Page Two
THE BENNETT BANNER
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1978
Participation in Elections a Must
Everybody wants to “freak,” but nobody wants to speak up
and out on the rights of students or take action for bettering
student life.
Very soon, student government elections will take place.
And as last year, students will literally have to beg other stu-
dents to run for office. This sort of tactic isn t fair for those
people who don’t want to run, but do run for office because no
body else will. It also isn’t fair to the person who silently sits
back with leadership capabilities and fails to take the initiative
to run. ^ . .
There’s an old wise saying that states, “If you don t do it, it
won’t get done.” And around Bennett, if those same five or ten
people don’t at least try and run for an office, the office will go
unfilled or worse, be filled by somebody who solicited your votes
and that was the last you saw of them.
Yes, to be elected to an office means giving up some precious
free time, but there is personal satisfaction in knowing that
what you attempted to do was for the betterment of student life
at Bennett. , •
So many of our sisters complain about not ever being fea
tured in any candid shots of the yearbook.
The yearbook tells a story. A story of activities with active
participants. It tells a success story and a story of defeat. No
one wants to read an obituary about someone who merely served
as a “mock” officer or a student with a lot of mouth, but no
action. -.tt n
Every one complains about what should be done. Well it you
don’t do it or do something about it, it won’t get done.
Yes, we can find time to “freak,” and jam and play spades
and gossip about our best friends; but we can t find time to draw
up petitions concerning the conditions of the dorms or the cafe
teria or the health services or the heating problems.
Yes, we can find time to see the “Young and the Restless,
watch as “The World Turns” while the “Doctors” stay the same
and “The Guiding Light” beams on. These things are important,
or so it seems. . ,
Many students are finding themselves in academic peril and
feel that there’s no need to try to find help or work for a better
standing. j
Well, it’s your grade, your four years of college and your hte.
And if you don’t do something about it, nobody else will. If you
take pride in yourself and the things that concern you, then
inevitably, you will receive respect and words of guidance when
those rough times appear. But just remember, “IF YOU DON’T
DO IT, IT WON’T GET DONE.”
Where were you when the questions were
photo by Myra Davis
being raised and the answers given? How hove you helped your SGA?
For Belles Only: Afro Prevails for Spring
by Dotty Brown
During the cold and windy
months we can cover up a lot of
things, including our hair. It takes
nothing to cover up those brittle,
badgered threads of protein
(which we call hair) with a hat.
Yes, it’s cold outside and we
Letters to tke Editor: Grievances and Gratitude
Dear Editor,
It’s that time again. Time when
scores of restless Bennett Belles
feel compelled to once again de
mand changes at Bennett. It’s
starting to become an annual
event. Year in and year out griev
ances are discussed, analysed and
presented to the administration,
only to be ignored.
I wish to pose this question to
the administration: Why? Why
aren’t dormitory improvements
being made Why can’t we have
co-ed visitation, at least on a trial
basis? Why aren’t the cafeteria
complaints taken seriously? Is it
felt that the students are just go
ing through a stage of revolt and
rebellion and it will pass?
We are constantly reminded
about academic achievement and
the need for its improvement here
at Bennett. Has it ever ocurred to
anyone, other than students, that
if the social and residential life
was improved academic improve
ment will follow suit?
Many changes we propose will
not cost anything. The majority of
them are policy changes that
would make life here at Bennett
a little more liveable and pleas
ant.
As students, we should unite to
gether to fight for improvements.
I make this preliminary request to
the administration to take us seri
ously! For the outcome of this
campaign will be the stepping
stone to making . . . no, to keeping
Bennett as alive and vibrant as a
black woman’s college as we want
it to be.
Sincerely yours,
Marion Johnson
Dear Dr. Haff,
It has been six years since I sat
in your English 106 class. But the
experience I had during those two
semesters will always remain with
me. Who would have thought that
I would go to college? After I got
there, I wasn’t exactly sure that I
would remain and for a while I
thought you would be the reason
for my leaving.
From the first day I entered
your class, I knew that it would
be an uphill battle. Armed with
my hostility and “big city know
how,” I did not see the need for
English grammar. So what if my
SAT verbal score was low. That
was no measure of what I knew,
I thought.
You returned six papers marked
up in red pencil before I was ready
to admit that my grammar was
terrible. It was pretty embarras
sing to hear myself on the tape
recorder during the first two
weeks. While it might have been
okay for talking with the gang
back home in Brooklyn, it didn’t
seem to fit in at college.
Unfortunately, too few of us
wanted to face the reality that we
handled communications skills
poorly. I can remember trying to
get out of your class when my
1977-78
Editor-in-Chief Joyce A. Bass
Associate Editor Deborah Tillman
Adviser Virginia Tucker
Layout Editors Sharon Sanders, Debbie Hodges
Circulation Manager Janis Badson
Business Manager Terry Lewie
Cartoonist Karen Lewis
Photographers Joyce Bass, Myra Davis
Pam Paschal!, Tonya Martin, Keith Miller
Reporters
Dorothy Brown Sharon Sanders
S. Marie Brown Yvette Shelton
Marion Johnson Jackie Williams
Sheila Purnell Wendy Woods
Beverly Rumley
roommate managed to ‘test out’
of her English class. She bragged
about not having to take English
16, but it turned out that she could
not write a decent paragraph in
her other classes.
