The August 27th edition of the Southern Digest

STATE & NATION

vitter man to beat in race

SPORTS

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Lady Jags host Nicholls today. pg. 7

Also: “Thank me Late” review pg. 8

su soccer season begins

Scandals do little to dent Senator. pg. 5

su alum pens katrina book

estABLished in 1928

WWW.SOUTHERNDIGEST.COM

FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 2010

VOL. 56, ISSUE 2

Cuts add strain to SU

Housing makes changes

by norMan j. dotson jr.

by Mary davis

diGeSt editor-in-CHieF

diGeSt MAnAGinG editor

An estimated $4.6 million cut puts an even larger dent in the already strained Southern University budget. According to Chancellor Kofi, Lomotey, SUBR is in an even worse situation than last year and next year will be even worse.

At the start of this year there were already layoffs of at least 27 members of staff and administration. Only one instructor was laid off.

“We are still in the process of trying to balance the budget,” said Lomotey. “If what we anticipate occurs next year, which is an $11 million cut, that represents about 50 percent of our non-faculty payroll which would put us in an even worse situation than this year.”

Two years ago the state received several million dollars of what was called stimulus money and “gave” Southern $11 million, however, at the same time they took $11 million out of the budget.

“They really didn’t give us anything, but in fact they are going to take the $11 million away when the stimulus money runs out,”

be an institution, we are going to have to eliminate some degree programs,” commented Lomotey.

Some of the least productive programs are up for consideration, those degree programs with the lowest graduation percentage would be cut out and students

Southern University’s Department of Residential Life and Housing has adopted several new policies since the arrival of their new director, Shandon Neal.

Neal was hired as the director of Resident Life and Housing on July 1, 2010. Since his arrival he has put in place new policies such as pre-assignment of dormitories and rooms, which began during Fall 2010.

“The pre-assignment of rooms help with budgetary issues and it also provides some kind of insight as to what you are dealing with. It also helps with space availability,” explained Neal.

According to Neal, no other institution in the United States allows students to show up to be housed and be assigned at

See cuts page 3

See housing page 3

photo by wil norwood/digest File photo

Southern University Chancellor Kofi Lomotey warns of budget cuts deeper than the $4.6 million the baton rouge campus had to shed this year.

said Lomotey. “Basically they are reducing our budget by $11 million.”

Southern was not the only institution where this occurred; all across the state institutions of higher learning were victims of this as well. With SUBR being the largest school in SU system, our cut was the largest out of the estimated $19 million total budget cuts system wide.

“We can’t layoff enough people and still

Katrina: Five years later by darrius harrison eGo MAGAZine editor-in-CHieF

A

photo by douglas toussaint/digest File photo

SUno student diamonique pollard, center, holds hands in prayer with delgado Community College students, oreyonda Scott, foreground, and Shawnna Jenkins, left, during a convocation of students displaced by Hurricane Katrina. this weekend marks the fifth anniversary of the storm making landfall in south Louisiana.

PARTLY CLOUDY HIGH

92° | 72° LOW

INSIDE S O U T H E R N

ugust 29, 2010 marks the fifth anniversary of the widely destructive Hurricane Katrina, which ravaged United States’ Gulf Coastal region and devastated a countless number of individuals around the world.

Many remember Hurricane Katrina as the category five storm that affected the southern areas of the United States; more specifically, they associate it as the devastating force that began in Louisiana, setting on a path of destruction throughout Mississippi and several counties in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia and Kentucky; until the storm eventually began losing momentum, making its way north and adding to its total destruction count.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), “the storm made landfall in southern Plaquemines Parish

Louisiana, just south of Buras, as a Category 3 hurricane, maximum winds were estimated near 125 mph to the east of the center.”

According to those same SaffirSimpson ratings, the hurricane would eventually be powered up to become a category 5 hurricane and also become the most destructive hurricane in US history [as it relates to the estimated costs of the destruction].

“Although Katrina will be recorded as the most destructive storm in terms of economic losses, it did not exceed the human losses in storms such as the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, which killed as many as 6,000-12,000 people and led to almost complete destruction of coastal Galveston,” according to the NOAA. “Hurricane Andrew, in 1992, cost approximately $21 billion in insured losses (in today’s dollars), whereas See katrina page 4

CAMPUS BRIEFS................2 STATE & NATION.................5  A&E.............................8 NEWS.................................3 SPORTS..............................7 VIEWPOINTS....................11 U N I V E R S I T Y ,

B A T O N

R O U G E ,

L A .

CAMPUS BRIEFS Page 2 - Friday, August 27, 2010

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THE SOUTHERN DIGEST 4 - DAY WEATHER OUTLOOK SATURDAY, AUG. 28

sCattered t-storMs

SUNDAY, AUG. 29

sCattered t-storMs

HI - 88° / LO - 72° 40% CHANCE OF RAIN

HI - 83°/ LO - 72° 50% CHANCE OF RAIN

Classifieds

inquiries, call 225.771.2231 or 225.771.5812.

apartMents For rent

Newly renovated 2 bedrms furnished apartments.

Utilities paid. Washer & dryer included. Looking for 2 dedicated female students to share rooms.

225.387.6749.

storage

Baton Rouge MiniStorage. Great Rates.

Student Discounts. 2 convenient locations: 7649 Airline Hwy./8922 Greenwell Springs. Call today! 225.925.2100.

proFessional serviCe

Jesse & sons Upholstery.

Complete auto & home service since 1974. Call Jesse 225.288.5187.

Campus Briefs TODAY digest Fall publiCation sChedule

The Southern Digest will be published two more dates this month: Aug. 27 and Aug. 31.

September issues are scheduled for Sept. 3, Sept.

10, Sept. 14, Sept. 17 and Sept. 24. October dates are Oct. 8, Oct. 15, Oct. 19, Oct. 22 and Oct. 26.

The fall schedule concludes with issues Nov. 5, Nov. 12, Nov. 16, Nov. 23 and Nov. 30.

Campus briefs can be either e-mailed to digest@ subr.edu or delivered to Suite 1064 T.H. Harris Hall three days before publication.

For advertising information, contact the advertising manager at 225.771.5833. For all other

student Media staFF Meetings

Staff meetings for Southern University student publications are Mondays at 5 p.m. in Suite 1064 T.H. Harris Hall.

If you are interested in joining the Digest, Jaguar Yearbook or Ego Magazine staff, please attend or call 225.771.5819. union student governing board

As a student enrolled in Southern University, you are eligible to join the Smith-Brown Memorial Union Student Governing Board.

As a board member, you will be able to vote, hold office and exercise your ability to and host events at the union.

There are no chapter dues or operation expenses.

