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After ‘legitimate rape’ fiasco, Angel Brown puts Todd Akin in stirrups

Gabby Douglas’ natural hair attracts way too much attention in cyberspace

A working man’s story: Derrick Williams’ days at NCCU

Echo photographer Gabriel Aikens surveys first few weeks of fall

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VOLUME 104, ISSUE 1

Campus Echo

Dorm crisis causes chaos

Virgin voters will be key The Battle for America: Part one of a four part series.

BY MATT PHILLIPS ECHO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

N.C. Central University freshman Bianca McGee, who plans to major in social work, stands outside James E. Shepard Memorial Library in a

deep red shirt, her school’s name printed in large block letters across the front.

McGee holds a clipboard and a stack of

official looking forms.

She is registering NCCU freshmen to vote.

“We’re trying to get mostly freshmen because they just turned

eighteen. Some of them don’t want to take the time out,” said McGee. She watches students approach the library doors and holds her clipboard up, hoping to catch their

eyes. McGee said she hadn’t registered many voters this day.

Athletic training freshman Cherita Smith is also registering voters outside the library. Both women

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BY JONATHAN ALEXANDER ECHO ASSISTANT EDITOR

When psychology freshman Bria Moore was admitted to N.C. Central University this semester, she expected to be staying on campus.

Instead, two days before move-in day residential life sent Moore an email stating that she was on a waiting list with 200 other students for housing. So she, along with the others, were forced to scramble for housing at the last minute.

Admitting and housing students is a joint effort between admissions and residential life, according to Jennifer Wilder, director of residential life, who added that NCCU establishes enrollment targets for incoming freshmen and transfer students.

“This year was an anomaly and the university experienced a growth in the enrollment yield,” wrote Wilder in an email to the Echo.

This was the largest freshmen class in NCCU history. On the first day of school, 121 students were on the waiting list to get housing. As of Tuesday Sept. 4, there are 80 students still on the waiting list.

The Echo attempted to contact Anthony Brooks, director of undergraduate admissions, to comment on this story, but after six calls and one email dating back to Aug. 16, the messages were not returned.

Moore said she was only able to find off-campus housing the weekend before classes started.

“The most disappointing thing is not being able to get the on-campus experience at all and not having the opportunity to because they did not have any room,” Moore said.

“I thought they were very last

GREEK BOWL UNDER CONSTRUCTION, SLATED FOR FALL COMPLETION

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Nelms throws in the towel

BY MATT PHILLIPS ECHO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

The throne is up for grabs.

Charlie Nelms retired from his position as chancellor at N.C. Central University effective Aug. 6. NCCU Alumnus and Board of Trustees member Harold T. Epps will lead a 19-person committee in the search for a new chancellor.

Charles L. Becton, a law professor and former N.C . Court of Charlie Appeals judge, will Nelms serve as interim chancellor during the search. Nelms worked with Becton through Aug. 31 to help with the transition.

Nelms, who replaced James H. Ammons as chancellor at NCCU in 2007, surprised the university community with his announcement.

Ammons recently resigned as chancellor from Florida A&M following the death of a band member, allegedly from a hazing incident.

A host of recent changes at NCCU, including a comprehensive academic restructuring plan, seemed to indicate that Nelms was tied to the university for the immediate future.

“We were already going through

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The “Restore the Bowl” project is underway. The project was funded through a Home Depot Retool Your School grant.

MORGAN CRUTCHFIELD/Staff Photographer

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ellow caution tape surrounds the Greek Bowl, the ‘heart’ of Greek life at N.C. Central University.

Dirt is being moved, walls erected.

Machinery churns soil and workers consult their construction plans.

The dust and noise are part of the three-stage “Restore the Bowl” project, a comprehensive redesign that will improve the plots of the ‘Divine Nine.’

A new plot commemorating NCCU will also be constructed. The project

includes plans for an amphitheater, a staged pergola — or arbor — and a reflecting pool with a fountain.

“Restore the Bowl” was partially funded through a Home Depot Retool Your School grant of $10,000.

9/11 still a fresh memory for many Psychologists describe near total recall of historic events as ‘flashbulb memory’

BY JAMILA JOHNSON ECHO STAFF REPORTER

Family members lay flowers and flags at the site of the World Trade Center.

It will be 11 years since the U.S. was changed forever.

On Sept. 11, 2001 over 3,000 people, including 400 police officers and fire fighters, were killed when two American Airline flights and two United Airline flights were hijacked in midair by al-Qaeda terrorists wielding box cutters.

The flights were directed toward the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, and the Pentagon and Capital Building in Washington D.C.

APRIL SAUL/Philadelphia Inquirer (MCT)

It was a day few in the United States will ever forget; images have been played and replayed of American Airlines’ Flight 11 and United Airlines’ Flight 175 soaring into the World Trade Center and the horrifying the collapse of the two buildings.

Many people remember exactly when and where they were when they received the news of the tragedy.

Psychology senior Taisha Parkins, a Brooklyn native and a 5th grade student at John L. Steptoe School of the 21st Century at the time, vividly recalls that day in

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FAMU band bus ‘president’ faces felony

BY STEPHEN HUDAK AND DENISE-MARIE ORDWAY ORLANDO SENTINEL (MCT)

ORLANDO, Fla. — Dante Martin, identified as the so-called “president” of

the band bus on which Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion was fatally beaten last fall, faces a charge of felony hazing in

Champion’s death, new court documents show.

Martin, 25, of Tampa, has pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor in connection with a separate haz-

ing aboard Bus C, a charter bus that transported members of the Marching 100’s percussion section to band performances.

The Orange-Osceola State

Attorney’s office last week asked a judge to transfer Martin’s case from county court to circuit court, a sign that prosecutors

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Jasmine Williams, a nursing freshman without campus housing, boards a bus to Level51ten apartments.

JONATHAN ALEXANDER/Echo assistant editor

minute. They should have been more organized.”

Undecided major Nykera Thomas said she paid her housing deposit after she was accepted to NCCU, but was accepted into school after the housing deposit deadline.

She said she was told at July orientation that she would have a room assignment soon.

But two days before movein day she received the same email as Moore.

Thomas said she and her grandmother called residen-

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Campus Echo WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

tial life every day until they finally found her on-campus housing one week before the start of classes.

Some parents said residential life would not speak to them about the situation, saying that housing information for students over 18 was private.

“They haven’t emailed me anything,” Cadice Walker, parent of Alan Autry said.

“They are speaking to an 18 year old who is not paying for school.”

Shawn Moore echoed the

same sentiments.

“I told the lady, ‘yeah, she’s [Bria] 18 but that’s my money.

If you want her to come there I signed for these loans and that’s my money to spend at that school,’” Moore said.

When the elder Moore drove to Durham with his daughter from Charlotte to talk to residential life in late July, he was told that the computer didn’t take his housing deposit payment.

“I like HBCUs but I don’t like the way they do business,” the elder Moore said.

Alan Autry wanted to attend NCCU to play football.

But when he was told that he might not have housing right away, that opportunity was put in jeopardy.

Autry, who lives in Fayetteville, said commuting every day was out of the question.

“They could have told me before that they had this many students coming. I wouldn’t have limited my options like I did. Now I got to rethink my game plan,” said Autry.

Autry did receive housing Sat. Aug 18 after the interview was conducted.

It should be noted that four of the nine floors in Baynes Dormitory are undergoing construction. Each floor can hold around 50 students according to Resident Assistant of Baynes Hall, Q Langley, sophomore criminal justice major.

Wilder said students who paid after the guarantee deadline of May 1 for first year students or Jan. 1 for continuing students are provided on-campus housing on first-come, first-serve basis.

“We do not see this year’s housing situation as an ongoing issue,” Wilder said. “The university is making plans now to plan for next year’s first-year students.”

VOTING CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 are excited about voting in their first presidential election.

