2 The Hampton Roads Messenger Pharrell Williams FROM PAGE 1


music, fashion, and design to express his distinctive style. From his beginnings as a teenage prodigy and multi-instrumentalist in Virginia Beach back in the early '90s, through enough hits to earn him Billboard's Producer of the Decade in 2010, to his current status as multi-media superstar, Williams has never stopped creating. Starting his producing career as one half of The Neptunes with Chad Hugo, Williams has helped create such classics as Daft Punk's "Get Lucky," Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines," Nelly's "Hot in Herre," Jay-Z's "I Just Wanna Love U (Give it 2 Me)," Britney Spears's "I'm A Slave 4 U," and Justin Timberlake's "Like I Love You."


Volume 8 Number 5 With over 100 million copies


of his productions sold, his music sounds like something no one else has thought of just yet. He's also created a new way of looking at established stars like Snoop Dogg, Madonna, and even the Rolling Stones. Over four albums, Williams and Hugo along with Shae Haley created an unpredictable hybrid as part of the alt-rock/hip-hop group N.E.R.D. His prolific body of work also ranges from designing a sculpture with Tokyo-born artist Takashi Murakami to accessories and jewelry for luxury goods brands Louis Vuitton and Moncler. Now, with his latest venture i am OTHER — a multi-media creative collective that serves as an umbrella for all his endeavors, including Billionaire Boys Club & ICECREAM apparel, textile company Bionic Yarn and dedicated YouTube channel — Williams' vision continues to push pop culture forward.


January 2014


A Better Deal for Kids in the Budget? Democrats and Republicans Say Yes


BY ANNA CHALLET June Jimenez of Silver Spring, Hapy New Year!


Md. was pregnant when she was laid off from her job at a public affairs firm last year. She tried unsuccessfully for months to find a job and worried about losing her home.


“My mortgage is $1,500 a month


and I only received $320 a week in unemployment,” she says.


Her health insurance policy


at the time didn’t provide her with maternity coverage, and when she tried to purchase an individual plan, she discovered that she couldn’t because her pregnancy qualified as a pre-existing condition. She qualified for Medicaid, which covered the cost of her pregnancy, including an emergency C-section.


But she found herself facing the


possibility of having to choose among making her mortgage payments, paying for utilities, and buying food.


What sustained her, she says, was


that by her sixth month of pregnancy she was able in enroll in WIC (the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children). She used WIC to buy food for her and her daughter for the next nine months.


Today Jimenez is working again, From GET STARTED ON THE PATH TO CAREER SUCCESS. Certified by SCHEV to operate in Virginia.


For more information about our graduation rates, the median debt of students who completed the program, and other important information, please visit our website at www.bryantstratton.edu/disclosures.


2 YEAR!014MAKE Yellow Ribbon Program Participant


and her daughter Karanda is now almost a year old. “Without a doubt, Medicaid and WIC saved us,” she says. “[Those programs] provided a crucial bridge for me.”


At a congressional briefing last


week, children’s advocacy organization First Focus Campaign for Children, in conjunction with advocacy group MomsRising, presented the results of


a nationwide poll that found bipartisan public support for protecting funding for children’s programs in the federal budget.


The survey of 800 voters,


commissioned by First Focus and conducted by polling firm American Viewpoint, found that strong majorities of both Democrats and Republicans opposed cuts to programs like the ones that sustained Jimenez.


Voters were surveyed by landline


and cell phone in the first week of December.


“Kids were affected significantly


by the budget sequestration that took effect earlier this year,” says Ed Walz, vice president of communications at First Focus. Cutbacks, he says, have disproportionately impacted programs serving children.


While some federal programs


like Social Security are mandatory, children’s programs like WIC, Head Start (which provides early childhood services to low-income families, including education and child care), and K-12 education are funded through the appropriations process.


Head Start programs, for example,


had to cut services for close to 60,000 children in the 2013-2014 school year.


According to the survey, three


in four voters oppose cuts to K-12 education funding, including 87 percent of Democrats, 63 percent of Republicans, and 71 percent of independent voters.


Voters specifically oppose cuts to


early learning for young children by a ratio of nearly two-to- one (62 to 32 percent), including half of Republicans, over three in four Democrats, and almost 60 percent of independents.


A BETTER DEAL PAGE 7


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With a new year coming up, there’s no better time than now to start working toward the career and future you want. It all begins with a phone call!


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