We invite you to come by and meet our staff, and give valuable information on the boards duties. If you have further questions about the governing board, please feel free to contact either Vanessa Toussant or Andrew Jackson at 225.771.2608 or stop by Room 210 or 213 in the union. honda CaMpus all-star Challenge

Applications are now available for students to participate in the Honda Campus AllStar Challenge’s campus tournament.

The tournament will be held Wednesday, Sept.

29 at the Smith-Brown Memorial Union.

The deadline for

MONDAY, AUG. 30

Page 2

TUESDAY, AUG. 31

sCattered t-storMs

isolated t-storMs

HI - 88° / LO - 73° 40% CHANCE OF RAIN

HI - 88° / LO - 73° 30% CHANCE OF RAIN

applications is Monday, Sept. 27. For more information, call 225.771.4845.

SEPTEMBER 1 spades tournaMent

The Smith-Brown Memorial Union Recreation Area AUGUST 28 will hold a spades tournament Sept. 15 in Lacumba’s Playpen.

Countdown to kiCkoFF Registration will be Sept.

Jaguar football fans are invited to “Countdown to 1-10 and the fee is $4 per Kickoff” Saturday, Aug. team.

28. Festivities begin at 9 a.m. with performances by the Human Jukebox, a rib cookoff, a team What’s the scrimmage and a host of other entertainment quickest way to and activities at A.W. get news and Mumford Stadium. events to Tickets to the 3:30 p.m. the student body? scrimmage are $10 and can be purchased at the SU Ticket Office. The first Put it in the...

500 people to purchase tickets will watch the team scrimmage from one of the air-conditioned suites in Mumford Stadium.

For more information or to register for the rib cookoff, call 225.771.5137 or 771.4200.

Campus BRIEFS

AUGUST 31 oMbuds oFFiCe position

The Office of the Ombuds is currently looking for student orientation leaders and ambassadors.

Students must have a good citizenship record and maintain a 2.0 GPA or better. For consideration, students must submit the following to su@subr. edu: a one-page letter of interest, a resume and a Fall 2010 class schedule (full-time status).

The deadline for applications is Tuesday, Aug. 31 at noon.

For more information, please call 225.771.4480.

SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY

SUite 1064 – t.H.HArriS HALL p.o. boX 10180 – bAton roUGe, LA 70813 225.771.2231 pHone / 225.771.5840 FAX WWW.SoUtHerndiGeSt.CoM iSSn: 1540-7276. Copyright 2008 by the Southern University office of Student Media Services. the Southern diGeSt is written, edited and published by members of the student body at Southern University and A&M College.

All articles, photographs and graphics are property of the Southern diGeSt and its contents may not be reproduced or republished without the written permission from the editor in Chief and director of Student Media Services. the Southern diGeSt is published twice-weekly (tuesday & Friday) with a run count of 6,000 copies per issue during the Southern University - baton rouge campus fall, spring semesters. the paper is free to students, staff, faculty and general public every tuesday & Friday morning on the SUbr campus. the Southern diGeSt student offices are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday - Friday. the offices are located on the first floor of t.H. Harris Hall, Suite 1064. the Southern diGeSt is the official student newspaper of Southern University and A&M College located in baton rouge, Louisiana. Articles, features, opinions, speak out and editorials do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the administration and its policies. Signed articles, feedback, commentaries and features do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors, staff or student body.

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For more information call 225.771.5833 or mail your subscription payment of $40 to: The Southern Digest Subscriptions, PO Box 10180, Baton Rouge, LA 70813.

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MISSION STATEMENT the mission of Southern University and A&M College, an Historically black, 1890 land-grant institution, is to provide opportunities for a diverse student population to achieve a high-quality, global educational experience, to engage in scholarly, research, and creative activities, and to give meaningful public service to the community, the state, the nation, and the world so that Southern University graduates are competent, informed, and productive citizens.

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DIGEST STAFF WRITERS Morris dillard erin Fulbright patrick Galloway Samantha Smith evan taylor

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NEWS

Friday, August 27, 2010 - Page 3

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Financial Aid adjusts to updates

housing from page 1

By breanna paul digest opinions editor

More complications than usual for Southern University students, when it comes to problems with the Office of Financial Aid being corrected.

Mandated by the Healthcare Reform Bill, all colleges and/ or universities in the United States were forced to move their source of lending to direct lending. This bill indicated that after July 1st, all of the loans would be processed through direct lending which includes subsidized, unsubsidized and plus loans and non private lenders, which are based on credit.

“This is a monumental movement,” Ursula Shorty, Director of the Office of Student Financial Aid said. “This is completely different to what we were used to,” she continued.

The decision made to switch to Direct Lending was mandatory. It was not chosen by the institution, it was chosen by the Department of Education, Shorty said. She also made note that if the university had not switched to Direct Lending, there would not have been any option for loans.

“It was in our student’s best interest to switch,” Shorty said.

Due the Bannerweb mainframe operating system not being completed on time, this pushed the Financial Aid process back by six months.

“A process that usually takes six months was completed in six weeks,” Shorty said.

photo by polite d. stewart jr./digest

Students wait in bleachers and in lines to see financial aid advisers at Seymour Gymnasium.

If Bannerweb is properly implemented for the new school year, Shorty hopes there will be no major issues, just small quirks that will halt the Financial Aid process, as it did this year.

The priority deadline for verification purposes and for completing the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is March 31st. The FAFSA is not complete without the verification items which include loan applications. If all items requested by the Office of Financial Aid is not submitted

by March 31st, then the process “If students just submit the FAFSA and not the verification items, then we cannot move forward,” Shorty said.

Shorty also made note that when students submit incomplete applications and fail to check back, this causes the long lines during the Fall registration process.

She also said that some students did not include their loan application with their FAFSA. When asked about the student’s cooperation with the

lending process, Shorty said that our students cooperated last year as well as they did this year. “The majority of them did their information on time by adhering to the deadlines,” she said. “Unfortunately, you always have some that wait and you can’t get around that,” she continued.

The Direct Lending process is not as quick as the Sallie Mae process was. “However, I feel it is more efficient,” Shorty said.

“We are able to track it better,” she continued.

She said that the qualifications for Direct Lending are more lenient than Sallie Mae. “There were more loans approved this year than before,” Shorty said.

According Shorty, there were not that many students who took advantage of the help seminars in February 2009 giving information about the switch from private lenders (Sallie Mae). Roughly ninety percent of students attending Southern are on some sort of financial aid.

“We were hoping that we had gotten more response. We are

cuts from page 1 currently enrolled in them would have at least a year to seek out other degree programs or different institutional careers. To Lomotey the one degree program that sticks out the most is architecture.

“If I had to make a decision today Architecture would have to go. It is one of the least productive programs with a graduation rate of only 10 percent in three years,” Lomotey explained.

