PAGE TWO
THE BENNETT BANNER
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1985
Semester begins with bright omens
Campus events and an act by the state legislature bring good news for the
spring semester and an indication that a revival of interest in black culture is
occurring.
To a certain extent, the speaker on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday,
Dr. Durley, may have been the harbinger of many of these good tidings. For
it was Durley who offered a living portrait of King- the man as opposed to
King the demi-god. The guest showed the connections between King and today’s
students and maintained that through preparation, we, too, can affect the world.
In addition, Durley’s candor and his willingness to tell a story on himself
won many friends in the chapel. It was no accident that an impassioned “We
Shall Overcome” was sung at the service’s conclusion and that people joined
hands joyfully.
There’s good news in our curriculum, too. A much needed and sorely missed
course in Afro-American history has returned after a too lengthy absence. It
is being offered by Mrs. Landa Addo, a resourceful scholar and teacher.
This change answers one of the main student complaints during the last
year and brings the college more in line with its mission. We welcome this
turn of events and urge students to capitalize on the opportunity.
On another front, the college is celebrating Black History Month with sub
stance and style. There will be a major presentation every two days. Our excep
tional choir will be giving two performances, and^ our scholars, speakers and
actresses will be highly visible. An array of splendid guests, including the pop
ular Pin Points and the political trailblazer Shirley Chisolm, will be appearing.
The terrific news from Raleigh is that the state has committed itself to a
memorial for Dr. Charlotte Hawkins Brown, a guiding light in black education
and a woman with close ties to Bennett.
All of this news points to enlightenment, the proper business of our lives.
Basketball needs college-wide commitment
If you woke tomorrow and found that the student center had disappeared,
you’d probably be shocked, and you might inquire about the causes of its absence.
You might even get mad and want to do something about it.
An institution about as important as the student center has closed shop for
the time being, and no one beyond the physical education department seems
especially ruffled.
We’re talking about the once-proud and flourishing basketball program which
has shut down for the season due to student indifference and insufficient funds
for athletic scholarships.
What’s worse, the program may be gone for good. Bureaucratic credit lines
do not wait for resurrections; the money flows in new directions.
What seems to have been forgotten is that sports are crucial to the identity
of any college. They are a unifying force. Under their influence, sometimes dis
parate elements on a campus—students, teachers and administrators—come to
gether and celebrate the life of the institution. People forget their special in
terests and merge in good cheer.
In short, sports add humanity to the academic existence.
These matters are well understood at other small colleges in this area. Guil
ford, Greensboro and High Point boast lively sports traditions that foster alum
ni interest in the alma mater and may do more for finances than every sip-and-
chat and wine-and-cheese party ever given.
This is to say nothing of the change that took place at large, but poorly
unified UNC-G when the soccer team won the national championship. Sudden
ly, people had something in common. Suddenly, the media were paying attention.
Unity and attention equal money.
This college finds itself in the grim position of having but one varsity sport
left. Subtract volleyball, and you’ve got a gym used exclusively for P.E. classes.
Only a few years ago, our basketball team was nationally ranked—a source
of pride to the players and the community.
It is time for a college-wide commitment to the regeneration of the basket
ball program.
Students have got to make greater sacrifices of their time and energy. The
administration has got to keep basketball in the budget and increase funds so
that Bennett can recruit more competitively. The faculty and staff must support
these measures as well as future teams.
It’s for the good of the institution.
Key to a child^s school performance
Want to make sure that youngsters around you and the children in your
future are successful at school?
No, the answer isn’t a home computer.
Reading to children is the best thing you can do to create agile minds, ac
cording to author and educator William F. Russell.
This theory may not seem revolutionary to sisters and parents who have
been following this practice for a long time. But Russell has added a new no
tion that makes great sense: it is important to keep reading to children long
after they have learned to read.
Whv? Because children like the attention and as a recent AP story claims:
“The languaq-e and vocabulary a child can understand orally are far greater
than what the child could read by him or herself. So even older children can
profit . . . from parents who read adult-level classics aloud.”
We feel another important factor is the presence of newspapers and mag
azines in the home. When children see family members reading the paper, they
want to do likewise. Their introduction is gradual; sometimes the comics lead to
the entertainment and sports pages which, in turn, lead back to the front section.
One thing’s for sure. Any child who sees his family slouched perpetually
in front of the television is going to have limited horizons. TV implants opin
ions; readers discover their own.
Christmas visit creates comic adventures in Germany
a column
by Pamela Gary
A simple visit to Germany
during the holidays turned
into a comedy of social
gaffes.
There is an old cliche that
says “there is no place like
home.” Most Americans don’t
appreciate their own cultures
until they experience every
day life somewhere else.
Europeans frequently say
that Americans are the most
arrogant people in the world.
They base this statement on
the way that we seem to think
that wherever we go our lan
guage and customs are or
should be dominant.
It all began when the plane
arrived in Frankfurt. The
airport was huge, the weath
er was freezing, the steward
esses spoke less than perfect
English, and most of the peo
ple that got off of the plane
seemed to know where they
were going instinctively once
they clear^ customs.
By the time I found my
way through customs to the
passenger greeting area and
met my party, the baggage
claiming area was almost
empty. It really didn’t make
that much difference because
my luggage was not there.
