Newspapers / Fayetteville State University Student … / Nov. 29, 2006, edition 1 / Page 4
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Editorials Utilizing Resources Our View: FSU Should Learn from Other UNC Schools Fayetteville State Univer sity was established in 1867 and is the second-oldest public institution of higher education in the state of North Carolina. Our university's heritage is something that we all should be proud of. However, it is important that we not become complacent because of what our school has accomplished. It is important that we continue to look for ways to improve our university so that Fayetteville State can continue to provide its students with a quality educa tion. Our university has the unique opportunity of having the keys to improvement on our doorstep. Fayetteville State is one of the 16 member schools of the University of North Caro lina system. The UNC system has established itself as one of the top public university systems in the country. With Chapel Hill leading the way, Fayetteville State has the ability to benefit from our parent school's nation ally recognized programs, and learn better ways to organize our university programs to ensure student success after college. Our student newspaper. The Voice, is a living example of this concept at work. Before this year. The Voice had experi enced several years of decline. Without a journalism or opera tional mass communications pro gram at FSU, students working for the newspaper have had to overcome significant obstacles to provide students with a re spectable publication. In order to defeat this handicap, mem bers of our paper have traveled to UNC Chapel Hill to learn from their student newspaper, the Daily Tar Heel. The Daily Tar Heel runs five days a week, and makes over $500,000 a year in advertising revenue. While our student newspaper does not have nearly the same resources as theirs, we have acknowledged that we can learn key management tools from a more successful publica tion in hopes that some day our student newspaper might be able to mimic the Daily Tar Heel's success. This concept can be applied to other aspects of Fayetteville State University as well. When looking at how our university can improve student life at Fay etteville State, representatives from the deportments of Student Affairs and Residence Life could travel to other UNC campuses like Chapel Hill, Appalachian State, UNC Ashville, and oth ers to see what services these larger universities offer to their students. It would be important for these departments to note both the services offered, and how programs are managed so that we might be able to emulate those programs on a smaller scale at FSU. If we are having problems with refund check and financial aid disbursement, representa tives from the Business Depart ment and Financial Aid offices could travel to other schools to see if they hove had to combat similar issues, and how they were able to overcome those issues. We can also work to improve our educational programs by trying to create partnerships with other UNC institutions to provide students with broader education choices. Fayetteville State could part ner with other schools to offer summer courses for the price of Fayetteville State tuition. These programs could offer students in the nursing pro gram at FSU the ability to take summer courses or internships at University of Chapel Hill medical facilities, which could greatly benefit students in those areas. We could offer programs that encouraged joint research projects between FSU and other schools. These programs would encoura ge more people to attend Fayetteville State, and would show the community and the entire UNC system that we ore dedicated to improving our university for the betterment of our students. We should embrace our university's rich heritage by continuing to be progressive and ever-changing. Title III Programs Our View: Title III Programs Enrich College Experience 1 know we hove all heard mention of Title III funding, but what does it mean to the FSU student? When Title ill of the Higher Education Act was enacted in 1965 it gave the Federal government the ability to offer financial assis tance to "strengthen and improve the aca demic quality, strengthen the administrative capacity, and establish an endowment fund in order to achieve growth and self-sufficiency for developing institutions." Funding for Title III generally goes to in stitutions that hove large minority populations and economically disadvantaged students, such os Fayetteville State University. Annually the United States Congress ap portions about $300,000,000 to support Title III programs and Fayetteville State receives $3,503,734. Upon hearing the amount you may be wondering where the money is going. You should be happy to hear that title III funds are used to meet a variety of objectives that better enhance the college experience of our students. Here are a few of the activi ties that are part of our university's Title III programs: • activities include workshops to improve teaching and learning, online course pro duction, funds to conduct more research, and the publication of scholarly articles. There are many factors that can affect a student's progress and it takes a combined comprehensive effort of campus resources and programs to do so. This objective helps to ensure that stu dents' progress is being supported and fos tered on every level. • objective facilitates a quality academic experience through specialized accredita tion efforts, student learning assessments. www.fsuvoice.com initiatives to enhance student learning, and the cost associated with