I recall that week before Fall
Break when you made the entire
class rewrite one assignment until
you were satisfied. I wrote those
two paragraphs ten times before
you accepted it. How about the day
you threw your textbook in the
trash can and warned that it would
remain there until Mary Dunn
learned the meaning of predicate?
Well, she did and is now a :e-
porter for a Chicago paper.
There was the Sunday Vesper
when you asked me to leave be
cause my curlers showed under my
hat and other occasions when you
criticized your students for tbeir
behavior. Well, I admit, you were
intruding, but it showed that you
put genuine concern above mind
ing your business.
It took dedication and love to
be the kind of teacher you were.
Dr. Haff. It also took something
else. You had a special insight
into the black experience and the
environment from which we came.
You realized that many of us
lacked motivation to excell. With
this understanding, you made us
work harder.
Since leaving the college, I am
still wondering how I made it.
Somehow, you saw promise in this
'big-city gal.’ As I complete my
final year in law school, I am
grateful for having had the ex
perience of Dr. Haff.
Yours truly,
Marlene Baker
should wear hats to keep our heads
warm. But believe it or not warm
weather is on its way and you’ll
look ridiculous if you insist on
wearing those wool tams and to
boggans in wann weather
What we must do now while it’s
still cold is to pull out the con
ditioners, oils, and scissors and get
your hair ready for the Spring and
Summer of ’78. Key words this
year are natural and easy. The
Bush.
Not the traditional Bush. This
year’s Bushes are long, medium,
short—wavy, kinky, crimpy. The
cut and the set are very important.
But before you even consider hav
ing your hair cut, the first thing
you must do while you’re hiding it
under hats is to get it in shape.
Bushin’ your hair requires a
full texture, and to obtain texture
all types of hair needs condition
ing. Conditioning is a way of
moisturizing, building, and
strengthening your hair.
If you have been neglecting your
hair it may be necessary to apply
a pre-conditioning agent to your
hair. A deep penetrating oil or
creme used with a heating cap or
a half cup mayonnaise with a few
drops of olive oil or castor oil
with a heating cap are both ex
cellent pre-conditioners. An ordi
nary plastic bag can substitute for
a heating cap. The plastic bag or
heating cap (set at a low tempera
ture) should be left on for about
45 minutes. They should be ap
plied to unwashed hair followed
by a mild, but thorough, sham
pooing and a regular conditioning.
For natural hair use a balsam-
type-conditioner. Relaxed (per
med) hair needs a penetrating,
protein conditioner. If yours is fine
or soft hair, use a no-rinse con
ditioner. For wiry or coarse hair
use a softening extra-deep pene
trating conditioner.
Also, that brush you may have
on your dresser . . . use it! Brush
ing releases the scalp’s natural oils
which lubricate and stimulate the
hair shaft. As a result of daily
brushing you may find that you
don’t need half as much store-
bought oil as you thought. .
Now, go get that perfect cut.
Remember your face, personality,
and lifestyle when you’re having
your hair cut. Ask your barber or
beautician for tips on keeping your
hair up-to-par between trim-ups.
The Bush . . . it’s so natural, so
easy, so us.
McGill Offers Journalism Funds
May 1st is the deadline for
aspiring young Southern
newspapermen and women to
submit applications for Ralph
McGill Scholarships.
The Ralph McGill Scholar
ship Fund offers scholarships
of up to $1,500 each to stu-
Bennett Banner
Staff Meeting
Tuesday, February
21, 1978 6:30 p.m.
NEW REPORTERS
WELCOME! ! !
Choir to Tour Five Northern Cities
by Joyce A. Bass
While most, if not all. Belles
are looking forward to spring
vacation, 41 of our Bennett
Sisters are counting the days
until they leave on a two-week
tour of five major northern
cities. Who are the 41 girls?
They go under the name of the
Bennett College Choir.
Plans have been completed
for the spring tour and Dr.
Charlotte Alston, along with
chaperones, Myra Davis and
Mildred Tucker, are complet
ing administrative duties so
that they can devote their
time to travel and maintain
ing a happy bus during the
tour.
The 41-member entourage
will travel to Richmond, Va.,
Long Island, N. Y., Philadel
phia, Pa., Roanoke, Va., and
Washington, D. C.
Patterns for new gowns and
styles for concert shoes are
being selected.
dents who have completed at
least two years of college, and
who have demonstrated a
long-time interest in the news
and editorial phase of news-
papering. Jack Tarver, Chair
man of the fund’s advisory
committee, said scholarships
are limited to those young
men and women whose roots
lie in the South.
Applicants must also con
vince the Awards Committee
that they firmly intend to
pursue a career in daily or
weekly newspapering. Tarver
said the Awards Committee
wants to give scholarships to
those who are likely to be
come leaders in the newspaper
field.
Successful applicants will
be required to maintain a
“B” average in order to keep
the scholarship.
A letter of not more than
500 words telling why the ap
plicant wants a scholarship,
together with a photograph of
the applicant, must accom
pany each application. Appli
cants also must have a letter
of recommendation from a
college authority.
Application blanks may be
obtained from: The Ralph Mc
Gill Scholarship Fund; Box
4689, Atlanta, Georgia 30302.