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1801 FAYETTEVILLE STREET DURHAM, NC 27707

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VOICE. . . . . . . . . .

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VOLUME 101, ISSUE 3 919 530 7116/CAMPUSECHO@NCCU.EDU WWW.CAMPUSECHO.COM

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A&E

Sports

Opinion

Feature Spread

Local student music group Team T.O.K.Y.O. talks about their future plans.

Cracks and a failed motor shut down pool at Walker Physical Education Complex

Read what penguins, lemmings and saggy pants have in common.

Stories explore community and struggles of Northeast Central Durham

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Campus Echo Fresh prez on track

ONE MORE HEARTBREAKER

Freshman seeks involvement

AGGIES TAKE DOWN EAGLES IN DOUBLE OT, 23-17

15 million jobless Almost 10% without work KEVIN G. HALL MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS (MCT)

Freshman class president-elect Reggie McCrimmon CHRIS HESS/Echo staff photographer

BY TIARA PUGH ECHO STAFF REPORTER

When political science freshman Reggie McCrimmon won last week’s SGA election as freshman class president, it came as no surprise to his mother, Sharon McCrimmon.

According to his mother, something “changed overnight” in high school when McCrimmon, who she described as an introverted child, suddenly began to get involved in extracurricular activities at Cape Fear High School in Fayetteville.

“He began to get involved in school. He joined the band,” said McCrimmon.

“He got involved in student government and Students Against Drunk Driving. Then he was voted class vice presi-

INSIDE

NCCU Eagles walk off the field in despair after a heartbreaking loss at the hands of the N.C. A&T Aggies. In the background Aggie players and fans celebrate the overtime victory in the 82nd annual meeting between the two rivals.

Photo story — Page 8 Game story — Page 11

SAVIN JOSEPH/Echo photography editor

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Aerospace research blasts off Vlahovic lands a second massive NASA grant for NCCU

BY A SHLEY ROQUE ECHO STAFF REPORTER

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has granted N.C. Central University a five-year, $5 million grant to establish NASA-CADRE, a center for aerospace device research and education at NCCU. The grant comes on top of last year’s $5 million National Science Foundation grant given to fund CREST, a computational center for fundamental and applied science at the University.

Branislav Vlahovic, an NCCU physics professor, is the man behind the money that funds the research centers, both of which he directs.

“With this grant, NCCU will

be developing strong research that will be used by NASA,” said Vlahovic.

The aerospace research center brings together 17 professors and researchers from NCCU, NASA and associated university departments, including Jefferson National Laboratory, Cornell University and Duke University.

According to Vlahovic, the grant will fund research “to meet technological challenges of the NASA science mission directorate.”

The research focus of the center is to develop advanced devices and materials, sensors and detectors, and generate fundamental and applied science and engineering research.

The devices and materials will also be used to improve the

resolution capability of optical instruments such as cameras, microscopes and telescopes.

The sensors are used to detect different elements, molecules, and compounds — like hydrogen and ammonia — on other planets and across the universe.

Vlahovic said much of the funding will support undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral students at NCCU. Funding will be granted to students for tuition, housing and research.

Overall, undergraduates will receive $110,000 in support, graduates $280,000, and postdocs $145,000.

Last year’s computational

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Forum eases burdens Branislav Valhovic with graduate student Julius Ajayi produce nanostructures with pulse lasers.

NEKA JONES/Echo staff photographer

Percussion director takes charge New arrival charged with readying percussion section for 2011 Rose Bowl Parade

BY ISHA JACKSON ECHO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Lamon Lawhorn with Sound Machine percussionists JERRY ROGERS/Echo staff photographer

Lamon Lawhorn, assistant director of the N.C. Central University Sound Machine and head of marching percussion, is bubbling with excitement — the Sound Machine has been selected to march in the 2011 Rose Bowl Parade.

“There are bands across the nation that may never get the honor of marching in the parade, so Marching Sound

WASHINGTON — The September unemployment numbers announced last Friday were a reality check for anyone who was thinking that strong economic growth was just around the corner.

The nation’s unemployment rate ticked up to 9.8 percent, its highest level in 26 years, as employers quickened the pace of layoffs, the government said in a worse-than-expected report.

U.S. employers shed 263,000 jobs in September, more than the 150,000 to 200,000 that forecasters had expected. Employment fell in manufacturing, construction, retail and, surprisingly, in government.

Since the recession began in December 2007, the number of unemployed Americans has risen from 7.6 million to 15.1 million.

The unemployment rate has doubled to 9.8 percent — the highest since June 1983 — rising another tenth of a percentage point in September.

It was a lousy report from top to bottom, with the average workweek for production and nonsupervisory jobs falling slightly to 33 hours in September.

That number should be going up in an economic recovery.

“Today’s job report is a sobering reminder that progress comes in fits and starts, and we’re going to need to grind out this recovery step by step,” President Barack Obama said at the White House.

Machine has just been labeled as one of the elite bands in America,” said Lawhorn.

“I'm extremely excited about the upcoming band season,” he said.

“Being that I marched in an HBCU band, I know all about the culture of halftime and I’m looking forward to seeing other bands in the region.”

Lawhorn, who was hired in June, studied music education at Prairie View A&M University in Texas, where he was a per-

cussionist in the Marching Storm, the university symphony and the marimba ensemble.

His master’s degree is in percussion performance from the University of Mississippi.

After graduate school, Lawhorn returned to his hometown of Fort Worth, Texas, to tour with the Inner City AllStars Brass Band, playing drums.

The Inner City All-Star Brass Band, founded by University of

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Older students discuss challenges TRESSIE MCMILLAN ECHO STAFF REPORTER

Older-than-average students, and those who must juggle full-time jobs and parenthood, have another opportunity to meet, air grievances and discuss ways to ease the burden of their busy lives.

Due to popular demand, another Non-Traditional Student Forum takes place Thursday, Oct. 15 at the 10:40 a.m. break and at 6 p.m. in the Alfonso Elder

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ELECTION WINNERS In other election results: Freshman vice president Janasha King Freshman secretary Noredia Akwara Miss Freshman Lauren Pinckney Mr. Freshman Jimmy Woods Sophmore president Regina Glover Mr. Junior Christopher Beatty Senior president

center CREST grant funded $250,000 for undergraduate and graduate students and $160,000 for postdoctoral students.

The massive grant has NCCU’s physics students excited.

“The grant provides Central with the opportunity to expand the physics program, which in turn continues to elevate NCCU as center of excellence as an HBCU,” said physics graduate student Alan Fisher.

“Many students will choose Central because of the new opportunities this grant will provide.”

Physics graduate student Syed Gilani said, “This is a great opportunity. The grant will give us new technology that will allow me to build operators and do specialized research.”

Physics graduate Todor Antonijevic said, “I think that working for NASA is what every physicist wants. I can’t wait to start.”

Graduate student Joseph Estevez said the NASA grant will not only enhance NCCU’s research reputation, but will also provide facilities that will bring researchers to NCCU.

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Science prof lands top spot “Currently, we have to outsource,” said Estevez.

“As research students, we have to go to other labs and universities to do a lot of our research.

With the NASA grant, we’ll have tools needed to bring students from other universities here.”

Vlahovic’s motivation to capture the NSF and NASA grants is clearly driven by his love for physics.

“Physics gives you an understanding about the world around you, and you can understand how everything works from atoms to televisions,” he said.

Microbioligist studies gonorrhea resistance

Ashlee Autry

dent and prom king. That’s when I saw that he was a leader.”

In high school, McCrimmon was class representative his freshman and sophomore years, class treasurer his junior year and class vice president his senior year. He was also a drum major.

According to McCrimmon, there was no question about whether or not he would be involved with student government at N.C. Central University.

“God blessed me with a voice to speak to people and to be the voice of people,” he said.

“So why not run for president?”

Even before classes began, McCrimmon spoke with current SGA president Dwayne Johnson about getting involved with the SGA. He said that Johnson gave him some important contacts that helped him get on track.

McCrimmon said President Barack Obama is his inspiration. By watching a DVD of an Obama speech before his own speech on debate night, McCrimmon chose to use a phrase similar to one Obama used: “Inspire things that inspire you.”

A major concern for McCrimmon is getting the freshman class involved in activities.

“I’ve heard many freshmen say that there is nothing to do around campus,” he said, adding that there are things to do, but the problem is getting the word out about University activities.

McCrimmon said he would love to see the bowling alley open later on weekends for students.

“The freshman class is looking for someone who will listen to their problems and is not just in it to say, ‘hey, I won,’ then never does anything,” said McCrimmon.

Junior Class President Dominique Everett, a nursing major, had this advice for McCrimmon: “Take advantage of as many opportunities as you can. You will meet lots of people who can open other doors.”

FORUM CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Student Union, room 136.

The forum, sponsored by N.C. Central University’s Academic Community Service Learning Program, brings together students termed “non-traditional” to discuss education and other issues in their lives.

During the last forum, held Sept. 29, some nontraditional students complained about their schedules and social lives; others talked about caring for aging parents and keeping marriages together as they earn their college degrees.

The Non-Traditional Student Forum was organized for this kind of conversation.

The definition of nontraditional varies.

The National Center for Education Statistics defines it as a student who works full-time, is independent for financial aid purposes or is the sole family provider.