“I’m excited for the simple fact that I know the history of how long it took women to get the right to vote,” said Smith.

For Smith and McGee a major issue is the possible cuts to Pell Grants for college students.

They both said they couldn’t understand why some in the federal government want to make it harder for lower income students to attend college.

In 2008 voters age 18-29 accounted for 20 percent of the total presidential vote.

Their participation was a key factor in electing President Barack Obama.

Without the youth vote — as pollsters and major media call the group — Obama stands at a severe disadvantage to republican Mitt Romney in the upcoming presidential election.

If youth voters turn out in numbers similar to 2008 they will directly impact the final election results, increasing the chance for an Obama victory.

Biology freshman Juan Ramirez said his Latino heritage determines, at least in part, how he interprets the

Voter Turnout by Age in 2004 and 2008 Presidential Elections Source: Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement at Tufts University

18-29 age group

30-44 age group

45-64 age group

65+ age group

75%

50%

25%

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rhetoric used by major presidential and congressional candidates.

“I think I know what candidate I want to vote for, but I’m still looking at what that candidate is doing,” said Morales.

“When it comes to voting, you make the best decision you can.”

Ramirez said that Obama’s June executive order to halt deportation of certain illegal immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children was a ploy to gain Latino votes.

Ramirez said that he thinks the order is beneficial to Latinos, but he wonders why it wasn’t enacted earlier.

Sophomore Lynae Thomas, who plans to enter the nursing program, registered to

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vote for the first time at NCCU. Thomas is also concerned about immigration issues, though in a very different way than Morales.

“With the population rising in certain areas where we don’t have room or resources, that affects us as well,” said Thomas.

Thomas said she is excited to vote for the first time, but has some anxiety about making the wrong choice. She has had conversations with her mother about how important voting is in America.

“I’m excited that I’m able to [vote], but I’m nervous because I’m afraid to make the wrong decision. I want to research it enough to make an educated decision,” said

Thomas.

Psychology freshman Jexsy Mckenzie said unemployment is the biggest issue facing Americans today. Mckenzie’s father lost his job as a computer engineer.

Her father was hired at another job after a short period of time, but it was still a struggle for her family.

Mckenzie said she has been looking forward to voting since the day she turned 18.

“I have a say-so in what’s happening with this country.

One vote can make a huge difference in who’s going to take the presidency,” said Mckenzie.

The eventual power and turnout of the youth vote will also depend on whether voters who were not previously eligible make an effort to register, and whether or not they are contacted by a voter registration organization.

Outside James E. Shepard Memorial Library, McGee holds her clipboard tight against her deep red NCCU shirt. She flashes a smile and waits for the next unsuspecting, unregistered voter.

“Some people think voting doesn’t matter, but everyone should think it matters,” said McGee.

CHANCELLOR CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 changes.

I was really shocked,” said psychology junior Tabitha Green.

Green said because Nelms left in the midst of significant changes, she was concerned about how students, faculty and administration would adjust.

She added that communication problems at NCCU — between administration, University College and academic departments — have sometimes resulted in difficulty for students.

“If you’re not communicating effectively it’s a big problem — it’s a major problem,” said Green.

Nelms did not give specific reasons for his retirement.

Instead, he said he wanted to continue supporting HBCUs across the country via his 2010 publication “A Call to Action.”

“It was definitely a surprise to hear of the Chancellor’s retirement and we certainly wish him the best in his future endeavors,” said Tania B. Davis, NCCU

national alumni president, in an email to the Campus Echo.

“Our goal is to ensure that NCCU is preserved, protected and promoted.”

Dwight Perry, chairman of the NCCU Board of Trustees, said after Nelms’ retirement he wanted the search committee to represent everyone with a vested interest in NCCU’s success, including the student body, faculty, alumni, the Board of Trustees and the Durham community.

The 19-person committee includes, among others, Perry, Davis, NCCU SGA President Reggie McCrimmon, Faculty Senate Chair Sandra M. Rogers and Staff Senate Chair Daphine Richardson.

“I want big time dreamers.

I too want someone who can raise funds. I want somebody who cares about faculty, staff, administrators and more than anything else, the reason we are all here — the students,” said Becton during an Aug. 17 meeting with faculty.

McCrimmon said in a prepared statement he would

make sure student interests remain a top priority during the search for a chancellor.

“I will work diligently through this process of transition to make sure that our students remain the top priority and in great perspective during all decision making,” wrote McCrimmon.

A university website will

post updates on the search, according to an NCCU press release.

UNC President Thomas Ross will officially inform the committee of their task in an organizational meeting, on Sept. 6, at 2 p.m. in the Chancellor’s Dining Room of W.G. Pearson Cafeteria.

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“I was just blown apart. Nothing in my lifetime compares. It’s a big defining moment for our generation, and our country. It’s one of those dates where there’s a before and after it.”

JAMES ALEXANDER MASS COMMUNICATION SENIOR

New York.

“I was nine years old in the 5th grade. I remember an assistant telling our teacher to look out the window. All I could see was smoke after the plane had crashed.

“I was concerned about the people in the building and hoped that they were OK. Now when I look back on it I just think that that could have been me,” said Parkins.

Richard Patterson, mass communication senior recalls this: “I thought it was a movie. I didn’t know what the World Trade Center was. I remember going to the library because it was our class’ turn to go, and the teacher pushing the TV in on the cart.

“We watched the effects of the attacks and I remember seeing a woman covered in ashes.

I thought she was getting a perm.”

Dante Johnson, psychology sophomore, remembers he was in the 3rd grade.

“I was at home and my dad, who is a pilot, was the one who told me the news. He was pretty concerned. I remember for a long time I had the image of terrorists burned in my mind.”

James Alexander, a 26year-old mass communication senior, was in 10th grade when the attacks occurred.

“I was in history class at Durham School of the Arts. People were talking about something big that had happened. I thought it was a movie.

“I didn’t understand what was going on. Then in 7th period, while on the Yearbook staff, I went on the Internet. That’s when I saw what happened,” said Alexander.

“I was just blown apart.

Nothing in my lifetime compares. It’s a big defining moment for our generation, and our country. It’s one of those dates where there’s a before and after it.”

So why do these students recall the event in such detail?

It’s a phenomena psychologists call “flashbulb memory.” A term first defined and studied by psychologists Roger Brown and James Kulik in 1977.

The psychologists coined the term to refer to the near total recall that individuals can have of great historical moments.

According to Brown and Kulik flash bulb memory occurs when great emotion surrounds an historic event, usually one that is shocking, surprising and tragic.

In a 2011 article,

“Seared in Our Memories,” Bridgett Murray Law writes that “these detailed recollections can be as clear as something that happened yesterday, right down to the dialogue, the weather, and even what people were wearing when they heard the news.”

Often these events are collective, experienced by the nation as a whole, and often the media coverage is unending.

Here’s some examples of events that may or may not fit the bill, depending on your age and experiences: the 1941 surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the 1963 assassination of John Kennedy, the 1969 moon landing, the 1986 Challenger explosion, the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings, and, most recently, the theatre shootings at a premiere showing of a Batman film in Colorado.

In “Yesterday,” a survey commissioned by a British history channel, 300 people were asked to recall 32 personal and historical memories.

Almost 50 years after the 1963 President John F Kennedy assassination more than half of respondents in England were able to remember in precise details of when and where they were when they received the news of the American president’s death.

News of the World Trade Center attacks topped “flashbulb memory” lists. Surprisingly their recall of specific details of the World Trade Center attack were often more vivid than highly personal events, such as the birth of a child.

In the survey 92 per cent of the respondents knew exactly where they were when they heard the news of the 9/11 attack; 84 per cent remembered the time they heard the news; and 71 percent recalled what they were doing the moment they heard the news.

