The Southern Digest February 16 2012

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Thursday, Febraury 16, 2012

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Volume 58, Issue 5

The Southern Digest will return Feb. 23 check southerndigest.com for updates

SU women regain 1st in SWAC; men drop pair see Sports, Page 5

Arguments for, against BHM see Commentary, page 7

Southern Board wrangles with issues at meeting Charles Hawkins II & Billy Washington The Southern Digest

The Southern University Board of Supervisors met Monday to discuss many key issues to help Southern University as a whole progress.

Many of these issues would affect every part of Southern University.

With a long list of action items on the agenda, many items brought up frustration amongst board members and faculty.

Issues and action items ranging from the financial status of the system, the raise of student fees at Southern Lab, and the update status on the athletic director highlighted the agenda.

The request for authorization to offer existing Academic Programs through Distance Learning Technologies passed with a unanimous vote. Online programs will better assist students who cannot make it to class to still get an education. In

addition it will help bring much needed revenue to Southern University.

Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies Degree Program was approved as well as licensed practical nursing degree

Applied Science in Electronics Technology Program at SUSLA was terminated.

The last action item that was passed was the approval of the New Orleans Higher Education Management Plan.

meeting.

“We lost $2.9 million because of the mid year budget cuts made by the governor,” said Kevin Appleton, vice president for finance and business affairs.

According to the financial

“I think I am intelligent enough to be able to go in my community to help a kid come to Southern University. I didn’t think there is no need for the procedure to be changed and we have done well by it.”

Tony Clayton member, SU Board of Supervisors

program at SUSLA was passed.

These will be offered in the near future for Southern UniversityBaton Rouge and Southern University-Shreveport.

While many programs were passed the Associate of

A monthly recruitment update was also provided to display the improvement in the recruitment process.

The financial status report as of Dec. 31 for the SU system was also released during the

status report, the entire system is approximately $1.67 million under the nearly $139.5 million budget as of December.

“The retrenchment plan is supposed to help stay on the correct path until the end of

Creative jobs expected to grow Aristide Phillips

The Southern Digest

Career Exploration Day took placed last Wednesday at the F.G. Clark Activity Center, and over 60 recruiters and companies came to interview to the students of Southern University.

The job market is ever changing and in 2012 employment is expected to rise in some positions and fall in others.

According to the Bureau Labor of Statistics Employment in arts, design, entertainment, sports and media occupations is expected to grow by 12 percent creating an estimated 332,600 new jobs.

Southern University Office of Career Services is trying everyday to prepare Southern University students to be ready to pursue these new jobs.

photo by keldric nash/digest

Southern University students jotted down valuble information given by the recruiter from Norfolk Southern Corporation.

One of the most important tasks in searching for a job is the interview, and for any person preparing for an interview can be an enduring task.

The Office of Career services mission is to provide students with information that will help them succeed in the job search, as well as to aid students in developing, evaluating

and effectively initiating and implementing career plan.

The center also assists students in choosing their careers and college majors and obtaining appropriate work experience before to graduating to improve their chosen careers and majors.

“We want them to come to our office and get different stuff

that they need concerning their resume, to make sure that their resume is current accurate and correct,” said Director of Career Services Tamara Montgomery.

Best-selling author, coach, speaker and trainer is an alumnus of Southern University from the College of Engineering, Tameka Williamson who is one of many alumni who

the official student newspaper of southern university and A&m college, baton rouge, louisiana

our current status of exigency,” continued Appleton.

Southern Lab is also expected to experience a raise in tuition that will generate $180,000.

“This increase will require legislative approval, but this is the first step of the process,” said Chancellor James Llorens.

Plenty commotion surrounded the policy and procedures for the educational assistance scholarship program and how the funds raised would be disbursed to the entities campus.

SGA President Demetrius Sumner suggested that rather than the Board of Supervisors dispersing the money to the several campuses, the chancellors of each campus should be in control of the disbursement.

“Are we going to continue to deprive the Baton Rouge campus of those scholarship See SU Board page 3

help contribute to Southern University Career Services.

“We are relying upon our alumni, we have such a strong alumni help in this office, it’s phenomenal and we love the fact that we can reach out to our alumni and they helped us help our students,” said Montgomery.

Students can have a way to stay in touch with employers and referral databases by registering for “JOBS4JAGS,” It allows students 24-hour on-line access to job descriptions and recruiting information.

“It is incumbent for students to do well in the classrooms we need our students to work harder than they ever worked before we need them to study more we need them to maintain their grade point averages and we need to teach them that we need them to do more than what’s expected of them,” said Montgomery.

The Career Services department also provides career help off campus also, they already done three community service projects this semester.

“Career Services is dedicated to doing community service outreach programs,” said Montgomery.

Career Services provides Southern University students with viable outlook into the job and career world and will help give students an edge in the job market.

Campus Life southerndigest.com

Page 2 - Thursday, February 16, 2012

Campus Briefs

noon.

today

Café Lacumba

Construction

Come join your colleagues and faculty for a delicious and healthy lunch! All items are made fresh and can be enjoyed as you dine in or on the go. Café Lacumba will be serving sandwiches, wraps, salads, snacks and beverages every Wednesday from 11 am- 1:30 pm. Café Lacumba is located in 161 Pinkie Thrift Hall. For more information call 225.771.4660.

Construction is still underway at SU. Check the Digest and www.southerndigest.com for more information. If you have any safety questions or concerns contact Chris Spurlock at 225.771.7286 or Robert Nissen at 225.771.3101.

Campus Access

Harding Boulevard will be the sole entrance/exit between the hours of 6 p.m. and 5 a.m.

Vehicles entering the campus during those hours must stop at the Checkpoint prior to entering the campus. On weekends the Mills Avenue entrance will remain closed from 6 p.m.

Friday until 5 a.m. the following Monday morning.

Please contact Lt. Floyd Williams at 771-2770 for more details.

