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FEBRUARY 13, 2013 1801 FAYETTEVILLE STREET DURHAM, NC 27707

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Sacrificial Poets hold it down in Chapel Hill.

NCCU men keep the hardwood winning streak alive.

Central bristles at Gov. McCrory’s attack on liberal arts.

“HKonJ” — seventh year in a row and it keeps growing.

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VOLUME 104, ISSUE 7

Campus Echo Chancellor named at NCCU

Debra Saunders-W White, recently selected as chancellor at NCCU, laughs at a press conference on Friday.

MATT PHILLIPS/ Echo editor-in-chief

MARCHING FOR JUSTICE — Thousands marched and assembled on Jones Street in Raleigh Saturday.

JAMAR NEGRON/Echo assistant A&E editor

‘Justice for all...’

‘Historic Thousands’ march on Jones Street

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hey came out in the cold by the thousands.

It was time to march for justice.

They marched through downtown Raleigh on Saturday, passed the capitol building and settled on the slab sidewalk in front of the legislative building.

Their grievances were numerous — tone-deaf legislators, civil and human rights abuses, the heavy weight of poverty across the nation, threats to higher education and the right to adequate medical care.

“We stand against classism and racism,” said the Rev. William Barber, North Carolina NAACP president.

Barber said the choices legislators make, those they label

U.S. CO2 worsens

BY MARIA GALLUCCI AND PAUL HORN INSIDE CLIMATE NEWS (MCT)

China and the United States, the world's two largest economies, are responsible for emitting nearly half the planet's carbon dioxide emissions.

China overtook the United States in 2006 as the world's biggest CO2 polluter due to its hardening coal addiction.

Per capita, however, America's carbon footprint is far bigger.

Both countries still have large fleets of coal plants and growing, but relatively tiny, renewable electricity sectors.

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Civil rights leader Ben Chavis, the Rev. William Barber, president of the North Carolina NAACP, and other activists march to Jones Street in downtown Raleigh on Saturday.

MATT PHILLIPS/ Echo editor-in-chief

enth year in a row “HKonJ” has convened thousands around a 14-point progressive people’s agenda.

a “necessary evil,” are instead “unnecessary injustices.”

“No evil is ever necessary — evil is a choice,”Barber said.

H i s t o r i c Thousands on Jones Street is a people’s assembly.

Multimedia Coverage For the sev-

ECHO EXTRAS

The curious case of the spurious letter

BY MATT PHILLIPS ECHO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

A letter delivered Where the letter came from — that’s no mystery.

It was drafted by the provost’s office, and, according to one administrator, certified under the auspices of N.C. Central University legal counsel.

Four short paragraphs.

Six concise sentences.

Official letterhead. Just a brief bit of inter-institution correspondence — signed, sealed and delivered.

That last part — delivered — is when things got heated.

The letter’s contents might seem nondescript, its tone somewhat dry, but the implications of its language remain unclear.

Visit the links below on your phone, tablet or computer for Saturday’s sights and sounds.

Video: vimeo.com/59371049 Images: flic.kr/s/aHsjDXk7nn Sound: snd.sc/WWMNXO

BY MATT PHILLIPS AND JAMAR NEGRON ECHO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/ ASSISTANT A&E EDITOR

It took six months to interview and whittle down a pool of more than 65 applicants, but N.C. Central University finally has its new chancellor.

Debra Saunders-White, deputy assistant secretary for Higher Education Programs in the U.S. Department of Education, got the job.

Saunders-White is the first permanent, female chancellor to lead NCCU – a development some are calling historic.

Saunders-White will take over for Interim Chancellor Charles Becton at the beginning of June.

She replaces NCCU’s former chancellor, Charlie Nelms, who announced his retirement in July.

That announcement came as a surprise to the NCCU community.

Nelms became chancellor in 2007, and had just engineered a comprehensive plan to restructure the University.

Addressing the University of North Carolina Board of Governors, and the NCCU community via streaming broadcast, UNC President Tom Ross said SaundersWhite would be a strong, energetic and innovative new leader for NCCU. Saunders-White said NCCU won’t just be a great HBCU, but also a “wonderful asset” for anyone looking for a quality higher education experience.

Saunders-White also said she plans to be a “servantleader.”

She thanked Nelms and Becton for their service.

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Social media celebration NCCU elected its first female chancellor today!! I love my HBCU! — Jamara Davis via Facebook Now it’s time to look her up ... see those credentials LOL — @Graceful_Dola via Twitter Congrats to our first female chancellor at NCCU — @promiseME_you via Twitter

Roughin’ it in Ruffin Students are without heat, hot water in dorm

BY ALEX SAMPSON

“The HR training workshops are required of all University personnel. Your failure to attend creates a breach of your responsibilities as a faculty member at NCCU,” the letter reads.

“A copy of this letter is being forwarded to your department for your file, to your Dean’s office, and to the Office of the Provost.”

At issue is a Jan. 4 human resources training workshop. State law requires that all faculty attend one such workshop every year.

That’s where the quasimystery starts.

A whole bunch of faculty — large portions of the language and literature and mass communication departments — did not show up for

No heat. No hot water.

Cracked ceilings. Yellow sink water.

This isn’t the projects.

This is Ruffin Hall, a fiveyear-old residence hall at N.C. Central University.

Students have dealt with these issues — and several others — since fall 2012.

When social work sophomore Katesha Smith moved in she realized immediately that the heater was broken .

“I’m a heat person so I started flipping switches and I noticed it then,” said Smith.

Smith said she figured the heat would be turned on when it got colder. Once the temperature started drop-

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ECHO A&E /SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR

Katesha Smith huddles under blankets in her Ruffin Residence Hall suite.

ALEX SAMPSON/Echo A&E/Social media editor

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NCCU SGA President Reggie McCrimmon hugs chancellor-e elect Debra Saunders-W White, while SGA Vice President Carmelo Montalvo looks on.

MATT PHILLIPS/ Echo editor-in-chief

“You have left behind big shoes to fill — luckily I wear heels,” Saunders-White said.

In a press conference, Saunders-White stressed the value of higher education.

“The promise of higher education is what makes our eternal soul what it is in America,” she said.

Saunders-White called the budget shortfall issue at NCCU a “stark reality.”

She said NCCU has to promote itself as a “distinctive brand” — not just locally, but globally.

“You’ve got to be visible, you’ve got to be accessible and come with your story,” Saunders-White said.

I want to make sure folks on Capitol Hill know who we are and what we need.”

Reggie McCrimmon, NCCU Student Government Association president, said he is optimistic that the first permanent, female chancellor at NCCU will invigorate the campus.

McCrimmon also said Saunders-White’s experience in the U.S. Department of Education will help her navigate the North Carolina political landscape.

“Having the ability to navigate the political scene and still come out with people understanding NCCU — there’s no better place to have been than D.C.,” McCrimmon said.

Kim Michele Ratliff, president of the Charlotte chapter of the NCCU Alumni Association, said that every time she sets foot on campus she feels renewed, and she wants Saunders-White to maintain that energy.

“It’s a new day. It’s the era of women in leadership roles,” Ratliff said.

Ratliff said internships should be a huge focus for the new leadership team.

She said local and national internships aren’t the only opportunities students should pursue — NCCU leadership should cultivate inter-

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Campus Echo WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2013

Debra Saunders-W White arrives at NCCU as chancellor-e elect.

MATT PHILLIPS/ Echo editor-in-chief

national opportunities for students.

SGA Vice President Carmelo Montalvo said Saunders-White will face three major obstacles at NCCU: securing funding, student complacency and gaining support for her directives.

“I think she brings a different viewpoint – she’s wellconnected on the government side,” Montalvo said. “I hope she’s not shell-shocked when she takes the job.”

In May of 2011, SaundersWhite was appointed to her position in the U.S. Department of Education.

She was chief advisor to the assistant secretary of higher education programs.

Saunders-White worked at IBM from 1979-94, eventually becoming higher education client manager, where she developed and instituted marketing strategies for IBM systems used in several higher education institutions.

Saunders-White designed

the first information technology system at Hampton University in 2004.

She became vice chancellor for the Information Technology Systems Division at UNC-Wilmington in 2006.

Ross selected SaundersWhite from a list of three put forward by a search committee.

The committee included representatives from the NCCU Board of Trustees, the NCCU Student Body, NCCU faculty, staff and the Durham community at large.

