Newspapers / Elizabeth City State University … / Dec. 12, 1989, edition 1 / Page 2
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THE OPINION PAGE THE COMPASS Managing Editor Richard Mclntire News Editor Craig Avondo Sports Editor Wark Morris Business Manager Connie Hanchuck Consulting Editor Robin Sawyer Graphics Consulting Diane Patterson Staff Artist Kevin Cruz Production Manager Craig Avondo Circulation Manager Mike Stone Photographers Richard Mclntire Jackie Rountree Staff Writers Nicholas Allen, Kenneth Bazemore, Uchenna Bulliner, Daryl Brown, Dwayne Collins, Trina Coleman, Beverly Johnson, Eric Jones, Florencestine Jones, Paquin McClain, Ursula McMillion, Becky Overton, Sylvia Purvis, Jody Riddick, Kimberly Robinson, James Simms, Mike Stone, Tammy Taylor, Vickie Webb-Thomas, Cheryl White Editorial Assistants Mary Bohannon, Kevin "Jody" Riddick Tilt CvniiMS is pubished by Efizabdlti City State University students urKier the direction of ^ Deptartment of Language. Uteratue arKi Communicalon. Or. Anne Her>derson, Ct^lrperson, and Mr. Stephen Mardi. faculty ad>^. TIm CsmpMS welcomes letters K> the edilx. Letters shodd be sent to ECSU Box B15, Qlzabetfi City. Nc 27909. All leners must be signed and Incbde the writer's address and telephone number. They may be edited for length, dartty and taste, as well as for accuracy and grammar. Because of limited space, not al letters can be pubished. In Praise of SGA Congratulations to SGA President Karen Richardson, and all her staff for a successful first semester of the 1989-90 school year. What a Homecoming Week! Big Daddy Kane, Vesta Wil liams—what a stage performance, with the Jungle Brothers topping things off. No other CIAA school could compete this year. The school made money, and everyone was happy. We’ve never seen such spirit. (And if there were any Gloomy Guses, they were that way because they couldn’t get a ticket to the show.) In our opinion, this was the best Homecoming in the past four years. On other fronts, let’s not forget the free ride to Norfolk’s airport and bus station for out-of-state students over the Thanks giving holiday. That was an idea that’s been around, but was finally brought to fruition. For those of us who know it’s the small things that count, THANK YOU. So SGA, you’ve got the students’ attention and support, but don’t let this go to your head. For even though you’ve had success over that short October weekend, what have you been doing since? It seems that after Homecoming, SGA loses touch v/ith the student body, and goes into hiding. Granted most students feel that if a successful homecoming is pulled off, SGA’s job is done, but we know that’s not true. SGA we’re seeing some great things but not the whole picture. Let the students know about the other ‘not so extravagant’business side of events. Close the great chasm of communication and tell us what’s going to happen next; that way , if and when mishaps do occur, we won’t be be blown away and you won’t be open to criticism. All that we ask now, is that you continue striving to provide practical student representation in university affairs and bring fresh ideas into action. By the way SGA, what’s up for next semester? D Dear Readers: I would like for you to know that the information contained in this column is not canned information. These are real problems sent to us from students at ECSU. We hope in some way to help you if we can. Send your problems to The Compass, Box 815 Elizabeth City State University. Liz Dear Liz: Recently, I found out that my boy friend and a friend of mine were fooling around behind my back. That’snot the problem. I have gotten over him but this new girlfriend feels she definitely has him and makes this fact well known to me. But Lizzie believe it or not he is still coming to my room and telling me how much he wants me back. All I want is for him to leave me alone. What can I do to get rid of him? I want to tell her what he is doing just so I can wipe that smug grin off her face! I just don’t know if that is the best thing to do. Please help! Betrayed and Confused Dear Betrayed and Confused: Are you sure you have gotten over him? Why are you listening to him talk when he visits? Get angry! You are too nice a per son for someone to treat you this way. He lowers your standards so you are better off without the creep. What has she won? A creep! She can have him. He’s not worth it. Forget it, because what he has done to you he will do to her and she should worry a great deal about this. You are Ae lucky one. You are out of it now. Congratulations!!! Liz Dear Liz: My problem is the girls: I like to visit my girlfriend, Sheila, in her dorm, but I feel like I’m being taken apart, piece by piece, and put back together when I go over there. They all stare and inspect and question me. I don’t mind strutting my stuff but this is starting to get on my nerves because it happens everytime. How can I visit my girlfriend without in spection from her friends? Struttin’ Steve Dear Struttin’ Steve: All girls appreciate a manly form —evidendy you are one good look ing dude, and must command atten tion. Feel good about yourself and know every other guy is jealous. The newness of your visits will eventu ally wear off if you give very little of your attention to them. If it doesn’t think positive and enjoy. College doesn’t last forever! Liz Melvin Murphy Chairman Social Sciences Dept,ECSU ’A number of things will have to be considered before this can be answered. But, the CoW War has been put on hold. It'll take time to see whafll happen because of the ideologies of capitalism and communism. Especially^ when it comes to economic matters." Talk of ECSU: With communism declining, how close is world peace? Steven Cooke Freshman Trenton, N.J. “With democracy coming to Eastern Europe, it’s a step toward true peace and security . But, it’s not as big a step as most people think.” Robert Thorne Professor of