Union Fun Fridays

LaCumba’s playpen, Union Bowling Alley and Burger King will be open Fridays until 3pm.

LaCumba’s playpen and the bowling alley will offer half price Fridays.

Graduate School Critical Dates

A list of critical dates is in the graduate school office.

Live Text codes for first time freshmen and first time transfers

Center for Student Success

LiveText Subscription Codes for First-Time Freshmen and First-Time Transfer Students are available until March 1 from 10am-12noon and 2-4p.m.

Monday-Thursday in Room 155 of W.W. Stewart Hall.

Intramural Basketball League

League Play has begun for Intramural Basketball. All games are played on Fridays in Seymour Gym. For more information contact Coach Robinson at 225.771.3212.

MLK Catholic Student Center

The St. Joseph Chapel/ MLK Catholic Student Center offers Sunday mass service at 11 am and daily mass at 12:10 Monday thru Friday. Confessions are by appointment.

The Southern University Wesley Foundation is accepting donations of non-perishable and canned foods for their food drive. They will be accepting donations until April. Worship services are on Wednesdays at

february 22 Table Tennis Tournament

Smith Brown Memorial Union presents a table tennis tournament on March 14 from 6-9pm in Lacumba’s Playpen.

Register for the tournament between February 22-March 9 for only $5. Awards and Prizes will be awarded to first, second, and third place. Come out and show off your skills. february 23 The Department of social work Movie Night

The SU CSS offers a free paper service. You can have your paper reviewed for clarity, grammatical errors, sentence structure, etc. CSS will also be offering English workshops every Friday at 10 am. CSS will be offering seminars to assist students with topics such as discovering their learning styles, study skills, to stress management. Contact CSS for more information on any of these programs and for tutoring questions at 225.771.4312 or stop by 107 in Stewart Hall.

Please join us as we view and discuss a series of movies that have changed the way we think about life… “Old School Throwback” Movie: School Daze. The topic of the discussion will be Diversity at HBCUs on Thursday February 23 at 6 pm in Higgins Hall Room 319. Refreshments will be served and 2 CEU’s available for Social Workers.

PSE Informational

The Southern University department of Music presents Soiree Musicale on February 26 in The Royal Cotillion Ballroom of Smith-Brown Memorial Union at 5pm.

Pi Sigma Epsilon (PSE) CoEd Fraternity Informational: The Best Decision You Haven’t Made Yet. Will be held at11:00 am tomorrow in T. T. Allain Hall Room 222. This event is open to all majors and Professional Attire is required. For more information contact subrpse@ gmail.com or 225.771.5883

SU Wesley Foundation

History Quiz Bowl at 7 p.m. in T. T. Allain Hall in Room 313 on February 29. For more information contact SU BEEP at 225.771.5883 or subrbeep@gmail.com for an application and study guide. $10 registration fee (per team, max 4 members) Admission is $1 or canned good the Deadline to enter is tomorrow Feb 17.

february 17 Black History Quiz Bowl BEEP will host a Black

The Sentinel Of An Enlightened Student Body since 1926

Who’s Speaking Out? How big of a problem was bullying for you growing up?

Victoria Nibiett

Crystal Blue

OAKLAND, CALIF. sophomore ELEMENTARY EDUCATION

Beaumont, texas junior criminal justice

“I think they would be amazed at the recent Nibiett accomplishments and hope that Southern continues to make history and excel academically.”

“SU, what are we doing? The roots of our Blue foundation was not established for this. We need to regroup, help one another and be the best HBCU in the land. Stand up SU.”

Brittany Brown

Jeremy C. Williams

New Orleans Freshman Business

New Orleans sophomore Spanish

“I think that our founders of SU would be very Brown disappointed in the long and stressful process of of applying and dealing with financial aid.”

“The founders would be proud of everything Williams Southern University became in today’s society.”

february 26 Soiree Musicale: Tribute to African American music

february 28 Union Activity Board

A Mid-day Movie will be shown February 28 at noon in the Lakefront room of the Union. Upcoming Market Days in the union will be February 28 and 29.

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.

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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.

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Articles, features, opinions, speak out and editorials do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the administration and its policies.

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Southern University and A&M College at Baton Rouge is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097, telephone (404) 679-4500, Website: www.sacscoc.org.

MISSION STATEMENT The mission of Southern University and A&M College, an Historically Black, 1890 landgrant 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.

Website: www.subr.edu.

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News southerndigest.com

Thursday, February 16, 2012 - Page 3

The Sentinel Of An Enlightened Student Body since 1926

BLACK HISTORY MONTH Today in History 1804 — The New Jersey Legislature approved a law calling for “gradual” emancipation of AfricanAmericans. In so doing, New Jersey became the last Northern state to outlaw slavery.

1826 — The “Liberia Herald,” the first newspaper printed in Africa, was published by C.L. Force of Boston.

1848 — Sarah Roberts barred from white school in Boston. Her father, Benjamin Roberts, files the first school integration lawsuit on her behalf.

1868 — W.E.B. DuBois was born in Great Barrington, Mass.

1904 — James Baskett was born in Indianapolis. Best known for his role as Uncle Remus in the 1946 Disney film “Song of the South,” he became the first black male actor to receive an Academy Award.

1923 — Bessie Smith makes her first recording, “Down Hearted Blues,” which sells approximately 800,000 copies for Columbia Records.

1957 — Actor LeVar Burton was born in Landstuhl, Germany.

1961 — U.S. and African nationals protetesting the slaying of Congo Premier Patrice Lumumba disrupt United Nations sessions 1964 — Louis Armstrong’s “Hello Dolly” recording becomes his first and only number one record.

1965 — Nat King Cole dies from lung cancer in Santa Monica, Calif.

1968 — Henry Lewis becomes the first AfricanAmerican to lead a symphony in the U.s.

1972 — Politicial activist Angela Davis is released from jail.

U.S. stocks mixed Christina Rexrode The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Stocks were mixed at midday Wednesday as Greece, slogging through negotiations with other countries over a bailout, once again cast a long shadow over the financial markets.

