Author Archives: Chelsea Lovell

Students arrested for prostitution

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By CHELSEA LOVELL

University of Miami students Acacia Friedman, 23, and Maury Noun, 21, along with Florida International University student Samara Charlotin, 19, were arrested last week after Friedman and Noun were surprised by an undercover cop.

This all took place at the at the Colonnade Hotel. The undercover policeman then asked them to verify “what he was getting” for the money he handed over and, while at first, the women said that it would be a “hang out,” they did agree that there would be sex with a condom.

Both women were charged for prostitution. Charlotin was also charged with possession of one gram of cannabis and one Oxycodone pill. Noun was hit with a charge of aiding and abetting.

Judge Mindy Glazer ordered Charlotin in court on Thursday to stay away from the other two, saying, “You’re a smart girl, and if you want to see age 20, you need to find a new line of employment. A very risky thing you are doing, alright, for someone with a lot of potential such as yourself. You need to stay away from them.”

Noun met with the undercover officer at the restaurant at the hotel. He then directed his girls to a room after the officer paid the $3,000. Noun was arrested on charges including deriving proceeds from prostitution.

Every local news station featured the story on their evening newscast, including NBC6, CBS4, Fox Channel 7 and ABC Channel 10.

Another heartbreaking Hollywood split

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By CHELSEA LOVELL

Everyone was heartbroken after word got out of the split between one of the most iconic couples in Hollywood. The news of the d word (divorce) between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie took over the media. From social media to entertainment news and even major news networks everyone was talking about it.

According to reports, Jolie decided to end their marriage after 12 years because she was “extremely upset” with the way Pitt has been parenting the kids. She sought out joint legal custody, but not joint physical custody.

“This decision was made for the health of the family,” attorney Robert Offer said in a statement. However, other reports say their split could have been brewing for years.

Despite everything, Angelina has said they will “always be a family”.

Dailymail.com reports that Pitt has been spending around 15 hours a day in a Los Angeles studio, where he is working on an art sculpture. A source has said “he spends all night working on his art and listening to emotional songs. Everybody knows it’s related to what’s going on with him personally, but nobody says anything. He’s a quiet guy, and very humble. He’s learning at a fast pace.”

Disney has done it again

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By CHELSEA LOVELL

Disney’s live-action remake of “Beauty and the Beast” waltzed in with $170 million in box office sales during its debut this past weekend, leaving the runner up movie “Kong: Skull Island” trailing behind with only $27 million.

There was lots of excitement and talk in all outlets of news media before and after the movie hit theaters.

“Beauty and the Beast” set a new record for March opening which only solidified Disney’s status as a force to be reckoned with in the film business. According to Vanity Fair’s article about the movie, “no other company can match the streak that Disney is currently enjoying, thanks to a series of multi-billion acquisitions that put the likes of Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm in its Magic Kingdom. Last year, the studio accounted for more than a quarter of all domestic ticket sales, and 2017 brings the release of sequels to ‘Guardians of the Galaxy,’ ‘Cars,’ and ‘Thor,’ in addition to ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ ”

All ages enjoyed the movie and took to the news media to share their responses to the movie. The main talk of the crowd was Emma Watson’s performance of Belle the princess and main character of the movie.

“Beauty and the Beast” is a musical and this was her first time singing professionally. Most of her fans admired her work and used social media platforms, such as Instagram and Twitter, to congratulate her on her performance as well as encouraging others to go out and see the movie.

Trump re-issues travel ban with changes

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By CHELSEA LOVELL

News media outlets could only talk about President Donald Trump even before he entered office, but it is even more intense as they record his first 100 days. As much as the news media loves to exploit him, President Trump makes it quite easy for journalists to develop stories about him.

The latest making headlines is his continued effort to fulfill what he promised during the campaign, his travel ban policy. Weeks ago, Trump signed an executive order temporarily blocking all refugees and visitors from seven mostly-Muslim countries from entering the U.S. It also banned Syrian refugees indefinitely. The seven prominently Muslim countries are Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia.

Trump’s team said the ban was necessary to keep the country safe. However, critics disagree. They believe the ban was unconstitutional for discriminating based on religion and sued to suspend the order. The court put a hold on the ban and Trump and his team went back to work on reforming it.

