March_24_2010 Print Edition

N

MARCH 24, 2010

O R T H

C

A R O L I N A

C

UN

E N T R A L

I V E R S I T Y

919 530 7116/CAMPUSECHO@NCCU.EDU WWW.CAMPUSECHO.COM

1801 FAYETTEVILLE STREET DURHAM, NC 27707

Campus . . . . . . . . . .

1-6

Beyond . . . . . . . . . .

8-9

VOICE . . . . . . . . . . . .

8-9

Feature. . . . . . . . . .

12

A&E. . . . . . . . . . . . .

13

Sports. . . . . . . . . . .

15

Opinion. . . . . . . . . .

16

VOLUME 101, ISSUE 11

Campus

A&E

Beyond

The Upper West Side

A tale of terror. Former NCCU student shares the story of her violent relationship.

A man-eating plant, a dentist and doowop. Get set for “Little Shop of Horrors.”

Some colleges letting males and females share dorm rooms. No kidding.

Our assistant editor grabbed a camera before heading home for spring break.

Page 3

Page 11

Page 8

Page 12

Campus Echo Health bill passes nation's health care system in more than four decades, sweeping changes expected to make coverage easier and cheaper to obtain.

The largely party-line vote — 219 Democrats voted "yea" while all 178 Republicans

BY DAVID LIGHMAN AND WILLIAM DOUGLAS MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS (MCT)

WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives Sunday passed by a 219 to 212 vote the biggest overhaul of the

and 34 Democrats voted no _ meant President Barack Obama's biggest domestic initiative neared the end of its yearlong political and legislative odyssey.

"We proved that we are still a people capable of

doing big things," Obama said late Sunday from the White House.

The House first approved the legislation the Senate approved on Dec. 24. The

n See HEALTH Page 9

President Barack Obama makes a statement following the vote in the House on health care reform on Sunday.

OLIVIER DOULIERY/Abaca Press (MCT)

Missing the math mark

AMEN, THE DAFFODILS (AND SPRING) HAVE ARRIVED!

Pass rate in GECR math courses just 57 percent

BY JAMESE SLADE ECHO STAFF REPORTER

At N.C. Central University, there doesn’t seem to be a single student who has not failed math or who doesn’t know someone who has failed it.

According to figures provided by the department of math and computer science, over the last five years, about 65 percent of students enrolled in math courses required by the general education curriculum either drop out or fail.

The dropout rate in these courses is 25 percent, while the failure rate for students who stick it out is 40 percent.

These statistics apply to algebra and trigonometry, college algebra and trigonometry II, finite mathematics, and pre-calculus.

NCCU’s provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, Kwesi Aggrey, called the situation “sad.” Aggrey said math and science education in colleges and universities has been a national problem for quite some time.

The department of math and computer science

offers free tutoring in two rooms on the third floor from 9a.m. to 5p.m. and, like all University departments, requires teachers to have 10 office hours during which, students can get extra help.

But students are not taking advantage of the resources that the math department offers, according to department chair Alade Tokuta.

Tokuta said he gives his students the opportunity to do the Math XL homework as many times as they want until they 100 percent.

“Many students do not take advantage of it,” he said.

“It may take one person one hour to understand material and 10 days for another person to understand the same amount of material,” said Tokuta.

He said students need one-on-one time with instructors, but they don’t take advantage of it.

“I can count on one hand how many students have come to see me personally,” said Tokuta.

“If a student doesn’t ask questions, I therefore believe that they under-

n See MATH Page 2

It was a winter for the record books: cold, wet and snowy. December was the second wettest North Carolina December on the record books. January brought a near-record cold spell, making it the 16th coldest January since 1895.

And January snows ranked at the 26th highest since 1895. But it’s all in the books now!

CHI BROWN/Echo Staff Photographer

Building service Students get blisters for a good cause

Here we go again Johnson and Jordan face off once more for SGA top spot

BY ASHLEY GRIFFIN ECHO ASSISTANT EDITOR

Members of the New Orleans community service team, Ceslie Covington, Alphonso McEntire, Nadirah Brown, Briana Bennett, and Mykeia Smith, rebuild a baseball field for a New Orleans high school.

Courtesy of Swetha Kumar

BY ASHLEY ROQUE ECHO STAFF REPORTER

Cutting down trees, maintaining trails, creating fish habitats in southern Virginia and clearing out mold, planting trees, rebuilding a baseball field in New Orleans—doesn’t sound like your typical spring break, does it?

But for 15 N.C. Central

University students, that was exactly how they spent their spring break.

Six students in one group went to Scottsburg, Va. to work alongside state park rangers, and nine students went to New Orleans to work alongside community members to continue the reconstruction of New Orleans.

"It was an experience I will

never forget,” said Alana Shekell, an education sophomore who went on the Scottsburg trip.

“You learn so much about all that goes in to maintaining and repairing the environment that it’s crazy to take it for granted.”

The New Orleans team cleaned mold from a home and

n See SERVICE Page 2

In last night’s debate before a packed B.N. Duke Auditorium current SGA president Dwayne Johnson squared off against challenger Courtney Jordan in a debate that will determine next year’s SGA top spot.

In a heated exchange Jordan suggested that students don’t even know who the current SGA president is.

Johnson’s reply: “Yes they do because we all partied last night.”

To this Jordan said: “That’s why nothing gets done, because you’re partying all the time.”

In the debate Jordan focused on his ties to city officials and the mayor, while Johnson asserted that campus live is improving under his SGA leadership.

In a discussion with the the Campus Echo last Wednesday the two candidates outlined their plans and vision if elected for the 2010-11 academic year.

According to current SGA President Dwayne Johnson, the duties of an SGA president include scheduling SGA executive meetings, serving on the NCCU Board of Trustees and serving as a liaison between the SGA and

Current SGA president Dwayne Johnson and challenger Courtney Jordan.

ASHLEY GRIFFIN/Echo staff photographer

NCCU’s administration.

“The SGA president deals with bridging the gap between the students and the administration,” he said.

n See ELECTION Page 2

Campus

2 N

O R T H

C

A R O L I N A

C

E N TR A L

IVERSITY

MATH

SERVICE

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Brandon Murphy

stand.”

But some students, like English senior Jahara Davis, say that math teachers are not always approachable.

“At times, I feel the only reason they offer office hours is because it’s mandatory, but they do not want to spend the ample time to assist the students,” she said.

One thing is clear: Students are not graduating from high school with a solid foundation in math.

“It is a problem that students aren’t testing into maths higher than 1100,” said Tokuta.

“The fact is that students don’t study in high school, and the habit follows them to college,” he said.

Based on placement tests, 87 percent of NCCU students are required to take math 1000, a remedial course equivalent to middle school math. The course provides elective credit only.

“If someone tests into remedial math, that means they don’t know math at all,” said Hayk Melikyan, a math professor.

Laura Smith, an associate professor of math, said the problems clearly begin before students arrive at NCCU. “If students were being taught properly in high school, there wouldn’t be so many students in remedial courses,” she said.

NCCU math graduate student Kaan Ozmeral, who has taught high school math for six years, said he sees the problems begin early.

“The kids don’t really like math,” said Ozmeral, who added that too much is taught through the calculator.

“That lack of intimacy detracts from their learning.”

Ozmeral said high school kids are punching in basic multiplication problems as simple as eight times four.

But NCCU students are saying that these problems could be solved with more TLC, namely emphasis on hands-on exercises during classes, and less reliance on

UN

Campus Echo WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2010

technology, namely Math XL. “I heard the teachers here do not try to help the students,” said mass communication senior Kim Godley, a transfer student from UNCGreensboro.

“I have decided to take math at a community college because they work with you more and dedicate more time to make sure you will pass.”

Math XL is an online computer program that math instructors use for homework assignments, tests, tutoring and anything math-oriented for the class.

“Math XL is being incorporated into our curriculum and taking place of old-fashioned learning, such as a simple pencil, paper, book and calculator,” said Davis.

“For 12 years before we came to college, that’s all we knew.”

Davis described the teacher-student relationship like this: "It feels as if they thought we needed them and they didn’t need us, but the need is mutual.”

Breana Gaines, a psychology sophomore who passed Math 1100, said she had no problem with Math XL, but agrees that many students could use a more hands-on approach.

“Here it is like you are learning on your own,” she said.

Monisha Whitfield, math elementary education junior, said math teachers need to use class time more effectively.

“There are no in-class assignments — meaning that there is very little studentteacher interaction,” Whitfield said.

“If teachers would take a different approach by having in-class work, they would be able to understand each student’s status.”

Another problem students say they face is cultural.

Many of the math professors are foreign-born and have accents that students say are sometimes difficult to understand.

“There was a language

SANSUI

Sushi Bar & Grill 4325 Highway 55

SPECIAL

Durham NC 27713 (919) 361-8078 www.sansuinc.com

Half price Sushi roll (any time and to go as well)

NCCU DISCOUNT WITH STUDENT OR STAFF ID

• 20% OFF on Lunch & Dinner menu Limited time offer • Alcohol not included • Not valid with any other offer

Try our Tatami room for an authentic Japanese dinner experience for 4-16 or, for bigger events, our banquet room holds up to 40.

barrier, and I couldn’t communicate with my teacher,” said Joclynn Clyburn, a business marketing junior.

Davis, who dropped math courses twice and got a D once, said she had problems understanding her math instructors at first, but eventually got through it.

“At times, the way that they spoke, I felt as if they thought they were better,” she said.

“But my sophomore year, I tried math again and passed two classes with foreign teachers.”

Abraham Solomon, a math assistant professor, said math instructors are trying their best.

“The best way to work with a foreign teacher is to go to them for office hours,” Solomon said.

“Math is not an easy subject. When students come in and see me, they usually do get better and work harder.”

One issue that both faculty and students agree on is that students have too much on their plates, which affects their ability to succeed in math.

Solomon explained that in many countries, college students are students only, but in the United States they often work at outside jobs as well.

“Their time and energy is spent in so many places, and they don’t have the time to spend on their math studies,” he said.

According to Davis, “The average student is not someone who goes to class and goes home. The average student has a job.”

But the fact remains that students must get through their math requirements.

“For the students, this is an investment of their time so they will have a better life, and they have to understand that,” said Solomon.

“Students have to work.”

And that means becoming “an aggressive learner,” said Davis.

“When it comes to math, we simply don’t try hard enough.”

planted trees where older ones had been washed away. Students also helped rebuild the baseball field at George Carver High School.

“We dug up grass around the bases and placed clay to make the field durable for playing again,” said English sophomore Briana Bennett.

