n^ne Campus ‘Ccfio
No. 7
Published by and for the students of North Carolina Central University in Durham, N.C. 27707 November 19, 1980
Klansmen, Nazis acquitted
Tanya Simmons is surrounded by (dead? sieepihg? unconscious?)
cast members of AMERICA HURRAH during a rehearsal.
Opens tonight
New NCCU drama
promises to be
wild, odd, exciting
Strange, different, wild, unexpected?
No one seems to know how to describe N .C.
Central’s new play, AMERICA HURRAH,
premiering tonight at 8:15 p.m. in University
Theatre on the corner of Fayetteville and
Lawson St.
“Expect the unexpected," wrote Herald
entertainment writer Jim Buie in discussing
this experimental work of Jean-Claude van
Itallie, directed by Randolph Umberger. The
play opens Nov. 19 and runs through Nov.
23.
“Don’t be surprised if the play splits in half,
if the actors ask you questions, or even if so
meone shuttles the audience off into another
room," wrote Buie.
For Umberger, the play represents a
chance for the cast and crew to experiment.
“We’re working with a great deal of mime and
we’re also working in a new theatrical en
vironment. I think we will establish a new and
unique relationship between our performers
and our audience,” said the director.
AMERICA HURRAH is an innovative and
sometimes shocking look at three aspects of
American life: the impersonality of the job
market, the influence of TV upon our per
sonal lives, and our preoccupation with con-'
sumerism.
The three play sequence is composed of a
number of scenes growing out of contem
porary American life—sometimes cruel,
sometimes obscene, and always absurd. The
script calls for a great deal, of imagination
from the director, the actors, and the au
dience.
Cast members have found the play dif
ferent from anything they’ve worked with
before.
Herbert Eley, a sophomore drama major
from Murfreesboro, N.C., who has the role of
the “fourth interviewer" in the first playlet.
said, “My first reaction after reading the
script was that (the play) was totally insane.
At the same time,” he continued, “I realized
how challenging it would be to act in it. You
have to learn the whole script just for your
part."
“This play is wild,” said Thelma Hender
son, a junior dramatic arts major from
Henderson, N.C., who is also in the first
playlet. “It’s unlike anything I’ve ever been
cast in or exposed to, as far as theatre goes.”
Thelma was last cast as an elderly woman in
the drama department’s production of BEN
NY.
DeWarren Moses, a senior dramatic arts
major from Whitakers, N.C., calls the play
“very different.”
In the first New York Times review of the
play in 1966, the year AMERICA HURRAH
opened in New York, critic/playwright Walter
Kerr said, “There’s something afoot here.
The three one acts which make up the pro
duction are more than three satiric views of
the U.S.A. What goes on,” said Kerr, “is more
complex, more elusive, and more promising.
The theatre is trying to discover at the mo
ment a means of approaching poetic effect on
the stage without reverting to echoing
forms.”
Tickets are now on sale at McLaughlin
Medical Arts Pharmacy, 2520 Fayetteville
St., The Merry-Go-Round in South Square
Mall, and the drama department at NCCU on
the Corner of Fayetteville and Lawson
Streets. Adult tickets are $3.50 for advance
sales and reservations and $4 at the door.
For children 18-years-old and under, advance
tickets and reservations are $1 and $1.50 at
the door. Groups of ten or more adults may
purchase tickets at $3 per person.
For reservations and additional informa
tion, call the drama department at 683-6242.
Sorry, Gang,
No Commodores
see related story on page 8
GREENSBORO (AP) — Six Ku Klux Klansmen and Nazis
were found innocent Monday of murder and rioting charges
stemming from a shootout in which five Communist Workers
Party supporters were killed last year.
An all-white jury of six men and six women returned the ver
dicts at 5:12 p.m. after seven days of deliberation.
The defendants sat expressionless as the verdict was read
by a court clerk, then wept with friends and relatives after
court was adjourned.
“We do not condone the actions of any of the three groups.
We regret that this unfortunate thing happened in our city,”
jury foreman Octavio Mandulay told reporters.
Another juror, Robert Williams, said the jury did not believe
any group had the right to “thrust its political beliefs on the
citizens of the United States.” He did not elaborate.
Security was tight in the windowless third-floor courtroom.
Guilford County Superior Court Judge James M. Long had
directed about a dozen policemen to “arrest and remove
anyone who disrupts the reading of the verdict.” There were
no outbursts. Police officers and security guards stood guard
in the hall outside the courtroom as family members, spec
tators and dozens of reporters milled about.
Police said Greensboro remained quiet as a steady rain fell
early Monday night, but they were prepared for any possible
trouble. Police spokesmen said all officers were on standby
and that a larger than normal number of officers, including
the department’s Special Weapons and Tactics or SWAT unit,
were on duty.
In Durham, authorities beefed up police patrols, assigned
additional men to fire trucks, stationed some guards in city
buildings and put some off-duty officers on standby as a
precaution.
There were several false fire calls early Monday night, but
aside from that the city was quiet.
Durham police watched the homes and headquarters of
some Durham CWP members and supporters, but one officer
said about half the known Durham CWP supporters were still
in Greensboro.
The trial lasted 96 days, the longest in North Carolina
history.
None of the prosecution team would comment after the ac
quittal was ani-iOunced., Some members of the district at
torney’s office had said earlier Monday that they thought the
jury was having a difficult time reaching a decision and that
they did not expect a verdict Monday.
The four klansmen and two Nazis were charged with five
counts each of first-degree murder in the slaying of the five
Communist Workers Party supporters at a CWP-sponsored
“Death To The Klan” rally in Greensboro Nov. 3,1979. They
also were charged with rioting. They pleaded innocent to all
charges.