Organizer Ruby Messick , assistant director of the Academic Community Service Learning Program, said she thinks of non-traditional students as any student 22 or older.

According to a 2007 profile of the student body, the average student at NCCU is 24 years old.

Many of these students work full-time and try to juggle families and education.

Angela Saner, business administration junior, said she works two jobs while earning her degree.

She has managed bouts of homelessness

Health Careers Center N.C. Central University

and social isolation.

Still, Saner believes, “it will all be worth it.”

Sacrifice among nontraditional students takes many forms.

English sophomore Alpha Bundu-Kumara deals with both non-traditional status and adjusting to a foreign culture.

Bundu-Kumara is a native of Sierra Leone in Western Africa.

“Adjusting to cultural expectations about student behavior and academic bureaucracy is especially difficult,” said Bundu-Kumara.

“It’s not that I don’t ask questions [when there is a problem], but cultural differences makes it so I don’t even always know there is a problem.”

Forum attendees said dealing with an administrative system geared toward younger students was a problem. “[My] degree program requires an internship, but work demands make finding one especially difficult,” said Saner.

“Finding help navigating that problem has not been easy.”

Bundu-Kumara said that two weeks of class instruction time spent on non-academic issues like cell-phone usage and tardiness policies is insulting to more mature students.

When one professor asked his history class to write two paragraphs on why students should not use cell phones in class, Bundu-Kumara said, “I just could not do it.”

Messick said NCCU faculty and administrators should understand that not all students

need the same thing.

“Not being respected as an adult can put the non-traditional student at risk,” said Messick.

Issues like not being allowed to use the bathroom during class time, or sitting through discussions about dress codes cheats students of instruction time, something non-traditional students are particularly sensitive to.

“I sympathize with the professors, but our time as students should also be respected,” said Saner.

As a former non-traditional student, Messick initiated the forums because she saw a need among older students.

In particular, she struggled to find required community service projects that fit their busy schedules.

At the forum, students suggested that opportunities to socialize with each other would be beneficial.

Another suggestion was to elect a non-traditional student representative who could represent their issues in the SGA. Messick reminded the group that they are paying students and should feel comfortable using all University services.

Messick stressed that age is not the only factor in being non-traditional.

“Any student struggling with life issues may find the forums helpful,” she said.

Attendees earned five hours of community service credit.

Interested students can e-mail Messick at rmessick@nccu.edu for more information.

Assistant professor Daniel Williams, president-elect of a microbiology assocation, collects gonorrhea cells in a petri dish.

ASHLEY GRIFFIN/Echo staff photographer

BY NINECIA SCOTT ECHO STAFF REPORTER

History continues to be made in the hard sciences at N.C. Central University.

Assistant professor of biology and microbiology Daniel Williams is the first African-American male president-elect of the N.C. American Society for Microbiology.

This past Saturday, NCCU became the first HBCU to host the North Carolina American Society for Microbiology’s (N.C. ASM) annual meeting.

“I hope this motivates students, current and future students of NCCU, interest and commitment to science,” said Williams.

Williams is researching drug-resistant mechanisms in Nessiera gonorrhea to discover how gonorrhea becomes resistant to drugs.

His research is funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

Williams said being president-elect “is a part of my professional growth ... and me bettering myself.”

Williams said hosting the N.C. ASM this year was a great opportunity for the University. “[It helps] to showcase the [Mary Townes] building and to let people know that we are doing science as well as letting others know we have competitive students,” he said.

Williams said that because NCCU is seen as a liberal arts college, scientific research has been overshadowed by this per-

ception.

“But as more research and grant dollars come into the University, research will come to the forefront and become important,” said Williams.

Local in-state HBCUs that regularly attend the N.C. ASM annual meeting include N.C. A&T, Fayetteville State University and NCCU. “The N.C. ASM annual meeting is a great chance for students to showcase what they have done in the lab, and also it builds confidence skills when being able to talk about your research in a professional setting,” said Williams.

Three graduate students from Williams’s lab participated in poster talks during the N.C. ASM annual conference.

Williams said his experience at NCCU as a professor and PI has made him stronger.

“I have been able to learn how to adjust and deal with transitions or changes while still completing research, and it has helped [me] transition into leading the N.C. ASM society,” said Williams.

Any NCCU student interested in microbiology may join the NC branch of ASM. To present at the N.C. ASM annual conference, a student must be conducting research pertaining to microbiology, regardless of their major.

Williams said to be successful, students should find internal motivation.

“People can motivate you, but at the end of the day, it comes from you.”

Career Ser vices Events

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

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

Getting Plugged Into Career Services* November 12, 2009

Internships* October 15 & 22, 2009 November 5, 2009

Interviewing* October 20, 2009 November 3, 2009

For assistance with your resume, please visit our office.

EPA Mock Interview Day at EPA November, 2009

And visit our newly released web site. Just Google “career services + NCCU”.

Our Mission To assist students in identifying, articulating and leveraging their strengths, skills and interests into meaningful work experiences that satisfy their career goals.

University Career Services William Jones Bldg, Lower Level Check us out on the web!

Phone: 919-530-6337 Email: nccucareerservices@nccu.edu http://web.nccu.edu/careerservices/index.php

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Dog stand to reopen A student favorite was closed for zoning violation

Unity = empathy Event focuses on disabled

BY LATASHA WALKER ECHO STAFF REPORTER

A popular hot dog stand near campus sits closed. Owners plan to reopen this week in VSOP salon parking lot.

KIERRA MOORE/Echo staff photographer

BY KIERRA MOORE ECHO STAFF REPORTER

Back by popular demand, PPM Concessions plans to reopen this week in the parking lot of VSOP beauty salon, across the street from the Farrison-Newton Communications Building.

The immensely popular concession stand has extended its hours from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Saturday.

Owners Dante Caviness and James Green said that the menu has also been expanded to include breakfast items such as danishes, coffee, biscuits and fruit and hot meals like fried chicken, fried fish, flavored wings and fries.

According to Green, the addition of deep fryer vats pushed back the reopening.

Students now will have an option to dine on the exterior deck of VSOP. “I think it’s about time,” said mass communication junior Jay Jones.

“I’m ready for them to open up so I can buy some hot dogs.”

“It only makes us closer to our family,” said Caviness, concerning the reopening of the stand in its new location.

In late August, Caviness and Green opened PPM Concessions across Fayetteville Street from the communication building.

On Sept. 15, students lined up outside PPM Concession to grab a quick snack, but instead were served a bitter taste of disappointment.

The popular stand, whose white front door advertised “$1 hot dogs” had been temporarily closed.

The City of Durham shut down PPM Concession because of a zoning violation.

Zoning ordinances are local measures regulating the use of land in specified areas.

These ordinances were drafted primarily to protect property values in residential neighborhoods.

As early as 1908, the Los Angeles City Council created residential and commercial districts.

New York later adapted the first comprehensive zoning ordinance, dividing the city into residential, commercial, and unrestricted zones which encourgaged other states to begin zoning.

Grace Smith, director of zoning for the City of Durham, said the previous

location of PPM “is for residential use and is not permitted for outdoor sales, even with permission from the owner.”

Forced to abruptly close, Caviness and Green were left wondering: What’s next?

And who’s really behind this?

Caviness and Green, both born and raised in Durham, said they had contacted Pearson Cafeteria officials prior to the fall semester to see about selling on campus property, but were told that their business might cut into the cafeteria’s profit.

Timothy Moore, auxiliaries and business services director, said, “a vendor must visit the Business and Auxiliary Services Office and inquire about vending . “[Permission to sell oncampus] is based upon the product offering and whether or not the product conflicts with an existing contract that we may have already with one of our University vendors.”

Pearson Cafeteria General Manager Shelita Nelson declined to comment on the matter; e-mails to Nelson were not answered.

Smith cannot confirm or

deny whether NCCU officials tipped off the city about PPM Concession.

But students missed having the options PPM offered.

“I was there every day for the special … they messed up my lunch,” said Derrika Sherrill, mass communication senior.

The “Eagle Special” consisted of two hot dogs, a bag of chips and a soda for $2.50.

Green says they served approximately 120 students a day. and extended hours while adding items to the menu They also started delivering to residential halls and to students living at the Millennium Hotel.

“Sometimes you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the caf,” said Jones.

The City of Durham informed Caviness and Green that they would be fined $500 each day they continued to serve students from their original location.

According to Green, the pair signed a lease with VSOP to operate on that business’s premises.

“I think it’s great,” said Sherrill of PPM’s reopening.

“Finally, I can have lunch right across from my classes.”

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Durham and N.C. Central University parks and recreation departments will host the Fourth Annual Unity in the Community Day Saturday, Oct. 24 from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the Leroy T. Walker Complex at NCCU. The event encourages observation of October as National Disability Awareness Month.

In recent years, the event was held at Campus Hills Park on South Alston Avenue in Durham.

Participation in Unity in the Community Day has expanded from 50 to more than 500 people.

Kendrick Vann, representative of Durham Parks and Recreation and an NCCU graduate, believes NCCU students can lead the community effort by being inclusive of all people and ages, including the disabled.

“It’s important for them to see that people with disabilities do have a life too,” said Vann.