According to Elizabeth Phelps, a neuropsychologist who is studying 9/11 memories, a specific part of the brain — the amygdala — plays a key part in forming emotionally charged flashbulb memories.

“The amygdala trains your attention on this emotionally arousing information to the exclusion of everything around you,” said Phelps.

“And emotion, we know from previous research, helps you store memories.

So that’s how you get the flashbulb—the strong memory for a few vivid details.”

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Campus Echo WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

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Working man’s steady hand Students describe Derrick B. Williams as a kind, encouraging friend

BY S HEILA R OSIER ECHO STAFF REPORTER

Phyliss Craig-TTaylor is back at NCCU as the new dean of law.

GABRIEL AIKENS/Echo photo editor

BY WILLIAM ANYU ECHO STAFF REPORTER

It has been six years since Phyliss Craig-Taylor walked the halls of the Albert L. Walker School of Law at N.C. Central Central University as a professor, teaching from 2000-2006.

“I want to be the model that demonstrates it doesn’t matter where you start, if you have the right value system, despite institutional and systematic challenges that may be placed in your path, you can achieve great things,” said Craig-Taylor.

The former associate dean for academics at the Charlotte School of Law is now the new dean of Law at NCCU. She took the position this summer.

She replaces Raymond Peirce, who has decided to return to private practice as a partner at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP. Peirce was dean since 2005.

Craig-Taylor has more than 22 years’ experience in legal education and administration.

Craig-Taylor grew up in a family of 12 children in the small town of Yantley, Ala. on a small family farm.

According to CraigTaylor her father only had a 3rd grade education and her mother a high school education, but they stressed education.

“Though we didn’t have much, we did have the necessities. My parents always believed that education was the key and they always encouraged us to go to college,” said Craig-Taylor Craig-Taylor began her education at a time when Alabama schools were still segregated. She said that she and her siblings were not welcome, but they realized a door was opening and that they had to walk through it.

“My mother gave me a

cigar box to pick up all the things that would be thrown at me to be used as evidence in court toward ending the fight to end segregation,” said CraigTaylor.

“To my surprise my cigar box full of things was one day used in court.”

She said she was told that she was not “college material” by a high school and was refused college preparation material.

“My greatest challenge was the fact that my parents didn’t go to college,” said Craig-Taylor.

“I didn’t have immediate lawyer influence to help me structure my path, but I always knew I wanted to make a difference.”

Craig-Taylor earned her undergraduate and law degrees at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa.

She was a partner with the law firm of England & Bivens and a judicial clerk for the Alabama Supreme Court. She earned a Master of Laws degree at Columbia University.

She has been a visiting professor at the University of San Francisco school of Law, and resident professor at the University Of Warsaw College Of Law in Poland.

Her specialties include property, real estate finance, advance issues in poverty, land use, land loss, women and the law, and professional responsibilities.

“From what I have seen, she is a phenomenal person. She seems to be student focused,” said Joshua Byrd, law school student body president.

“I want to be the model that demonstrates it doesn’t matter where you start, if you have the right value system despite institutional and systematic challenges that may be placed in your path you can achieve great things,” said Craig-Taylor.

Often, the only voices heard at N.C. Central University are students, professors and administrators. Those that work behind the scenes are invisible.

The name Derrick B. Williams might not ring a bell to everyone at NCCU, but to those who work and attend class in the Mary M. Townes Science Building, Williams is known as the maintenance man. A kind, encouraging friend and brother.

Williams wears glasses.

He is quiet, but always greets others with a smile.

He maintains the science building with a team of other maintenance employees. Williams ensures the classrooms, conference rooms and bathrooms remain spotless.

“Being around people that are educated but don’t look down at you is a great feeling, and that’s what NCCU has to offer,” said Williams. “The people here are very polite, something I didn’t grow up with in New Jersey.”

Young Buck Williams was raised in Newark, N.J. He moved to North Carolina after he decided that Newark was becoming a bad place to live. Williams’ mother was a nurse, his father a postal worker. He was the youngest of eight siblings.

“It’s a flip side to that because I’m the only survivor out of the eight siblings,” said Williams.

They are all deceased of hereditary diabetes and high blood pressure.

Williams said he is fortunate for not having to deal with any of those conditions, but he had glaucoma surgery in May. As a child Williams remembers being picked on by his seven older siblings.

He recalled his sister strongly influencing his life.

She would keep him inside when he wanted to go out and play.

She taught him how to cook, clean and perform household chores. Williams said he hated it, but now understands why, and is grateful that she did it.

School Days Williams never went to college. Instead, he worked and then joined the military for three years.

“In the military, someone is constantly telling you what to do,” said Williams.

The most valuable thing Williams learned in the military was how to cook.

Between the cooking courses there and what his sister taught him, Williams can cook a four-course meal.

Williams said he can cook everything.

Building Environmental Services Technician Derrick B. Williams is a fixture in the Mary M. Townes Science Building.

JEREMY DONALD/Echo staff photographer

Williams doesn't hold a degree, but he understands the importance of education. He attended Durham Technical Community College and received certifications in electrical, carpentry and plumbing.

“I’m not going after the college degree, but I am learning the trades. This way if times get hard, I can support myself,” said Williams.

Family Man Williams has been married to his second wife for 30 years, but they have no children.

He said his first wife couldn't have children.

When he married his second wife, she became pregnant, but had miscarriages.

Williams wanted children, but said he thinks this might be the way God wanted it.

Adoption was not an option because he couldn’t afford it. William considers some students and his nieces and nephews his children.

When Williams gets home from work, he enjoys watching the news.

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Sometimes he cooks dinner if he’s not too tired. His day after work doesn’t consist of much activity.

“I watch TV, kiss my wife, and go to sleep,” said Williams.

Williams said every day he wakes up is the happiest day of his life, but the saddest moment in his life was losing his parents.

Passion and Praise Williams told a story of a student that was very discouraged. Williams made it a priority to speak with the student five days a week to encourage him to reach his goal and to stay focused.

The student had some of the same concerns most students have.

He asked Williams why he had to learn something he was never going to use.

Williams told the student that he will eventually use it at some point in his life.

Williams said he felt a sense of accomplishment when the student came back to thank him after graduating.

Williams told another story about a student making the dean’s list, and how he always encouraged her

and was supportive.

She later made what he considers some mistakes.

She ended up pregnant and dropped out of school. He hasn’t seen or heard from her since.

“You’re not going to get many chances, but when you do have that chance, you have to get it correct,” said Williams.

Getting it correct is what Williams said he is all about.

His message to the students at NCCU is to do their best to get it correct. He is very proud of the students, and praised the professors that educate the students.

Williams said if he could do life all over he would pursue a college degree.

He said he wants to get the message out to anyone who will listen that they should stay in school and not make the same mistakes he’s made.

Dorian White described himself as a good friend of Williams. He said Williams is a hard worker, polite and kind. White has known Williams for close to eight years now. He said he can count on Williams for anything.

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Rx sticker shock Student health insurance jumps by $265 per semester

BY J ULIAN M ELTON ECHO STAFF REPORTER

N.C. Central University students face a drastic cost increase in health insurance this fall.

The UNC insurance plan is offered through Pearce & Pearce Inc. The insurance rate offered through the University of North Carolina — NCCU is one of the 16 schools within the UNC System that requires all students to have health insurance — was jacked up

by Pearce & Pearce Inc. from $444 per semester to $709 per semester. That’s a whopping 59 percent jump.

A May 30 email from NCCU’s interim director Student Health and Counseling Services, Louis Velez, informed students of the change.

According to the email students have until Sept. 15 to purchase alternative insurance services and opt-out of the school plan

via hard waiver.

English senior Lindsey Rose said that she is upset by the price increase.

“No one should be required to pay $700 per semester for basic healthcare,” said Rose.

“The same services that were provided last semester for $444 now cost $709 and nothing has changed.”

