Pfi, ictober 14, 1988
Page 2
THE COMPASS
THE OPINION PAGE
THE COMPASS
Edjtof Robin Sawyer
Associate Editor Lisa Gregory
Managing Photographer Richard Mclntire
Advertising Manager Deborah Jacobs
Photographers David Joyner
Richard Mclntire
Leamon Pearce
Graphics Consultant Diane Patterson
Staff Artist
Staff Writers Nicholas Allen,
Karen Blanchard, Darryl Brov»n, Lynne Chapman, Dwayne Collins, Antoine Davis, Shawn Everett, Beverly
Johnson, Travis Manuel, Ursula McMillion, Amy Mitchell, Robin Pincus, Nancy Porter, Sylvia Purvis, Johnny
Reid, Alisa Robinson, Tammy Taylor, Monique Thomas
Sports Morris
Mike Stone
Editorial Assistants Craig Avondo, Samantha Epps, Renee Knight
The CompKS is published by Elizabeth City State University Students under the direction of the Department of Language, Literature and
Communication. Dr, Anne Henderson, Chairperson, and Mr. Stephen March, faculty advisor.
the Compass welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should t>e sent to ECSU Box 815, Elizabeth City, NC 27909. All letters must t»e signed
and include the writer’s address and telephone numtwr. They may be edited for length, clarity and taste, as well as for accuracy and grammar.
BeiTause of limited space, not alt letters can be published.
Is towing
the answer?
Is it enough that students have to pay $22 per year to
park on campus without the luxury of reserved
spaces? Obviously not. Students also have to prac
tice creative parking because the spaces that they
pay for are all too often non-existent.
. Creative parking can be defined as a person s ability to
find suitable parking on grass, curbs, or any hard substance
that will hold a passenger vehicle while the driver is cun
ning and lucky enough to get away with it. No doubt many
ECSU students could declare this activity as a second ma
jor.
University officials have begun to actively enforce the
towing of cars that are illegally parked and or have an out-
of-date parking sticker. Is this the end-all be-all answer to
the parking problem? We think not. Towing a few cars a
day may force more people to update their stickers,
granted, and it may put an end to the most flagrant viola
tors of parking regulations. But the policy certainly won’t
make more parking spaces suddenly appear.
With student enrollment increasing every year, and
freshmen being allowed to bring cars their first semester of
school, the problem will only be magnified as the number of
students go up.
University administrators should consider if it’s advis
able to tow illegally parked cars when legal parking spaces
are often as rare as flawless diamonds.
One solution to this problem (without implying any dis
respect for nature) could be to turn some of the school’s
grounds into student parking areas. The open space around
Bias, Williams and Butler Halls would serve this purpose
nicely.
The University has included more parking spaces in its
long range expansion plans, but what do we do in the mean
time?
' One solution would be to ensure that adequate parkmg
areas accompany each new building. It is not enough to only
add a few spaces for cosmetic purposes (as in the case of
the New Administration Building). There must be some
type of logical correlation between parking spaces and the
number of faculty members and students that these build
ings will house on a daily basis.
If taken care of now, this problem could be alleviated
quickly by adding more parking lots, and the towing policy
could be terminated, except in extreme cases with long
term violators, or where traffic flow is affected.
. We do not mean to suggest that the University should ig
nore those who violate parking rules and regulations. But
( ■we believe more parking spaces, rather than tow trucks, is
-.the ultimate answer to ECSU’s parking problem.
Guest Coluinnist&
6dSleiN’»
Mifj-
riews-Mea
AHa^iMG How one
peeaTe caM Pur
a caMpai6M iNTo
PeRSfeCTiVe, iSM’T FT?
3
TAM,FIT
aeflPY.
(W
By Velma Brown
If you thought the vice presi
dential debates were just an
other duU replacement during a
strike-shortened television sea
son or a 90-minute nap period be
fore the late night National
League playoff game, then you
might have missed one of the
highlights of the television and
political seasons.
Vice presidential candidates
Lloyd Bentsen and J. Danforth
Quayle had their first and only
debate recently, and unlike their
running mates, produced a clear
winner and made the program
interesting.
