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The News Argus
Jan. 28, 2008
Campus News/Features
Reserving money for college
Kesha Collins
STAFF REPORTER
There are several
avenues to take in
paying for a college
education, and the Army
Reserves is one route that
more than 100 students at
Winston-Salem State have
taken to pay for their
expenses. During the fall
semester, 136 students were
certified to receive financial
benefits from the military,
said Cynthia Joel, the
Veteran Affairs coordinator
for WSSU. To attract future
and present students, the
reserve component of the
Army offers incentives that
may include:
□ Sign-on bonus (up to
$20,000)
□ Montgomery G I Bill
□ Tuition assistance
□ Loan repayment pro
gram (up to $20,000)
"Joining the Reserves is
more than receiving money
for college, the Reserves
allow individuals to develop
leadership skills and self
discipline," said LaToyia
Carter.
"It's a commitment and
you have to be dedicated
and willing to make sacri
fices."
Carter knows this first
hand. During the second
semester of her junior year.
Carter had to sacrifice grad
uating on her expected date
because she was called to
serve in Operation Iraqi
Freedom. Not everyone has
to put education on hold
because of deployment,
however. Christina Worth, a
current WSSU student, said
that being in Army ROTC
has kept her from being
deployed," she said.
"Being in ROTC along
with the Reserves also gives
me the opportunity to
receive extra money for
school, training and it has
helped me develop my time
management skills." It also
gives you a chance to pur
sue a military career as
well as a civilian career, she
said.
Some people may shy
away from joining the
Reserves because of the
thought of having to put
their education on hold and
go fight in a war, said SFC
Photo courtesy ot US Army Reserves
The Army Reserve Is a route many students have chosen to pay for their education.
Eddison Cyrus, an Army
Recruiter. Now the
Reserves are offering a pro
gram that may ease the
minds of those who wish to
join but are worried about
being deployed. This pro
gram is called the Army
Reserve Education Career
Stabilization Program. ECS
allows qualified candidates
to complete up to four years
of post-secondary education
without interruptions.
Cyrus said that In order to
stay exempt from mobiliza
tion through this program
the soldier must stay
enrolled in school and
maintain a minimum GPA
of 2.5. Another option for
being in non-deployable
status is to be in ROTC, he
said.
An enlistment in the
Reserves does not guarantee
a student will receive all the
incentives that are offered.
"All students are qualified
to receive the Montgomery
G.I. BILL and Tuition
Assistance, but other
benefits like sign-up
bonuses and Student Loan
Repayment is offered on job
by job bases," said SFC
Cyrus. Job qualification is
determined by a candidates
ASVAB score which helps
applicants identify what
they are good at, what their
interest are, and the perks
the military can offer
them.
Although an enlistment
does not come with all the
incentives offered, it does,
however, obligate soldiers
to fulfill their enlistment
after graduation Cyrus said,
"If a students enlist for six
years and graduates within
three of the six, they still
have to complete the
remaining years of the
contract."
Incentives
Selected Reserve
Montgomery GI Bill (up
to $309 per month for 36
months for full time
students)
Photo by Sharrod Patterson
Smoking is limited to 100 feet from school buildings.
Old policy:
Up in smoke
Charlene Wheeler
STAFF REPORTER
Army Reserve MGIB
"Kicker" (add up to $100
per month to GI Bill for 36
months)
^amounts vary with job
and rank*
ROTC Scholarships
(up to $17,000 per year for
college)
College Loan Repayment
Program
(up to $20, 000 for selected
specialties to repay college
loans)
Tuition Assistance
' (up to $4,500 per academic
year)
These incentives who are
available only to students
that are enrolled in school,
either full-time or part-time.
In return for the incentives,
students must attend sched
uled Battle Assembly dates
which is once a month,
maintain a satisfactory sta
tus in the Reserves and
school, and for tuition assis
tance, students must pass
classes with a C or better.
The new smoking policy at Winston-Salem State
University is causing smokers to walk a little farther in
order to have a cigarette.
According to the new University of North Carolina cam
pus system law, smokers must be at least 100 feet away
from any school building. This does not leave many spots
on campus for smokers. However, students are allowed to
smoke outside older dorms like Dillard Hall and Atkins,
but not the newer ones like Foundation Heights.
Soon that will change as well, starting July 1, there will be
no smoking outside the dorms.
"I think that it is a dumb idea," said Matthew Virgil, a !
junior at WSSU. "If no one can smoke inside then at least
let us be able to smoke outside somewhere that's not far
away. Everything around this city and campus is based off .r
of tobacco—the names of the streets and the buildings." r
The new policy was taken into effect on January 1, 2008.
Students, faculty and staff have been informed of the new . -
WSSU policy through an e-mail and yard signs scattered .
around campus.
In an online poll at thenewsargus.com, 89 percent of
those polled said that smoking should be banned on WSSU
and all UNC system campuses because smoking is harmful.-
to those who smoke and those around them.
According to the General Assembly of North Carolina for
employees, a first reported violation of this smoking policy,
will result in an oral warning, a second violation will result
in a written reprimand and a third will result in discipli- , .i
nary action. ;
Violation of this policy is considered a personal conduct
issue and is subject to disciplinary action including dis
missal from employment for employees. Student violators .
will receive two warnings before being subject to sanctions
under the Student Judicial Code.
Although the e-mails were sent before students went
home for winter break, apparently not everyone checks
their e-mail.