The Dow Jones industrial average gave up an early gain and fell 19 points to 12,859. The Standard & Poor’s 500 edged up five points to 1,356. The Nasdaq composite rose 26 to 2,957.

Information technology stocks led the market higher, gaining 1 percent as a group thanks in part to Apple, which set another record high at $525 a share, up 30 percent for the year.

Greece loomed over the market, as it has for weeks. It is trying to secure a second international bailout so it won’t default on its debt next month and rattle the global financial system.

On Wednesday, European finance ministers planned a conference call to discuss Greece.

A spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel

sharply rejected rumors in financial markets that Germany had decided a Greek bankruptcy was acceptable.

Incremental developments in the Greek crisis, such as a nod from China that it would continue to invest in some European bonds, or commitments from Greek leaders about spending cuts, have sent U.S. stocks zigzagging.

Dan McMahon, director of equity trading at Raymond James, said a quiet day for Greece news would likely let the market drift higher.

Even though Greece makes up just 2 percent of the total economic output of the 17 countries that use the euro, what troubles investors is that similar financial problems are festering in other European countries, like Portugal, Italy and Spain.

“There is no shortage of people who would argue that Greece is a non-event,” McMahon said. “It’s more that it’s a barometer for the rest of the eurozone.”

Among the biggest movers in the U.S. market: — Comcast, the cable provider, climbed 5 percent after beating

photo by Richard Drew/ap photo

Trader Jeffrey Vazquez, left, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, Feb. . World stock markets rose Wednesday after Greece indicated a willingness to commit to spending cuts to secure its bailout and moves by Japan’s central bank to support the economy lifted its powerhouse export sector.

Wall Street expectations for profit and revenue. It managed to slow the loss of customers as it added channels and better customer service.

— Kellogg rose 5 percent after announcing it would buy

Jindal’s war chest at $4 million Melinda Deslatte The Associated Press

Gov. Bobby Jindal has nearly $4 million in his campaign account, even after wrapping up his election costs and tallying much of his inauguration ceremony spending, according to campaign finance reports filed Wednesday.

The Republican governor has no announced political plans for using the cash. He’s barred from a third consecutive term as governor and has said his only plans currently are to finish his term, which runs until 2016.

The money could be used for donations to other campaigns, charitable contributions and continuing political consulting, advertising and mailer expenses.

“He will use it to push his priorities in the state, and we will be saving a lot of it for future runs for office,” said Jindal’s top political strategist, Timmy Teepell.

As he’s done before, Teepell suggested the 40-year-old Jindal could take a four-year break from the governor’s

get online @

mansion and then run for a third term.

“Bobby’s a young guy. He loves being governor. I can’t imagine he’s run his last campaign or serving his last term as governor,” Teepell said.

The latest campaign finance reports, filed with the Louisiana Ethics Administration Program, encompassed contributions and expenses through the end of 2011. When Jindal closed out the last year, his campaign had $3.9 million on hand, after a campaign in which the governor spent millions though he had no well-funded opposition.

Despite speculation Jindal might consider a bid against Democratic U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, Teepell said the governor isn’t interested in running for the Senate in 2014.

And if Jindal chose to run for a federal office at some point, he couldn’t roll over his state campaign money to a federal account.

The finance reports filed Wednesday included at least $143,000 in inauguration costs, more than 40 percent of

it for equipment rental. More than $7,600 went to the costs of a post-inauguration lunch with lawmakers, $2,900 for golf cart rental, $20,000 for stage design, nearly $29,000 for production costs, and $7,300 for photography and filming.

Jindal has additional spending for his swearingin events not included in the latest campaign documents.

A specific report to detail all the inauguration expenses isn’t due until 60 days after the Jan. 9 ceremony. Jindal’s inauguration included a formal ball, the swearing-in ceremony at the Old State Capitol and the legislative lunch.

The governor didn’t embark on a separate fundraising effort that many past governors including him had used to drum up cash for inaugural festivities. Instead, Jindal used his campaign account. That decision means donations count toward the $5,000 cap on contributions per person for an election cycle, rather than allowing separate donations for both the inauguration and election.

www.southerndigest.com

Pringles from Procter & Gamble.

Diamond Foods had a deal to buy Pringles but got caught up in an accounting scandal that forced it to get rid of its top two executives last week. P&G was flat, and Diamond was up 3 percent.

SU Board from page 1 dollars because we want to give out scholarships. This is the campus money, but the money should be given through the chancellors,” said Sumner.

Board member Tony Clayton disapproved by dismissing Sumner’s idea as petty.

“I think I am intelligent enough to be able to go in my community to help a kid come to Southern University. I didn’t think there is no need for the procedure to be changed and we have done well by it,” said Clayton.

“This requires the board to give up territory which is uncomfortable but this is territory that we are not supposed to have,” responded Sumner.

The item passed with a 5-2 vote leaving the disbursement policies as is.

An update was given on the intramural sports complex, which was expected to be completed in 2007. Endas Vincent, director of facilities and planning, stated the construction of the complex would begin next week. Vincent also announced that the revamping of the parking lot around the mini dome would start sometime this year.

The continuation of the Interim Director, which is being held by women’s basketball head coach Sandy Pugh was passed and the search for an athletic continues with a 3-3 vote with two abstaining towards the recommendation for the position.

State & Nation southerndigest.com

Page 4 - Thursday, February 16, 2012

The Sentinel Of An Enlightened Student Body since 1926

Last Katrina FEMA trailer leaves New Orleans Cain Burdeau

The Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS — The last of the once-ubiquitous FEMA trailers has been removed from New Orleans more than six years after floodwalls and levees broke during Hurricane Katrina and caused the city to fill with floodwaters.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said the last trailer was removed Sunday. The agency said on Monday that those living in the trailer moved into their rebuilt home last week. At one point, New Orleans had more than 23,000 FEMA-issued trailers and mobile homes.