In October, the NCCU faculty senate expressed concern about faculty representation on the search committee in a memorandum to Dwight Perry, chairman of the NCCU Board of Trustees.

The UNC System Policy Manual does not specify how many trustees, faculty, students or staff must participate in a chancellor search.

The manual only states that all parties must be included in the selection process.

that workshop, and subsequently received the letter.

“When I send out a request from the office of the provost asking faculty to attend a session that has been designed for the faculty, I expect all of you to be there,” said Bernice Duffy Johnson, associate provost and associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, at an early February faculty senate meeting.

At that meeting, some faculty members said they were notified of the human resources workshop through email on Jan. 3 — the day before the workshop — as late as 3:22 p.m.

“That is unacceptable timing to receive notice that we are supposed to show up for a workshop,” said John Prince, assistant professor and parliamentarian for the faculty senate, in a summary of faculty responses at the meeting.

respect, but he wanted to know why that respect was not demonstrated from the top down.

“We don’t know what this letter of reprimand may do to someone or how it may make them feel,” Robinson said.

Is this the type of behavior that we’re supposed to take into our classrooms? If it is, we’re in trouble,” he said.

Stephanie Freeman, coordinator for arts and humanities, wanted to know why the same efforts were not put into informing faculty about the workshop as were put into sending the letter.

“I do want it in writing what this letter means and what this reprimand means,” Freeman said.

“This cannot stand — and I know it won’t stay in my file.”

A controlled response

Here is what happened: On Dec. 19, at 1:51 p.m., the Office of the Provost sent an email to all deans at each NCCU college and school.

The email was a reminder from Duffy Johnson that faculty should report to work on Jan. 2, and attend the Human Resources workshop on Jan. 4, though the word “mandatory” is not in the email.

On Dec. 19 at 3:58 p.m., Carlton Wilson, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, forwarded that email to his department chairpersons — all of whom were on the email’s “recipients” list.

Presumably, other deans did the same.

In some cases, as in the department of language and literature, that email did not get forwarded to faculty — so those faculty members did not receive the reminder, and likely did not attend the workshop.

That made for a whole lot of absences, whether justified or not.

Nonetheless, that letter from the Office of the Provost was signed, sealed and delivered on Jan. 22, and faculty weren’t happy about it.

In the faculty senate meeting, Duffy Johnson said she never considered the letter a reprimand.

“I don’t believe that at any point a letter of reprimand was mentioned in regards to the letter,” Duffy Johnson said in the meeting.

The letter was meant to record faculty attendance and absences at the workshop, according to Duffy Johnson.

“There was nothing accusatory. It was a statement of fact,” she said.

At press time, the Office of the Provost had not responded to two emails requesting details about workshop attendance and

At the meeting, Prince laid out a multi-point response to the letter, which he and other faculty called a “Letter of Reprimand,” that established key points of faculty concern.

Among their grievances: The letter had an “accusatory and belittling tone,” the workshop was not explicitly designated as mandatory, some faculty weren’t sure their contracts began before Jan. 4, the letter’s Jan. 22 delivery hurt faculty morale, and the unknown implications of having a “letter of reprimand” in a faculty member’s personal file.

Prince said that there is potential for inconsistent application of the letter’s meaning when it comes to faculty career advancement.

“Some faculty members are and were scared for their jobs. Or scared, intimidated about their potential promotion or tenure status,” Prince said.

John Kuzenski, an assistant professor of political science who holds a law degree, asked Duffy Johnson if the letter had been shown to NCCU Legal Counsel prior to delivery.

“I don’t know whether it would be considered negligence or what I believe it more likely to be, which is something with potentially grave implications before a court when it comes to employment law,” Kuzenski said.

Duffy Johnson said both legal counsel and the chancellor, had seen the letter.

[Several attempts to contact NCCU legal counsel were unanswered at press time.]

Russell Robinson, a visiting assistant professor of mass communication, called the letter “negligent.”

Robinson said faculty are told to treat colleagues with

A precarious timeline

Above, the letter.

COURTESY NCCU FACULTY

other matters.

A mystery (un)solved After the faculty senate meeting, Wilson re-sent his email of Dec. 19 to his department chairpersons.

“There has been much discussion in regards to faculty being notified of the [Jan. 4] Faculty Development Workshop,” reads Wilson’s email.

Please see below an email that I sent to you on [Dec. 19] requesting that you inform your faculty of the meeting.”

Michele Ware, chair of the department of language and literature, noticed her name on the original email’s “recipients” list.

Previously, Ware had searched for an email related to the workshop and found nothing.

Wilson’s email was evidence that he had, indeed, forwarded Duffy Johnson’s email to all College of Arts and Sciences department chairs, including Ware.

Ware wrote an apology to her faculty and to Duffy Johnson — she said she had somehow overlooked Wilson’s email.

“Such a lapse is out of character, as you know, for I am usually careful to disseminate important information to my faculty members in a timely manner,” Ware wrote.

But then she checked again.

Wilson’s original email, from Dec. 19, never arrived in Ware’s inbox. It isn’t there — and yes, she checked the “spam” folder.

An operations and systems analyst from NCCU Information Technology Services said it’s very possible an email can get hung-up somewhere in the system — it’s possible an email won’t reach its intended destination.

Unfortunately, NCCU is migrating to a new email system — though users won’t notice a change — and Dec. 19 is too far back for an analyst to track down a lost email.

The mystery of the email remains. But where the letter came from — that’s no mystery.

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Campus Echo WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2013

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 ping in November, though, her room was still without a functioning heater.

At that point, Smith said, she placed a work order.

When the maintenance team failed to address the issue, Smith approached the previous community director of Ruffin Hall.

Smith’s heater still didn’t get fixed.

Since then, the condition of her suite has steadily deteriorated — the shower water is brown, the ceiling cracked.

Smith said her patience with the staff has worn thin.

“This building should be working 24/7,” said Smith.

Smith is only one of many students struggling with their living conditions.

Carin Lawyer, a mass communication sophomore, another Ruffin Hall resident, said she has to layer on sweaters and blankets to stay warm. Her shower gets little hot water if any water at all.

“We get a little hot water in the evening for 30 minutes and then it starts dripping,” said Lawyer.

Lawyer said in the past couple of weeks, the water has gotten worse. Recently, she noticed yellow water coming from the sink’s faucet and black water in the toilet.

Despite other residents having the same problem, she said the staff did not address it right away.

“Several people had to complain to the front desk before they emailed us,” said Lawyer.

Finance junior Angelica Hutley said whether Ruffin residents get a hot shower depends on what time they wake up. She said she has to get up at 6 a.m. if she wants one.

“It’s normal for people to have class at 11:00 so if everybody is having a shower at 10:00, then somebody [isn’t] getting hot water,” said Huston.

Residential Life speaks Despite what students may think, Director of Residential Life Jennifer Wilder said the department does look into the issues, but fixing them is a matter of time and money.

“It’s not that we don’t take seriously when students let us know this, it’s that we’ve not been able to come up with the solution that’s going to be the permanent fix to this,” said Wilder.

Residential Life receives its funding through housing fees. Wilder said the budget is projected based on the amount of revenue they bring in.

The money is split between utility bills, stipends for the staff and maintenance projects.

Wilder said they try to prepare for unexpected things, but sometimes it’s not enough.

“If something happens and it costs a whole lot more, or some major thing happened to a building then we have to reshuffle our priorities,” said Wilder.

Wilder said the cost to fix the water and heat depends on what the fix is.

If it’s less than $5,000 Residential Life can bring in vendors that the University uses, but if it’s a greater amount, bids are placed to bring in outside vendors — a lengthy process.

“It takes about 45 days just to go through the bid process,” said Wilder.

The procedure begins when Residential Life sends out a Request for Proposals which are placed on their purchasing website after being reviewed.

Vendors then have a certain amount of time to assess the situation and place their bids.

Once a vendor is chosen, they have to sign a contract and discuss when the project will begin.

“Sometimes we have to wait to schedule things in the summer because of the impact it will have on students,” said Wilder.

The belly of the beast On the first floor of Ruffin is the boiler room — a major source of the problems.

Rusted pipes twist along one wall. A white, powdery substance covers the pipes.

Building Environmental Technician Anthony Jones said this is the cause of the cold water.