"It was a life-changing experience to see where their levees broke,” said Ceslie Covington, social work freshman.

“Hearing the stories of Katrina and working in a small way to help restore what was lost is something I will never forget.”

In Staunton River State Park, Va., students marked over five miles of trails, created fishing line recycling bins and trimmed fire lines at a national preserve.

“On another day, we cut down cypress trees and drilled holes in them so we could tie them to cinder blocks and sink them to the bottom,” said Marcell Pinnix, physical education freshman.

“More fish will fill up the lake because they now have places to hide and shade to stay under.”

The two projects were the first weeklong out-ofstate community service trips ever done by NCCU students. Ira Noble was faculty adviser for the Scottsburg group, and Ruby Messick and Tia Doxey were the faculty advisers for the New Orleans group.

“Your college years are a time for you to experience the world, and these trips allow you to do just that,” said Deborah Bailey,

Jaemia Pratt clears branches for a new trail at Staunton River State Park in Virginia.

ASHLEY ROQUE/Echo staff photographer

director of Alternative Community Service Learning Programs, which is administered by NCCU’s Office of Community Service.

And this spring break, that’s just what happened.

Students had a taste of New Orleans culture as they hopped on street cars downtown and tasted the world-famous Cajun seafood.

“I had alligator tail for the first time, and it was surprisingly good,” said Korey Mercer, a political science freshman.

In Virginia, students vis-

ited the Luray Caverns and enjoyed campfires at night.

“We learned about the direct effects of Hurricane Katrina in St. Bernard Parrish,” said Swetha Kumar, an ACSLP associate who spearheaded both trips.

According to Bailey, the success of the trips is paving the way for future community service trips.

“I hate when people say the sky’s the limit,” said Jaemia Pratt, criminal justice senior, a team leader for the Scottsburg group.

“Who says you have to stop at the sky?”

ELECTION CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 “It is also very important for the president to have a strong presence, not only on campus but in the community,” said Johnson.

This year’s match is a repetition of last year’s SGA contest when Jordan, a political science and bio tech junior, challenged Johnson, a history junior, and lost.

“Last year, I was caught up in a lot of things,” said Jordan. “Losing humbled me and brought me to another part in life.

“It kept me grounded.

After losing, I received a lot of support. This is something that I am meant to do. I can see the problems and see the solutions. I don’t accept defeat. I am not a quitter.”

Johnson, who was the first sophomore ever elected to become SGA president, will be in the unusual position of becoming a second term SGA president.

“If I were to win again, it would show me how many students I touched on campus and that I’ve really made an impact.”

“You have to engage

Home Screening for Bacterial Vaginosis to Prevent STDs (The BRAVO Study) Nationwide research study with approved medication to see if more frequent testing and treatment for bacterial vaginosis, a vaginal infection that is not an STD, will help to reduce the chances of women getting gonorrhea and chlamydia.

After the initial visit, swabs are collected at home and mailed, every 2 months for a year.

Qualifications: female, ages 18-25, no vaginal symptoms at time of first visit, and other criteria.

Testing & treatment at no cost, compensation will be provided.

Please call: UNC Clinical Research Staff in DURHAM Karen Lau, FNP: (919) 560-7849 or Adriane Osborne, FNP: (919) 560-7850

with the students. I go to all the events on campus," he said.

“I want to show my support for the campus.”

Both presidential candidates see similar problems on campus: student morale, parking and residential living conditions.

Jordan has drawn up a 10-point plan for Eagle pride rehabilitation. The plan includes making more community service projects available to everyone, weekend block parties, a costume ball, a SGA street team, and more programs with the PanHellenic organizations.

“I would like to do things different and things that have never been done before,” said Jordan.

“Many students have come up to me and said campus life is dead. The student body wants to see something fresh and innovative on campus.

“I want to be able to provide a solution to the students,” he said.

Johnson takes a different approach.

“I would like to keep implementing the programs like chat with the

chancellor, chat with the chief — it shows evidence that SGA is working for the students,” said Johnson.

“I would also like to add new programs like more mentoring, more community service projects and dinner with the chief.

“I would also like to send SGA notifications every month to students so they know what SGA is doing.”

Both candidates said that NCCU students should show more pride in the University.

“Many NCCU students sometimes look down on NCCU and compare us to other schools," said Johnson.

"We are constantly trying to find a solution, but sometimes students don’t inform SGA and we truly don’t know what’s going on.”

Voting will run Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Blackboard. If students experience any problems with voting they can get assistance at the Alfonso Elder Student Union during voting hours.

now featured on a computer near you

Campus Echo Online www.campusecho.com FULL SERVICE LAW FIRM

“an NCCU alumnus you can count on to serve your legal needs”

Johnson Law Office, PLLC ATTORNEY MATHEW JOHNSON

919.648.7575 cell 919.313.2731 office 2004 SOUTH MIAMI BLVD DURHAM, NC 27703

• TRAFFIC • DUI • INCORPORATION • CONTRACTS • PERSONAL INJURY • RENTAL DISPUTES

www.johnsonlawofficepllc.com

Campus

Campus Echo WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2010

N

OR T H

C

A R O L I N A

C

E N T R A L

UN

3 IVERSITY

A hard lesson in love A former student tells her story of a toxic relationship that turned violent

BY ERICA SMITH ECHO STAFF REPORTER

“I am strong,” Rihanna told Diane Sawyer during an interview in late 2009. “I am, and it happened to me.”

The pop singer was discussing the notorious incident in which her now exboyfriend singer Chris Brown attacked her.

“Even if Chris never hit me again, the young girls out there who look up to me might not be so lucky,” she said.

Studies show one in four women will be victims of domestic violence sometime in their lives.

Diane Sawyer stated during that interview that on average, a women is abused seven times before she leaves an abusive relationship. Rihanna response: “eight or nine actually.”

Hard to believe?

Meet former N.C. Central University student Chelsea (she has asked that her last name not be used). She is 22 years old and stands just five feet two. When she was 16, Chelsea got involved with a man 10 years her senior.

Like Rihanna, she thought she would never let a man hit her.

What she did not expect was that the person who claimed to love her more than his very life would hurt her “beyond repair.”

Chelsea's experience is hardly unique. According to the National Coalition against Domestic Violence, college females ages 20-24 are at the greatest risk of domestic violence. Abuse comes in various forms and does not necessarily mean just physical abuse.

Domestic violence is an umbrella term for all the abuses that women can experience.

“Our relationship started off as any other — late night phone calls, presents just because — all of the sweet romantic stuff,” Chelsea said.

“That lasted through the duration of high school.”

When she entered NCCU in 2005, Chelsea noticed changes in her boyfriend’s behavior.

“The sweet loving gestures came to an end, and this new angry person began to appear,” Chelsea said.

“He began to show up on campus more and more — and always unexpected. It

Those were not the hands that used to hold me and care for me.

Those were the hands of a stranger on the body of the man I loved, who supposedly loved me.

CHELSEA FORMER NCCU STUDENT AND DOMESTIC ASSAULT VICTIM

DID YOU KNOW?

n One in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime. n 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year. n Females 20-24 years of age are at the greatest rick of non-fatal intimate partner violence. n Most cases of domestic violence are never reported to police. n Intimate partner violence results in more than 18.5 million mental health care visits each year. n There are 16,800 homicides due to intimate partner violence annually. n One-half of the protection orders obtained by women against intimate partners who physically assaulted them were violated. n Most states include dating relationships in domestic violence laws.

Graphic and data box information courtesy of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence

was almost as if he expected to find me cheating on him with another guy.”

The more deeply Chelsea fell in love with her boyfriend, the more he demanded from her, and the more he had to be the center of her life.

“The visits quickly turned into me going back to his apartment with him every night,” she said.

“If I tried to refuse, he would get so mad and start saying things like, the only reason I wanted to stay on campus was to see my other boyfriend or that I didn’t love him anymore. I would of course go with him to set his mind at ease.”

Soon, it became clear I couldn’t talk to anyone he didn’t approve of.

“My phone rang one day, and it was a guy friend from

childhood. My boyfriend became so enraged that he broke my phone.

“That should have been my sign, telling me that this was not a good relationship to be in. But instead, I promised him I would do better and told my friend not to call me anymore.”

Chelsea said the next thing to go was her family.

She said her boyfriend systematically isolated her so that she would be solely dependent upon him.

“My mother really disapproved of him, so that quickly became an issue,” she said.

“In turn, I saw her less and less. That didn’t bother him at all. He was trying to convince me that my mother was trying to rule my life and that I was old enough to make my own decisions.”

When they began living together, Chelsea thought things might improve, but her boyfriend always put her down.

“I would clean the house, but it wasn’t the way his exgirlfriend did it,” she said.

“I would cook but, it wasn’t the way his ex-girlfriend would do it. Everything I did — even my very existence — was a problem for him.”

Mentally pummeled and nearly completely broken down, Chelsea’s dream of becoming a psychologist was all but gone. She said she flunked out of her classes because she let her boyfriend control her life.

Then, he dropped a bombshell. After dropping out of school, I found out he had gotten a girl pregnant.

“I couldn’t control my rage,” she said.

“I began screaming and yelling. I pulled a knife on him. I was just so hurt and heartbroken. I had let him take everything away from me. I gave him everything, and it meant nothing to him.”

Then, for the first time there was physical violence.

According to Chelsea, he picked her up by the throat, threw her against the walls and into the bathroom where he choked her.

“Those were not the hands that used to hold me and care for me. Those were the hands of a stranger on the body of the man I loved ,who supposedly loved me.

“I don’t know what made him stop, but he did. He got up and walked away.”

It was at that moment that Chelsea realized that her boyfriend had control over her life. She had lost every-

thing, given everything to him, and it didn’t matter to him.

“I was in an abusive relationship. That thought hit me like a ton of bricks. I tried to think and remember when my relationship took a turn for the worse, but I couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment it happened. The changes were so small. The smallest of things changed over a large span of time, turning the man of my dreams into my nightmare.”

Like Rihanna, Chelsea finally got out of the abusive relationship. She has now moved on with her life.

Her story is a common one. It’s a story in which love keeps you in a toxic relationship.

It’s a story she chose to share because “domestic violence is never OK,” she said.

“It isn’t just hitting.

Physical violence comes at the end. Mental abuse is the beginning. Even after the physical scars fade, the emotional ones can last a lifetime.”

Law clinic program lends a helping hand Law students and faculty aid domestic violence victims in getting protection

BY ALISHA BYRD ECHO STAFF REPORTER

If you’re in an abusive relationship and feel you may need protection, there’s help right here on campus.

