PAGE FOUR
THE BENNETT BANNER
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1980
Nzeribe follows tradition
iwn
Bennett played host to 14 officials of several Nigerian state governments
recently. The visitors spent four days in North Carolina meeting with business,
farm, educational, and governmental leaders.
Photo by Davis
by Beverly Griffin
Nigerian Pauline Nzeribe is honoring two
family traditions—a commitment to medicine
and the pursuit of excellence.
Pauline, whose father was a surgeon and
whose mother is a midwife, is a sophomore Pre-
Dentistry major with an important distinction:
she accumulated a 3.94 average for the 1978-79
academic year.
She de-emphasizes her IQ, but stresses her
determination: “I don’t consider myself smart
because I have to study very hard in order to
fulfill my goals and to be what I want to be—
the best in everything I do.”
Nzeribe decided to become a dentist after
she came to Bennett because “I like looking in
and examining people’s mouths, and also there
aren’t many women in the pursuit of dentist
ry.” She adds that “I like to see the kind of
teeth people have.”
But at one time Pauline was less interested
in the study of incisors than she was in becom
ing a “mouthpiece.” Courtroom orations were
her fantasy. “When I was a kid, I always
wanted to be a lawyer because I like to argue,”
she says. Anyone who has had a class with
Pauline knows that she hasn’t lost her gift of
persuasion.
Pauline isn’t the only Nzeribe daughter who
has prepped for a medical career at Bennett.
Her eldest sister Rita, a graduate here, is now
studying medicine at Bowman-Gray in Winston-
Salem. Geraldine, another of the five Nzeribe
sisters, is presently a Biology-Medical Tech
nology major at Bennett and one of the most
fluent writers on campus. In addition, there’s
a third sister in the Imo State-Bennett connec
tion, Stella, who was a Belle for awhile before
returning to Nigeria.
It was Rita who influenced Pauline to ma
triculate here. Rita explained that the school
was small and quiet and that the faculty was
pleasant and interested in students. “Since the
universities in my country are hard to get
into,” Pauline states, “I decided to come to
America where admittance is easier.”
Pauline’s energies aren’t devoted exclusively
to medicine. She says that she has an interest
in almost everything, and this assertion is con
firmed by her taking piano lessons, devouring
Gothic novels and enjoying popular music.
For such a versatile and involved woman,
missing her homeland is only a minor problem:
“I don’t get homesick because I feel that I am
old enough to be independent.” Besides, Paul
ine’s mother summers in America with Pauline,
Geraldine, Rita and Vivian, a student at the
International University in Miami.
Then, too, Pauline plans to return to Nigeria
as quick as possible with a dental degree in
hand to open an office, launch a prosperous
career and “show people that women can be as
good as men in the career world.”
Gubernatorial candidates stress issues
(Continued from Page 1)
Energy was another concern
Hunt expressed and pointed out
he has been pushing to establish
the North Carolina Alternative
Energy Sources Program. He said
a better job in crime fighting is
needed. Ho spoke in favor of the
Fair Sentencing Bill to cut out
paroles and new juvenile laws to
prevent lives of crime. An abused-
family clinic is also needed, he
said.
Changes must be done in a posi
tive way, Hunt said. He pointed
out the cost of state government
was cut by the salaries of 400
transportation workers since he
took office. His administration
also cut taxes.
The government must be re
sponsible to the people, he said.
Hunt complied with the NC/
ACORN request to meet with that
group during the evening. The
group passed out leaflets in front
of the Carolina Theatre to those
attending the reception.
The leaflets called for more
representation in the Democratic
Party of low and moderate income
people. The group cited unequal
representation in that only 6% of
the delegates to the 1976 Demo
cratic Convention earned less than
$10,000 while nearly half of the
party rank was in this income
group. Over 53% of the delegates
completed education beyond col
lege while only 9% of the party
rank was in this group, CA/
ACORN listed what it wanted the
NC Democratic Party to adopt for
its conventions. Some of the re
quests are goals the National
Democratic Committee has set for
itself. The requests are:
1, The Party should financially
aid low and moderate income
delegates in getting to the
state and national conven
tions.
2, The state party should in
clude income level as a part
of its demographic study and
should guarantee that the
state party’s delegation to the
national convention should
reflect the size of the state’s
low and moderate income
population.
3, CA/ACORN members should
have the opportunity to pre
sent the Peoples’ Platform at
ENDANGERED
The children of
Cambodia
he condemned people of
Cannbodia await the final
tragedy: extinction. One
third of the population has
perished. The living face
death by starvation. And the
children are too weak to
cry. “Soon there won’t be
any Cannbodians left at
all,” mourns an
exhausted refugee.
tSave the
Children
Westport, Connecticut
the county, congressional dis
trict, state and national con
ventions and CA members
should receive floor passes to
the conventions.