“The issue is the city of Durham uses a chemical which has phosphate in it,” said Jones.

Jones said hot water crystallizes the phosphate. The hardened substance turns into powder, which clogs up the system and disrupts the flow of hot water.

For a while, though, staff did not know about this process.

Jones said maintenance personnel believed water cartridges were the cause of the cold water.

“We’ve replaced a ton of those things,” said Jones.

A cartridge is what controls the water temperature and flow.

In order to replace one cartridge, Jones said the water in the entire building has to be shut off to prevent stripping the valve.

The reason for the colored water, Jones said, is trash in the pipes.

“Once you cut the water off, the rust builds up,” said Jones.

“The water pressure makes the rust in the pipes come through.”

Jones said that if maintenance staff clean out the pipes by hand, all of the excess build-up would clog the showers and sinks — so instead of cold water the students would have no water.

Jones said they are in the process of fixing the water. He said he understands that Ferguson Enterprises Inc. is supposed to fix the problem by using a chemical that will clean up the water. But that’s not a quick process, he said.

As for the heat, new Community Director Janai Hawkins said she wasn’t aware of the problem.

“It’s news to me,” said Hawkins.

Hawkins said students need to let administrators know when something is wrong by going to SchoolDude. She said talking to their friends is not going to solve anything — the right people need to know.

Hawkins said she just wants the students to be patient.

“We are working as fast as we possibly can,” said Hawkins. “We’re just trying our best.”

On Feb. 2, Durham residents gathered on Fayetteville Street to march for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Black History Month.

GABRIEL AIKENS/ Echo photo editor

Humanities in peril?

McCrory’s assault on liberal arts angers some at NCCU

BY DOMINIQUE AKPOTANOR ECHO STAFF REPORTER

North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory took a controversial position about funding North Carolina higher education. He expressed his views in a Jan. 29 interview on “Bill Bennett’s Round Table.”

“If you want to take gender studies, that’s fine, go to a private school and take it. But I don’t want to subsidize that if that’s not going to get someone a job,” McCrory said.

In other words, McCrory wants higher education to become more like community colleges: funded according to their ability to get students’ jobs. He also took aim at the liberal arts, calling them unnecessary.

Some N.C. Central University students and faculty disagree with McCrory, saying that public universities should maintain their broad-based approach to education.

Music freshman Alnesica Waters said that most students simply don’t have the option of selecting expensive private schools.

Sonya Blair, an instructor in the department of language and literature, said, “My greatest concern would be the students here receive so much education taught from a holistic perspective. So when they leave our school they are better people.

“These are his ideas but they

are coming from a place of ignorance,” Blair said. “He’s just not educated about what really happens when you’re at a liberal arts college or university.”

Some professors say they don’t understand how McCory can determine which courses will and will not get students’ jobs.

“I think higher education is much more than job training,” said Paula Hall, a political science assistant professor. “It should make you a better, well-rounded person.”

Some students said they would be interested to see McCrory listen to their concerns.

“In the future I really hope this can be a conversation that can be had with students, university administration, and elsewhere, where he has the opportunity to listen to the students of the UNC system and we can directly interact with him,” said Reggie McCrimmon, Student Government Association president.

McCrory intends to develop a plan for distributing money to universities and community colleges.

Instead of giving money to schools based on the number of students they have, he wants to base it on the number of students who get jobs after college.

“It’s not based upon how many butts in seats, but how many of those butts can get jobs,” said McCrory.

Political science senior Leland Townes Jr. said the proposed

changes could have a big impact on NCCU. “It means more tuition hikes on us, less chances of scholarships, less resources for us to use,” said Townes.

McCrimmon agreed.

“We are very affected by this, and as an HBCU, an institution that’s really at a point where we have great opportunity to rise,” McCrimmon said. “It’s going to be important that our funding is fair and treated equally with other institutions.”

Students and faculty did agree with McCrory on one point. He said that whatever the government does has a cause and effect.

“That’s going to directly impact our students, especially minority students who are dependent upon financial aid and Pell Grants, and different things like that,” McCrimmon said.

“It definitely hits NCCU students harder from the communities we come from.”

Thomas Stith, McCrory’s chief of staff, is an alumnus of NCCU. McCrimmon said he hopes Stith can come to NCCU and bring the governor to speak with students.

He said it would be very encouraging to students.

Pat McCrory has faced criticism for increasing the salaries of his cabinet by 8 percent while the state struggles with its budget.

After a four-year raise freeze, NCCU faculty received a 1.2 percent pay increase for 2012-13.

United Christian Campus Ministry National Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS "Kick off Service" Sunday, March 3, 2013 Michael D. Page Campus Minister For more information contact Rev. Michael Page at 530-5263 or by e-mail at mpage@nccu.edu

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Dean holds “Town Hall” B Y M ATT P HILLIPS ECHO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

In a “Town Hall” meeting Jan. 31 at University Theater, Carlton Wilson, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, reassured students that liberal arts will remain a major focus at N.C. Central University.

The crowd was small at the meeting — less than 10 students showed up — but that allowed for a very personal chat with Wilson.

Among student concerns were N.C. Governor Pat McCrory’s comments in a Tuesday radio interview that he would consider funding institutions based on job placement — a change that, some said, would have a negative impact at liberal arts institutions.

Wilson called that proposal an “unrealistic change.”

“This will always be a liberal arts institution,” Wilson said.

“We all know that the Fortune 500 companies have no problem hiring a computer scientist who has a humanities background.”

Wilson said that gauging success according to job placement statistics would put a lot of institutions out of business.

Other concerns included large class sizes in general education courses, and the threat that students may not learn as well in those settings.

Wilson said the faculty to student ratio is a point of pride at NCCU, and he doesn’t want that to change.

“We have been very cautious in moving away from that model,” Wilson said.

He added that administration has increased class size in courses where they

think quality instruction can be preserved. In some cased, he said, it comes down to a choice: Either increase class size or eliminate course sections.

“Sometimes we have to figure out a way to keep the lights on for everybody,” Wilson said.

Johneta Devoe, a history graduate student, said that emphasizing writing skills in the classroom is important.

“I think if we place more emphasis on writing in the classroom it would help students write at the collegiate level,” Devoe said.

“It should be second nature to write a thesis, to structure a paper.”

Precious Sampson, also a history graduate student, said the meeting was informational.

“I’m sad that a lot of students didn’t take advantage of it,” she said.

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Brains occupy NCCU during Science Bowl N.C. School of Science and Mathematics takes top honors B Y AYANNAH C RAWLEY ECHO STAFF REPORTER

High school students from the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics took top honors in the N.C. Regional Science Bowl.

The students competed in the Mary Townes Science Building in the hope of advancing to an allexpenses paid trip to the U.S. Department of Energy National Science Bowl in April.

Thirteen North Carolina high school teams competed, with each high school represented by two team of four each.

In the competition, which is fashioned like the TV quiz show “Jeopardy,” the teams were asked ques-

tions from the fields of biology, chemistry and physics.

“They just have to able to answer the questions and answer them the best,” said Diane Markoff, an NCCU associate professor of physics and this year’s Regional Science Bowl coordinator.

As students waited for the competition to begin, they were provided information on internships, scholarships, and admission from NCCU’s Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Technology program.

“I combine knowledge in all areas, study the book, and practice,” said Ashwin Mohian, a senior at Durham’s N.C. School of Science and Math.

Mohian said he plans to studying mechanical engineering in college.

After a late start all teams competing met in the classroom where coordinator Fredrick Douglas took roll, went over the rules, and passed out schedules that outlined the competition.

Parents of the competitors stood in the back supporting their science stars.

“I always tell her to study and study as much as possible, because if you fail to plan you plan to fail,” said Nad Thigpen, a proud father whose daughter was on a team that placed third last year.

Students and volunteers from the NCCU quiz bowl team helped with the event.

Yu Wang and Ashwin Mohian, members of the winning NC School of Science and Mathematics team.

TIARA JONES /Echo staff photographer

Beyond NCCU

Campus Echo WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2013

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College students turning to ‘sugar daddies’

BY DENISE-MARIE ORDWAY ORLANDO SENTINEL (MCT)

ORLANDO, Fla. — The struggling University of Central Florida business major struck a deal.

Needing money, she turned to a “sugar daddy” she found on a popular website.

They had dinner. They had sex. Her take: $200.

