Newspapers / Fayetteville State University Student … / Oct. 1, 1995, edition 1 / Page 2
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5roncos’ Voicc Oclobcr 1995 Editorial Comment Politics As Usual By Roger A. Harris As when there were (and for that matter, still are) slaves in America, the surest way to keep the victimized at a disadvantage is to deny them access to information (i.e., an education). We need to peep what’s really going on in the U.S. Senate these days. The Republican majority wants to cut education and training by $36 billion in 1995 including $10 billion in loan benefits to stu dents. And they want to do this now—at a point in America’s history when annual tuition increases average six percent a year and rising. What this means is that the Pell Grant you received this semester (that barely got you over the hump) will be cut back severely or just plain dust in the wind next semester. Deeper? If you cut funding to the most valuable and important resource that America needs to remain globally competitive, a trained and educated popu lace (it’s the only thing that separates us from Bosnia), you are slyly yet abso lutely mortgaging its future. The Republicans know this fact yet do not care. In fact, they bear no undue remorse for their effort. Since they will not suffer from this grievous sin, it will instead be vested upon ourselves and our children. WAKE UP...NOW. Interim Chancellor Donna Benson is a political genius. When FSU’s aca demic grading procedures were publicly assaulted by the Observer-Times, she quickly stepped to the board and created the Academic Vision Task Force. By appointing FSU faculty and administrators to the task force and empowering them to make the changes they (not she) determine are necessary, their actions alone will determine whether the allegations are either validated or put to rest. Again, genius. The FSU senior class needs to slap its recently elected class representatives in the face because that’s what they did to FSU proper when not a single nomi nee showed up for election speeches held September 26. No excuses are war ranted or acceptable. As Seniors, you should know more about what it takes to make it to the top, how to get it done, and carry an implicit obligation to set the example: to show us how to get it done now and get it done effectively. You were sadly and shockingly remiss in your duty. But my duty is not to judge, but rather to report. Seniors, it will be left to you to show us where your hearts, loyalty, and responsibility lay. It’s a very easy proposition to establish an effective student government (and we have that foundation in SGA President Wayne X Hodges). Most im portant to this process is the identification of students who’ve had the fore sight, energy, and commitment to get involved in their freshman and sopho more years at FSU (it takes time to learn the ropes). Beware of perpetrators who only want the title for resume purposes. Delise Hopson (our current SGA VP) would be and excellent repeat choice next year. An even better choice is Hope Faulkner, who has already announced her intentions to run. Get to know them both now because they will be in the mix next Spring. Next is to not consider any speech by an incumbent that doesn’t state what he or she has accomplished while in office. Incumbants shouldn’t offer ex cuses or transfer blame (no offense, Nadia Fakih), just results, baby. Next is for elected student officials to realize that between elections, orien tation, finals, and semester breaks that they only have about seven months to See Politics, page 12 BUT AT WHAT COST? By Stephanie Taylor Pledging any type of black sorority or fraternity these days has, in many respects', lost some of its meaning, posh, glamour, and esteem. It is in fact one of the many self-destructive acts that we African-Americans commit that con tradict and further debilitate our progress in America. Examine how the so called “brotherhood” and “sisterhood” process is achieved in these organizations. Aside from using interviews and submitted essays to assess the credentials of prospective candidates, submitting them to humiliating and degrading physical, emotional, and mental abuse is usually the norm. I do not wish to detail these methods as their destructive and deadly effects are already well documented. But one has to think, isn’t this the same treatment African-American slaves endured for 400 years against their oppres sors? Then why would we now submit ourselves to that same regressive pro cess to join an organization that is supposedly designed to uplift our race? From a biological standpoint, when our blood brothers, sisters, and cousins are bom into our families, do we “haze” them in order for them to be accepted as family? Do we compel them to suffer an evil, sadistic, and humiliating pro cess to prove their loyalty and love for us? Of course, the answer is no. We love them immediately and unconditionally, not because we are forced to, but be cause they simply came into being and share our same lifeline. When are we going to wake up and see that the practice of hazing our broth ers and sisters into respective fraternities and sororities is a contradiction of their very existence; destroying their foundation and trashing the very tenets upon which the organization is established. We complain and agonize about “Black-on-Black” crime, but isn’t hazing and the entire process of assimilation into these so called “elite” organizations a crime caused and executed by Afri can-Americans? And isn’t it ironic that this circumstance takes place at our institutions of higher learning? We need to take a long look at what we’re doing to ourselves and why. Attaining higher education is a rite of passage practiced by Africans since time immemorial. Hazing contradicts this tradition, instead throwing African-Ameri cans 400 years backward to a time when learning and brotherhood were death- See Cost, page 12 The Broncos’ VOICE Copyright 1995 Faculty Advisor Dr. Linda Barlow Staff Andrea Powers Lishan Harrison Amey Pickett LaTonya McNeill Richard J. Crosby Delfrieda Hudson Lance Snead Jamie Cruz-Morales Gloria M. Siler Natasha Eienne Sharon High Xaver U. Priest Kathleen Carroll Kelly Moore William Shelton Dora Rogers Angela Lewis Yolanda A. Barnes Entertainment Editor Jeff Anderson Layout Editor Eric C. Jones Copy Editor Rhonda Keyes Photo Editor Ogboima Coates Office Manager Benetta Kingsberry Sports Editor Deitric Davis Business/Advertising Ikeshia Reliforc Managing Editor Lesli Sample "Editor Roger Harris The Broncos’ Voice c/o Fayetteville State University 1200 Murchison Road Fayetteville, NC 28301 (910) 486-1357 fax (910) 486-1857 email- ejones@misl.uncfsu.edu Disclaimer Opinions expressed in The Broncos' Voice are those of the individual writers and do not necessarily represent the views of Fayetteville State University, its employees, the University of North Carolina, the Voice staff and editors, or our advertisers. Submission guidelines Submissions of editorial material, news, and letters to the editor are welcomed, but should be limited to 350 words. Any such submissions should be typed and double-spaced, free from grammatical or typographic errors, and should include the name and telephone number of the writer. Announcements of upcoming campus events should follow the same format as editorial submis sions and should include the name and telephone number of a contact person (for example, the president of a club). Where to submit your articles Typewritten articles may be submitted in person at the Voice office in the Rudolph Jones Student Center or mailed to the address on this page. If possible, include a 3.5" 720k or 1.44 M disk with your document. Electronic documents may be sent through email or by fax.
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