Rebuilding fund shortfalls, health and personal problems and other hurdles caused people to rely on trailers for so long.

Most were able to move out of the trailers and mobile homes within a few years after Katrina struck in August 2005. By December 2010, about 230 were left in the city.

Mark C. Merritt, the president of Witt Associates, a disaster consultant firm working with Louisiana officials, said the FEMA trailers were used on the Gulf

Coast out of necessity because so many houses were flooded.

“Six years (to remove all the trailers) sounds like a lot, but with the average catastrophic disaster, it takes six to 10 years to get a lot of things done,” Merritt said.

FEMA and its contractors shipped about 203,000 mobile homes, travel trailers and other models to victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, two of the worst storms in U.S. history. The hurricanes destroyed more than 300,000 homes in 2005 and displaced about 700,000 people.

FEMA said there were three trailers still left in Louisiana from the 2005 hurricane season.

“It was an excellent idea (to have trailers). It enabled people to stay close to their homes, work on them, monitor them,” said Edwin Weber, who lived in a trailer with his brother for five years. Their cramped trailer was located in front of their flood-damaged home in Gentilly.

The Webers were pushed out in February 2011 as part of an effort to rid the city of trailers. The city said they were eyesores. The two brothers moved into their home even though they hadn’t finished

all the work on it that they wanted to do.

“They were starting to press.

FEMA told us we had to move out or go through a bunch of hearings,” he said. “And so we hastily moved out.”

“I’m glad we’re out,” said Weber, 63. “You have to be prodded into doing something.”

He said it took so long to get the house in shape because he chose not to take federal rebuilding aid and did much of the renovation work himself.

Leaders hailed the removal of the last trailer as a milestone in the city’s rebuilding.

“Another page has turned in New Orleans’ post-Katrina history,” Mayor Mitch Landrieu said, crediting city code enforcement officials and FEMA for working together to get people out of the trailers.

“That’s an end of an era,” said Becky Gillette, a Sierra Club activist who led efforts to expose problems with high-levels of formaldehyde in the FEMA trailers sent to the Gulf Coast.

“Most of those people would have been better off living in a tent in terms of their health.”

Lawsuit in FAMU death reveals details of hazing Mike Schneider

The Associated Press

ORLANDO, Fla. — The parents of a Florida A&M band member who died after being hazed filed a wrongful death lawsuit Monday against the owner and driver of the charter bus where the ritual took place, and revealed new details about what might have happened the night Robert Champion died.

The suit describes two types of hazing that took place before Champion died.

During the first, pledges of a band clique known as “Bus C” run from the front to the back of the bus while other band members slap, kick and hit them, the lawsuit said.

A pledge who falls can be stomped and dragged to the front of the bus to run again.

In another ritual known as “the hot seat,” a pillow case was placed over the pledge’s nose and mouth while the pledge was forced to answer questions. If a pledge got a right answer, the pillow case was removed briefly; a pledge with a wrong answer was given another question without a chance to take a breath, the lawsuit said.

A fellow pledge who was hazed with Champion said band members on the bus treated Champion more brutally than others, according to the lawsuit.

An attorney for the Champion family said he doesn’t know exactly why he was on the bus. Champion was a drum major, a leader in the band, and had been a vocal opponent of hazing, attorney Chris Chestnut said.

Champion suffered blunt trauma blows

and he died from shock caused by severe bleeding, authorities said. Detectives are investigating the death as a homicide.

The lawsuit said bus company managers knew that FAMU band members held hazing rituals regularly on buses after football games but did nothing to stop them, and they often times told bus drivers to ignore the hazing.

The bus driver on the night of Champion’s death even stood guard outside the bus and forced the 26-year-old Champion back on the bus after he had exited to vomit, the lawsuit said. The lawsuit doesn’t explain how Champion was forced back on the bus.

“Am I suggesting that this bus driver hit him? No,” Chestnut said. “Am I suggesting that she knowingly aided and abetted?

She opened a bus, it was running, the air condition is on. If that’s not participation, then I don’t know. You availed a venue.”

Ray Land, the owner of Fabulous Coach Lines, said in an email Monday that he needed some time to prepare a statement.

He told The Associated Press last year that the bus driver was helping students unload their instruments when Champion collapsed.

The lawsuit names the bus driver as Wendy Millette, of Branford, Fla., where the bus company is located. No one answered the phone at that listing.

FAMU president James Ammons originally fired band director Julian White after Ammons said he failed to report hazing he knew about. White, who is now on administrative leave, denies that he didn’t do enough.

PHOTO BY Alex Brandon/ap file photo

This Aug. 28, 2006 file photo shows FEMA trailers used for housing for University of New Orleans students and faculty in New Orleans.

The last of the FEMA trailers has been removed from New Orleans more than six years after floodwalls and levees broke during Hurricane Katrina and caused the city to flood. On Wednesday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said the last trailer was removed Sunday.

She added: “My job isn’t done because FEMA dumped all those poisonous trailers on the market.”

FEMA’s trailers have ended up around the country, she said. “I’m getting calls from families all over the country now. Families are getting sick.”

A 2009 Department of Homeland Security inspector general’s report said the air in many trailers registered dangerously high levels of formaldehyde and that FEMA was too slow to get people out after it learned of the problem in 2006.

sPOrts southerndigest.com

the sentinel OF an enlightened student bOdy sinCe 1926

thursday, February 16, 2012 - Page 5

Jaguars hold off Valley; regain top spot in SWAC ariStide PhilliPS

The Southern Digest

The Southern women’s basketball team survived, earning a huge win defeating the talented Mississippi Valley State Devilettes 63-59 Monday at the F.G. Clark Activity Center.

SU (11-9, 10-3 Southwestern Athletic Conference) took control of the SWAC race with back-to-back wins over MVSU and Arkansas-Pine Bluff this weekend.

The Jaguars are now in first place in SWAC standings, but still have to improve on controlling the ball moving forward.

Southern committed 20 turnovers in the victory against Valley.

