Inside
VIEWPOINT
How do you feel about
abortion?
— page 2
ECSU prof to publish book
— page 4
Viking men beat NSU
page 7
Movie Review:
‘Adultery does not pay’
— page 8
Gospel Choir visits NYC
— page 9
VdwrtiM't Day Um Nates
-we 10
The
Compass
fei.ru.rr 12.1988-Vol. No. s Elizabeth City State University, Elizabeth City , North Carolina
Circulation—1,700
• !
McCants hails results of
ECSU’ s new academic plan
Governors
announce
drug policy
[ By Nancy Porter
I
t After ten months of work the
UNC Board of (Governors has ap
proved a system wide drug policy
for faculty, staff and students.
>rhe policy establishes manda-
!iory minimum penalties for all 16
jampuses in the system.
: Last year federal legislation
^uired universities to have
mig abuse prevention programs.
^11 of the UNC institutions met
hese guidlines by late spring, but
he Board of Governors felt the
p'stem needed a consistent uni-
orm policy of minimum punish-
nents.
“We want the message to go
brth loud and clear that the cam-
fuses of the University of North
Carolina will in no sense be ha-
rens for those who wish to experi-
nent with illegal drugs,” said
lommittee chairman David
Vhichard, of Greenville.
Whichard said that persons
bund guilty of selling, delivering
)r manufacturing “hard drugs,
lefined as Schedule I and II
Irugs under the state’s General
Statutes, would be expelled or
^ed. Schedule I and II drugs in-
:lude heroin, opium and cocaine.
First time offenders involved
n the illegal sale, manufacture
tr delivery of other drugs would
ace suspension from school or
Employment for at least a semes-
pr. Second time offenders would
>e expelled or fired.
Whichard said that severe drug
ffenses will receive mandatory
•unishment; less severe of-
'fenses, however, will be left up to
A group of ECSU’s incentive scholars listen to their advisor, Sandy Meade, as she
instructs them about the Incentive Scholarship Program. The scholars are Mike
Whitehurst, Pam Brite, Scott Bigbie, Herbert Johnson,
Chris Lynch, Darius Griffen,Ann Riddick, Evelyn
Harper and Donald Silver.
Issues Forum is
filmed on campus
By Lavette Washington-Bias
Declining black enrollment,
the image of historically black in
stitutions, and the need to pre
serve their special identities—
these were some of the major is
sues discussed during The Black
Issues Forum, held January 15 in
the Kermit E. White Center at
ECSU.
The program was filmed by the
UNC Center for Public Tele
vision, and will air Friday, Feb
ruary 19 at 9 p.m.
Panelist discussions focused on
three areas related to black col
leges: historical perspectives,
changing roles, and present and
future roles.
Historically, the panelists con
cluded, black colleges were
never expected to excel.
“Many people expected black
colleges to produce second class
citizens,” said panelist Dr. Lloyd
Hackley, in discussing the his
tory of black colleges, “but black
graduates broke out of the mold.
They went into the mainstream
and competed with graduates of
other institutions.”
“If we count the number of
black professionals, law school
graduates, and PhDs, it staggers
the imagination how well they
performed, having come out of
those dire straits.”
Hackley is Chancellor of Fayet
teville State University.
One panelist observed that the
origin of black institutions was
intertwined with the black
church.
“To study the history of black
colleges is to study the history of
the Negro church,” said Dr. Lee
Monroe, State Senior Educative
Advisor. “Black colleges came
about as a result of black mis
sionaries. Their purpose was to
educate freed slaves.”
In discussing the changing role
of historically black institutions,
the panelists agreed that black
colleges must make sure their
graduates are competitive in the
job market.
“We have to make our educa
tion competitive,” said Hackley.
“At the end students have to be
able to compete with students
from big colleges.”
The panelists also discussed
the role that black colleges play
in nurturing black students.
“Black campuses provide a
better learning environment for
See Colleges, page 5.
See Drugs, page 6.
SAT scores; 60pt.
leap for ‘91 class
By Lisa Gregory
“I think Elizabeth City State
University will lead the pack,”
said Dr. Gerald McCants, Direc
tor of ECSU’s Academic Im
provement Program.
McCants said that this year’s
entering freshmen had a 60 point
jump in their SAT scor^ over
last year’s class. “They believe
that’s the highest increase in the
state of N.C. for the fall 1987 se
mester,” McCants said proudly.
