December 2, 2011 | www.fsuvoice.com ^ ^ ThE VoiCE, For Students, By Students 3
STUDENTSPOTLIGHT Dreams of being a big bailer
by Brian McKithen
Contributing Writer
Senior offensive lineman, Larry Mc
Donald, will be graduating from FSU with
a long list of accolades, and talks about bis
future goals of playing in the NFL.
Offensive lineman, Larry McDonald,
walked on the field for the coin toss at Vir
ginia Union, and counted his blessing about
being able to suit up in his number 51 jersey
and start his 42nd collegiate football game as
a Fayetteville State University Bronco.
Set to graduate in May as a health and
physical education major, Mr. McDonald is a
six foot, lineman fi-om Mebane, North Caro
lina who has been playing football for FSU
for the past four years. He was a part of the
CL\A championship winning team in 2009.
He feels it is truly a blessing that he was
able to stay healthy enough to play in every
game while here at FSU.
“1 look at it as a reward for all of the hard
work that me and my teammates do in the ofif
season,” said Mr. McDonald.
With the season over, Mr. McDonald
hopes to go on and accomplish yet another
goal, which is to play in the NFL. Mr. Mc
Donald plans on going to some combines
and showing off some his talents to coaches
and scouts that are out there. He is confident
about being able to make it in the profes
sional league.
Mr. McDonald feels “With God’s help, 1
will get an opportunity to play at the next
level.”
This was the last season for many Bronco
football players as Mr. McDonald is one of
ten seniors departing fi'om the team.
“I am going to miss playing with my
teammates. I have played with some great
athletes, and there are some great young
athletes on the team and they have a bright
future. And I will miss joking and lining
down on Saturdays with them,” stated Mr.
McDonald.
The program gave Mr. McDonald an op
portunity to play football at the collegiate
level when other schools wouldn’t give him
a chance. The FSU Broncos did, and he has
taken fiill advantage of it.
Mr. McDonald will be leaving the team
with numerous accolades and top honor
achievements as a student-athlete. He was on
the all-rookie team in 2008 and was named
second-team all CIAA in the 2009-10 sea
son. In 2011, he was recognized as an Hon
orable mention preseason all-American and
made the All-CIAA First Team.
Already departing with an impressive list
of accomplislmients as a Bronco, if Mr. Mc
Donald had another season he would have
possibly broke the Broncos’ modem era re
cord of 43 starts, set by defensive line coach
Damien Adams.
Head Coach Kenny Phillips said "You
would've never thought that this is his senior
year, but he's done a great Job for us on the
field and a great job in the classroom. He's
accomplished a lot in four years, and that's
what you look for when you come to college
as a student-athlete."
Voice photo by Jennifer Lucas
McDonald
Comedic, poetic inspiration entertains students
by Jalynn Jones
Voice Staff Writer
Comedians and poets perform an
inspirational and empowering mix
comedy and poetry for Fayetteville
State University students on Nov.
18 in the Shaw Auditorium.
It’s not often that speakers can
successfully mix comedy and a
positive message, but that was what
happened last week at the Com
edy Explosion show called “Are U
Wasting Time.”
Founded by Asim Ali, the Cali
fornia native wanted to expand his
works to Fayetteville State Uni
versity where he has a home and a
family.
The evening’s performers includ
ed BET Def Comedy Jam comedi
ans Dexter Smiles and poet, Poetri.
Mr. Smiles kept the crowd in
tune with his witty jokes and Po
etri did spoken words poems such
as “Monsters in my Stomach,”
“Krispy Kream,” and “Waka Floc-
ka.”
"Are U Wasting Time " is a youth
empowerment and personal devel
opment program to help students
become passionate about their edu
cation and to the nurture talents and
intellect of young people. They did
a free show at the Boys and Girls
Club nearby to volunteer their tal
ent to the community.
The Are U Wasting Time comedy
explosion was sponsored in part
by the brothers of the Epsilon Beta
Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi. Here
are the highlights from the inter
views fi’om Bronco-iRadio and The
Voice.