There are a number of things taken into consideration when a program has to be eliminated such as graduation rate, retention, number of students that take the classes, and program cost. Last year a selfassessment of all programs, called a program review, was conducted and a committee consisting of staff, administrators, and students looked over these self-assessments to rank each program.

“Architecture didn’t fair too well,” said

hopeful that next year through the initiatives we will get them done,” Shorty said.

Currently, the Office of Financial Aid has 12 staff members, which Shorty feels is very low, considering the number of students the office serves. “We probably need somewhere around 20 individuals,” Shorty said.

“Some schools with 3,000 – 4,000 students have staff of 12 members,” she continued.

Shorty feels she needs more staff members in order to continuing to be efficient.

Shorty also said she lost three financial aid counselors during the last two months. “We lost a loan counselor in June and two financial aid counselors during the registration process unfortunately without much notice,” Shorty continued.

Even with budget cuts the university system is experiencing, Shorty hopes to fill these positions because this is an important area. “This (Office of Financial Aid) is the main vein of the university,” Shorty said.

get online @

Lomotey. “We were going to recommend to the board that architecture be terminated. Ultimately I withdrew that recommendation because I don’t want to have close any program down and if the board would have approved that we still would have spent this year trying to find a way to save architecture.”

Typically the university would keep the program open only for those students currently enrolled in it, however, the university needs to cut $11 million next year and not over the course of three years.

In all his years as a professional Lomotey claimed that he has never seen such a “financial mess.” He feels that this is due to the state not valuing higher education.

“Every time there is a financial challenge they come to higher education and healthcare,” said Lomotey.

that time. Southern was the only institution, especially HBCU, to allow students to be assigned the day of arrival.

“Upon my arrival here I realized that Southern University had been doing business, specifically in the area of Residential Life and Housing, the way they were doing it 15 to 20 years ago,” he said.

With this being the University’s first semester implementing preassigned rooms, the Residential Life’s staff was gunned down with student’s complaints and concerns. Many students raised concerns about their living arrangements when they were not housed with their requested roommate(s). Although many problems stemmed from this new policy, Neal assures that it will be beneficial to students during and after their collegiate careers.

“We will do better next semester to honor roommate requests.

However, I am of the belief that the purpose of an institution of higher education is to prepare students for the next level, whether that next level is the world of work or the world of public service, “ Neal said. Regardless of which particular level you go to there is structure somewhere. You will have structure everywhere you go. When you go on a job site you’re not going to choose who you work with, who supervises you, or which site you work on.

So if our purpose is to prepare you for the next level, then why not prepare you for it and make it a smooth thing for you because you have already had that preparation during your collegiate experience?” he continues.

Despite price increases and the new policies, Neal and his staff was able to house over 2,000 students with hopes of housing an additional 300.

“We have no room available in the apartments, but there are still vacancies in Bethune Hall and Washington Hall for male students wishing to be housed and in Shade Hall for females seeking assistance,” said Neal.

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katrina from page 1 estimates from the insurance industry as of late August 2006, have reached approximately $60 billion in insured losses (including flood damage) from Katrina. The storm could cost the Gulf Coast states as much as an estimated $125 billion.”

Southern University played a vital part in the days and months after the storm.

Southern’s F.G. Clark Activity Center was used as a shelter and housing quarters for those “refugees,” the term associated by government officials when referring to those evacuees of Katrina, of the Greater New Orleans areas.

Although it was not made a mandatory requirement of the faculty and staff of the university, volunteers like Dr. ValaRay Irvin, director of counseling center at the university, worked as care takers for those persons housed in the activity center.

“When we moved people to our ‘minidome,’ I volunteered over there and again I witnessed not only an outpour of care, but also I witnessed a lot of people, the evacuees, being uncomfortable and sort of shying away from people,” said Dr. Irvin. “Sometimes not wanting to ask for things that we had available for them because the weren’t sure about ‘who these people were,’ we were all strangers to them.”

“Although we were there to assist, you know, you are who you are and so you are sometimes like, ‘well I do need this roll of paper, but they have already gave me x, y, and z.’”

Being around new people, often some people experience feelings of un-comfort or anxiety; especially, in a situation where you are forced to be around these new people and unsure of when you can return to your own home.

“I think people probably held on to and held in a lot more than they actually needed to because they were not sure about their environment and surrounding, and how safe it was to adapt to the new situation,” she said.

Although Dr. Irvin herself had to make certain adaptations to the situation, she certainly was not alone. For some, like Darjae Kensey, 14 at the time, Katrina hit closer to home.

“I was actually there during the storm,” said Kensey, 19, now a junior at Southern.

“I sat there through out the whole thing,” she explained. “We weren’t at our house, we got a hotel off of Crowder and the service road; it was only a two floor hotel and the bottom [floor] flooded.

They actually had to move people from the first floor to the second floor; and the water just looked like it would never stop coming and before you knew it, it was almost on the second… good thing it stopped.”

After the water actually stopped and the storm had taken its toll on the New Orleans area, Kensey’s father was allowed to drive an 18-wheeler to New Orleans’ convention center, which provided mass shelter to those evacuees. The problem…

Darjae, unaware to her father, was not allowed to get on that particular truck he was driving, therefore, she was separated for her family for a stint.

When she finally reunited with her family, the problems did no cease at the convention center.

“This little girl who was next to us got kidnapped in the middle of the night,” said Kensey. “Some other kids around us, not right next to us, they were found in the freezer of the convention center, they had raped the little girl and the little boy,” she said.

“It was an upsetting time, but a lot of people took it harder than I did. I just saw it as a blessing, we made it out! A lot of people didn’t make it out, a lot of people were floating down the street. We saw a lot of dead bodies; they shot somebody in the street and left him laying there in the street.”

Today, the people who were involved in the melee´ of August 29, 2005, seem to have a greater appreciation of family.

FILE PHOTO COURTESY OF SU STUDENT MEDIA

The F.G. Clark Activity Center was one of many facilities around the state that housed Hurricane Katrina evacuees.

It became obvious through the activities of residents throughout recent hurricanes Rita and Gustav that they have began to take heed to these warnings that possibly could have lessened the grief New Orleans residents were subjected to.

“If they say category two, we are out of there,” Kensey expressed when speaking about the Saffir-Simpson ratings.

Of her own testimony, Kensey said this… “specifically I want to say that with these stories it’s just peoples own experiences, not everyone had the same experiences; people fail to realize that,” she said. “I have heard people say ‘I don’t like people from New Orleans because they think they can do whatever they want, or tried to run our city, but they fail to realize when your moving people from one specific city to another one, they are not necesasrily trying to take over your city, they are trying to do what they know how to do, whether it be right or wrong… and it’s not always right.

