in the U.S. alone and is one of the richest people in the hip hop industry, having an estimated net worth of $145 million (According to[1] he was #7 in their “Top Ten Richest People in Hip Hop 2006″).

Biography
Early life
Cube was born to Doris Benjamin, a hospital clerk, and Andrew Jackson, a machinist and groundskeeper, both both of whom came from the South. He was raised in South Central Los Angeles and later converted to Islam during the early 1990s.[5] At sixteen, he developed an interest in hip hop music, and began writing raps while attending school at Taft High School (Los Angeles). He attended the Phoenix Institute of Technology in the fall of 1987, and studied Architectural Drafting. With friend, Sir Jinx, Cube formed the group, C.I.A., and they performed at parties hosted by then-DJ and World Class Wreckin Cru member, Dr.Dre. In his earliest stages of rapping, he had his cousin, Del tha Funkee Homosapien, ghost write for him. While the exact number of rhymes Del wrote for N.W.A. is uncertain, it is known that he wrote or contributed on at least twenty of the group’s tracks.

1987-1990: N.W.A. era
In 1987 Cube and Dr. Dre released the EP My Posse, under the alias CIA. After the collaboration, Cube showed Eazy-E, the lyrics to “Boyz-N-The-Hood.” Eazy-E eventually recorded the song, which debuted on N.W.A. and the Posse, the debut N.W.A. album.

By this point Cube was a full-time member of N.W.A. along with Dr.Dre and (to a lesser extent) MC Ren. Cube wrote Dr. Dre and Eazy-E’s rhymes for the group’s landmark album, Straight Outta Compton, released in 1989. However, as 1990 approached, Cube found himself at odds with the group’s manager, Jerry Heller, after Heller responded to the group’s financial questions by drafting up a new arrangement. As he explains in the book Ice Cube: Attitude (McIver, 2002) ISBN 1860744281:

Heller gave me this contract, and I said I wanted a lawyer to see it. He almost fell out of his chair. I guess he figure, how this young muthafucka turn down all this money? [$75,000] Everybody else signed. I told them I wanted to make sure my shit was right first.
Since Cube wrote the lyrics to approximately half of both Straight Outta Compton, and Eazy-E’s solo album, Eazy-Duz-It, Cube was advised of the amounts he was truly owed by Heller, and proceeded to take legal action, soon after leaving the group. In response, the remaining N.W.A. members attacked Cube on the EP 100 Miles and Runnin’, as well as their next and final album, Efil4zaggin.

Solo career
Cube recorded his debut solo album in New York City, with his group Da Lench Mob, and the Bomb Squad (Public Enemy’s production team). AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted was released in 1990 and was an instant hit, riding and contributing to the rising tide of rap’s popularity in mainstream society. The album was charged with controversy, and Cube was accused of misogyny, and anti-white racism.

Cube subsequently appointed the female rapper Yo-Yo (who appeared on AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted) to the head of his own record label and helped produce her debut album, Make Way for the Motherlode. This was followed by a critically acclaimed role as ‘Doughboy’ in John Singleton’s hood-based drama, Boyz N the Hood. The film began the rapper’s increasing tendency to star in action movies as time went on.

In the same year as AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted, Cube released the highly acclaimed EP, Kill At Will. Kill At Will soon became a hit becoming the first Hip Hop EP to go both Gold and Platinum, and many praise it as being his best work.

Cube’s 1991 follow-up, Death Certificate was regarded as more focused, yet even more controversial, and critics accused him again of being anti-white, anti-female, anti-Semitic and homophobic. The album is thematically divided into the ‘Death Side’ (”a vision of where we are today”) and the ‘Life Side’ (”a vision of where we need to go”). The album also features a scathing response to N.W.A., called “No Vaseline”. It also contained the track “Black Korea”, regarded by some as prophetic of the L.A. riots, but also interpreted as racist by others; it was still being cited years after its release.[6] Cube toured with Lollapalooza in 1992, which widened his fan base [7]. Also during that year, he converted to Islam, though he denied any affiliation with the organization of Nation of Islam [8].