Vann said students can learn more about community support agencies for the

disabled, gain resources that may assist them in careers and gain valuable experience by working in the community.

Participating students can earn 15 hours of community service.

The event will feature free food, prize give-aways, exhibits, makeovers, performances and water activities.

Activities will also include adapted sports such as wheelchair basketball, “beep ball” (blind softball where players listen for the ball), sit-down volleyball and more.

Community sponsors include the City of Durham, NCCU, the Durham Parks and Recreation Department and the AVEDA Institute of Chapel Hill, among others.

NCCU parks and recreation department, and the athletic department also volunteer for the event.

“I want to see maroon and gray all the way through,” said Vann.

“I would love for the NCCU students to learn from this event ... to show empathy, not sympathy [to disabled people].”

LAWHORN CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 North Texas student Calvin Sexton, was created to diversify performing ensembles at the school.

Lawhorn played jazz concerts and Mardi Grasthemed events with the group across the country.

“We played traditional New Orleans-style brass band music, jazz, hip-hop and rhythm and blues,” said Lawhorn.

Now, Lawhorn has his hands full with the Sound Machine.

The group’s percussion section includes 35 members: 11 snares, seven basses, four multi-tenors (quints), eight cymbals and five tenors.

Students say Lawhorn is already having a major influence on the Sound Machine.

“We see ourselves going far with him,” said bass player and computer science senior Reginald Johnson.

“He gave us an open mind on music, and basically is making us into the best we can be with our own style.”

Students also say Lawhorn is persistent in lobbying for his percussionists.

“He is good with necessities,” said Brandon Norman, tenor player and political science senior.

“We used to get our needs met later than expected,” Norman said.

“The drum line never had a voice. Mr. Lawhorn gave us a voice.”

Lawhorn said he wants to

raise the intensity of the band.

He said he has three areas of focus: discipline, dedication and musicianship.

Lawhorn also said there is a stereotype that drummers are the most unruly students in any band.

“With a high level of discipline, this stereotype can be changed quickly. Being dedicated to the band and drum line will give the students a sense of pride that will stay with them past their years at NCCU,” he said.

Lawhorn said the biggest challenge for students will be to surpass their own expectations.

“Often times, students settle when they can do much more,” he said.

“I will have to convince the student to buy into the system and realize that their potential is greater than what they may think.”

Lawhorn beams with pride when he discusses the Sound Machine’s selection for the 2011 Rose Bowl Parade.

“There are two premier parades in America: The Tournament of Roses and The Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade,” he said.

“So for the Sound Machine, it’s one down, one to go.”

According to Lawhorn, song selection will be a joint effort among the directors, drum majors and a committee of students.

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Web features on horizon

BY YASMIN ELEADY-COLE

BY AMARACHI ANAKARAONYE

ECHO STAFF REPORTER

ECHO STAFF REPORTER

Fast pace getting you tensed up?

Ever want to be able to go somewhere and alleviate all the college stress?

Look no further.

There’s a remedy in the the lower level of the Alfonso Elder Student Union — a meditation room that is sandwiched between the snack bar and bookstore and directly beside the University’s barber shop.

It’s open to all members of the University community.

From students studying for exams, staff dealing with the release of refund checks, or faculty making sure their subject matter is covered in time for finals, the meditation room can be a relaxing fit for any busy schedule.

Marquita Johnson, interim assistant director of the Alfonso Elder Student Union and student activities, credited Louis Velez, assistant vice chancellor and dean of student affairs, with the idea for the room.

“Dean Velez saw a room like that at UNCGreensboro and decided we needed to have something new,” said Johnson.

The room opened in fall 2007.

The meditation room offers two massage chairs, two low-rise chairs for people meditating, mats and prayer benches.

Johnson said it’s surprising that not many peo-

Updating your Twitter and Facebook while assessing the performance of your professors and classmates, will soon be possible on Intranet.

N.C. Central University’s Information Technology Services has many upcoming online programs. ITS is responsible for maintaining, creating and updating NCCU’s digital infrastructure.

Web application ideas are influenced by the input of students, staff, faculty and Interim Chief Information Officer John Smith.

ITS also creates applications based on the collective need of NCCU to efficiently and effectively find information.

In two weeks, students, staff and faculty will be able to update their Twitter statuses from myEOL. In four weeks, Facebook will be included.

The idea was created by Derek Brinson, ITS Webmaster. This application will enhance myEOL’s “Eagle Status,” and the means used to communicate on and off campus.

ITS is in the process of creating N.C.C.U-Tube.

This feature is similar to You Tube in that it displays online multimedia, such as web casts of live campus events.

Like a critic would rate a movie or a restaurant, Kudos is an assessment system that uses stars to rate and acknowledge NCCU’s staff and faculty. It is currently available on the online campus directory for staff and faculty.

In a few months, Kudos

Mr. Freshman, Jimmy Woods, finds his inner-peace in the Alfonso Elder Student Union meditation room.

SAVIN JOSEPH/Echo Staff Photographer

ple use the mediation room.

She said the room was recently used by the Student Activities Board, which was about 10 people.

Kayla Shivers, nursing junior, is not a member of SAB but uses the meditation room.

“It gave me a chance to focus on what I need to do for the rest of the day,” said Shivers after a quick ses-

sion at her favorite part of the meditation room – the massage chair.

Shivers described the room as a calm place.

“Especially with the lights low, candles burning, and the waterfall giving off that calming sound,” said Shivers, “I feel at peace.”

According to experts, meditation can lead to deeper levels of relaxation, improved self-confi-

dence and reduced emotional distress.

Meditation may also help reduce blood pressure and anxiety attacks, increase serotonin, or the “happy hormone,” and increase exercise tolerance in heart patients.

The NCCU meditation room is open Monday through Thursday 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

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

will be added to student contact details. This application was jointly created

by Damond Nollan, ITS Web Services Manager, and Brinson.

“Kudos was created and intended for all of us to do better by each other,” said Brinson.

“It’s more for acknowledging good deeds because there’s no negative commentary option involved with it. It’s just stars.”

Kudos has already caused confusion with NCCU’s Quality Service Initiative, NCCU Listens, because they are “both looking for similar kinds of responses from customer service,” said Cynthia Foubert, Interim Director of Pubic Relations.

Foubert was unaware of this potential confusion until enlightened by Judith Bell, NCCU’s Quality Service Initiative Director.

QSI is an online agent for NCCU’s students, staff and faculty to express concerns, questions, compliments and suggestions to the administration.

These comments are then answered by a NCCU “decision maker.” It is meant to enhance customer satisfaction and improve NCCU’s responsiveness and effectiveness.

Foubert and Smith were appointed in the beginning of this year, and are working to strengthen the flow of communication between their departments.

“Right now, ITS and Public Relations are two separate entities,” said Foubert.

“Our goal is to develop better lines of communication and understanding between what our departments do independently and together.”

Seniors, Juniors, Sophomores and Freshmen Get a photo into 2010 Centennial Yearbook The Eagle Yearbook Staff plans for a commemorative book for the NCCU Centennial Year. Seniors go to www.photomagicllc.com, click appointments, click NCCU. Seniors are charged $3 sitting fee. Undergraduates, one photo is free. Portrait photo sessions is for everyone; Graduate students, Seniors, Undergraduates, Faculty and Staff.

October 6,7,8,9 Alphonso Elder Student Union, Room 144-A.

10Am to 5 Pm Daily

Need more information call 919 530-6391.

Campus Echo Online Breaking news, past issue archives, advertising information, and more.

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

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What’s on your mind about Shepard Library?

Take the LibQUAL+ survey anytime between Oct. 12-30.

Help us serve you better.

Watch your NCCU e-mail for a link to the web-based user survey.

In the survey you will be able to tell us what you think about Shepard Library’s • resources • databases • book collection • customer service • research support • computers • facilities & building • and more.

We encourage the entire NCCU community to participate.

Survey participants will have a chance to win prizes!

Beyond NCCU

Campus Echo WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2009

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Not chimp, not human Human ancestor lived 4.4 million years ago

BY ROBERT S. BOYD MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS (MCT)

WASHINGTON — Move over, Lucy. A 4-foot-tall female nicknamed Ardi, who lived 4.4 million years ago in Africa, has replaced you as the earliest best known ancestor of the human species.

Ardi’s nearly complete skeleton is 1 million years older than Lucy’s, pushing back the point when hominids — pre-human primates — are known to have split from the evolutionary line that led to chimpanzees and gorillas, an international team of scientists announced Thursday.

“Ardi is not a chimp. It’s not a human. It’s what we used to be,” said paleontologist Tim White, an authority on human evolution at the University of California, Berkeley.

White and his colleagues spent 15 years recovering and studying Ardi’s bones before Thursday’s announcement.

Ardi is “on our side of the family tree, not the chimpanzee side,” White told a news conference in Washington sponsored by the journal Science.

Ardi is named for her genus and species, Ardipithecus ramidus, a distant cousin of Lucy’s line, Australopithecus afarensis.

The discovery sheds new light on human evolution during a previously little known epoch.

Scientists believe that humans and apes both descended from a “last common ancestor,” an even more primitive primate that lived between 7 million and 9 million years ago.

Ardi isn’t the last common ancestor, White said, but “it’s the closest we’ve come to the last common ancestor.”

