Camille Augustin
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Campus Editor
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News campus@thehilltoponline.com
Maya Rhodan
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Metro Editor
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metro@thehilltoponline.com
International Students Consider Economy When Studying Abroad by Whitney Anderson Staff Writer In today’s shifting economy some students find obtaining a college education to be a bit pricier than it has been in previous years with tuition increases and added expenses such as textbooks and traveling costs. For international students, this may be the case. Cecoy Burnett, freshman biology major, has some light to shed on the situation. Although Burnett has been a resident of the United States for a number of years he is originally from Jamaica and sees many cultural differences between the two countries. “I came here in fourth grade,” said Burnett. “And even then at that young age there was a bit of a culture shock, certain simple things such as the way we eat our breakfast is different from that of Americans.” Burnett said that even with the country in its current state of recession, this however has very little impact on international students.
“What you have to understand is that many of these international kids that come here are considered to be part of the upper-class,” said Burnett. “These students are cultured, have traveled to many different countries and have probably studied abroad some other places before coming to Howard.” Burnett went on to explain how the different cultures were perceived to someone like him being of international descent. “If you take into account the culture and lifestyle, then yes, things are very different but some things are also very much the same,” said Burnett. He said that although Jamaicans have different values and morals than those of Americans, at the same time if you come from money the transition is not so tough. “Many of these student’s aspire to be doctors or lawyers because in countries such as Jamaica we hold these professions in high regard; you want to be something big be a
doctor not a rapper,” said Burnett. “These students have made plans in advance to be these things so they already have the funds, or means set aside for it, whether it be scholarships or out of pocket.” Burnett said that having to pay for school is not a foreign thing to them because public primary schooling was not always free as it is here in America. He said that at one point he remembered having to pay to go to school in Jamaica, which is why paying for college now, is no big issue to him. “The bottom line is if you can’t afford it as an international student you’re not going to come here,” said Burnett. “Or any other outer country college for that matter, you would stay at home and get your schooling.” Burnett said that international students at Howard struggle no more than the average student at Howard, in fact they probably struggled less in terms of finances.
Bree Gant Photo Editor The cost of college and other finances are a large consideration for students who attend Howard University from outside the United States.
CEACS Student Council Works To Build A Stronger Campus Presence by Whitney Anderson Staff Writer The College of Engineering, Architecture and Computer Sciences is one school on Howard’s campus that has seen little recognition. This year, the CEACS student council plans to make a significant change in this area. “We’re working towards being the premier school on campus,” said Roger Shane Douglin, community service chair. Douglin serves on the council alongside President Carmyn Robey, Vice Presidents Ashley Smith and Adam Flores and several other elected student representatives and council staff members. “The goal this year is to bridge the gap,” Ashley Smith, Vice President of Architecture, said. “We plan to get more student interaction going on between departments and eventually bring the two disciplines, engineering and architecture, together on one accord.” Smith said that through this bonding procedure, they hope to establish a solid foundation for the school and thereby increase the status of CEACS on Howard’s campus. Another major initiative of the council is to increase the source of funding for the school as well as bringing in more career opportunities for the students. “The department of architecture is definitely lacking internship and scholarship opportunities,” Smith said. “We hope to remedy this by conducting a series of workshops
on things such as resume building and also by increasing exposure to architectural firms.” On the community service side, the council aims to have at least one community service project each month. “We’re putting a lot of emphasis on things like green projects and interactive community projects,” Douglin said. Douglin went on to explain that the council would be focusing heavily on interacting with younger students
in the surrounding neighborhoods and establishing programs to help foster the math and science skills of
- Carmyn Robey, CEACS president
students early in their educations. “We want to expose kids to these certain science and math based professions where there seems to be a growing deficit of African Americans. We hope to spark their interest,” Douglin said. “Within the last year there have been several break-ins within the engineering building, students have been robbed at gunpoint and even though we’ve reported these events to administration and campus police there fails to be adequate security for
Photo Courtesy of Roger Shane Douglin
Photo Courtesy of Carmyn Robey
Photo Courtesy of Ashley Smith
Douglin seeks to showcase math and science to younger students.
“We’re going to be more visible on campus this year and show that we’re not just a bunch of nerds.”
Robey plans to lead CEACS and make them known on campus.
The Hilltop
Smith seeks to let CEACS visible on campus
the building,” Robey said. The council will host a series of workshops for CEACS students involving mentoring, tutoring and skill building throughout the year. President Carmyn Robey, said that although there is a set group of initiatives the council hopes to achieve this year, her main priority is to ensure CEACS students safety. Robey said that the engineering and architecture buildings are some of the only buildings on Howard’s campus that do not have lock systems or cameras, allowing any unknown person access to the buildings at anytime. “It’s especially dangerous for engineering students because our majors often require late nights spent in the engineering building. How are we suppose to study and concentrate knowing we’re not safe?” Robey said. Robey has began speaking to other class presidents and various deans about the issue. She also plans to set a town hall meeting into place and get a petition started to express student grievances to administration. “I just don’t understand how the School of Communications is about to have a brand new building and we can’t even get new doors to insure our students’ safety,” Robey said. “It’s not right.” Despite the many unsolved issue within CEACS, Robey said student council plans to remain optimistic. “We’re going to be more visible on campus this year and show that we’re not just a bunch of nerds,” Robey said.“We refuse to be overlooked.”
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