Page Two
THE BENNETT BANNER
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1975
The System Is Failing
In less than four days time it became necessary for the
Guilford County Ambulance Service to take two students to the
hospital. Since the second incident I have received more than a
dozen verbal promises of letters of complaint concerning the
difficulties the ambulance service had completing it’s job on
both occasions. But I rationalized that past experience was
grounds enough not to wait for colleagues to act on these matters.
That Wednesday night a junior had to be wheeled out of
Cone Hall on a stretcher, the ambulance spent too much time
parked on Gorrell Street waiting for the gate to be opened. Had
the crew not made the decision to leave the unit and go after
their patient, the young lady in question could have died in the
extra moments and time in general that was wasted. But I sup
pose the fact that someone might have died will be forgotten
since the ambulance somehow eventually gained access to the
campus and was able to drive between the dormitories and exit
quickly.
Another person became ill in Jones Hall later that week and
again an ambulance unit was called to campus. Luckily this
emergency call came during the daylight hours that the gates
are open, so the gate posed no problem. But this time our col
lege nurse was unavailable to give permission for this freshman
to be taken to the hospital. Again time was wasted before Dean
Bragg gave an “OK” over the telephone.
The nurse can’t spend all her waking hours in pocket, but
that gate could have been open. Rumor has it that Security
Guard Henryhand left her post to go to the nurse and find out
exactly what was going on. Instead of leaving the gate open,
since she had heard that some ambulance was on its way, or
leaving the lock free, she closed and locked the gate. When I
asked her if this was an accurate account of what happened,
she said it was. However, Mrs. Henryhand cannot be blamed for
doing her job by following orders from higher up.
As far as the gate goes, there is no need for both gates to
be locked. There is the understanding that a security person is
to be on duty at all times to allow college faculty and staff per
sons through. Yet, when Mrs. Scarborough came to Player at
2:00 a.m. to take a student to the hospital she could not get
through and no one ever responded to her horn blowing. There
fore, she had to foot it across our dark unguarded campus, alone.
The administration and trustees will probably not go along
with a proposal for a staffed guard house with telephone at
the south end of University Drive. They will say it can’t be fi
nanced. So, we cannot really afford one man in a guard house
... we also cannot afford a sleeping security guard inside Black
Hall or the basement of Jones. Therefore, let’s place this guard
inside a guard house to allow parents, staff and emergency ve
hicles easy access. Surely we have more than one guai'd on
campus at night, so let’s consider constructing a guard house
and rotating the men who walk a beat and the one who will man
the house.
Hasn’t anyone thought to consider the fact that Bennett
is not building good will between itself and the community at
large each time an emergency vehicle has to go through a has-
sel to do a job? What is being established is a foundation for
an attitude to develop among the emergency services, that says
in essence: Everytime we go to Bennett there will be some new
obstacle for us to overcome before we can go about our appointed
task.
It is truly somewhat less than intelligent for an ambulance
crew to have to wait for an OK from Nurse Trammell or who
ever before they can carry someone to the hospital. Why is it
necessary for anyone to have to give some sort of “go ahead”
if someone is ill and that person or those around deem it a
problem that requires professional, immediate attention? Is
someone concerned that people will fake an illness just to ride in
an ambulance? I feel certain that those who would attempt to
act out an illness in these technological times are minute in
number
President Miller I’m not trying to raise your pressure but
Bennett College may have a money problem like Bennett never
dreamed of if a law suit comes rolling down Union Drive.
ACES Again!
by Cheryl E. Johnson
In the interest of again clari
fying confusion, we reprint the
following excerpt from an article
published last spring.
The seniors of 1976 will be the
last class exempted from the Aca
demic and Cultural Enrichment
Series (ACES) assemblies and
Lecture-Lyceum programs.
In an interview with Dr. Chelsea
Xipton, dean of the college, the
final word on the subject was this:
“As I understand it ACES attend
ance was added to the curriculum
two years ago. Therefore present
juniors and seniors are exempted
because this program was added
to the college catalogue after they
(present juniors and seniors) en
tered Bennett: The only courses
that can be required for gradua
tion without being in the cata
logue, that a student enters under,
are those courses that are needed
for some sort of state certifica
tion.”
BENNETT BANNER STAFF
Associate Editor
Editor-In-Chief
Cheryl E. Johnson
Adviser
Dr. Virginia Tucker
Lay-Out-Editor
Joyce Bass
Esther Canty
Advertising Manager
Circulation Manager
Robyn-Denise Berryhill
Cleo Branch
Elizabeth Adams
Reporters
Rose Marie Hudson
Marcia Blackwell
Bianca E. Hurley
Mellisandre Breafhett
Debbra Lowrance
Jamelle Felder
Donna Meacham
Muriel Fenner
Thomasina Stallings
France:; Gaines
Diane Stevens
Gloria Glisson
Sheila Stewart
Lennet Hill
Debra Tillman
Cartoonist
Bobbie Durden
%
{)dT x1rA] r Neal (?!
