The Campus Echo
Number 6
Friday Nov. 16, 1984
Student
morale
high on
Nov. 6
By Ronnie Hopkins
Over 200 N.C. Central
students marched from cam
pus to vote last Tuesday, Nov.
6.
“Today is not an end, but a
beginning to insure justice and
equality,” said William
Barber, SGA president.
Barber along with Danise
Baines, Miss NCCU; Michael
Mattocks, SGA vice-
president; and other students
inginited student interest as
they marched around campus
chanting “Vote, vote, the
Democratic Way.”
LaTonya Isley, coordinator
of the NCCU Voter Participa
tion Drive, commented that
the high student morale was
responsible for the vast stu
dent participation.
The rally started at the
Alfonso A. Elder Student
Union at 10:40 a.m. The
group grew as it made its way
through the campus and pro
ceeded on to James E.
Shepard Middle School.
“Our job is not complete
until every registered student
on this campus has voted,”
remarked Barber.
‘‘I’ve done my duty,
regardless of the outcome of
this election,” said Pat Ander
son, a public administration
major from Silver Spring, Md.
Despite the efforts of the
SGA- and students, there were
mixed feelings regarding the
outcome of the election.
See MARCH, p.4
North Carolina’s Prince Hall Masons have given
$1,000 to N.C. Central University for celebration of
the Diamond Annivesary Year, marking the universi
ty’s 75th year of service. The presentation was made
on Founder’s Day, Nov. 2, honoring the memory of
Dr. James E. Shepard, founder of NCCU and for
many years the Grand Master of the Masonic group.
Shown, from left, are Edward B. Milliken Jr. of Siler
City, the NCCU student who holds the $1,000 North
Carolina Prince Hall Masonic Scholarship;
Chancellor LeRoy T. Walker; William A. Clement,
Most Worshipful Grand Master of the Most Wor
shipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Free and Ac
cepted Masons of the Jurisdiction of North Carolina;
and R. Kelly Bryant, Jr., Right Worshipful Grand
Secretary of the order.
Goodbye tobacco?
Bio profs research new crop for area
By Valerie C. Skinner
Research being conducted by Drs. John Ruf
fin and Umesh Banerjee of the N.C. Central
University biology department could mean a
new cash crop for North Carolina.
Ruffin and Banerjee are researching guayule,
a latex-producing plant which grows wild in the
western United States. This plant produces
natural rubber which is superior to synthetic
rubber and in some applications irreplaceable.
At present the United States imports over $500
million worth of natural rubber.
Guayule has the potential to be a cash crop in
North Carolina because of its habitability to
hot, dry weather. Ruffin and Banerjee are try
ing to determine whether the plant will survive
in less arid regions than its native southwest.
The research has been made possible under a
$30,000 grant to NCCU from the Department
of Agriculture, sponsored under the Critical
Agricultural Materials Act which authorized
$50 million in federal money to be spent for
research and development projects involving
guayule.
Ruffin said that the farmers in this region are
excited about the rubber plant because it may
be an alternative cash crop to tobacco and it
may also reduce the frustrations of many
farmers whose crops are damaged due to the
humid weather during summer months.
Panel analyzes
election results
By Helen Eagleson
“It is clear that a Republican wave is sweeping the coun
try...with an undying support for Reagan,” said Dr. Jeffery
Elliot, associate professor of the political science department, at
a symposium sponsored by the political science department,
“Election ’84: Analysis and Prognosis,” Nov. 12 at 7:00 p.m. in
the Alfonso Elder Student Union.
The symposium, which featured members of the political
science department, state represenatives, and the chairman of
the Black Committee for Republicans, was moderated by
WTVD noon anchor Miriam Thomas. It examined the impact of
the election in North Carolina and the nation.
Had Reagan received a landslide victory and the necessary
mandate many television commentators had acknowledged?
Political science chairman Dr. Joseph Aicher said Reagan did
receive a landslide but questioned the term mandate. “Reagan
' did receive 525 electoral votes, but the Reagan coat tails did not
take many in with him with the exception of North Carolina,”
said Aicher.
Aicher noted that the Republicans gained one governor; final
breakdown: 33 Democratic governers and 17 Republican gover
nors.
In the senate, the Republicans lost two repersenatives, leaving
a total of 53 Democrats and 47 Republicans.
Although the Republicans gained between 12-14 seats in the
See ELECTION, p.4
Speakers Forum
lacks ^84 budget,
seeks increase in *85
By C.S. Keys
The Speakers Forum has yet to schedule any speakers for the
1984-’85 school term because no budget has been issued.
For the past five years the Speakers Forum’s funding has re-
mainded the same,$3,2(X), thus prompting Eugene A. Eaves,
head of the program, to request a raise in the budget to
$10,000.Eaves said that “$7,000 of the new budget would be us
ed for speakers and travel; the remainder would provide for
receptions, publicity, supplies, and materials and video-tapes.”
The Speakers Forum, also known as the Forum Lectures Pro
gram, has the responsiblity to inform students. “The respon
sibility to bring speakers that can bring perdinent and contem-
pory information to an otherwise uninformed student body and
community,” is a main function of the program.
Eaves said the forum must have adequate funding to bring the
“big name” speakers in. An average speaker can cost anywhere
from $400 to $1,000. The big name speakers can cost $2,500 to
$6,000 and up. With prices like these. Eaves feels that his small
budget forces him to be a “magician” in trying to get good
speakers to the NCCU campus. The increase in the budget will
permit Eaves to do his job with better flexibility and to entertain
various requests from the many departments on campus.
In a letter sent to Dr. Leroy T. Walker, chancellor of NCCU,
on July 30, 1984, requesting a budget increase, Eaves set up the
format for the Speakers Forum for the ’84-’85 school year. In
the memorandum. Eaves said, “the university should be
prepared to receive at least two big name speakers — one each
semester. Lesser known speakers, but equally authoritive, could
be utilized to forecast each of these events.” This would mean
that four speakers,i.e., two each semester, would be scheduled.
That would result in a total of six speakers for the entire year.
Some have speculated that Walker may try to combine the
See FORUM, p. 2