“Together We Will Find the Right Direction”
PUBLISHED BY THE STUDENTS OF ELIZABETH CITY STATE UNIVERSITY
VOLUME 4«t^UMBER 4
ELIZABETH CITY, N. C.
April 1977
YM Task Force On Campus
By Sylvia Peele
During April 13-15 mem
bers of the Youth Motivation
Task Force visited Elizabeth
City State University.
The task force was spon
sored by the National
Alliance of Business Men.
Their Headquarters is in
Washington, D.C. The task
force leader was Mr. Loranza
Rooker. The members of the
task force were graduates of
E.C.S.U.
The task force is a group of
successful businessmen and
women with similar
backgrounds who, therefore,
relate well to disadvantaged
youngsters. Their simple
message is quote “I made it;
you can too.”
The Alliance’s metro office
provides established em-
ployer-school relationships
through its Joint Industry-
Education Committee. The
Task Force members are
recruited from companies
participating in Alliance
programs.
The information imparted
during task force visits in
creases student awareness of
private sector employment
opportunities and the need to
correlate their education with
career goal-setting.
COMPASS Editor
Receives Honor
ECSU Chancellor Marion D.
Thorpe, right, congratulates
Compass editor James Finch,
Senior Political Science major,
for being the first Elizabeth City
State University student to
receive an Alpha Kappa Mu
Honor Society National
Scholarship. “Finch was the
runner-up by a fraction of a
point to one of the stiffest com
petitions ever held,’’ stated
Harlee Davis, president of the
Alpha Kappa Chapter of Alpha
Kapp a Mu. ECSU students Davis
and Alvin Jones attended the
annual convention at which the
scholarships were awarded. The
$800 scholarship will be sent to
the school of his choice. Finch is a
pre-law student who plans to
attend law school in the fall.
Student Leadership Forum Is Held On Campus
By Ms. Joyce Terrell
The Student Leaders of
Elizabeth City State
University participated in a
Student Leadership Forum on
Friday, April 1. The Forum
was held under the auspices
of Dr. Louis V. Nadeau,
Director of the International
Curriculum Development
Program and Ms. Helen M.
Caldwell, Chairperson of the
Convocations and Assemblies
Committee.
Guest lecturer for the
Forum was Judge Keith
Simmons of Magistrate’s
Court, Barbados. Judge
Simmons was here under the
sponsorship of the Carrib-
bean-American Exchange
Program of the Phelps-Stoke
Fund. Attorney .Frances
Cooke, Assistant. to the
Chancellor, spent the week in
Barbados under the same
program. During his stay
here, Judge Simmons chose
as his theme “Professional
Involvement In The Com
munity”. An All-University
Assembly, with Judge
Simmons as guest speaker,
was held on Thursday, March
31, at 10:00 A.M. in Moore
Hall Auditorium.
The Student Leadership
Forum was held in the
University Center at 11:30
A.M. Dr. Nadeau directed the
activities of the leaders. The
students were divided into
four groups which were
assigned different campus
problems to discuss. The
topics for discussion were:
(1) Faculty-Student
Relationships, (2) Student-
Student Relationships, (3)
Faculty and Student Apathy,
and (4) What the University
and Its Students Can Do In
The Community. The
students of each group were
allotted a certain amount of
time to discuss the situation
among the group members
and to find alternative
solutions and to decide if any
questions were left unan
swered after the discussion.
After the discussion period,
the groups and other par
ticipants adjourned to the
Viking Room for a luncheon.
After the Juncheon, each
group leader presented the
group’s findings.
Ms. Gwendolyn Sanders
acted as coordinator of the
discussion. The first group
reporting on Faculty-Student
Relationships expressed the
fact that faculty should (1)
treat students as individuals
and (2) not try to teach when
part of the class is sleeping.
This group also felt that the
grading system should be
changed to the pass-fail
system instead of the A,B,C
system because students are
too grade conscious. In the
discussion that followed the
group leader’s report, it was
brought out that the pass-fail
system would not motivate
the students to do better than
just enough to pass. Dean
Holley suggested that some of
the sleeping in class could be
overcome if the teacher
would try to find out why the
students are sleeping and
then try to alleviate the
problem. Other faculty
members voiced their
opinions.
Group II then gave their
report on Student-Student
Relationships. Their findings
revealed that students do not
communicate effectively
because of a lack of listening
skills, antagonism towards
constructive criticism and a
too low level of com
munication. They also
brought out the point that
student leaders have failed to
get students to participate m
various student-related
organizations and activities.
The students only participate
if they hold positions. A
suggestion to solve this
problem was to reward
students for their par
ticipation with certificates,
cash, etc. They felt that the
way to get qualified people to
run for offices in the Student
Government was for the
voters to decide to vote for
quality instead of popularity.
Group Ill’s discussion was
center^ around Faculty and
Student Apathy. The group
suggested that if the faculty
and staff members were to
participate in all University
activities, then the students
might become motivated to
attend. Faculty members
were encouraged to inform
students of such activities in
class and, if necessary, have
bonus questions related to
such events on tests. The
group felt that students are
given too much freedom to do
what they want to do so they
do that and nothing more.
There was a suggestion from
a staff member that the
students have a radio system,
operated by students, that
would be used primarily to
inform students of such
events. It was also brought
out in this discussion that the
loud music played by the
students disturbed residents
of the community.
The last group to report had
as its topic of discussion
“What The University and Its
Students Can Do In The
Community.” These group
members felt that we do
many things to help the
community (such as the
extended-day program), but
receive very little feedback.
The point was brought out
that the Student Government
Association is donating
money to the Boy’s Club.
There was a question as to
why we do not get the type of
support that Northeastern
does from the press, (for
example: Northeastern’s
Corner section of the Daily
Advance) The Chancellor
suggested that the students at
Elizabeth City State
University take tlie initiative
to create their own comer.
The Forum ended with
comments from Judge
Simmons, who had circulated
among the groups when they
were seeking solutions to
their topics. The students
were encouraged to try to put
some of their solutions to
work.