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Use WWW for cheap fares
BY CARLA BROOKS
Staff Reporter
Thanksgiving Day is right around the cor
ner and students are making plans to go home
and get their grub on. Thanksgiving Break is
Nov. 25 to 28 and all campus dams will be
closed.
In making plans to go home, students should
considCT type of travel and cost It's not too late
to check web sites such as www.priceline.ccan
and others for inexpensive air fares.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Edkofial
Page 2....
Thanksgiving or
Thanks'taking'?
Bellespeak
Page 2....
What is Thar\ksgiving
really about?
Ciitic*s Comef |
Page 4....
Inspirational Books for
Y2K
The Bennett Banner
VOL I.XIX ^0. 4 NOVI-MBIiR 19,1999
Autumn leaves
During the past month,
the grass throughout
the campus has been
covered with leaves.
Outside the front of
Black Hall, the fallen
leaves resemble a
blanket as they cover
both grass and side
walk.
Photo by Marie Smith, Chief
Banner Photograper.
'Challenge' program
undergoing changes
Bennett busy preparing for Y2K
BYSHANTE DAVIS
Staff Reporter
When Belles return for the sping
semester, will they be returning to
a Bennett that is Y2K compliant?
In other words will they be able
to receive work-study checks,
grades, accurate financial aid ac
counts, and paychecks?
Y2K is the two digit program
ming flaw that has been discussed
throughout the media during the
past year. It has been a cause of
major concern among those who
are computer reliant including
computer programmers, colleges.
banks, and small businesses.
According to the September is
sue of Essence magazine, "Con
trary to pc^ular belief, the bug
won’t cause just one single crash
but may prompt a series of failures
that could continue through
March."
" Y2K threatens to disrupt every
aspect of your digital life firom
your PC to your bank accounts,”
said Sen. Robert F. Bennett, head
of the government’s Y2K commit
tee, in an interview with Essence
magazine.
"Everything is set up, but they’re
running tests to see if everything is
O.K.," said Stephanie Lynch, a fi
nancial aid coordinator at Bennett.
"TTie president [Dr. Gloria
Randle Scott] made an announce
ment in the last meeting saying
thatthe library is Y2K compliant,”
saidDr. Dorothy Burnett, Holgate
director.
"The College is very busy at this
point trying to make sure we have
a smooth transition [upgrading
computers]," said Mary Stuart,
management information services
director.
Stuart is in charge of Y2K com
pliancy at Bennett
"We are getting there. We are
working hard to get there before
the 1st of January," Stuart said.
BY MONYA TOMLINSON
Editor
The Challenge Opportunity
Program is going through
changes these days.
Under the direction of Dr. LeaE.
Williams, the director of the
Women’s Leadership Institute,
COP is in the refmement process
with its participants moving into
newly renovated apartments, the
arrival of its coordinator and resi
dent counselor, and planning its
personal development workshops.
According to a pamphlet for the
COP, the program is designed to
give single mothers guidance and
assistance with parenting.
Williams said the program par
ticipants will be moving into a
four-unit apartment canplex by
the end of this semester.
The duplexes, which will house
the participants and their children,
have been newly raiovated for use
by the COP. An eight-unit com
plex is also under renovation for
new students in the program.
The participants are living in
dual-occupancy homes on Lee
Street and in the president's resi
dence (Ml Gonell Street. At press
time, they were preparing to move.
Williams is acting directw be
cause its formerdirector, Kimberly
Foster, left the p-ogram after the
spring semester.
The new coordinator and resi
dent counselor for the program is
Ouida Rush Hodnett, who was the
director of residence life at Ben-
nettfrom 1968 to 1989. Hodnett
has already moved into an apart
ment m the four-unit complex.
The personal development sec
tion of the program, which is sup
posed to include mother-to-mother
networking, money mmagement,
healthy eating, child-rearing tech
niques, spiritual enhancement, and
work preparation and job place
ment opportunities, has not started
yet.
Williams said that the program
is gradually taking steps to put
those components in place.
COP is funded by the Women’s
Leadership Institute and is under
the jurisdiction of WLI’s Center
for Women and Family.
The program is not funded by the
federal government, however,
Williams said program participants
may apply for the same monies as
other students. Williams also said
the COP needs mwe scholarship
money.
Williams called the program a
"workinprogress," citing someof
the areas of the program that are
stillbeing developed. Amoig these
areas are a child care facility, more
housing, a transportation network,
and the personal development pro
grams.
Williams also said there are
four modiers in the program and
six on a waiting list
“It is important to stress the
difference between the program as
it was conceived and reality," Wil
liams said.
The next phase of the program
is putting the personal develop
ment workshops into place.