Do you have the Madness?
Pages
lo & 11
The Student Publication of
Fayetteville State University
THE
November 29, 2006
Who is
Eronomy
Mohammed
Smith?
By: Kaity Parson
The Voice
You may have seen him in
the cafe, questioning the quality
of your dining experience. If not,
then you may have seen him in the
financial aid office, demanding to
speak to someone's supervisor.
Perhaps you have just seen him
walking purposefully around cam
pus to some business unbeknov/nst
to you. If you still can not remem
ber him, perhaps you will remem
ber the dissociation notices posted
in every major office and building
on campus, publicly denouncing his
affiliation with the university and
his right to speak on it's behalf.
Who Is he? He Is Minister
Eronomy Mohammed- Smith and
there are many controversies sur
rounding him and his Involvement
with the university.
One such controversy Is the
question as to whether or not
Minister Mohammed ever at
tended Fayetteville State. While If
is true that Minister Mohammed Is
not a member of the FSU Alumni
Association because he did not
graduate from FSU, you can find
his picture in the 1966, 1967, and
1968 yearbook showing that he
did attend the university his sopho
more, freshmen and junior year.
According to Minister Mohammed,
^'Alumni are those individuals who
Continued on Page 2
SGA. Justifies
Spending
By: Ashley Smith
The Voice
Staff members from The
Voice met with Student Govern
ment Association (SGA) lead
ers Monday, November 20th,
during tVie monthly "Word on
the Yard" meeting to discuss
allegations that SGA may have
misused student funds during
the fall semester.
Concerns were brought
forth concerning the organi
zation's budget following the
release of the SGA Treasurer's
report in early November.
SGA was allotted $71,500
for the 2006-2007 academic
year. The November 15th
report showed that SGA had
spent $48,609.89 for the
semester.
A large portion of that
amount is due to $15,500 be
ing withheld from the budget
for staff compensations for
7 executive board members,
and $10,000 spent to pay for
speakers at the Stand and De
liver Conference on November
3rd and 4th.
These amounts add up to
$25,5000 of the amount spent
this semester.
The purported discrepancy
is in reference to the $23,109
that was used by SGA on other
items, events, and services.
SGA reports that it has
spent $1,825 on t-shirts from
the company Jeb Designs,
$885.00 on SGA parapherna
lia Continued on Page 2
VOICE
Visit Us Online
WWW.FSUVOICE.COM
“Speaking For Ourselves”
Fall Semester
Issue 4
Fire Science Program Offers Great
Opportunities at Fayetteville State
By: Megan Gurganious
The Voice
Fire Station #14 opened in Decem
ber 2005, collaborating with Fayetteville
State University, Fayetteville Technical
Community College, and E.E. Smith
High School in an effort to offer students
amazing opportunities around the com
munity.
In the mid-1990s. Fire Chief B.E.
Nichols served as a facilitator of a
Study Circle group, in which members
of the community meet to discuss how to
better the city and improve the rela
tionships within. At the time, his ideas
to partner with FSU to build this fire
station were denied. By the late 1990s,
more incidents began to occur that
some perceived as racial. The Study
Circle groups were still meeting, hoped
to come up with a solution to benefit
everyone, many still hoped that the fire
station would someday be approved.
When Chancellor Bryan come on board
at FSU, she supported the idea and has
helped build the partnership to what it is
today.
As quoted many times in other
interviews. Chief Nichols states: "There
was an overwhelming need for a fire
station in the FSU area, there was an
overwhelming need to develop a career-
mentoring program for women and mi
norities,. and there was an overwhelming
r.esd for the f!re department to recryif,
train and maintain minority firefighters.
This partnership addresses all of those
issues."
First and foremost, this part of the
community was in desperate need for
enhanced fire protection, and this station
has helped to reduce response times
drastically.
Another goal for the fire station
was to attract females and minorities to
their line of ■york. Chief Nichols and all
those involvt* hope to teach students to
become stroM 1 leaders in the community
and to mokel^e opportunity available
to those who: have the desire to enter
into ;.’i£
FTCC is in their second year of their
two-year program, with at least seventy
students enrolled, offering an associate's
degree in Fire Protection Technology.
Under the direction of Dr. Joe Woodall,
FSU will begin classes geared toward
a bachelor's degree in fire science in
2007. These classes, with the exception
loto By: Antliony kamos
of students' core courses, will be offered
on-line, giving current firefighters the
opportunity to continue their education
and allow them to advance their position
within the department. The fire station
was built, in part, to complement FSU's
program, offering a twe/ve-week live-in
internship for sfvd'srts :n ffieir jurtor or
senior year of the fire science program.
The Fayetteville Fire Department
and FTCC approached E.E. Smith High
School about joining the program
as well, and they agreed. E.E. Smith
students con earn up to 22 credits at
the Fire Academy through the Huskins
program while they are still in high
school. Classes are offered face-to-face,
with a lot of hands-on training. Students
attend two classes, one day per week.
In 2007, E.E. Smith will become a school
of choice, in which students at other
schools can elect to attend in order to
participate in the program.
The fire station was a $3.5 million
project, and was built on land donated
by Fayetteville State University. The
building is 19,000 square feet. Bat
talion Commander Ben Major showed
the facilities that the station provides
for both the firefighters that work there,
and for students involved in their intern
ship. There are a total of eight student
dorm rooms at Station 14. Six rooms are
double occupancy, and two are private
rooms.
The dorms were built based on the
floor plans of the new FSU on-campus
dorms. Law Enforcement Officers from
other jurisdictions have stayed at the
station during training and others have
stayed at the station while completing
other internships within the city's organi
zation.