“When we stop turning the ball over and gain our confidence,” head coach Sandy Pugh said after the game. “ The freshmen came in off the bench and contributed.”

Mississippi Valley State (12-12, 9-4 SWAC) dropped down to second in SWAC standings and will now need help from the Jaguars to regain that first-place spot as teams begin jockeying for position for the SWAC Tournament in March.

“That blue represents something, it represents championships, it represents SWAC championships and that’s what we are about,” Pugh said.

Pugh’s Jaguars had an easier time

Saturday against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, defeating the Lady Lions 62-48.

The Jaguars kept the mistakes to a minimum only turning the ball over nine times in the entire game.

UAPB (0-23, 0-12) kept the game close going into halftime only down three (2522), but could not keep up with the Jaguars.

The Jaguars leave the friendly confines of the Minidome this weekend to begin a key three-game road swing. Southern travels to face Alabama A&M (12-10, 7-5) at 3 p.m. Saturday, followed by a 5:30 p.m. Monday date in Montgomery, Ala., to tangle with Alabama State (9-12, 6-6).

Southern 63, Miss. Valley State 59 Mississippi Valley State led by as much as 15 in the game but couldn’t finish the game had 10 lead changes; nine of those changes came in the second half.

Jasmine Jefferson made the clutch free throw with a second left to cap the win for Southern.

Jefferson led Southern with 13 points and five rebounds and shot 11-14 from the free-throw line. Jamie Floyd grabbed 11 rebounds to go with nine points.

Laneisha Stephens scored 10 points and nine rebounds.

Alia Frank finished with 17 points and six rebounds to lead Mississippi Valley State. De’Kisha Fondon also scored in

PHOTO By kelDric nasH/DigesT

Southern’s Jasmine Jefferson races to gain full control of the loose ball against Mississippi Valley State guard Davina Jefferson Monday. Her hustle and clutch free throws helped the Jaguars regain first place in the SWAC.

double figures, contributing 13 points.

Southern 62, Ark.-Pine Bluff 48 Kendra Coleman had 11 points to lead Southern. Stephens dropped in 10 points and eight rebounds, while Floyd finished with nine points and 13 rebounds.

Forward Chigozi Okwumabua was the

only starter in double digits for the Lady Lions with 18 points and also led the team with six rebounds.

SU was 22-of-69 (31.9 percent) from the field, UAPB wasn’t far behind shooting 15-of-49 (30.6 percent) from the field to finish the game.

Southern sees streak snapped ariStide PhilliPS

The Southern Digest

The Southern Jaguars entered last weekend’s games on a five-game winning streak. Now Southern must regain its swagger after falling 58-53 to Southwestern Athletic Conference leader Mississippi Valley State Monday and suffering a 64-58 loss at the hands of Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

The Jaguars (13-13, 9-4) hit the road this weekend for the front end of a threegame road trip, taking on Alabama A&M (5-16, 3-9) Saturday and Alabama State (9-15, 6-6) Monday.

“They know that the program is struggling and they gave all they had,” head coach Roman Banks said. “The thing is now trying to get them back up energized, but also I have to rest some people and we’ve got to continue to get the bench a little better so when we go on the road somebody can give us a spurt, too.”

The Jaguars came into Saturday’s matchup against UAPB (6-20, 5-8) seemingly going through the motions, the Jaguars went into halftime with a 30-24 lead, but by the start of the second the Jaguars were looking forward to Monday’s game against MSVU instead of finishing the game against the Lions shooting a miserable 29.4 percent from the field being outscored 40-28.

Monday, the Jaguars came out anything but flat against the more talented Delta Devil team.

Southern (13-13, 9-4) showed good defense despite being down by as much as 10 the Jaguars fought back to go into the half tied 23.

Caldwell approved as GSU AD

MSVU (14-11, 13-0) turned up the heat muscling through southern outscoring the Jaguars 35-30 in the second half.

Miss. Valley 58, Southern 53 MSVU senior center Paul Crosby led the Delta Devils scoring all around the court scoring 23 points and grabbed 15 rebounds.

The 6-8, 245-pound Greenwood, Miss., native went 8-19 from the field and 4-6 from behind the arch.

Terrence Joyner also help the Delta Devils scoring 14 points, 13 of those points came in the second half.

The Jaguars outscored MVSU 9-3 to open the second half.

The Delta Devils answered with a 12-2 run, led by Joyner’s seven points. Paul Crosby’s jumper put MVSU up for good, 38-34, with 11:06 to play.

The Jaguars made it a two-point game on their next possession, but the Delta Devils pulled away, scoring seven straight. MVSU shot just 58.6 percent from the free-throw line (17-of-29), but went 10-of-13 in the second half.

Cameron Monroe led Southern with 15 points, and Quinton Doggett led the Jaguars with 9 rebounds.

Ark.-Pine Bluff 64, Southern 58 Derrick Beltran lead the Jaguars with 22 points, and Quinton Doggett also contributed scoring 18 points and grabbing 11 rebounds getting a doubledouble.

Mitchell Anderson lifted the Golden Lions scoring 21 points and grabbing 11 rebounds also giving him a doubledouble.

Lazabian Jackson went 6 for 6 from

The Associated Press

PHOTO By kelDric nasH/DigesT

Southern’s Quinton Doggett attempts to knock the ball away from Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s Mitchell Anderson during Saturday’s SWAC matchup.

the foul line in the last 34 seconds to lead Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Savalace Townsend scored 12 points and Daniel Broughton added 11 to lead the Golden Lions.

Jameel Grace scored 11 points and pulled Southern within two points twice in the last minute.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff made 13-of-16 free throws in the second half.

GRAMBLING, La. — Percy “Chico” Caldwell is used to overcoming obstacles.

Growing up in Clarksville, Miss., he was oftentimes told that he wouldn’t succeed in athletics or make good grades.

But Caldwell proved the naysayers wrong, becoming an outstanding basketball player at Miles College, later to be inducted into a Hall of Fame in the West Virginia Conference, and compiling impressive grades in the classroom.

