Volume 67, Issue 5
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
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Shaping the Future: SU Students Display Positive Leadership BY BRANDON PRINCE DIGEST EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Students of Beechwood Superintendent Academy received a visit set up by retired Southern University Senior Military of Science Instructor, Les Miller, and SU Army ROTC cadet, Marquon Webster. The visit was set up for cadets to help students get onto a positive path in hopes of success in their education. The student mentors arrived at the school on Thursday afternoon and sat with the alternative school students for approximately two hours, giving advice along with sharing their related experiences. Miller spoke of his expectations of how the mentors would impact the students of the academy. “All the students from this school are here because they made some wrong choices in their life from their parent school so I felt that it was necessary to have young leaders who are closer to their ages that are able to help them understand that the decisions they make in life will affect them long term,” said Miller, then added, “Most kids will listen
to who they feel are leaders in the community. Whether if it is athletes, rappers or whomever it maybe.” Miller, whom is now the military physical fitness facilitator at the alternative school, continued by expressing his care for the kids and to change their outlook of the world. He said that his experience as a young man growing up inspired him to help these students. According to Miller, his similar experience compared to the students was behavior issues, in which he felt that the positive influence or gesture that he chose to display to them would have been very beneficial for him at that age. Miller ended by saying, “With us being so close to campus, they know who these SU students are because they go to these games and see their names. However, now with their gear off, they can see their faces. So hopefully these leaders can say something in their message that will correct these kids’ path into the right direction,” and added, “Everyone makes See LEADERSHIP page 3
Robert Harris/DIGEST ROTC Cadet Erinn Smith gives advice to grade school students at Greenville Alternative School on Thursday, September 29.
Robert Harris/DIGEST Southern University Alum, Anthony Mosley, chats to grade school kids at Greenville Alternative School.
Clinton left standing after first bout with Trump BY EDDIE BYNOG DIGEST NEWS EDITOR
Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, came out swinging Monday night against Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, at the first presidential debate of the 2016 election cycle. Held at Hofstra College in Hempstead, New York, the 90-minute debate was the first of three that will happen over the course of the next two months, until the general election is held in November. Moderated by NBC nightly news anchor, Lester Holt, the debate covered topics such as national security, police violence, and global warming. Almost immediately, Clinton trounced Trump for his refusal to release his tax returns, something every presidential candidate has done since the 1970s. “For 40 years everyone running for president has released their tax returns,” said Clinton, “So you’ve got to ask yourself, why won’t he release his tax returns?”
Clinton questioned. Adding that much of Trump’s refusal may be because he has paid nothing in federal income taxes, a position Trump called “smart”. Trump also added that he was under a federal audit and at the behest of his lawyers, has chosen not to release his returns yet. One of the more heated moments of the debate came early when Clinton accused Trump of calling climate change a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese. “I think it’s real,” Clinton said of climate change. Clinton’s comment DIGEST ART
seemed to catch Trump off guard as he repeatedly denied the allegations. “I did not,” repeated Trump. “I did not, I did not say that,” Trump finished. The non-partisan group, Politifact, which graded the candidate’s assertions on a scale from truth to lie, said that Clinton’s accusation was in fact true. Not long after, a photo circulated amongst social media of a 2014 tweet in which Donald Trump accused China of global warming. Though Clinton sailed above Trump for most of the debate it was when Holt asked about the DIGEST ART
shootings of unarmed black men that have divided America, that both candidates seemed to stumble. Clinton touted her position on criminal justice reform and better policing and training as a way to heal the divide. “We’ve got to do several things at the same time,” said Clinton,“ First we have to restore trust between communities and police.” Clinton went on to add that gun violence and racial profiling are motivating factors in tearing communities affected by police shootings apart. “We have to work with the police, we have to make sure they respect the communities and the communities respect them,” Clinton finished. Supporters of Clinton expected she would come out more forceful when speaking about police brutality, a central tenant of her campaign. When asked the same question Trump
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THE OFFICIAL STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY AND A&M COLLEGE, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA