Newspapers / Bennett College Student Newspaper / March 19, 1976, edition 1 / Page 2
Part of Bennett College Student Newspaper / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Page Two THE BENNETT BANNER FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 1976 A LESSON FROM SPELUN How often have we college students been told to enjoy our college days like no others we may ever experience? Yet some times when you leave your college home to visit another you may find it difficult to point yourself in the homeward direc tion because, while away, you’ve seen a few better ways that might be incorporated into your home scene to make it all the better. But home is so hard to change once people have become accustomed to doing some things' a certain way even if some of these things are of a recent origin. And in the mind of any rational person who thinks a given community could use a wee bit of change is also a reservation that maybe you don’t have the right to suggest changes to the powers-that-be. The answer to this last thought is that when people in your community say to you “this campus is on the verge of self- destruction” you have an obligation to disseminate the knowledge you may have to at least let some of the hot air out. All of this elaboration is prelude to what I want to offer to the campus at large, as plausible solutions to some of the prob lems students complain of. Last month I had occasion to visit the “other one”—Spel- man College in Atlanta, Georgia. Bennett and Spelman are the only colleges for black women in the United States. And aside from the physical differences, which one may guess is the di rect result of Spelman’s being Rockefeller related, and the size of the student enrollment, which is obviously linked to the fact that physically they are larger than Bennett is, and what it cost to attend Spelman, $3,100 as opposed to $2,500 here, there are also some internal difference that make Spelman unbelieve- ably more appealing. First there is the dining hall set up—no meal tickets. The dardnest thing about our meal tickets is that no one knows where they came from. (Being ignorant sometimes keeps you off the hook around here when students want to place blame.) Anyhow, at Spelman they have a numbers system. I gather that one receives a dining hall number at the opening of each aca demic year. These numbers are printed on cards and then em bossed to keep them from becoming easily damaged or damp ened. When one walks into the Spelman dining hall you present your number if asked to or simply state your number as you go by the numbers person. If she recalls your number, no questions are asked. If there are questions, you must show your dining hall number card. At Bennett this could be implemented by typing a different number on 600 strips of paper and sliding this paper behind our college IDs. This system would eliminate the pass ing of gems from students to the Bennett ticket lady who has to sometimes handle f ilthy-looking meal tickets. Next coming into easy view at Spelman is a menu—typed— for that week, so if you don’t like what’s cooking you may leave at that point. The next point cannot be impressed enough on the person who prepares our menus. There is a certain amount of variety in their meals. For example the salads. Each day one has a choice of two salads. First there is your basic tossed salad which is a daily item; then there is another salad like maca roni, potato, or carrots and raisins. While I visited, the food was delicious; however, I was told that my timing was perfect as' a petition had been circulated a day earlier when the food had been for a while in a not-so-delicious state. Pressing right along, the next big item of business on their campus is the gate situation. Yes, they have gates but the gates are open at all times and they also have little guard houses at their two entrances' and unlike the Bennett gates, their gates do not inconvenience Spelman students but only outsiders. The only time a gentleman may drive his car onto their campus is after 12:00 midnight when he is returning a young lady. And I might add that the young man is not allowed the rest of the morning to deposit said young lady. As for those poor Bennett ladies who just like to see the guys driving their mobiles through, it is time we began raising your level of consciousness. Show ing off cars is high school and at least by your second semester at college you should begin putting away high school attitudes. Of course security would not like to have to open and close gates for students to park if there is available space on Union Drive. But let’s face some facts. Security, like everyone else on this campus, is here to serve the students. Everyone who works here was hired under the premise that this was his over all purpose. To those security persons who would not like to do this, I shall suggest that they seek other employment if this plan is instituted here. The Spelman key system is not woi'thy of mention as many of us Bennett students cannot remember to close the side doors behind ourselves. Neither are the renovated dorms worthy of mention as when Spelman needs some new facility all they have to do is write a memo (big exaggeration) whereas President Miller has to go out on foot and talk people into investing funds in Bennett (very little exaggeration.) When the funds get here Bennett will probably have some better looking dorms inside than pres ently exist. By now you are wondering why the heck I did not attend Editor-In-Chief Cheryl E. Johnson Adviser Dr. Virginia Tucker Associate Editor Joyce Bass Advertising Manager Robyn-Denise Berryhill Circulation Manager Cleo Branch Reporters Jamelle Felder Rose Marie Hudson Donna Meacham Thonrasina Stallings Cartoonist Bobbie Durden Diane Stevens Sheila Stewart Debra Tillman SAt\»tatior\ .