Jennifer Lopez

Alaina Chester

Dancer, actress and music artist Jennifer Lopez is one of the most idolized Latinas in pop culture. She has not only dominated billboard charts, while also being a successful actress. One of her most memorable, golden globe nominated, and breakthrough roles, was the lead in the major motion picture, Selena. 

Jennifer Lopez is from the Bronx New York. Her family opposed of Jennifer’s aspiration in the entertainment industry because they believed it wasn’t an industry for Latinos to be successful. Despite her family’s disapproval, Lopez quit college and went to pursue her dreams.

Jennifer Lopez auditioned for the role of Selena Quintanilla-Perez and the film released in 1997. She portrayed the Mexican-American (Tejano) music artist to perfection. Taking in not only the role of the renowned star but her performance actions and stage presence. Jennifer was nominated for a Golden Globe for best actress. Although she didn’t win the award, she won much more. She proved her mother wrong and broke through in the industry with a role that would inspire all Latinos and Mexican-Americans forever. It’s an unforgettable movie about triumph and the first Mexican-American music artist to win a Grammy and leave her mark on the history of American music charts.  

Selena Quintanilla

Ke' Asha Reed

Selena Quintanilla was born April 16, 1971 in Lake House, Texas to Abraham and Marcella Quintanilla. Selena began singing at the age of three and at the age of nine, her father, Abraham, formed a group including Selena and her siblings named Selena y Los Dinos. The group started singing in a family owned restaurant and shortly after they moved to Corpus Christi, Texas and performed all over the city. Over the next few years, Selena began to gain a following and in 1985 she recorded her first album. In 1989, she was signed to Capitol/BMI and one year later In she released her debut album Ven Commigo, which was the first Tejano album released by a female to reach gold status. Her album Selena Live earned Selena her first Grammy and in 1994 Selena and her band won six Billboard awards, including Best Latin Artist and Song of the Year for, “Como La Flor”. She was at the peak of her career, and that point she was being referred to as “The Queen of Tejano Music”.  During that time, a woman by the name of Yolanda Salvidar approached Selena’s father about starting a fan club. When her father agreed, Yolanda became the president of the club. As Yolanda and Selena grew closer, Selena gave her more responsibility. Yolanda began to manage Selena’s fashion boutiques located in Corpus Christi and San Antonia, Texas. In 1995, Selena was set to release her first English album. Unfortunately, she would not live to see that day. In early 1995, the Quintanilla’s found out that Yolanda Salvidar was embezzling money from Selena’s fan club and they fired her. Weeks later, on March 31^st, Selena went to meet Salvidar at a local Days Inn motel to get financial records from her. Salvidar had been refusing to handover the records, and the two got into an argument. In the midst of the argument, Salvidar pulled a pistol from her purse, pointed it at Selena, and shot her in her right shoulder. She was rushed to the hospital, but doctors were not able to save her. She died at the age of 23, just two weeks from her birthday. Her death made a huge impact. Her funeral held over 60,000 fans and the same year she was inducted into the Latin Music Hall of Fame. April 16^th is now “Selena day” in Texas. That summer, Dreaming of You, her first English album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, making her the first Hispanic artist to do so. It was also the second highest debut after Michael Jackson’s HIStory. In October 1995, Yolanda Salvidar was charged with first degree murder, and sentenced to life with eligible for parole in 30 years. Selena’s legacy still lives on; she has sold 60 million records world-wide, making her one of the best selling artists of all time. She is commemorated with a life sized statue in Corpus Christi and a Selena museum. In 1997, Warner Bros. released a film based on her life which starred Jennifer Lopez.

Sources: Biography.com, Selena: The Movie

Parent's Weekend

Tiffany Bey

Every freshman looks forward to the weekend that they see their parents, after four weeks of not seeing them at all! That weekend is called Parent’s Weekend. Parent’s Weekend is from September 20^th-23^rd, but most of the parents arrive early on Saturday morning. The weather was very gloomy, rainy, and wet, but that didn’t stop parents from going to the game with their kid(s) and seeing the Marching 110. My mother and I attended the football game, it was a great experience, but a very wet one! We didn’t let the weather stop us from having a good time. We also went out to eat at the Court St. Diner. As well as, did some shopping in the stores on Court St. The activities for Parent’s Weekend were very limited due to the weather. Although, if you were looking for some indoor activities you could have stopped by the Athena Movie Theater and saw Fruitvale, or gone shopping on Court St. or to the many diners or bars. If you didn’t mind the rain the football game was the place to be, the team was on fire. This past weekend is what OU is all about, laughter and love.

Freshman - Friends Are Important

Malindi Robinson

There is nothing more valuable than a strong, intimate relationship with a friend. Friends are so important. The importance lies in the strength of a bond, not the number of bonds. For many of us, college is the first time we have had to start from scratch and forge new companionships. And a campus environment is home to so many different personalities and ideals on what relationships are, and how they should operate. They say most people meet their life long friends in college. From my experience, it’s 100 percent true. College will have many ups and downs, many stresses, heartbreaks, laughs, assignments, and maybe a fight here and there. Friendship is no different from a romantic relationship in the sense that it requires patience, understanding, love, and compatibility. Being disappointed with a person can be disheartening, but there is no such thing as a good or bad friend. People value different things and most of the people you meet will be associates, people you enjoy being around but maybe not confiding in. And there is nothing wrong with that! Freshmen year is one filled with learning – mostly about you. The stakes are higher here – self-preservation is a must. Friendships, relationships, all those things will come to you in there own time. Let things happen organically. When something ends, let it go. Don’t be afraid to spend time with just you. Pay attention to how you feel around a person, don’t ignore your gut feelings. Appreciate those that reach out to you, that make time for you, that hold you accountable, that check in on you, that pray for you, that help you study or move your bed – keep those that cherish you close! When you give genuine love – it will always be reciprocated.

Autumn's Weekly Fashion Tip

Autumn's Weekly Fashion Tip: As opposed to using white and black as a neutral color, try using gray or silver. They match pretty much everything and it'll bring some variety to your outfit!

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week

Autumn Perry-Robinson

This year at the 2013 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week we saw many looks for the spring and summer 2014 season. I have always admired Vera Wang, Marc Jacobs and Rachel Zoe so I have decided to keen in on their lines.

I deeply admire Vera Wang's wedding dresses but I find her collection this year to be very disappointing. With her unflattering silhouettes and a color palette mainly consisting of black and cream I can honestly say I expected more out of her. However, all the shoe pairings were beyond gorgeous and the models wore the 5 inch heels with confidence. I was upset to see that she had so much black in her collection seeing that it was designed for the spring and summer but maybe perhaps black will be trending this spring/summer season?

I believe I was right when I said that black is the trend this upcoming spring season. A lot of it was seen in Marc Jacobs’ collection as well. His silhouettes were great but he failed to show any decent fashion forward pieces. I was happy to see men's clothing and I never would have thought a man could look so great in an all red suit! I enjoyed the collection more than Vera's but it had yet to overwhelm me.

I was so happy to see Rachel Zoe's line because she is my role model and a great stylist. Her line was very classy and had some amazing ivory pieces. Even though she did have a considerable amount of black, it looked amazing! The clothes were very flattering and practical; great for everyday wear. I enjoyed the pops of tourqoiuse and dandelion from the bags and jackets. Overall Rachel Zoe was my favorite collection out of the three.