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MARCH 30, 2005
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VOLUME 96, ISSUE 10
Campus
Photo Feature
Opinions
Election Special
Noise, noise, and more noise. There is too much noise on this campus
Figga 4 at the Brewery — breathing power into the art of hip-hop
Got spring fever? So does Stephanie Carr. And she’s noticed it’s going around.
Hear why the candidates say they deserve your vote
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Pullout
Campus Echo SGA debate draws crowd
CFAS gets new face New general education curriculum will offer more choices to undergraduates BY DENEESHA EDWARDS ECHO ASSISTANT EDITOR
ty contest. “I think some students actually take the elections seriously, but some only vote to help their friends out,” Alston said. “They shouldn’t even want their votes to be based on popularity.” “I don’t think that they are serious because I never see any changes after I vote,” said business management sophomore Dexter Jenkins. Sophomore president Derek Pantiel says that this “popularity” approach to voting does more harm than good. When selections are based on popularity said Pantiel, “nothing tends to get done.” Outgoing SGA President D’Weston Haywood said he understands the skepticism of the student body, but he suggests that students take the initiative to learn more about the candidates. “Campaigning is bigger than holding up signs and making speeches,” Haywood said. “They have to sit down, visit classrooms, answer students’ questions, and motivate stu-
Next semester’s freshmen will not hear the acronym CFAS as often as in the past. Instead they will be hearing the acronym GEC. Critical Foundations in Arts and Sciences has been renamed and will now be called the General Education Curriculum. The Core Curriculum Committee, composed of over 20 administrators, faculty, alumni, employers and students, has been evaluating CFAS for more than two years. The committee, initially chaired by interim provost Beverly Jones, is now chaired by Carlton Wilson, history chair and associate professor. According to Wilson GEC will offer a broader choice of classes, but it will not entirely replace the old CFAS curriculum. “The name is changing, some classes are the same, and classes were added,” said Louise Maynor, chair of the Department of English and Mass Communication. “This new program will just incorporate,” said Wilson. The Curriculum is characterized by four unifying themes: • communications • global awareness • critical and analytical thinking • professional development According to a committee document, the new curriculum will prepare students academically and professionally for leadership in a culturally-diverse world. “It will strengthen academic skills that will stay with a student throughout their career,” said Maynor. In all the GEC curriculum will require between 38-43 hours. Students will continue taking English Composition I and II. Two mathematics will be required, but students will be able to select from five different mathematics courses. Students who are inadequately prepared will be required to take MATH 1000, an Intermediate College Algebra. Science Odyssey will no longer be the only science course being offered. Instead, students will be able to select two courses from a list of sixteen courses in biology, chemistry, geography and physics. Six hours will now be required in social sciences: World Societies and one more course selected from a list of courses offered in geography, history, psychology,
n See SGA Page 2
n See GEC Page 2
SGA presidential candidates Renee Clark and Brandon Brown get a laugh from vice presidential candidate Agu Onuma’s speech. AARON DAYE/Echo Photo Editor
Candidates detail their platforms BY TIANA ROBINSON ECHO STAFF WRITER
Three N.C. Central University’s 2005 Student Government Association presidential candidates tried to make their case Tuesday evening in the New School of Education Auditorium. Brandon Brown, Renee Clark, and Derek Pantiel are gearing themselves up to take over from D’weston Haywood whose term ends June 1. Brown said NCCU needs to make its atmosphere more appealing and improve student morale. He also said the SGA needs to push the administration to improve technology. “I come as a more approachable candidate to implement programs during homecoming week, reduce stringent rules from the administration, and focus on a more accessible library for the students,” said Brown. “I believe in leading by example.”
Clark said she has passion and a vision and is ready to organize individuals. She said student pride will come with more student involvement. Clark said she puts academics first and will also question budgeting, unwanted student policies, safety and funding for organizations. She said she is pushed by the passion to serve far greater than the desire for any position. “Position is the fuel that feeds one’s vision,” Clark said. “Leadership is action, not a position. As Eagles we are ready to soar for new heights.” Pantiel’s platform was critical of the administration. He said the University should be customer service oriented. “I am the man that you think that you are,” said Pantiel, who quoted Malcom X saying: “If you want to know what I’ll do, then figure out what you would do, and I’ll do the same ... only more of it.”
Some students complain that SGA elections won’t bring change BY ANIESA HOLMES ECHO STAFF WRITER
Once a year, N.C. Central University’s campus gets decorated with giant banners, elaborate posters and colorful flyers by SGA candidates seeking votes. But the enthusiasm may be one sided. Some students say they doubt the motives behind these campaigns. They say it is just a popularity contest and that everyone is just voting for their friends. They wonder if the candidates will be just as dedicated after they win the elections. They wonder if the candidates will be serious enough to make a difference. “I think that the candidates are serious as far as passing out flyers to be elected, but I don’t think that they are serious about actually making a change,” said international business major Tucker Wallace. “I think that they just want something to put on their resumes.” Mass communications junior Bernice Alston said the elections tend to be just a populari-
Army still behind in recruiting BY ANN SCOTT THE WASHINGTON POST
WASHINGTON — The activeduty Army is forecast to miss its recruiting targets again in March and April, as the prospect of combat-zone deployments in Iraq discourages American youths — and adults who advise them — from considering military service. The Army expects to fall short of its targeted number of recruits, Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey told
reporters Wednesday, confirming the likely continuation of a trend that began in February when the activeduty Army missed its monthly goal for the first time since 2000. Last week, Lt. Gen. Franklin L. Hagenbeck, the Army's personnel chief, said in congressional testimony that “monthly recruiting figures from March and April will be difficult to achieve.” As the Iraq war, coupled with lower unemployment, creates one of the toughest
recruiting environments in years, Army leaders are struggling to come up with innovative ways to reverse the trend of insufficient enlistees, which threatens core assumptions about the all-volunteer force. “Are we concerned? Absolutely, I'm very concerned,” Harvey said at his first Pentagon news conference since assuming his job in November. “But I'm not going to give up.'' Harvey voiced cautious optimism that the active-
duty Army, which had 94 percent of its year-to-date goal in February, would achieve its target of 80,000 recruits by September, as would the Army Reserve. He and other leaders expressed doubt, however, that the Army National Guard, at 75 percent of its year-to-date goal, would fulfill its manpower requirement this year. Harvey dismissed the idea that the Pentagon
n See RECRUITING Page 4
Members of Virginia National Guard's 276th Engineer Battalion march through downtown West Point, VA, after arriving home. GERALD MARTINEAU/Washington Post