In a May 1 News and Observer story by Jane Stancill, Bruce Mallette, UNC vice president for academic and student affairs, said the increases were enacted after new federal regulations in March changed preventative care and pharmacy services.

Mallette said UNC student health care usage contributed to the increase.

UNC had the option to rebid the contract, but decided to wait until next year, when new regulations under the Affordable Care Act take hold.

An estimated 64,000

UNC system students purchase the UNC insurance plan.

According to the email from public relations “Students who have their own insurance can waive the $709 charge for the Student Health Insurance Plan by going to www.studentsinsurance.com.”

“I am covered on my mother’s insurance, but that extra $300 they are charging could have been used to cover some students’ books,” said history senior Victoria ColstonBrooks.

“Not all students waive the school insurance,” English graduate student, Cithrah Henderson said.

“I am under the school’s insurance, and it is too expensive.”

To waive the insurance for fall 2012-13 students must show that they have their own insurance or are under their parent’s plan and complete the waiver by Sept. 15.

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Mass comm lifts off Communication program now has its own department

William Anyu gets some advising from Charmaine McKissick-M Melton, interim chair of the Department of Mass Communication.

JEREMY DONALD/Echo staff photographer

BY ICE’ES GREEN ECHO STAFF REPORTER

Since 2003, mass communication students have been required to take 21 hours of English and literature courses.

Students entering the mass communication program this fall no longer have that requirement.

What was formerly the Department of English and Mass Communication has become two separate academic programs.

The Department of English is now named the Department of Language and Literature and the Department of Mass Communication will keep the same name but stand on its own.

“The students need a certain amount of hours within professional skills, and English did not fulfill those,” said Charmaine McKissick-Melton, interim chair of the mass communication department.

The first steps toward the separate department began in 2002 when Thomas Evans, former assistant chair of the department of English and mass communication and Bruce dePyssler, an associate professor in mass communication, wrote a proposal to establish the major in mass communica-

tion. Chancellor Charlie Nelms made the establishment of the department a priority in 2011.

The curriculum will also change and many professors are excited.

“As we continue to modernize the program, students will be better prepared to enter the profession and their degree will be more marketable,” Evans said.

The new courses will include Broadcast Announcing, Journalism as Literature, Communication Law and Media Ethics.

Changes in the curriculum will affect any student who entered NCCU after the summer of 2012.

Current mass communication majors will continue under the former curriculum.

With the new curriculum, those students will only be required to take one English course, Advanced Grammar.

Elements of Speech and Public Speaking will now be classified as mass communication courses.

There are about 250 mass communication majors at present.

Students can now concentrate in journalism, broadcast media and communication studies.

In addition to the cur-

riculum changes, the department anticipates changes in the classroom.

“We intend to offer more web-integrated classes and create a more convergent media curriculum,” Evans said.

Forty of the 105 HBCUs in the United States have communications programs, according to the Black College Communication Association.

Of those 40, just nine are accredited by the Accrediting Council for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

According to McKissickMelton the department’s next challenge is to begin working toward full accreditation.

Although current students will not see the effects of the new curriculum, some say they are pleased the program is evolving.

“I am very excited for the students of the class of 2016 that have declared mass communication as a major,” said Shannon Connelly, mass communication senior.

“Now that course requirements have been altered and the amount of English classes have been lowered, students can gain more knowledge and experience with mass communication.”

Abortion support group

BY MATT PHILLIPS ECHO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

N.C. State business junior Tianna Spears is starting a conversation about abortion.

Spears said a conversation is needed and if nobody else is willing to bring it up, she might as well be the one to start.

Spears is starting “The Beautiful Pain Movement,” a post-abortion support group for women and men who have experienced or encountered abortion in their personal lives.

The group is free and open to the public. The first meeting is Sept. 22 at 11 a.m., on the fourth floor of the North Carolina Institute of Minority Economic Development building, 114 W. Parrish St., in Durham.

The group will meet for five Saturdays and con-

clude on Oct. 20.

“I saw my friend go through this situation and they didn’t know where to go. I know this topic is taboo in society, nobody wants to discuss it,” Spears said.

“I thought, there’s a support group for everything, so why not this? Why couldn’t I start it?”

Spears said “The Beautiful Pain Movement” is not affiliated with either side of the ongoing abortion debate in political circles. The support group is neither pro-choice, nor is it pro-life.

Instead, Spears said she wants to provide a place where people of all backgrounds can share their experiences, feel a sense of community and escape negative judgment.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, a private think tank that

compiles statistics for Planned Parenthood and other reproductive health organizations, half of American women will have an unintended pregnancy by age 45, and nearly onethird of them will have abortions.

In 2008, the most recent year for which the Institute provides statistics, there were 17.5 abortions per every 1,000 women aged 15-44 in North Carolina.

“I feel like we are starting a conversation that doesn’t exist,” Spears said.

“I know a lot of people won’t discuss abortion. My organization is here to change the typical belief about abortion.”

Spears also said “The Beautiful Pain Movement” endorses safe sex.

Visit www.thebeautifulpainmovement.org for more information.

Campus Echo @campusecho

Beyond NCCU

Campus Echo WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

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What does smartphone war mean for innovation?

Apple patent victory raises a host of questions for smartphone users

BY DAWN C. CHMIELEWSKI AND JESSICA GUYNN LOS ANGELES TIMES (MCT)

LOS ANGELES – Steve Jobs didn’t live to see the outcome of the bruising war that pitted his iPhone and iPad against mobile devices that use Google’s Android software.

But he issued the call to arms.

“I am going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product. I’m willing to go to thermonuclear war on this,” Jobs told Walter Isaacson, author of a posthumously published biography of the Apple cofounder. “They are scared to death, because they know they are guilty.”

Apple won a resounding victory Friday in a lawsuit against Samsung Electronics Co., in which jurors found that the South Korean manufacturer had infringed on six of Apple’s patents for mobile devices.

The $1 billion award is among the largest intellectual property awards on record.

It could well set the stage for other legal challenges of rival device-makers.

The stakes are incredibly high. The global smartphone market, which Credit Suisse estimates could reach $207.6 billion this year, has sparked lawsuits around the world as the various players jockey for position.

Already, smartphones powered by Android make up about 68 percent of worldwide shipments, according to research firm IDC, compared to Apple’s 17 percent.

FAMU CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 planned to add to Martin’s charge or to enhance the charge.

A 20-page document, lists Martin as one of 12 felony defendants in the Champion case. The document says the dozen “unlawfully and intentionally or recklessly (committed) an act of hazing ... and the hazing resulted in the death of Robert Champion.”

Martin’s attorney, Richard Escobar of Tampa, said Tuesday he was not surprised because prosecutors had told him they were considering the additional charge. Martin now also faces two other counts of misdemeanor hazing.

“There has never been any allegation of my client striking anyone,” Escobar said.

In the wake of Champion’s death on Nov. 19, Orange County detectives concluded at least four separate hazings occurred on the percussion bus that day, including three “Bus C crossings.” A “crossing” is when a band member agrees to run a gantlet in which other band members on the bus assault him as part of an initiation rite.

That’s what happened to Champion, 26, who was punched, kicked and flogged with a traffic cone and drum mallets as he tried to cross from the front to the back of the charter bus following the Florida Classic in Orlando.

Martin, who played the snare drum and studied psychology at FAMU, has pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor hazing of percussionist Requesta Harden, who was pummeled in the back of the bus en route to the game.

Harden told investigators that the hazing ritual, known as a “hot seat,” left her too woozy to perform with the band.

Apple won a resounding victory on August 24, 2012, in a lawsuit against Samsung Electronics Co., in which jurors found that the South Korean manufacturer had infringed on six of Apple's patents for mobile devices. Steve Jobs didn’t live to see the outcome, but he issued the call to arms.