A few months later, when she needed to buy textbooks, she went back to SeekingArrangement.com.

There, she found another “date” who flew into town.

No dinner this time.

They met at a local hotel and had sex.

Her earnings: $400.

“I’ve worked my whole life since high school, and that was easy,” said the 20year-old sophomore, who would not be named for fear that her family would find out.

“It was like a nice way to make quick money, and I tried not to think too much about it.”

She is among the hundreds of thousands of men

and women who, either having trouble making ends meet or simply wanting to upgrade their lifestyles, are turning to the Internet for help finding “sugar daddies” and “sugar mommies.”

The majority, though, are women looking to be supported by older, successful men with money to burn.

The hunt for wealthy benefactors — discreetly or otherwise — is as old as money itself. But people are taking it to a new level by turning to SeekingArrange-ment.com and other websites.

And as the cost of a college education in Florida continues to rise, more Florida students are choosing this option as a way to cover their expenses, including tuition and rent, according to spokeswoman Jennifer Gwynn and founder Brandon Wade of SeekingArrangement.com.

With the exchange of money, however, comes another trade-off: an expectation of intimacy — a dynamic that has prompted critics to compare the

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arrangements to prostitution and has generated heated conversations about the trend on TV talk shows and elsewhere.

Did the UCF student feel like a prostitute? It might look that way, she said, but “like every relationship, there’s a little bit of give and take.”

Many visitors to these websites demand a lot more money than the $400 she sought.

There’s Marissa, who calls herself a “starving college student” from Orlando, who asks her prospective sugar daddy for $3,000 to $5,000 a month. And “UCF babe,” who requires $1,000 to $3,000 a month from her guy.

Last year alone, more than 200 men and women with UCF-issued email addresses signed up to use SeekingArrangement.com, Gwynn said.

She said nearly 40 percent of all of its users — a group that doubled its numbers in 2012 to more than 2 million people worldwide — egistered with college email addresses.

Hundreds have flocked to the site from other Florida universities, too.

Last month, UCF, Florida State University, University of South Florida and Florida International University made SeekingArrangement.com’s Top 20 list nationally for having the greatest growth in the number of new college-student registrations.

Like dating sites, users log on and create profiles offering details about themselves — height, body type and hobbies, for example.

But “sugar babies” also make it very clear that they have financial expectations in amounts that can go as high as $20,000 a month.

Wade rankles at the thought of his site being compared to an online house of prostitution. He said he launched it in 2006 to help socially awkward, wealthy men such as himself find dates.

“I understand that it’s a gray area, but an hour of company for sex — that’s illegal,” said Wade, 42, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of

Technology who used the site himself before getting married a year ago to someone he met at work.

Anything that requires a relationship and chemistry and liking each other is clearly not prostitution.”

In recent years, the sugar daddy dynamic has become more socially acceptable as a number of TV shows have been created around the idea of helping pretty people meet wealthy people.

The hit novel “Fifty Shades of Grey” features a college student and her sexual exploits with a young billionaire.

Still, as with any online dating, there is a risk in meeting up with strangers.

In 2011, an Orange Circuit judge sentenced a man to life in prison for raping a woman he met through the website SugarDaddyForMe .com.

Pamela Scully, chairwoman of the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Emory University in Atlanta, called the trend “sad.” She said it seems these women are making decisions under

duress, primarily because of the bad economy.

Meanwhile, universities such as UCF and FSU pointed out that there are other ways for students to fund their educations.

Schools offer an array of scholarships, grants and other forms of financial aid.

“Students who are looking for help with paying for college should contact our financial aid counselors, who can help them maximize the assistance they receive,” said UCF spokesman Chad Binette.

Top 20 schools The following shows the top 5 list and the number of men and women from each school in 2012 who used collegeissued emails to register at SeekingArrangement.com, where students seek “sugar daddies” and “sugar mommies.”

1. Georgia State University: 292 2. New York University: 285 3. Temple University: 268 4. University of Central Florida: 221 5. University of South Florida: 212

Heat puts Obama on climate hot seat

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

BY SHAYE WOLF for lowering their global warming emissions — though none would match the scale of the climate threat.

Scientists say the world's output of greenhouse gases must peak around 2016, and then decline to stop at the critical 2-degree Celsius temperature increase by century's end.

Projections show both countries' emissions will peak sometime after the mid-2030s.

China's population is four times larger than the United States', and its emissions are close to double in size.

But the average American is still responsible for twice as much greenhouse gas pollution as his or her Chinese counterpart.

China and the United States have nearly the same amount of installed electricity capacity, though in China it's nearly all coal-fired.

China's massive coal stations, many of them built in the past decade, together have more than double the capacity of U.S. coal facilities.

And while the United States currently has plans to add 36 new coal plants, China intends to add 10 times that amount.

The two countries' renewable energy fleets are nearly identical in size.

Some of China's wind and solar capacity, however, is not connected to the grid, giving the United

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States the edge when it comes to actual clean power generation.

But China is chasing a federal goal of 15 percent non-fossil fuel generation by 2020, and the United States has no such policy.

It warped train tracks, melted the tarmac at Reagan National Airport, and smashed thousands of daily temperature records across America. Last summer’s brutal heat helped make 2012 the hottest year on record in the contiguous United States, federal experts recently announced.

Climate change played a key role in that record, just as it has pushed up temperatures around the world.

Globally, we’ve now experienced more than 330 months in a row of above-average temperatures.

That news puts President Obama on the hot seat. As his second term begins, the president has a clear opportunity to revolutionize his whole approach to fighting manmade climate change. And 2012 couldn’t have made a more powerful case for urgent action against the greenhouse gas pollution creating this problem.

It wasn’t just the heat: 2012 also bedeviled us with chaotic weather. Climate change, research shows, is driving up the risk of extreme weather like this summer’s devastating drought, which affected more than half the country, and adding destructive power to storms like Hurricane Sandy.

As a scientist, I’m deeply concerned that 2012’s blazing temperatures are just a taste of what lies ahead. America’s future will be full of extreme heat, with growing risks of drought and food scarcity, according to the draft National Climate

Assessment, a new report from more than 300 government scientists and outside experts. Within decades, some states will suffer a doubling of days hotter than 95 degrees.

Our weather is also likely to become more chaotic and destructive.

Profound changes taking place in the Arctic are feeding North America’s risk of extreme weather, in part by changing the jet stream. Arctic sea-ice extent hit a record low last summer, and the region’s snow cover has begun shrinking faster over the past decade, according to a recent study.

What can be done? It’s true, of course, that a divided Congress may stall legislative progress on climate change.

But the good news is that the president need not wait on recalcitrant legislators.

Starting tomorrow, without any new laws in place, Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency could begin making full use of the Clean Air Act against greenhouse gas pollution. Signed into law by President Nixon, this landmark law has proven itself over four decades by achieving huge reductions in dangerous pollutants like airborne lead.

The EPA has slowly begun applying the Clean Air Act to carbon-dioxide pollution _ but progress has been modest, to say the least.

Airplanes’ carbon emissions, for example, have not yet

been regulated. Nor has the massive greenhouse pollution from existing power plants.

The president must change that, because the next four years will be absolutely critical. Since carbon dioxide can linger in the atmosphere for thousands of years, we’re running out of time to head off climate change’s worst effects, according to the respected International Energy Agency.

Sometimes it seems that President Obama gets it. As a parent, I appreciated his election-night acceptance

speech in which he spoke powerfully about the legacy we’ll leave to future generations.

We all, he said, want our children to live in an America that “that isn’t threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet.”

But as the president begins another four years in office, those soaring words must be matched by new action.

Otherwise, we’ll likely look back on 2012 as a year when we raced past numerous warning signs as we sped off the climate cliff.

NCCU’s CERT team is on a mission: To serve the campus and surrounding Durham community with emergency servies during the aftermath of a disaster.

CERT’s goal is to serve as a bridge between University Police and local emergency personnel that can respond to a crisis when professional emergency services are delayed.

For more information contact NCCU’s Campus CERT Coordinator, Dana Hart-Raynor at dhart3@eagles.nccu.edu

Marching forward 6

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hey come from all walks of life. They are gay. They are straight. They are brown. They are white.

And they are everything in between.

But at this moment, they are one, joined with the zeal of a common purpose — justice for all.