A few older hominid skulls and teeth have been discovered, but nothing as complete as Ardi or Lucy.

The first of Ardi’s bones, a single tooth, was discovered in 1992, not far from where Lucy’s skeleton was buried in the fossil-rich Afar Rift of Ethiopia.

Later, more than 100 other pieces, including bits of a skull, hand, foot and pelvis, were carefully eased out of the volcanic soil and reassembled.

The remains of 35 other individuals, plus birds, animals and plants, were also found there.

White called the project to assemble Ardi, which eventually involved 47 scientists from 10 different countries, “a scien-

tific mission into the very deep past. ... It was like discovering a time capsule from a period and place we knew nothing about.”

Owen Lovejoy, an evolutionary biologist at Ohio’s Kent State University, said Ardi is “an image of what our early ancestors must have looked like.”

Ardi’s hands, feet, pelvis and teeth are more like the bones of modern humans than of chimpanzees or gorillas. For example, her pelvis is modified for walking upright on the ground, as well as climbing trees.

“Ardi was not a knuckle-walker (like apes),” Lovejoy said. But she probably couldn’t have outrun the smaller, more advanced Lucy.

“If Ardi and Lucy had a race, Lucy would win handily,” Lovejoy said.

Ardi was a woodland creature, with a small brain, long arms and short legs. Her discovery disproves the earlier theory that pre-humans learned to walk when they came down from trees to live on open savannas, White said.

She probably ate fruit, berries, mushrooms, birds, bats and mice and other small mammals, judging by her teeth and the remains found where she was discovered.

Scientists can tell she was female because of the shape of her canine teeth and her pelvis.

Ardi will be the subject of a two-hour program, “Discovering Ardis,” on the Discovery channel at 9 p.m. EDT Sunday.

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JOBS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 “I think you’ve got an economic recovery, but I think the pace of recovery is very disappointing relative to what a lot of people expected,” said John Silvia, the chief economist for Wachovia.

One reason Silvia is glum is that consumer confidence remains in the dumps and personal income isn’t rising much.

“It’s personal income that’s going to be under strain here,” said Silvia, who concludes that consumers, who drive about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity, won’t be the spark for recovery.

“Most of the strength in the economy now is federal government spending and inventory correction. How much that carries through (to recovery) is anyone’s guess.”

If economic growth next year falls short of 3 percent, it won’t create the jobs needed to begin lowering the unemployment rate.

“I don’t think that we’re going to see an upturn in employment until the middle of next year,” said David Huether, the chief economist for the National Association of Manufacturers.

Manufacturers have shed 2.1 million jobs since the recession started. Industrial output at U.S. plants hit a record low of 68.1 percent in June.

That means that even when the economy picks up, there’s a lot of ground to make up to recover fully.

“There’s a lot of excess capacity that manufacturers can employ. As that comes on, they are going to expand employment,” Huether said, cautioning that job growth will lag the recovery.

With consumers sidelined and makers of goods with lots of slack, businesses aren’t hiring.

“I think employers are reluctant to hire permanently, waiting to have more evidence that some of the recovery we are seeing is going to stick around,” said Michael Steinmetz, a vice president at Manpower Inc., a large Milwaukee-based company that provides temporary workers.

Larry Summers, the head of the National Economic Council and President Barack Obama’s chief economic adviser, noted that the economy no longer is losing 700,000 jobs a month as it was last winter, but he acknowledged that it’ll take a while before job growth resumes.

“I think we’re looking at a period of several months before you will see employment creation,” Summers told CNBC. One reason for his somber assessment: The Labor Department report included important revisions.

United Christian Campus Ministry 525 Nelson Street, NCCU Campus

Y-STAND “Young Sisters Together and Never Divided” Women’s Ministry Retreat ~ Focusing on the Total Woman ~

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Michael D. Page Campus Minister

Saturday, Oct. 24 9 a.m - 1 pm Alfonso Elder Student Union To register call 919.530.6380

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

Employers shed 201,000 jobs in August, not the 216,000 first reported last month.

While that’s good news, it underscored how bad September’s numbers were, since 62,000 more jobs were lost last month than in August.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics also said that 304,000 jobs were shed in July, not the 276,000 first reported.

The BLS also revised March’s numbers, saying that the 663,000 job losses first reported for the turbulent month were wildly low.

Statisticians now think that 824,000 jobs were lost that month, a difference of sixtenths of a percentage point, a whopping miss.

The March revision “shows the huge hole we have been thrown into” by the economy, said Lawrence Mishel, the president of the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal policy-research organization.

More than half a million people stopped looking for work and exited the work force in September, the BLS said.

Further, the number of long-term unemployed, people who’ve been jobless for 27 weeks or longer, keeps rising.

In September, 35.6 percent of the 15.1 million unemployed Americans — about 5.4 million people — hadn’t had jobs for six months or longer.

“Today’s report is evidence that we have a truly massive crisis of long-term unemployment on our hands, especially now that jobless workers are using up the last of their unemployment benefits,” Christine Owens, the

executive director of the National Employment Law Project, an advocacy group for the unemployed, said in a statement.

“Today’s employment report is a marching order for Congress to pass unemployment benefit extensions to all states, quickly.”

“Our expectation is that companies are going to be extremely conservative about adding staff, especially full-time employees,” said Max Caldwell, a managing partner with Tower Perrins, a firm that specializes in human resources.

Companies have stream-

lined operations, making new full-time hires less likely and contract workers more likely. “I think organizations are inherently more efficient and have learned to operate at some reasonable capacity without the need to be adding a ton of people,” Caldwell said.

The first hires back may be temporary.

“Historically, coming out of recessions that’s what we have seen, that the contingent staffing agencies see some of the hiring prior to companies putting on permanent staff,” said Steinmetz, of Manpower Inc.

From the NE Central Durham VOICE WE

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6 The news stories below are written by N.C. Central University students in Lisa Paulin’s advanced reporting course, and

by Campus Echo staff reporters.

The stories were first published with stories written by Jock Lauterer’s community journalism students at UNC-Chapel Hill.

They were recently published alongside stories written by middle and high school students in a new online community newspaper, the Northeast Central Durham VOICE. More VOICE stories will be published in future Campus Echo online and print

editions The VOICE – which can be seen in its entirety at http://durhamvoice.org – is the product of collaboration between the UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication and NCCU’s Department of English and Mass

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Communication.

The project’s many supporters include other UNC-Chapel Hill programs and departments, Durham city government and community organizations, and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.

A full accounting of the “good souls”

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behind the Northeast Central Durham VOICE is provided in Jock Lauterer’s acknowledgments. Lauterer is director of the Carolina Community Media Project in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at UNC-Chapel Hill and the VOICE’s co-adviser.

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Two NCCU courses, advanced reporting and public issues reporting, will gradually become service learning courses in connection with the VOICE as NCCU mass communication majors begin to mentor Durham youth to become fullfledged VOICE reporters.

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Acknowledgements, a little celebration too

We hope you enjoy learning more about Northeast Central Durham through these stories.

If you are interested in participating in this project, contact Dr. Lisa Paulin at lpaulin@nccu.edu.

BY JOCK LAUTERER CO-ADVISER, THE DURHAM VOICE

‘Bulls Eye’ goes after crime Police operation concentrates officers in chronic problem areas

Neighborhoods like these have been a chronic problem for Northeast Central Durham.

But city officials point to a positive turnaround in recent weeks.

JOCK LAUTERER /NECD Community VOICE

BY BRIANA AGUILAR NCCU STAFF REPORTER, DURHAM VOICE

Two years ago the Durham Police Department created “Operation Bull’s Eye” and partly with money from a federal grant they were able to pay officers to work overtime in Northeast Central Durham.

District One, Four, and Five police officers work to keep drugs, violent crimes, and prostitution off the streets and to help residents feel safe in their own neighborhoods.

Neighborhoods like these have been a chronic problem for Northeast Central Durham.

But City officials point to a positive turnaround in recent weeks.

Since 2007, “Operation Bull’s Eye” has reduced crime within the community drastically. Crime was down 28 percent from the previous year in 2008 and 11 percent for 2009.

“Every day starts the same, but only God knows how the day will end,” said Officer Cornell Richards. Richards works Bull’s Eye about two times a month, but patrols around NECD about fourteen days a month.

A typical evening shift patrolling Bull’s Eye begins at 8 p.m. and ends at 2 a.m.

Officers patrol intersections where crime has occurred in the past.

While ten officers usually patrol NECD, four to five additional officers work exclusively in the Bull’s Eye and are asked not to answer 911 calls.

They strictly focus on what’s going on in the community by talking to residents, listening to their concerns and keeping an eye out for suspicious activity or people walking around the neighborhoods.

“Not being tied to the radio really makes a difference,” says Richards. “It gives us an opportunity to really get out in the community.”

Captain Winslow Forbes, who is committed to improving the conditions of NECD by patrolling Bull’s Eye on a daily basis says, “I might be out there for three to four hours or fifteen to twenty minutes –

depends if there has been a lot of crime activity.”

In order to restore NECD neighborhoods, residents should report suspicious activity.

“I’ve had citizens call me directly,” says Forbes.