MICHAEL ROBINSON CHAVEZ/Los Angeles Times (MCT)

Samsung is fueling the growing popularity of the Google system, according to IDC — the manufacturer shipped 44 percent of all Android smartphones in the most recent quarter worldwide.

“The smartphone patent wars are taking place in many courts in this country, and all over the world,” said Rutgers University law professor Michael Carrier.

“What is so important about this one, this is the first time that the court has found that one of these man-

ufacturers has infringed patents of a company like Apple _ so it really is pivotal, because Samsung is the leading manufacturer of smartphones in the U.S. today.”

Some experts predict the Samsung ruling will send manufacturers back to the drawing board, as they try to design smartphone and tablets to avoid violating Apple’s patents.

Samsung, which said it plans to appeal the verdict, said the court decision threatens to stifle creativity.

“Today’s verdict should not be viewed as a win for Apple, but as a loss for the American consumer,” the company said in a statement released soon after the verdict was delivered.

Other technologists — most notably at Apple — see it differently.

“We chose legal action very reluctantly and only after repeatedly asking Samsung to stop copying our work,” Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook wrote in an email to employees.

“We value originality and

innovation and pour our lives into making the best products on earth. And we do this to delight our customers, not for competitors to flagrantly copy.”

The next big shoe to drop in the case is scheduled for Sept. 20, when there is hearing to ban infringing Samsung phones from U.S. store shelves.

It is unclear how farreaching the judge’s ruling will be. Some legal experts predict changes are inevitable for Samsung should the ruling stand.

“In a nutshell, yes there will be some delay to market with respect to similar-looking smartphones that need to be redesigned,” said Christopher Carani, a partner with the Chicago-based intellectual property law firm McAndrews, Held & Malloy.

Other observers think the impact on Samsung could be limited.

“For most of the technologies at issue, Samsung will be able to download a software upgrade and swap the infringing technology for something perfectly legitimate,” said Douglas Lichtman, a law professor at the University of CaliforniaLos Angeles.

One of the decisions in the case was that Samsung violated Apple’s technology relating screen icons.

Addressing design similarities to Apple’s products could be thornier, as manufacturers seek to refine the look of their devices.

Because of the long development cycle for products, it could take anywhere from 18 to 36 months for mobile devices with a dramatically different appearance or software features to reach the market, said Jefferson Wang of IBB Consulting.

One legal expert would rather see technology giants compete in the marketplace.

“The best thing for society and for consumers is if all technology companies would take all the money they are spending on lawyers and experts ... and instead invested that money in research and design,” said Santa Clara University law professor Brian Love.

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STUDY ABROAD Important dates from your Office of International Affairs Students! Drop by the Office of International Affairs in Room 102A of the Lee Biology Building to pick-up information or make an appointment for a group orientation.

• All students planning to Study Abroad in summer 2013, please come to OIA as soon as possible!

• Monthly study abroad general information session – First Thursday of every month at 10:40 a.m. in Room 202, Lee Biology Building (Sept. 6, Oct. 4, Nov. 1 and Dec. 6) • Campus application deadline for the Benjamin Gilman Scholarship Program is September 24, 2012 • Campus application deadline for the 2013-2014 U.S. Student Fulbright Program is September 24, 2012.

• Campus application deadline for students planning to study abroad in fall 2013 is September 27, 2012.

• Campus application deadline for students planning to study abroad in spring 2014 is January 25, 2013.

• Campus application deadline for students planning to study abroad in summer 2014 is February 7, 2013.

Contact: Olivia E-M Jones at ojones@nccu.edu Tel. (919) 530 7713

Campus Echo

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Welcomes You Back

Eagles Up! Soaring High!

With 25,000 + distinguished alumni worldwide …

YOU are no ordinary individual, YOU are the future of the NCCU alumni legacy, YOU are an Eagle, You possess power and soar toward greatness, so Go forth and excel humbly through service!

Why wait?

Get involved now.

Join the Pre-Alumni Club!

For scholarship information, go to www.nccualumni.org. www.nccualumni.org

Beyond NCCU

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Colleges offer more courses aimed at job market

Historic black college faces more trouble Morris Brown College down to 50 students

BY ERNIE SUGGS THE ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION (MCT)

Gabriel Pacareu, left, and Benjamin Eisenman work with a infrared spectrometer in a lab at Miami-Dade College’s School of Science, where classes focus on skills students can use in the medical industry, Friday, August 10, 2012. With most students working part-time, working on equipment in the classroom makes it easier to land positions as lab techs and research assistants.

PETER ANDREW BOSCH/Miami Herald(MCT)

BY DOUGLAS HANKS MIAMI HERALD (MCT)

MIAMI — The glossy brochure promoting Miami Dade College’s School of Science begins with the expected burst of lofty language about teaching students to question, investigate and formulate conclusions about the world.

But directly under the “Mission” heading, the new pamphlet gets down to business, laying out the paycheck prospects for graduates. Biological technician: $38,396.

Horticulturist: $34,511.

Environmental technician: $40,227.

“That’s what the students care about right now,’’ Dean Heather Belmont said.

“Before, students always felt that when they graduated, they could get a job.”

High unemployment and battered household finances have colleges working harder to tie their classroom offerings to job offers. From creating courses to accommodate a new industry to customizing a curriculum to a specific employer’s hiring criteria, schools are pushing to narrow the gap between academia and the real world.

It’s a long-running trend that has accelerated during the recession and limp recovery, at a time when

many employers refuse to hire candidates without the exact skills needed for a position.

“How do you become marketable with a degree in management?’’ asked Robert Sellani, an associate professor of operations management and accounting at Nova Southeastern University in Davie, Fla. “It’s not easy.”

Sellani presides over NSU’s new supply-chain master’s program, which is designed to train students on the nuts-and-bolts of moving goods for companies. He said the program came in part from looking around at businesses poised for growth in South Florida, despite the wobbly economy.

“It’s very obvious with the deep dredging of the Port of Miami, more cargo is going to be ready to move north,’’ Sellani said of the effort to prepare Miami docks for ships serving a deeper Panama Canal, which is also being dredged. With the cargo industry already growing, Sellani said supply management looked ripe for funneling students into jobs at some of South Florida’s top employers.

“We’ve had interest from City Furniture. We’ve had interest from Office Depot,’’ he said. “We’ve had interest

from Royal Caribbean.”

No field is too narrow. The University of Miami now offers a post-graduate course on real estate development, and Florida International University is rolling out a course of study on medical paperwork.

Sometimes, the push for marketability can go too far.

NSU had hoped to focus its supply-chain offerings even more with a master’s in logistics. But Sellani said the school dropped that for lack of demand.

The downturn has put a bigger focus than ever on the role education plays in not just landing jobs for students but also improving their wages. With about 3.7 million job openings nationwide _ the highest since 2008 _ experts see a “skills gap” as a main reason for an unemployment rate topping 8 percent.

The Obama administration this year proposed $8 billion to train 2 million people in community-college programs aimed at industries where skilled workers are lacking.

Federal dollars funneled through the $800 billion stimulus program has already funded training programs for so-called “green” jobs.

With a tough job market, more students are opting to

skip a paycheck and pursue their own business ideas.

That’s given an opening for the University of Miami’s Launch Pad program, which pairs “venture coaches” with UM students and alumni who have an idea for their own businesses.

The program started in 2008, and has attracted national attention. Now UM is expanding it across the country, under the Launch Pad brand it owns. Two years ago, the charitable arm of the Blackstone equity fund partnered with Launch Pad to expand the program to universities and community colleges in Detroit, then the Cleveland area.

Blackstone paid UM licensing fees to set up the new programs, with UM serving as a headquarters overseeing the ventures under the new Blackstone Launch Pad label. Two more cities will be added this fall, said Amy Stursgberg, director of the Blackstone Foundation.

