VOL 1, ISSUE 1 WINSTON-SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA OCT 7, 1988 Voter registration deadline is IVIonday By Candi Smallwood STAFF REPORTER Well, the time is drawing near to cast your vote for {jresident. And the deadline to register to vote is Monday. You must be registered to vote in your county of residence. For many WSSU stu dents, Forsyth County is their county of resi dence. But if your parents live in another county, chances are you must be registered there to vote. Laws vary from state to state. If you are from another state, check with the elec tions office there. The Department of Motor Vehicles is one place many students register because there you can register for any county. But the deadline for registration at Motor Vehicles is past. If you want to register in Forsyth County or in your home county, you must do so by Monday. If you need to register in Forsyth County Monday, you can do so at any branch of the public library. There you can also learn at which location you should vote on Nov. 8. If you will not be near your coimty of res idence in order to vote Nov. 8, you can request an absentee ballot. Simply write the Board of Elections in the county in which you are regis tered and say that you will not be in town for the election. You will be sent an absentee bal lot. Requests for absentee ballots must be made by Nov. 1. Here are some facts about students and voting from the National Student Conference on Voter Registration: -About 50 percent of the 18-24 age group voted when the national voting age was low ered from 21 to 18 in 1972. The percentage dropped as low as 39 percent in 1980. -Based on past performance, expert pre dictions estimate that 15-16 million young peo ple in the 18-24 age group will not vote in 1988. sPPiPi 1 Graceful Dancers The Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble opened the Lyceum Series. The members of the group are Marceline Freeman, Eduar do Otero and Randy Brooks. Artists Coming To Campus WSSU PUHl.IC RllLATIONS The hit gospel musical "Just Say...Yes, Lord" by Dr. Ja A. Jahanncs will highlight Winston- Salem Stale University’s Per forming Arts Series of Lyceum Cultural Events. The season opened last weekend with the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble. Roimding out the season's events arc the National Shake speare Company's production of "As You Like it,” the light opera "Cinderella," and the Winston- Salem Symphony with pianist Leon Bates. All performances will be at 8 p.m. in Kenneth R. Williams Auditorium on campus. Performance dales and ticket prices are; —"As You Like It" —Jan. 24; $5, advance; S7, day of show. --"Cinderella" —Jan. 24; S5, advance; $7, day of show —"Just Say...Yes, Lord" - March 9; $7, advance; $9, day of show —Leon Bates with Winston- Salem Symphony — April 27; S5, advance; $7, day of show. Tickets are on sale at the Williams Auditorium box office from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays. Is there a fire safety problem at WSSU? By Jarvis S. Koonce Vanessa M. Hood, the new director of Housing and Residence Life, is planning some safe fire tactics that she hopes will catch fire and blaze into the future of Winston- Salem State University. Ms. Hood is no stranger to fire safety. Before she came to WSSU, she developed a highly regarded plan for the dormitories of Virginia Union University. Ms. Hood would like to give a fire drill once a month, circulate pamphlets among the students and show films on escape and fire prevention. Ms. Hood is confi dent that she wUl have the full cooperation of the housing department, the RA's in the dorms, dorm supervisors, the fire department, campus police and students. But stu dents might be a problem. Many resident students have a relaxed attitude," she said. "A fire occurs somewhere every day, maybe not on campus, but still they need to be able to respond." The attitude of students is the mark of question for Larry Ahem, director of the physical plant. "I set one (fire drill alarm ) off in Brown Hall last year, and people were milling around and so forth," he said. "They think it is a joke." Ahem's opinion is backed by some pretty stiff fig ures. Last year. Brown Hall, for example, had all 10 of its fire extinguishers discharged needlessly. Destroyed were six of 15 fire lights, four of the smoke detcctors and two fire hose nozzles. Two fire doors had to be replaced. The cost? $4,281. Desuoying the fire equipment is only part of the problem in the dorms, he said. "I'm concerned about the kinds and numbers of appliances- two radios, refrigerators, TVs, cooking uten sils, two fans, and so on. It wouldn't be so bad if it was only one guy," he said, "but when you have three rooms on one circuit breaker, it can pose a problem. If we do have a fire, I am confident that they could get out SEE FIRE SAFETY Page 8