Cube released The Predator in November 1992, which had been recorded amidst the LA uprising of ‘92. Referring specifically to the riots, in the first single, “Wicked”, Cube rapped “April 29 was power to the people and we might just see a sequel.” The Predator debuted at #1 on both the pop and R&B charts, the first album in history to do so. Singles from The Predator included “It Was a Good Day” and the “Check Yo Self” remix, and the songs had a two part music video. The album remains Cube’s the most successful release, with over 3 million copies sold in the US. However, after The Predator, Cube’s rap audience slowly began to diminish. Lethal Injection which was released in the end of 1993 and represented Cube’s first attempt at imitating the G-Funk sound of Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, wasn’t well received by critics, though fans have come to cite it as some of his best works. He had more successful hits from Lethal Injection, including “Really Doe”, “Bop Gun (One Nation)”, “You Know How We Do It” & “What Can I Do?”. Following the busy year of 1994, he took a hiatus from music and concentrated on film work and developing the careers of other rap musicians, such as Mack 10, and Mr. Short Khop.

In 1998, Cube released his long-awaited solo album, War & Peace Volume 1. The delayed second part, War & Peace Volume 2, was released in 2000. The albums featured appearances from Westside Connection as well as a reunion with fellow N.W.A. members, Dr. Dre & MC Ren, though many fans maintained that the two albums weren’t on par with his past work, especially the second volume.

In 2006, Ice Cube released his 8th solo album, Laugh Now, Cry Later, on his Da Lench Mob Records label, debuting at #4 on the Billboard Charts and selling 144,000 units in the first week.[9] The album featured production from Lil Jon and Scott Storch, who produced the lead single “Why We Thugs”. In 2007 he’s set to release his 9th studio album titlted Raw Footage.

Westside Connection
In 1994, Cube formed Westside Connection with Mack 10, and WC, and together they released an album called Bow Down. Most of the album was used to engage in the war of words between the East and West Coasts of the 90s. The album’s eponymous single reached #21 on the singles charts, and the album itself was certified Platinum by the end of 1996.

With Bow Down, Westside Connection brought their own agenda to the hip hop scene. Ice Cube, Mack 10, and WC had grown tired of being overlooked by most East Coast media outlets; the album was designed to instill a sense of pride in West Coast rap fans and to start a larger movement that anyone who felt underappreciated might identify with. Songs like “Bow Down” and “Gangstas Make the World Go ‘Round” make reference to this.

After a seven-year hiatus, Westside Connection returned with their second effort Terrorist Threats in 2003. The album fared well critically, but its commercial reception was less than that of Bow Down. “Gangsta Nation” was the only single released from the album, which featured Nate Dogg and was a radio hit. After a rift occurred between Cube and Mack 10, regarding Cube’s commitments to film work rather than touring with the group, Westside Connection disbanded. WC, however is still friends with Ice Cube and is planning a new solo album on Lench Mob Records entitled Guilty by Affiliation in late 2006.

Collaborations & film work
In 1992, while taking a break from his own output, Cube assisted on debut albums from Da Lench Mob (Guerillas In Tha Mist, 1992) and Kam (Neva Again, 1993), both of which enjoyed critical acclaim and some moderate commercial success. He handled most of the production on ‘Guerillas in tha Mist.

In 1993, Lench Mob member, J-Dee, was sentenced to life imprisonment for attempted murder, and Cube did not produce their next album, Planet of tha Apes. Around this time in 1993, Cube also worked with Tupac Shakur on his album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., appearing on the track “Last Words” with Ice-T. He also did a song with Dr. Dre for the first time since he left N.W.A.: “Natural Born Killaz”, for the Murder Was The Case soundtrack. Cube appeared on the song “Children Of The Korn” by rock group Korn, and lent his voice to British DJ Paul Oakenfold’s solo debut album, Bunkka, on the track “Get Em Up”.

Following, perhaps his most famous film role, as ‘Doughboy’ in Boyz N the Hood, in 1992 he starred alongside Ice-T, and Bill Paxton in Walter Hill’s action film, Trespass, and then in The Glass Shield.

In 1995, Cube had some breakthrough film roles, first in the hit comedy Friday starring alongside then-upcoming comedian Chris Tucker, which spawned two sequels: Next Friday and Friday After Next.

That year he also starred in his second collaboration with John Singleton, Higher Learning, as world-weary university student, “Fudge”; a role for which he earned award nominations.

He had a supporting role in 1997’s Anaconda. He wrote, executive produced, and made his directorial debut in The Players Club in 1998, and in 1999, starred alongside George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg in the critically acclaimed Three Kings. In 2002, Ice Cube starred in the commercially successful movie Barbershop, as well as its 2004 sequel Barbershop 2: Back in Business. In early 2005, Ice Cube came back to Hollywood and starred with Samuel L. Jackson in the action movie XXX: State of the Union and then alongside Nia Long in the family comedy, Are We There Yet?.

