Newspapers / Bennett College Student Newspaper / Oct. 17, 1986, edition 1 / Page 3
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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1986 THE BENNETT BANNER PAGE THREE Musical trends reflect teen taste by Fredericka Turner 1986 has introduced new types of music. Music is one aspect of life that often separates one generation from the other. Musical trends often change and reflect the values of the more dominant generation — the teens. What’s hot/not sweeps popular musicians down the musical drain or unknowns up the ladder of success. 1986 is a year of dramatic opposites in music. What’s hot in music is go- go. A popular style of jazz rhythms and rap music mixed, go-go originated in Washing ton, D.C. Rap music is still popular, but the rap style has graduated from repetitious beats to upbeat swing. Slower music seems to be more popu lar now, and Shirley Murdock and Anita Baker are steadily on the move upward. A lot of clubs are featuring reggae. The trend seems to turn to rhythmic beats this year. What’s not in on the musical scene is rarely a style of music but a particular artist. Heavy metal and hard rock are out. Michael Jack son, the gloved one who re cently had eyeliner perman ently tattooed on his eyes, is a thing of the past and many report that he cannot be re vived. Oddities like Boy George, Cyndi Lauper and Madonna have plummeted to their demise. The DeBarges are reminiscent of “Brady Bunch” reruns. Groups Hke Shalamar have long since been swept out with the tide. Do not underestimate the power of oldies, though. Groups like the Beatles, the Monkees and artists like Elvis Presley still have quite a large following. New artists are recording old songs, and some oldies by original artists are being released again. Songs that have been reprised include “Sledgehammer” by Peter Gabriel, “Earth Angel” by New Edition and “Walk like A Man” by the Mary Jane Girls. 1986 has brought many dif ferent styles of music in America, and it has cultivated American pride. Some of the more abstract English groups like the Jesus and Mary Chain are being overthrown in the quest for the true style of American music. As long as Americans feel the desire to constantly ex press their individuality, there will always be a need for new types of music, different sorts of beats and more sym bolic lyrics. Fashions: weird and wacky to wonderful and wild Black College Day projects hope opinion by Laura Kelson The day was hot and humid, but when the rally started, few people seemed to notice the heat. On Sept. 30 in Raleigh at Shaw University, the annual Black College Day brought over 1200 students to gether. Livingstone College, Bar ber Scotia, Johnson C. Smith and a host of other black institutions traveled to Raleigh to support shared concerns. After the beginning rally, stu dents marched downtown to the Governmental Plaza to hear the keynote speakers. A special high light for the day was presented when Governor James G. Martin declared the week as Black College Week. The SGA presidents from the attending institutions began the speeches. Elach president expressed a common theme of the need to form a stronger cohesiveness among the black institutions and a bond of brotherhood and sister hood among the students. North Carolina Central University’s SGA president noted that the majority of our black leaders graduated from predominantly black colleges and universities, and that we as students at these institutions were “like a quilt bound by the com mon thread of blackness.” The SGA presidents all stressed the point that it is not enough to get an education but to use that education for our advancement and the advancement of less for tunate brothers and sisters. The atmosphere was one of tense ex citement and heightened spirits at the words of the speakers. All the presidents urged the students to strive for better campus rela tionships and work toward build ing stronger foundations for their institutions. Another major theme stressed at Black College Day was the need for all black campuses to support the liberating of black South Afri- cians. The importance of involve ment in political causes was em phasized. As the SGA presidents ended their speeches, the keynote speak ers were presented. The Rev. Motlalepula Chabaku, former Ben nett international scholar in resi dence, was the first main speaker. Her dynamism and strong sense of nationalism spread through the crowd. Chabaku, a South Africian exile, began by telling the students that blacks as a people were the most powerful, educated and tol erant people and that God had given us the power of survival. She said for too long we had been satisfied to just survive and now it was time to claim what is ours. Chabaku told the assembled stu dents that the first cause at black institutions was black history and it was our responsibility to edu cate ourselves, our families and neighborhoods. She urged the audience to use their right to vote because everyone’s vote made a difference. As she exclaimed, “It took one vote to make Texas a state of the Union; one vote elected Hitler, so don’t believe your vote does not make a difference.” The mood conveyed at Black College Day was one of together ness and common destiny. Keep ing the black institutions alive and striving was the emphasis of the day. The desire to make things better and renewed hope made Black College Day a success. by Fredericka Turner 1986 has introduced a new type of fashion. A myriad of textures and styles has the changed the traditional way we think of fashion. The teen generation again inspires an upbeat fashion scene. The trends change with the whims and the wants of the teenager. Fashion changes quickly and what was once hot often earns a place on the “not” list. One of the more crucial jobs of the fashionable teen is wearing what’s hot and discarding what’s not quickly. What’s hot in 1986 on the fashion scene is oversized clothes. Big sweaters, very baggy pants and long t-shirts are really popular. Expensive leather high tops with names like Fila and Reebok are also on the upbeat. Coca-Cola t- shirts and jeans are fashion able now. Long leather boots are making a comeback, not just for winter, but for fall and early spring also. Watches with