Newspapers / Bennett College Student Newspaper / Nov. 2, 1984, edition 1 / Page 2
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PAGE TWO THE BENNETT BANNER FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1984 Belles urged to vote Democrat The Banner endorses the Mondale-Ferraro national ticket and state sena torial candidate Jim Hunt. Since the Reagan administration has been in office, black people’s needs and other minority issues have fallen on deaf ears. Higher education is rapidly be coming a dream many blacks will never be able to realize. Social security benefits have become harder to receive, the national deficit has increased, the defense budget has more than doubled while many social programs have been cut. The present administration has proven itself to be more beneficial to the affluent and totally insensitive to the poor and middle class. Can America afford another four years of indifference? Although neither presidential candidate has exhibited any outstanding planks in their respective platforms, the Reagan administration has clearly demon strated that if given the chance it will destroy any hopes that minorities have of ever achieving stability. The senatorial race between Jesse Helms and Jim Hunt has turned into a mudslinging sideshow. Jesse Helms maligned Martin L. King and voted against legalizing his birthday because it would cost the government too niuch money to have another national holiday, but he voted to raise taxes in order to help tobacco growers. Helms is a Reagan conservative with little or no regard for poor people unless it is election year. So far Hunt has identified himself and his campaign with improving social programs. Hunt has worked to bring industry into North Carolina, get more beneficial programs for the elderly and to make sure that the age for social security stays at 65 instead of being raised to 67. The only hope that Americans have for full economic recovery and racial equality—or at least the facade of equality—is to vote the straight Democratic ticket in November. An important reminder: be sure to vote for Dr. Alma Adams in the District 2 race for the Greensboro School Board. She’s well-informed, articulate and ener getic—the type of woman Greensboro needs in public office. (Pamela Gary) Attendance at key events is falling short Periodically, Bennett holds programs and activities for the benefit of each and every student. These programs are designed to be academically enriching as well as enjoyable, entertaining and beneficial in every aspect of the word. There’s one problem—students are not taking advantage of these opportunities. Many of the programs are historic and once-in-a-lifetime offers. For exam ple, the Bennett Scholars, under the direction of Dr. Marshena Baird, and with the support of The North Carolina Humanities Committee, and the Mellon- Lyceum Committee, should be praised for the excellent conference, “A Socio- Cultural History of the Black Woman in America: Three Perspectives: Tradi tional, Feminist and Ethnographic.” They planned this program for the community and especially the students. The turnout, however, was disappointing. This historic event of three visiting authors, Margaret Walker Alexander, Paula Giddings and Angela Davis, should have filled the chapel and still had people standing in the aisles. Another example was the Miss Bennett Coronation. Miss Bennett, Rhonda Jackson, is representing the student body as well as the other campus queens. Each and every student should have been there to show her support to her queen. This extravagant and well-planned event also did not bring in the flock of students it should have. All students must realize that when they decided to matriculate at Bennett College, they were allowing themselves to participate in and experience oppor tunities other colleges and universities are not as fortunate to offer their students. The activities and programs are planned for the students. Usually, students plan these activities with the student body in mind as to what they think Belles will enjoy. Take advantage of these opportunities that others may not ever experience, and, most of all, be supportive of your alma mater. Bennett is here for you, so give a little of yourself to Bennett. You’re the one paying for a fully equipped education. (Dee Evans) Fall Break Solving despair a column by Karen R. Taylor You’re very tired. You have a constant throbbing behind your ear or running up and down the nape of your neck. There could be a circle of ten sion floating heavily around your forehead. Tension has built up. You begin drinking heavily and the smallest things make you very upset. You’re more than just bored. Some nights you can’t sleep even though you’re dead tired or you feel “blah” about things that used to send you halfway to heav en. You feel terribly lonely and depressed for no apparent reason. You can’t keep your atten tion focused on anything for more than a few minutes. The people around you jangle your nerves, and no one seems to understand you. One day you’re full of energy, the next you feel drained. Your midterm grades are low. You hate your classes but don’t dare quit for fear of being “out there in never-never land.” If you can relate to any of these symptoms, join the club. Look around; someone you know is due a fall break. Lis ten: No fall break means pressure, strain or any fac tors that induce bodily or mental tension. It can show its ugly head in many forms: fatigue, loneliness, laziness, anxiety, depression and even anger. Let’s face it. A college life style is active, competitive and full of tension and stress. Like most of us, you’ve prob ably tried many synthetic and superficial relaxation meth ods : sipping endless cups of coffee or tea, puffing away on cigarette after cigarette or eating like it’s the last meal on earth. Or, you could be starving yourself to fit into that size nine hanging in the closet. It could be a pain pill prescribed by your doctor for those head aches that mysteriously keep cropping up or a Valium to settle your nerves. Perhaps a few afternoon cocktails at the Trevi Foun tain and just a couple of Cal ifornia Coolers to relax you after that serious exam. The major reason we take drugs, drink coffee and smoke cig arettes now more than ever before is to handle