Residents can call Crime Stoppers at 919-683-1200 if they want to report activity or tips anonymously.

“When crime and violence become a norm, people become complacent, and once residents take ownership, things will start to get better,” says Richards.

The police recognize that when residents cooperate with the police, it makes cleaning up the neighborhood easier.

Without the help of the residents, it would be hard for police to identify suspects and get them off the streets.

Officers make their presence known by patrolling hot spots in marked vehicles, hopefully shutting down any kind of legal activity.

Officers point to the numbers to show the success of “Operation Bull’s Eye”.

In 2008, an undercover operation netted 30 arrests.

“I’d call those results,” says Richards.

Mt. Gilead: a community church Church calls itself ‘The Church on the Corner for the Care and Cure of Souls’

BY DAVID FITTS NCCU STAFF REPORTER, DURHAM VOICE

Within North East Central Durham lies a little church that calls itself “The Church on the Corner for the Care and Cure of Souls.” Mount Gilead Baptist Church has been a safe haven for those who seek a place of worship since 1908.

Now sitting on the corner of 404 Dowd Street, the church serves as a home for its 400 members in NECD and Durham.

“Mount Gilead is a good religious outlet for people who cannot leave the community,” said Tomika Small who has been a member since 1982.

Since the church is located in the middle of a large community, it has opened its doors to those in need for a long time.

“Mount Gilead is a very caring church,” said Dorothy Chavis who has been a member since 1950. “It looks after the needs of the needy in the community.”

One way Mount Gilead helped the community was by purchasing five homes to help low income families in need of housing.

This was done with money from the city of Durham through Mount Gilead Inc., a nonprofit organization formed by the church in 1990.

Mount Gilead Inc. was established to provide food, shelter, houses, computer

Mount Gilead Church, at 404 Dowd Street is home to about 400 members.

DAVID L. FITTS/NECD Community VOICE

workshops and more. But those goals have proven difficult to accomplish. “It has not manifested to what it was supposed to do,” said Small.

According to Small the foundation focuses more on things that can be done quickly such as giving Easter baskets to Urban Ministries.

William “Bill” Cross, Jr., “started out,” when Durham was segregated.

“This was known as the wrong side of the street,” said Cross. During his childhood, he found a home at Mount Gilead.

Cross became a member in 1962.

“This church gave me strict morals to live by,” he said. He likes that members do not care about a person’s socio-economic status. It is here for the people.

Along with focusing on making sure it provides a place where people can come to worship, the church also

focuses its attention towards making sure the people in the community are well.

Each year, Mt. Gilead hold programs to help boost the morale in the community as well as provide a way to help people have some things to do.

“Every year, we have a youth block party which is an outreach program to children,” said Small. The program is a way for the church to reach out to the children in the community and let them know they have somewhere to go if they need anything.

“It lets them know who is in the church because some children are picked up by other churches that are not in walking distance like Mount Gilead,” said Small. Mount Gilead wants the children to know they can have fun in church.

“It has a lot of other programs throughout the year,” said Vanda Davis, chair of the music committee. Some programs include Vacation Bible School, Christmas celebrations and scholarship programs. “During our programs, the surrounding community is invited to be a part of everything going on.”

With its 100-year history and strong membership, Mount Gilead Baptist Church will surely continue to be a solid presence in Northeast Central Durham.

Barber ‘shapes up’ community Jenkins set his life on a new course in his barber shop

BY JAMON GLOVER NCCU STAFF REPORTER, DURHAM VOICE

When customers first enter Samuel and Sons Barber Shop, they are greeted with the sounds of Classic R&B, the smell of after shave cologne and a warm smile.

There are blue and white tiles on the floor, TVs on the walls and Carolina, Duke and North Carolina Central banners above the mirrors.

“Mr. Samuel’s” barbershop is known as a place where people come to get haircuts, talk about life and get advice.

When Samuel Jenkins was a kid, he moved with his grandmother from Trenton, N.J. to Littleton, N.C. Coming from a big city, Samuel was used to regular haircuts.

Once in Littleton he only went to a barbershop on Easter, the first day of school and Christmas.

While looking through an old Almanac, he saw an ad for a comb that had a razor attached to it and ordered it immediately.

Once it arrived, he started cutting his own hair and as soon as his cousins found out, he was “messing up” theirs as well.

Samuel soon became known as “the community barber” but didn’t see this as his future.

After graduating high school in 1982, Samuel joined the U.S. Navy and began cutting hair on the ship after hours.

In 1985, his family moved to Durham and Jenkins began running in the wrong circles. He landed in prison where he faced adversity that threatened to destroy his future. He credits his grandmother for instilling in him the principles of the Bible, which has given him wisdom.

While incarcerated, Jenkins decided he wanted to be a barber and after his release he went straight to Samuel & Sons, a barbershop located in Northeast Central Durham at 2110 Angier Avenue, school. There he learned the is known as a community staple, hosting meetings, selling wholesale clothing and is safe place to visit. art of cutting and styling . hair.

JAMON GLOVER/NECD Community VOICE Upon completion of barber school, Jenkins was He provides counseling to recruited to work in various start his business. With help want to see changes.

They broke all the win- young and old alike on the barbershops in Durham. All from the city and encouragethe while, he kept his focus ment from friend s, he decid- dows of the barbershop in importance of using protecon what made barber shops ed do more than just rent a protest, but he wasn’t afraid tion when having sex. or deterred.

“Today many of the new successful because he knew space, but own it.

Since then Jenkins has “I wasn’t mad, because I barbers work by appointhe wanted his own someday.

“To be successful you worked in the community understood how they were ment only, and that takes need to have a clean busi- trying to improve the look, feeling, so I just replaced the away from the business,” says Jenkins. ness, you need to have clean feel and perception of glass with Plexiglas.”

He wanted to be part of “A barbershop has to be a equipment, your personal Angier Ave. He has added fresh paint, the solution and not the barbershop.” You have to grooming should be good, always have business cards fences and shrubbery. He problem, so he set standards allow people to walk in, and and always have a way for also takes area children on and examples for people to it needs to have a family people to contact you,” says fishing trips during the sum- follow. He screened his atmosphere.” mer and provides a safe clients and set patterns of “Over the years we’ve had Jenkins. to deal with gangs, prostituIn 2002 he got his chance. haven for children to get behavior.

Samuel and Sons Barber tion and crime, but now the The owner of the barbershop candy on Halloween.

“Give back to the commu- Shop is a community staple neighborhood is returning to he was managing went to nity that gives to you,” says like many shops, but he goes a respectable and safe place Florida and never returned. a step further by being certi- to be. It’s been hard, but anyThe building owner was Jenkins.

In the beginning, Jenkins fied as an STD counselor by thing worth having, is worth about to evict the barbers from the shop, but Samuel had problems with a few the Durham County Health working for,” says Jenkins. stepped in and negotiated to gang members who didn’t Department.

As we launch this inaugural edition of the Northeast Central Durham Community VOICE, I need to thank a whole bunch of good souls who have made this moment possible: • Mai Nguyen, assistant professor in the UNC-CH Department of City and Regional Planning and her graduate students Wendy Baucom, Steve Fabian and Hye-Sung Han (whose brainstorm led to the creation of the VOICE).

• Jean Folkerts, dean of the UNC-CH School of Journalism and Mass Communication, who has supported this project wholeheartedly from the get-go; and to grantwriter extraordinaire Jennifer Klimas Galina for helping craft our successful grant application. And special thanks to IT gurus Fred Thomsen and Jay Almers for talking me in off the ledge several times this week.

Yes! It's time to celebrate! VOICE Arts Co-Editors Praycious WilsonGay and Rosalia Preiss do a mid-air high-five at Seesaw Studio upon the completion of our summer photo exhibit.

JOCK LAUTERER/NECD Community VOICE

• Lynn Blanchard, director of the Carolina Center for Public Service, who, along with Ron Strauss, spearheaded the Faculty Engaged Scholars Program which spawned the Durham VOICE; and to Mike Smith, dean of the UNC School of Government, for his belief in our project’s vision. Also to Lucille Webb, director, Strengthening the Black Family, Raleigh, for her wise counsel.

• My counterparts and comrades-in-arms at North Carolina Central University, Bruce (DP) dePyssler, associate professor and Campus Echo advisor, and Lisa Paulin, NCCU assistant professor and Advanced Reporting instructor.

• Earl Phillips, Northeast Central Durham executive director, and Melva Henry, Northeast Central Durham community relations coordinator at the City of Durham Office of Neighborhood Improvement Services and Community Development; also Gwynn Silver and Constance Stancil.

• The Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, whose grant enabled us to outfit our newsroom with laptops and cameras.

• The Board of Directors of The Daily Tar Heel and General Manager Kevin Schwartz who have pledged to support the printing of the VOICE in its first year.

• Andy Rothschild and the folks at Scientific Properties of Durham for their generous offer of newsroom/office space in the Golden Belt Campus.

• UNC students Carly Brantmeyer, Taylor Meadows and Caroline McMillan whose enthusiasm for the VOICE project has been contagious.

• Olivia Korman and Josh Dorsette of the Salvation Army Boys’ and Girls’ Club, for hosting our first summer photo workshops; Michelle Gonzales, executive director of Seesaw Studio, for hosting our second workshop; and

Student journalists from UNC-CH and NCCU pose for a group portrait after a bus tour and mixer in Durham. Students from programs will be contributing content to the VOICE as well as mentoring high school age staffers.

