If it weren’t for basketball, Atlantic Records wouldn’t have signed him. His group’s album “Watermelon, Chicken and Gritz” wouldn’t have gone multi-platinum as the biggest-selling hip-hop album of 2002. He wouldn’t have played a rally for the first black presidential nominee so that he could later laugh that Barack Obama warned him, “Don’t go out and do something to make me regret this.”

Scales sauntered into Utley’s with a clear plastic cup of Patron. He and Nappy Roots’ in-house producer Joel Hop were the first of the good ole’ boys of rap to arrive at Utley’s Sept. 4 to interview a few of the new faces to Bowling Green music. “I don’t know about the other guys, but me and Joel are excited about this,” said Scales before passing the Patron around the table to Tony Smith and Justin Wilson of the local rock ensemble Sleeper Agent.

Western is assembling a task force to review general education requirements over the summer. Larry Snyder, associate dean of the Potter College, will lead the task force. He said that a task force is assembled occasionally to review general education requirements, evaluate if requirements are fulfilling Western’s intentions and review any recommendations.

Western is heading into the summer with five pending lawsuits. The university will have to defend itself in four cases against alleged civil rights violations, wrongful death, injury and discrimination. It will be defending its use of eminent domain condemnation in the fifth lawsuit.