In early April 2007 Ice Cube was a guest on Angie Martinez’ Hot97 radio show and stated that he was interested in bringing back Chris Tucker as ‘Smokey’ in a possible Friday sequel, but that was only possible if “New Line cuts the check.”[10]. This is unlikely as Tucker’s Rush Hour sequel performances earned him over 20 million dollars per film, and the entire budget for the sequel “Next Friday” was only 11 million dollars [11]. To date, no Friday sequel is officially in the works beyond concept development, and Tucker himself has publicly never indicated any interest in appearing in a Friday sequel over the last 12 years.

Recent years
In 2004, his hit singles “Check Yo Self”, “It Was a Good Day” and affiliated song “Guerillas In Tha Mist” with Da Lench Mob appeared on popular videogame Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, playing on fictional radio station Radio Los Santos.

In late 2005, Ice Cube and Emmy Award winning filmmaker R.J. Cutler, teamed up to create the six-part documentary series titled Black. White., which was broadcast on cable network FX. Cube’s upcoming movie projects include “The Extractors” and “Teacher of the Year” scheduled to be released in 2006. Cube has also begun production on Are We Done Yet?, the sequel to 2005s “Are We There Yet?”.[12]

Ice Cube has been working with Eazy-E’s son, Lil Eazy-E, on his debut album due in 2007, entitled Prince of Compton. He has also signed on to star in and produce Welcome Back, Kotter, a big screen adaptation of the ’70s television series.[13] Cube will play the title character, who was originally portrayed by Gabe Kaplan. Cube’s film company, Cube Vision Productions, has sealed a deal with Dimension Films to bring the show to the big screen.

In an interview in London, he revealed he is in talks of a collaboration with Gorillaz after speaking to frontman Damon Albarn.[14] He will be featured on Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s upcoming album Strength and Loyalty.

Conflicts and rivalries
Accusations of racism
In 1991, Ice Cube released the song, “Black Korea,” which attacks Korean store owners who were deemed “racist” in their attitudes toward blacks, suspecting the blacks of violent and criminal proclivities. One year later, in 1992, the Los Angeles riots took place, in which over $1b of damage was caused, largely by black looters, and with over 50% of the damages incurred by Korean businesses.

Feuds
Common
Cube also had problems with Chicago MC Common, over the rapper’s 1994 single “I Used to Love H.E.R.”. In the song about the degradation of hip hop, Common made references to the West Coast and Boyz N the Hood. With his Westside Connection cohorts, Mack 10 and WC, Cube recorded the song “Westside Slaughterhouse”, which coincidently was their first track together. The song contained the following lines directed at Common:

Used to love her, mad cause we fucked her
Pussy whipped bitch with no common sense
Hip hop started in the west,
Ice Cube ballin’ thru the East Without A Vest
Common responded with “The Bitch in Yoo”, retorting “You ain’t made shit dope since AmeriKKKa’s Most”. Afterward Louis Farrakhan called the two to a sit-down to negotiate a truce.

Cypress Hill
L.A. group Cypress Hill also had a feud with Ice Cube when they felt that Ice Cube had taken the chorus from the song “Throw Your Set in the Air” for the song “Friday”. Cypress Hill released a diss track entitled “No Rest For the Wicked”, which among other things, took shots at Ice Cube for using pictures of an ornate marijuana pipe that had belonged to DJ Muggs for the cover of his album The Predator despite not smoking marijuana at that time. Ice Cube and the Westside Connection retaliated with “King of the Hill”, & ” Cross Em Out & Put a K”, to which Cypress Hill responded with “Ice Cube Killa”. In 1997 B-Real of Cypress Hill and Ice Cube were invited to a late night talk show in order to reconcile their differences for the benefit of the hip hop community, and the feud thus ended. Cube And B-Real would work together later that year as guest features on the track “Men of Steel” for the soundtrack of Shaquille O’Neal’s film Steel.

Kam
Ice Cube had a falling out with Kam due to money and personal issues, which led to Kam releasing the venomous diss track “Whoop Whoop”, as well as an altercation that led to the theft of Ice Cube’s necklace. Though the feud has since ended, they never worked together again.