not having a fall break. There will, at least I hope there will be, a fall break sometime in the near future. Belles, a fall break is definite ly needed in order to rid our selves of conflicts that get in the way of students’ studying and feeling good. October projects awareness of blacks in careers a column by Vicky Dunn October 1984 at Bennett College will certainly be re membered as a month for awareness. During a three-day confer ence, my consciousness as a black woman was raised. Each of us was made con scious of her academic prog ress or lack thereof on Oct. 19. Most practically, however, we were educated as to where our best career prospects lay during Career Awareness Day planned by Mrs. Doris Vincent. I had the opportunity to talk to numerous partici pants, and consequently got some concept of the workings of the small black business from Mr. Roy Williams, a Dudley Cosmetics Company representative. This national company has been operating for 17 years, distributing hair and skin products, first door-to-door and then from salons. Mr. Joe Letters to tkc editor: Dudley, its founder, saw a real need in the black com munity for affordable beauty products, and also saw his company as a means of si phoning black dollars back into the community. At this point, I was all ears! Two of my favorite sub- jects were being discussed. He went on to say that only 10 percent of the goods pur chased by black consumers were actually black-produced. I wondered if the Dudley Company could be considered a serious threat to Johnson and Johnson. Although this is not likely, Dudley is a company we can be extremely proud of. It ex presses what should be the spirit of our entire commu nity. Independence is best, especially since this company has provided so many much- needed jobs. Williams saw his part in the company as a “once in a lifetime opportu nity to get in on the grass roots of a company that will become one of the largest [of its kind].” It was refreshing to hear that someone was interested in more than money and pres tige. Perhaps this attitude of nurturing is one that the en tire black community should adopt. I am remembering one of the burning questions of this late summer that so many people asked me. “Are you supporting Jesse Jackson simply because he is black?” they asked. Generally, I re plied “Yes ... and waiting for the explosion, “but that’s prejudice!” Well, in the business world it is more than a subjective matter of racial feelings. Black support is often a life or death matter to small busi nesses. Unfortunately, our failure to support indicates serious rifts in the family. It is to this fact that our con sciousness needs most to be raised. Intracommunity support could, as Mr. Dudley believes his company will, “change the course of black America.” Prince nixed; past noted T7le Fennell nne\ Editor-in-Chief Dee Evans Associate Editors Avanti Allen, Alaina Cloud Vicky Dunn, Tricia Hairston, Karen R. Taylor Reporters Elizabeth Appiah, Chandra Austin, Yvonne Breece Karen Exum, Margo Gilmore, Cassandra Henderson Shonna Luten, Ellesia McCracken, Bernice Scott Adviser Michael Gaspeny Opinions expressed in columns and letters to the editor belong to the author, not to the staff of the Banner. Send letters to the editor to Box 2. All mail must be signed by hand. To the editor: The popularity of Prince has been absurdly blown out of pro portion. Perhaps it is because of his wind-blown, punked-out coif fure or maybe his outrageously purple King Arthur suit jacket. Whatever the case may be. Prince has managed to captivate the hearts of millions through his sexy stagp performances and his recent hit album “Purple Rain.” This album consists of songs that may sound familiar to ex flower children all over America since Prince’s livelihood seems to be imitating Jimi Hendrix on the title track “Purple Rain.” Or pos sibly one might sense a tiny hint of Mick Jagger on “Let’s Go Crazy.” It’s amazing that Prince has even managed to get into a little taste of the Beatles on “Dar ling Nikki” (if you don’t believe it, listen to “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”). Perhaps the most popular and original song on the album is “When Doves Cry,” which has an up-tempo beat that’s easy to dance to. I give it a 95; new- wave is what’s in (and it definite ly is); then why not listen to some good new-wave such as the Thompson Twins or Bananarama since they are at least fresh and unmarked? Possibly the most monstrous as pect of the Prince phenomenon is the whopping $17 for a concert ticket. $17 will maybe get you a seat in one of the back rows and an opener starring Sheila E. who is about as diversified as an eel. What about the women in Prince’s life? Take “Vanity Six,” for instance, clad in tight-fitting lingerie with garter belts to boot. They’ve had one or two hits and “Vanity” leaves the group. Now she’s singjng “Such a pretty mess under my dress.” Or what about Appolonia, the co-star of the hit movie “Purple Rain?” The public doesn’t even know if she can sing at all. It’s unbelievable how people between the ages of nine and 35 could be taken in by a man ap proximately five feet, nine inches tall with wet-looking hair and extremely tight-fitting trousers. What ever happened to normal acts, like Parliment-Funkadelic? Chandra Austin To the editor: Contrary to common belief, the black political saga in America began before the founding of the American republic. Long before the Constitutional Convention and long before the Declaration of In dependence, black men voted and participated in the public life of the colonies. It was not until 1723 that blacks were denied the right to vote in Virginia. According to Albert McKinley, blacks voted in Siouth Carolina until 1715 and in Georgia until 1754. Not only did black pioneers vote, but they also held public office. The Bennett Chapter of the NAACP “Encounters” (From page 1) last but not least. Most of the par ents left when Celestial Lights played one of their original pieces, “Smoke, Flame and Destruction.” The students stayed and enjoyed the rest of Celestial Lights’ per formance. Another original, “Love and Life,” proved them to be a very eclectic group.
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Nov. 2, 1984, edition 1
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