N.C. Central University’s

Paralegal Summer Intensive

Domestic Violence Clinic helps victims of domestic violence get protection orders against their abusers.

The service is free and is open to everyone regardless of race, gender, sexual preference, age or econom-

ic status.

“We empower victims of domestic violence because court can be scary,” said law student Lili Lopez.

“We’re here to guide them to get the results that they want.”

Graduate law students,

PAID INTERNSHIP WITH GSC APARTMENTS GSC seeking an Intern for the months of May-August 2010. Primary duties include:

Program at Duke begins 5/24.

Earn your paralegal certificate in 6 weeks.

Free info sessions on April 8 & May 6.

For more information go to learnmore.duke. edu/paralegal.

Or call 919.684.6259.

• Create a NCCU student centered marketing strategy for prospective student residents • Perform Weekly Outreach Marketing on-campus and in the surrounding Durham area • Prepare prospect kits, move-in and move-out packets and promotional marketing materials.

• Actively recruit and secure lease agreements • Serve as the primary student ambassador for NCCU

This is a paid internship to include bonuses.

To apply, fax resumes to 919-401-4595 or e-mail resumes to spatrick@gscapts.com

assisted by their supervising attorney, Deria Hayes, prepare victims for court to get an order of protection against their abusers.

Protection orders last for one year and can be renewed for up to two years.

They can be issued against individuals in many kinds of relationships, including those involving abusive roommates.

The clinic is based on a class in which law students work toward their certifications as legal interns.

The clinic also directs victims to resources that can help them with issues like housing, child custody and divorce.

The Domestic Violence Clinic can be contacted at (919) 530-5371 or by e-mail at dhayes@nccu.edu.

Summer Storage Specials A-1 MiniStorage

1000 Junction Road

919-471-6668

Just 5 minutes from campus Take Fayetteville St. toward downtown. Then right on Holloway St. to Junction Rd.

May through August Rent Specials 10x10 units just $220 for the entire summer 5x10 units just $180 for the entire summer Free Lock Included. Safe and Secure Storage for Your Stuff!

Best Rates in the Triangle!

Campus

4 NO

R TH

C

C

A R O L I N A

E N TR A L

UN

Campus Echo WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2010

IVER SITY

Principal assets

Midnight madness

Steve Perry insists on setting high standards

American Cancer Society hosts HBCU project

B Y M ATTHEW B EATTY ECHO STAFF REPORTER

Movies such as “Dangerous Minds,” “Freedom Writers” and the classic “Lean on Me” all deal with educators trying to lead students to success.

One real-life man has made it his mission to lead students to higher education in real life, not just the movies ... and that person is Principal Steve Perry.

Perry founded and runs the Capital Preparatory Magnet School in Hartford, Conn., which over a fiveyear span has sent 100 percent of its graduates — mostly blacks and Latinos — to four -year colleges.

Perry is also founder of Conn Cap, the Connecticut Collegiate Awareness Program at Capital Community College in Hartford, Conn.

Perry recently visited N.C. Central University to discuss the current state of the public school system.

Perry spoke Saturday at a symposium hosted by the School of Education called “Saving Our Children through Focused School Interventions.”

Perry, who was featured on CNN’s “Black in America 2,” said that teachers and educators first need to take personal responsibility for educating kids.

“We often criticize our kids for the no-snitching way of thinking, but as educators, we must do something when we see our colleagues not leading students in the right direction,” said Perry.

Like many of his students, Perry came from an economically disadvantaged background.

He stresses that poor social conditions are not excuses to underperform.

Junior varsity cheerleaders Shaquanda Walker and Shantessa Love supporting the cause at Midnight Madness in the L.T. Walker Complex on Wednesday, March 17.

CHRIS HESS/Echo staff photographer

Community activist and educator Steve Perry stresses that solving social problems requires strengthening the family.

Perry is the author of Man Up! Nobody is Coming to Save Us.

BY C HRIS H ESS ECHO STAFF REPORTER |

Photo courtesy of Thomas Scheft, School of Education

And he insists that expectations should not be lowered at any cost.

Perry said that in order to achieve success with our kids, we must close low performing schools not up to standards.

“This isn’t an indictment on our teachers,” Perry said. “It’s a statement of fact when it comes to lowproducing schools. I am simply stating that if you aren’t producing, you’ve got to go.

“If someone told you that the car you were riding in had a 5 percent chance of coming home, you wouldn’t get in the car, so why when it comes to our kids do we ignore percentages and expectations?” he asked.

Perry also said that the first thing children must be taught is reading.

“When boys and girls know how to read, they have more of a positive attitude,” he said. “They seem

more eager to learn.”

Perry also discussed the role of music in teaching kids.

“If you look at why Dr. Seuss has been successful, it’s because rhyme is something that children can relate to, and music is a language that kids can understand,” said Perry.

Perry, who is African American, said that at one time he wanted to run an “all black school with an all black staff.”

“I said, ‘let me just get all the brothers, and we can start this thing,’” he said.

“I learned two things: It was naïve of me to think that only black people cared about black people or that all black people cared about black people.”

Perry is an alumnus of the University of Rhode Island and received his masters from the Unviversity of Pennsylvania.

All of the stands were jam-packed last Wednesday in the L.T. Walker Complex when N.C. Central University and The American Cancer Society collaborated to educate HBCUs on the importance of living an active lifestyle.

The event, called “Midnight Madness,” saw members from the American Cancer Society as well as fitness trainers, aerobics instructors and numerous students.

“We’re engaging students to eat and live healthier,” said Tracy Smith, community manager with the ACS. NCCU is the first of four pilot schools to work with the ACS to host this program of active lifestyle awareness.

“Midnight Madness” had students lend support by filling the stands to take in the activities.

The event, DJ’d by

NCCU’s own Team Tokyo, included faculty vs. faculty and student vs. faculty games, a dunk contest and a Madden tournament.

“We’re having BMIs (Body Mass Index measurements), fitness trainers and education for students on how to incorporate exercise into their daily lifestyle,” said Smith.

The focus of “Midnight Madness,” said Smith, “was to get students to think about changing their lifestyles.”

The South Atlantic Division of the American Cancer Society is attempting to strengthen its relationship with HBCUs by creating “The HBCU project.”

The HBCU project creates opportunities by working with HBCUs to eliminate health care disparities by educating African-American student communities.

The ACS web site, www.cancer.org, states that African Americans have the highest death rate and shortest lifespans of any

racial or ethnic group in the nation for most cancers.

The mortality rate for all cancers combined continues to be 33 percent higher in African American men and 16 percent higher in African American women than in white men and women, respectively.

Students who signed up to participate in the active lifestyle program received giveaways such as water bottles and T-shirts and were entered in raffles for prizes.

The goal was to reach 400 cards for a six-week fitness challenge that students could sign up for.

“We passed our goal and completed 500 cards. It was a success,” said Dixon Smith said her organization’s hope is that the success of the event will catch on with other HBCUs. She said the ACS is also reaching out to HBCUs through leadership programs.

More information on the HBCU project is available at www.cancer.org.

Prostitution of jazz in 50s-60s B Y J AY J ONES ECHO STAFF REPORTER

The University’s department of history held a panel Sunday on “Resistance and Cultural Politics” in the Hubbard-Totton Auditorium.

The panel was a part of the 2010 African Diaspora Studies Symposium.

The discussion centered around three areas: the spread of information between slaves on different plantations planning revolts, the book/movie, “The Spook who Sat by the Door: A case from Black Subaltern Studies,” and the role of jazz being used as a symbol of racial harmony in the U.S.

The African Diaspora Studies was attended by students and the community.

Speakers on the panel included Marcus Nevius, an NCCU alumnus, Armondo Collins, N.C. A&T University alumnus and Joshua Vincent, NCCU jazz studies graduate.

Vincent, the last speaker for the panel, discussed, “The Prostitution of Jazz: Communism, the Cold War and Canonization.”

Vincent said that at the end of the World War II, America wanted to establish itself as a cultural and military world leader.

However, skeptical European nations wondered how America could be an example of leadership

Health Careers Center N.C. Central University 521 Nelson Street Durham, NC 27707 Monday-Friday, 8:30 am to 5:30 pm 919 530-7128

Find out more about our Special Programs • Boston University Early Medical School Selection Program • Clinical Health Summer Program NCCU/Duke University Medical Center • North Carolina Access, Retention and Completion Initiative in the Allied Health Sciences (NC-ARC) Course Number BIOL2030. This course gives students an overview of allied health professions and facilitates acceptance into the School of Allied Health Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Bring this ad for a 10% Discount with NCCU ID!

More Opportunities are available. Contact us.

Charles E. McClinton, Ph.D., Director Alfreda D. Evans, Student Services Coordinator

For more than 35 years NCCU’s Health Careers Center staff has been developing pre-health professional students into viable candidates for health and medical careers by providing: • Advocacy • Counseling • Enrichment Activities • Health Career Network Access • Health Career Recruitment • Information • Internships & Shadowing Experiences • Standardized Test Prep Workshops • Other services and activities

when they oppressed blacks in their own country.

Communist nations used black oppression to show why America should not be a super power or society to be modeled when it treated its people horribly.

In response, Dwight D. Eisenhower, U.S. president from 1953 to 1961, established a group of jazz ambassadors, including Duke Ellington, to tour Europe and showcase America’s diversity.

Jazz, as a reflection of the plight of black America, grabbed the ears of Europeans who immediately embraced it.

Vincent described this as “prostituting jazz for the benefit of white America.”

He said as America promoted jazz as its symbol of racial harmony, white actors in blackface still performed jazz in minstrel shows.

Soon blacks weren’t the only ones making jazz any more.

Vincent described it as the “canonization of jazz” because it stopped being known as ‘black music’ and no longer came from struggle and heartache.

Instead, it came from music studios who tried to find a formula to crank out as much of it as it could as fast as possible.

This went against the origins of jazz, and as result, many Americans today do not associate jazz with blacks.

Campus Echo WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2010

5

Campus

6 NO

R T H

Learn a language Panel examines importance of language learning

BY MARKETA FLOYD ECHO STAFF REPORTER

The time is long past when students can get by in this world as monolinguals — as speakers, that is, of just one language.

That was the message provided at “One Hundred Years of Teaching and Learning World Languages at NCCU and Other Current Issues,” a panel discussion held March 17.

The panel, headed up by Reine Turcato, an assistant professor in the Department of Modern Foreign Languages, focused on language teaching and learning at NCCU. The panel was one of three panels last week that focused on “The Intellectual Climate at North Carolina Central University 1910-2010.”

