Page 4
Ink News
September 17, 1985
cont) ned from page 1
Calarcod. He emphasized that when
the department of housing finds a
qualified candidate, that is the person
they select to be an RA.
Requirements for an RA position,
according to the application, include
the following: having a 2.5 grade
point average, being a student of
junior or senior standing, residing for
at least one year in a residence hall,
demonstrating the ability to be sensi
ble, flexible and diverse, and having
the ability to serve as a role model.
Applications for RA positions are
available in the late fall, according to
the Department of University Hous
ing. Once the applications have been
turned in, they are put in a general
pool. Area directors evaluate them
and then schedule various applicants
for interviews.
An RA is paid for 17 hours a
week at $4.07 an hour. At Granville
Towers, however, RAs recieve free
room and board because the facility is
not owned by the university.
Being an RA can be very
beneficial according to Karen Liver-
man, a 21-year-old Pharmacy major
fi"om Farmville, who has been an RA
in Cobb for the past year and a half.
“As an RA, you get to meet a lot of
people and develop friendships that
you could not have otherwise had,”
liverman said. “You learn time
management and how to deal with
people.”
While it can be very beneficial,
being an RA can also be very time
consuming. “While studying it’s hard
to say don’t bother me,” said Angela
Talton, a senior Business major from
Greensboro, who has been an RA for
two years in Morrison. “RAs have an
open door policy.”
Stanley Brown, a senior
chemistry major who has been an RA
for 2 years in Morrison said that
although RAs learn a lot by working
with people, they sometimes have to
handle situations, such as roomate
problems and simple maintenance, at
the worlst possible times.
Kenneth Smith said that another
problem that he sometimes faces as a
Black RA is white students who
hesitate to correct their behavior
when disciplined. He attributes this to
the fact that many white students are
not accustomed to seeing Blacks in
leadership positions.
Each year RA applications are
submitted during the spring semester
for the next school year. Interested
students should apply at Carr
Building.
UNC gets
First Black
Volleyball
Player
by Angela Foster
Staff Writer
For the first time in the nine-year
history of volleyball competition at
the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill, a Black woman is on the
team roster.
Andrea Wells, a 5-foot-9 inch
side hitter holds the distinction of be
ing the first Black on the University’s
volleyball team. Head coach, Peggy
Bradley-Doppes said that she noticed
Wells while recruiting volleyball sen
sation Kim Brown. “While watching
one of Kim’s games, I noticed her
(Andrea), “Bradey-Doppes said. ‘1
was impressed with her court per
sonality and great, unbelievable
athletic potential.”
Wells was also recruited by such
universities as Purdue and Kentucky.
Wells said she chose UNC-CH
because of the coaching staff and
players.
The Canton, Ohio native said her
interest in volleyball was developed
when she was in the eighth grade. ‘1
tried out for the volleyball team and
made it,” she said. “Then when
basketball season came, I tried out for
the team and I found myself spiking
the basketball. Therefore, I knew
where my interest was and what I
wanted to do.”
Wells enters her first season of
college volleyball with an impressive
high school career behind her. Her
achievements include first-team All
Ohio, Player of the Week, and All
Ohio All-Star Team.
While being recruited. Wells
asked the team members if she would
be the first Black to come here on a
volleyball scholarship. Although she
is the first Black, Wells seems unaf
fected. “It really doesn’t matter to
me,” she said. “I want to make the
Black community here proud of me,
though. I like the fact that people
tend to notice me when we’re practic
ing and warming up.”
Coach Bradley-Doppes said, “I
never think about Andrea being the
first anything. I foresee her as an
outstanding player and one who’ll
have a great career here.”
“To me she’s just another
player,” said teammate Ann
Schildmeyer. “At my high school we
had a Black player on the team, and I
regarded her the same way. As a mat
ter fact, she became my best friend.”
When asked if there were any
prejudiced attitudes toward her when
she first joined the team. Wells said,
“Definitely not... we work together as
a team.”
photo by Ralph Ward
This close-knit relationship
among the volleyball players seems to
have been an asset to their past ac
complishments. The team won four
consecutive Atlantic Coast Con
ference championships fi-om 1980 to
1983, and earned three NCAA bids.
According her coach. Wells is
adjusting to college volleyball with no
problems. Wells said, ‘It’s definitely
more intense than high school
volleyball. It’s a lot more fiin.”
Wells said her personal objec
tives as a volleyball player are “to
add to the team, be a positive in
fluence on my teammates, and to take
everything day by day with steady im
provement.”
From the accounts of teammate
Heather Ostrem, Wells’influence has
already taken effect. “She’ll add a
new dimension to Carolina
volleyball,” Ostrem said. “Andrea’s
ability to jump surpasses that of
anyone else on the team. Therefore,
when in the front line, she hits the
ball so that the opponent is
defenseless.”
Coach Bradley-Doppes said
Wells is “very coachable. I can give
her constructive critism and two
hours later I notice that she’s already
adjusted she said. “I’m very pleased
with her progress. She’s really begin
ning to reach her potential and she
makes up for her lack of experience
with her desire to become a good
player.”
The nursing/pre-med. major ad
mits that a UNC-CH academics was
an adjustment, also. ‘The academics
are tougher, but I expected that,”
Wells said. “As a student I realize
that the education obtained at UNC-
CH is top-notch and I desire to be a
top-notch student.”
When asked whether Wells
would be an improvement to the
team, teammate Julie Neal said, “Yes,
definitely. She’s a natural athlete.”
Constant Growth
Evident in African and
Afro-American Studies
by Angela R. Ross
News Editor
Since its establishment in the 1970s, the curriculum in African and Afro-
American Studies has grown constantly, said to Colin A. Palmer, chairman of
the curriculum.
The curriculum has expanded in several ways. The number of students
taking courses in African and Afro-American Studies has increased yearly
since 1979 as well as the number and variety of courses available to students.
The curriculum has also expanded physically in terms of office space. In addi
tion, construction of a computerized bibliography project is underway.
An area of constant growth has been the number of students taking
courses in the curriculum. According to Palmer, only 251 students were
enrolled in courses in the curriculum during the 1979-80 academic year. Dur
ing the 1981-82 year, 579 students took Black Studies courses. The number in
creased to 1,014 for the 1983-84 academic year. “We are teaching over 1,000
students just this fall,” Palmer said.
The growth of the University’s Black Studies curriculum is the reverse of
the national trend, which has been declining enrollment. “We have been told
that we have one of the largest, if not the largest. Black Studies curriculums
based on enrollment,” Palmer said. “We are engaged in serious academic in
quiry; we have challenging instructors and our courses fulfill perspective re
quirements.”
The curriculum will offer an additional course, during the spring semester
Contemporary African Problems. “The course will help to provide an
understanding of the kinds of issues and problems that African societies con-
firont,” Palmer said.
Over the years, the curriculum has also expanded physically in terms of
office space. Originally, the curriculum had only three offices. In 1982, three
additional offices, a conference room and library, and a computer room were
added to the curriculum. In addition, the University has provided funding to
convert a classroom in Alumni Hall into three new offices; they are expected to
be completed in September, Palmer said.
The offices will be used by two new full-time instructors and one new part-
time instructor, who have been hired to teach courses in the curriculum. These
instructors are Joanne Woodard her husband Harold Woodard, and Dr. Karen
Shelley. continued on page 8