Page Two
THE BENNETT BANNER
FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 1978
Seek Summer Employment Now
April showers will bring May flowers . . . But April will
also bring thoughts of the summer and for many industrious
people, the thoughts of summer employment.
During that three month summer break, we often find our
selves faced with the question, “To work, or not to work.” Yes,
that’s a big question. And whether you answer the question
positively or negatively, your summer months should not be
wasted.
Today, a great deal of emphasis is being placed on reading
and writing proficiency. Why not take the summer months to
build (at your own speed and on your own time) your personal
knowledge of current events and your vocabulary ?
For those real LUCKY people who find employment, don’t
settle for that clerk job, when you can apply for a position in
your college major.
Take advantage of the placement center. Check their lists for
employers who are looking for people who have little or no ex
perience in your area of interest. Science majors may find sum
mer employment in research centers; communications majors
may find jobs with local newspapers or television stations; po
litical science majors may find a position with the city planning
office; and — well, I think you see the point.
The jobs are there if you will just look for them. And the
summer doesn’t have to be boring. It becomes that way if you
make it that way.
Reading those paperback novels can be quite beneficial and
entertaining.
Sisters, don’t waste your summer. Live with books and learn
through summer employment.
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9
Letter to tke Editor: Senior Calls for Emergence of Black Scliolars in Colleges and Universities
With all this emphasis on higher
education and the UNCF motto, “A
mind is a terrible thing to waste,”
you would think that there would
be an abundance of scholars float
ing around. Well, there are, but
most of them aren’t BLACK.
What will become of the black
college, if as time progresses, its
graduates do not progress? What
type of future can a black college
graduate look for?
I’m asking these questions at a
pretty bad point. You see, I am a
college senior and like many other
seniors (or as all students should
be), I am concerned about the fu
ture. Not just my future, but the
future of my black sisters and
brothers in predominantly black
institutions.
Recently, I had a most enlight
ening conversation with a college
official whose concern suddenly
became my concern — EXIST
ENCE. We discussed the fact that
three types of black college stu
dents exist.
(1) The student on the predomi
nantly white college campus who
sees his peers going to the library
and studying into the “wee hours”
of the morning. He picks up on
this habit and very soon, it is part
of his make-up; (2) There is the
student on the predominantly
white campus who seeks other
blacks for socializing. These peers
exhibit concern for forming neo
black societies within the white
setting; (3) Then the student on
an all-black campus. Here, he feels
comfortable. No pressure to excel,
no pressure to study. Blacks so
cializing with blacks. A very re
laxed environment exists.
Of these three categories of
black college students, who will
be most adequately equipped to
compete with his white counter
part?
This question is unlike any
other question. It involves the
EXISTENCE of hundreds of stu
dents who fall into these cate
gories. Unfortunately the future
for some of these students looks
frightfully dim.
I look around and see friends
who came into college as freshmen
with a positive attitude toward
studying and excelling in their re
spective career areas. But now, as
a senior, I look at those same peo
ple. I wonder what happened?
A headline recently appeared in
the BANNER. It read “Probation
Lists Exceeds Dean’s List.” It
frightened me. It should frighten
others, too.
Who takes the “rap” when a
college graduate can’t compete in
the job market? Who calls the
shots in selecting courses for par
ticular curriculum? What will it
take to instill the idea that pro
fessing to be a chem major isn’t
enough when an employe looks at
your resume or transcript?
Black colleges and universities
have a big problem. Where have
all the black scholars gone? Yes,
scholars. Are they graduating from
North Carolina State, UNC at
Greensboro, UNC at Chapel Hill?
Or have they too become involved
in a vicious cycle that holds no
solid future?
College is no bed of pillows. But
neither is life after college. Career
Placement Centers, high school
counselors and others are making
efforts to gather information pro
jecting future job markets. Many
students are not looking at these
projections or taking advantage
of such worthwhile avenues.
Long ago, in the days of my par
ents and grandparents, it was a
disgrace to fail in college. You
were lucky to be there. The hu
miliation and disappointment to
one’s family and reputation was
immense. Somehow, that overall
feeling of meeting the challenge
has been lost. Whether it evolves
Bn
1977-78
Editor-in-Chief
Joyce A. Bass
Associate Editor
Deborah Tillman
Adviser
Dr. Virginia Tucker
Layout Editors Debbie Hodges, Deborah Tiilman, Sharon Sanders
Circulation Manager
Janis Badson
Business Manager
Terry Lewis
Cartoonist
Karen Lewis
Photograpliers
Joyce
Staff
Bass, Myra Davis, Keith Miller
Dorothy Brown
Yvette Shelton
S. Marie Brown
Jackie Williams
Marion Johnson
Dionna Woods
Ursula J. Joyner
Hattie Purnell
Wendy Woods
from the community or the indi
vidual, the chance of failure or
success in college is of no great
concern. What about the money
that is lost? A college education
does not come cheap. Four years
with nothing to show for it . . .
how embarrassing.
Something must be done.
Whether it begins at home, in high
school, during the summer months
or freshman year, measures to
lialt “academic laxity” must be
implemented.
Sometimes “shock treatment” is
needed. My advice, is to project
yourself into the future five years
and ask, “Where do I want to go?”
Then ask, “Am I preparing my
self well? Will I be ready?”
We, as students, must prepare
ourselves everyday of our lives
for the next day and the day after
that. The future is promised to no
one, as the cliche’ goes. BUT, the
future is promised to the fittest.
Where are the black college
scholars? A reply to this question
is desperately needed.
Signed,
A Soul Searching Senior
of the Class of ’78
For Bell es Only: Recapture Postponed Dreams
by Dotty Brown
Somehow, through all the
crying, sweating, and suffer
ing, we black women, have
managed to rise up to so
ciety’s surface just enough to
be seen. We have come up
from the depths of racial and
sexual discrimination just
enough to breath.
But it was not our blood,
sweat, and tears that were
shed in the process of surfac
ing; it was that of our an
cestral mothers. They were
the ones who were shunned,
ridiculed, and criticized in
their efforts to make it possi
ble for us to get an education
and live a proud, meaningful
life.
I think that somewhere
down the line the desire to
make this dream come true
has been lost. Too many of us
are floating around here —
on this campus, with no goal
in life whatsoever. But, in or
der to make that ancient
dream of our fore-mothers
come true, or any dream for
that matter, we must first be
able to realize just what it is
that we want out of life.
Whatever your dream or goal
may be, you must recognize
it and then work whole-heart-
edly toward it.
Our fore-mothers would
probably cry in shame if they
could see just how slack we
have gotten in our efforts to
get on top of the world and
stay there.
What has happened to that
dream? Are we doing so good
now that we are no longer
striving to do better? I have
for you a poem by Langston
Hughes entitled “Harlem,”
which asks the same ques
tion:
What happens to a dream
deferred ?
Does it dry up like a raisin
in the sun?
Or fester like a sore, and
then run ?
Or does it stink like rotten
meat?
Or crust and sugar over like
a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags like a
heavy load.
Or does it explode?
Educational Options Offered
Accelerated Study Option Allows Student Freedom
Why not try working on your
own at an accelerated pace next
fall?
The Accelerated Study Option
makes it possible for you to en
roll in a class and complete the
work on your own in ten weeks
without attending classes.
If you would like to try this
option, choose a course from the
schedule which you would like to
attempt on this basis. Go to the
instructor of the course and ask
his or her permission to take the
course on accelerated study. If
the instructor agrees that the
course is suitable for this option
and that you are a good candidate
for self-paced study, go to the
Humanities Division Office, Fine
Arts 107 and ask for an applica
tion form.
The top part of the form you
must complete yourself. The bot
tom must be completed by the in
structor of the course. After you
have the instructor’s signature, re
turn the form to the Humanities
Division Office. Then be sure and
register for the course in the usual
way.
Next fall, when you return, see
your instructor immediately and
work out a sciiedule of assign
ments. This will be put in a con
tract form for both you and your
instructor to sign. Then go to
work.
If you would like further infor
mation about the rules for Ac
celerated Study, ask for the hand
out, Rules and Recommendations
for Accelerated Study, in the Hu
manities Division Office or see
Dr. Virginia A. Tucker, Fine Arts
3.
Independent Study Is Challenging
If you have a B average (3.) in
any field, you are eligible for in
dependent study in that field. This
can be an exciting and challeng
ing educational experience for
those who choose to undertake it.
If you are interested in trying
this option next fall, go and see
the faculty member who teaches
the subject you are interested in.
Discuss with him or her the pos
sibility of working on an inde
pendent basis.
You may have an entirely new
course designed just for you, or
you may take on an independent
basis a course which is not being
offered on the regular schedule.
If you wish to take a course in
an area in which you have not
done previous work, then you
must have an overall B average.
For application forms and fur
ther information, see Dr. Hor-
tensia Sanchez-Boudy.