October 6, 1983
Black ink
Page 7
:AMPUS • CAMPUS • CAMPUS • CAMPUS • C
Poet speaks on
human reality
SCAD consumer service
provide student needs
Debra Lewis
By CHERYL WILLIAMS
FEATURE EDITOR
Casually dressed, she approached
the podium amidst loud applause.
The stage light cast a soft glow on
her short afro as she waited for the
applause to end. As she spoke she
joked often bust she also spoke
seriously. She spoke with a voice
that barely filled the auditorium,
but her words were heard.
Nationally known poet Nikki
Giovanni summed up the gamut of
human experience in a recent lec
ture and poetry reading.
Although Giovanni spoke of
varied topics, the central themes
that evolved from her talk were life
and human relationships. She said
most people are basically bored
with life, mainly because they are
living in reality.
"Life is difficult," she said. "There
will never be a time when life is
easy." She stressed that life was a
"very fragile proposition."
"Let us see if we can't use the
resources of life for life," she said.
"We are missing something im
portant and precious about the
definition of life. We in this genera
tion have the opportunity to
redefine life."
Later in the lecture, during a
poetry reading, Giovanni
demostrated how precious life is to
here with a poem dedicated to John
Lennon, titled "This is Not For John
Lennon." In this poem she lashed
out at a society that did not com
prehend that murder is a terrible
waste and what a "certain level of
rape to kill people like that"
Giovanni also talked about the in
ability of humans to get along in this
world. "We are so unused to living
with each other," she said. "Human
beings were not made to live alone.
It is absolutely crucial that humans
get in better relationshop with each
other. We ought to be trying
something new because something
old is tiresome."
Giovanni also made remarks
about motherhood and growing old.
After her brief lecture, Giovanni
read several selections of her
poetry. Most of the poems she read
came from her latest book, "Those
Who Ride the Night Winds." She
also read poems from her previous
works. One poem was dedicated to
writer Lorraine Hansberry, who
Giovanni said in many respects is
the mother of us all. The poem
states that Hansberry made it possi
ble for all of us to look a little
deeper.
Other poetry readings included a
poem dedicated to tennis star Billie
Jean King, "Mirrors," and poems
"My House." "I Am She," "I Wrote
A Good Omelet" and "The Life I
Led."
Giovanni, 40, born in Knoxville,
Tennessee. She graduated with
honors in history from Fisk Universi
ty in 1967.
Giovanni emerged as a poet dur
ing the 1960s. This is also the time
that her political activism emerged
in her poetry and in her actions. At
Fisk University, she helped restore
the campus chapter of the Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Commit
tee (SNCC). She also spent one sum
mer involved with' black political
campaigns.
Giovanni's first book, "Black Feel
ing; Black Talk," was published in
1969 with the help of a Ford Founda
tion Grant. A grant from the Harlem
Cultural Council on the Arts enabled
her to publish her second vlume of
poetry in 1969 titled, "Black Judge
ment." In 1970 a third book of
poems, "Re: Creation " appeared.
In 1970, dissatisfied with the for
mat and graphics used for her
books, Giovanni formed her own
publishing company, Tom Nik Ltd.
With this company she published
two of her works, "Broadside Poem
of Angela Yvonne Davis" and Night
Comes Softly" Giovanni's books are
now published by prestigious com
panies.
She has also written poems for
children "Spin A Soft Black Song"
was written specifically for the en
joyment of her young son.
Giovanni has many other books to
her credit besides the ones mention-.
A particular student organization
has been keeping a low profile on
campus, not by choice, but because
few have taken the time to find out
what the organization is about.
This organization is called the
Student Consumer Action Union
(SCAU) located in Suite B in the
Carolina Union.
SCAU is a service organization as
well as a public interest research
group. The organization is funded
by student fees to conduct projects
by and for students in order to
educate students to their rights and
responsibilities as consumers and to
represent student needs to local
businesses.
SCAU was first organized by Ford
Runge, 1972 student body president.
In the beginning, the organization
was part of student government,
then in 1974 it became an indepen
dent organization.
SCAU offer students a variety of
services. "Our goal is to provide for
the special needs of student con
sumers to strive for integrity and in
telligence in the marketplace," said
Richard Owens, two-term chairman.
"To further this end," he said, "we
provide consumer education and
up-to-date information in the form
of booklets, counseling and direct
services," he said.
The services that are provided are
divided into four main categories —
food quality, housing, special pro
jects and consumer contacts.
Under food quality, SCAU
publishes a booklet entitled the
Franklin Street Gourmet. This
booklet is a review and qualitative
analysis of local restaurants.
Another service is the Com
parison Shopper, a comparative
evaluation of food prices which are
published in The Daily Tar Heel
every other Thursday.
Under the housing category,
ed. She also wrote "My House" in
which she deals with her personal
relationships and with black ex
periences in general. This book has
been admired for its warmth, sinceri
ty and honesty. Other works in
clude: "Cotton Candy On A Rainy
Day," "Gemini," and "The Women
and The Men."
Giovanni has not restricted
herself to writing. She gained na
tional attention with her first record
album "Truth Is On Its Ways," in
1971. On this album her poems are
read to the accompaniement of
gospel music sung by the New York
Community Choir
She has received numerous
awards and honors. In 1971, she was
awarded the "Mademoiselle"
magazine award for outstanding
literary achievement and the Omega
Psi Phi Fraternity award for her con
tributions to arts and letters. She
was cited by "Ladies Home Journal"
as woman of the year in 1973.
Giovanni currently lives in Cincin
nati with her son. ■
SCAU, along with other represen
tatives from other organizations,
conduct close-out seminars to help
direct and inform students who
have been closed out of dorms in
dining suitable off-campus housing.
SCAU publishes Southern Part of
Heaven, a guide to housing in the
Chapel Hill-Carrboro area. This
guide provides information about
apartment size, rent and services,
along with a map indicating the ap
proximate location of each apart
ment complex Surveys of more
than 2,800 tenants further evaluate
the residence area and results for
each complex are included.
For those who are not interested
in apartments, information on
mobile home realtors and rental
agencies are included. Explained in
the guide are landlord-tenant rights
and responsibilities for students.
A roommate-referral service is
also offered. This is an interactive
service in which an individual seek
ing a roommate uses. The individual
fills out two forms — one indicating
what characteristics he finds com
patible in a roommate and another
asking questions about himself. This
information is processed through a
computer and a list of names of
people who match or nearly match
expectations, -percentage of ques
tions they matched and phone
numbers are provided.
The third category, special pro
jects, consists of publishing an
— con't. on page 8
Alumnus
receives
distinguished
award
Julius LeVonne Chambers,
Charlotte attorney will receive the
University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill's Distinguished Alumnus
awards during University Day
ceremonies here Oct. 12.
Chambers, a 1962 graduate of th
School of Law, is a senior partner ii
the law firm of Chambers, Steir
Ferguson and Fanning. He has hand
ed more than 50 civil rights cases, in
cluding the Swann vs. Charlotte-
Mecklenburg Board of Education
suit, which began desegregation in
Charlotte's public schools. He is
former president of the NAACP
Legal Defense and Education Fund.
While at UNC-CH, Chambers was
the first black editor of the N.C. Law
Review and the first black elected to
the Order of the Golden Fleece,
universities. A member of several
honorary societies, he has taught
and lectured at several leading
universities.
The University Day public
celebration will begin with a facult
procession, starting at the Old Well
at 10:40 a.m. The convocation will
follow at 11 a m in Memorial Hall.
Classes will be suspended from 10
a m to 1 p.m. so students and facul
ty members can_^participate in the.
University Da:^.,pcQgram..B. ...