To begin, this debate was held
in Omaha, Neb. — middle Amer
ica — an area both vice presi
dential candidates claim to rep
resent. But the live audience
response during the debate indi
cated that Mr. & Mrs. Middle
America were just as uncertain
about these guys as the rest of
the country.
Like any good novel, movie,
play or television show, the de-
■9
Veep debates: zenith
of t.v. political season
bate consisted of a fascinating
plot (like which of these people
would be more qualified to be
president in the event his run
ning mate was unable to fulfill
his duties?). Well developed
characters were present (like
Quayle, Bentsen, Woodruff, Bro-
kaw, Hume) with scintillating
dialogue (such as “My grand
mother told me I could be any
thing I wanted to be.” — Quayle.
Or: “We have to break the cycle
of poverty.” — Bentsen. Do
these statements sound famil
iar?) Sparked by meaty ques
tions like “In recent years what
books have you read that had the
most influence on you?”
(Hume).
In addition to all these fine
characteristics, the vice presi
dential debate showed us how
many different shades of red one
man can turn. Judy Woodruff
posed an ice breaker, which
asked Quayle what explanation
could be think of as to why most
of the Republican leaders
thought he was a hindrance
rather than a help to the ticket.
From that moment on, the Sen
ator from Indiana often turned
several shades of red, depending
on the intensity of the question.
When asked about his qualifica
tions for the job, he turned red
before telling the nation the first
thing that he would do if he
should become president was
pray.
And we all prayed that he
would never have to say his
prayer.
Lloyd Bentsen, on the other
hand, appeared almost robotic;
not a hair was out of place. He
hardly moved a muscle the en
tire ninety minutes and his re
sponses were so fluid that you
could almost see them oozing
from his mouth. But at least he
had the dignity not to turn red.
And although he answered a
question about a fundraising
ploy the same way he had done
when the matter found its way to
the media, his reponse was, “I
don’t often make mistakes, but
when I do it’s a doozie.”
Surely the vice presidential
debate won’t go down in the an
nals of political history as one of
the greatest, but it did make
good television entertainment.
It was so entertaining that it
softened the blow of the Mets
losing to the Dodgers in game’
two of their playoff series.
Probably no voters changed
their minds as a result of this de
bate, but television viewers did;
find out which member of each
party’s ticket is the most enter
taining. In fact, these two should
forget this political business and!
find their way into the entertain-;
ment field.
That last statement was prob
ably uncalled for, to paraphrase!
Senator Quayle. By the way,;
Quayle was the most colorful of
the two, but based on political;
substance the more experienced!
Bentsen won easily. !
By Martin Carter
The alleged “race riot” that
took place in Virginia Beach this
past Labor Day was handled
poorly by Virginia police, to say
the least. The “race riot” began
when the expected Labor Day
traffic stagnated alone Nineteen
and Twenty-third Streets. A
black resident of New York City,
who came down for the Black
Greek Fraternity Festival, was
playing his jeep audio system at
maximum capacity, motivating
onlookers to follow the jeep into
a parking lot beside a waterfront
hotel. The students danced and
cheered around the jeep until lo
cal shop owners locked their
doors, picked up weapons, and
called authorities to control an
alleged “race riot.”
Virginia Police arrived clad in
helmets, riot clubs in hand, and
tear gas ready. Police blocked
Va. police mishandled
alleged ‘race riot’
traffic from Nineteenth down to
Twenty-third Street, and they di
vided the main road on the wa
terfront in half.
When a 20-year old black man
attempted to cross the street, a
mounted policeman knocked
him to the ground. After recov
ering, the man cursed the offi
cer, and was promptly arrested.
Four other officers seized the
young man, and neutralized him
with a stun gun.
Awhile later an older white
male attemped to cross the
street. Police asked him, “to
please step back onto the curb,
sir.”
These two incidents enraged
the onlookers.
Following a 20-minute stand
off between students and police,
the riot squad began pushing
students from the area, knock
ing many down. After one black
female was knocked to the
ground by an officer, she cursed
him. He clubbed her, and in the
ensuing melee, many other offi
cers began swinging clubs, too.