The March 15 panel, headed up by Emmanuel Oritsejafor, director of the Office of International Affairs, examined the meaning of “internationalization” at NCCU. The March 16 panel, headed up by art professor Achamyeleh Debela examined the way that art can function as an agent of social change.

Turcado stressed that students ought not to think of other languages as “foreign.” “I am sometimes offended when people use the word ‘foreign’ to describe what we call ‘world languages,” said Turcato “There is nothing foreign about it and everyone should be eager to learn

from a culture other than their own.”

One concern of the panelists was the lack of resources.

“It is difficult for students to get the full effect when you have over 2,000 students and only two fully equipped ‘smart classrooms,’” said Turcato.

But associate professor of German Claudia Becker stressed that it’s important to make the best out of what we have.

“A lot of people focus on the deficiencies, but we as a department work together and make the best out of what we have,” she said Resource deficiencies aside, the bottom line was this: It’s a big world out there and it’s vital that students embrace the unfamiliar.

“Students who have no exposure to world languages will have a hard time in this world,” said Hernandez-Cuevas.

“I don’t know how life would be for me if I didn’t speak English.”

Josh Trower, an NCCU senior talked about his experience in an exchange program that took him to Mannheim, Germany.

“When they came to my German class with the brochures I was a little apprehensive, but as I kept listening I said to myself ‘this could be interesting.’”

Trower said he immersed himself in the German culture by making sure to mingle with the locals.

“It’s incredible,” he said.

“Every time I close my eyes I can still see Mannheim.”

C

A R O L I N A

C

E N T R A L

UN

Campus Echo WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2010

IVERSITY

Live a ‘Balanced Way’

A sign promotes “Balanced Way” meals in the food line at W.G. Pearson Cafeteria. The healthy food program began in February.

RAQUIM WATSON/Echo staff photographer

BY RAQUIM WATSON

contain less than 600 calories, less than 35 percent calories from fat, less than 800 milligrams of sodium and a minimum of 3 grams of fiber.

Dessert, sides, and snacks contain less than 300 calories, less than 35 percent calories from fat, less than 250 milligrams of sodium and at least 1 gram of fiber.

Students who have tried Balanced Way offerings say they’re happy.

“It tastes great and it’s great for your body,” said senior Ashley Cooke, a food and nutrition major.

“Whenever I go to the cafe I always try and find it and at least try one from a different station every day.

It’s how I keep myself looking good and feeling good as well.”

One of the most popular offering is the Szechuan stir fry pork, which is crafted by

ECHO STAFF REPORTER

N.C Central University and Sodexho, the corporation contracted to prepare food in W.G. Pearson Cafeteria, have joined forces to help students maintain healthier eating habits.

The Balanced Way Program offers meals prepared with a proper balance of nutrients — carbohydrates, lean proteins, and healthy fats — as well as proper portions so you can look and feel your best throughout the school year.

“We always put health first while creating food that has a great taste and is appealing to the eye,” said David Best, executive chef at W.G. Pearson Cafeteria.

The program, which began in early February, offers main courses that

Best himself.

Line servers are now instructed to ask students if they want their plate The Balanced Way, according to Pamela Watson, a dietician at W.G Pearson cafeteria.

Watson has been preparing Sodexho employees for changes that come with adding healthier food options.

And, as Americans keep putting on the pounds healthy food is becoming more and more important.

According to the American Obesity Association an individual is overweight when their body mass is greater than 25 and obese when their body mass is greater than 30.

According to a body mass calculator, a 6-foot-tall individual weighing 185 pounds would have a BMI of 25 and a 5-foot-tall individual weighing 130 pounds would

have a 25 BMI. Obesity in the U.S. occurs at higher rates in minority populations compared to White Americans based on the American Obesity Association.

According to the association almost 70 percent of blacks are overweight, with almost 40 percent of them obese.

For whites the figures are 62 percent overweight, with 29 percent of these obese.

Almost 15 percent of black women are considered severely obese, with a BMI greater than 40.

Tiffany Taylor, Sodexho marketing coordinator said the statistics are alarming.

“We are going to use nutritional guides, teachable moments, learning moments, learning activities, personal and group challenges,” she said.

United Christian Campus Ministry 525 Nelson Street, NCCU Campus

Get involved with Campus Ministries today!

Y-STAND Women’s Ministry Retreat

Michael D. Page Campus Minister

Saturday, Oct. 24 Contact Campus Ministries to sign up

For more information contact Rev. Michael Page at 530-5263 or by e-mail at mpage@nccu.edu

Dr. Sheila Allison

• general gynecology • abnormal PAPs • emergency contraception • hormone imbalance • bioidentical hormones • in office procedure • menstrual irregularities

In office procedure for sterilization and heavy periods.

6216 Fayetteville Road, Suite 105 Durham, N.C. 27713 919.405.7000 Fax: 919.405.7006

SPRING CAREER FAIR ~ Mar ch 25 • Looking for a job?

• Concerned about plans after graduation?

• Need to gain valuable experience to land that dream job?

•Come meet and greet represenatives from local and national employers.

BUSINESS ATTIRE IS REQUIRED. Prepare NOW ~ Contact University Career Services for more information.

10 am to 1 pm Walker Physical Education Complex

66 employers registered to date!

Meet with representatives from organizations including LabCorp, City of Durham, Social Security Administration, BB&T, U.S. Immigration and Customs, Administrative Office of the Courts, and Chapel Hill/Carrborro Schools

University Career Services Call us: 919.530.6337 ~ Drop by: William Jones Bldg., lower level Send us an e-mail: nccucareerservices@nccu.edu See us on the Web: http://web.nccu.edu/careerservices/index.php

Campus Echo WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2010

BLACK AMERICA AND THE N-WORD (N**GA) Daily more and more Black Americans are seeing them selves, family, relatives and friends in a different light and are no longer using the n-word.

Black Americans use of the n-word isn't moving forward, it's not uplifting and positive, but such actions are stagnating, regressive and dishonorable.

When you [embrace] the n-word you are sanctioning every atrocious act, whiplash, rape, hanging perpetrated upon your enslaved ancestors. NOT GOOD! The n-word symbolized death and destruction to our ances tors and for any African American to embrace it is con temptible, abominable and inexcusable.

Let’s stop demeaning and degrading one another with the n-word and desecrating the memories of our ancestors, ban and bury the term.

N**ger: A sub-human, 3/5 a person, savage, barbaric bestial beast. When you look in the mirror is that what you see?

Stop using the n-word!!!

UVCC’s Board of Directors is asking you as Black Americans to join with us in helping to eradicate the n-word from our vocabulary. Realistically the term isn’t going to disappear into thin air but it can be eliminated from any and all Black African Americans speech. It all begins with you!

7

Beyond NCCU

8 NO

R TH

Few blacks serve in top U.S. diplomatic posts B Y PAUL R ICHTER AND T OM H AMBURGER TRIBUNE WASHINGTON BUREAU (MCT)

W A S H I N G T O N — The U.S. State Department has fallen short in its efforts to promote AfricanAmericans to key frontline diplomatic posts, department officials and diplomats said, despite efforts to increase diversity under two black secretaries of State and a black president.

The State Department has high numbers of black employees overall, and some prominent AfricanAmericans in top positions, such as Susan E. Rice, ambassador to the United Nations. But officials said few minorities were climbing to senior frontline posts that wrestle day to day with some of the nation’s most urgent international challenges in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Only one U.S. embassy in Europe is led by a black ambassador, for example.

The situation has stirred concern at the top ranks of the State Department, and officials are searching for new ways to bring AfricanAmericans and other minorities into such positions.

“It is essential that we make new progress on our diversity agenda,” Philip Gordon, the assistant secretary of State for Europe, said in a recent statement to the European bureau.

State Department data from September _ the most recent available _ show that of the 32 diplomats then heading embassies and other U.S. missions in Europe, only one, John L. Withers, the ambassador to Albania, was black.

However, Withers says he will leave that post later this year.

There are no AfricanAmericans among the 10 ambassadors or other chiefs of mission in South and Central Asia, or the 18 in the Near East, and only one among the 17 in East Asia.

Ho wever, 11 of the 37 missions in Africa were then headed by AfricanAmericans.

Over the last decade, the department chose 36 black diplomats for embassies in Africa, but only three for embassies in Europe, in smaller countries _ Iceland, Albania and Slovenia.

Overall, AfricanAmericans make up about 16.3 percent of the State Department’s employees, compared with about 12.8 percent of the U.S. population. But of foreign service officers serving overseas, 6.9 percent are black.

Latinos, Asians and Native Americans are also under-represented

compared with their share of the U.S. population.

The shortfall of black diplomats in top embassy jobs has long troubled African-American diplomats.

“It’s a concern that many of us have,” said Ruth A. Davis, who oversaw the foreign service as director general from 2001 to 2003 and who retired last month. “We would like to change it.”

Nancy Powell, who oversees the foreign service as the department’s director general, said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was committed to naming more minorities to top jobs.

“The number will be better,” after new assignments are made this summer, she said.

The shortfall stems from a combination of factors, officials and diplomats said, including the fact that many young black diplomats have been drawn to serving in African embassies because of personal interest, and because those embassies have been eager to recruit them.

However, Withers, the departing U.S. ambassador to Albania, said separate career tracks had evolved, keeping AfricanAmericans and others out of jobs that serve as close advisers to top U.S. officials _ what he called “whisper in the ear” positions.

Johnny Young, a fourtime ambassador who is now retired, said that in the late 1990s, after five assignments in Africa, he sought a post elsewhere.

Instead, he said, he was urged to remain in the region.

Eventually, he became ambassador to Bahrain, where he was the only black ambassador in the Middle East, and then, in 2001, was named ambassador to Slovenia.

He said he went to meetings with the European bureau’s top officials and found himself scanning rooms of white faces. He joked to colleagues: “I’m the only fly in this bowl of milk.”

State Department officials have stepped up minority recruiting with the expectation that they would advance throughout the system. But some black diplomats said the challenge at the State Department is not at the entry level, but getting minorities into the higher-level posts from which ambassadors and their superiors are chosen.

“The intake side of things is not the issue,” said Kenton Keith, a retired foreign service officer and former president of the Association of Black American Ambassadors.

“There’s nobody in the pipeline in the policy ranks.”