Counselors urge to those closely involved

in the hurricane to remember, traumatic experiences such as these can reoccur around the same time of year. It is vital to know and understand your progression.

“What’s really important [to remember] on this pending anniversary, as we know in the mental health field, is that people can re-experience trauma again and again,” said Dr. Irvin. “At the two year anniversary mark, we put out information for the university community, sort of warning people and giving them permission to check in with themselves and see how well they were functioning. You are not going to perform well academically if you are having issues emotionally.”

“I think its really important for our population to understand that it’s ok to give themselves permission to grieve. I don’t think we feel comfortable allowing ourselves to be vulnerable around this type of grief. If a love one dies we can grieve, we’ve been sort of taught that’s ok… but these are losses too,” Irvin concluded.

STATE & NATION Friday, August 27, 2010 - Page 5

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Vitter still primary favorite

Fugate reflects on Katrina By michael kunzelman Associated Press Writer

By kevin mcgill Associated Press Writer

NEW ORLEANS — Republican Sen. David Vitter survived a 2007 prostitution scandal and has shrugged off fresh questions about his judgment in allowing an aide to remain on his staff for more than two years after a violent attack on a woman.

Vitter has been dogged by questions about his personal life. Yet in a GOP year and in a GOP-leaning state, the incumbent is on track to win Saturday’s primary against two little-known Republicans.

With little competition from his own party, he has focused on Democratic U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon, his likely opponent in November.

The two are engaged in a war of attack ads, with Melancon running one that touches on Vitter’s 2007 admission of an unspecified “serious sin” after his phone number appeared in the records of a Washington prostitution ring.

It also refers to the scandal that broke earlier this summer when ABC News reported Vitter had kept an aide who dealt with women’s issues on staff even after he was arrested for attacking a woman in his apartment. The woman, identified by police as his ex-girlfriend, told police the aide used a knife in the attack. Her chin and hand were cut, but she was not seriously injured.

The aide pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges in the case but wasn’t let go until more than two years later, after ABC’s report. Vitter’s office said the senator accepted the aide’s resignation after learning of additional legal problems, including a drunken driving case.

The campaign manager for Vitter’s bestknown primary opponent, retired state

photo by harry hamburg/AP PHOTO

U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., survived a 2007 prostitution scandal and has shrugged off fresh questions about his judgment in allowing a knife-wielding aide to remain on his staff for more than two years. Vitter has been dogged by questions about his personal life. Yet in a GOP year and in a GOP-leaning state, the incumbent is on track to win the Saturday, Aug. 28, 2010, primary against two little-known Republicans. He has been more focused on Democratic U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon, his likely opponent in November.

Supreme Court Justice Chet Traylor, says Republicans encouraged Traylor to get into the race because they feared another scandal was lurking.

But so far, Vitter appears strong. A poll of 600 registered voters taken for a group of local television stations by Clarus Research Group found 74 percent of Republicans said they would vote for him, compared with 5 percent for Traylor and 3 percent for little-known Republican Nick Accardo. The same poll also gave Vitter a 12 percent edge over Melancon in November.

Traylor has problems, too, stemming from his love life.

Traylor’s wife, who died last year, was once married to a Democratic state legislator, with whom she had two sons.

Last month, that legislator publicly accused Traylor of helping break up his marriage in 1997. Complicating the issue: The sons are now in a bitter legal fight with Traylor over their mother’s estate. And Traylor is romantically involved with the estranged wife of one of the sons.

Traylor said he was mystified anyone

would make an issue of his relationships.

“I have done nothing that I wouldn’t do again,” he said.

Traylor headed into the final week of the campaign with little money — about $70,000 — compared to $5.3 million for Vitter, who continued to focus almost all of his attention on Melancon.

Taking advantage of President Barack Obama’s low popularity in the state, Vitter has repeatedly linked Melancon to Democratic policies, including the health care overhaul, which Melancon voted against.

Melancon also faces a primary Saturday against little-known Democrats Neeson Chauvin and Cary Deaton. He is expected to win.

The margin of error in the statewide poll was plus or minus 4 percentage points. An additional 100 Republicans were added to augment the questions about Saturday’s GOP primary, which is open only to registered Republicans. The margin for error in that survey was plus or minus 5.9 percentage points.

Toyota recalls 1.1 million Corollas, Matrixes By dan strumpf ap auto writer

NEW YORK —Toyota recalled 1.13 million Corolla sedans and Matrix hatchbacks Thursday because their engines may stall, the latest in a string of quality problems at the Japanese automaker.

The recall covers vehicles from the 2005-2008 model years sold in North America.

Three accidents and one minor injury have been reported, though Toyota said a link to the engine issue has not been confirmed.

The automaker said vehicles with 1ZZ-FE engines may contain a defective engine control module, the computer

that regulates the performance of the engine. In some cases, a crack may develop on the module’s circuit board, which could prevent the engine from starting, harsh shifting or an engine stall.

Toyota said it will replace the engine control modules on the recalled vehicles at no charge. It will begin mailing notifications to customers with affected Corollas and Matrixes starting in mid-September.

Toyota Motor Corp. has recalled more than 10 million vehicles worldwide over the past year for a range of problems, including faulty gas pedals, floor mats that can trap accelerators and braking problems in its Prius hybrid.

photo by david zalubowski/AP PHOTO

Toyota said Thursday, Aug. 26, 2010, it is recalling more than a million Corolla sedans and Matrix hatchbacks with engines that may stall.

Federal regulators have been investigating the possibility of engine stalls in the Corolla and

Matrix models since December and intensified their probe earlier this week.

CHALMETTE, La. — FEMA learned from Hurricane Katrina to be more flexible in reviewing and approving federal funding for storm repair and rebuilding projects, the agency’s head told a congressional panel Thursday just days before the storm’s fifth anniversary.

Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate told the panel, led by U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., that the agency became “too oriented on process” after the 2005 hurricane, prolonging a backlog of projects awaiting money.

“We were spending too much time going back and forth over procedures,” he said, adding that FEMA has learned to “focus on outcomes” since the Obama administration put him in charge of the agency, which was vilified for its slow response in Katrina’s aftermath.

Several members of Louisiana’s congressional delegation also heard testimony from two other federal agency heads: Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan and Lt. Gen. Robert Van Antwerp of the Army Corps of Engineers.

Donovan said nearly 40,000 families displaced by the 2005 storms were still relying on government housing assistance when the Obama administration took office. Today, he added, 98 percent of them have moved into permanent housing.

“But we will not rest until we’ve completed the job for the remaining 883 families,” he said.