JOCK LAUTERER/NECD Community VOICE At right: Tar Heel and Eagle student staffers of the Northeast Central Durham Community VOICE pose for a group portrait after a recent mixer in Durham, left to right, front to back, Alison Shay, UNC; Carlton Koonce, editor of the NCCU Campus Echo; Abby Jennings, UNC; Kanisha Madison, NCCU; Courtney Price, UNC; Erica Smith, NCCU; Emily Kennard, UNC; Julian March, UNC; Aaron Saunders, NCCU, Briana Aguilar, NCCU; Brad Piland, UNC; Matthew Beatty, NCCU; Jamese Slade, NCCU; Jamon Glover, NCCU; back row: NCCU Assistant Professor Lisa Paulin, Visiting International Scholar Professor Chenkai Liu; NCCU Associate Professor Bruce dePyssler; and David Fitts, NCCU.

Lucy Harris, Santos Flores and Kavanah Ramsier of SEEDS (South Eastern Efforts Developing Sustainable Spaces, Inc.) for hosting our third photo workshop and where this fall we will be conducting our urban youth oral history project.

• UNC-CH Kenan-Flagler Professor James Johnson, whose Union Independent School offers the VOICE a new and mutually-beneficial partnership.

• Also thanks to: Christopher Martin, founder and spark-

plug of Brand Newz; William Schrader, Northern High School English teacher and school newspaper adviser; and the members of the Northeast Central Durham Leadership Council who wrote letters of support.

Onward and upward.

Jock Lauterer Director, the Carolina Community Media Project and Durham VOICE co-adviser, School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Downturn, budget cuts harsh reality for community Organizations struggle with reduced budgets, grant funding

BY JAMESE SLADE NCCU STAFF REPORTER, DURHAM VOICE

Although the City of Durham is investing in NECD to revitalize it, organizations involved in the movement are struggling.

It is becoming harder to help the community when their programs and organizations are falling victim to the economic crisis.

The Council for Senior Citizens which works on health promotion, and provides transportation, information and case assistance, care-

giver support services, and adult day services has been hit in several ways.

“We are putting an effort into fundraising more this year to compensate for cuts,” said Gail Fouare, executive director.

“We are looking for ways to cut down on expenses such as utilities and writing proposals to receive more grants.”

She also said the economy has taken a toll on many people’s lives and many older citizens between the ages of 60 and 65 are getting laid off and

losing their benefits.

“They are not old enough to get their Medicare and more senior citizens are coming in looking for food,” said Fouare.

“Staff members have never seen anything like this before, with the number of seniors seeking assistance due to the economy. They come to our program looking for assistance with food, rent, utilities, insurance and healthcare.”

Joel Reitzer, executive director of Durham’s General Services Department, said that GSD is doing everything

they can with shrinking budgets.

“We received less money to work with by far than other years, and the economy has affected a few jobs,” said Reitzer of the department responsible for building parks, renovating buildings and keeping them clean.

Reitzer said that funds remain for unfinished projects, and GSD can still hire small businesses to do services for the organization.

“We are doing our best to get the work out on the street

to help the local economy as much as possible.”

Durham C.A.N., a group formed by 30 different congregations, associations and neighborhoods is also feeling the effects of the economy.

Members work in action teams that focus on four issues: youth and education, health, housing and neighborhoods, and jobs and economic development.

Ivan Parra, C.A.N.’s lead organizer, reports that contributions have decreased 10-15 percent.

They are looking for other ways of raising money, “but we haven’t been able to hire additional staff due to the decrease,” said Parra.

In 2003 — better times for fundraising — C.A.N. was able to raise $1.2 million in private and public dollars to save 688 children of working families from being displaced from daycare due to financial shortfalls.

Renorda Herring, the Executive Director of Durham Companions Mentoring Programming, is troubled by

the budget cuts that her program is facing.

“We received less money to work with by far than other years,” said Herring.

The program mainly works with kids who are first offenders. They provide mentors who spend time with kids for two hours a week for a year.

“They do activities that the child enjoys, and also set goals for the child,” says Herring.

“Whether it’s working on conflict resolutions or anger management, the mentor

focuses on whatever issue the child needs to work on.”

According to Herring, the grants that they have been receiving over the past 20 years have been cut. “Seven percent of the city and county grants and 66 percent of the state grants have been cut. We have lost 65-70 percent of our budget.”

The number of volunteers has also dropped.

“It may be because people are picking up second jobs, but we used to get 2-3 volunteers per month and within

the last couple of months we have received none,” she said.

“The need is going up but we haven’t been able to provide.”

With the grants being cut, Herring said the NECD community will be affected tremendously.

“Either you pay now or you pay later,” she said. “Our program is to intervene. It takes eight dollars a day to mentor a child and around $168 a day to take care of a child in juvenile jail or a group home.”

But some organizations are continuing to thrive despite

the economic downturn.

“We have yet to see how the economy will affect us directly,” says John Mitterling, Director of Development of the John Avery Boys and Girls Club.

“We feel confident that by December we will be able to raise the funding needed, but it will take continued support the Durham Community and leaders throughout the Triangle.”

According to Toby Barfield, executive director of the Central North Carolina

Chapter of the Red Cross, donations have risen 10-15 percent between last and this year. “Money donors understand that the community dollars keeps the Red Cross going,” he said, adding that

the need for money, volunteers, and donors never goes away.

“Blood donations have risen and some people can not afford to give money so they think then I can give blood.

See the Northeast Central Durham VOICE online at

http://durhamvoice.org

Rivalry a nail biter

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Photo by Savin Joseph & Jerry Rogers

Defensive tackle Teryl White looks on in disappointment after 23-17 double overtime loss.

JERRY ROGERS/Echo staff photographer

lumni, students and fans flocked to Aggie Stadium Saturday for the 82nd meeting between the Aggies and the Eagles.

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Since their first meeting in 1924, the two teams have been fierce rivals.

Currently, NCCU lags in the rivalry 46-30-5. Three years ago, the game rivalry

was marred by a postgame disruption in Aggie stadium after the Eagles outscored the Aggies.

Each year’s game is a second homecoming of

sorts, bringing together students, alumni and fans from both universities. — Aaron Saunders

The Aggie-Eagle rivalry even extends to the mascots.

Drum major Zachary Porreus leading the Sound Machine at half time.

SAVIN JOSEPH/Echo photography editor

SAVIN JOSEPH/Echo photography editor

Screaming Eagles look on in disbelief after a turnover in 3rd quarter.

Frankie Cardelle made this 50-yard field goal to win the game, but a time out had been called.

SAVIN JOSEPH/Echo photography editor

SAVIN JOSEPH/Echo photography editor

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Team works Team T.O.K.Y.O. proves that hard work is a hustle 12345 1234 123 12

Enter the Dragon Crouchin’Tiger, Hidden, Dragon Charlies Angels Hong Kong Phooey

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Kung Pow: Enter the Fist

Raekwon Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, Pt. 2 ICEAL

out of on the 4 5 black hand side Nowadays the lean with it, rock with it philosophy seems to control the culture of hiphop, leaving traditionalist wondering what happened to the music they once loved.

Well, wonder no more because Raekwon the Chef of Super Group WuTang Clan returns with a pot of Shoalin’s Finest gumbo on his critically acclaimed fourth album Only Built For Cuban Linx 2.

The album opens with pearls of wisdom from Popa Wu speaking over a soulful Barry White sample, paving way for the lyrical prestige of Chef Rae to

demonstrates the clear difference between the true school and the new.

The album brings fans back into the Wu Mansion once again via “House of Flying Daggers” featuring Inspectah Deck, Ghostface, Method Man and GZA along with production from the legendary J. Dilla.

Throughout the album fans receive a taste of the tradition Raekwon through songs such as “Sonny’s Missing” and “Pyrex Vision” on which he states “Its all for the eyes of the hungry/the wise and the humbly, the rise came upon me”.

Hungry we were and full all shall be upon listening to one the most anticipated albums of the year.

By Showcasing a mixture of pain, wisdom and street logic there is no question that Only Built For Cuban Linx II is worth its weight in Gold.

— Musically Inclined

Members of Team T.O.K.Y.O., from left, James “DJ Kutta” Hines, Roddy “DJ Kunseit” Tate and Dev “2BA” Dixon.

Photo courtesy Team T.O.K.Y.O.

BY DIANE VARNIE AND JAMESE SLADE ECHO STAFF REPORTERS

Taking over campus nightlife one beat and flyer at a time, N.C. Central University students come together as entrepreneurs, building a successful team on campus known as Team T.O.K.Y.O. Team T.O.K.Y.O, an acronym that stands for Togetherness of Konfident Young Opportunists, was founded by Devin “2BA” Dixon, James “DJ Kutta” Hines, Malik “Lik Skyy” Tate, and Roddy “DJ Kunseit” Tate, but encompasses many members involved behind the scenes.

Each member of Team T focuses on a different aspect of entertainment; music, party promotions, and charity. In the music sector, Shaun Henderson, “DJ Kutta” and “Lik Skyy”, produce weekly parties at various night clubs in NC.