“an NCCU alumnus you can count on to serve your legal needs”

Johnson Law Office, PLLC 919.648.7575 cell 919.313.2731 office 2004 SOUTH MIAMI BLVD DURHAM, NC 27703

A R O L I N A

C

E N T R A L

UN

IVER SITY

A post-gender world in dorms?

Some colleges allowing opposite sex students to share a room

Kayla Eland, 20, and Lindon Pronto, 21, pictured March 9, 2010, are not boyfriend and girlfriend, just pals who share same room in a dorm at Holden Hall at Pitzer College in Claremont, California.

IRFAN KHAN/Los Angeles Times (MCT)

B Y L ARRY G ORDON LOS ANGELES TIMES (MCT)

LOS ANGELES – They weren’t looking to make a political statement or to be pioneers of gender liberation. Each just wanted a familiar, decent roommate rather than a stranger after their original roommates left to study abroad.

That’s how Pitzer College sophomores Kayla Eland, female, and Lindon Pronto, male, began sharing a room this semester on Holden Hall’s second floor.

They are not a couple and neither is gay. They are just compatible roommates in a new, sometimes controversial, dormitory option known as genderneutral housing that is gaining support at some colleges across the nation.

Eland, a biology major who hopes to become a doctor, said that a roommate’s personality and study habits are more important than gender.

“This might not be right for everyone,” she said of sharing the small, cinder block-walled room with a man. “But I think it’s important to have the right to choose where you want to live, how you want to live and who you want to live with.”

Pronto, an environmental studies major who works each summer as a forest firefighter, agreed.

Apart from remembering to lower the toilet seat, he said, living with a woman friend is not much different from rooming with a man. “As far as I’m concerned, a roommate is a roommate,” he said.

Although the number of participants remains small, gender-neutral housing has gained attention as the final step in the integration of student housing.

In the 1970s, many U.S. colleges moved from having only single-sex dormitories to providing coed residence halls, with male and female students typically housed on alternating floors or wings. Then came coed hallways and bathrooms, further shocking

traditionalists. Now, some colleges allow undergraduates of opposite sexes to share a room.

Pitzer, which began its program in the fall of 2008, is among about 50 U.S. schools with the housing choice, according to Jeffrey Chang, who co-founded the National Student Genderblind Campaign in 2006 to encourage gender-mixed rooms.

Participating schools include UC Riverside, UC Berkeley, Stanford, Cornell, Dartmouth, Sarah Lawrence, Haverford, Wesleyan and the University of Michigan.

College officials say the movement began mainly as a way to accommodate gay, bisexual and transgender students who may feel more comfortable living with a member of the opposite sex. Most schools say they discourage couples from participating, citing emotional and logistical problems of breakups.

Officials say most heterosexuals in the programs are platonic friends.

“College students are adults,” said Chang, who is gay and is now a law student at Rutgers University in New Jersey. “They have every single right to choose the person they feel most comfortable living with.”

He estimates that at schools where the option exists, only 1 percent to 3 percent of students living on campus choose a roommate of the opposite sex.

Officials at the Association of College & University Housing Officers-International say the trend has accelerated, but they don’t expect most schools to adopt it. Experts note that most students prefer a same-sex roommate, and some colleges are reluctant to antagonize parents, legislators and donors who view the option as immoral or even dangerous.

Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., which is affiliated with the Churches of Christ, maintains separate dorm wings and apartments for men and women. Asked whether it would consider going gender neutral, Sue

Gamboa, a housing department office manager, said: “Not in the wildest dream would Pepperdine move in that direction.”

Harvey Mudd College, next to Pitzer in the Claremont Colleges, began gender-neutral housing last fall mainly as an option for gay and transgender students, said Guy Gerbick, dean of residential life. Seven students joined; among them are a man and two women, all straight, who share a triple room.

Parents cannot veto such a decision at Harvey Mudd, but Gerbick asks students to discuss it with their families ahead of time. He also asks applicants whether they are romantically involved; all of this year’s participants said no. But if they were, the school could not forbid them from rooming together.

“If we are going into a post-gender world, then the regulation of private behavior is just not practical,” he said.

Several years ago, an earlier proposal for gender-neutral housing was killed at Harvey Mudd by skeptical administrators and older, more conservative trustees, Gerbick recalled. More recently, 74 percent of Harvey Mudd students voted in a survey to allow the option and, to Gerbick’s satisfaction, a new administration agreed.

UC Berkeley senior Rose DeLeon-Foote, who has a male roommate, laughed at fears that gender-neutral housing might promote promiscuity. In fact, she said, the opposite is true when roommates see each other “all gnarly in the morning.”

“It’s not sexual, it’s just not,” said DeLeon-Foote, 19, of Sacramento.

Many schools restrict the option to upperclassmen, to certain floors or to residence halls with gay themes. Pitzer, which has about a dozen students participating this year, avoids such limits out of concern that they may marginalize

students, said Chris Brunelle, director of residence life.

Pitzer housing applications ask whether students prefer a roommate to be woman, man, “other,” or have no preference. Or students can request to live together, as Eland and Pronto did after losing their original roommates.

Their room, which shares a tiny bathroom with two men next door, has the usual collegiate trappings of beer bottles and political posters. The only unusual sight is women’s clothes in one closet and men’s in another.

The pair seem to have a warm brotherly-sisterly friendship and, while they try to be respectful, they say they are not inhibited about being in underwear or even nude while changing clothes in the room.

They insist their living situation does not interfere with romantic relationships with other people.

And although they have not been teased on campus, they face curious questions from relatives and friends.

“I definitely think it’s generational,” said Eland, 20, of Seattle. “For my grandparents, living with someone of the opposite sex if he is not your serious boyfriend or husband or brother, would be very strange.”

Pronto, 21, of Weimar, Calif., said his mother at first worried that he might be distracted by having a female roommate. And fellow firefighters at his “macho” summer barracks may joke about it, he said.

But at colleges, he said, “I think those old-fashioned ways of thinking are kind of dissipating. ... Over the years, this division between men and women, which was so big, is slowly closing.”

Eland’s and Pronto’s living arrangement won’t last long.

Both will be studying overseas next fall, she in Spain, he in Costa Rica, and they are not sure where — or with whom — they will live when they return to school.

now appearing on a computer near you

FULL SERVICE LAW FIRM

ATTORNEY MATHEW JOHNSON

C

Campus Echo WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2010

• TRAFFIC • DUI • INCORPORATION • CONTRACTS • PERSONAL INJURY • RENTAL DISPUTES

www.johnsonlawofficepllc.com

Transmission Rapair and Service • Brakes • Exhaust and Mufflers • Shocks, Struts and Suspension Service • Cooling System and Radiator Service • Air Conditining • Maintenance Tune-ups • Factory Recommended Maintenance

the new campusecho.com Recently named the best HBCU online student newspaper in the nation •multimedia•complete share & bookmark fea-

AAMCO RTP The Complete Car Care Experts 5116 S. Hwy 55, Durham, NC

919-493-2300

tures (Facebook & more) •online advertising•free student, staff & faculty classifieds•news updated daily •archives & search from 2000 to present •comment options •news tip e-mail link The Campus Echo Online is optimized for the Mozilla Firefox web browser.

Beyond NCCU

Campus Echo WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2010

NO

R TH

C

A R O L I N A

C

Scholars challenge Wake school plan Wake County school board may soon ditch diversity-based student assignment policy

BY THOMAS GOLDSMITH THE NEWS AND OBSERVER(MCT)

RALEIGH — A group of Triangle academics pulled up research and data Wednesday as they urged the Wake County school board not to take the final vote to ditch its diversity-based student assignment policy next week.

For instance, Helen Ladd, a professor of public policy studies and economics at Duke University, didn’t just predict problems hiring and keeping teachers at some exceptionally high-poverty schools Wake is likely to create under its new plan.

Ladd presented an analysis of statewide numbers that showed such schools have the highest percentage of teachers with less than three years’ experience, with lower teacher test scores and with degrees from lower-quality colleges.

“By every measure, highpoverty schools have teachers (and also principals) with weaker credentials than other schools,” Ladd said in her presentation at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship on Wade Avenue.

Professors from UNCChapel Hill and N.C. State University also brought the results of years of academic work to a briefing sponsored by the nonprofit advocacy group Great Schools in Wake. They argued against ending the policy of keeping schools socioeconomically diverse, using busing in many cases, to avoid high concentrations of lowincome students.

The pro-diversity presentation was made just days before the school board majority is expected to affirm a major change in school assignment policy.

When the board meets Tuesday, it is scheduled to vote for a second time to send the system’s 140,000 students to communitybased schools. The education scholars urged Wake County not to rush into systemwide change without considering some of Wake’s strengths -- such as specific approaches in some schools that help bridge the academic achievement gap of some minority students.

The scholars also warned about potential problems if the changes increase the num-

ber of very high-poverty schools.

Kathleen Brown, head of the educational leadership area at the UNC School of Education, and the other academics who spoke Wednesday concede that the Wake system has significant problems under the diversity policy. Notably, there’s a persistent achievement gap between students from better-off families and those from lower-income and minority groups.

“Clearly there are issues in our schools, issues that preceded this conversation and issues that will follow it,” said Paul Bitting, associate professor in the College of Education at NCSU. Leaders of the board majority, four of them elected last fall, have said that a reconfigured system could include schools with new concentrations of highpoverty students and require additional resources to keep those schools healthy.

For an academic study, Brown and a colleague identified 24 demographically similar elementary schools in Wake County — those with the lowest and highest achievement gaps between white and minority students.

According to the research, the schools followed the same state curriculum and many other practices, but the schools with the smallest achievement gaps shared these similarities: Leaders recognized and celebrated academic achievement and expected excellence from each child.

This included everything from phone calls to parents to making notes on students’ report cards, in contrast to a more passive approach at schools with wider gaps.

Principals based their hiring of teachers on skill level more than on personality and offered staff highly specific guidance and feedback, pointing them to additional people or other sources for improvement.

In dealing with the state’s mandated curriculum, the schools with smaller achievement gaps “emphasized creativity and depth [and] built upon students’ strengths,” while schools with larger gaps “remained focused primarily on coverage and consistency.”

E N T R A L

UN

9

IVER SITY

HEALTH CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

chamber then approved changes to the bill called reconciliation, on a vote of 220 to 211, again with no Republican votes. The Senate will consider the revisions this week.

Obama is expected to sign both measures, and trigger the biggest changes to the health care system since Medicare was created 45 years ago. Under the new plan, most consumers would be required to have coverage by 2014, and most employers would have to offer it.

Within a year, insurers would be barred from denying coverage to children because of pre-existing conditions, imposing lifetime limits on coverage and dropping people from coverage when they get sick.