What started as a small movement of 3,500 people at its inception has burgeoned. Last year 15,000 justice seekers took part in the march for equality, according to organizers.

On Saturday, Feb. 9, thousands gathered again for the seventh annual Historic Thousand on Jones Street — or “HKonJ” — to raise their voices and show their presence.

The marchers rallied themselves together in a pre-march gathering, chanting their powerful mantra: “Forward

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together, not a step back!”

Prayers and songs were blasted down the street, invigorating the audience before their march to Jones Street.

Organizations waved their flags, brandished their banners, and marched in unison through downtown Raleigh.

Protestors gathered in front of the Raleigh Legislative Building. They surrounded a stage commanded by the Rev. William Barber, the fiery North Carolina NAACP president.

Barber, an N.C. Central University graduate, outlined the movement’s 14-point progressive people’s plan for equality and retribution in North Carolina.

Among their demands: Quality education, a living wage and health care for all,

a redress of racist atrocities never addressed from North Carolina’s past — from the devastating eugenics program of the 1940s to two centuries of worker discrimination — prison reformation and even a demand to bring back soldiers fighting in the Middle East.

Underneath the light of the radiant sun, in the chill of the afternoon air, the protesters shouted in chorus to Barber’s demands for justice and equality.

The protesters’ steely rhetoric echoed in the city’s center with their trademark call and response battle cry, booming from the speakers for the whole city to hear.

It became the anthem of a people long tired of oppression and ignorance.

Placing before the halls of government this demand:

“What do we want?!”

“JUSTICE!” “When do we want it?!”

“NOW!”

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Sacrificial Poets: poet forward Triangle poets engage teens with spoken word “I’m a silver dollar and I can’t make no change I can’t rearrange ‘cause my momma told me so!”

STARR SEWARD ARTISTIC TEACHER ~ SACRIFICIAL POETS

Theresa Davis performs “Simon Says,” a poem about what happens when teachers bully students.

JADE JACKSON/Echo staff reporter

BY JADE JACKSON ECHO STAFF REPORTER

Fingers snapped. Hands rubbed and emotions erupted last Wednesday night as RaleighDurham locals came together at Chapel Hill’s FlyLeaf Bookstore for The Sacrificial Poets’ monthly spoken word event.

“I’m a silver dollar and I can’t / make no change / I can’t rearrange / ‘cause my momma told me so!” said first-time performer Starr Seward, sharing with the crowd what she told her daughter to say

about herself.

Kane Smego broached the topic of Black History Month. He encouraged the audience to “remember how easy it is to sell out when the revolution’s on sale!” as he explored the irony of exploiting Martin Luther King’s Day to promote blowout sales.

The evening’s feature poet, Theresa Davis, performed “Simon Says” from her newly published book of the same name.

“Some of the most bullying speech I’ve ever heard has come out of the mouths of teachers,”

said Davis, a teacher for 20 years.

In “Simon Says” she puts it like this: “Before your statement science was her favorite subject.

She was gonna cure cancer, return renegade memories to Alzheimer’s patients. She hates science now.”

More than anything else the group’s open mic is a safe place for anyone to share his or her thoughts.

The poets are unfiltered. Their thoughts are unlimited and uncensored. They glide through their verses revealing their most inti-

mate experiences.

And this is exactly what the audience hopes for as it urges the poets on.

“There’s a lot of love in this room” became the mantra of the evening. And this is the energy that Sacrificial Poets bring to any space they fill.

Sacrificial Poets — a group of lyrical artists that includes an artistic director, co-director, MC, DJ and veteran poets — host this open forum the first Wednesday of every month at 6:30 p.m. at FlyLeaf Books.

Sacrificial Poets’ work extends beyond this once-a-month poetry line-up. Artistic Director Kane Smego, along with Youth Outreach Coordinator CJ Suitt and other volunteers on the Sacrificial Poet team, run a teen center in downtown Chapel Hill.

The center offers an open space for students to hang out after school, do homework, and hone their lyrical skills under the poets’ tutorship.

They also run a program for Durham and Chapel Hill Public Schools to teach students to think on a deeper level, access their true feelings and voice these feelings in written and spoken word.

All this is to inspire confidence and self-awareness. This positive energy is then transferred to those around them. Sacrificial Poets have started a chain reaction of bringing a lot of love into the room.

Sacrificial Poets has spawned other small groups of artists, including student poetry clubs at Chapel Hill High Schools.

It’s the idea of paying it forward; as Sacrificial Poets nurtures the talents of young poets, those students do the same for the next person and the cycle continues, creating more forward-thinking, self-aware people in the community.

The love reaches beyond the room and follows Sacrificial Poets everywhere they grow.

Evalesco walks, talks fashion

Mass communication sophomore and Evalesco model Tre’ Thompson in rehearsal.

MYAVA MITCHELL/Echo staff reporter

BY M YAVA M ITCHELL ECHO STAFF REPORTER

Ever want to be different? Want people to know who you are before you speak? Want to separate yourself from the crowd?

One way to do all that is through fashion.

Some think being fashionable means knowing the latest trend or simply catching the hottest sales.

But Evalesco, a fashion troupe at N.C. Central University, would disagree.

To Evalesco, fashion has much more meaning.

Being a family-oriented organization, new members are welcome with open arms.

The fashion troupe prides themselves on having NCCU alumni who claim lifelong memberships.

Evalesco maintains a busy schedule, typically practicing three times a week.

The Evalesco models dedicate their college experience to “bringing true

fashion to their HBCU.” Evalesco was founded in 2004 by NCCU alumni Tavares Gaither and Joel Dean Robinson.

Their goal was to define fashion through apparel and on the runway.

Robinson and Gaither chose the motto, “True life, true love, true fashion, more than a lifestyle.”

Mass communication junior Franklin McKoy is the president of Evalesco.

“Fashion is important in the fact that it allows one to escape from what people think to a place of where they want to be,” said McKoy. McKoy keeps up with the latest trends. He said that in the spring the trend will be basic black and white, beaded pieces, short suits, low heels and thick stripes.

Traditionally, models display designer apparel on the runway. However, entertainment isn’t Evalesco’s only purpose.

Evalesco shows students that fashion isn’t about the price tag but it’s about the

character.

“Some people can’t afford the best clothes because they may have bills and tuition to pay, so what really matters is who you are and not what you wear,” said nursing junior Dominique Shaw.

To Evalesco, the clothes are a reflection of who the person is.

“The way you wear and coordinate your clothes has a lot to do with the psyche of the individual. We tend to dress according to how we feel,” said McKoy. Naomi Marin-Rosario, a mass communication junior and aspiring model, agreed.

Marin-Rosario is one of many college students who struggle financially. But she still finds a way to express herself through style.

She said she uses fashion week and television shows to influence her style.

“Fashion has no name, sex, gender or race but has an identity of who you are and how you choose to express it,” said MarinRosario.

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R&B singer’s life-long dream becomes reality

BY R ENEE N ATSON

Heather Victoria has broken into the music scene after many setbacks.

TRENT LITTLE/Echo staff reporter

On Friday, The Experience, a free music and fashion showcase, was held at Motorco Music Hall in Durham.

The event featured different clothing and apparel vendors — mostly N.C. Central University students and alumni.

Upon its opening, the music hall filled with around 200 people.

The Experience highlighted a variety of underground music artists and fashion models.

Roland Reaves, a business senior at NCCU, was one of the organizers of the showcase.

“We wanted to show both sides of art as it relates to music and fashion,” said Reaves.

Reaves is also the founder of an urban clothing line called

B Y T RENT L ITTLE ECHO STAFF REPORTER

N.C. Central University alumna and singer Heather Gavin — stage name Heather Victoria — grew up in a musical family. She was destined for the bright lights.

“I had always been on a stage, my mom was a singer,” Victoria said.

She grew up watching her mother travel around Fayetteville to perform at different venues. She also sang in the church choir.

Her mother, Gigi Mitchell, always pushed Victoria to sing when she was little. It was normal for her to be seen in her playpen on stage as Mitchell rehearsed.

Mitchell realized her daughter had singing talent.

“I knew Heather could sing when she sang ‘I Believe In You’ by Whitney Houston at her grandmother's reception,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell began to train Heather. She taught her how to harmonize at age five.

“I believe in gifts and I just believe this is what God gifted her to do,” Mitchell said.

Victoria was the first black girl in her local barbershop quartet.