“Two-thirds of all the jobs this current generation of college students are going to hold, they’re going to have to create themselves,’’ she said.

“Entrepreneurship really is a viable career path.”

ATLANTA — For more than a decade, Morris Brown College has clung to life as it struggled academically and financially in the face of growing debt and dwindling support.

Now, one of the country’s oldest black colleges, which at times boasted an enrollment of more than 3,000 students, is now down to about 50, and all but dead.

Morris Brown is facing foreclosure next month, after investors called in $13 million worth of bonds tied to the college. An auction of assets, including the administration building, is scheduled for Sept.

4.

“This is heartbreaking and not only a sad day in the life of Morris Brown, but in black academia,” said former Atlanta City Councilman Derrick Boazman, a 1990 graduate of Morris Brown. “The school is needed now more than ever.” The school is planning to have a prayer vigil on Saturday, where a plan to move the school forward will be offered.

While not going into specifics, Benjamin Harrison, a spokesman for the 6th District African Methodist Episcopal Church, which oversees the school, said officials will talk about reorganizing and restructuring as well as finances.

Calls to Morris Brown President Stanley J. Pritchett were not returned Wednesday, but Harrison acknowledged that while efforts are being made to find money to settle the debt, the going is tough.

“There is the need to raise millions of dollars to counteract that deficit,” Harrison said. “But if that money is not raised, the school is in jeopardy.”

The bonds were issued by the Fulton County Development Authority in 1996, when Atlanta was flush with cash as the Summer Olympics loomed.

As security for the bonds, Morris Brown pledged several pieces of property, including the school’s administration building.

But Morris Brown, which is mired in debt and receives no federal funds because it is not accredited, is unable to repay the loans.

Morris Brown used the Fulton County Development Authority to finance the debt to get an ultra-low, tax exempt interest rate. The authority only acted as a conduit and taxpayers aren’t on the hook, authority attorney Lewis Horne said.

Once one of the key pillars that made up the Atlanta University Center, Morris Brown College was

founded by former slaves to educate the sons and daughters of slaves.

Over the last two decades, while Spelman College, Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University have thrived, Morris Brown withered away.

In 2003, after years of severe financial mismanagement, fraud and debt, the school lost its accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the federal funding and academic standing that comes with it. With the loss of accreditation, the United Negro College Fund also withdrew its financial and other support.

The capper came in 2006, when Dolores Cross, who served as president from 1998 to 2002, pleaded guilty to embezzling federal funds by applying for money on behalf of students without their knowledge or consent. Cross used the money to pay operating costs. She was ordered to pay $13,942 in restitution to the government and was sentenced to five years of probation but avoided prison time.

Former financial aid director Parvesh Singh also pleaded guilty.

Preston W. Williams, chairman of the board of trustees of Morris Brown, is calling for a “National Day of Prayer,” and will issue what is being called the school’s official response to the notice of foreclosure at an on-campus event at 1 p.m. EDT Saturday at the John H. Lewis Health & Physical Education Complex.

He is calling on everyone associated with Morris Brown to pray for the school — and donate money — to stave off the foreclosure.

“The mood around here is realistic,” Harrison said.

“Although we are praying to God that he will assist us, the school does have its feet on the ground and is looking at this seriously and realistically.

“We know that tangible, concrete plans have to be established for Morris Brown to survive, go forward and rebuild.”

Because the school is not accredited by SACS, students are not eligible for federal financial aid.

The school is in the process of trying to get accredited by the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools.

Last July, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the school owed more than $30 million to several creditors. At the same time, the school raised $500,000 to settle a $9.9 million debt to the U.S. Department of Education.

Staff writers Johnny Edwards and Scott Truby

Campus Echo Follow us on Twitter

Campus Echo WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

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Senior Carmelo Montalvo leading students in cheer at the NCCU vs. FSU football game.

Photos and Story

by Gabriel Aikens ugs are exchanged.

“Long time, no see,” echoes across campus. Confused faces search for the right class or building. The moment has arrived: First week of fall semester.

It’s during this week the financial aid office becomes the game show “Deal Or No Deal.” Students don’t play games when they visit though.

The long line at the bookstore is like the line for the

H Students at the bookstore collecting the necessary texts for class.

club and Wal-Mart combined, only you’re not guaranteed a good time or “everyday low prices.”

This first week is also when you see more than 1,400 new freshman eager to discover what their first year at N.C. Central University will be like.

They are definitely getting a taste of campus life: Traditional Chicken Wednesdays, the famous 10:40 breaks, the Wild-Out Wednesday talent show-

case, and our first home football game of the year.

Returning students also come expecting a great year at NCCU. A lot of them are helping freshmen in any way they can, from assisting them in residential life to training them in The Marching Sound Machine.

The first weeks of school will always be the most memorable, especially if you have a camera to capture them.

Residents of Chidley North filling out paperwork after a hall meeting.

Senior Tierra Burns (far right) accompanied by the HOPE Mime Ministry performing at Wild-Out Wednesday.

Junior Delveon Woods from The Marching Sound Machine teaching formation to a freshman.

Students talking and eating in the W.G. Pearson Cafeteria.

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Olympic heroine’s hair hankers some Gabby Douglas’ Olympic 2012 triumph causes uproar

Family and consumer sciences senior Jasmine Mack.

ALEX SAMPSON/Echo A&E editor BY

A LEX SAMPSON ECHO A&E EDITOR

The 2012 Olympics introduced the underdog tale of Gabrielle Douglas. An African-American gymnast, Douglas flipped and somersaulted her way into history at the summer games. She won gold medals in both the all-around and team competitions. Her vibrant smile graced news outlets nationwide, but as her fame grew, focus shifted from what was around her neck to what was on her head.

“Pink hair lotion should sign Gabby Douglas, if they fix that head they are miracle workers,” wrote twitter user @ItsKJLEE. “Gabby Douglas hair looked a [GD] mess, I don’t care how you slice it and dice it,” wrote twitter user @FLYPersonified.

The 16 year-old brushed off the comments, but recently donned a sleek and

smooth hairdo courtesy of celebrity stylist Ted Gibson.

Still, the backhanded remarks did not cease.

“Gabby Douglas finally got her hair done!! It’s about time. Can’t go on Oprah with your hair a mess,” wrote Twitter user @Ariel_R_E_L. The spectacle surrounding Douglas’ simple ponytail took precedence over her triumph.

Despite how far AfricanAmerican women have come in society, natural hair — for some odd reason — continues to be an issue.

In the case of Douglas and many other famous black women, success and credibility seem linked with their hair texture. Millions of black women suffer burns and hair loss for the sake of coifed tresses.

On the surface, this issue is nothing more than an argument about what is and isn’t appropriate, but at its

Athletic training junior Brittany Grubbs.

ALEX SAMPSON/Echo A&E editor

core, the racial connotations are glaring.

To categorize hair texture — an emblem of African Americans — with trivial discussions such as whether pajamas or flipflops are professional, belittles black culture.

N.C. Central University psychology sophomore Dante’ Johnson, who wore dreads in the past, sees natural hair as neither professional nor unprofessional.

“I think it’s just freedom from society,” said Johnson.

Johnson said the stigma mainly stems from slavery.

“If you can make a society forget about its history then you can create a new history,” said Johnson.

According to Ayana Bryd and Lori Tharps in their 2001 book “Hair Story,” African civilizations placed great significance on their crowning glory. Hair was used to denote rank, marital status and wealth among

other aspects. It was also considered to have mystical abilities.

As the 15th century slave trade arose, Africans were stripped of their pride and identity. Harsh treatment amounted to tangled, damaged and disease ridden tresses. With the introduction of Madam C.J. Walker’s pioneering hair products, blacks were able to blend in with their European oppressors and achieve “good hair” — an ideal that still persists.

