The A&T
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REGISTER volume lXXXVII No. 20
April 30, 2014
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The student newspaper of north carolina A&t
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Hip-Hop takes over environment uniqua quillins
Register Reporter
The Act On Climate tour, brought by WNAA 90.1FM, recently visited North Carolina A&T to discuss how climate change is affecting black and low-income communities. Featured guests and panelists were President and CEO of the Hip Hop Caucus, Reverend Lennox Yearwood, host and comedian Amada Seales, director of Dartmouth College’s Climate Justice Research Project, Dr. Michael Dorsey, retired senior pastor of Providence Missionary Baptist Church located in Atlanta, Ga., Reverend Gerald L. Durley, RCA Inspiration recording artist Dee-1, singer and songwriter Raheem DeVaughn and N.C. A&T’s very own Maryann Ibeziako. The Hip Hop Caucus first explained exactly how people of the United States are affected by climate change. Carbon pollution is one of those effects. Power plants, coal and other various fossil fuels emit carbon in the air, which creates pollution, and this pollution creates cancer and asthma. Pollution causes climate change. Extreme weather and African American communities are at the nexus of environmental issues. According to Yearwood, while the tour was in Newport News, Va., they saw three and four year-old children having heart attacks. “It’s that serious,” said Yearwood. African Americans are 20 percent more likely to have asthma than Caucasians, and are three more times likely to die from asthma related causes than Caucasians. In North Carolina, 7.9 percent of African American adults reported having asthma and 15.4 percent of children reported having asthma. One prominent reason for that are the power plants being built in the African American and low-income communities that emit toxins into those communities. African Americans also contribute 20 percent less than Caucasian Americans to the causes of global warming, but are more vulnerable to extreme weather such as heat waves and floods. The power plants, according to Yearwood, were seen on every tour directly next to chil-
Taylor young
Cooper Hall has been named best residence hall by the Resident Hall Association and Student Affairs during the GALA awards. According to its residents, Cooper Hall is an all-male dorm that is based out of brotherhood and fellowship. This year Cooper has gone through a transformation by attempting to shed its bad reputation for the sake of its residents. Most know of Cooper’s reputation by current students and alumni. Even Orientation Freshman Leaders spread this information to freshmen during orientation. Girls walk out
LACI OLLISON
that we’ve built here with the residents by opening up the office to them to come in and talk about real life situations and pretty much what goes on throughout the day also played a role in that… It also created a brotherhood… a brotherhood that we will cherish for the rest of our lives here…” Ernest McDuffie Jr., graduate hall director, expressed how you have to meet students where they are and not use power to regulate them. He is humble and puts himself in a position where residents feel comfortable around him even though he is one of the oldest staff members. The entire staff of Cooper
Beginning the fall semester of 2014, the university will implement a plus and minus grading system for incoming freshmen and future students. “The new system should have minimal impact on students,” said Akua Matherson, associate vice chancellor for enrollment management. “With the exception of being clear on the grading scale for their individual class and translating that into the GPA and final grade you want to have by the end of the semester.” Adding the new grading system will not affect previous cumulative GPAs. Matherson noted that students should understand that their grading scale is clearly outlined in the course syllabus that they receive for each class in which they are enrolled. The associate vice chancellor also advises that students should know what the numeric grade translates to on the grading scale and in turn corresponds to in respect to the GPA. “For students that have always sought to do well, this will be an easy transition. For students who may not have concentrated as much as they need to, this should serve as a wake up call to re-engage and re-focus on academics.” The addition of the grading system is meant to function as a motivator for students to strive for higher grades in their classes. Matherson explained that “students who have sat squarely at C’s should now strive to hit a B- and move from there. Likewise, students who have been strong B students should look to become a student at an A- and push from there.” Britney Newton, a Secondary Education Major said that although she is not very familiar with the new grading system, she does not feel that it would benefit students. “My best friend goes to East Carolina University, who uses the plus/minus grading system. From her experience, the new system makes it harder for students to maintain a decent GPA.”As an education major, Newton thinks the system will be horrible for students. “The system will essentially be the collegiate equivalent to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The new system will cause students to focus more on grades rather than retaining content, just as NCLB caused students and teachers to focus more on standardize testing.” Matherson said that staff members are content with the new changes. “Many faculty members who have come from other institutions were already familiar with plus minus grading.” “As the university contin-
u See COOPER on Page 2
u See GRADES on Page 2
Photo by UNIQUA QUILLINS • THE A&T REGISTER
MARYANN IBEZIAKO, DR. MICHAEL DORSEY, AMANDA SEALES, REVEREND GERALD L. DURLEY, DEE-1,AND RAHEEM DEVAUGHN talk about climate change and what students should do to take action against it.
dren’s playgrounds polluting the surrounding communities. Actions can be taken to prevent more power plants from becoming existent by showing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards are wanted for power plants which in turn will prevent unlimited carbon pollution from being dumped into the air protecting those communities from health risks and impacts of climate change. “Every major city, inner city, poverty stricken community, there are power plants right next to the elementary schools, kids outside playing and it’s a direct impact on why asthma is on the rise, cancer is on the rise and birth defects on the rise,” said DeVaughn. Sophomore, criminal justice major and native of Washington D.C., Zephanie Gore could relate to the specific stories told about the power plants. “Right behind the capitol is a power plant and across the highway is a playground and schools,” said Gore.
Gore says she is ready to take a stand and believes students should too. “This is a serious issue and it’s going to get worse unless we do something about it,” said Gore. Dorsey believes that climate change is a civil rights issue because it is leading and worsening the crisis of environmental racism. “It’s most heavily impacting not only the black community in the U.S. and N.C., but it is heavily impacting poor black and brown peoples all over the world,” said Dorsey. According to Dorsey, the worst affected by the unfolding climate crisis are those not only in marginalized communities of black and brown in this country, but in marginalized communities around the world in countries such as Asia, Latin American and Africa. Yearwood brought attention his audience’s that this issue is not a racial issue, but a human u See TOUR on Page 3
Photo by UNIQUA QUILLINS • THE A&T REGISTER
RAHEEM DEVAUGHN sings old single “Bulletproof.”
with shades on or would not even walk on the sidewalk near Cooper. It was seen as a place where no female should go unless they want to be called out of name. It was also seen as a place where no male wanted to call home. In 2011, Men of Coop Mondays (MCM,) was just an idea, but was not implemented until this year. To help change the reputation of Cooper, MCM was finally implemented this year by the staff of Cooper Hall. It influences the men to dress in business casual on Mondays and to set a standard for how all gentlemen should conduct themselves on campus. This alone has set a new norm for
the men of Cooper Hall. Resident Hall Director William Smith pushed for the program to be implemented by starting with the staff. Then once elected the hall council was the first to actually participate before it first begun. They have at least 20 men participate each Monday. Tronell Wynn, secretary of Cooper’s Hall Council, said, “It [MCM] has molded a lot of students into progressive students. It has taken a reputation that was not very good and turned it into great.” Wynn, a freshman student, expressed how it gave him a sense of pride in his residence hall.
Freshmen are impressionable and the staff of Cooper hopes that they have set a new standard and even legacy for Cooper Hall. From MCM began a true fellowship between residents and staff. Conversations take place all of the time covering topics such as school, history, relevance of HBCUs, gender roles, and even appearance. Over 400 men live in Cooper. Staff feels that they have impacted at least a fourth of its population. The resident assistants (RA) and graduate hall directors (GHD) are seen as mentors to the residents. Tyler Swanson, resident assistant, said, “The bond
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A&T gets new grading policy Register Reporter
Cooper Hall wins first place Register Reporter
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