As she got older, she became more musically involved. In high school she sang in the musical theater and school choir.

“I looked up to artists like Mary J. Blige, Patti Labelle and Aretha Franklin,” Victoria said.

After many failed attempts at pursuing a music career Victoria left Fayetteville.

She enrolled at NC State University and headed for Raleigh in 2007.

Her mother had always expressed the significance

of an education.

Victoria felt like she had no choice but to go to NCSU based on the prestige of the school.

That choice put a halt to her music career.

Victoria soon became depressed.

When she wrote a poem on her Facebook profile about music and how much she loved it, her mother picked up on the depression.

“I called her and told her to follow her heart, you don't have to stay at N.C. State,” Mitchell said.

Victoria transferred to NCCU for her sophomore year to follow her dream of being a singer.

The first course she enrolled in was a music course taught by Christopher “Play” Martin and renowned music producer 9th Wonder.

9th Wonder had a studio on campus. Victoria knew it was the only way to take her music to another level.

“I lived on campus so that studio was the only way I could make music,” Victoria said.

Victoria would show up nonstop to the studio to get 9th Wonder's attention.

It took two months but he finally gave her a chance.

“He gave me a time to come so I came with all my music,” Victoria said.

After hearing just one of her songs, 9th Wonder was sold.

One of Victoria’s motives was to bring back the soulful sound to R&B. 9th Wonder added her to his Jamla record label in 2010.

“They just opened doors for me, with open arms,” Victoria said. “They allowed me to write and record.”

Victoria has been with the Jamla family for almost three years now and says she is finally

starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Since graduating from NCCU in 2012 Victoria has keyed in on being organized and focused. She goes to her day job at the bank then to the studio to focus on her next move.

“You have to sacrifice when you [are] really trying to go after your dreams,” Victoria said.

Victoria has recorded three mixtapes — “Victoria's Secret,” “Graffiti Diary” and “Hip Hop Soul Lives” — and worked with prominent artists like David Banner and Big KRIT. Her debut album, “Black Girl Story,” is slated for release in the second quarter of 2013.

With Jamla, Victoria has performed in Los Angeles and New York.

However, she felt that something was missing.

She was getting all this love from other cities — but not the place she called home.

“I felt the show was necessary because it's so many people here that have never heard me live,” Victoria said.

In November, Victoria turned 23. She marked the occasion with her first showcase at Five Star Restaurant in Raleigh.

The restaurant was packed with family and friends. She commanded the stage accompanied by her live band.

“It's really humbling to finally get love in RaleighDurham,” Victoria said.

Seated in the front row was her number one fan, best friend, teacher and mom, Gigi Mitchell.

“She's always believed in me,” Victoria said.

“I think it's always important to have somebody that believes in you more than you believe in yourself.”

ECHO STAFF REPORTER

“We wanted to show both sides of art as it relates to music and fashion.”

ROLAND REAVES NCCU BUSINESS SENIOR AND EVENT ORGANIZER

Sophisticated Genius.

He said the line is casual, street wear.

Sophisticated Genius was on display for purchase at the event.

They offered t-shirts, sweaters, bowties and varsity jackets for both men and women at affordable prices.

Another participant in the event was NCCU history senior Nigel Hood.

Hood said he wanted to create the event to give people, especially NCCU students, fun ideas of alternative things to do with their time.

Hood, a hip-hop artist

that goes by the stage name of NiGE HOOD, also performed in the showcase.

In addition to his performance, the event featured performances by local artists like Quent Young, Evo, Big Strong, Elevator Jay, T Free, 2AMV, Wreck N Crew and Jaakob1up in 15-minute sets.

Many of the participants were young adults pursuing their passion and showcasing it for support from their NCCU peers.

It was definitely a memorable experience.

A model at The Experience struts down the catwalk.

MYAVA MITCHELL/Echo staff reporter

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Eagles baseball vying for top spot Eagles add much needed depth to pitching staff and in the field for 2013 season

BY

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ECHO SPORTS REPORTER

In his first season as N.C. Central University head baseball coach, Jim Koerner transformed the Eagles into a force to be reckoned with.

In 2012, the Eagles were picked to finish dead last in the conference.

However, 19-32 overall and 13-10 conference records turned out to be good enough for second place in the MEAC Southern division.

“Even though we were shorthanded and had injuries, we showed every-

one what you can do when you come together as a team and fight hard,” said junior catcher Carter Williamson.

The 19 wins during the 2012 season was three more than the previous three seasons combined.

According to a report by NCAA.com, the Eagles finished the year with the 30th best turnaround in the nation.

“It was a great testament to the effort and work that these players put in,” Koerner said.

“To go from seven wins to 19 really shows the hunger these guys have to get bet-

Ukraine’s pride on the court

ter.”

The Eagles will return most of their s t a r t e r s , including outfielder senior Luis Diaz, Luis Diaz who led the Eagles in hits and runs scored.

“It makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something out there, but I know I still have to go out there and prove myself,” Diaz said.

“It’s a new year and I know I have to continue to get better.”

Koerner gave high praise

to his senior outfielder.

“Luis is a tremendous person as well as a tremendous ball player,” Koerner said.

“He’s a wonderful leader on the field as well as in the classroom.

“He has above a 3.4 GPA. He’s just a well-rounded person, with very high character.”

Senior Glenn Frey, who is looking to improve from his junior season, will anchor the Eagles’ pitching staff.

Frey finished last season with 4-6 record in 13 games started and a team-best 4.72 ERA.

“We have a lot of options this season, and a lot of guys deserve to play,” Koerner said.

“We have a lot more depth this season and with this infusion of talent I think we have what it takes to put us over the top.”

This year’s roster also includes 18 new players, both freshmen and transfers, comprised of 13 position players and five pitchers.

Frye said the addition of new players is good for the team.

“It adds needed depth at the pitching staff and pro-

Things get chippy early, Eagles win The Eagles won their 10th straight game and are now 10-0 in the MEAC

BY

J ONATHAN A LEXANDER ECHO ASSISTANT EDITOR

BY

J ONATHAN A LEXANDER ECHO ASSISTANT EDITOR

When senior Olesya Palko arrived in the United States in August 2009 to play for the N.C. Central University women’s tennis team, she was 16 years old and more than 4,000 miles from home.

Palko knew only the little English she had learned in school in Kiev, Ukraine.

“Everything was new. I was very excited, but it was difficult because I didn’t speak English well and hadn’t been in another country,” Palko said.

But the mild-mannered, always smiling, Ukrainian tennis player with the thick slavic accent made it look easy. She quickly learned English and has maintained a 4.0 cumulative grade point average throughout her collegiate career. Palko loves science, and is studying biology and pre-med.

She plans to earn a Ph.D. and is considering an M.D. In her junior year, Palko was even presented with an Award for the “highest academic performance by a junior” in the department of biology, and was a secondteam all-conference player in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

Palko speaks Ukrainian and Russian, so learning English was a lot tougher than expected.

Learning English in Ukraine is different than learning it America because she wasn’t introduced to American slang in her country.

She also had to adapt to American food and culture, including American openness. She said it always surprised her when so many Americans would ask how she was doing. Ukrainians, she said, are not so open and usually keep to themselves.

David Nass, head coach of the women’s tennis team, remembers the first few times he was in contact with Palko.

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motes competition with the fielders,” Frye said.

Akeem Hood will also return as an Eagle. Last season he was forced to sit out.

In 2011, Hood led the team in batting.

The Eagles will play their first 19 games at home at Durham Athletic Park. The first game of the season is Feb. 16 against the New Jersey Institute of Technology Highlanders, who took 3 of 4 games from the Eagles last season.

“It’s going to be a good feeling just to be able to wake up and drive to the ball park,” Frye said.

DURHAM — “Furious” is probably the word that best describes the demeanor of N.C. Central University men’s basketball coach, Levelle Moton, after the Eagle’s sloppy 51-43 win over the Florida A&M Rattlers (6-18, 3-7 MEAC) Saturday evening.

He was upset by their poor performance against the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference’s 5th worst team. He said he was embarrassed as a coach and that he felt his team cheated the Eagles fans out of their money.

Lucky for his team, Monday night was a different story, or he might have put an end to the Eagles’ season himself.

Apparently the message was delivered. The Eagles (17-7, 10-0 MEAC) defeated the BethuneCookman Wildcats (9-16, 4-6 MEAC) 81-75 in a close, hard-fought game at McClendon-McDougald Gymnasium. The Eagles now have the same number of wins as they did all of last year.

“It was just the effort,” Moton said, explaining why he had been angry. “I thought we were disrespectful to the game of basketball last game and to the crowd. We have a blue-collar crowd.”

“These people go out there and work blue collar jobs every day and pay a good amount of money to come see them play … and we cheated them out of their dollar,” Moton said.

Junior Stanton Kidd dunks in Monday night’s game against Bethune-C Cookman.

GABRIEL AIKENS/Echo photo editor

“I got [the team’s] attention and they responded.”

Junior guard Jeremy Ingram responded with a career-high 32 points, shooting 6 of 12 from the floor and 17 of 20 from the freethrow line.

He got going early in the game,

scoring 20 points after shooting an astounding 12 of 15 from the freethrow line in the first half alone.

Ingram had to take control of the game after starters Ray Willis, Emanuel Chapman and Stanton Kidd were sidelined because of foul troubles.

“Other guys got into foul trouble so I had to be more aggressive and as a result of that my teammates got me open and I was able to knock down shots and score the ball,” Ingram said.

Things got a little chippy early on, to put it mildly. The Wildcats were called for three technical fouls and one Flagrant-2 on Allan Dempster.

Dempster elbowed Eagles' redshirt sophomore forward Jay Copeland in the chest after a battle for a rebound in the paint and was ejected after the Flagrant-2 foul was called.

“We’re down there boxing out and we got tangled up and he got a little heated and his emotions let him get unfocused,” Copeland said.

“Coach always says stay poised because worse things have happened in practice so I’m used to seeing stuff like that. So it’s a matter of how you carry yourself.”

Moton said he didn’t appreciate the elbow to his player from Dempster.

“I got off the handle a little bit because I felt like that elbow was intentional and came from another place but that’s neither here nor there,” Moton said.

“And I tell them, ‘y’all worry about basketball but you’re like my kids. If anybody puts their hands on you I have to react.’”

The Eagles also were called for one technical foul for bouncing the ball on the floor after a foul call.

n See BASKETBALL Page 11

Short bench stymies Lady Eagles BY

C LAYTON W ELCH

ECHO SPORTS REPORTER

DURHAM — Hampered by a short bench, the N.C. Central University women’s basketball team (0-23, 0-10 MEAC) did all that it could against the Lady Wildcats of BethuneCookman (11-11, 6-4 MEAC) Monday evening.

However, they ended up losing by 17 with a score of 51-34, extending their losing streak to 23 games.

Amber Neely remained out for her fourth straight game after suffering a concussion against Morgan State on Jan. 28.

This put the Lady Eagles at a significant disadvantage, with only seven players active on the roster.

NCCU head coach Vanessa Taylor said Neely will play once the doctor clears her to play and she goes through practice.

Neely should be ready next week in time for the Savannah State game, Taylor said.

In the first few minutes of the aggressive game, the winless Lady Eagles appeared hungry for a win.

The defense started out tight.

The Lady Eagles were communicating as a team and keeping the game close.

The play of the night for the Lady Eagles came in the first half of the game with 10:24 on the clock.

BCU dribbled the ball to halfcourt and redshirt senior Chasidy Williams stole the ball and passed it to freshman Aja Hoyle, who was fouled with 10:21 left in the half.

She would make both free throws and the Lady Eagles would take the lead 10-9.

But fatigue set in, and it would be the team’s last lead of the night.

The Lady Wildcats finished the first half on a 21-6 run and led at the half 30-16.

In the second half, the game

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remained steady, but by then the lead was too great.

The Lady Wildcats would lead by as many as 20 points.

Sophomore guard Montreshia Perry attempted to keep her team in high spirits despite the score.

“You have to motivate your team.

“Without that motivation you’re going to quit,” Perry said.

“Their whole mood is going to go downhill.

“And you wouldn’t want that in

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Campus Echo WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2013

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A field to call their own

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10

Lady Eagles softball finds a steady home field in Durham J ONATHAN A LEXANDER

BY

ECHO ASSISTANT EDITOR

Senior Olesya Palko, 20, of Ukraine, has a 4.0 cumulative GPA and plays as the no.1 tennis player on the NCCU women’s tennis team.

Photo courtesy of NCCU athletics

“My first introduction to Olesya … was through email. And then a phone call. And I take credit for teaching her three very important words in English: ... ‘Coach Nass you are the best.’ And then she said, ‘You teach me English and I’ll teach you math,’” Nass said.

Palko added that when she first spoke to Nass, he tried to connect with her by speaking English very carefully. She said Nass pronounced each word slowly, saying, “Hellooo …

I … am … Coach … Nass …What … is … the … weather … like … today … in … Kiev?”

From then on it was a match made in heaven.

Under Nass, Palko has posted a career 41-22 singles record and 39-22 doubles record, while being recognized as an Academic All-American.

Tennis was not always easy for Palko, however.

She said in Kiev she had to travel an hour every day to practice and her parents didn’t have the money pay for tennis expenses.

Winter temperatures in Ukraine can fall below zero Fahrenheit, so tennis players have to play indoors.

Renting an

indoor court is very expensive, Palko said.

When she was 14, in exchange for practice time on the indoor court, she would give lessons to the younger kids.

She would teach from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and practice from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Palko said she had no intention of playing in America until she heard about NCCU from Nass.

“I found out about this program when I was 15,” Palko said. “I won the championship in Ukraine and then I was thinking I should do something with tennis.

“And then I found out about this program. Then in six months I had to learn English well and prepare for the SAT. And it was my last year of high school so I had to study for my exams.”

When Palko was considering coming to NCCU, another Ukrainian tennis player, Kateryna Chorna, persuaded her to make the leap.

Nass had coached Chorna from 2008 to 2010; Chorna assured Palko that Nass was a great and understanding coach.

Palko later helped a Russian tennis player, Ekaterina Nekrasova,

make the adjustment to NCCU. Now Palko is her best friend, Nekrasova said.

“She’s one of the best people I’ve ever met in my life,” Nekrasova said. “I think because of her, my transition from one country to another was very easy.”

Palko said the most intriguing aspect of tennis is the individualistic side of it. She likes playing one-on-one. She said tennis is a battle of emotions and the victor is usually the person who keeps her composure in check.

When Palko is not playing tennis or studying, she’s drawing. Like tennis, she said, art is creative and helps takes her mind off the real world.

“It’s like transporting to another life,” Palko said.

In her last semester, Palko hopes to keep that composure and creativity when she performs in the MEAC. “For me it really means a lot, because I’ve played tennis from six years old,” Palko said.

“So I could say tennis is one of the most important and significant things in my life. This is my last chance to show myself as an athlete.”

LADY EAGLES CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10

Junior guard Tenika Neely attempts to drive by her defender Monday night against the Lady Wildcats.

JONATHAN ALEXANDER/Echo assistant editor

that game situation, and that’s why I was saying a lot, and motivating them a lot.”

Although the Lady Eagles outrebounded the Lady Wildcats on the glass 33-32, the Lady Eagles shot a disappointing 29 percent from the floor.

Williams also was unable to get in a groove.

She finished with eight points but was 2 of 13 from the floor.

The Lady Wildcats, on the other hand, shot 36 percent from the field with 24 of their 51 points coming from deep.

The Lady Eagles will head to Savannah, Ga., on Saturday, when they will face the Lady Tigers of Savannah State (7-15, 2-7 MEAC).

“We want to be able to bring the same type of offense to the game of

tonight that we have done in the last few games, and that’s something we’ve been talking about,” Taylor said.

“Just playing a complete game with the offense and the defense in conjunction together,” she said.

So hopefully going into and getting ready for Savannah we’ll be able to do that.”

DURHAM — For five years the N.C. Central University women’s softball team was in search of a field to call home.

They finally found it.

The Lady Eagles (0-6) will play at Parkwood Athletic Park for all home games this season.

“It’s definitely going to give them more of an advantage when they get used to their surroundings,” NCCU head coach Theresa Stephens said.

In past seasons the Lady Eagles were forced to play their home games at different parks around the Triangle. But Stephens said it didn’t feel like home.

“Not at all. We were in about three different spots,” Stephens said.