Oprah Winfrey
In May 2006 Ice Cube accused Oprah Winfrey of not welcoming rappers on her show, and specifically, for not inviting him to the show when the rest of the cast of the hit show Black. White. were invited.[

Rapping
Technique
Cube’s rap technique is often straightforward, without the use of many similes. He is known for the social commentary in his songs, and implies that he just reports things how he sees them, though some critics accuse him of racism for epithets such as “caveman” and “devil”. His solo style never differed from his N.W.A. days, using defensive and offensive violence or simply bragging, narratives and political hip hop like several popular East Coast acts of the time.

Whilst his technique is often straightforward in terms of avoiding similies, he actually uses metaphor to a huge extent in his songs. This has been prevalent since the early days of his solo career, and really came to fruition during Death Certificate. Ice Cube’s lyrics and themes are rich with metaphor.

His work would later inspire artists such as Nas to voice one’s aspects and views on society. Ice Cube is known for the use of irony, as he does in “It Was a Good Day”, when he details a day that was good because nobody was shot or sent to jail. He uses this as a commentary on life in the ghetto (where people are often shot or sent to jail). He also became a well-known battle MC, going for his opponents’ credibility, and pioneered the tactic of dissing a rival over their own beat, with the song “Jackin’ for Beats” from the 1990 EP, Kill At Will.

Subject matter
His first album, AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted, deals with straightforward topics such as poverty, racism and drug abuse in the ghetto. In order for the listener to easily relate, Cube would often use first person narration, as he does in the song “Once Upon A Time In The Projects”, where he is arrested for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. His style has shown to influence the early work of both Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G.

Death Certificate was deemed angrier and very controversial, which led to some US states banning it for derisive remarks toward white people and Koreans; he also comments on the hypocrisy of some leaders in the USA and says of Uncle Sam, “I wanna kill Sam ’cause he ain’t my motherfuckin’ uncle.” His subsequent albums have been slightly less aggressive in their approach, such as War & Peace - Volume 2 (The Peace Disc), which focuses on ways to remedy issues such as poverty and violence. Also, on War & Peace - Volume 1 (The War Disc), he collaborated with the rock band, KoRn. On his latest album, Laugh Now, Cry Later, he speaks out against the Iraq War, and makes less than favorable comparisons between George W. Bush and Saddam Hussein.

Music awards
VH1 Hip Hop Honors 2006
2006 Honoree
2005 Soul Train Music Awards
Lifetime Achievement Award
2000 Hip Hop Music Awards
Lifetime Achievement Award (with Dr. Dre)

Filmography

Actor
Boyz N the Hood (1991) as “Doughboy” Darin Elvidge
Trespass (1992) as Savon
CB4 (1993) as himself in segment
The Glass Shield (1994) as Teddy Woods
Higher Learning (1995) as Fudge
Friday (1995) as Craig
Dangerous Ground (1997) as Vusi Madlazi
Anaconda (1997) as Danny Rich
The Players Club (1998) as Reggie
I Got the Hook Up (1998) as Gun Runner
Three Kings (1999) as SSgt. Chief Elgin
Thicker Than Water (1999) as Slink
Next Friday (2000) as Craig
Ghosts of Mars (2001) as James ‘Desolation’ Williams
All About the Benjamins (2002) as Bookum
BarberShop (2002) as Calvin Palmer
Friday After Next (2002) as Craig
Torque (2004) as Trey
BarberShop 2: Back in Business (2004) as Calvin
Are We There Yet? (2005) as Nick Persons
xXx: State of the Union (2005) as Darius Stone
Are We Done Yet? (2007) as Nick Persons
The Extractors (2008)
First Sunday (2008)

Director/Writer/Producer filmography
Friday (1995) Writer, Executive Producer
Dangerous Ground (1997) Executive Producer
The Players Club (1998) Writer, Director, Executive Producer,
Next Friday (2000) Writer, Producer
All About The Benjamins (2002) Producer
Friday After Next (2002) Writer, Producer
BarberShop 2: Back in Business (2004) Executive Producer
BarberShop: The Series (2005) Executive Producer
Are We There Yet? (2005) Producer
Beauty Shop (2005) Executive Producer
Black. White. (2006) Executive Producer
Are We Done Yet? (2007) Producer

A young Jayel Aheram. He worries about many things, but “race” is not among them.
I am a half-breed. In fact, I am more than a half-breed, I am a mongrel. I was born to a Filipino mother and an American father. She was half-Spanish, part-Chinese, part-Tagalog, and part-Ilokano and he was Caucasian of indeterminate origins. Maybe he had Cherokee blood in him, too, or maybe not. I used to joke that I have the best of all worlds in me and that becomes apparent when people attempt to guess my ethnicity. Their guesses run the gamut from Arabian to French to Venezuelan.