"I didn't know about the new smoking policy. I thought
we could still smoke out here," said a student smoking just ,
outside of the Thompson Center. I
Around Campus
The struggle to live for African-
Americans in the Jim Crow South
was at best, extremely difficult,
and at worse, deadly. Many
African-Americans escaped that
oppression in a mass migration
North in the hope of finding a bet
ter life. That migration is the sub
ject of a new book titled. The Saint
Louis African American
Community and the Exodusters,
authored by Dr. Bryan M. Jack,
Winston-Salem State University
assistant professor of history.
The book, published by the
University of Missouri Press and
scheduled for release at the end of
January, discusses the first mass
migration of African-Americans
out of the South and how their
migration symbolized freedom
and resistance to racial and eco
nomic oppression.
The book grew out of Jack's doc
toral dissertation at Saint Louis
University. "The reason I wrote it
was because the Exoduster migra
tion is a little-known, but impor-
tcint event in United States and
African-American history," said
Jack. "It was the first large migra
tion of African-Americans (about
20,000 men, women, and children)
out of the South after the Civil
War. They were fleeing racial vio
lence and lynching, economic and
political intimidation."
Jack reports that newly freed
slaves and descendants of slaves
headed to Kansas, where they
believed that they would be given
free land in the hope of starting
new lives. "Most arrived in St.
Louis destitute with no means to
continue their journey. The St.
Louis African-American commu
nity came together to feed, clothe,
and house them as well as provide
for their transportation to Kansas."
He also shares that white south
ern planters and St. Louis govern
ment officials tiied to stop the
Exodus, because they did not want
the African-American labor force
to leave the South. Jack says pre
vious studies of the Exodus have
portrayed the St. Louis efforts of
helping the Exodusters as simply
charity, but he argues that the St.
Louis African-American commu
nity viewed their relief efforts as
an assertion of their own freedom
and independence.
"The St. Louis African-American
community understood that if
African-Americans were not
allowed to leave the South, then
the rights of all African-Americans
were in danger."
In doing the research for his
book. Jack used the actual affi
davits and interviews given by the
migrants to St. Louis officials,
which were later shared with
Congressional leaders of that time
investigating reports of lynchings
and other brutalities. "These
sources gave the Exodusters a
voice to testify against the brutal
conditions that they were facing
in the South. They also spoke to
the hopes that they held for the
future."
Jack is scheduled to lecture and
do a book signing at Left Bank
Books in St. Louis, MO, on April 3,
and is hoping to have other
appearances especially in Winston-
Salem.
The book will be available '
through Amazon, from the
University of Missouri Press, and
at various retailers.
For more information about the
book, contact Dr. Jack at 336-750-
2976 or e-mail him at
jackb@wssu.edu.
Winston-Salem State University
Ralph Bunche Society (RBS) mem
ber Antoinette Dunston has
received a $5,000 scholarship from
the Phelps Stokes Fund to study
in France this semester.
Dunston is a junior Marketing
major with a minor in French
from Townsville, NC. She cur
rently has a cumulative 3.4 GPA.
This experience abroad will be
Dunston's third, but this will be
her first experience abroad as a
Ralph Bunche Society member.
Dunston's first study abroad
experience was the summer of
2006 in Chambery, France. Her sec
ond was last summer in Benin and
Ghana. She will spend the spring
2008 semester at the Universite
d'Angers in Angers, France. She
will be there Jan. 14 - May 26.
'I will be studying French to
complete my French minor.
Because of my scholarship from
the Phelps Stokes Fund, I don't
have any out-of-pocket expenses,'
said Dunston. "I am very grateful
for the opportunity to study
abroad again and for the scholar
ships that I have received."
Dunston said after she graduates
she plans to joili the Peace Corps
and hopefully return to Africa to
help out in any way she can. After
her tour in the Peace Corps,
Dunston said she hopes to land a
position within the government,
but if that does not work out, she
wants to return to France to teach
English.
All of Dunston's trips have been
coordinated through WSSU's
Office of International Programs.
Named for one of the nation's
most important proponents of
international understanding and
cooperation. Bunche was the first
person of color to win the Nobel
Peace Prize. The Ralph Bunche
Society is designed to cultivate stu
dents' global citizenship, foreign
language skills, and Bunche's val
ues as an intemationaUst. WSSU is
the first university in the nation to
serve as a host site for a pilot pro
gram named in Bunche's honor.
For more information about the
RBS and opportunities to study
abroad contact WSSU's Office of
International Programs at 336-750-
3345 or e-mail Dr, Funwi Ayuninjam
at ayuninjamffSwssu.edu.
Sharon Hush, interim registrar
at Winston-Salem State
University since Sept. 4, 2007, has .
been officially appointed regis
trar, effective immediately.
Hush's appointment became
effective Dec. 28, 2007, after a
national search. She replaces
William Cain who retired from
the position after more than 26
years of service to WSSU.
"Ms. Hush has done an out
standing job during her tenure as
interim registrar. I know she will
continue to provide her high level
of service now that she has been
named to the job permanently,"
said WSSU provost Pedro
Martinez.
Hush has served as an assistant
registrar at Oral Roberts
University, and as records supervi
sor and scheduling officer at N.C.
State University in a career span
ning more than 17 years in higher
education positions. She earned a
Bachelor of Science degree in
Applied Sociology from N.C.
State University.