Caldwell, 62, added another impressive line to his resume Wednesday when he was officially introduced as the new athletics director at Grambling State University. His annual salary will be $125,000.

Grambling President Frank Pogue said Caldwell was chosen from a pool of seven finalists.

Caldwell arrives at Grambling after serving as athletics director at Fort Valley State University in Fort Valley, Ga., for two years.

He held the same position at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina from 20012008.

Culture southerndigest.com

Page 6 - Thursday, February 16, 2012

The Sentinel Of An Enlightened Student Body since 1926

Jackson choreographer dances with N.O. kids Stacey Plaisance

The Associated Press

PHOTO By julio cortez/ap photo

Fans of the late singer Whitney Houston comfort each other outside of Whigham Funeral Home, where the body of singer is held since its arrival in New Jersey Tuesday in Newark, N.J. Funeral services for Houston are set for Saturday at New Hope Baptist Church.

Choices few for greiving Houston fans Ted Shaffrey & Beth DeFalco

The Associated Press

NEWARK, N.J. — In Whitney Houston’s hometown, her family plans a private church service, with no public memorial set. In Los Angeles, where she died, there’s not even a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for fans to pile flowers. So for the legion of music lovers mourning a global superstar, where do broken hearts go?

Fans who have gathered outside the church where Houston will be eulogized Saturday at an invitation-only service — and outside the funeral home where her body now rests — say they understand why the family wants to keep the world out the best they can. But they also yearned for the chance to fully share in the grief and the remembrance of a native daughter who made it big and made them proud.

Samuel Turner Jackson, of Newark, said he was looking forward to heading down to “The Rock,” as the Prudential Center is known. Before, that is, the funeral home announced Tuesday that no public service would be held at the 18,000-seat arena, an option that had been discussed.

The arena, home to the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, displayed an image of Houston on a screen outside Tuesday.

“We don’t know what the circumstances are, but we’re sure that the family did want to share something with the community that she gave so much to,” Jackson said. “But they have their reasons, and we’re going to do the best we can to pay our respects and to mourn her.”

Antonio Ballinger, of Newark, also hoped to attend a public service and “see her off,” and said he was saddened to hear he wouldn’t get the opportunity.

“But my blessings go out to the family, and I wish them nothing but the best,” he said.

The family said Tuesday it had no plans right now for a public memorial. Still, fans in this downtrodden city held out hope.

“Maybe at some point down the road, they might do something,” said B.J. Frazier, of East Orange. “It’s like they’re saying today, they shared her for a long time and they just want her to themselves for now.”

Houston, a sensation from her first, eponymous album in 1985, was one of the world’s best-selling artists from the mid1980s to the late 1990s, turning out such hits as “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,”

“How Will I Know,” “The Greatest Love of All” and “I Will Always Love You.” But as she struggled with drugs, her majestic voice became raspy, and she couldn’t hit the high notes.

Houston, 48, died Saturday at a hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., just hours before she was scheduled to perform at producer Clive Davis’ pre-Grammy Awards bash. Officials say she was underwater and apparently unconscious when she was pulled from a bathtub.

Authorities said an autopsy found no indications of foul play or obvious signs of trauma on Houston. It could be weeks, however, before the coroner’s office completes toxicology tests to establish the cause of death.

Houston was born in Newark and raised in nearby East Orange. She began singing as a child at New Hope Baptist Church, where her mother, Grammy-winning gospel singer Cissy Houston, led the music program for many years. Her cousin, future pop star Dionne Warwick, also sang in its choir.

The family decided that, after sharing Whitney with the city, state and world for more than 30 years, “this is their time now for their farewell,” said funeral home owner Carolyn Whigham.

“The family thanks all the fans, the friends and the media, but this time is their private time,” she said.

The hearse that carried Houston’s body from an airport to the Whigham Funeral Home came into Newark under the cloak of darkness, in the middle of the night, denying local folks another opportunity to grieve publicly.

Police met with church officials Tuesday to discuss logistics and how to handle the large crowds expected to gather Saturday in the streets outside the New Hope Baptist Church, about a mile from the funeral home.

In Newark, perennially ranked among the nation’s poorest and most dangerous cities, a public memorial at taxpayer expense is a tricky proposition. New Jersey’s largest city, at more than 270,000 residents, laid off more than 160 police officers in November.

The dismal school system is relying on a large grant from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for salvation.

And whether the megastar’s estate would pick up any slack for a memorial is up for debate. The singer failed to fulfill a $100 million recording deal in 2001 that reportedly called for six records.

NEW ORLEANS — Choreographer Travis Payne has created dance moves for some of the biggest names in entertainment — Michael Jackson, Beyonce, Usher, Lady Gaga and Madonna.

On Monday, Payne took his dance moves from the stage to the community as he guided New Orleans kids through a routine choreographed to Michael Jackson’s 1980s hit “Smooth Criminal” at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. Students clapped, cheered and gave each other high-fives as they took turns dancing with Payne.

He is one of about 10 choreographers behind the Cirque du Soleil show “Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour” that honors the late entertainer and is in performance at the New Orleans Arena today.

Senior dance major Dorothy Nunez moonwalked across the floor in a sparkly silver fedora as her peers took turns free-styling for Payne and showing off their best Jackson moves and some moves of their own. The 50 or so students who participated were majors of either musical theater or dance, including ballet, jazz and modern dance.

“This is surreal,” said 17-year-old Morgan Ballard, a senior dance major at NOCCA, an arts training center that offers intensive instruction to high school-age students in such genres as dance, media arts, music, theater and writing. “I respect Michael Jackson so much as an artist, and I feel so close to him right now. I don’t want it to end.”

New Orleans is the first tour stop on the “Immortal” tour in which Payne took time to share some of Jackson’s most famous dance moves with community children. The show launched last year in Canada, and its U.S. opening was in Las Vegas in December.