“We had no home field advantage. You have no idea which direction the sun is going to face so you’re not prepared for it.”

Four to be exact. There were only five home series

and four of them were played at different venues in Durham, Raleigh, Cary and Chapel Hill, making it tough for fans to come out and support them.

The Lady Eagles’ struggles showed. They finished the 2011 season with a 2-9 home record and 4-45 overall record.

Senior infielder Shakemia Edwards waited four years for a home field.

She said the team wasn’t able to practice on a standard softball field.

Instead, the Lady Eagles had to practice on the football turf, which made for a bad transition when they had to play games.

“Turf generally when you hit on it, it bounces a lot,” Edwards said.

“When you hit on this dirt, the ball dies.

“So the ball comes a lot faster on the dirt than it does on the turf.”

Athletic Director Ingrid Wicker-McCree made it her mission to find a steady home for the Lady Eagles, preferably in Durham.

Wicker-McCree said she was finally able to locate a

field when a NCCU staffer’s father told Stephens about the field.

After that, Stephens approached the president of Parkwood Association, Bill Mitchell, to inquire about renting the facility; he responded with open arms.

Wicker-McCree said when she told the Lady Eagles the good news they were ecstatic.

“They feel good that they know they have a place where they’re going to be consistently practicing, and consistently playing,” Wicker-McCree said.

“Their fans and their family know exactly where they are going to be.”

Unfortunately for the Lady Eagles, their homefield advantage was spoiled Tuesday.

They lost to the Longwood Lady Lancers 5-2 in game 1, and 5-0 in game 2 of their double header.

However, Edwards was still excited.

“It felt great having a field, having walk-out songs and having everybody come and watch us.”

BASKETBALL CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10 Noticeably frustrated by the outcome of the game, Bethune-Cookman head coach Gravelle Craig dismissed the notion that the game got out of hand in the first half.

“We felt like they just bullied us at home so I told them to step up and be aggressive,” Craig said. “And they tried to do the same thing so we stood up to them. That’s all that was.”

Twice the Eagles led by

more than 10 points but the Wildcats never went away.

The MEAC’s leading scorer, junior Adrien Coleman (17.8 points per game), tied a career high in points, scoring a quiet 31 on 13 of 17 shooting from the floor, while adding 10 rebounds.

But Willis made six points in the final 41 seconds, including a wide-open dunk with two seconds left to put a stamp on the victory.

“As I told the kids, we just

have to grind it out, and every time we play Bethune it’s going to be a grind,” Moton said. “It’s going to be this type of game.”

The next game for the Eagles will be a stiff test.

They face the Savannah State Tigers (13-10, 7-2 MEAC) in Savannah, Ga. on Saturday.

Last season the Tigers took both games. They are currently seeded at 3rd place in the MEAC standings.

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IVER SITY

Natural hair is for everyone W

hy is she going natural? Everyone isn’t made for that!

Well that’s funny, because everyone is born with it.

The aforementioned quote is one I’ve seen tweeted or have heard in casual conversations on numerous occasions.

And it is indeed the utterances of Ice’es almost excluGreen sively black women with regards to another black woman’s aesthetic decisions.

What I have yet to understand is how something that grows out of our scalp isn’t “for us.”

That’s like saying brown skin or brown eyes or a nose isn’t for everybody.

Now, I’m not about be some Afrocentric power-to-the-people naturalista and pretend that I don’t recognize the reason why some people may believe that having natural hair isn’t the best choice for some.

“Why are black people so hard on each other?

Why do we continuously tear each other down for being what we are, BLACK? “

I most certainly have seen females who have opted out of relaxers.Their hair — dry, brittle, damaged and uncombed — is a sad sight to see.

However, I’ve seen the same thing with weaves, dreads, color-treated hair and relaxers.

Natural hair simply gets the short end of the stick because it has only recently began to resurface as a style choice.

Those born from 1985 to beyond just aren’t used to seeing its prevalence.

Badly treated hair is badly treated hair no matter what the condition of it is. If anything, the girl with the terrible looking relaxer should receive more scrutiny because she’s deliberately using chemicals to make it more manageable and it STILL isn’t working.

But I digress.

Natural hair can definitely be for everyone.

For some odd reason, many newly natural women have a preconceived notion that natural hair is low maintenance and requires little care.

Ha. Ha. Hahaha. No. Quite the contrary.

Having natural hair and caring for it — especially if you’re like me and spent most of your life with a relaxer — is a complete 180 from having relaxed hair.

You’re introduced to a new world of different products and processes that you didn’t even think existed.

Overwhelming, yes.

Unconquerable, no.

One must make the conscious decision to care for their hair in its new state and do the appropriate research

before making any drastic changes.

The same goes for a woman who decides to get a relaxer for the first time or get dreadlocks.

If you make the wrong turn your hair can very well be in the sink.

It is quite interesting to note that the “natural isn’t for everyone” adage is one that only resonates within the African American community.

You never hear white people with bleached blond hair say “brunette isn’t for everyone” or Asians with a curly perm say “straight isn’t for everyone.”

Why are black people so hard on each other?

Why do we continuously tear each other down for being what we are: BLACK? It only gives license for outside races to do the same.

Black beauty is beauty indeed. Whether your hair is natural, relaxed, locked, dyed or you have no hair at all, we and only we can truly appreciate the diversity that we exemplify.

If we start to build each other up, others will follow.

drawing by Rashaun Rucker

Question: Do you believe that stricter gun laws will really make a difference?

“Definitely. It would make it harder for regular people to get guns.”

– Franklin McKoy

Cupid, just shoot me L

et’s cheer for the cute, chubby kid with the mini wings on the Disney VDay cards.

It’s that wonderful time of the year where couples get to brag that they are couples and single people get the joyous reminder of being single. Not only this but Angel guess what?

Those of you Brown who have been dating get to analyze the ultimate question “Are we together?”

How wonderful that Valentine’s Day would be responsible for broken hearts, romantic dinners and confusion all in one day.

Thanks to a cute, little, chunky kid with an arrow fellas, you’re now going to be asking yourself: “Should I get her a Valentine’s card and some roses even though we’ve been dating for a month?”

What joy will the ladies experience fooling themselves

“By the way guys, you will feel the wrath of an angry woman if you don’t get her the heart-shaped box of Godiva...” into believing “I’m not going to be mad if he doesn’t get me anything for Valentine’s, we’ve only been dating for a month.”

Lies.com. You will be enraged if he does not get you anything, don’t play yourself.

By the way guys, you will feel the wrath of an angry woman if you don’t get her the heart-shaped box of Godiva or Russell Stowe, a cute fuzzy teddy bear that costs at least $20, and flowers of some overachieving value guaranteed to die within a week.

Valentine’s Day is clearly for the “In a Relationship with” Facebook status people and not the “It’s Complicated” ones.

Now, prepare for a little history lesson, lovers.

Valentinus, the saint we

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named this holiday after, was imprisoned for marrying soldiers. He was forbidden to do so and preaching to detain Christians.

While he was locked away he healed the daughter of his jailer, and before he was executed later, he wrote her a letter entitled “from your Valentine”(this is the part you say “Awwwww”).

The actual time frame Valentine’s Day became a romantic holiday was during the era of Geoffrey Chaucer, yes the guy that wrote The Canterbury Tales.

Apparently this was when being affectionately obnoxious and materialistically expressive became popular.

So where did the idea of Cupid come from?

Cupid actually means

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“desire” in Latin. He is the God of affection, desire and erotic love.

Because of his symbolism, he is tied to Valentine’s Day. The idea of a bow and arrow supposedly represents “love and hate”.

I guess this explains why some of us end up hating exes or never letting go.

Ouch.

I am not saying I hate Valentine’s Day. No, I am actually a fan of it, for the lovers’ sake.

In all honesty I just don’t appreciate the concept of making people feel pathetic, lonely or unloved.

But you probably feel this way before and after Valentine’s Day. If you are dating, get her/him a Valentine’s treasure. It doesn’t matter if it’s big or small.

If he doesn’t get you a gift I think that answers your “Are we together?” question.

If she doesn’t answer your calls or texts on Feb. 15 I think you probably will know why.

“It will make a difference, but it will have a negative impact on law abiding citizens.”

– Sam Pounds

“Stricter rules will keep people safer.

Normal people don’t need AK-47s.”

– Cierra Earl

Sound Off By Ciera’ Harris