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Pag« 4i F«briHiry 9, 1989 The Maligning of the Collegiate Athlete Attention, Freshmen! Franklin McCain, a civil rights activist who was one of the four students who participated in the sit-in at Woolworth’s, recently spoke here at UNC. He said, ‘It wasn’t until I was about 30 that I realized not only did I not have all the answers, but I had to begun to realize how to ask all the questions.” By the end of the fall semester, many of us freshmen, Black and White alike, came to the same realization — we do not know everything. In the beginning, many of us came looking for the perfect party, the perfect guy or girl, popularity and most impor tantly, the perfect GPA. Unfortunately, all of the above do not fit into one semester. Those of us who “chilled on the yard” too much are now chillin’ at home dreaming about the English professor who’s saying, “I ain’t no joke.” Those of us who studied night and day: keep up the good work. Those of us who thought about studying while on the dance floor of the Great Hall and barely got by: come to the realization. Do not let one semester determine your life’s goals. Do not let a bad grade in chemistry change your mind about going to medical school; take it in summer school. Do not let a bad grade in English or less than adequate grade in Political Science change your mind about going to law school. Do not lower your stan dards. Come to McCain’s realization and raise your standards. Realize that your high school record is not a passport to success at UNC. Look at college as a “blank slate” and remember these words from the writer Jennifer Crichton: The point of the blank slate that college provides is not to erase the past but to sketch out a new history with a revisionist’s perspective and an optimist’s acts.” We can do it! Terrence E. Garrison The Black Ink 1/24/89 11th Annual International Festival Dear Black Ink: The UNC-CH Association of International Students requests that you please an nounce the upcoming 11th Annual International Festival. It will take place on Satur day, February 18, 1989, from 12 to 6 pm in the Great Hall of the Student Union. Everyone is welcome. Admission is free, and it will feature things such as booths and entertainment from countries and cultures worldwide. An International Cafe will of fer food, either homemade or donated from area restaurants, at reasonable prices. This festival is a culmination of an International Week at UNC which will feature films, lectures, dinners and other activities. For more information, call Amy at (919) 933-2250 or Brock at (919) 933-6248. We in the Association of International Students thank you for your cooperation. Sincerely, Mary Lisa Pories Plans For New BCC Progressing On December 9, 1988, the Board of Trustees (BOT) unanimously voted in favor of a permanent site for the Black Cultural Center (BCC) at UNC. But specific aspects for constructing the extensive cultural complex have not been confirmed by the governing body. Kenneth Perry, president of the Black Student Movement (BSM), said last week that this decision by the BOT can have two meanings. “It [the decision] can be very positive or very stagnant,” Perry said. He stated that the trustees’ accep tance can mean that they will continue to talk about the new BCC or begin ef forts for building the center in the near future. The BCC Planning Committee (com posed of BSM members and ad ministrators) agreed upon a proposal for the BOT’s approval. This document said that the final facility should be 10,000 to 15,000 square feet in area, should have ample office and meeting space, and should contain an art gallery and library. Donald Boulton, vice chancellor and dean of Student Affairs, said that fur ther investigation is needed in order to endeavor into the BCC’s construction. One problem that hinders the project is fund-raising, Boulton explained. Perry commented on the importance of students at UNC in order for the cultural center to progress to the con struction stage. “How students organize is the key for the future of the BCC,” he said. By Peter Henry Proposition 42, a piece of legislation recently passed by the NCAA, should be repealed because it is unfair. Pro position 42 is a stringent reinforcement of Proposition 48, which took effect in 1986. Under Proposition 48, entering freshmen are ineligible to receive athletic scholarships unless they attain ed a 2.0 grade-point average in a college-preparatory core curriculum and either a minimum score of 700 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) or 15 on the American College Testing Program (ACT). Provisions were made, however, which allowed those athletes who met some of the requirements to enroll in a university and receive com plete financial aid. Assuming that the recent approval of Proposition 42 holds, beginning in August of 1990 schools may only grant scholarships to incoming freshmen who meet all the standards of Proposition 48. Conse quently, all non-qualifiers will be forced to pay their own way. Proposition 42 is unfair, because it is socio-economically biased. The majori ty of non-qualifiers come from similar backgrounds; most (86%) of non qualifiers are Black, and most hail from less than middle-class backgrounds. The fact is that the overwhelming majority of athletes with these backgrounds will have had far inferior educational op portunities than their middle-class counterparts. Is it fair to expect so meone like Marcus Liberty (basketball player for the University of Illinois) who comes from an underprivileged educational, social and economic background in the projects of Chicago’s West Side, to score as well as his peers that share the same athletic prowess but enjoyed middle-class upbringings? While Proposition 42 advocates will argue that Marcus Liberty or any athlete who cannot meet the re quirements is not ready for college, it is cruel to deny a young man a scholarship because he has had a poor education. While the test and grade requirements of Proposition 42 are hardly unat tainable, the quality of education in our nation’s inner-city schools is appalling. Working as a teacher for the Chicago public school system this past summer, I frequently witnessed sixth and seventh graders whose reading levels ranged from 2 to 3 years behind the national norm. The point is that if students in sixth and seventh grade are already lag ging in reading skills, by the time they are seniors in high school they will be too far behind to meet the requirements of Proposition 42. The blame for this deficiency must be placed squarely upon the shoulders of our nation’s educa tional system. Athletes should not be made to bear the brunt of a failing educational system. Naturally the questions arises: “Do we simply allow these athletes who lack the necessary academic skills to walk in to the universities while thousands of more gifted students are turned away?” In addresssing this question it is impor tant to remember that there have been a number of Proposition 48 casualties, who, through hard work and proper in struction, have achieved the necessary academic standards once admitted to the university. In addition, one must also realize that universities accept students based upon what they can con tribute to the university community. Just as a school admits a merit scholar because he raises the school’s academic credentials, they accept an athlete because he generates revenues for the university. Thus athletes are deserving of admission. They contribute as much, if not more, than the average student. There is no question, however, that athletes should not be allowed to con tinue performing at substandard scholastic levels. In order to ensure that they raise their academic skills to par, freshmen should be allowed to practice but be ineligible for competition in games. The time that they would have spent traveling and playing games could be used to gain their academic bearings. This is especially true in a sport such as basketball where teams sometimes play 3 or 4 games a week. In addition, taking these athletes out of the limelight for a year would reinforce the idea that their top priority in college is to receive a quality education. Indeed, something must be done about the state of “amateur” athletics in this country. We can no longer allow athletes to attend universities for the sole purpose of athletics while their intellect goes untap ped. However, the way to ensure that the athlete uses his mind is not to deny him a scholarship but to present him with an academic opportunity and pro tect him from exploitation. UNTITLED I was told that I was smart when I was in the third grade. “Intelligent, articulate, definitely college material,” she said. So I took all the “right” classes and joined all the “right” clubs, but I had to have the “right” friends. “Too white,” they said. “Too black,” they said. so 1 stayed in between. With them I was Angela and I played tennis, with them I was Angie and I played b-ball. But now, when I am with myself, 1 am me, and I don’t play games at all.
Black Ink (Black Student Movement, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
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Feb. 9, 1989, edition 1
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