Payne is a twice Emmy-nominated choreographer, director and producer.

His work encompasses some of the most influential visual and musical moments of contemporary pop culture, created for and performed by some of the biggest names in entertainment.

Payne co-choreographed and danced with both Michael Jackson and his younger sister Janet. He worked with Michael Jackson for more than 15 years, from the early 1990s until the pop star’s death in 2009.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Monday, Payne said he was rehearsing with Jackson almost daily for the “This is It” tour at the time of Jackson’s death.

Commentary southerndigest.com

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Thursday, February 16, 2012 - Page 7

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“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

— George Santayana, The Life of Reason Black History Month is criticized and questioned every year and often the only time the world we live in hears about the historical roles, contributions, and perspectives of African-Americans or blacks.

Black history should be recognized and acknowledged every day because, history is made every day.

While Black History Month shouldn’t be the only time AfricanAmericans and other races and cultures openly discuss ‘taboo’ race relations, Black History Month is a relevant celebration and acknowledgment of a race of people who in American history were not considered human.

Dr. Carter G. Woodson who is often referred to as the “Father of Black History” founded the Study of African American Life and History along with Negro History week to educate our world about the achievements and contributions of African-Americans to the world.

According to the Study of African American Life and History, established on September 9, 1915

by Woodson their mission is to is to promote, research, preserve, interpret and disseminate information about Black life, history and culture to the global community.

The study housed on Howard’s campus in Washington, D.C., publishes the Journal of Negro History, the Negro History Bulletin, The Woodson

Evan Taylor Review: ASALH’s Annual Theme Magazine and Fire: The Multimedia Journal of Black Studies.

Through their publications, yearly themes and research they promote the knowledge and understanding African-American history and culture.

In the words of Toni Morrison, “I’m interested in the way in which the past affects the present and I think that if we understand a good deal more about history, we automatically understand a great more about contemporary life.”

The past plays a critical role in the future.

You are socialized as a child and as an adult. As a child, you are socialized through rules, nurturing, language, lessons, morals, environment and education or lack thereof.

Between childhood and adulthood you are socialized through participation, outside relationships, social roles, expectations and community.

As an adult you are socialized by more education, on the job training, hierarchy and worldly influences.

History plays a role in building

your identity, purpose, motivation, commitment, personality, family, community and even the world in the bigger picture.

As an African-American or black you want to know and understand where you fit in the world, your boundaries/barriers, your opportunities and abilities.

Historically if you know that an African-American was an inventor, actor, producer, director, president, author, speaker, educator, fashion designer, model, writer, doctor, lawyer or technician through adversity.

It makes it that much easier to you as a child to make a goal knowing it’s achievable and possible.

Understanding the struggles and oppression of the past allows you to see the struggles and oppressions of today with an advantage.

Understanding how with limited technology a community, race, or culture has overcome a situation gives you an upper hand in handling the same issue in modern day.

There is a place and time to celebrate or commemorate every race, culture, accomplishment, innovation, or philanthropic effort; Black History Month should be no different.

We should remember and make history every day, but there should be a month where we are immersed in our history and culture inside and outside of our own communities.

Black History Month is a month dedicated to the character of AfricanAmericans a race still overlooked and underrepresented, but constantly progressing despite the stagnant situations placed before us.

BHM ... a pointless gesture To the reader: This is the only warning for what you are about to read. The following commentary contains content that may be offensive to some of those militant black history buffs. May cause a sense of color confusion, denial, anger and sporadic outbursts into tears …

Now that that is out the way, on to the real.

Black History Month is a pointless gesture to have.

Why on earth would we want to be confined to just one month in the year, let alone the shortest one?

If one remembers correctly, black history is a crucial part of American history. Are we we not guaranteed the right to be a part of history like all other American citizens? Even if we didn’t get that right from being freed from slavery you can’t deny the achievements made by black Americans that have moved this country … better yet this world.

Now that I think about it, a large percentage of historical black events didn’t even occur in February. The

get online @

Norman J. Dotson Jr . only argument people have is that Carter G. Woodson created Negro History Week to mark the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, but that’s about it.

I am all for preserving our history, but I don’t like the idea of creating a month for us to focus on it. Black history is something that should be celebrated year-round, not just in February when you designate a certain amount of time to anything devalues its significance in one’s mind.

A prime example is a book report that has a deadline set three months after it was given. We know it’s

important to get it done, but we put that assignment on the backburner because of its time restraint.

However, a week before it is due we all scatter about like roaches with the light flicked on because now it is important (we have all done this).

When the time restraint is small, we put all our focus on it. But when it was larger, we forgot about it but all we had to was a little here and a little there we would have done much better on that report and probably learned much more.

We should be constantly celebrating black history so that we might actually learn more than the fact that Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream. We might learn about Hattie McDaniel or Henry Blair, who were both very vital pieces to our history.

We also need to teach our kids that there is no difference in black history and American history; we all had a hand in making this world the way it is now.

To me, Morgan Freeman said it right in his 60-minute interview: “I don’t want a Black History Month.

Black history is American history.”

www.southerndigest.com

Page 8 - Thursday, February 16, 2012

The Sentinel Of An Enlightened Student Body since 1926

Israel accuses Iran of covert attack plots

Officials call for closer look at Greeks Elena Becatoros & Gabriele Steinhauser

Thanyarat Doksone & Todd Pitman

The Associated Press

BRUSSELS — European finance ministers insisted Wednesday on much tighter oversight of Greece’s spending and austerity efforts, despite politicians’ assurances that Athens will go ahead with promised cuts and reforms to secure a euro130 billion ($170 billion) bailout.

Following a 3 1/2 hour conference call between the finance chiefs of the 17 countries that use the euro, the ministers welcomed the debt-ridden country’s declaration that it had identified another euro325 million ($470 million) in cuts on top of the layoffs of thousands of public workers and other wage and pension cuts.

They also greeted written commitments from leaders of the two Greek parties that make up the coalition government to implement the promised cuts and reforms even if there is a change in power after elections expected in April.

