irue
onmosis
Together We Will Find The Right Direction
Volume^Ss^umber 2
ELIZABETH CITY, N.C.
NOVEMBER 1978
Student Claims Hearse
Is Better Than Van
By SUSAN FITZGERALD
Everyone has noticed by
now the 1962 Pontiac
hearse being driven and
parked on campus every
day by Tom Bauman, Jr.
The hearse’s life is quite
and interesting one.
Bauman, a Senior
Business Administration
major, native of
Cleveland, Ohio, trans
ferred from Western Car
olina University to Col
lege of the Albemarle. He
was in need of a car in
March of 1977, when he
spied the hearse parked at
Twiford’s Funeral Home.
The hearse had originally
been a Pontiac station
wagon General Motors had
sent to Mississippi to be cut
in half and extended to
make an ambulance. A few
years later, it was con
verted into a hearse, and
finally “retired” in 1972.
Tom wanted the hearse
because it had as much
room as a van, with only a
fraction of the initial cost.
Because the hearse is a
collector’s item, it took
some shrewd persuasion
on Bauman’s part to con
vince Mr. Twiford to sell it.
Bauman says the 16 year
old vehicle now has only
69,000 miles on it and is
mechanically sound. The
rear half of the hearse is
still equipped with some of
the necessary apparatus
for an ambulance and a
hearse. It has curtains in
the rear, the gear for at
taching a coffin, a siren,
and a hook-up for oxygen.
The car, according to
Bauman, rides like a
limousine, and it can
“cruise” at 120 miles per
hour, due to its high per
formance engine.
There are only two prob
lems Bauman has en
countered with the hearse.
First, parts are difficult to
find for it. In fact, he can
not even find a radio to fit
it. Secondly, the body is
rusting.
The humorous effects of
driving a hearse seem to
make it all worthwhile.
Bauman says that
sometimes people pull
over on the road to let him
by. Morticians wave at
Tom Bauman’s “Limousine’
him on the highways and
stop by his home to see how
the hearse is doing.
Bauman has met people
whose relatives died in the
back of his hearse. He
sometimes find people
rel”ctant to ride in it after
dark, and some newer
vehicles even race him.
Bauman says he wants
people to know he is
neither strange nor eccen
tric. He purchased the
vehicle for practical
reasons, and he now also
enjoys its humorous ef
fects.
Jenkins Discusses ECSU Potential
By LILLIE VAUGHAN
Dr. Jimmy R. Jenkins,
Vice Chancellor for
Academic Affairs focused
on Elizabeth City State
University’s past, present,
and future in his fall open
ing Convocation address to
the university.
Dr. Jenkins first talked
about some of the changes
the university has
undergone in its 87 years of
existence. It’s name has
been changed several
times, and the university
for some time was
understaffed, under- fund
ed, and under- recognized.
Despite all the problems, it
has managed to turn out in
dividuals who have excell
ed in various fields, and in
many instances proved
themselves superior to
those from more affluent
institutions. He named a
few outstanding people
who attended the universi
ty and went on to express
how ECSU and other
historically black institu
tions have helped develop
leadership qualities, as
well as a mastery of the
communicative skills of
many poor, economically
deprived, basic skills defi
cient students.
Presently he said, there
has been a question as to
whether there is a need for
black institutions. Dr.
Jenkins in response
answered with “an em
phatic No!” In elaborating
he said, “To talk about in
stitutions on the basis of
color is to confuse the real
issue this nation must face.
I would take the answer
one step further to say
there is still a need for in
stitutions like ECSU. In
stitution that recognize the
discrepanies in the en
vironments of the people
that we serve. Institutions
that concentrates more
heavily on the exit criteria
for students rather than
the unrealistic entry
criteria. It is because of
our emphasis that most of
you (students) are able to
take advantage of this
golden opportunity.”
Commenting further he
said, ‘‘Being a
predominantly black in
stitution, or the kind of in
stitution that we are, is no
longer an acceptable ex
cuse for turning out
students who perform
below the norm on the
various national stan
dardized tests such as
NTE, LSAT, MCAT, MiUer
Analogies, or GRE. We
must raise the level of per
formance of our students
so they look like or surpass
students exiting from other
institutions across the na
tion. That is why for the
past two years, we have
been emphasizing our
drive to test for ex
cellence.”
The slogan button
“Testing for For Ex
cellence”, he said is
ECSU’s way of showing the
community it is well on its
way to being the major in
stitution in northeastern
North Carolina. To do this
a united effort has to be
made by the entire univer
sity family. Dr. Jenkins
said.
People are so often filled
with uncertainties about
ECSU’s future, Dr.
Jenkins said. The Vice-
Chancellor then said, “It is
our responsibility to deter
mine the role Elizabeth
City State University shall
play in the future. And if
we vasolate back and forth
based on what others think
we ought to be about, we
will most assuredly end up
some place we had no in
tentions of going.”