these im provements, such as technological up grades. • how FSU fund's some of its renovation projects, here is your answer. Most of the funds go towards smaller scale renova tions and repairs. Some of those include repairs to the building structure, and replacement of chalkboards and such. The goal is to ensure that students have a positive environment in which to learn. • preparatory courses- The FSU honors program is funded through this initiative. The goal is to prepare these students for graduate school through activities that promote cultural, academic, civic, and character advancement. Other initiatives includethe strengthening of campus information services, the establish ment and enhancement of library resources, the strengthening of academic support through internationalization of education, strengthening academic support through diversity training, and project administration and evaluation. Dr. Tendai Johnson, Special Assistant to the Chancellor for Title 111, serves as the activity director. As FSU continues to grow, we can only hope that we continue to grow in the amount of money we receive in funding for those positive programs and initiatives that benefit our university community. The information you hove received merely give a narrow scope of everything that falls under Title HI funding. More information about Title III funding may be found on the university website at http://www.uncfsu.edu/titleiii/index.htm Except for staff editorials, the views expressed in our opnion sec tion are opinions of the writer, and do not reflect the ideas of The Voice, the student body, or Fayetteville State University. If you disagree with an opinion piece, we encourage you to write in and express your views. OPINION THE VOICE Speaker’s Opinions Controversial: Distinguished Speaker Dr. Manning Marable I had the opportunity to hear Dr. Manning Marable speak at The Chancellor's Distinguished Speaker Series on November 14, 2006. While many of his points were well-received and true, I believe that other aspects of his speech were a bit controversial. At the beginning, he dis cussed affirmative action, mak ing it seem as though it is a bad thing for states to eliminate it. But isn't affirmative action a form of racism, by allowing special grants, contracts, or employ ment opportunities? Isn't that, in a way, telling minorities that the government and other organiza tions recognize them as, in fact, a minority? As a minority myself, I don't see colors in people, I see a person as who they are, and I know I'm not the only one who feels this way. Most people just want to be as equal as the ne:)(;t person, whether white, black, or any other color. Dr. Marable discussed vot ing in America at great length, stating that it is unfair that some states disenfranchise felons while they are serving time, on proba tion, and in some cases, for the rest of their lives. We may agree that every American should have the right to vote; after all, the Constitution does dictate that all people over the age of eighteen shall have the right to vote, regardless of race, color, or pre vious servitude. However, states do have the ability to make and enforce laws within their domain, as some states have obviously chosen to do so. We also know that a felon, soy, who is possibly facing the death sentence would vote against anyone who cam paigns for capital punishment. Now, capital punishment is a terrible idea to think about, but put into perspective for people dealing with the aftermath of Megan Gurganious a horrendous crime committed against them, it may not be such an awful thing. Why should we allow prisoners who have commit ted the crimes to skew the votes in favor of themselves? One way to help correct Americans from becoming repeat offenders, according to Dr. Marable, is to construct a bridge of learning. This would allow prisoners to receive an education and job training while incarcerat ed. Let me ask this. Is it fair that, as upstanding students and citi zens, we either have to take out thousands of dollars in loans or work two or three jobs in order to pay for our college education, while someone who committed a crime gets their education on the tax dollars that we have to pay? While we haven't done anything of offense, a prisoner is allowed, possibly even required, to get the education and experience that we dream of? The opinion that Dr. Marable had that truly struck home to me was that our country would be safer if families weren't torn apart, losing a monetary pro vider, when a felon was taken away to prison. He believes that children need both parents, and 1 absolutely agree, if the fam ily is kept together in the best interest of the children and not just in hopes that it may possibly prevent some cycle of disenfran chisement. I did research of my own to see what crimes these prisoners have committed. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 2002, 51% of prisoners had committed violent crimes such as murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery, assault, among other violent offenses. 