Race has been such an issue for all of my life that it was such a non-issue for half of it. That is, for half of it I accepted it as a part of my life. I did not know any better. It never occured to me that the teasings I had to endure as a child in the Philippines was meant to scar me forever or that it was not right to be teased. I just accepted the fact that I was different. I knew I was different and it was the only thing I knew. It must be a testament to how I was raised by my aunt and godmother. They taught me early on that it was all right to be not like anyone else. Their love and lessons withstood the teasings, the taunts, the barrage of prejudice so much that I did not realize that the words were meant to be cruel until I was much, much older and was introduced to the wonderful world of racial relations.

My godmother used to call me “tisoy” from mestiso (meaning half-breed) or “kano” from amerikano (meaning American). These were terms of endearments from her, but from classmates, names. Unfortunately for them, I was already being called that by the women I love (and just a bit of naivety on my part) and so it just produced giggles from me. My half-black cousins have their nicknames, too. Their mother and my aunts call them “negra” from negro (meaning black). They must be geniuses in psychology or something, because their loving name calling innoculated us from the teasing. But while my being mestiso did not affect me emotionally or scar me psychologically, it nonetheless had a significant influence in my life as a child. From school to friends, it played a large part on how I was treated by others and my experiences with people.

The lady on the left is my cousin. Her father is black and her mother is my mother’s sister. She and her sister are lovingly called “negra” by their mother.

I went to a Catholic elementary school from first grade to the first half of sixth grade and from the very start, I was the odd one out. Not that I noticed it! I was too busy being a kid. I had friends, of course, but no best friends. I am mostly friends with the weird kids. In first grade, I was friends with another mestiso, a twitchy fellow who I got into trouble quite often. In second grade, it was this really ugly Chinese kid who looked like a bulldog and Joan, my class’s only half-black. She sat next to me and comforted me when I found out and got upset that Charmaine Navarro, a girl I had a crush on since 1st grade, had other admirers. She is also a neat freak. Third grade (and in another school), I was friends with a crazy Japanese kid who buys me Street Fighter stickers and I was also friends with another mestiso whose mother once complained that I should have gotten the top academic spot in my grade. Fourth grade (back in my old Catholic school), I was friends with Darren, an extremely effeminate half-black. Both of us sat together in the back of the class, giggling like little girls.

Fifth grade, I started to have plenty of friends. There was my core group of friends; Michael, Donna, Jean, and Lisa. We hang around each other and once, we made a high schooler cry. Donna considers me her academic rival. She constantly compared her grades with mine, even if other kids got higher grades (we both knew that some of the teachers were being bribed by the parents of our “top” classmates). Michael was a tall, stocky fellow who was extremely insecure about his size. Children were intimidated by him and he hated it. Jean was a boy-crazy girl. She also had a lot of money and loved to flaunt it. Lisa was a large portly girl with very large breasts. She was self-conscious about her breasts (I would be, too! They were humongous!). Together, we made life hell for substitute teachers and anyone who got in our way (we once made a substitute teacher run away from class using a “Sweet Valley Kids” book as a guide). I was also friends with a girl I knew from third grade (she followed me into my old school). Her name was Angel and she was another mestiso who thought she was Sailor Moon (she was blonde… with freckles). She sits alone in the front of the class and had all sorts of fun items. She was more friends with my sister actually, because my sister drew Sailor Moon very well.

My sister and I started to live with our mother and her new husband in the middle of sixth grade. I was transfered from my Catholic school in the Philippines to a public school in California. It was there that I was given a crash course on race relations and became aware of racism. Apparently, saying that one race is superior over another is considered racism, which was new to me. In Catholic school, I remember being read a religious fable about how God “baked” humans into being and that he prefered the “perfect” golden brown Filipinos over the undercooked whites and overcooked blacks.

But of course, race relations is more nuanced than that! Only white people can be racist, I learned, but at the same time, only whites can ever be called simply “American.” In the Philippines, I was an American. In the US, I was a hyphenated American. When I was in the Philippines, I learned that I was not good enough to be one of God’s perfect brown children. In the US, I learned that I was not worthy enough to be called simply an American. I have been called a racist by a black girl who made fun of my race and origins, snubbed by Asians because I was not Asian enough, and treated like novelty acquiantance by whites. The Hispanics that could barely speak English poke fun at my accent. The counselor in my “enlightened” once asked me if I “think in English.” I thought then that it was a ridiculous question and it has not changed. But even if I had those… experiences, I still had some fun in middle school.