Where did Asim Ali’s motiva
tion come fi'om to start the “Are U
Wasting Time” movement?
Asim Ali: “Well it came fi-om a
very intimate space. It came as. a re
sult of me doing some reflecting on
my talent and my intellect and just
feeling as if I had grossly underuti
lized my own talent. So you take
that internal reflection and combine
it with having family members and
fi-iends caught up with gang activ
ity and a number of different things
that we know eat away at the fiber
of our community. I just decided
that instead of getting on a soap box
that I wanted to be a part of an ef
fort and so 1 committed myself to
youth empowerment and personal
development.”
Has their ever been a time when
you wanted to quit?
Poetri: I’ve never wanted to
quit...My wife has muhiple sclero
sis so there are times when I have
to be at the house with her at all
times. I just got back from Chi
cago [where] she got a stem cell
transplant so we were there for like
four months...! don’t wanna say I
thought I was gonna quit, it was just
a rough period because I was focus
ing on my wife and the transplant.”
Do you feel you play an impor
tant role in society?
Dexter Smiles: “I really do. I
see entertainment [or] comedy as
a medicine of some sort. People
need [to laugh]. Especially in this
economic climate, we need to laugh
and laugh loud. I mean that laugh
that makes [your stomach hurt]... If
you don’t laugh right now, you defi
nitely will cry. Comedy is healing,
poetry is healing.”
What is different about “Are U
Wasting Time” that other youth em
powerment programs lack?
Asim Ali: “What make Are U
Wasting Time youth empowerment
and personal development so dif
ferent. . .well there are a lot of good
programs out there...more power
to you If you are lending yourself
out there for the development of
[our] youth. But, what 1 do have
say is that we as adults have failed
the youth tremendously. When you
think about it, when you have a
son and that son comes home with
straight A’s on their report card, the
first thing that parent is inclined to
do is to say is ‘that’s my boy’ but
the first time your child gets caught
in some type of drive by shooting
or [some other negative experi
ence], the first thing we say is ‘boy.
if it wasn’t for them no good guys
you was hanging with’...we sepa
rate ourselves from the fact the we
are responsible for everything. Are
U Wasting Time looks to meet these
young people on their ground. We
have lost the right to tell young peo
ple [what they should and should
not do].,.we betray their trust, we
demonstrate hypocrisy...and your
child is watching this behavior...
with that being said Are U Wasting
Time uses art.”
If you could go back in time,
what would be one thing you would
say to the younger you?
Dexter Smiles: “1 would tell
myself to concentrate more in my
academics and my future and to eat
properly.”
Asim Ali: “1 would tell my
younger self that everything mat
ters. Even the things you thiiJc are
insignificant. And I would also tell
my younger self that every person
matters. We are all fibers of one
fabric. Everything is interdependent
[on one other]. There is no inde
pendence. Independence is a false
sense of security... because even if
you were the greatest brain surgeon,
you wouldn’t perform your proce
dure on yourself”
For teens without family ties and
other necessities, what would be
the best alternative to keep them
out trouble?
Asim Ali: “Well, the first thing
I would say is that if you have to
think about it, don’t do it...as spiri
tual creatures, we all have the good
ness of God inside of us. That in
ner voice that prompts us to pause
is a gift intended to help guide us
in the world. If we spent more time
listening to that voice, that could go
a long way towards guiding you.”
Poetri: “Well, I’m an old fashion
church boy so I think [one should]
definitely turn to the church. If you
give God that second, that first step,
God will come and meet and pull
you in.”
Dexter Smiles: “1 found a per
son in my life that 1 didn’t want to
disappoint and that was my grand
mother, if I thought what I was
doing was going to disappoint my
grandmother, it wasn’t good for me.
Just to see a smile on her face was
always great for me. Anything 1 did
out in the streets could get back to
my grandmother and 1 didn’t want
to disappoint her I found that hu
man that 1 thought was the greatest
person point. So, find a focal point
to guide you. God is your focus but
there may be someone on earth that
can guide you...you can have God
as your spiritual leader and then
you can have a person here in the
flesh that you can look up to.