20% of prison ers hod committed property crimes such as burglary, larceny, trespassing, vandalism, and other property offenses. Drug- related crimes moke up 21% of prisoners, including possession, manufacturing, and trafficking of illegal substances. Finally, the remaining 7% of prisoners had committed public crimes such as drunk driving, weapons, obstruction, among other public offenses. The first two categories particularly, violent and property crimes, make up 71% of prison ers. Would anyone really feel safer with a murderer, rapist, or burglar as their neighbor, all for the sake of keeping a family together? Would it even be safer for the children or would it be more of a detriment and a fear that this person could turn on their own family? The third category, drug- related crimes, often leads to violent crimes while a person is under the influence. These three categories alone make up 92% of prisoners. While I believe in giving someone a second chance to an extent, I also believe that bringing them back into society as quickly as it has been sug gested would not make most of us feel safer. I absolutely agree with Dr. Marable's point that racism, though not as obvious as in the past, is constantly occurring in our country. Once again, instead of trying to be "better" than someone else or "deserving" of something because of the color of our skin, we should all strive to be just as equal as the person next to us. The Degeneration of Language We were both in high school, having a heated debate over the spelling of a particular word. At the time, we did not have ac cess to a dictionary, so we were forced to use the scientific meth od to prove each other wrong. 1 tried to explain to him that the phonetic pronunciation of the word is 'fab-you-luss,' therefore, it is spelled 'fabulous'. My oppo nent, however, kept saying "No! It's fab-O-lous." His infallible proof was a cer tain rapper by the name of Fabo- lous who would spell his name out in all of his songs, hence my friend's confusion concerning the spelling of the word. After I finished laughing at my friend (yes, I know I'm cruel), I explained to him that Fabulous was not an expert on spelling and the misspelling was perhaps the rapper's way of being clever. However, I begin to won der, could this music potentially unravel the very fabric that holds our English language together? I know what you're thinking, "Slow down, girl. You're jumping to major conclusions." But the more I thought about it, the more I began to realize that this was not my first encounter with word confusion stemming from rap and hip hop music. To this day, I know many people who spell mystical with a "k" because the word was introduced into their everyday vocabulary through the Louisiana rapper who popularized the song "Shake it Fast." Ludicrous is commonly spelled and pronounced the some way as Ludacris, the rap per. Also, because of the singer, Ginuwine, I have actually seen people spell the word 'genuine' exactly, or partially, the way the singer spells his name. But it doesn't stop with spell ing. In 1999, Ginuwine sang to Kaity Parson the whole world that he was "so anxious," when the appropriate word would have been eager. Anxiety, in traditional terms, would convey that there was a certain amount of worry or dis tress, whereas eagerness would appropriately explain the keen desire and impatient longing of which the songwriter speaks. I could definitely go on and on for hours. How many children will grow up confused over the difference between do and does because of the song that asks (in the voice of a little child, mind you), "Do your chain hang low?" Will people stop showing me what they have and follow Jay Z's lead in his song, "Show Me What You Got?" Will the use of the word are (or all conjugations of the verb to be) become obsolete because it's easier for Sammy to soy "you so fly" and for Donity Kane to sing "we in the car"? Will young women start thinking they're having deja vu (and forego psychiatric treat ment) when what they are really suffering from is a slight case of hallucination, all because Be- yonce told them that deja vu is when you're so infatuated with someone that you start imagin ing that you see and feel them everywhere? Would it have been too hard for Petey Pablo to sqy "North Carolina, come on and rise up," instead of raise up? Will people continue to put a "ch" in front of the word you, all because rappers and singers (and many others) would rather say "whatchoo," instead of what you? you, "letchoo" instead of let you, and "dontcha," instead of don't 1? Will this cause a rift in the time space continuum causing us to question the validity of the sequence of order that all events fall into, which is the framework of our existence!? Ok- now I'm being mellow dramatic-1 couldn't resist. But what does all of this prove? For one thing, it proves on so many levels that I am a geek. More importantly, it proves that teachers have to work extra hard to combat the effects of our children's education via hip hop, lest our language evolve into a confusing tongue devoid of any traditional rules. Now, to make sure that no one is confused as to what I am saying (I sense an uproar coming on), I do not mean that rappers and singers must change their songs to be grammatically correct. The music serves os the voice of a vernacular, not the English language as a whole. I am well aware of the fact that, rhythmically, it sounds better to combine and delete a few words for a catchy hook. It is not the job of 50 cent or Chamillionaire (thank God) to educate us on proper grammar usage. Never theless, 1 refuse to accept the ex planation that this is just the way "we" talk. Some of these rappers and singers went to Ivy League schools, so I don't buy that. My point is this- we must not allow our music to become our education. If we're not careful, we may be destined for a future in which all teachers will have to attend Ice T's School of Rap because it's the only way that students will be able to retain the rules of language. I don't knock anyone for lis tening to the music though; even I find myself in the mood for a little gangsta' rap, every 10 years or so...
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