The Compass Elizabeth City, N.C. May 9, 1986-Page 2
EDITORIAL
Procedure changes
Musicians becomepoliticians 73" in "all
by Gary D. Sheared
American musicians have al
ways influenced political issues
such as the Vietnam War and the
Civil Rights Movement of the
1960’s, but currently they are tak
ing a stronger stand against the
problems of the world in the
1980’s.
Hundreds of this country’s ma
jor musicians and recording art
ists have gathered to help aid
those who can not help them
selves. They have expressed
through music their position an
d/or disposition on certain issues
involving this country and others
abroad. Last summer, an all-star
Farm-Aid benefit was given at
theUnilversityof Illinois. Accord
ing to event organizer, country
music star Willie Nelson, approx
imately $10 million in ticket
sales, merchandizing, and
pledges was raised. That was
one-fifth of the total amount pro
jected. However, Nelson expects
to gain; other revenues through a
possible Farm-Aid album.
In February 1985, USA For Af
rica, 46 of the top recording art
ists in America, gathered to
gether their talents and efforts to
produce a record that would
make others aware of the hunger
problem in Ethiopia and to raise
monies for the famine victims.
The theme We Are The World,
co-written by two of the most suc
cessful male solo artists of the
20th century, Lionel Richie and
Michael Jackson, produced not
only a once in a lifetime chorus
but more than $24 million in reve
nues including the single, video
aind double album gross intake.
Produced by Quincy Jones,
this effort featured Richie and
Jackson along with Stevie Won
der, Bob Dylan, Huey Lewis,
Tina Turner, Cyndi Lauper,
Steve Perry, Ray Charles, the
Pointer Sisters and an array of
other vocal greats.
USA For Africa organizer Ken
Kragen is currently forming an
other me^a-event to help offset
the domestic hunger problems
and the homeless here in Amer
ica.
Kragen, along with Co-chair-
men Bill Cosby, Kenny Rogers
and baseball Preat Pete Rose,
expects to bring in approxi
mately $100 million dollars for
America’s poor with this project.
The project “Hands Across
America” will link 6 to 10 million
people in a ‘human chain’ from
the east coast to the west coast.
This is scheduled to take place
Sunday, May 25, 1986 during the
Memorial Day weekend.
The participants are expected
to stand hand-in-hand singing We
Are The World, a song which
brought Kragen national ac
claim, and America The Beauti
ful.
Kragen says the money raised
by this project will be distributed
according to the need of support.
Fifty percent will be used to sup
port existing programs for the
poor. Forty percent will be do
nated to fund new programs, in
cluding tenant-owned housing
projects, locally-supported job
programs and food coops. Ten
percent will aid immediate
emergency assistance.
Celebrities expected to partici
pate in this effort include Lionel
Richie, Harry Belafonte, Marlon
Jackson, Richard Dreyfuss, Mor
gan Fairchild, Ed McMahon-just
to name a few.
There is still on existence the
problem of apartheid in South Af
rica. An anti-apartheid force is
being formed within the music
industry to express it’s stand
against the political strategy.
The Black Music Association is
urging the record industry to di
vest itself of all commercial in
terest in South Africa, the organi
zation president Ewart Abner
announced at the BMA’s seventh
annual conference in Philadel
phia.
Chairman Dick Griffey said,
“The black trade organization
supported the cultural boycott of
South Africa, but did not go so far
to advocate divestiture.”
Griffey, president of SOLAR
Records, suggests that the music
industry as a whole follow the
lead of his company and put all
South African revenues into a
trust fund for distribution to anti
apartheid forces. Musici; r gen
ius Stevie Wonder, who also at
tended the conference, suggested
asking all black stations around
the country to dedicate a day to
talking about apartheid and play
ing ‘political’ music.
Other support efforts within
the music industry such as Live
Aid, Band Aid, and the King
Dream Chorus & Holiday Crew
have also had the same effect on
the interest in the music industry
and the world as a whole.
by Linda Burapass
(courtesv of the a&T Register) _
Prompted by the suspensions
of two A&T fraternities for al
leged hazing, changed in proce
dures governing university
pledge periods for Greek-letter
organizations are being planned
and will be initiated in the fall,
says Chancellor Edward B. Fort.
“I don’t want students coming
to this university and fear joining
a fraternityor sorority because of
hazing,” he said.
Omega Psi Phi and Alpha Phi
Alpha fraternities were both sus
pended through spring semester
1987.
In the Omega case, charges
were brought against one frater
nity member. Fort said, and law
enforcement officials are hand
ling the investigation. The uni
versity will conduct its own.