Students hurled bottles and
rocks at mounted officers. This
prompted police to begin arrest
ing all persons in the area. When
three white males attempted to
aid the police, the men were
beaten by fleeing students.
The African American stu
dents and non students brought
much financial properity to Vir
ginia Beach during Labor Day.
Linda Walker, supervisor of the
Virginia Beach Visitor’s Center
told a reporter for the Virginian
Pilot, “Just about all our hotels
and motels were full. The shop
keepers were doing very well”;
However, these same custom
ers were treated with no re
spect, and the least possible re
gard. The black consumers who
spent their money-part of which
helps support the Virginia
Beach Police Department-
should redefine their priorities.
This incident dramatizes the im
portance of the African-Ameri
can consumer dollar, and the
disregard of the African Ameri
can in the politics, economics
and social life of America.
Blacks desire to spend their
money where they will be re
spected and accepted. If they
cannot be respected and ac
cepted by business and other es
tablishments, African Ameri
cans must create their own
economic structure.
8',.
Keep us informed
ECSU student says
Campus drugs ‘out of hand’
. To The Editor
University officials need to
communicate more effectively
•to the students about upcoming
Campus activities. For example,
'itiany students did not find out
about the recent Candlelight
Services until the weekend it
'Vvas held.
Another problem of commu
nication between students and
officials focuses on commuter
students. These students often
•don’t know about upcoming ac
tivities, or they learn about
them too late to participate. One
example of this is when ECSU
students went to Norfolk; they
had to pay a fee to ride the bus.
Very few commuter students
knew about the bus or the fee.
Fliers or calendars could be
used to help let commuter stu
dents know about upcoming ac
tivities. Small calendars could
be made for every month, listing
the activities for that month.
Flyers could be put on cars a
week in advance to let the stu
dents know there is an activity
planned for the following week.
Students who live on campus
could be notified by posters hung
in prominant areas.
The University should sponsor
a forum to address this problem.
Angela Savage
To The Editor:
Elizabeth City State Univer
sity has a serious drug problem.
The distribution of drugs to stu
dents and high school students is
getting totally out of hand, and
the University should address
the problem before it gets
worse.
The dorms are becoming pot
houses instead of living quarters
for students. All times of the
night different people come in
and out of the dorms, buying and
selling drugs. I see and smell
this happening every night be
fore I go to bed. The problem
comes when I get high off the
smoke, and do not know who to
point a finger at.
High schools kids are coming
to the yniversity to buy drugs
from students and go back to
share it with their friends. I
have seen this too much and
sometimes try to stop the kids
from coming back, but I have no
right to tell them they can not
come in the dorms or on cam
pus.
Dances held in Williams Hall
on the weekend are Heaven for
high school drug dealers and
drug users, as well as for the stu
dents who do drugs on campus. I
have been in one of the dances
when the smell of pot was all
over and a cloud of smoke was
covering the crowd. Non drug
users who attended the dance
just to have fun ended up getting
a contact high.
I am tired of this, and some
thing needs to be done about it.
Anyone caught selling drugs
should be put off campus and out
of school. Any one caught with a
substantial quantity of any ille
gal drug should be put out of
school for one full year.
These are minor punishments
for what drug dealers do to a hu
man’s life.
ECSU student’s name withheld
(Editor’s Note: Elizabeth City
State’s University’s anti-drug
policy is set forth in the Univer
sity’s Policy of Illegal Drugs.
Accordmg to this manual, the
University’s objective is “to en
sile that the University commu
nity is not compromised by the
presence and/or use of illegal
drugs by stu(fents, faculty or
staff members. It is in our best
interests to unite to prevent drug
use in our community of schol
ars. In North Carolina, the use of
illegal drugs continues to be a
growing concern. Working col
lectively, we have the talent and
resources to win out over the
temptation of drugs.”
The manual further states.
“Elizabeth City State University
will strive to have a drug-frej
campus which is consistent wit»
the objectives of the Board ®
Governors of the UNC SyS'
tem....ECSU will take all nec
essary actions, in accordance
with local, state and federal la*
and applicable University rul^
and regulations, to eliminate U’
legal drugs from our campi**
community.”)