Me, my long hair, and my multi-ethnic friends in Hawaii.
High school was different, though. I went to a high school in Hawaii where almost all the students were half-breeds like me. They had a name for it, too: “hapa.” It was like a breath of fresh air. While race was still an issue, it was a very minor one. They do not consider themselves to be hyphenated American, but they are proud of their various lineage all the same. The more blood in you, the better! My accent (which by then have a Hispanic tinge to it) was still a curiosity, though, but most people seem to think it was either sexy or cute. Of course, Hawaii was not free of racism. It had its own brand of it. Whites and especially blacks have a tough time there. They are called “haoles” which means “foreigner.” Hawaii had its own supremacists. There are Hawaiian-only schools (if you have above a certain percentage of Hawaiian blood, you can attend it), state agencies for Hawaiians-only, and government sanctioned and subsidized racism. But we lived away from the Honolulu where all the politicians lived, so it was something I read in the news and not really experienced.

I look back in awe at my younger self. I am amazed that I went through that without a scratch. Sure, it affected my life in significant ways like the friends I had and my experiences with them, but it was still overwhelmingly positive. There might have been missed opportunities, but I do not think I missed anything since my childhood was colorful enough. But that could be negative since in my adult life, I rarely think about race. I might say something factual and be burn because perceived racism on my part.

“Jayel” got his alias from his initials: J.L. The only thing he gets sad about is not having enough cake.
The only time I ever think about race is when I am thinking about politics, but that is only because it is being used as if it matters that much. The Black Caucus, the Hispanic community, blah blah blah blah blah! People could learn from me. Prejudice exists, but it should not be the reason to hold someone back or be used to justify victimhood. Take it, put it in a ball, and toss it behind you. Simple as that. Learn from Young Jayel. The only thing he gets sad about was wanting more cake for his birthday.

Fifty years ago Pauline Kael

APPLETON, WIS. — Two Lawrence University graduates will be recognized for their professional achievements and civic contributions by their alma mater with honorary degrees Sunday, June 10, at the college’s 158th commencement. Graduation exercises begin at 10:30 a.m. on the Main Hall green.

Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler of Milwaukee will be awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters and former journalist and research center director Margaret Carroll of Appleton will be awarded an honorary doctorate of education.

In addition, Lawrence will confer 316 bachelor of arts and/or music degrees to 305 seniors from 37 states and 18 foreign countries. That is the highest number of degrees awarded by Lawrence since 1976 (322).

A baccalaureate service featuring David Cook, professor of physics and Philetus E. Sawyer Professor of Science, will be held Saturday, June 9 at 11 a.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. The baccalaureate service and commencement ceremony are free and open to the public.

Both honorary degree recipients, along with President Jill Beck, Lawrence Board of Trustees Chair William O. Hochkammer and student representative Micha Jackson, a senior from Brighton, Ontario, will address the graduates during commencement.

Since earning a bachelor’s degree in government from Lawrence in 1973, Butler has earned several notable “firsts” during a 30-year career dedicated to public service.

He is the first African-American in state history to serve on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. He also holds the distinction of being the first attorney from the Wisconsin State Public Defender’s Office to argue a case before the United States Supreme Court.

Gov. Jim Doyle appointed Butler to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in August, 2004 to fill the position vacated by Justice Diane Sykes, who left for the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. After 13 years with the State Public Defender’s Office, Butler began his judicial career as a Milwaukee Municipal Court judge in 1992. He was appointed a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge in 2002.

His work as a jurist has been recognized with numerous awards, among them the 2006 Humanitarian of the Year by the American Federation of Teachers, Local 212, the 2005 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Foot Soldiers’ Award and the Outstanding Citizen’s Award from the Wisconsin Council of Deliberations, Prince Hall Masons.

A former adjunct professor at Marquette University Law School, Butler is a member of the faculty at the National Judicial College in Reno, Nev., which provides continuing education for judges around the nation. He also serves as a member of the bench at the Moot Court Competition at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles.

Outside the courtroom Butler has been actively engaged with a host of state and national organizations, serving as a member of the board of directors for the NAACP, Legal Action of Wisconsin and the Criminal Law Section of the State Bar. He also has worked with the Criminal Justice Reforms Task Force and the Urban Initiative Task Force on Public Education.