To promote these parties and events Team T’s street team and sponsors engage in passing out flyers, internet advertisement on various sites and promotional mixtapes.

“To be in the spotlight, it’s not about the money. This is a way to provide a great social environment for our peers,” said social work graduate “DJ Kunseit.”

Team T writes their own music, and with Kunseit and Kutta being popular DJ’s, it helps spread their music throughout the industry.

“My freshmen year in college is when I started getting most the of gigs,” said DJ Kutta.

His sophomore and junior year is when he got more recognition for his work, booking gigs in Virginia, the Carolinas, and even as far south as Miami.

2BA gained major exposure for Team T by competing in various freestyles around the N.C. College

scene. Gradually, he landed opportunities, opening up for various artists such as Souljah Boy, Cassidy, Crime Mob, Young Jeezy, Ludacris, Lloyd, and Drake.

Better known for his hit single “Stroke On Em,” which is currently in rotation at K97.5, “2BA” along with Team T is dominating with performances around the N.C. triad.

Presently, Team T along with 2BA will be battling on Oct. 23 in the “Freestyle Friday” competition on BET’s video countdown show, 106th and Park, in New York City.

“I drove 10 hours to New York for BET’s 106th and Park’s Free Style Friday auditions. I stood in line and battled 250 MC’s, tournament style,” said 2BA. “I think they are a great music group on the rise,” said Brianna Aguilar mass communication senior.

“It’s nice to see our fellow students go after their dreams and succeed.”

U2 can change the world Conference discusses band’s role in changing the world of music

BY CHRIS HESS. ECHO STAFF WRITER

DeCurtis highlights 25 years of U2’s influence CHRIS HESS/Echo Staff Photographer

World-famous rock band U2 put on a rock concert Saturday night at Carter-Finley Stadium.

Along with the band came an entourage of activists, professors and fans alike.

The festivities started Friday, Oct. 2 with a showing of two films at The Carolina Theatre, followed by two days of education and discussion at N.C. Central University.

In attendance were numerous nonprofit organizations which, U2 has worked closely with over the years.

These include Africare, The World Story Organization, The AIDS Support Organization, and The Africa Well Fund Project.

Not only non-profit organizations, but also many prominent members of the music world descended upon the NCCU campus.

The first speaker of the day was

Rolling Stone journalist and contributing editor Anthony DeCurtis, who has covered U2 for more than 20 years.

DeCurtis discussed his extensive history with the socially conscience band.

He said U2’s message is “Rediscovering the obvious or at least re-examining the obvious.”

“The band rarely does things in a quiet way,” DeCurtis said about the way in which U2 uses their music.

U2 started its social movement by “addressing the troubles of Ireland overtly,” DeCurtis said referring to the song “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” a hit from the 1980s.

The conference centered around music, giving and love.

At a show in New York shortly after the attacks of 9/11, “U2 scrolled all the names of all the victims of the 9/11 attacks,” they were “the only artists who had the wherewithal to speak to the city’s pain,” said DeCurtis.

As a way of getting to the heart of a

band that has done so much for the world, and a man who has spent more than 20 years covering them, DeCurtis told the audience about a note from lead singer Bono to DeCurtis’ daughter.

“Francesca, welcome to Planet Earth, there is so much for you to do,” the note read.

Conference Director Scott Calhoun collaborated with the Durham Cares Organization,which led to the selection of NCCU as the site for the conference.

“We met halfway,” said Calhoun of the decision.

The weekend filled NCCU with music, politics and a following unlike that of any other band.

“They always start as a rock band, then have the political messages,’ said Calhoun of U2.

More information about the organizations involved is available at www.u2conference.com.

African American: term or identity?

BY JOANNA HERNANDEZ ECHO A&E EDITOR

The term African American is often used loosely in the black community. Many black people don’t think twice about referring to themselves as African Americans regardless of the origins of their family history.

For example, history senior Ihtishaam Zimmerman was asked would she consider herself African American. She said yes.

She was then asked where her parents were from and she said her father is from Africa and her mother is from Puerto Rico.

Where did this term come from?

Is it correct to categorize an entire race under a title that doesn’t truly apply to their origins?

Kobina Aidoo came to America aspiring to become a filmmaker, and while making his documentary “The Neo African-

Americans,” he spoke with other black immigrants and realized they were all dealing with the idea of becoming black in America.

The term “African American” is explored and the question is raised “Do you consider yourself African American?”

The trend in black migration from other countries to the United States urged the aspiring filmmaker to examine the meaning of the term.

“When I arrived in America [from Ghana] people would ask me the same question … I was forced to start thinking of myself as black,” said Aidoo.

Not thinking there was anything wrong with considering himself black, and having come from a majority black country, Aidoo had only thought of himself as black in philosophical terms.

According to Aidoo what lit a fire under him to complete this film was a Pew Research and

National Public Radio poll in November 2007 that sought to capture changing attitudes in black America.

“I was concerned that such polls about changing black attitudes tend to draw their explanatory power from socio-economic changes along a historical straight line, without adequately capturing the effect, coming from the sides of this under-the-radar phenomenon of black immigration and how that is transforming the African American narrative.”

Mass communication junior Arssante Malone said he’d like to see the film.

“I think a lot of people are confused, or going through identity crisis. A film like this might help put things in perspective,” he said.

The documentary is a timely dialogue about identity, culture, race, geography, America and global movement of African people.

Documentary film explores the meaning of “African American.”

COURTESY

OF

SONJA HAYNES STONE CENTER

“The Neo African-Americans” will be shown tonight at 7 p.m. at the Sonja Hayes Stone Center at

UNC-Chapel Hill. It will be followed with a panel discussion.

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Campus Echo WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2009

Classifieds Introductory offer: Free online classifieds for students, faculty & staff That’s right. Shoot us an e-mail from any NCCU.edu e-mail address and we’ll post your classified online for two weeks.

Just put the words “NCCU classified” in the subject line and sent it to campusecho@nccu.edu. Keep it under 35 words and be sure to proof read your copy.

A 2” x 2” classified box in the print edition costs just $10 for anyone.

NCCU WRITING STUDIO You wouldn’t wait until the night before to practice for the big game ...

Walk-ins welcome, appointments prefered Monday, Tuesday & Thursday from 9 am - 5 pm Wednesday 9 am - 6 pm Friday 10 am - 2 pm Room 339 ~ Farrison-Newton Communications Building 530-7554 writingstudio@nccu.edu

So why wait until the last minute to start your paper?

Did you know?

A new law went into effect on Oct. 1 that bans the disposal of plastic bottles in landfills. If you throw your plastic bottle in the trash, you’re sending it on its way to the landfill (and breaking the law).

please recycle now appearing on a computer near you

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Sports

Campus Echo WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2009

11

Another game of inches NCCU LOSES A HEARTBREAKER TO N.C. A&T

BY AARON SAUNDERS ECHO SPORTS EDITOR

Shock and disbelief set in on the N.C. Central University sideline Saturday night after redshirt sophomore wide receiver Wallace Miles dived across the goal line to land the N.C. A&T Aggies a 23-17 victory in double overtime.

It was all joy on the Aggie sidelines at the 82nd meeting of the Aggie-Eagle Classic.

“This is an unbelievable feeling that I have never had before,” said Miles in the post-game press conference.

The loss marked the second time this season NCCU came away empty-handed in overtime. The 13-10 loss to Morehead State Eagles came after a field goal in double overtime.

It was also the second time this decade the Eagles and Aggies fought into overtime, but in 2002 the Eagles walked away with a 33-30 win.

The Eagles had the Aggies in their sights at the end of the fourth quarter when they came within a yard of a touchdown and walked away with only a field goal, to tie the game at 17-17.

The Aggies then drove into Eagle territory, but A&T freshman place-kicker Patrick Courtney missed 37yard kick wide left for the win.

During the first overtime the Eagle defense held and forced another missed short field goal from Courtney, in spite of an unsportsmanlike penalty declared on Eagle sophomore cornerback David Ingram.

“When they missed the field goal I just knew we had the game won,” said senior wide receiver Will Scott.

N.C. A&T senior defensive back Nick Clement soars over NCCU senior wide receiver Will Scott.

SAVIN JOSEPH/Echo photography editor

From there the Eagles took over and ran one play, getting the team to the 10yard line.

NCCU now had its first win in its sights.

But one Aggie defender — senior defensive end Jarrell Herring — had other plans.

“I told coach: ‘Run the block scheme to my side so we can block it.’ From there I just imposed my will,” said Herring.

It worked.

Herring blocked the field goal and forced a second overtime.

On top of the missed field goal attempt, NCCU was forced to start at the Aggie

40-yard line because of a facemask penalty.

After completing a 5yard pass, the Eagles decided to go for a 50-yard field goal. Amazingly, it was made by freshman Frankie Cardelle.

Even more amazingly, a timeout had been called by NCCU head coach Mose Rison right before the play started.

The field goal was negated and what would have been a 20-17 lead wasn’t.

“We thought perhaps the distance was too long, but we should not have been in that situation anyway,” said Rison.

NCCU sent its offense back on the field to try and convert on 4th and 6. On that play, a screen pass to Scott was broken up. Now the Aggies had the ball on their 25-yard line and the rest was history.