designs in spired by modern art like those by Swatch have been growing in popularity since 1984. Swatch also designs t- shirts bathing pants and sweats. Prints and intricate designs like paisley and houndstooth have remained at the top for months now, inspiring a riot of mixed patterns. What’s not in this year seems to be the hot items of 1985. Madonna-like skirts. blouses and heavy jewelry are out. Neons have faded away. Jams, the knee-length print shorts, are slowly declining. Bell bottoms were trying to be revived by Blass, but they still remain very gauche. Punk hair styles are replaced by braided hair styles, wed ges, bobs and even short, neat Afros. Too-tight jeans remain a source of disgust and overly expensive name brands are a thing of the past. 1986 has revealed the wants of the fashion - conscious: clothes that are easy to move in, yet form-fitting. More im portant, though, are clothes that express individuality. This is why fashion spirals from the weird and wacky to the wonderful and wild. The Founders’ Banquet honorees: (l-r) Dr. Gerald L. Truesdale, plastic surgeon ministrator. (photo by Otis Hairston) Mrs. Louise G. Fields, merchant; Mr. Stanley Frank, airport authority chairmen; ; Dr. W. C. Parker, businessman and Mrs. Linda W. McDougle, educational ad- Sharing can end hunger opinion by Msgr. Robert J. Coll World Food Day, which was observed on Oct. 16, gives us an opportunity to consider some facts related to global hunger. Some 500 million people experience hunger on a continuing basis, that is, one out of every 10 people on earth, approximately 30 million people in America. The average person in the developed world consumes more than 3,000 calories a day while a person in the developing world gets about 2,000 calories. It should be remembered that a body at rest needs 1,600 calories daily. In rural areas of poor countries, the caloric intake of people is well below the required 1,600. There were long periods during the Ethiopian famine when a person received less than 800 calories a day. Malnutrition was rampant, starvation and death common, es pecially among children under five and expecting and lactating mothers. For a variety of reasons, mostly man-made, the lives of some 200 million people in Africa will be threatened for years to come be cause of severe food shortages. Weak political structures, cultural deprivation, poor agricultural poli cies and economic exploitation are some of the causes that affect the lives of the poor who hunger. However, there is enough food produced each year in the world to feed every person on earth. We, the international community, have the know-how and ability to train those in need to grow their own food, and we have the capability to deliver emergency food to those who live in remote areas. What then is the problem? The problem is that we lack the will. For some reason, we choose to use large portions of global economic resources to develop military capa bility rather than humanity. Ima gine, the world spends $750 billion a year for armament, $1.4 million a minute. Some 500,000 scientists are needed for the development, manufacture and delivery of the toys of war. Just think of what might be accomplished if one- third of the international military commitment to arms were div erted to the development of the poor who hunger. B'ut what can I do? I’m only one person. You can do a great deal. You can become a voice for the voiceless by actively partici pating in the formation of local, corporate and national policies which are more sensitive to the poor who hunger. Encourage your local community, your church, your company, your nation to be actively involved in developing the lives of the hungry. Were it not for the mystery of life, you and your children might be part of the 500 million. Every now and then “take a friend to lunch” by sending the cost of an afternoon meal to any local or overseas agency that brings hope to the hungry. Pledging: is it detrimental to friendships? Opinion by Shelly Ann Middleton I used to have friends. Don’t get me wrong. There was no major disagreement or anything of that sort, and, believe me, they haven’t all died on me in the literal sense of the word. It’s just that the relationship that I had with my friends freshman year was like that of childhood sweethearts who, in the pro cess of growing up, grew a- part. The growing process that took place in our lives during our sophomore year contained another element that became a major event in our lives. That element is what I call the pledging process. Let me clearly identify the term “pledging process.” This, of course, refers to the initiation period of a Greek organization. During this period, the pledges are al lowed only to speak to their big sisters, their line sisters, faculty and staff. They are virtually hidden from society so as to prepare them for membership into the organi zation. Perhaps it’s not as drama tic as it sounds, but in some cases it is. What really hap pens to our Bennett sisters during the pledging process? We as Greeks represent one group of people whose main objectives are to better the conditions of our brothers and sisters. But instead of show ing unity, love and ambitions for a common goal, we show subtle and sometimes blatant dislike for our Greek sisters. Where does this hatred come from ? Before the pledg ing process, my Bennett sis ters and I shared each other’s lives. The closeness is some thing I will never forget. But later through the intense pro gramming, many of them be came what they are today. Many of them do not repre sent the positive black image which is to better the condi tions of mankind. Instead, they have turned out to be arrogant, competitive, self- centered, self-righteous and downright obnoxious people. These people, it seems, have been so intensely programmed that, in most instances, they will not give the unifying combination call simply be cause they have not been trained to do so. If I sound like a wounded puppy, believe me, emotion ally I am. If someone had told me that if I pledged a cer tain sorority, I would lose my (see page 4)
Bennett College Student Newspaper
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Oct. 17, 1986, edition 1
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