“One of the reasons we’ve made progress is that we realized early on that far too many Gulf Coast residents, through no fault of their own, have become stuck in the recovery process due to numerous challenges and barriers that left them unable to complete the rebuilding of their homes and their lives.”

Van Antwerp said the Corps has spent billions of dollars to repair and strengthen the region’s levee protection system and remains “totally committed to providing a system that will defend against the effects of a 100-year storm in June 2011.”

“Work will continue beyond 2011 for some of the assistance features, like the permanent pumps, but won’t affect our ability to withstand that 100year storm,” he added.

The hearing for the Senate Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery, which Landrieu chairs, was held at an elementary school in Chalmette built on the site of a middle school that was heavily damaged by Katrina.

Page 6 - Friday, August 27, 2010

www.southerndigest.com

LA authorities plan to use heat-beam ray in jail By thomas watkins associated press writer

LOS ANGELES — A device designed to control unruly inmates by blasting them with a beam of intense energy that causes a burning sensation is drawing heat from civil rights groups who fear it could cause serious injury and is “tantamount to torture.”

The mechanism, known as an “Assault Intervention Device,” is a stripped-down version of a military gadget that sends highly focused beams of energy at people and makes them feel as though they are burning. The Los Angeles County sheriff’s department plans to install the device by Labor Day, making it the first time in the world the technology has been deployed

in such a capacity.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California criticized Sheriff Lee Baca’s decision in a letter sent Thursday, saying that the technology amounts to a ray gun at a county jail. The 4-feet-tall weapon, which looks like a cross between a robot and a satellite radar, will be mounted on the ceiling and can swivel.

It is remotely controlled by an operator in a separate room who lines up targets with a joystick.

The ACLU said the weapon was “tantamount to torture,” noting that early military versions resulted in five airmen suffering lasting burns. It requested a meeting with Baca, who declined the invitation.

The sheriff unveiled the device

last week and said it would be installed in the dorm of a jail in north Los Angeles County. It is far less powerful than the military version and has various safeguards in place, including a three-second limit to each beam of heat.

The natural response when blasted — to leap out the way — would be helpful in bringing difficult inmates under control and quelling riots, the sheriff said.

But the sheriff was creating a dangerous environment with “a weapon that can cause serious injury that is being put into a place where there is a long history of abuse of prisoners,” ACLU attorney Peter Eliasberg said.

“That is a toxic combination.”

Cmdr. Bob Osborne, who oversees technology for the sheriff’s department, said the

concerns were unfounded. He said he stood in front of the beam more than 50 times and that it never caused any sort of lasting damage.

“The neat thing with this device is you experience pain but you are not injured by it,” Osborne said. “It doesn’t injure your skin, the beam doesn’t have the power to do that.”

He said the device would be a more humane way of dealing with jail disturbances. Unlike hitting inmates with batons or deploying tear gas, a shot from the beam has no aftereffects, he said.

The device was made specifically for the sheriff’s department

by Raytheon Missile Systems.

Spokesman Steve Whitmore said its $750,000 cost was paid for by a Department of Justice

technology grant.

After a six-month trial, the sheriff will determine if the device is effective and if it should be deployed in other jails.

“When this pilot program is done, the realistic hope is it will accomplish not only what the sheriff’s department wants but what the ACLU wants, which is to save lives harmlessly,” Whitmore said.

A Raytheon spokesman on Thursday referred questions to the sheriff’s department, but provided a fact sheet describing how the device only penetrates skin to a depth 1/64 of an inch.

The military’s version of the device can shoot a beam more than 800 feet but the sheriff’s department model has a maximum range of 85 feet.

SPORTS

Friday, August 27, 2010 - Page 7

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SU soccer gears up for opener by morris dillard diGest sports Writer

Head coach John Knighten of the Southern University women’s soccer team counseled two of his goalies early Wednesday morning, as preparation for the home opener Friday evening inside A.W. Mumford Stadium against Nicholls State. His lessons seemed like more than a routine practice, transforming a dreary school morning into a condition of readiness.

The training session consisted of routine pre-game warm-ups so that they are physically and mentally ready for the game.

Budget cuts forfeited SU the chance to kick-off the new season last week against at LouisianaMonroe.

As for the team, it doesn’t yet have the fitness required to compete ninety-minute of a game consisting of forty-five minute half’s and no timeouts. “ We feel like the players came

in and not as fit as we wanted them to be,” Knighten said. “But they responded well, everybody had positive attitudes, looking forward to a great season.”

Preseason polls selected SU to finish fourth in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Western Division behind Texas Southern, Prairie View, and 2009 reigning photo by polite d. stewart jr./digest SWAC soccer champions the southern University women’s soccer team warms up before practice thursday. the Lady Jags open the Arkansas Pine-Bluff.

Knighten disagrees and 2010 season today with a 4 p.m. match against Nicholls state at a.W. Mumford stadium. believes that his team should be the necessary leadership to lead coach for six seasons with the championship, posting a No. 3 positioned higher.

“We’re not a fourth place team a team — midfielder Nakesha William Carey University soccer NAIA National Ranking.

The Colonels (1-0-1) struggled and we’re going to prove that Rolle, forward Elsa Valencia, and program, three of which were in their season opening match with the men’s program. defender Carling Jackson. this season.”

Prather also help guide the against Prairie View A&M Knighten improved upon Junior goalie D’nae Capron was named to the 2009 All- his staff with the addition of program to four winning seasons, Panthers (0-1-1) at the Holiday Louisiana Sports Writers assistant coach Courtnie Prather. three Regional Tournament Inn-Waller College Invitational.

Association honorable mention A point of emphasis he felt that appearances, including an Both teams battled to a 0-0 list. The state’s sports information could better the program for undefeated season in 2007, a double overtime final on Aug. national tournament Elite 8 20. directors and media members years to come.

The Colonels picked up its “She’s done a great job in appearance in 2008, a national voted the All-Louisiana Women’s developing and training these tournament Sweet 16 appearance first win of the 2010 season Soccer Collegiate Team.

Knighten appointed three players to the point where they in 2009, while capturing their with an 8-0 victory over Alcorn third consecutive regular season State at the Holiday Inn-Waller seniors the role of team captain can compete.”

Prather was an assistant and tournament conference Invitational hosted by PVAM. that he felt stepped up and showed

Jaguars set for final scrimmage

SPORT SHORTS diGest NeWs serVice

House earns All-American team nod

Southern University free safety Jason House earned another preseason All-America honor after being named to the College Sporting News’ Division I FCS Preseason All-America team.

House was named to the second team and is one of eight Southwestern Athletic Conference players named to the team.

The Laurel, Miss., native was named to the Sports Network’s FCS Preseason All-America team’s second unit and the FCS Senior Bowl Preseason All-America team after leading FCS with 10 interceptions last season.