The jury could have returned verdicts of guilty of first-
degree murder, first-degree murder by premeditation and
deliberation, second-degree murder or voluntary man
slaughter or innocent.
The two Nazis are Jack Wilson Fowler, 27, and Roland
See ACQUITTED, page 3
Not guilty on all counts. That’s hard to believe.
There must be something they’re guilty of aside from
the obvious murder which doesn’t count because the
people killed were Communists and everyone knows
that Communists aren’t people, they’re political ideas
like American Indians and Civil Rights workers and little
black children in Atlanta.
Let’s see...what about trespassing? They surely
weren ’t invited to the rally site in Greensboro. During
the trial, defense attorneys argued that they had gone
to the rally to only “heckle the communists.’’ You
need rifles to heckle?
If a drunk driver runs over and kills a pedestrian
crossing the street in a blinding rainstorm, he will be
charged with involuntary manslaughter. Even though
'the driver has two excuses for his actions—he was
drunk and the weather conditions made visibility
poor—he is still guilty and will probably be punished.
Fine.
But Klansmen and Nazis arrive at a rally; shooting
breaks out; people are killed; videotapes show that the
Klansmen and Nazis went out of their way to kill these
people; and they are acquitted. Unlike the drunk driver
have no excuse—the day was clear; they were
her (not sober as in reasonable but sober as in not
'runk), and they get: off!
True, their case rested on a basis of self-defense, but
if they were so afraid of the CWP as to bring with
them guns and rifles—why did they show-up at the
rally site in the first place?
If they’re guilty, they’re guilty of being let-
.. not acquitted, not forgiven in the eyes of the law,
ot even justified in what they did. It’s great to be pro-
White just as it’s great to be pro-American or pro-labor
0r pro-black. It’s the anti’s that are scary. Does to be
pro-white mean anti-black, anti-jew, anti-liberal, anti
poor?
If this verdict stands, what can be far behind?
Teresa A. Burke, editor
X
Alphas, Kappas, Omegas cited
‘Caf director says:
‘Cool it, rowdy frats.’
By Winfred B. Cross
Greek organizations on the campus of North Carolina Cen
tral University are in danger of losing their privileges in the
cafeteria because of the unruly behavior of Kappa Alpha Psi,
Omega Psi Phi and Alpha Phi Alpha fraternities, according to
Robert Smith, director of the university’s Food Service.
Smith says he is very upset over the fights, arguments and
“stepping” (choreographed dancing accompanied by verbal
put-downs) that have recently taken place in the cafeteria by
these organizations
“I have be^ very generous to these organizations. I have
allowed them to put their signs on the tables to have
fellowship with one another in the cafeteria,” said Smith.
“But they continue to break the rules by making physical
displays in the dinning hall. If one more incident happens, all
the signs will have to go.”
The fall pledge line of the Alpha fraternity fought a member
of the Kappa fraternity when he tried to break their pledge
line. Also, a huge argument took place between several band
members and the pledge line after the Elizabeth City State
game in the cafeteria.
William Mills, a senior from Chocowinity, N.C., and presi
dent of Alpha Phi Alpha, agrees with Smith about the conduct
of the organizations.
“The incidents are uncalled for,” he said. “1 apologize for
my organization’s actions. We are all greek and all black so
the frats should be getting along better, it gives the campus
and frats a bad name when things like this happen.”
Besides the fight with the Alpha pledge line, members of
Kappa Alpha Psi have had several arguments with Omegas
and Alphas.
James Tobias Griffin, a senior from Greensboro, N.C., and
president of Kappa Alpha Psi, said the incidents have been
cleared up and will not happen again.
“I agree with Mr. Smith. He’s a fair man,” said Griffin. “If
the organizations can’t act right, the signs should be taken
away.”
Members of Omega Psi Phi have stepped in the cafeteria.
argued with the Kappa’s, and danced on chairs and tables on
several pccassions.
Audwin Jones, a senior from Wilmington, N.C., and
Basileus (president) of Omega Psi Phi, said he was unaware of
some of the incidents, but explained the stepping incident.
‘We were challenged by a frat from another campus. We
jiist accepted the challenge and took the matter outside,” he
said. “I don’t know about the other incidents but I’m sure my
brothers wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize any privileges we
already have.”
Dr. James Blue, vice chancellor of student affairs, has
received complaints from non-greek students who have been
ajsked to move from tables that have greek signs on them.
“1 suggested to Mr. Smith a few months ago to remove the
^igns from the tables,” said Blue. “These signs have caused a
I0t of confusion. No student has to move away from any table
in the cafeteria. Organizations do not pay a fee to reserve
space for their signs. This practice is done out of courtesy by
^r. Smith,” he said.
Both Mills and Griffin say that they do not mind people sit
ting at the tables which have their signs.
But Jones said that he would rather that students not sit
v^here the Omega sign is.
“We don’t pay an extra fee but it has long been a tradition
fdr our table to sit at the head of everyone elses. We feel
honored to have a table for that purpose,” he said.
Dr. Blue’s response to that statement was, “There is ab
solutely no truth to that statement whatsoever.”
Dr. Roger Bryant, assistant vice-chancallor of student af-
teirs, also feels that the signs should be removed.
“The cafeteria should be used for eating and other social ac
tivities,” he said. “It would be better if these signs were
(displayed only during homecoming or other special events.”
Blue would like the organizations to display their insignias
qn the wall instead of the table tops.
“I think Smith should let the organizations draw lots and
decide where they will hang a plaque or some other kind of
display,” he said. “It would cause less confusion and probably
pe very attractive.”