For accounting junior Ebony Watson good hair has nothing to do with its style.

“Good hair is healthy whether it’s bleached, cut, natural or permed,” said Watson.

Watson has been on her natural hair journey for two years and has received some negative reactions towards her kinky tresses.

Several men have stated that they prefer straight

History graduate student Val Richardson.

ALEX SAMPSON/Echo A&E editor

hair while others have told her she’ll never get a job.

“I take it with a grain of salt. You either like it or you don’t,” said Watson.

Mass communication junior Jamila Johnson has experienced a smoother ride. After cutting her hair, or taking the “big chop,” she noticed that she received more compliments from men.

Still, she feels that men’s perception of hair is narrow-minded.

“The way the media portrays women, men feel like they have to like women with straight, long hair,” said Johnson.

The scrutiny of Gabby Douglas along with Michelle Obama and Condoleezza Rice — to name a few — came largely from their own demographic.

“We are our own worst enemy. It’s been ingrained in us from generation to

generation that nappy hair is bad,” said Watson.

Despite the disapproval many women of color are finding their roots, so to speak.

Two months into her three-year hair journey, Chanel Laguna, a mass communication senior at NCCU, realized that her wild and curly hair had more to do with empowerment than appearance.

“Becoming natural is like taking off a mask that society wants you to wear,” said Laguna.

Altering one’s hair is not necessarily a condemnable act. The strands that adorn a person’s head are a versatile tool for self-expression.

When the reason for change is caused by shame rather than expression, and a young girl’s hair sours her glory, society must reconsider its definition of beauty and the lingering effects of racial intolerance.

Campus fashion gets ‘distressed’    

Trending Topic #FTW (For The Win) #WTF (What The ...) #FAIL

T R A S H

Lil Wayne Dedication 4 Mixtape YMCMB

of  on the black hand side

NCCU students show off their ripped jeans.

COLBY GRESHAM/Echo staff photographer

B Y C OLBY G RESHAM ECHO STAFF REPORTER

Distressed jeans are a new and popular trend in fashion. N.C. Central University students have been popularizing the trend on campus.

Since the trend is growing in popularity, the price of “ripped” jeans has increased.

Distressed jeans are now priced at $35 at most retailers — sometimes more.

Most don’t know that the style is easy to create and can take as much or as little time as you decide to

put into the jeans.

Step 1: Start off with a design in mind. Put on the jeans of choice and use a washable marker or pencil to mark the areas that you would like to distress.

Once the blueprint is finished, take the jeans off; distressing the jeans while wearing them can be dangerous.

While on a flat surface, start distressing using the fading effect. This can be done with sandpaper.

Simply rub the sandpaper on the area of jeans where you want the fading to appear.

Step 2: Next, cut holes

where desired. Then take a razor and slide it on the ridges of the cutout area.

The razor eliminates the blue in the jeans and establishes the white strands of fabric, giving it a frayed effect.

Step 3: The jeans must be washed; this provides a permanent look. Once the jeans are dried, you can examine them.

Determine whether you would like the jeans more distressed or not. If you do, just repeat the steps above.

There are numerous ways to design distressed jeans.

Some distressed jeans

have a bleached effect. To bleach jeans put plastic on the inside area where you would like the bleach effect.

With a sponge lightly dipped in bleach, slowly drag it over the area you would like to achieve the bleached effect.

The trend is also perfect for the approaching fall season.

Distressed jeans look great with printed tights underneath So why not save a few bucks? Find your inner creativity and design your own pair of distressed jeans.

He’s back at it again. Lil Wayne has finally released his new and highly anticipated mixtape, “Dedication 4,” after several delays.

Wayne has released great mixtapes before such as “No Ceilings,” “Dedication 1-3” and countless others.

The rapper and his Young Money crew, which includes artists Drake, Nicki Minaj, Tyga, Lil Twist and Chucky, have had huge success in the hip-hop industry lately.

Although Wayne is known for his strange, mind-blowing metaphors and witty punch lines, in his previous mixtapes he

has shown why he is considered one of the greatest rappers of all-time. Even though he is a phenomenal artist, in his latest mixtape he failed to catch my ear.

The mixtape is basically about Wayne being a skateboarder, his lust for women and money and heavy, violent themes.

Tunechi - as he now goes by has thoroughly proven in the past that he is very talented. Here, he seemed to lack the hunger and effort heard in his previous rhymes.

The mixtape is low on substance and far below what he is capable of. In other words, “Dedication 4” is weak. Wayne could have used his genius to fascinate his fans once again, but he failed on “Dedication 4.”

— Douglas Moore

Sports

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JUCO transfer gets start, big win Matt Goggans, first starting white quarterback at NCCU, throws for 223 yards and a TD

T RENTON L ITTLE

BY

ECHO SPORTS EDITOR

Saturday night, junior transfer Matt Goggans made history by becoming the first white quarterback to start a game for N.C. Central University.

“It was a good experience,” Goggans said. “It feels good to play Division I football. It was really hard to get to.”

Goggans transferred from Fullerton College, a junior college in California midway through last year.

The decision to come to NCCU was an easy one for the 6-foot-3, 225 pound quarterback.

NCCU was Goggans’ lone Division I offer, and he was also familiar with the Eagles’ offense so it wouldn’t be hard for him to learn the playbook. He could come in and make an impact immediately.

And that he did.

After a lengthy battle this past summer with redshirt junior Jordan Reid and redshirt freshman Quenton Rucker, Goggans was announced the starting quarterback on Aug. 30.

“He’s a gamer,” NCCU head coach Henry Frazier III said. “I think he’s going to get better as the season progresses.”

Frazier said Goggans has

NCCU’s first white quarterback, Matt Goggans, led the Eagles to their first win of the season.

TRENTON LITTLE/Echo sports editor

shown he has the ability to lead on the field. He added that leadership skills, coupled with a dynamic arm make for qualities every coach wants.

“He has a ton of confidence,” Frazier said. “I’m looking forward to coaching him more.”

The transition from JUCO to a Division I pro-

gram has been a smooth one for Goggans. However, he says he will have to get used to the game crowds and more people knowing who he is. After Saturday’s

game Goggans came back to a Facebook page full of messages from alumni congratulating him on the win.

Race doesn’t play a factor for NCCU’s football

team. Coach Frazier says the kids on the team say Goggans has a little swagger about him.

“The team is like a brotherhood,” Goggans said.

Perry leaves lasting impression Father figure and coach taught life lessons on the green BY

T RENTON L ITTLE

ECHO SPORTS EDITOR

It didn’t take long after meeting the late Paul Perry for senior golfer Ryne Toole to love the former N.C. Central University golf coach.

Toole and his teammates had just finished a tournament where they didn't play up to par, finishing close to last in the final standings.

Their heads were low as they got into the van for the long trip back to Durham. The driver asked then NCCU golf coach Paul Perry how the team did. Perry told the driver, "Not too good, but you know what?

They're still my boys no matter what they shoot."

Toole, seated near the front of the van, heard coach loud and clear.

NCCU Golf Coach Paul Perry.

Courtesy NCCU Athletics Department

"At that moment I fell in love with the man," Toole said.

The team was playing the PGA

Minority Championship in Florida when they received heart-breaking news. Perry had died of cancer.

Senior golfer Braden Cox received the text at dinner after the first round of the tournament. They knew he was sick, but didn't know how to take the news.

"It was very much like losing a best friend and father figure," Toole said.

Toole, a transfer from the University of Cincinnati, was not able to spend much time with Perry before the coach lost his life to cancer on May 11.

"I only knew him for a year but if I needed anything he went out his way to help me, and I knew he was the same for everyone else," Toole said.

However, they were able to build a strong relationship, and Toole says Perry left a lasting impression on him.

"He had one of the biggest hearts I've ever seen," Toole said. "It's easy for college coaches to disregard the obligation they have to their kids, but he never looked past the relationships he was building with us."