By 2014, virtually everyone would have to obtain coverage while employers would have to offer it.

“Just think, we will be joining those who established Social Security, Medicare, and now, tonight, health care for all Americans,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, DCalif., said before the vote.

The reconciliation bill makes several key changes to the Senate measure. The Medicare payroll tax would go up 0.9 percentage points, to 2.35 percent, for single filers earning more than $200,000 for joint filers making more than $250,000.

In addition, they would pay 3.8 percent on dividend, interest and other unearned income, starting in 2013.

The bill also provides more help with insurance premiums for lower- and middle- income consumers and expands Medicaid funding to states. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates 32 million more people, or 94 percent of eligible Americans, will be insured by 2019.

“I know that this bill is complicated,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. “It’s also very simple. Illness and infirmity are universal, and we are stronger against them together than alone. Our bodies may fail us. Our neighbors don’t have to.”

Republicans warned the plan’s impact would reverberate beyond health care policy.

People attend a 'Kill the Bill' rally in opposition to government reform of health care in Washington, D.C. Saturday, March 20, 2010.

OLIVIER DOULIERY/Abaca Press (MCT)

In an impassioned floor speech, House Minority Leader John Boehner, ROhio, chastised House Democrats for ramming through a bill and suggested the majority party will pay the price in November’s midterm elections.

“We have failed to listen to America,” Boehner said.

“If we pass this bill, there

will be no turning back. It will be the last straw for the American people. In a democracy, you can only ignore the will of the people for so long and get away with it.”

The outcome was in some doubt early Sunday as about a dozen anti-abortion Democrats threatened to withhold their support

unless they got guarantees the legislation wouldn’t expand the government’s role in abortion. However, the White House said Sunday afternoon Obama would issue an executive order to ensure the administration will enforce longstanding restrictions on the use of federal funds for abortion.

College teacher accused of anti-gay lessons

BY TRACY CORREA MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS(MCT)

FRESNO, Calif. — Fresno City College officials said they plan to take action against an instructor accused of presenting religious-based and anti-gay views as fact in a health class. But school officials declined to say what action they will take.

In a March 8 letter to three students who complained, the school said its investigation found that instructor Bradley Lopez violated district policy and engaged in conduct that could create a hostile learning environment.

The students were part of a complaint filed by the

American Civil Liberties Union in February.

The letter from Christopher M. Villa, Fresno City College’s vice president of student services, said that Lopez’s conduct could have unreasonably interfered with students’ learning by making insulting comments directed at homosexuals.

A copy of the letter was posted on the Web site of the college’s student newspaper, The Rampage.

Lopez, who didn’t return telephone calls Wednesday, has vehemently denied the allegations. His attorney, Charles Magill, said Lopez has done nothing wrong: “We completely disagree with the findings.”

Magill also said that Lopez, who teaches health science, has not been reprimanded or notified of any pending disciplinary action. He said Lopez continues to teach at Fresno City College and is not going to change the way he teaches.

The two-page letter from Villa said Lopez described homosexuals as “suffering from a mental disorder and advising psychological counseling as a remedy.”

Doing so, the letter said, violated district policy prohibiting comments based on sexual orientation.

Lopez also was found to have violated district policy by teaching religious material, which is incon-

sistent with Fresno City College as a public institution. Villa said the instructor was not required to hide his religious belief, but should not have engaged in religious indoctrination as he did by assigning readings from the Bible.

The school also concluded that Lopez’s actions are not protected by academic freedom — a principle that allows instructors to teach controversial ideas without fear of punishment.

The idea of academic freedom is that healthy exchanges with students can lead to thought-provoking discussions.

The college said it would “take appropriate

action to address the violations policy and regulations and prevent them from recurring in the future.”

School officials aren’t discussing what action might be taken, calling it a personnel matter.

A written statement from Fresno City College President Cynthia Azari said the school is committed to its anti-discrimination and harassment policies. She added: “The situation is being handled appropriately.”

Jacqueline Mahaffey, 24, one of the students who complained, said she felt vindicated. “It makes me feel good to know that the college is acknowledging

this and they are going to do something about it,” she said.

However, she said she wants to make sure action is taken and that the letter “is not just a device to placate us.”

Elizabeth Gill, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Northern California, called the findings “a great first step” but is still waiting to see what action is taken against Lopez.

“My agenda is that the school make sure that all their health science classes are teaching medically accurate and unbiased information.

“It’s the school’s responsibility to make sure that happens,” Gill said.

www.GetPaidToDrink.com INSANELY HEALTHY ENERGY DRINK TAP INTO THE $5 BILLION ENERGY DRINK MARKET THE RADICALLY DIFFERENT DIETARY SUPPLEMENT Brand Partner

www.BrandonPavement.vemma.com

10

Campus Echo WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 20010

11

Campus Echo WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2010

ANDTHE WINNER IS...

Campus Echo

1st - Best HBCU Student Newspaper 1st - Best HBCU Online Student Newspaper 1st – Best Headline Writing 1st – Best Individual Page Design 1st – Best Editorial Cartoon (Brandon Murphy) 2nd - Best Overall Design 2nd – Best Editorial Section (Britany Rooks) 2nd – Best Multimedia Package Honorable Mention – Best Photo Essay (Chi Brown)

As judged by news industry professionals & the Black College Communication Association

Campus Echo Online named best HBCU online student newspaper in the nation at the 12th Annual HBCU Student News Media Conference

2010 HBCU EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM AWARDS

www.campusecho.com

12

West Side, New York N

O R TH

C

A R O L I N A

C

E N TR AL

UN

Campus Echo WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2010

IV E RS ITY

Photos and text by Ashley Griffin

Traffic flows through the intersection of Broadway and 71st Street in New York.

S

Above: Local favorite Gray’s Papaya is the place to go for a fruit drink and a footlong hotdog.

Above right: Central Park is a home for the homeless and a business locale for a street vendor.

Right: Horse carriage handler with Max, his favorite horse.

Street vendors from the Philippines sell winter apparel on 73rd Steet.

A view of Manhattan’s skyline from Central Park.

ome call it the city that never sleeps, some call it the Big Apple, but whatever you decide to call it, I call New York my hometown.

When I want to get out of Queens, the borough I grew up in, I often head to Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

It’s calmer there than in other parts of Manhattan. In fact, it’s the most laid-back area in the city.

The Upper West Side lies above West 58th Street between Central Park and the Hudson River Central Park attracts people from the entire region to the Upper West Side.

Some come to see the rare and unique items that street vendors offer.

Some come to take a horse-drawn carriage ride around the park.

Nearby is Gray’s Papaya, known for its fruit drinks, hot dogs and “recession specials.”

The restaurant has been featured in numerous movies, books and TV shows.

The Upper West Side... it’s where you go to catch a break, to avoid crowds and action elsewhere in the city.

A&E

Campus Echo WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2010

N

O R TH

C

A R O L I N A

C

E N TR A L

13 UN

IVER SITY

Lil’ shop, big laughs Campy Off-Broadway favorite opens April 10 12345 1234 123 12 T R A S H

Ludacris Battle Of The Sexes 4 out of 5 Sony

The cast (from the left to right) Alexander Jackson, Jessica Jones, Tiffany Agerston, Ariel Griffin, LaDehra Alston, and Tyrone Gooding.

CORLISS PAULING/Echo staff photographer

BY MICHAEL L. WEBB ECHO STAFF REPORTER

The University Theatre has set the stage to bring on a singing, man-eating plant from outer space.

The production of “Little Shop of Horrors” is set for next month, April 10, 16 and 17 at 8 p.m. and April 11 and 18 at 2 p.m.

For the uninitiated, the musical showcases a extraordinary pair of plants, a doo-wop ensemble and a sadistic singing dentist.

The 1982 Off-Broadway musical is based on a lowbudget film shot in two days for just $30,000 in the 1960s by Roger Corman, a renowned director of lowbudget camp films.

The play is best known for it’s incarnation in a 1986 film with an all-star cast that included Steve Martin, Bill Murray and Rick Moranis.

The action in the play occurs inside a flower shop located in downtown Skid Row. Seymour, played by Tyrone Gooding, is a dull, nerdy, down-on-his-luck shop assistant, unable to attract customers nor the sandy blonde bomb shell, Audrey, played by Jessica Jones.

Early in the play, Seymore finds a ridiculous-

Doo-wops Tiffany Agerston and Ariel Griffin in polka dots assist Jessica Jones (center) pamper up in the make-up room CORLISS PAULING/Echo staff photographer

ly odd plant that sports tendrils and has a very peculiar appetite.

He names the plant Audrey II, named after Seymour’s fancied flake.

The lively blood thirsty, botanical beast, promises Seymour access to an easy life in exchange for a fresh meal.

The bombastic beet incites a comical stir as it sings for its supper: “Come on Seymour, don't be a putz, trust me your life will surely rival King Tut’s.”

The production certifies an unique show of puppeteering as the plant not

only sings, but grows and grows and ... well ... grows.

The doo-wop girls, played by Tiffany Agerston, LaDehra Alston and Ariel Griffin, set seamless rhythm for the comical narrative.

Never delayed by the arduous routine of costume changes, their delivery of the hilarious harmony stamps an unforgettable experience.

In rehearsal their performance was on point.

With polka dots and beehive hairdos, their ’60s styled vocals add comical dimensions to the original choreography: “They say

the meek shall inherit. You know the book doesn’t lie.

It’s a question of merit. It’s not demand and supply.”

Adding more nonsense to the mock horror, the musical introduces Orin Scrivello, played by Alexander Jackson as a sadistic tooth-pulling technician, who is the wicked beau to the original Audrey.

Scrivello sports a leather jacket and an insatiable desire to bring on the pain to his unwary patients.

The play’s director, Irving Truitt, an assistant professor in NCCU’s theatre/drama department, said the production will incorporate some original twists on this timeless comedy.

The actors have been finessing the choreography, vocals and blocking for the upcoming performance to be held in the University Theatre inside the Farrison-Newton Communication Building.

“Little Shop” will be added to NCCU's successful season that began with Samm-Art Williams’ romantic comedy “The Dance on Widow’s Row.” Tickets go on sale today at NCCU’s ticket office downstairs in W.G. Pearson Cafeteria. General admission is $15. Student admission is $10.

It’s been 10 years since Ludacris dropped his first album,“Back for the First Time.”

March 9 marked the date “Battle of the Sexes” dropped, which is Ludacris’ seventh album The album was originally set to be a collaborative project with former label mate, Shawnna, and was to be released in 2009.