Letters
To TLe
Editor
Dear Editor:
Recently a very much listened
to radio station on campus has
been running a contest advocat
ing a name change for the city of
Greensboro, which at present is
called the “Gate City.” When, why,
or where this nickname was
created escapes me but in view of
the current situation at Bennett it
is certainly applicable.
Among the primray complaints
of Bennett students, the issue of
the north and south gates comes
high on the list. In the last edi
tion of the Banner, two opposing
views, those of a student and those
of an administration official were
offered. Here then is still another
opinion.
I am 100% with the administra
tion if the primary objective of
the gate construction is student
safety. But realities must be faced.
If their main reason for the gates
is to prevent vagrants and other
undesirables from entering the
campus, three yards of half a gate
is hardly sufficient means for
keeping them out, perhaps by car
but certainly not on foot.
While I thoroughly support the
view, therefore, that they are not
much use for safety, I am by no
means in accord with those stu
dents who advocate removing them
by force, which in the long run
will prove to no avail. Somehow a
sensible, middle of the road com
promise must be reached.
It stands to reason that if you
can’t get in the gates, you can’t
get out. Therefore, I fail to see
the need for a gate at both ends.
The solution? If it is a necessity
to have a gate, let the one at the
south end remain and construct
a guard both at the north end
where the security personnel can
screen all entering vehicles. That
way ambulances, fire engines, etc.,
in the event of an emergency will
have easier access to the campus
and will be able to prevent what
could end in tragedy if time is
wasted.
College in general and Black
colleges in particular face sure
extinction because of many more
severe problems (such as budget)
other than this. The solution to
the problem of security should
really be quite simple.
Robyn Denise Berryhill
Merner Hall
CHEKESHA
This issue marks the beginning of a column by senior, Chekesha
Penn from Winston-Salem. It is the intention of the BANNER to see to
it that student points-of-view are reflected through a second editoral eye,
on a regular basis, with this section of the editorial page.
I am so tired of waiting
Aren’t you.
For the world to become good
And beautiful and kind?
Let us take a knife
And cut the world in two—
And see what worms are eating
At the rind.
•—Langston Hughes
“See what worms are eating at the rind?” In the past four weeks, all
of us have become aware (though some of us quite reluctantly) of the
many instances of some things rotten going on around the school. Let us
have a review of these events:
—TWO NEW GATES; an additional one from last year, reinforced
with cement, that closes at 6 P.M.
2—COMPULSORY CLASSES.
^3—NO ROLLERS IN THE HAIR AFTER 8 A.M.
:^4—MEAL TICKETS; non-optional, that is, unlike the option meal books
or stickers used at other institutions; we must pay for thm.
—A MISPLACED INFIRMARY; if the Residence Life Office can move
to Cone Hall basement, why couldn’t the Counseling Center?
—ANOTHER HOSPITAL CASE; why did Nurse Trammel have to “fin
ish her dinner first” and why did the ambulance have to drive across
the grass (that students are forbidden to walk on) because the gates
were locked and no security guard could be found to open them?
4^7—CONTRACTS; why were people threatened with eviction AFTER
their tuition/room and board money had been paid?
“Worms” is a problem, don’t you think? In looking over these events,
we raise the question, “Why?” Some of us will call names; others may
give a group as to the reason (i.e. “niggers,” “the administration,” “un-
together students,” “these silly women,” etc.) And still others will blame
the Forces Unseen.
Back to the question “why?” Remember last year in the news when
people were upset over Watergate, Nixon’s orders and lies, rampant bug
ging, CIA plots to overthrow foreign governments, injunctions that
stopped people from striking, and the giving of drugs to unsuspecting
persons?
All those things were manifestations of the same attempt to supress
people’s democratic rights.
Many of you signed petitions for various countries in Africa to be
free. Many of you participated in an anti-capital punishment demonstra
tion. Many of you supported the action of JoAnn Little. These instances
pertain to people having a RIGHT—to defend themselves against bodily
harm, to not be under foreign domination, to not work if they choose.
And what does this have to do with Bennett? “Education is said to
be an interest of the federal government, a legal function of the states . . . ”
(American Education, pg. 7) If the larger motion around the school (i.e.
those who own the businesses, control the flow of money, determine na
tional policy—“call the shots”) is pursuing a policy of little regard for
personal rights, then it logically flows that AN INSTITUTION THAT IS
(Continued on page 3, Col. 1)