Yesterday, Trump issued a new ban, however. The difference is Iraq is no longer one of the countries banned. Also, the new ban doesn’t apply to people who already have valid U.S. visas or green cards. Lastly, all refugees are temporarily banned from entering the US except the people who’ve already been granted eligibility to come. Syrian refugees are no longer banned indefinitely. All of this takes effect next week.

Oscar’s Hollywood-sized mistake

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By CHELSEA LOVELL

Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, the presenters for the final award of the biggest night in Hollywood, were incorrectly given the Best Actress Award envelope. Beatty got confused after he saw Emma Stone’s name and the name of her film, “La La Land.” He handed the envelope to Dunaway who then announced the musical as the Best Picture winner.

The cast of “La La Land” took the stage and even began giving their speeches, however, the group stopped midway through when those on stage began to realize there had been a mistake.

Jordan Horowitz, producer of “La La Land,” shocked the audience of the Dolby Theatre when he announced “There’s a mistake. ‘Moonlight,’ you guys won Best Picture. This is not a joke, come up here.” The producer added, “Moonlight has won Best Picture.”

Beatty went to the microphone to explain what happened. He said “I want to tell you what happened. I opened the envelope and it said Emma Stone, ‘La La Land.’ That’s why I took such a long look at Faye and at you. I wasn’t trying to be funny.”

“Moonlight” beat out “La La Land,” “Hidden Figures,” “Manchester by the Sea,” “Arrival,” “Hacksaw Ridge,” “Hell or High Water,” “Lion,” and “Fences.”

This incident was easily the highlight of the night. The video went viral on Twitter and Facebook. Every news station headlined the Oscar’s using the big mistake as their attention grabber and the story led most news coverage throughout Monday.

Oscars try to shake things up

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By CHELSEA LOVELL

In 2016, a trending hashtag was #OscarsSoWhite.

Well, you might have noticed you haven’t seen it any more. This is not because the hashtag just went out of style. This is because the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’s voting board made some major changes. Along with the voting board being shaken up, this year’s nominees are showing a lot more diversity.

In 2015, all the acting nominees were white. “Selma” a drama about civil rights received nothing for its cast or for its director, Ava Du Vernay. Activist April Reign responded by tweeting “#OscarsSoWhite they asked to touch my hair.” This tweet catapulted a hashtag movement bringing a light to Hollywood’s diversity problems that the Academy could not turn a blind eye to.

For best actor Denzel Washington accepted his seventh for “Fences.” This nomination extends his record as the most-nominated black actor.

Oscar nominees Octavia Spencer, Emma Stone and Viola Davis at the Oscar nominees luncheon in Beverly Hills on Feb. 6, 2017 (Photo by Aaron Poole, courtesy of AMPAS).

His co-star Viola Davis was nominated for best supporting actress. With three nominations, she is now the most-nominated black actress.

Other black actresses getting their acknowledgements are Octavia Spencer for “Hidden Figures” and Naomie Harris for “Moonlight.” Mahershala Ali landed a nomination for supporting actor as well for “Moonlight.”

Also recognized in supporting actor was Dev Patel, a British actor of Indian descent, for “Lion.”

In the lead actress category, Ruth Negga was nominated for her work in “Loving.”

Acting wasn’t the only category where colored people got acknowledged. “Manchester by the Sea” was nominated for best picture. Kimberly Steward is only the second black female to be nominated for producing. The first was Oprah Winfrey for “Selma.”

The Oscars will take place on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017, at the Dolby Theatre at the Hollywood & Highland Center. It will be aired live on ABC.

Adele pulls a Kenye, makes Beyoncé cry

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By CHELSEA LOVELL

Adele pulled a Kanye, but on herself this time, at the Grammy’s on Sunday in Los Angeles.

After winning the Grammy for “Album of the Year,” she dedicated her award to Beyoncé. Her hit “25” not only beat Beyoncé’s “Lemonade,” but she also beat fellow nominees Drake, Justin Bieber, and Sturgill Simpson.