However, Shawnna parted ways and left the record label Disturbing the Peace, resigning to the auto-tune king T-Pain’s Nappy Boy Entertainment.

Despite the two breaking into separate paths, Ludacris stuck to the theme of the album and invited friends to help flourish the concept surrounding the different views of males and females.

The album features some of today’s hottest names in hip-hop and R&B including::Trey Songz, Flo Rida, Nicki Minaj, Lil’Kim, Ne-Yo, Trina, Plies, Eve, Shawnna, Ciara and Monica.

“How Low” is the first official single from the

Final Fantasy XIII reaches beyond hardcore gamers

BY DAVID L. FITTS, JR. ECHO ONLINE EDITOR

Welcome to the human paradise in the sky known as Cocoon.

Floating above the world of Pulse, mankind sits apart from the rest living a peaceful life until disaster strikes.

This is the story of Final Fantasy XIII created by Square Enix . The game was released on March 9, for PS3 and XBOX 360 game console.

Unlike other Final Fantasy games, FFXIII takes a different pace. In some of the previous installments, players are given the choice to play through the story at their own pace with an option to complete side missions or focus on the main story.

This time, the developers took a different approach by making players participate in the story straight through until the 25th hour Once that point is reached, the style changes, giving players a new experience away from linear gameplay.

For hardcore fans, this may be a disappointment, but for newcomers who want to focus on the story itself, this one is a winner.

As the story starts, war rages on Cocoon. People are scared of the

unknown, especially those who bare marks on their bodies, received from a hostile fal’Cie, which is a mechanical god of Pulse.

Those who bear the mark of the fal’Cie are called l’Cie. The mark gives them magical powers which they must use to serve the fal’Cie to complete their focus or suffer a fate worse than death.

Those who have a mark are considered threats to society and are forced to board packed trains in order to be “relocated” back to their homeland of Gran Pulse. The one’s who are aware of where the trains really goes, fight against the totalitarian government, the Sanctum, who wants to “purge” all fal’Cie. The game focuses on the lives of six individuals who become l’Cie by exploring their interactions between with one another while they deal with personal issues trying to stay a team.

The dialogue is written so well that it makes the player actually care for the characters.

Even though there are changes, some things never changed. Weapons and items can still be upgraded to form new equipment. Battles are conducted with the use of a Paradigm system which allows players to customize the actions of the characters during battle. With each skill learned, the characters will perform different roles as they progress.

If players are up to the challenge, have time to spare and are looking for an engaging story with twists and turns, check out FFXIII.

#FTW #BlogWorthy #SMH #EpicFail album, which slightly went left field for long time fans.

Though the single held the rapper’s witty rhyme style, it lacked the lyrical content most look to the rapper for.

The second single features the female version of Lil’ Wayne, Nicki Minaj, who adds a crazed out verse on “My Chick Bad.”The remix features Eve, Trina, and Diamond and is also featured on the album.

One thing that stands out is the highlights of the different views that men and women created about each other.

The track “Hey Ho” featuring Lil’Kim and Lil’Fate, challenges the double standard among men and women.

For instance, men are praised for being pimps and players while women engage in similar activities and are categorized as being “hoes” and groupies.

The track took me back to his “Back for the First Time”keynote track “Ho,”which exploited females.

Anyhow, the album is able to take a turn. Ne-Yo is featured on “Tell Me a Secret,” which holds a mellow, smooth beat beat.

The flow and rhymes Ludacris raps are really laid back, making it a great choice for a summer time single.

— Belinda Dunn

Dance resurrection

BY TOMMIA HAYES ECHO STAFF REPORTER

Misson: Save planet Pulse

#TT(Trending Topic)

In honor of N.C. Central University’s Centennial, the Modern Dance Group will celebrate Dr. James E. Shepard’s motto “truth and service” motto.

The annual spring concert will be held Saturday, April 3 at 4 p.m. at the Hayti Heritage Center located at 804 Old Fayetteville Street in Durham.

The concert, “Turn of the Century Part II” is a continuance from the fall concert “Turn of Century Part I.” The Modern Dance Group is a non-profit campus organization and receives funding from Student Affairs as well as the Black College Dance Exchange Incorporation.

Nancy Pinckney, assistant professor of physical education and recreation, is also the adviser and director of the Modern Dance Group.

Pinckney said that the dance group has been at NCCU since the days of James Shepard.

She has been with the group for over 40 years and said the dance group’s purpose is to carry on the traditions of Elveta Hudson, the former dance director and creator of the group.

“The concept of the title derived from the 100th year celebration of NCCU,” said Pinckney. “It’s showing from then to now, how dance has thrived throughout the years.”

The Modern Dance Group is not a competitive dance group and is open to all students who are willing to participate.

“The focus of the group is to promote education, social contact, skill development and excellence in performance because dance is a universal language,” said Pinckney.

The group usually has two performances a year at NCCU and this is their second performance. They also put on performances for the community.

“We are a liaison from the college to the community of dance,” said Pinckney.

Pinckney also stated that the concert is timed this year to be a “kickoff to the formal big celebration of the centennial existence of NCCU.” The concert is free and open to the public.

Donations are welcome.

For more information about the Modern Dance Group contact Nancy Pinckney via email Npinckney@nccu.edu or (919)530-7240.

14

Campus Echo WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2010

Sports

Campus Echo WEDNESDAY MARCH 24, 2010

EAGLES TAKE FIELD FOR THEIR FIRST SPRING PRACTICE

15

Bracket I N B R I E F busted D T

NCCU baseball stumbles

Eagles are now 0-18

NCCU line backers go through drills as inside line backer coach Derrick Arnold scrutinizes on the first day of spring practice in preparation for the 2010 football season. The Eagles are eagelrly awaiting the chance to improve on last season’s 4-7 record. With a wealth of experience, the Eagles will be looking for victories over Appalachian State, N.C. A&T State University, and Winston-Salem State University AARON SAUNDERS/Echo Sports Editor

Lady Eagles ace the court NCCU women’s tennis team fly high this weekend

BY AARON SAUNDERS ECHO SPORTS EDITOR

The N.C. Central University women’s tennis team logged its fifth victory of the season last Saturday while handing the Meredith College Avenging Angels its first loss of the season in route to a 7-0 victory.

The Avenging Angels are the reigning South Conference champions in the NCAA’s Division II and are now 3-1 on the year and undefeated in their conference.

This marked the third time this season the Lady Eagles won every match

they played in a day.

In the first match of singles competition senior Kateryna Chorna, (310) breezed to a 6-0,6-1 victory over Kathryn Maples.

In the second match Freshmen Olesya Palko (6-7) battled her way to a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Ashley Pearsall while sophomore Cameron Chatman (9-4) showed little struggle as she disposed of her opponent, Casey Collins 6-0,6-1 in the third match.

Junior Ashley Rogers (4-7) made short work of her opponent in the fourth game of the day

with a two set victory that finished 6-1, 6-0.

It was more of the same in the fifth game junior.

Tatiana Velasquez (6-6) hastily defeated her opponent 6-1,6-1.

Senior Maria Medina (57) capped off the singles completion with an excellent defeat of her opponent Zannah Webster 6-0, 6-0.

Each player showcased their dominance by winning in decisive form.

Finishing up the sweep was charged to the doubles tandem of Chorna, and Palko, (8-5) Chatman and Rogers, (8-

3) Medina and Velasquez (8-6).

Peculiarly, each doubles tandem consists of players from the same area.

Rogers, and Chatman are both from North Carolina, while Chorna and Palko are from Ukraine, and Velasquez and Medina are from Colombia.

“This was an essential win for our team,” said head coach David Nass.

The Lady Eagles are now 5-8 and are scheduled to face Morgan State at noon this Tuesday at Cary Indoor Tennis Center.

now appearing on a computer near you

the new Campus Echo Online campusecho.com •multimedia•complete share & bookmark features (Facebook & more) •online adver tising•free student, staf f & faculty classifieds•news updated daily •archives & search from 2000 to present •comment options •news tip e-mail link The Campus Echo Online is optimized for the Mozilla Firefox web browser.

oes March Madness have your bracket busted?

Every year around this time us sports fanatics go crazy over the brackets we fill out that predict who will be this year’s NCAA basketball National Champion.

College sports most heralded and favorite tournament has arrived and as I compare my brackets to the rest of the league that I MARCH am participating MADNESS in, I feel a since of joy.

Early indications are that I will win the tourney pickem challenge with 34 out of a possible 48 selections right.

Normally AARON the tournament has shocking upsets, SAUNDERS but you can predict who will likely make it to the final four.

This year, however, there have been several first and second round upsets that even the experts have not been able to call.

On the first day of the tourney Power house programs like Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Marquette, and Notre Dame all fell.

This threw off most people’s brackets as most everyone selected those four teams to make it past the first round.

The second round of the tournament was equally as shocking as Kansas, Villanova, Pittsburgh, Wisconsin, and Maryland all failed to make it into the sweet sixteen.

I know my bracket took a hit with the losses of Georgetown and Villanova both of which I had in the final four. In addition not many people could have predicted that a little school from the Mountain Valley Conference would defeat the Nations #1 team.

By that I mean how many people selected Northern Iowa to take down perennial power Kansas.

Never has there been such a wide open tournament, but the parity of college basketball has been showcased on its finest stage.

Most people try to pin point that one in a million upset to gain points in their bracket and some successfully latch on to a good mid-major team, like Cornell, who have made it to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in school history.

The University of Washington and St. Mary’s have also been pleasant surprises to the round of sixteen this year as they were both expected to fall in the first round.

Some will say that this is to be expected if you have been watching college basketball all season then you will see that there is no dominant team.

In my eyes picking brackets is not an exact science because most of the viewing public has not been able to see every team entered in the tournament play which leads to a lot of dumb luck or false hope picking where someone will luck up and select an out of the ordinary pick.

In the Sweet Sixteen many of us will be in front of our TV’s biting our nails hoping that Cornell does not beat Kentucky, or that West Virginia can hold off Washington if not our bracket will be busted.

EAGLELAND T-shirts sweats polo shirts decals license tags tote bags license frames baseball caps buttons mugs caps car flags pens pencils pennants pom poms bags ceramic eagles towels NCCU framed print, and much more.

Serving N.C. Central University If we don’t have it, we will get it.

If we can’t get it, it’s probably not worth having!

the new campusecho.com now playing ona computer near you

We have the best prices on Earth.

We do custom orders.

And we deliver on occasion!

