Rev. Ellis
ECSU’s groundsman and poet
By SYBIL STANLEY
STaff Writer
ECSU’s groundsman is also
a poet who has written over
seven hundred poems and six
plays.
Rev. James. C._ Ellis was
born near Elizabeth City and
attended P.W.Moore High
School. He left school in the
twelfth grade to join World
War II. As an army veteran,
he traveled extensively and
settled in New York where he
worked as a storeowner and
manager.
On campus, you will find
Rev. Ellis picking up paper
and trimming branches. He
wears a smile most of the
time an carries with him a
pleasant attitude.
The groundsman enjoys
working outside, because he
likes to see plants grow. When
asked how well he liked his
job, he replied, “I’m crazy
about it, and to tell the truth I
wouldn’t take anything else.”
Rev. John C. Evans, senior
at ECSU, thinks Rev. Ellis is
a very nice guy. Evans said.
“He carries on conversations
with other students and gets
along well with others.”
Lt. C. Perry, Security
Officer at ECSU, summed the
character of Rev. Ellis up by
saying “he’s a very nice man.
He’s intelligent, dependable,
and religious.”
When asked what changes
he’d observed over the five
years in students at ECSU,
Rev. Ellis said, "the young
people are better. They are
more learning and they see
their goal in life.”
Ellis thinks education is
good, but he said, “if I get ten
years of schooling it wouldn’t
help me.” He does not believe
all the knowledge is found in
books. He describes himself
as a poet and says, “a poet
does not have to always have
a degree. The problem, said
Ellis, is that “we are wor
shipping education and not
God.”
Rev. Ellis said writing
poetry was a gift given to him
by God. He was inspired to
write poetry one Sunday
By Sybil Stanley
Staff Writer
Students at ECSU are
getting quality meals at an
economical price.
Bedell’s Cafeteria,
operated by ARA Food Chain,
prepares more than two
thousand meals daily for as
many as nine hundred
students. According to Mr.
Ossie Myles, manager, the
cafeteria is serving quality
meals at an economical price.
Boarding students pay only
about eighty-seven cents per
meal. Menues are carefully
planned by the assistant
manager, Mr. Johnny Har
vey, and the manager, who
has worked extensively at
such schools as Lincoln
Universityand the University
of South Carolina.
Many ECSU students seem
to think differently about the
carefully planned meals and
the quality food. Donnell
Sawyer, a junior transfer
student from St.Augustine,
said “the food lacks
nutrients.”
According to Emma
CLarke, a freshman, the
cafeteria does not serve real
food. She was referring to the
additives and preservatives
recognized in the taste.
Stanley Whitehurst, a
senior, feels that “the
vegetables should be fresher,
the meat could be meat and
the rolls could be hot but
tered.” Sawyer adds,
however, that the food at
ECSU is about the best in the
CIAA.
The cafeteria staff is not
exactly pleased with the
behavior of the students
either. The workers complain
about the students not being
able to understand that
certain food items are not
served together; for instance,
two meats. Others say the
students show very little
respect at times and often
leave the dining hall without
taking their trays off the
table.
Moreover, the cost of meals
in the cafeteria stands a
chance of increasing due to
vanishing glasses, plates and
utensils.
Most of all the manager
would like for the students to
be more cooperative, cost
conscious and less wasteful.
Having a meal in Bedell’s
Cafeteria is not a bad deal
after all, and it’s up to ECSU
students to keep it that way.
when he was unable to find a
poem in a book to supplement
a sermon he had written.
Ellis asked God to teach him.
Rev. Ellis relies on his
mind to bring about
creativeness, and he writes
from his perception rather
than the influence of books.
When he writes, he said, “I
write from my thoughts. This
is my mind thinking.”
According to Rev. Ellis, he
could write all day with no
pain at all. Ellis believes that
the mind of a poet and artist
is his own.
The poet is in the process of
trying to publish his writings
and get the message across to
the young folks. He has been
writing since June, 1979.
An unknown bargain:
use it wisely
Rev. James Ellis makes sure ECSU’s trees and bushes stay beautiful and healthy.
Four new degree programs
in store for ECSU
Four new degree-granting
programs are on their way to
Elizabeth City State
University, announced Dr.
Jimmy R. Jenkins, vice
chancellor for academic
affairs.
ECSU officials are now
preparing to expand
curriculum with programs in
accounting, computer
science, applied mathematics
and music (non-teaching).
“We recognize one of our
problems in attracting
students is not having as
comprehensive a program as
our sister institutions.
Coupled with our graduate
programs and our new
building program, this will
bring us a tremendous leap
forward,” said Jenkins.
Dr. John H. Carson,
chairman of the business and
economics department, said
the accounting program,
formerly an accounting
minor in a business degree,
will become an accounting
degree and is designed to
increase the levels of ex
cellence and proficiency as
students train for positions in
the accounting profession, for
successsful admission to
professional schools, or for
successful completion of the
Uniform Certified Public
Accountants Examination. v
Observing that only two i'
state universities provided
programs in mathematical
and theoretical statistics. Dr.
Schindar Sachdev, chairman
of the mathematical sciences
department, noted the new
program in applied
mathematics, when im- .
plemented, will be the first in j
the state.