“I can’t possibly accept this award and I’m very humbled and very gracious and grateful, but my artist of my life is Beyoncé and this album to me — the ‘Lemonade’ album is just so monumental, Beyoncé,” an overwhelmed Adele said to the audience.

Beyoncé was nominated for nine categories and won for “Best Music Video” and “Best Urban Contemporary Album.” However, Adele made a clean sweep. She was nominated for five awards including, “Record” and “Song of the Year” for “Hello” and she left with all five. Now her Grammy award total is 15.

In her acceptance speech, she took the time to thank the Recording Academy, the team that worked on the album and her husband and son, but she was driven to shift the focus of her speech on Beyoncé’s powerful visual album.

“[It is] so monumental, and so well thought out. And so beautiful and soul-baring and we all got to see another side to you that you don’t always let us see, and we all appreciate that, and all us artists here… adore you,” she continues while Beyoncé starts to tear up.

“You are our light and the way that you make me and my friends feel — the way that you make my black friends feel — is empowering. And you make them stand up for themselves and I love you and I always have, and I always will.”

Other events that happened that night were Chance the Rapper’s three wins, making history for becoming the first artist to win a Grammy without selling physical copies of his music—or selling much of his music at all, for that matter.

There was a tribute to George Michael, which was performed by Adele. Despite these and many other special moments that happened at the Grammys, nearly every entertainment news organization headlined Adele’s heartfelt speech to Beyoncé. Chance the Rapper made history, yet he was overshadowed in the news media by Adele and Beyoncé crying.

Simple works best for Valentine’s Day

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By CHELSEA LOVELL

Valentine’s Day is on the way. Feb. 14 holds an annual VIP spot on the calendar. Many people exchange cards, candy, gifts and flowers with their “valentine.”

This day of romance dates all the way back to the 5th century and was named after the Christian martyr St. Valentine. That’s a fun-fact that a lot of people, especially college students, don’t know. In fact, for most college students, especially freshmen, Valentine’s Day is a huge gray area. Everyone has only known each other for a short amount of time and probably have not been dating their valentine for long either.

This can lead to students wondering what exactly is appropriate to do and buy for their valentine. Do they do the standard dinner and a movie? Well the day of love falls on a Tuesday this year so that isn’t ideal. What about gifts? What is too much and what is not enough?

No need to worry. Here are a few ideas for a perfect Valentine’s Day, college edition.  First off is to keep things simple, but special. Food is the key to everyone’s heart.

Candy and chocolate are easy and thoughtful. Because Valentine’s Day falls on a Tuesday it is a good idea to plan the actual celebration for the weekend. “Fifty Shades Darker” has opened in theaters. There are always the classic movies you can watch in your dorm room such as “Sleepless in Seattle,” “The Notebook,” “Titanic” or even “50 First Dates.” You can find these all online and have a romantic movie night without spending money.

If you really want to make someone feel special you can have your school send them a Valentine’s Day gram. Some fraternities are even willing to serenade your special someone.

These are simple ways to make your college Valentine’s Day thoughtful and romantic on a college student’s budget.

Black History Awareness Month begins

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By CHELSEA LOVELL

Wednesday marked the beginning of Black History Month. The University of Miami celebrates this month as “Black Awareness Month.”

Black History Month is an annual celebration of black Americans and a time to reflect and recognize all of the achievements African Americans have made in United States history.

This celebratory month was originally known as “Negro History Week” created in 1926 by Carter G. Woodson. Starting in 1976, it became a month-long celebration.

United Black Students (UBS) coordinates all of the events for Back Awareness Month under the University of Miami Multicultural Student Affairs. These special events memorialize the historical achievements and contributions of the African Diaspora.

These events range from All Black Lives Matter to Black Artist Showcase, even Throwback Karaoke.

These are fun ways to bring to black community together to commemorate their history and even learn new things they didn’t know before. UM is a very diverse school, however, minorities do appreciate the special events and times that the university hosts for each culture.

Black Awareness Month is not only informative for the black community but also for other cultures to learn about African American greatness.

The last day of Black Awareness Month is February 28 where there will be a closing carnival ending this jubilant month off with a laid back and exciting final community gathering.