^aP I dov Z Scoops of ClCidViJ ot\ Spelman to begin with, or stay there while I was so happy. The answer is very simple. Some people don’t need to be at a col lege even the size of Spelman, which is more than a thousand strong, and some people don’t want to be in Atlanta, Georgia year round. And believe it or not Bennett has a bigger reputa tion for academics than our look-alike. I say this to offend no one but this point was brought home to me by one Spelmanite and several Morehouse men. As it was easy for me to go to Spelman and see those items on our campus that could be overhauled. I’ll bet some Spel- manites could come here and find loads of things that we are doing right that they may be going about in a less than perfect manner. I for one am not interested in Spelman being the only college for women in the US—I do not want Bennett graduates to be come an extinct species. After all, it must be a lonesome feeling when your alma mater doesn’t exist anymore, something like not having a home to go back to. A REVIEW Tues., March 23 at 6:30 P.M. in The Student Lounge of The Union. COPY DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE March 29 by 1 P.M. A&T's "Fiddler" Mixes Soul Music With Yiddisli Accents by Robyn-Denise Berryhill The letters on the reverse side of the marquee read, “It’s all about tradition.” Inside the the atre, more than thirty voices sang about tradition, about custom and conflict, and about change. It’s all about “Fiddler on the Roof,” pre sented March 1-6 in the Paul Robeson theater at A & T State University. “Fiddler on the Roof” takes place in a small Russian village called Anatevka around the turn of the century. It is a tense time because of the oncoming start of the first Russian revolution. Ana- tevka’s residents are humble, hard working, deeply orthodox Jews struggling to deal with life but finding solace and contentment in their religion and customs. Among these people is Tevye, a milkman, superbly played by Edwin Battle, and his family — Golde, his wife (Fernanda Copeland), and five daughters (whose names all sound alike except for the first letter). The crux of the story centers around the change of traditional ways and customs and the effect it has on Tevye and his family. It all starts when his oldest daugh ter Tzeitel (pronounced with a “Z”), played by Tracey Webber, falls in love with Motel (E. Z. Cole) but instead is being forced to marry the wealthy butcher Lazar Wolfe (Bobby Rhinehart) in a union arranged by Yente, the town matchmaker (Sandra Jones). Naturally, but contrary to cus tom, Tzeitel protests and after a tearful battle with Tevye con vinces him to let her marry her beloved. Subsequently Tzeitel’s triumph over daddy prompts the other daughters to follow suit and forgo the matchmaking scene. Then the conflict really begins. Tevye is forced to cope with other challenges to his traditional way of life and finally to his religion. When asked why he chose to do a play about Jewish people at an all-black university, Dr. John M. Kilamar.jaro, director and chair man of the drama department at A & T said: “Fiddler” is a play that speaks of something every one can relate to and particularly blacks. It talks about togetherness, about struggles, and problems we all can identify with. It is a musi cal, yes, and a comedy; but there is a bit of sadness and tragedy so it does have a message. Besides that, I have always liked the mu sic.” During its run on Broadway, aside from winning almost every major award in the theatre, “Fid dler on the Roof” captured and holds to this day the distinction of having been the longest-running play on the New York stage. In addition to this it racked up a size able amount of Oscar nominations as a movie in 1972. With such im pressive credentials it goes with out saying that the play was ob viously successful. But one still wonders about the relationship of a traditionally Jewish play and an all-black cast. For one thing, all-black casts in a production obviously intended for others is nothing new. To cite an example, Otto Preminger in 1954 directed an all-black cast of Bizet’s classic opera “Carmen” in a motion picture version called “Carmen Jones”. Needless to say after twenty years blacks have been able to star in plays that re late to their own lifestyles. The rallying cries of what is and is not “relevent” seemed to have suddenly gone dim and one likes to feel that in addition to black plays all theatre can and should be given a try. Still perhaps the biggest flaw with A & T’s “Fiddler” was the tone quality of black voices which were thrown into speaking with strained Yiddish accents. This alone left you wondering if this was a serious production or mere ly a satire of it. Yente, the match maker, had a sort of Pearl Bailey sound to her voice and Golde sounded like Theresa Merritt’s “That’s My Mama.” And definite vintage soul was evident throughout the entire pro duction. In one of the musical numbers, “If I Were a Rich Man,” Edwin Battle as Tevye finger- popped and be-bopped right in time with the music as did some other cast members in “To Life.” The trio of ladies who sang “Matchmaker” could easily have passed for Diana Ross and the Su- premes in peasant costumes. Les ter Pratt in the role of Perchick the revolutionary student sounded as if he were addressing a black power rally all during his part. If he had suddenly said “all power to the people” it wouldn’t have been surprising. However, the play did have it’s good moments. E. Z. Cole and An gela Malone as da Hodel turned in excellent performances on “Mira cle of Miracles,” “Matchmaker,” and “Far From the Home I Love.” The only fault with the musical accompaniment though was the use of the organ which gave it a rather eerie, skating-rink type of sound. All in all however, despite its flaws and faults, “Fiddler on the Roof” at A & T was at least worth the time it took to watch.
Bennett College Student Newspaper
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
March 19, 1976, edition 1
2
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75