House is one of three SWAC players named to the Buck Buchanan Award’s 2010 watch list. The Sports Network presents the Buchanan Award — named after legendary Grambling player and Pro Football Hall of Famer Junious “Buck” Buchanan — annually to FCS’ best defensive player.

The consensus All-American is also one of three SU football players nominated for the MEAC/SWAC Challenge’s third annual Walter Payton Award, which is given to one player from each participating school in the game.

by morris dillard diGest sports Writer

Is the timing right?

There once was a time where the Jaguar Nation was at the top of the pile, according to first-year SU quarterbacks coach Ted White.

White played his high school football at Glen Oaks High School, a figurative hop, skip and a jump from the SU campus.

It was then where SU’s home games would replicate the episodes of its homecoming affairs.

“When I was younger, they would shut down the city on Saturdays for Southern football games,” said White.

It’s one of many details the SU coaching staff wants to restore of the Jaguar Nation.

Not to mention, the “Countdown to Kick-Off” event will be held on Saturday, August 28,2010 for 9 a.m.- 1 p.m.-followed by a 3:30 p.m. preseason football scrimmage inside A.W. Mumford stadium. The event features performances by the Human Jukebox, an exciting bike show by the Nubian Kruzers, and other entertainment and

photo courtesy of su student media

southern quarterback Jeremiah McGinty and the Jags will go through the paces in saturday’s scrimmage before preparing for the regular season opener against delaware state.

activities.

As for the team, more focus will be on the young talent as they try to earn playing time for the season opener against Delaware State in the MEAC/ SWAC Challenge Sept. 5 in Orlando, Fla. “Getting the younger guys more reps than they would get if it were just regular practice,” White said. “Looking at them in a game like atmosphere.”

When asked what he’s looking for out of his quarterbacks,

White says, “Whoever is the starter, they’ll do an excellent job.”

“All of them are great quarterbacks and all of them have done a great job thus far.”

Sophomore quarterback Jeremiah McGinty sat out SU’s first preseason scrimmage on Aug. 14, suffering from cramps.

McGinty appeared in the second preseason scrimmage, completing 9-of-15 passes with two touchdowns and no interceptions.

SWAC on positive side of graduation gap

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — According to a study released this week by the College Sport Research Institute at the University of North Carolina, the Southwestern Athletic Conference is the only NCAA Division I conference with a positive Adjusted Graduation Gap (ACG) for football players across the country.

The study compares graduation percentages for football players to that of the full-time male student population at respective schools. On average, football players across Division I graduate (54.5) at a 13.9 percent deficit to that of the total male population (68.4).

In the SWAC, however, football student-athletes graduate six percentage points higher than the male population at the 10 member institutions. None of the other 22 NCAA Division I conferences had a score on the plus side of the ledger.

For instance, the Pac-10 was -30 percentage points, which was the worst deficit of any conference. Other conferences percentage differences of note were: SEC (-18), Conference USA (-15), Big Ten (-22.5), Big 12 (-16), Sun Belt (-15), Big East (-9) and Mid-America Conference (-8).

arts & entertainment Page 8 - Friday, August 27, 2010

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Richard’s book raises questions By billy washington digest a&E editor

As the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches this Sunday, people are beginning to reminisce and reflect upon the bad times; people losing their homes and the good times, people reuniting with loved ones of the horrifying and the monumental event.

Spike Lee has recently premiered his new documentary “If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise” on HBO and Southern University’s very own Gavin Richard, a New Orleans and political science graduate, has published his own book surrounding lack of support from the government during the crisis.

Richard’s book is entitled “Katrina: Eyes Have Not Seen, Ears Have Not Heard. The Story Of How An American City Was Taken Under Siege By Powerful Forces In Government.” There are a plethora of theories that have surfaced in main stream media but Richard’s book focuses on the testimonies from survivors, FEMA, if the levees broke or were blown up and

the white business elite of New Orleans.

“The stories that I reveal have not been recorded by the media or the press accurately.

While every one was focused on the looting and the rapes, they should have been focused on the people who had the courage to survive. And on August 29, 2005 what broke, besides the levees, was the clock of humanity,” valiantly said Richard.

The purpose of the book is to raise questions and to shed light on the social injustices that still photo by john oubre/su office of publications occur within America.

Gavin Richard, a Southern University alum and author, discusses his book, “Katrina: Eyes Have Not Seen, “I started this in January Ears Have Not Heard. The Story Of How An American City Was Taken Under Siege By Powerful Forces In 2006 (at the age of 19) in the Government” Thursday at the John B. Cade Library. dorm room of Moore Hall and my friend Irvin Hall motivated devastation there was a group of Halliburton is also known to him the day before? Why was me to develop this book,” said minority contractors that tried to have ties with Dick Cheney and FEMA preventing food and water from being provided at Richard. I interviewed over get the bid for cleaning up the city, the Bush family.

Richard concluded his review the Superdome? What Does the 15 people and by 2008 it was yet the bigger corporations such as the Kellogg Grounding crew with a few questions to ponder on. urban elite have to gain from finished.”

“It has been five years since the Lower Ninth Ward and Those interviewed were and the Shaw Group received Clothide Mack, an elderly woman the contracts and those are the Katrina and the Methodist New Orleans East?,” questioned who was trapped in the attic people with ties to the White and Charity hospitals have Richard.

All of these questions are yet to be reopened. They only for 11 days; Mama Dee, a New House,” speculated Richard.

There are also popular sustained damage on the first supposed to be answered within Orleans native and community book.

Richard’s leader; Mrs. Viola Washington, theories surrounding the Kellogg floor. Why aren’t they opened? Richard’s Malik Rahim and social activist Grounding crew having ties with Why did the president say he upcoming review will be Halliburton, which is an oilfield didn’t know about the nature of Saturday at the Community Dick Gregory.

“What people don’t see on corporation that is established New Orleans, yet Mike Brown, Book Center on Bayou Road in everyday TV is that after the in 70 countries worldwide. the head of FEMA, warned New Orleans.

There’s really life after “Death at a Funeral”

Drake: Thank him or not?

By Michelle Mitchell

By norman j. dotson jr.

digest contributing writer

digest EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Drake’s debut album entitled “Thank Me Later” released in early June was a very interesting mix of hiphop, R&B, and a splash of emo-esque music styling.

Underneath all the moody lyrics there was a near endless need to find love and a good time. What struck me the most about each and every song was his excessive need to constantly refer to himself.

According to pitchfork.com this seemingly selfindulgent rapper said the word “I” 410 times, and if my math is correct that’s one pronoun on an average, every 15 seconds in each song… cocky much?