A native of Chicago, Butler earned his law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1977.

Carroll, a 1961 Lawrence graduate who, like Butler, earned a bachelor’s degree in government, enjoyed a 35-year career in journalism and research center administration.

In 1972, Carroll helped establish the Investor Responsibility Research Center (IRRC) in Washington, D.C., which provided impartial research and analysis of business and public policy issues that affect decision making by institutional investors and major corporations. Carroll spent 23 years with IRRC, including 20 as its executive director, before she retired in 1996. IRRC provided research and analysis as well as proxy voting services to more than 500 institutional investors, corporations, law firms, foundations, colleges and other organizations.

Shortly after she graduated from Lawrence, Carroll began her journalism career at the Congressional Quarterly, a Washington, D.C.-based weekly journal that covers Congress and the federal government, working her way up from researcher to associate editor. She had worked as an intern at CQ for two summers while a student at Lawrence.

Amid the civil unrest that was sweeping the country in the late 1960s, Carroll joined the staff at the National Urban Coalition in 1968 as director of publications, overseeing the production of substantive reports and a newsletter directed at local urban coalitions. The following year, she and several former colleagues from Congressional Quarterly joined forces to establish National Journal, a weekly publication that focuses primarily on key actions and personnel in federal departments and agencies. She served as the publication’s congressional editor and later associate editor.

Before helping found the IRRC, Carroll spent two years in the early 1970s as an independent editorial consultant with a diverse client portfolio. She edited and wrote much of a book on “Women in Policing” and edited a widely circulated guide to the 1972 elections. She also served as acting director of communications for the National Urban Coalition. After she retired from IRRC, she also edited a variety of publications.

A long-time member of the Lawrence Board of Trustees, Carroll served as a trustee for all but two years from 1974 to 2006, including two years (1993-95) as the chair of the board. She was elected trustee emerita of the college last fall. In addition, she served the college as a member of the Presidential Search Committee that found Jill Beck, president of the Founders Club, an admissions volunteer, a career consultant and a class agent. She now represents Lawrence on Appleton’s College Avenue Design Committee.

A native of New York City, Carroll has lived in Appleton since 2002.

Creeping through white cherry blossom clouds…the mountain -Kobayashi Issa 1792

As Kobayashi Issa so eloquently wrote over two hundred years ago, the mountain cherry blossom is a beautiful sight to behold. In this fashion I would highly recommend having your Ohanami this year in the small mountain town of Akizuki (approximately 30min. east of Kurume in Amagi City). Google Map of the area

We’ve had great weather for our wild flowers here in the Chicago area this spring. The daisies, for instance, are as glorious as I have ever seen them. As I ride along one of our many bike trails each night, I sometimes find it hard to keep my on the road (okay, trail) with all the beauty springing up around me. Sooner or later, I succumb to temptation, though, and stop to take a pic with my little Pentax Optio A10, now evolved into the Pentax Optio A20 digital camera.

As a bicyclist on a performance road bike, keeping weight to a minimum is critical (and that includes me). Yes, when I am deadly serious about pic quality, I will always grab an SLR, but no way will I add the weight of an SLR to my load when I ride. On the other hand, a small digital point and shoot takes up no more room than my cell phone (which I also carry) and a good one like the Pentax Optio A10 will do a nice job on wild flowers - certainly good enough to keep me warm when I review my wildflowers pics on those long cold winter nights.

If you are in the northern suburbs of Chicago and see some gal stopped by the bike trail, leaning over a flower, or getting back on her bike with a big smile on her face, that’s probably me. See you on the trail!

There are many ways to make contact with previously unreached potential customers. When you are creating your marketing plan you should keep in mind that you need to plan ways to get in contact with customers that you might have missed with your original marketing plan. A great way to reach your potential customers is to create ads and place them in a variety of mediums, such as television, radio, podcasts, magazines, etc. Another way to get in contact with unreachable customers is through internet marketing, internet marketing open ups the possibilities of marketing to a whole new level.

Here are some other tips on how to reach previous unreachable potential customers.

Tip one:
Make your potential customers feel special. With our busy life style and wanting to get the lowest prices personalized customer service has gone the way of the high road. But the thing is customers still want to be recognized. By taking a little bit of time and possibly spending a few extra pennies you can make your customers and potential customers feel special. This is a simple task to complete, for example you can send them a personal thank you note or enclose a small gift in with their purchase. With your potential customers you can try to get some personal information from them by asking for their name when they inquire about information on your product.