The loss stung the Durham athletic community.

“Coach Perry established great relationships in our community that helped elevate our men’s golf program during our NCAA Division I transition,” said NCCU Director of Athletics Dr. Ingrid Wicker-McCree.

Perry was getting ready for the next chapter of his life. He had recently gotten married and was

about to step down as the golf coach. Unfortunately, a couple of weeks into his marriage he was diagnosed with cancer.

Junior golfer Spencer Jones remembered his last conversation with Perry less than a month before his death.

"He told me how he was so proud of me. It really made me feel good, and gave me confidence," Jones said.

Jones says Perry was more interested in building them into young men, and young successful men than successful golf players. "It made me realize it’s more to golf," he said.

"You have to live life to the fullest and take advantage."

Touchdowns and two-steps for Eagles football BY

T RENTON L ITTLE

ECHO SPORTS EDITOR

The first home win for N.C. Central University head coach Henry Frazier III, brought something we had never seen before, a Frazier dance sighting.

"I did do a little two step," Frazier jokingly said.

"It felt good to get that victory here."

With the convincing 5431 win over the Fayetteville State Broncos Saturday

night at O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium, the Eagles snapped a six-home game losing streak that dated back to the 2010 season.

In his Eagles debut, junior transfer Matt Goggans shook off a slow start to finish 15-26 for 223 yards and a touchdown.

"First game of the first season there's gone be a little jitters," Goggans said.

Goggans responded to the pressure. He stood in the pocket, took a big hit

and delivered a 20 yard touchdown strike to senior wide receiver Geovonie Irvine.

"In the middle of the second drive I got a rhythm going," Goggans said.

"It started feeling like regular football to me."

The Broncos got on the board first 7-0, after blocking a punt and returning it for a score. It would be the first of two special team touchdowns for the Broncos.

The Eagles bounced back in a big way, scoring the next three touchdowns of the game. Midway through the second quarter they led 20-10.

The Broncos responded with a six minute drive that cut the score to three with 30 seconds left in the first half.

In the second half the team cut down on penalties, and got back to the fundamentals.

"We did make a couple of

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adjustments but not much,” Frazier said.“We felt like our game plan was solid.”

After a back and forth affair in the first half, the Eagles were finally able to break it open when redshirt junior Allonte Tuppins made the first interception of his career and returned it for a touchdown.

In the fourth quarter, the Eagles running game, which combined for 219 yards, finished off the Broncos with touchdowns

from senior Gary Douglas, and junior Andre Clarke.

With starting running back Idreis Augustus out for the season due to a knee injury suffered in the preseason, senior Arthur Goforth stepped up and led the Eagles rushing attack with 85 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown.

Next week the Eagles will visit the Phoenix of Elon University.

Last year’s contest ended in a one-point loss, (23-22)

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12 NO

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Opinions A R O L I N A

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Campus Echo WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

IVER SITY

The Housing “Crisis” A

s we all know, there was a large amount of students left without housing at the beginning of the semester.

It was mainly freshmen — or first year students — but there were some upperclassmen affected as well.

Students had to find off campus housing a few days before Ciera’ starting class.

Harris This caused a frenzy amongst students; they were basically homeless.

A few students chose to transfer schools due to this issue.

Some were forced to sleep on the floor or the couches of their friend’s dorm rooms. A few were even sleeping in their cars.

According to ABC11, there could be many as 500 students on a waiting list for on campus housing.

“The housing fee is non-refundable. It isn’t fair that NCCU allowed students to keep paying these fees and gave them false hope that they would have housing.”

From the outside looking in, NCCU’s Residential Life Department was to blame. But were they really at fault?

Housing at NCCU is assigned on a first come, first served basis.

Based on what I was told, none of the students who paid their housing fees in the spring were homeless.

So who’s to blame? I say both the students and residential life.

NCCU should have set a firm, final deadline to stop accepting housing applications.

At the last orientation this summer, students were still paying for housing.

I know somebody working in residential life knew that housing was pretty much non-

existent at that time.

The housing fee is nonrefundable. It isn’t fair that NCCU allowed students to keep paying these fees and gave them false hope that they would have housing.

They should have communicated with students earlier this summer so they could prepare to make alternate arrangements.

I also believe that the students need to take responsibility as well.

Housing on campus is limited. Why would you wait to pay your fee? When the freshmen received their letter of acceptance, they should have paid their fee then.

I know NCCU’s undergraduate admission application deadline is late. However,

those accepted in the summer should have called and asked if there was any housing left.

Every year, the incoming class is bigger than that of the previous.

Next year, I hope residential life establishes and sticks to a deadline so that this will not occur again.

Also, they should not continue to take fees if they aren’t sure if they can house the students.

Students should not procrastinate with paying their housing fees either.

When residential life begins accepting fees in the spring, apply ASAP. Also, alert incoming freshmen in their acceptance packet to the limited amount of spaces.

Make a big, bright flyer and send out email reminders.

NCCU was on the news for this situation and it shined a very negative light on the university.

We don’t need any negative publicity.

OBGYN or Republican?

L

ife is a beautiful gift, one that can sometimes come as a surprise.

When that gift is given to us it can be a blessing. But what happens when that gift is given by a stranger, an unwelcome individual, a violent person unknown who violates the right to participate in the selection process of Angel who to receive the gift from?

Brown Todd Akin, Missouri republican senate representative, shared a brow-raising comment about pregnancy by rape or incest.

“It seems to me first of all, from what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare,” Akin stated when asked if he agreed with abortions for rape victims. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down,” Akin explained.

Why should any woman be chastised for making a decision so hard as to give birth or abort? Especially in the case of “NO means NO”?

That’s a great way to get the female vote sir. Tell women that their uteruses are constructed like Iron Man to fight off bad guy invasions.

Maybe we can start telling our female reproductive system when to resist cycles and the urge to urinate.

So we are safe according to this OBGYN, oh, that’s right he’s not an OBGYN. He’s an out of touch man who took sex education when the Flintstones were using feet as gas to fuel cars apparently.

Just to let everybody know a little bit of information about good old Todd, he has served in the army, has a B.S. degree in engineering,

worked for IBM, and obtained his masters in Hebrew, Greek, and Christian scriptures.

He achieved all of this by 1984. So the guy is an accomplished man, up to date and informed? Not so much. Not to mention he has six children, and seven grandchildren.

According to Akin, our bodies can apparently tell if we are being illegitimately raped or legitimately raped.

Isn’t rape illegal regardless? Why was there a need to label it as a ‘legitimate rape?’

Akin has offered a short explanation by stating, “…misspoke in this interview and it does not reflect the deep empathy I hold for the thou-

sands of women who are raped and abused every year.”

Akin feels that the rapists should be punished and not the baby.

Did Akin consider the emotional, mental and physical damage a woman experiences when someone takes a decision as intimate as having sex away from her?

Then to be put in the place of birthing the child of the attacker! Why should any woman be chastised for making a decision so hard as to give birth or abort? Especially in the case of “NO means NO?” This decision, I am positive, is not made with hatred towards the unborn fetus. But a constant reminder of such a traumatic moment can be unbearable.

I salute any woman who chooses to carry through with the pregnancy, but it is unfair to not be sympathetic towards the woman who decides she cannot give birth to her rapist’s baby.

drawing by Rashaun Rucker

Question: How has your NCCU experience been so far?

"I love it! It's been great. I love my classes and being around people on campus."

—Bryana Walker

"I'm an off-campus student, so my experience is a little different, but I love coming to class."

—Anikka JeanMarie

“It’s been groovy!

I have a small English class and I love it. NCCU feels like a family.”

—Aaliyah Campbell

Sound Off By Uyi Idahor

N ORTH C AROLINA C ENTRAL U NIVERSITY

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