But in a sign of deep distrust that has built up — especially among rich nations like Germany, the Netherlands and Finland — Jean-Claude Juncker, the prime minister of Luxembourg who also chairs the finance ministers’ meetings, said the eurozone needed better ways to track Greek spending

The Associated Press

PHOTO By petros giannakouris/ap photo

Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, right, speaks to the press after a meeting with the Greek President Karolos Papoulias in Athens Wednesday. Greece’s finance minister said that all pending issues in its international creditors’ requirements for the country’s second bailout will be completed ahead of a Wednesday evening conference call between eurozone finance ministers. Venizelos made the comments after a meeting with President Karolos Papoulias, who he said will give up his presidential salary to help in the crisis.

before new aid could be released.

“Further considerations are necessary” to ensure better surveillance of Greek finances, Juncker said, stressing that the new oversight had to ensure “priority is given to debt servicing.”

Juncker’s statement refers to a recent proposal by France and Germany to set up an account, separate from Greece’s general budget, that would be dedicated to paying off Greece’s massive debt. It was unclear whether this account would only manage the bailout money or whether government revenue could also be funneled into it.

Such an account would give the eurozone more control over what Greece does with its money, after the country has repeatedly missed budget, reform and privatization targets over the past two years. However, it could also be seen as an unprecedented interference into the fiscal affairs of a sovereign state.

The European Commission, which is in charge of economic surveillance in the European Union, is now working on a specific proposal for such an escrow account, which will be present to the ministers at a meeting on Monday.

Defiant Iran claims major steps in nuclear fuel Ali Akbar Dareini & Brian Murphy The Associated Press

TEHRAN, Iran — In defiant swipes at its foes, Iran said Wednesday it is dramatically closer to mastering the production of nuclear fuel even as the U.S. weighs tougher pressures and Tehran’s suspected shadow war with Israel brings probes far beyond the Middle East.

Iran further struck back at the West by indicating it was on the verge of imposing a midwinter fuel squeeze to Europe in retaliation for a looming boycott of Iranian oil, but denied reports earlier in the day that six nations had already been cut off.

The uncompromising messages from Iran, however, came with a counterpoint. The official IRNA news agency said Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, told European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton that Iran is ready to return to talks with the U.S. and other world powers.

The dual strategy — taking nuclear steps while proposing more talks — has become a hallmark of Iran’s dealings for years and some critics have dismissed it as a time-buying tactic. The advances claimed Wednesday could likely feed these views.

In a live TV broadcast, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was shown overseeing what was described as the first Iranian-made fuel rod

inserted into a research reactor in northern Tehran. Separately, the semiofficial Fars agency reported that a “new generation” of Iranian centrifuges — used to enrich uranium toward nuclear fuel — had gone into operation at the country’s main enrichment facility at Natanz in central Iran.

In Washington, the assistant secretary of state for International Security and Nonproliferation, Tom Countryman, dismissed the Iranian claims of reaching a pivotal moment. “The announcement today by Iran has much more to do with political developments in Iran than it has to do with factual developments,” he said.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said Iran’s “defiant acts” seek to “distract attention”

from the damage brought by international sanctions.

Meanwhile, Iran is facing major new international complications: Accusations of bringing an apparent covert conflict with Israel to points stretching from Thailand and India to the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

Officials in Israel ramped up allegations that Iran was linked to international bomb plots, saying magnetic “sticky” bombs found in a Bangkok house rented by Iranians were similar to devices used against Israeli envoys in a foiled attack in Georgia on Monday and a blast in New Delhi that injured four people, including a diplomat’s wife.

“In recent days, Iran’s terror operations are being laid bare for all,” said Israeli Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu, who convened his security cabinet.

It included discussions about “preventive measures” against Iranian threats, said a statement from Netanyahu’s office that did not elaborate.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ramin Mehmanparast, called the allegations “baseless” and an attempt to push “conspiracy” theories to discredit Iran with its Asian partners, including major oil buyer India.

Iran, in turn, accused Israel of being behind clandestine attacks that have claimed the lives of at least five members of Iran’s scientific community in the past two years, including a “sticky” bomb blast that killed a director at the Natanz labs last month.

BANGKOK — Israeli officials ramped up accusations Wednesday that Iran was launching covert attack plots, saying “sticky” bombs found in a Thai house rented by Iranians were similar to devices used against Israeli diplomats in India and Georgia.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the violence, while Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast called the allegations baseless and said Israel was trying to damage his country’s relations with Thailand and fuel conspiracy theories.

Thailand’s government was trying to determine what three Iranian men were plotting when a cache of explosives detonated accidentally in their home in Bangkok’s busy Sukhumvit Road area a day earlier. Bomb disposal teams combed the Iranians’ house again Wednesday looking for more evidence, while security forces were searching for an Iranian woman they said had originally rented it.

Two of the men were detained in Bangkok on Tuesday after fleeing the destroyed house, while a third was arrested Wednesday in neighboring Malaysia after boarding a flight from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur overnight.

Israel has accused Iran of waging a campaign of state terror and has threatened military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. Iran has blamed the Jewish state for the recent killings of Iranian atomic scientists and has denied responsibility for all three plots this week.

On Monday in New Delhi, an explosion tore through an Israeli diplomatic vehicle, wounding the driver and a diplomat’s wife, according to Indian officials.

On the same day in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, authorities say attackers planted an explosive device on the car of a driver for the Israeli Embassy, but it was discovered and defused before it went off.

“If this aggression isn’t halted, ultimately it will spread to many other countries,” Netanyahu said in Israel’s parliament Wednesday.

He convened his Security Cabinet to discuss terrorism against Israel and “Iran’s involvement in repeated attempts to attack Israeli targets,” his office said.

Israeli Ambassador to Thailand Itzhak Shoham told The Associated Press in an interview that after Tuesday’s blasts, Thai police found and defused two magnetic bombs that could be stuck on vehicles.