After being on a plane for six
hours and traveling all night,
the worst thing that people
can tell you is that your lug
gage didn’t even get on your
connecting flight and they
think that it is still in New
York. At this point you want
to either swear or cry, espe
cially after the baegage offi
cials tell you to check back
with them in a day or two,
and if it isn’t there, then it is
lost.
After recovering from the
minor shock of having none
of your clothes vdth you, you
would think that the worst is
over vdth, right? Wrong!
Unless you are a professional
race car driver nothing pre
pares you for riding on the
autobahn. The only way to de
scribe it is legalized insanitv.
The autobahn is Germany’s
major highway that appears
to stretch from one side of
the country to the other, con
necting all of the towns and
major cities. At first
glance, it seems innocent
enough until you realize that
everyone driving must have
secret fantasies of breaking
the sound barrier. There is no
speed limit. It isn’t unusual
to see a car whizzing past you
doing 110 mph. By the time
we reached our destination, I
was a candidate for a mental
hospital.
There are several things
that are taken for granted in
this country as common am
enities that are considered
luxuries in Europe. For ex
ample, in order to get your
driver’s license you must pay
$300. Then you have to ob
tain permission from the gov
ernment to buy a car. The
phone system is commonly re
ferred to as “Hitler’s re
venge” by Americans. It is a
major accomplishment every-
time that you get the operator
to answer the phone.
One of the hardest things
to get used to if you are a
black American is the open
discrimination that is em
ployed throughout the coun
try. Not all Germans treat
blacks as though the Civil
War is still going on, but
there is still enough blatant
racism going on to make vis
iting blacks feel uncomfort
able and angry.
Luckily, Germany has
enough charm to more than
make up for its negative as
pects. The countryside is
beautiful in the winter. Ev
erything is covered in snow,
there is little or no pollution
and the architecture is very
modem technology.
Despite some of the cus
toms like never bringing
roses to your hostess if you
are a male because you are
expressing your love for her,
or not indulging in all of the
alcoholic beverages that you
are offered during the course
of a meal, Germany is a place
that is well worth the trip.
Letters to tlic editor:
NAACP refutes
To the Editor:
Through the years, the history
of black society has ben distorted.
We have been told that we came
from the trees of Africa. This
theory has been assisted with
proof from Tarzan movies. We
swung from trees like apes.
According to a German news
paper, the black man’s brain is
the same as an ape’s. It is strange
that people with these so-called
“ape brains” were the first hu
mans to use tools, paint pictures,
plant seeds and worship gods.
These people created such art
pieces, wrote such stories and
lived in such a way that arche-
ologists, historians and contem
porary writers find these ape-like
beings fascinating.
To go back farther in time,
black people played a significant
role In the development of the
Egyptian civilization. They found
ed great empires like Ghana,
Mali eind Songhay. Yes, these
were our black ancestors that are
not mentioned in our history
books and are not shown on
Tarzan movies.
No, we were not naked savages
who sat under trees, filed their
teeth and weiited for fruit to drop
into their hands. More than one
scholar has paid tribute to the
“legal genius of the African.”
The Bennett College
Chapter of the NAACP
Safety is questioned
To the editor:
Campus safety is a big issue
that needs to be brought out in
the open. There are certain un
necessary risks right here on
Bennett’s campus.
Dormitories with insufficient
lighting in the hallways, easy-to-
open locks on the doors and un
barred basement windows are a
few risks that Bennett students
are subjected to. These risks
should not be inflicted on the stu
dent after paying such a high
malicious images
tuition.
Along with the unsatisfactory
dormitory conditions, there is
very little lighting on the campus
itself. When I come from my 8
p.m. evening class over at A&T, I
feel very frightened when I have
to walk through a dark deserted-
looking campus.
There are times when I am in
the security of my own dorm and
feel insecure. Many times I have
stayed up late to wash a few
clothes and was so scared that I
came running up the stairs only
to save myself from the man out
side the basement window Who
stares in at me. The window has
no lock at all and no shade to
keep the Peeping Toms from
looking in. A person never knows
if he is going to break in on them
or not.
Another risk which needs to be
looked into is the failure of secur
ity guards to make sure the cam
pus is secure. Many times I have
walked to the student xmion after
dark to get a snack or play a video
game and have looked around and
seen no security guard at all.
Finally, when I get to the student
union, I see all the security
gusirds in one comer talking,
playing cards, shooting pool or
flirting with the girls.
This is not security that Kennett
students are receiving. It is one
risk after another to endanger the
lives of students.
I know that no one can make
any campus 100 percent safety-
proof, but it doesn’t have to be
left wide oi>en to strangers to
come in and do as they please
either.
Kim Liseanne Romeo
Black History Month:
time to honor heritage;
support upcoming slate
Editor-In-Chief Dee Evans
Associate Editors AvantI Allen, Alaina Cloud
Vicky Dunn, Tricia Hairston, Karen R. Taylor
Reporters Chandra Austin, Yvonne Breece, Karen Exum
Margo Qllmore, Shonna Luten
Ellesla McCracken, Bemlce Scott
Adviser Michael Gaspeny
Opinions expressed in columns and letters to the editor belong to
the author, not to the staff of the Banner.
Send Mtars to the editor to Box 2. All mail must be signed by hand.