4, The Peoples’ Platform should
be printed in the state party’s
newsletter and copies of the
platform should be included
in all of the state party’s
state and national convention
material,
5, The state party should set up
a “low and moderate income
commission — similar to a
minorities or women’s com
mission—to insure that low
and moderate income people
and their issues are ade
quately dealt with by the
party,
Scott, Hunt’s opponent in the
gubernatorial race, said, “North
Carolina will be whatever we want
it to be,” The state will be only
what the sum totals of its com
munities are, he said. He hopes
for peace and prosperity and as
sures the state “will grow no mat
ter who is the new governor,” He
said the question was not if the
state will grow, but how will it
grow and what to do with the
growth.
The state needs to ask if par
ticular industries are a drain or
benefactor to the state in terms
of energy and jobs, Scott said. The
state must ask if the industry is
absorbing those who have difficul
ty finding jobs and if the profits
are going to a foreign nation or
the U.S. The “human element”
must be kept in governmental and
industrial decisions, he said. Such
decisions must be made “with
compassion and concern” rather
than with computers, he said,
Scott pointed out that, like
Hunt, he met with the CA/ACORN
group. Unlike Hunt, however,
Scott said he went to the group
on his own volition to find out
what was on its mind.
The Democratic Party “must
remember those who can’t afford
to pay to come to these events,”
Scott said. He said the party mot
to, “To be rather than to be seen,”
must be lived up to.
He agreed with Hunt that the
public school system must pay at
tention to the average child. He
attacked the Science and Math
Institute in Durham and called it
an “elitist program if ever there
was one.” “No one,” he said, has
a “deeper concern about the poor
and underprivileged” than he.
Preyer praised the candidates
for keeping the campaign “cool
rather than hot tonight.”
Hodges was one of the “finest
governors of this state, according
to Preyer. Preyer said Hodges
“made the glories of North Caro
lina known to the rest of the coun
try” during his administration.
Morton, Hodges’ campaign and
publicity director, said the former
governor accurately “read the
needs of his time and worked ef
fectively to solve the problems
presented.” Morton cited good-
paying jobs as resulting from in
dustrial development inspired and
encouraged by Hodges.
Hodges’ most remarkable ac
complishment, according to Mor
ton, was his “level head” in the
aftermath of the Supreme Court
ruling on segregation. Although
other Southern schools were being
closed in the days after the ruling,
not one school under Hodges’ jur
isdiction was closed for even on^
day as a result of the ruling,
Morton stated.
Sanford stated education, busi
ness, and transportation in the
state is “better than what it was”
but still has a long way to go. He
said he is not satisfied society has
“done all that can be done for all
the people.” He said there is no
reason to have slums and dreadful
housing in every city. He stated
the aim of government is “not to
give material wealth but to insure
everyone has the right to achieve
a full and meaningful life,”
New director snubbed
by Denise Wilder
Patricia Eason, resident director
of Merner Hall, has a deceptively
youthful look. When Eason arrived
at B'ennett, she was often mistaken
for a student,
“Some of the students that at
tend Bennett College approached
me on a student-to-student basis
when I first came here,” says
Eason, She also says many faculty
and staff members made the same
mistake,
Eason is a 5’3” resident of
Greensboro and a recent graduate
of North Carolina A&T State Uni
versity, In 1978, when she taught
in a junior high school, she claims
the same case of mistaken identity
occurred, “I take it as a compli
ment,” adds Eason, “I want to
look young and feel young.”
Eason plans to attend law school
in the near future. She says, “I
hope to attend law school in 1981,”
Her hobbies include traveling,
sewing, cooking, reading and fol
lowing politics. She is a member
of Grace Lutheran Memorial
Church, Both of her parents reside
in Greensboro, Her mother is a
professor at UNC-G School of
Nursing. Her father is a tailor. She
has a brother at A&T who is a
senior this year. She also has a
sister who is a junior in high
school.
Eason hopes some day to be
come a successful lawyer. She says
she has always been interested in
politics. She has a B,A. in Political
Science and History.
Not only was Eason’s youthful
appearance deceiving when she
came to Bennett but faces that
greeted Eason proved to be de
ceiving. “The first time I came
here most of the students were
kind of friendly. Then when they
got to know me, a lot of that just
stood idle and they stopped being
friendly, more vindictive or more
passive than friendly,” claims
Eason. She adds, “They think I
am too authoritative, but I don’t
want them to feel this way.”
Eason feels communication is
the obvious solution to the prob
lem of getting along with mem
bers of Merner Hall. She feels she
is being totally ignored unless
there is an emergency that needs
her assistance. “Some of them (the
students) associate with me only
when there is an emergency,”
states Eason. “I don’t think they
should run to my office all the
time to talk to me about their
problems, but it is just a matter
of respect to speak.”
Eason says on a day-to-day
basis, three out of five students
pass by her and don’t speak. She
adds that these students are from
Merner Hall and friends of theirs.