Steve Jones, 20, of 731 Plott St.,
Greensboro, is charged with four
misdemeanor counts of assault
with a deadly weapon, two felony
counts of assault with a deadly
weapon, inflicting serious injury.
two misdemeanor counts of
hazing.‘5, and one misdemeanor
count of simple assault and bat.
tery.
Fort said canipus police are
still investigating alleged Alpha
Phi Alpha hazings, and any
needed action will be taken when
the investigation is complete,
“I am against hazing,” he said
“because it’s ...against the law
And if hound on this campus it
will be prosecuted to the fullest ”
The administration has not de
termined the type of penalty the
Omegas will face, says Dr. Ro
land E. Buck, vice chancellor for
student affairs. “We haven’t de
termined, because we have to
give them due process,” he said
Buck said he’s received re
ports from fraduate chapter fra
ternity members and advisers
concerning the incidents, but the
information will not be released
until it is submitted to the chan
cellor.
Fort said once he receives the
report he will make a decision on
any action.
Hazing incident
produces changes
Apartheid divides Africa
Apartheid is a word derived
from the Afrikaner (Dutch) lan
guage. It means “intense apart
ness or separate development.”
Ironically, it’s pronounced
“apart-hate.”
The system of apartheid prac
ticed in South Africa is based on
the political principle of “race”
and its most common indicator,
color. The most and best of ev
erything in South African society
is reserved for whites, who com
prise 16% of the population and
are presumed to be superior hu
man beings. Browns (Asians-
3%) and Coloreds (mixed race-
9%) are given selective rights.
Blacks, who represent 72% of the
country’s 31 million inhabitants,
get the least and worst of this
mineral and industrial- laden so
ciety’s resources, benefits and
services.
Apartheid is a rigid caste sys
tem that fixes the position of non
white groups in the society from
birth to death. A myriad of laws
and regulations prescribe the le
gal and political rights, social and
geographic spaces of South Afri
ca’s various racial groups. This
long and complex series of apart
heid laws were, for the most
part, enacted between 1953 and
1959 after the country’s Afri
kaner-supported National Party
gained control of South Africa’s
government in the 1953 general
elections.
The Pass Book Law, the Group
Areas Act and the Influx Control
are examples of laws designed to
control the movement of the
Black population and to re-in
force the supremacy of whites in
South Africa. Blacks are allowed
to work but not to live in urban
communities. They may live
around the cities in “townships”
if they are employed in the cities.
Technically, Blacks are not
even citizens of South Africa;
they are assigned citizenship m
“Bantustans,” artificially cre
ated states established by the
white-minority regime. Excess
labor and those not the work
force are resettled in these
“homeland” areas, which are
the most barren and unproduc
tive regions of the country. Those
who do work in the cities are of
ten separated from their families
for months at a time.
Blacks not only have no politi
cal voice in the affairs of the
South African government, they
are limited as well in the coun
try’s industrial arena. Blacks are
confined to jobs as semi-skilled
and unskilled laborers in mines,
factories, and plants of South Af
rica, where they receive six
times less pay than whites for
equal or better work.
In addition, education for
South African white children is
compulsory and free; for Blacks,
it was neither until 1981, when the
government introduced compul
sory education for 45,000 African
students, 1.5% of those eligible
for such consideration.
Resistance to apartheid has
been steady and well-organized
in the Black South African com
munity. Unfortunately, every
tactic to change the system has
been met by increased oppres
sion from the white-minority
government. Today, a global re
action to apartheid is taking
shape. With vigilance, steadfast
ness of purpose and international
support, this massive evil can be
blotted off the face of the earth.
Mahmoud El-Kati
Fred Lassiter
Black Collegian
by Linda Bumpass
courtesy of the A&T register)
The hazing incident that oc
curred on A&T’s campus is just
one of the few that happens
across the country each year.
According to an article from
the Greensboro News and Re
cord many pledgees subject
themselves to abuse that is ab
surd.
According to the article, in one
event, a pledgee was paralyzed
after diving a flight of stairs. In
another, a pledgee was locked in
the trunk of a car, and was told
that he would only be released if
he consumed a six pack of beer, a
pint of bourbon and a bottle of
wine. The pledgee was released
from the trunk, but not before he
had died.
Will these insane events con
tinue to occur? Will A&T end up
like schools such as Yale and
Notre Dame that have elimi
nated fraterities, in order, to
eliminate hazing.
College administrators and
law officials must find a way to
end hazing, even if it means ban
ning fraterities and sororities
from all college campuses. There
are other ways to build brother
hood. I agree with the Rev. Jesse
Jackson, also an Omega Psi Phi
Fraternity brother, who was
quoted in a newpaper article this
week, that “The pledge period is
a time when pledgees should
show what their minds can take,
not what their behinds can take.”
