understanding
Black Student Movement Official Newspaper
The University of North Carohna at Chapel Hill
Vol. .. No. 8 AprU 15,1986=
Free care
rids moms
of welfare
by Andrea Shaw
Staff Writer
High-quality day care can make
the difference in the life of a single,
teen-age mother, according to a study
issued by the Frank Porter Graham
Child Development Center.
Dr. Frances Campbell, one of the
study’s authors, said teen-age
mothers with access to child care,
finished high school and eventually
got off welfare.
“Based on our experience, young
mothers who hadn’t finished their
own schooling when they had a baby
were more likely to finish high
school,” Campbell said. “They would
continue beyond high school, get a
good job, and become self-supporting
if they had good care for their infant.”
Also, their children scored higher
on intelligence tests than those
without day care she said.
“The children who had been
through our early childhood program
education were scoring exactly at the
national average, about 100,” she
added. “The children in the control
group were 10 points lower than that,
about 90.”
continued on page 3
i
Photos by Tammi Foust
The BSM Talent Show gave some students the opportunity to show off
Brotherhood
transcends
boundaries
by Denise Moultrie
News Editor
Being a white person in a black
greek system would probably be diffi
cult for most people. But Matthew
McKinnon accepts the challenge and
portrays his idea of brotherhood.
McKinnon came to UNC in the
1985 fall semester and though he is a
freshman, he has made a few impor
tant decisions already. This spring, he
pledged the Xi Gamma Chapter of Phi
Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated.
Now he is a brother —and he’s quick
to tell you.
“I chose Sigma because it’s not
like other frats,” he said. “There’s no
pressure to live up to any stereotype.”
McKinnon said he was impressed by
the fraternity’s stress on indi
vidualism rather than conformity.
So far there have been no hostile
reaction to his presence in a black
fraternity. “Whites have asked me if I
know it’s (Sigma) a black fraternity,”
he said. Blacks have accepted him as
he is, he said.
McKinnon, who attended a
predominately black high school in
continued on page 3
^The Cosby Show’ raitlcs favorite
by Shirley Hunter
Managing Editor
“The Cosby Show” is watched by
all types of people, according to the
Spring 1986 Carolina Poll. The poll,
conducted twice yearly, at the
Journalism School at the Univeristy of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
revealed the show appeals to people
from all social backgrounds.
Of 585 people responding to the
poll, 30 percent said they watch the
show every week.
A breakdown of this audience
reveals 57 percent of the blacks inter
viewed watch is it every week, as
opposed to 25 percent of the whites.
Seventy-four percent of the
whites had seen the show at least once
and 81 percent of the blacks had, fur
ther revealing that the show stretches
across racial lines.
Professor Loy Singleton at the
UNC-CH Radio, Television and Motion
Pictures department, said people can
easily identify with the characters on
the show. “People, no matter who
they are, can identify with the roles
presented.”
Other statistics back his opinion.
Seventy-one of the 280 males
answering said they watch the show
every week, while 35 percent of the
females responding said they did.
At least 60 percent of the males
responding had seen the show at least
once, and 82 percent of the females
had seen it at least once.
One reason for the show’s
popularity may be it mirrors what
real-life families are like, said Robert
Wilson, a professor in the UNC-CH
psychology department.
“I’ve never seen the show person
ally, but from what I’ve heard, it
presents a pretty accurate picture of
family life,” he said.
The show depicts the Huxtables,
an urban upper middle-class black
family. The husband and main
character is an obstetrician, and his
wife is a lawyer. They have five
children.
Even though the Huxtables live
above the normal standard for most
Americans, poor and rich people
watch and identify with the show.
While 56 percent of those inter
viewed who make $40,000-$50,000 a
year said their lives were similar to
the Huxtables, surprisingly, 57
percent of the people who make
$20,000 a year or less, said their lives
were also similar.
Thirty-nine percent of those
making $40,000-$50,000 a year watch
the show weekly.
But, 38 percent of those making
less than $10,000 a year also watch
every week.
continued on patte 5