Although Fire Station #14 has been
in operation for less than a year, they
have achieved much in a short period of
time. In 2005, they were awarded the
James C. Holland Award, on award that
acknowledges community enrichment
and is the most prestigious award any
city can obtain.
They have been ranked 3rd in the
nation for publications done on station
design and use. The National League of
Cities recognizes them. They have trav
eled to Fort Worth, TX for the National
Forum for Black Public Administration
and have done several talks across
North Carolina. The fire station has
proven to be a huge success and an
excellent addition to our community.
Grad Student Overcomes
By: Ashley Smith
The Voice
Seven years ago Chris Rus
sell was diagnosed with Stage
lll-A lung cancer, and was told
to go home and get his af
fairs in order because he was
going to die, and there wasn't
anything that anybody could
do about it. Today, Russell is a
graduate student in the Mas
ters of Social Work program
at Fayetteville State University,
proving that a little faith and
some determination can defy
even death.
Christopher A. Russell was
born on February 4, 1948 at
Fort Benning, Georgia. No
stranger to the military life-style,
his parents were both recog
nized for their distinguished ser
vice to the United State Army.
His father. Colonel Clyde R.
Russell, was the regimental com
mander of the 505th Parachute
Infantry Regiment of the 82nd
Airborne during World War
II. "Dad made all four combat
jumps with the 82nd," says Rus
sell. "Some say that he was the
first man out the door jumping
into Normandy."
His father's service has
been noted in film as well. In
1962 actor Montgomery Cliff
portrayed his father in "The
Longest Day," and in 1968
John Wayne portrayed his
father in "The Green Berets,"
which was filmed at Fort Bragg
while his father was the 7th
Special Forces Group com
mander.
In 1963, Colonel Clyde R.
Russell began writing plans for
the Studies and Observations
Group, which would eventually
become the Special Operations
Group. He became the Group's
first commander and it was his
"A" team positioned in the Gulf
of Tonkin that led to the Gulf of
Tonkin Resolution in 1964. His
dad gave the first orders for
U.S. forces to shoot offensively
during the Vietnam War.
His mother, Virginia Ar-
ends Russell, was assigned to
the 506th parachute infantry
regiment (the Band of Brothers
regiment) with the 101st dur
ing World War II. She died in
1960, but was recently inducted
into the 101st Airborne Division
museum at Fort Campbell, Ken
tucky for being the first woman,
and the first social worker as
signed to the unit.
Chris Russell's personal
military experience started in
1968, after being drafted into
the Army at the height of the
Vietnam War. During his ser
vice, he attended basic training
at Fort Bragg and was accept
ed for officer candidate school
(OCS) at Fort Benning, Geor
gia. After graduating OCS, he
was assigned to this father's
WWII outfit, the 505 Parachute
Infantry Regiment, where he
attended the Psychological Unit
Operations Course (PSYOPS)
at the John F. Kennedy Special
Warfare School. After graduat
ing from these courses, he was
sent to the Republic of South
Vietnam, where he had at
tended high school as a military
dependent a few years earlier.
He was assigned to the 5th
Special Forces (Delta) and 4th
PSYOPS groups.
After returning from Viet
nam in 1971, Chris went back
to school to complete his BA in
Political Science at Appalachian
State University. At Appala
chian State he realized that the
mood of the entire country had
shifted. "I dropped out of the
everyday mainstream society,
and joined the 'counter culture'
of alcohol, drugs, and rock
and roll," said Russell. "I was
a mess in trying to understand
what I'd done in Vietnam juxta
posed against what society was
‘It was during
the second
operation...
that I died on
the operating
table.”
telling me back at Appalachian
State."
With almost 28 years be
hind him and Vietnam, Russell
had no idea that the war would
come back to haunt in an unex
pected way.
In 1998, Chris went to go
see a friend of his named Joy.
He had first met Joy in 1975
when she had predicted that he
would travel to Saudi Arabia
and be in a horrible car crash.
Her predictions were correct
Photo By: Anthony Ramos
and Chris has trusted her ever
since. "Joy is a psychic extraor
dinaire," says Russell. "When
I went to see her in '98, she
advised me that 1 had cancer
and was going to die."
Coming from anyone else,
Chris says he would have just
"shucked" it off, but he had
confidence in his friend and
went to see a doctor at the VA
hospital in Fayetteville.
The doctors at the Veterans
Continued on Page 3
■The Bottom Line
U.S. Navy Honors FSU Football Player
FSU Public Relations - Charlie Lawrence III, a member of the
Fayetteville State University (FSU) football team, has been
selected as a recipient of the Navy Central Intercollegiate
Athletic Association (CIAA) Accelerate Your Life Award. The
award was presented during homecoming pre-game activities on
Saturday, October 28, 2006.
The U.S. Navy Accelerate Your Life Award recognizes CIAA
student-athletes who demonstrate dignity, sportsmanship, team
building, and honor among their coaches, teammates, profes
sors, and school officials.
Lawrence, a native of Goldsboro, Is a nose guard on the
FSU football team and is on the CIAA Academic Honor Roll. He
was one of the NCAA Division II finalists for the 2005 Draddy
Trophy, often referred to as the academic Helsmon. Lawrence, a
member of the Epsilon Zeta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Frater
nity, Inc., Is a senior biology major and has a 3.36 GPA.
For more information, please call (910) 672-1474.
What are Learning Communities?
Learning communities are sets of linked
courses, usually exploring a common theme.
Instructors In learning communities work to
gether to develop the theme and coordinate
their course content. Students enroll In all of
the courses linked through the learning com
munity. By linking together students, faculty.
and courses, learning communities create
more opportunities for enrichment. Interac
tion, and exploration.
Learning communities may Include co-
currlcular activities, service learning oppor
tunities, or other non-tradltlonal educational
experiences.
For more Information, see a representa
tive from University College.