Tip two:
Combine business with pleasure by planning an event for a charity that you like. By doing this you are going to meet lots of new people and can get a chance to promote your business which can bring you more customers. At the same time you are able to prove your leadership skills which can cause people to have more confidence in your company, which can lead to word of mouth referrals.

Tip three:
Send out newsletters through both email and regular mail. In these newsletters be sure to include stuff that your potential clients will be interested in. You should include your current promotions, tips on using your products or services, and be sure to personalize the newsletter by giving your customer something special, like a certain percent off their next purchase or a free gift with their next purchase.

Tip four:
Provide something to help the customer stay at your place of business longer. For example IKEA and other malls provide free child care or low cost child care so that parents can spend a longer amount of time finding what they want without having to worry about kids. If you have a business online you can offer customers certain incentives to return again such as free shipping for return customers, discounts, etc. What you are trying to do here is get your customers to come back and spend their money at your place of business.

Tip five:
Contact your local media about doing reviews of your business. Editorials and reviews carry far more weight in marketing then paid advertisements do. People who write these reviews are reporting what they have discovered about your business which can help draw in even more customers. For example a restaurant that gets a five star review will most likely get more customers from the newspaper than a similar restaurant that only got a two star review.

Just keep in mind the more marketing techniques that you employ in your marketing plan the more potential customers you are going to be able to reach. If your business is already established you should take a look at your current marketing plan to see what changes you can make to reach even more potential customers.

Malaysia’s Anwar bows to pressure, withdraws from party contestHerald Tribune - KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: Malaysian opposition politician Anwar Ibrahim withdrew from a party election Saturday, accepting a ban on holding political office because of a previous corruption conviction. Anwar, a former deputy prime minister, told some 1 Source: www.iht.comElan challenges pharma pricing modelMSN MoneyCentral - Large drug companies point to the scientific and presto pressure cooker seal regulatory uncertainties and presto pressure cooker seal escalating research and presto pressure cooker seal development costs that are putting pressure on innovation and presto pressure cooker seal threatening future revenues as their existing drugs reach the end of their patent livesSource: news.moneycentral.msn.comHoward is huge with 2 HRs in Phils’ win vs. BravesUSA Today - He’s been battling to find himself and presto pressure cooker seal put a lot of pressure on himself. Coming off the DL, he can put less pressure on himself and presto pressure cooker seal relax because he knows his body is all right.” The Braves have lost 10 of 14 to fall to 12-13 in May. The Braves fell 4 Source: www.usatoday.comBishop Ward fights diamond pressureKansas City Star - Bishop Ward coach Dennis Hurla has guided his team to a 36-game winning streak, dating to last season. Four consecutive state championships and presto pressure cooker seal a 36-game winning streak dating to last season. That s what the Bishop Ward baseball team carries into Source: www.kansascity.comLook for Iraq funding through SeptemberMSNBC - of 60 to 90 days here to see, what many people say would have to be a substantial turnaround. But military people are saying that s not going to happen. Russert : It s pretty tough. Gen. Petraeus now is going to be under enormous pressure Source: www.msnbc.msn.comThe Key To Increasing Blood Pressure Control Rates may be a Single Medical News Today - Millions of Americans take medications for hypertension but do not achieve control of their blood pressure. Single-tablet combinations of drugs may be what it takes to get blood pressure under control, even in people with moderate hypertension Source: www.medicalnewstoday.comThe Testing Industry Feels Its Own PressureWashington Post - One in an occasional series on the culture of testing Blank blue computer screens frustrated thousands of Virginia students this month during online state exams in a series of disruptions that underscored vulnerabilities in the educational testing Source: www.washingtonpost.comUS unit created to pressure Iran, Syria disbandedBoston Online - WASHINGTON — The Bush administration has dismantled a special committee that was established last year to coordinate aggressive actions against Iran and presto pressure cooker seal Syria, State Department officials said this week. The interagency group, known as the Iran Syria Source: www.boston.com

Congratulations to our new winners at www.GenConHistory.com , who received FREE 4-day badges to Gen Con Indy! They include …

GermInBerea’s story about the secrets of the Safe House …
http://www.genconhistory.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=281

Patrick Seymour’s photo of the D20 Magazine Rack staff at the Ram …

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