Outside of the endless shout outs to himself the album keeps you interested with its amusing and unique beats that sort of resemble Kanye West’s “808s and Heartbreaks.” The shear awkward pleasantness of the tracks isn’t surprising seeing the list of producers; Timbaland, Kanye West, and Noah “40” Shebib who are known for their out of the box style of laying down beats and track.

However, the only down side to this album was its “hit or miss” lyrics. Compared to his hugely successful mix-tape “So Far Gone” where his lyrics stood out strongly and earned him the respect of many veteran rap all stars, “Thank Me later” failed to have the same impact. Instead of awe-inspiring lyrics with substance, they were replaced with a slew of empty and seemingly pointless phrases that just so happen to rhyme and keep beat.

In my personal opinion, he focused more on having “banging” beats and remember-able hooks instead of meaningful substance behind the market value to hold it altogether. Not all songs, however, fell pray to

this stigma. “Fireworks” featuring Alicia Keys was a favorite of mine to listen to. The hook complimented the body of song perfectly in a metaphorical fashion.

What I do applaud Drake for is the ways he avoided the same ole, same ole in rapping like idiotic drug use and pointless violence toward his fellow man. If he expressed anything throughout the album it was his want to find, in his journey to superstardom, a good time and someone to share it with.

Overall the album was good but not as good as he has shown us in the past. Maybe he spoiled us with hits like “Best I Ever Had” or my all time Drake favorite “Say What’s Real.” Don’t get me wrong I would definitely add this album to my iTunes, but next time catchy beats will not be enough to carry him on his following up album.

If he could just combine the two creative energies in writing and beats from his mixtape and debut studio album, I’m more than positive he could get a 5 out of 5, but for this one I’ll give him a 3 out of 5, a pat on the back, and a try again next time.

“My father was an extraordinary man!” is a quote that you will hear throughout this extraordinarily funny film. The 2010 version of Death at a Funeral, previously made as a British comedy in 2007, proves grief can be dealt with in many different ways. With an all star cast including, Danny Glover, Regina Hall, Kevin Hart, Martin Lawrence, Tracy Morgan, Zoë Saldana, Columbus Short, and Chris Rock, this movie is sure to place a smile on anyone’s face.

In this dramatic comedy, Aaron (Rock), the eldest of two sons, is left to be the patriarch of his dysfunctional family after the death of his father. Therefore, his main focus is to get through the toughest day of his life so far: burying his beloved father.

In his efforts to fill the shoes his father once wore, he is constantly bombarded with tomfoolery from his family, friends, and community. From the funeral home delivering the wrong body, to his father falling out of the coffin, anything that can go wrong does. Aaron’s younger and less responsible brother, Ryan (Lawrence), proves to be

no help to Aaron during this difficult time. His main concern is an under aged girl whom he finds attractive. More madness and mayhem occurs when their cousin’s boyfriend Oscar (James Marsden) took hallucinogens before coming to the funeral, which makes him disruptive throughout the ceremony. When Aaron thinks that things cannot get any worse, he is struck with devastating news about his respected and cherished father that leaves everyone in shock and awe.

Directed by Neil LaBute, Death at a Funeral is an account of the underlying family secrets that can come out at funerals. I am sure that everyone watching will agree with the theme of the movie: all families have their share of problems, issues, and secrets, but at the end of the day, you can always depend on your family to be just that. Family This was a great movie, and I would encourage everyone who has not seen it to make it a Blockbuster night (Red Box night for those true broke college students) and watch an amazing film about the trials, tribulations, catastrophes, and drama that can occur at a funeral.

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Friday, August 27, 2010 - Page 9

diversions Page 10 - Friday, August 27, 2010

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The Knight Life

By Keith Knight

Astro-Graph

By Bernice Bede Osol

There is a strong possibility that you will establish three enviable associations in the year ahead that could turn out to become very prominent in your life. Although they are likely to be unrelated, they will collectively make a huge impact on you.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept.

22) — Someone in dire need may seek you out for your know-how and talent, which in the end is likely to benefit you. As it turns out, you should be able to profit from being helpful.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) — Collective effort has its rewards. While working in close conjunction with one or two other people, your team could end up making a big impact on something important.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) — It isn’t likely that you will feel fulfilled unless you work on something you believe to be of importance. Devote as much time as you can possibly spare to do so.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) — Although it generally isn’t always a good policy to mix business with pleasure, it might be one of those rare times when you should if you can. Close your deal while playing golf or tennis.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19) — Proceed on the path you’re on by handling one step at a time, and there is every reason to believe that you’ll be able to close out a critical assignment that has given others fits.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 19) — This is a better than usual time to take care of

neglected e-mails or important correspondence you haven’t had time to handle. Once you put your personal affairs in good working order, you can relax.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) — Financial matters are likely to turn out to be more in your favor than they might at another time, so get right on them. Try to resolve and/or conclude all financial deals.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) — Avoid involvements with anybody who makes demands on your time. It will be important that you’re able to operate at your own discretion and able to do what you want.

TAURUS (April 20May 20) — The things you do for those you love and not what you do for yourself will provide you with the greatest gratification. You won’t wait to be asked, but will jump right in when needed.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) — If you need a recreational outing, plan to do something with friends with whom you are comfortable enough to let your hair down. Pretentious people will only get you more uptight.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) — Some kind of objective of considerable significance can now be achieved, because you’ll have the courage to go after what you want. You won’t allow its difficulty to scare you off.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) — You aren’t likely to be satisfied with the status quo, because you’ll sense within you the ability to apply yourself in ways that can make good things even better. Improvement in all things will be your goal.

——— Copyright 2010, United Feature Syndicate, Inc.

ACROSS 1 Cash advances 6 Personal opinions 11 Liver go-with 13 Brood hen 14 Kind of shepherd 15 Beliefs 16 Prior to 17 Rear-end 18 Delt neighbor 21 Classify 23 Pet plaint 26 — day now 27 Slant 28 Rake 29 Johann or Richard 31 Porous gem 32 Hike 33 Counted on 35 Counting-out word 36 Duffel filler 37 Make ends meet 38 Zodiac sign 39 Yield slightly 40 Male parent 41 Crusty dessert 42 Freight amts.

44 Archipelago dots 47 Mullah’s tongue 51 Gallon fractions 52 Interstellar dust cloud 53 Chimney plume 54 Just fine DOWN 1 Written record 2 Cyclops eye count 3 Tire filler 4 Gold-rush camp, once 5 Gets tangled (2 wds.)