More than 66% of the students
who came to ECSU as freshmen
ranked in the top half of their
high school graduating class,
McCants said. “I know that other
institutions of higher education in
North Carolina and in the Univer
sity of North Carolina system
may represent higher, or compa
rable scores, but that type of per
centage jump is absolutely phe
nomenal.”
McCants said (hat ECSU’s re
cord increase in SAT scores
among entering freshmen will be
published in a state report,“The
Statistical Analysis of Higher Ed
ucation Institutions in North Car
olina.”
Slightly more than 50% of this
year’s freshmen class are Incen
tive Scholarship students,
McCants said. These students
must be a graduate of a high
school in one of 16 Northeastern
North Carolina counties. They
must rank in the top half of their
class and meet all other ECSU
admission requirements.
Incentive scholars must also
agree to perform at least eight
hours per week in public service,
carry at least 15 hours each regu
lar semester, and maintain a 2.0
grade point average in their
freshman year, 2.5 during their
sophomore year, and 3.0 thereaf
ter. And they must agree to par
ticipate in tee university’s aca
demic improvement effort.
The N.C. State Legislature
funded the Incentive Scholarship
program for two years, McCants
said. “The program will be
funded two years at a time,” he
added.
The University’s new Aca
demic Development Plan and In
centive Scholarship Program
originated because of the UNC
system President and Board of
Governors and ECSU chan
cellor’s belief that a new course
of action is necessary for ECSU
and the University of North Caro
lina. This is so they can respond
to the challenges and opportu-
nites now facing them in serving
the Northeastern North Carolina
region, and all citizens of North
Carolina, according to the intro
duction of the new plan.
The plan is designed, in part, to
build stronger ties with the pubUc
schools in the region and to im
prove working relationships with
the College of the Albemarle.
“To determine the impact of
the program we should look for
quality end results,” said
McCants. “For example we are
looking for a high graduation
rate. If we started with 100 and
graduated 80 there would be no
other school in the country who
could touch that.
“ECSU does offer a high qual
ity education,” McCants said.
“What hurts a school is when it
doesn’t perform and when it
doesn’t produce quaUty grad
uates.”
/
Ronald Penny, Elizabeth City’s Mayor Melvin Daniels, William Owens, Chancellor
Jimmy Jenkins and son Jimmy, Jr., and Charles Gregg (above left to right) all listen
to speakers at the Waterfront area on Martin Luther King’s birthday. Penny is an
Elizabeth City attorney. Owens is Chairman of the County Board of Commissioners,
and Gregg is Chairman of the Board of the Elizabeth City Chamber of Commerce.
Photo by Calvin Norman
‘King’s dream still lives’ say
speakers at vsraterfront park
By Becky Overton
On January 11 ECSU joined the
nation in celebrating the birthday
of slain civil rights leader Dr.
Martin Luther King. Jr.
Campus activities to mark this
national holiday included an art
exibit in the Viking Room, docu
mentary films about Dr. King, a
memorial march to Waterfront
Park, and an assembly program
in Williams Hall Gymnasium.
The memorial march began at
10:00 a.m. in the parking lot of
the ECSU’s G.R. Little Library.
The marchers consisted of stu
dents, faculty and the staff of
ECSU as well as members of the
Pasquotank County NACCP,
Elizabeth City Boys Club, and
other organizations.
The marchers walked to
Knobbs Creek Park in Elizabeth
City where they listened to seve
ral speakers, including the
mayor of Elizabeth City, three
members of the Pasquotank
County Board of Education, and
the President of the county
NAACP.
All speakers attested that
“King’s dream is still alive and
will one day become a reality.”
At 2:00 p.m. ECSU held a me
morial service in Dr. King’s
honor in Williams Hall. The
ECSU Gospel Choir sang three
selections, with solos by Dwayne
Carter and Johnny Ray Parker.
The guest speaker was Rev.
Dr. Caroyln Ann Knight, who is
assistant to the pastor at the Ca
naan Baptist Church of Christ in
Harlem. K
Dr. Knight delivered a passion
ate speach against society’s
evils—including crime, drug ad
diction, and the failure of politi
cal leaders, and ordinary citi
zens, to do something about
poverty and suffering.
“There is a cruel conspiracy
between suffering and indiffer
ence and silence,” said Dr.
Knight. “Too many people are si
lent about too many things.
“I am speaking of apartheid in
South Africa, of starving children
in Ethiopia, about unclaimed
children in Vietnam fathered by
unknown black and white serv
icemen, about children running
wild in the asphalt jungle of the
urban environment.”
See King, page 5.
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