Nevertheless, most students
have heard of many hazing sto
ries but very few students have
the nerve to speak out against or
report them.
Finally, if a student cares
enough about his or her future
Greek system. He/she will find
better ways than hazing to ini-
t i a t e
their pledgees.
Commuters’ questions left unanswered
W Edith Tavlor
The Compass
Editor-In-Chief Gary D. Sheared
IVIanaging Editor Pam Brown
News Editor Fred Lassiter
Production IVIanager ... Steve Smith
Sports Editor MinorWiggins
Photographers Karl Halsey
Kathi Lindsey
Advisors
Dr. Anne Henderson
Mrs. Diana Gardner
The opinions on the Editorial page do not necessarily reflect
the opinions of Elizabeth City State University, its adminis^tration.
The Compass staff or the student body.
Letters to the Editor are welcomed. Send signed articles, letters
or comments to The Compass Box 815
Elizabeth City State University
Elizabeth City, N.C. 27909
We reserve the right to edit all submissions.
From the Editor’s Desk
Many commuting students
found their questions un
answered after they attended a
special meeting earlier this
month to discuss commuters’
needs and problems. Catherine
Waterfield from Counseling and
Student Affairs chaired the meet
ing which covered a wide range
of questions.
Students raised several ques
tions about parking on campus.
Many commuters do not want to
pay to park on the campus since
^ey return home at night and
only use a space during the day,
which is sometimes difficult to
find. Students proposed that the
parking fees should be taken out
of general fees such as tuition,
etc.
Students present could not un
derstand the three dollar Com
muter Fee. Mrs. Waterfield ex
plained that this money was used
to cover public facilities and sup
plies such as soap and toilet pa
per. Students replied that they
could not understand why they
had to pay for such items, when
they are accessible to everyone
at the university.
that all comments would be re
viewed.
In the judgement of the com-
Mrs. Waterfield said that she
would present a list of the com
muters’ complaints and sugges
tions to the proper administra
tors. She said that she could not muting students, proper unive-
promise what the outcome would sity recognition should be given
be but that they would be consid- to the fact that they make up a
ered. As always, problems and large percentage of ECSU’s stu-
issues are heard but hardly ever dent body. Even though they are
responded^' Students then not the majority, compared to
asked if future commuter meet- on-campus residents, they are
ings would be worthwhile since
there was no assurance that any
thing would be done about their
problems. Mrs. Waterfield stated
students, who want to get what
they pay for, but do not want to
pay for what they do not get.
On behalf of The Compass
staff, I would like to invite every
one interested in writing, report
ing, advertising, art, lay-out, de
sign or photography to become
involved with The Compass.
No experience is needed al
though a good command of the
English language is necessary
for certain staff positions. You
may work in an area where your
interests are, whether they are
sports, features, editorials, pro
duction or entertainment.
You do not have to be an En
glish major to be a part of our
campus newspaper, because we
need representatives or corre
spondents from other depart
ments to give a broader scope to
the paper. If you do not want to
be directly related to The Com
pass on a regular basis but do
want to have stories or letters to
the editor published, I encourage
you to write your story. It may
concern any issue, organization,
event, workshop or personality
profile. However, we do reserve
the right to edit all material re
ceived.
This invitation is also extended
to the faculty, staff, and adminis
tration at ECSU, as well as all
members of the student body .
Send your stories, letters, or
ideas to: The Compass Box 815
ECSU Elizabeth City, NC 27909.
The Compass staff is small in
size but good in quality. Never
theless, with your help we can
make it bigger and better.
EDITOR-in-CHIEF
Letters
to the Editor
The brothers of the Beta Zeta
chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha
would like to compliment Chan
cellor. Jimmy R. Jenkins for
a job well done. He has expanded
Elizabeth City State University
into a well-rounded institution of
higher learning. We are sure it is
not an easy task being chan
cellor, but he handles it the way
it should be handled.
We are certain that soon ECSU
will be one of the most prominent
black universities in the country
with his will and determin
ation.
Keep up the good work.
Sincerely Yoiu’s,
Members of Beta Zeta Chapter of
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc,
To all the members of the class
of 1986, I congratulate each and
every one of you. It has been a
long, but interesting, four years
here at Elizabeth City State Uni
versity. Remember all the good
times we have shared throughout
the years.
Upon graduation, uphold the
high standards that you have ac
quired while attending Elizabeth
City State University. Let every
one know that you are a Viking
and proud of it. Good luck in
searching for what you strive for
in life and I wish you much suc
cess.
Sincerely Yours,
Curtis Jackson
President-Class of 1986