6 Like the flu

7 News article 8 Riviera summer 9 Single no more 10 Almost grads 12 Skulks about 13 Propeller type 18 Soft hue 19 Diner’s choice 20 Rostand hero 22 Outdone 23 Like a castle 24 California motto 25 Joined metals 28 Home, in the phone

book 30 A Little Woman 31 Registered 34 Roomy sleeve 36 Speculate 39 Please, to Fritz 41 Expense account 43 The “elephant boy” 44 Mensa data 45 Amount 46 Thai neighbor 48 NFC gridder 49 Genre 50 Coral formation

VIEWPOINTS

Friday, August 27, 2010 - Page 11

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Can you hear me now?

I’M JUST ASKING STATEMENT

I’M JUST ASKING is for entertainment purposes only. These remarks do not represent the opinions of the DIGEST staff, Southern University or the Office of Student Media Services.

1. Whose bright idea was it to close the road to Mayberry?

2. Who cut through the gate for Mayberry’s food?

3. How hungry do you have to be to risk life and limb?

4. How many times has Wild ‘n Out Wednesday been cancelled?

5. How bad are the budget cuts when the band can’t travel?

6. Is it really the budget cuts or terms of their probation?

7. Does each section of the band have a separate probation officer?

8. So who is participating in the Adopt-A-Juke program?

9. For 30 cents a day can you send a band member to Jackson?

10. Are the donations taxdeductible?

11. Wait a minute ... are they?

12. For real, for real?

13. Are they going to send picture of your adopted Juke in the mail?

14. So can you adopt a DIGEST staff member?

15. How hard is it to type the questions?

16. How many DIGEST staff members does it take to write the questions?

17. Does the freshman class look older than the upperclassmen?

18. Is this the impact of higher admission standards or steroids in the chicken?

19. Are you mad that your on-campus hook-up got “budgetcutted?”

20. Should all DIGEST staff members try and write the questions?

Read the Digest at WWW.

southern digest .com

Sending text messages, updating Facebook and Twitter statuses, playing a word via Words with Friends…don’t lie!

We all do! Almost EVERYONE uses their phones when they get behind the wheel!

It’s subconscious! When at a red light or stuck in rush hour traffic or while driving down the strip, you just so happen to pick up your phone. You don’t mean it…it just kind of “happens.”

But we all need to work on that! I’m not going to sit here and preach about how many fatalities there have been due to cell phone usage, because we’ve all heard that numerous times.

We’ve all seen the commercials about some woman’s daughter dying in a car accident because she read a text saying “where u at?” And Oprah has recently started a campaign against cell phones being used while driving.

BREANNA PAUL Wait a minute, doesn’t Oprah have a driver? Yeah, I thought so! So how she can tell me, an Honors College student, an editor for a biweekly newspaper, secretary for the NAACP and a social butterfly to put my phone down while I’m driving. I have too much going on, too many people counting on me do things at all times of the day. She can just sit in the back of whatever car she’s riding around Chicago in and tweet and conduct meetings while I have to sit in rush hour counting how many treads the tire has in front of me?

This also has something to do everyone being addicted to their phones. People love their “Crackberries” and I’m a member of Team iPhone.

When I didn’t have my phone for almost a week, I literally almost had a nervous breakdown. My phone is with me at all times. I’m constantly checking my text messages, e-mails, and playing apps. It’s only natural that to pick it up while driving.

There is now a Louisiana law that, according to Act No. 665, prohibits the driver from “making calls on a cell phone or any wireless telecommunication device while driving unless the communication device is a Hands-Free device.” So I guess, I can still play Words with Friends and send text messages. I guess that also means I can use my iPhone headphones to make calls.

(If you are caught using your phone, you will receive a $175 for your first offense and $500 fine for your second offense and court fees.)

So if I’m interpreting this Act correctly, if you show the officer that it is a received call or that you are sending a text message or using an app. Why are there so many loopholes?

Honestly, I don’t think there should be a law. People are going to do whatever they want so it’s no point in putting a cost on it. Didn’t they do this with teenage sex? How many people are pregnant nowadays? Yea, that worked out wonderfully.

They are just tying to figure out a way to get money from people… just like those red-light cameras!

Anyhoo, the point of this editorial is to just say “do whatever you want.” I can’t make you not use your cell phone and neither can Oprah.

Be safe!

What does it mean to be black?

What does it mean to be black?

As an appetizer: are being black and being African synonymous?

No. There is a connection but a definite difference between being born in Africa and being a black American.

Black Americans have emerged in this country not only in the last place of this race to success that America proposes for all of its citizens, but last place being both bound and blind.

So there’s a feeling of immense pride that begins building and rolling inside of me when I think about being black. The history behind the fight.

Being black has little to nothing to do with my actual skin color. Black in color is something neither my next generation nor I will see; even if I procreate with the silkiest, ebony man on earth. I have been blended into existence and my children will bear the beauty of the combination of cultures from my DNA. I think about my dad, a black berry from the heart of Mississippi and the pivotal happiness of my childhood

ERICA S. JOHNSON and am excited to eventually raise black men in his remembrance. Then I think of what it means to be black today and I am perplexed.

On the one hand I am quick to jump to the defense of the entire black race when someone says, “He dresses pretty well for a Black guy.”

Or when I tell people that I passed up admission into LSUs journalism department to become a student at an HBCU (that sadly probably won’t be here in the next 50 years), and they send me a blank stare.

Countering to my defense, at times, is a silence. Not a scared, or full of pity, or angry silence, just a speechlessness that hovers heavy over me when I see a group of black men beating black boys

for whatever “reason”. Or when black girls pass me by purposefully, perhaps ignorantly, so overzealously loud that disgust is the only registering response.

Being black connects us all, especially if you find value in the historical and often logical realization that humans first originated from Africa.

During a time, in the not so distant past, if you had even an ounce of black in you the upper echelon would expect, and appreciate your failure and demise. Today, however, men like my boyfriend — whose grandmother was black but greatly carries his mother’s Italian genetics — is by any onlooker’s eye white. He is then outcaste to the very society that once shamed him.

There have never been ‘sides’ to choose. White or black, there is only right and wrong.

I am often frustrated with the people who look like me and make me feel like I am competing with my fellow peers for which one of us is the “truest” black.

Being black is not a choice;

and then again it is. Being black is more than a bubble to color in for statistics; it is representation, a brotherhood, and not everyone deserves to bear the title.

The black woman who shoots her husband is no better than the white cop who arrests the black youth for skateboarding.

Nor should a black man selling crack to his neighborhood consider himself more of a brother than the Jewish man coaching the YMCA afterschool basketball team.

I am uncertain about the apparent distress that all skinned people on this earth have and continue to face. But I am certain that if every person spent a little less time on finding (or less time stalling in the search for) the importance in their outer vessels, the connectivity throughout this world would be as definitive as the air we equally share.

We were each placed in a specific shell for a reason, understand, but then expand.

There is more to your growth than the obsession of your exterior.

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