Marvin Bass, Owner 2501 Fayetteville St. Durham, NC 27707

919 956-5393 www.eaglelandonline.com

his past Saturday the N.C. Central University men’s baseball team fell to future MEAC rivals Coppin State University.

CSU now owns a 5-2 advantage in the series.

The NCCU men’s baseball team now stands at 0-18.

NCCU held a lead in the first and last game of the series before bowing out to the Eagles of Coppin State.

In the second game of the series junior Drew Robinson threw a complete game for the first time as an Eagle.

Robinson only allowed three hits, while striking out three in the loss to Coppin State. The Eagles offense was paced by the hot bat of freshmen Nate Smith who was 4-10 with a triple and 3 stolen bases on the weekend.

Overall the team collected 11 hits in two games and left a combined 13 runners on base.

The Eagles head to Asheville to play the 4-12 UNC-Asheville Bulldogs today at 2 p.m.

Lady Eagles have tough weekend he N.C. Central University Softball team dropped four games this weekend.

On Saturday the Lady Eagles took on Campbell at home and loss both games by a score of 11-2. Sunday the team was defeated in a twinbill 8-0 and 11-0 by the Seahawks of UNCW. The (4-18) Lady Eagles softball team will again play four games in two days when they play Winston Salem State University on Tuesday and East Carolina University on Wednesday.

The team has been led by freshmen Nadia Jefferies with a .365 batting average and senior Desanbra Franklin who has a total 23 hits on 63 at-bats with 14 runs.

T

NCCU legend passes away memorial service was held Saturday honoring the first African American to be drafted from an HBCU to play in the NFL. NCCU hall-of-famer Robert “Stonewall” Jackson died at the age of 88 on March 14.

Jackson worked at N.C. Central University as an assistant football coach and physical education theory teacher as well as an athletic and a weight trainer from 1968 until 1999.

In October he was honored as one of the top 10 coaches in University history.

A highly decorated World War II veteran, Jackson went to the New York Giants in 1950, two years after graduating from N. C. A & T State University.

Jackson lived with his wife in Wake Forest, N. C.

A

Are you looking for a rewarding career where you can use your major and help people?

Residential Services is currently looking for Direct Support Professionals to work in our group homes for children and adults with autism and other developmental disabilities.

Entry-level positions available, no experience necessary! Gain valuable experience beyond the classroom and make a difference in the lives of others. Part-time ($10.10/hr.) and full-time positions ($10.20/hr.) available.

Apply online at www.rsi-nc.org

Opinions

16 N

O R TH

C

A R O L I N A

C

E N TR A L

UN

Campus Echo WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2010

IVER SITY

Stick to the plan really hate it when I don’t get things done on time. I am always late for appointments and classes.

I knew there had to be a better way to remember the things I need.

I could organize my life so that my mind is not cluttered.

This is a plan that should work with little effort; I will call it “Stick to the Marcus Plan.”

Davis I will list all of the things I need and check the items off as I go, so that I will not forget anything.

What have I been doing with all this time? The result of being disorganized is a disaster.

I have been looking for my homework for two days. I cannot figure out where I put it when I left the class.

I thought I put it in my homework folder, but it was not there. Then I looked in my backpack, and it was not there either.

This is really bad, being so disorganized. I have to get this fixed. I will have another late

I

I knew there had to be a better way to remember the things I need. I could organize my life so that my mind is not cluttered.

homework assignment if I do not find it today.

Where did I put the appointment slip from my doctor’s office? I just knew it was in my wallet, but it is not there. I looked in the car, and it was not there either.

Maybe I drove my truck to my appointment; I will look in the truck. It is not there, and I am going to be late if I can’t find that slip.

It had the date and time that I was supposed to be at the doctor’s office.

If I do not make it there on time, I will miss my appointment and have to pay for the missed slot.

When is my final exam? I think it is this Wednesday, but I am not sure. Should I study today or wait until tomorrow?

I think I will call one of my classmates to get the schedule.

What did I do with the phone number for that cute girl in my class? I am so unor-

ganized that I cannot find anything.

My grade is going to be terrible if I don’t pass my final.

I will look online to find the schedule.

Where is my laptop? Did I put it in the bedroom or in the living room? Here it is, in the kitchen.

Now I can find the schedule, but why can’t I log in to the school’s web site? My password is not working, and I don’t know what to do. I guess I will have to drive to NCCU to find a classmate.

What is the speed limit on the road? I cannot think right now. It should be 65 miles per hour, so I will go 70 in order to get there quicker.

I was wrong; there is the sign, and it says 55. I better slow down. It is too late; here comes the Police with his lights on. He is not going to get me because I was not going that fast.

I guess I was going that fast; now I have a $150 ticket to pay, and I still don’t know when my final is.

I would not have this ticket if I were organized. This disorganized thing is for the birds.

My life is a disaster; I have entirely too many things to think about; maybe I should do laundry. This is the reason that I can’t remember anything.

As I cleaned out my pockets I found my homework, my class schedule and the cute girl’s phone number. I was about to lose everything I worked so hard to have.

Getting organized is as simple as writing everything down in my Blackberry and synching it with Outlook on my laptop that I keep in the bedroom.

I even set my alarm to tell me when to go to class and when I have a quiz or an exam. The best thing is that I have a place for the cute girl’s phone number.

Now that I am organized, I have turned in all my homework on time, I am ready for my final, and I have a date with that cute girl in my class.

I wish I thought of organizing my life 20 years ago. My life is no longer a disaster.

drawing by Rashaun Rucker

Question:

What did you do over spring break?

“I spent most of my time with my mother and two brothers. I also spent time with old friends that I have not seen in a long time” — Bishari Cooper

Ghetto-phonics phenom ow that Black History Month is over, can we continue in this all too sedentary vein of mediocrity?

How should we comport ourselves in order to celebrate our rich heritage with dignity?

How will history view this era of educated blacks?

We hold a generation of potential leadWillie ers, but what Pace will this legacy be 100 years from now?

What will we evolve into?

Will we continue to refer to each as nigger, dog, and the like for another 20 or more years?

Will young, black soon-tobe men continue to walk around campus holding up their oversized pants, showing

N

their multi-colored, sometimes psychedelic panties, trying to approach some phony coolness?

Surely, there is much excellence to celebrate at N.C. Carolina Central University.

There is plenty of genuine talent here in all disciplines of study at NCCU. But who among us is going to step up and become the standard leaders for this generation?

Where else should we be looking other than university campuses to find the quality leaders we deserve?

But if educated blacks continue to dumb themselves down to be hep and then retain their ghetto-speak, what will be the criterion to judge academic excellence?

I am talking about college students who show no discernable difference between their speech and a high school dropout’s faulty gram-

N ORTH C AROLINA C ENTRAL U NIVERSITY

Campus Echo

mar.

On a campus such as this, in times such as these, how can we continue to exist without a steep increase in intellectual curiosity that goes beyond mediocrity?

Nevermore was I so distressed as when I attended a seminar here at NCCU, the same seminar to encourage junior college graduates from Durham Tech to further their education at this institution.

To demonstrate what, I don’t know, the junior college attendants at that seminar were regaled with a step show.

With all the talent on NCCU’s campus, why could we only come up with a step show to demonstrate to those potential students a reason to attend NCCU? How could that demonstrate the academic excellence we should be striving to instill future students?

Let us stop fooling ourselves. It is not that many are talking with ghetto-speak semantics because that’s the way our friends talk.

It is because many don’t know any better Over and over, and I cringe when I hear it, a college student saying supposedly to another college student on the “celly”: “You is crazy” or “Where you at?” or “Where is you?” or “Where you been at?” And the worst I’ve heard: “I haven’t seen’t him.”

We talked about this in class, and a few students tried to justify these ghetto-phonics as mere conversation between familiars or “my homies.”

But I’d bet money that, if challenged, these same speakers would be unable to shed their customary ghetto-phonics in favor of a speech pattern indicative of the higher learning, which they claim to be seeking.

now appearing on a computer near you

Carlton Koonce - Editor-in-Chief Ashley Griffin - Assistant Editor Online Editor David L. Fitts Jr. Opinions Editor Britney Rooks A&E Editor Diane Varine Sports Editor Aaron Saunders Photo Editor Jerry Rogers Assistant A&E Editor Erica McRae Staff Photographer Mike DeWeese-Frank Staff Photographer Roddrick Howell Staff Photographer Mitchell Webson Staff Photographer Chioke Brown Staff Photographer Corliss Pauling Staff Photographer Willie Pace Copy Editor Lakela Atkinson Copy Editor Amanda Chambers Reporting Coach Stan Chambers Staff Reporter Brian Moulton Staff Reporter Ninecia Scott Staff Reporter Tommia Hayes Staff Reporter Matthew Beatty Staff Reporter Jabari Blackmon Staff Reporter Ashley Roque Staff Reporter Amarachi Anakaraonye Staff Reporter Kanisha Madison Staff Reporter Chris Hess Staff Reporter Theresa Garrett Sound Off Uyi Idahor Cartoonist Brandon Murphy Faculty Adviser - Dr. Bruce dePyssler Alumni Advisers - Sasha Vann, Carla Aaron-Lopez Mike Williams, Sheena Johnson, Jean Rogers, & Carolyn McGill

Letters & Editorials The Echo welcomes letters and editorials. Letters to the editor should be less than 350 words. Editorials should be about 575 words. Include contact information. The Echo reserves the right to edit contributions for clarity, vulgarity, typos and miscellaneous grammatical gaffs. Opinions published in the Echo do not necessarily reflect those of the Echo editorial staff.

the new Campus Echo Online campusecho.com •multimedia•complete share & bookmark features (Facebook & more) •online advertising•free student, staff & faculty classifieds•news updated daily •archives & search from 2000 to present •comment options •news tip e-mail link

E-mail: campusecho@nccu.edu Web address: www.campusecho.com Phone: 919 530 7116 Fax: 919 530 7991 The Campus Echo Online is optimized Spring 2010 Publication dates: 1/20, 2/3, 2/17, 3/3, 3/24, 4/21 © NCCU Campus Echo/All rights reserved The Denita Monique Smith Newsroom Room 348, Farrison-Newton Communications Bldg.

NCCU, Durham, NC 27707

for the Mozilla Firefox web browser.

“I went to Atlanta, with a few of my friends from N.C. Central University.

Then I returned back to Durham to work so I can make up for all the money I spent in Atlanta.”

— Jamechya CarterDuncan “I saw a few of my old friends that I graduated from high school with and hung out with them.I wished spring break could have been longer.”

— Alexia Jones — Sound Off by Uyi Idahor