“When it was all said and done they came out with the victory,” said Rison.

In the first half it looked like the Eagles would be run off the field because of costly turnovers that ended drives and gave the Aggies the ball with a short field.

With just 17 seconds remaining in the first half, A&T had the Eagles down 17-0 lead, but a 2-yard pass

by sophomore quarterback Keon Williams to senior fullback Saeed Abdul-Azeez ended the half with the Eagles down 17-7.

Will Scott stepped up and put the team on his shoulders throughout the game, catching 5 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown.

“Each week we go into the game saying how we have to get the ball in Will Scott’s hands,” said Rison.

The Aggie offense was led by senior quarterback Carlton Fears and receiver Miles Wallace, who connected for 2 touchdown passes, including the gamewinner.

“Carlton stepped up big for us he is an incredible talent,” said A&T head coach Alonzo Lee. “This game definitely has great emotions behind it. It’s a rivalry that dates back past the ’60s.”

The game marked the fifth consecutive time that the two arch rivals have played to within a sevenpoint margin.

Next the Eagles, now 0-5, face Appalachian State, a team that has won three national championships in the last four years and is quarterbacked by FCS offensive player of the year Armanti Edwards.

Problems plague University pool NCCU’s Olympic-sized pool is temporarily out of order BY

ASHLEY GRIFFIN

ECHO SPORTS REPORTER

Students heading off for their daily swim at Leroy T. Walker Complex are in for a surprise – the pool is closed.

Last Wednesday, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services shut down the Olympic-sized pool because of a one-inch crack in a drain cover in the deep end of the pool.

The crack puts the pool in violation of the Virginia Graeme Baker Act. The Act, which went into effect in 2008, was passed to prevent entrapment in drain suction pumps after the 7year-old granddaughter of former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker III was killed when she was sucked into the drain of a hot tub in 2002.

In all, 36 deaths in the past two decades have been

caused by entrapment in swimming pools and hot tubs.

“Old pools have to be retrofitted with new drain covers that prevent entrapment,” said Thornton Draper, aquatics director and associate professor in the physical education department.

Draper said replacing the faulty drain cover cost $500.

The cover was repaired last week.

But, adding insult to injury, the pool was hit by last week’s power surge, which knocked out the motor.

“The motor of the pool keeps the water and chlorine flowing,” said Virginia Politano, chair of the physical education and recreation department.

“Last Thursday the motor burned out because of too many amps. It caused a fire and the motor died,” said Politano.

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Draper said all the repairs to the pool were made but there is another problem.

“Right now it is hard to say when the pool will be opened,” said Draper. He said, “low water pressure is now delaying the opening of the pool.”

According to Draper, once the pool is filled it may take several days for the water’s pH balance to reach safe levels.

“It is an inconvenience because I temporarily do not have a job,” said lifeguard Uthman Claiborne, fitness and wellness junior.

“It’s not good because recently there has been an increase in people coming to the pool,” said Claiborne.

In the meantime, swim classes are watching swim technique movies, according to Politano.

The pool has been in

The Walker Complex pool is expected to reopen in a few days.

ASHLEY GRIFFIN/Echo staff photographer

operation since 1985 when the LeRoy T. Walker complex was built.

According to Politano, NCCU’s pool is one of the few of its size in the area and

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.

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NCCU is one of the few historically black universities with such a pool.

Students desperate for their daily swim might consider Campus Hills

Recreation Center, a nearby indoor public swimming facility at 2000 S. Alston Ave. The Center can be reached at 919.560.4781.

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

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Campus Echo WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2009

IVER SITY

Tweets, the new politics n the high-paced, technologically advanced age we Isn’t it much easier for our live in today, news and information representatives to ignore a 140-character tweet than 50,000 come to us at screaming 20-somethings at the police barricades? a breakneck speed. When Presidents Obama were willing to take a stand for at our representatives are at sneezes, his civil rights and least 20 years my senior. aides don’t even against the Vietnam War. I haven’t seen one young perhave time to say Indeed, they didn’t just take a son in the crowd voicing his or “bless you” stand, they were arrested in her opinion.

Chris before the nation protests.

Yet young people are the Hess knows about it.

There is the old saying, “If ones who will be facing rising With the emeryou have something to say, say health costs for the rest of their gence of Facebook, Twitter, it to my face.” lives. blogs and text messaging, it Tweeting and texting are not When AIG received billions seems our voices are well-proexactly like saying something to of our hard-earned tax money, tected behind the safety of a someone’s face, and there are too much of it went to bonuses keyboard. plenty of faces with no shortage and luxurious vacations But in the same breath, our of things to say to them.

“I’m really surprised no one opinions can just as easily be Government bailouts, the your age is kicking and screamignored and brushed aside war in Iraq, health care reform ing about this,” my father said. without a second thought. … need I go on?

“We would have burnt down What will be our generation’s When I see news coverage on the AIG building.” lasting mark on history? issues like health care reform, He was right. Simply posting In the 1960s, young people the only people I see screaming “That’s messed up” as a

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Facebook status does not cut it.

And once again, it’s young people who will have to assume the debt that was created to pay for the bailout.

This country was founded on angry groups of people converging and telling the government that enough is enough.

Isn’t it much easier for our representatives to ignore a 140character tweet than 50,000 screaming 20-somethings at the police barricades?

We should be aware of what happens around us and realize that the ones who protested and fought in the ’60s are now wearing dentures and golfing in Florida.

The ball is now in our court. We are the ones everyone is looking to.

Are we going to air-ball our chance to change history, or slam-dunk our mark right down their throats?

The choice is ours.

Saggy, baggy pants agree that black is beautiful, but does that mean that blacks are more beautiful than any other culture? Has black pride become black arrogance? And what is it in the psychology of the youth hip-hop culture (male or female) that would have them think anyone else Willie would be interestPace ed in what color drawers he or she happens to be wearing today?

Perhaps that is the problem which manifests itself in exaggerated modes of dress characteristic of hip-hop culture: It is as if one is saying “look at me — I can wear my pants lower down on the union of my hips and thighs than anyone else associated with hip-hop culture.”

I am talking about saggy pants.

I wonder if any young person has looked in the mirror in the morning and realized how much he looks like an untrained child who has filled its pants with defecation?

What is it about hip-hop culture that makes it so all-consuming?

Why would anyone with any prospect of superior intelli-

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The ‘no shoes, no service’ rule should be reinstated to include ‘no saggy pants.’ gence (i.e., college students), feel pride in and glorify an image that is so negative?

It is no coincidence that gangsta-rap takes its mantra from criminal psychology that is raping and pillaging our neighborhoods.

Doesn’t the whole culture of saggy pants have its origin in homosexual prison culture?

Why would anyone with the slightest minutiae of intelligence find romance in walking around like a penguin trying to keep his pants from falling?

I do not ask these questions out of prejudice, or of censorship, but out of a need to understand what is happening to today’s youth.

The Black Pride movement of the 50s, 60s and 70s has been misinterpreted as racial arrogance.

In the Black Pride era, respectability meant calling one another Sister and Brother; that has evolved into Dog and Bitch.

Those in hip-hop culture think of each other as competitors, rather than co-sufferers of a cultural exclusionism that continues down the slope of the mammoth struggle Langston

N ORTH C AROLINA C ENTRAL U NIVERSITY

Campus Echo

Hughes called the racial mountain.

What are you teaching the youth who are emulating your styles of effrontery?

At the bus stop a few days ago, a young lady was waiting with a child who appeared to be six or seven years old.

This boy was wearing sagging pants with a ball cap turned to the side.

The lady, who I supposed was the child’s mother, was listening to rap music on a headset.

I am sure that this scene can be witnessed all over America.

What is more poignant about that image is that in the “’hood,” where children do not have many intercultural experiences, the hip-hop culture is all they have come in contact with, and it is imprinted upon their impressionable minds.

At the very least, these children experience very little positive mainstream culturalization.

You might say this is an oversimplification of the moral morass into which we have declined.

But I challenge you to step into the role of a future leader,

and have an honest dialogue about how to turn this negative morality into something positive.

I admonish the leadership of N.C. Central University to show some courage, and demand that at the least, sagging pants have no place in the cafeteria.

The “no shoes, no service” rule should be reinstated to include “no saggy pants.”

I regret that when the Great Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. died, we failed to seize the opportunity to catapult families of soul and love into an era grand in prosperity.

There will not be many more of the seminal opportunities we have now.

I am speaking of the first black president of these United States of America.

Let it not be said in a historical tone of lament and desperation, that a society stymied by egocentric self interest and simplistic thinking has made us the laughingstock of the world.

Those who would seek to destroy us can retire because we are doing such a good job of killing off each other, both metaphorically and literally.

Let us stop falling off the cliff like lemmings; and please, let us stop shuffling around like penguins.

Pull up your pants and walk like a man.

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Question:

What improvement would you like to see in W.G. Pearson cafeteria?

“Different types of food including shrimp and grilled BBQ. I believe other than that the staff and cafeteria are capable of doing specials for different cultures that attend NCCU.” — Tony Cowart

“The workers could be a little nicer. Some of the workers may have outside problems they bring into work with them. ” —D’vonya Adams

“More advertisement of events going on around campus.”

—Michael Avent