Language, Literature; & Communications, ECSU ^ ‘It's an act that symbolizes that countries’ governments are responding to people. It's a sign, but t don't think we're any closer just because changes are being made. We can tend to overphilosophy.V I Ginger Barnes Freshman Washington, N.C. ■|t takes people to make democracy work, so it's up to the people in those countries. We're as close to world peace as each of those persons’ hearts desire." Guest Columnist Betrayed for '30 pieces of silver' By Reggie Carson Judas Iscariot’s betrayal of Jesus for thirty pieces of silver is a classic example of how bonds of love can be undermined by greed. A more modem example of this phenomenon is Ralph David Aber nathy who betrayed his friend and comrade-in-arms Martin Luther King for profit. Abemathy’srevelationsof King’s sexual escapades in his new autobiography And TheWalls Came Tumbling Down surely boosted sales of the book and helped line his own, and his publisher’s pockets; how ever, the revelations constitute noth ing less than a complete betrayal of King. Abernathy bled with King, shed tears with King, was beaten beside him, and risked death countless times beside him. To reveal personal de tails, whether factual or not, about King’s sexual life, is unforgivable. One wonders if Abernathy has lost his mind. Have the constant beatings, verbal abuse and harassment, bank ruptcy and strokes broken him down so much that he could cash in on his friend’s fame and the public’s lurid interest in the privates lives of great men? Abnemathy ’ s accounts of King turn him into an adulterer. Why, Ralph, why? J. Edgar Hoover tri^ to dis credit King with the same weapon, but we would never have suspected it from you. Many of us who looked up to you as one of our few real leaders, now look at you in shame. Was the patronage at your church running low? Are the public speak ing fees running out? Never would I suspect Benedict Arnold would be black, and wear a church’s robe. King may or may not have been a saint, and I am not trying to canonize him. But I have the right to one leader I can look up to. And I resent your attempt to take this away. Once you held King in your arms while he died. Now you hold the money in your hands from a book that profits on your lives together. I thought a true friend was some one who sacrificed for you, someone who endured until the end for you, someone who loved you. And make no mistake about it. King considered you to be a true friend. Some of us feel sorry for you. For you may not know the true cost of being a friend. That cost runs far deeper than dollars and cents. In his book Strides Toward Free dom, King talks about you as a low- key speaker and worker who never had leadership qualities. When King died, Coretta assumed the mantle of leadership for the Civil Rights move ment Andrew Young later became a United States ambassador as well as mayor of Atlanta. And Jessie Jackson rose to national prominence as a presidential candidate. Sure, you took over the SCLC but you never had the charisma of King, and maybe all these things caused you distress. Could your posthumous revelations about yoiu" friend be rooted in jeal ousy? I believe it does not really matter whether King did what you say or not. What does matter is this: After all the pain and abuse he endured in his life, his best friend was the one to betray him. Letters Know history of Africas To The Editor: Although this is a predominantly black university, Black history is a mystery to many Black students. Many of these same students walk around with African pendants around their necks—^but how many under stand their significance? African pendants, or “Africas” should not treated as the latest fad. If you’re going to wear them, you should understand their relationship to Black history. How many of you who wear Afri cas know who Nat Turner was? Marcus Garvey? Booker T. Wash ington? Nat Turner was a black man who led a slave revolt that put more terror into the hearts of the oppressors of Black people than anyone else in American history. Garvey was a Black “back to Africa” leader who, four years after arriving in the United States penniless, became the most well-known Black man in his day. Washington—^bom into slavery on a Virginia plantation—became a world-renowned educator and Black leader. Of course he had a few obstacles to overcome, being the son of an illiter ate mother and a white father who denied him. As a child, Washington also slept on the bare ground of a hut, covered with leaves and rags. How many of us have faced condi tions like these? We are, of course, no longer living during a time of slav ery, but many Blacks remain slaves to their own ignorance if they don’t care about the great Black people who fought so hard to bring us to where we are today. But haven’t many of us turned away from their legacy to us? Black-on-black crime is growing rampantly in theUnited States. Within the past decade, more than 90% of Black victims of violence suffered their fate at the hands of another Black. Black males between the ages of 15 to 22 have the highest death rate of any group or race in the country. Statistics like these suggest that we need to wake up and take more pride in our race, and stop killing each other. To do less, is to allow genocide to occur. Our pride should begin with a knowledge of our history—of the courage, determination and faith shown by Blacks who came before us. We have gifted, intelligent Black students in colleges all over the United States. This is because a hundred years or so ago, illiterate Black par ents demanded that the doors of educational opportunity be opened to us, too. The next time to pick up your Afri can pendant, you might want to spend a little time in the library before you hang your Africa around your neck. Learn about what it means before you wear it as the latest fad. Eric Stone Remembering Mama I’ll never forget the day my grand mother, Aquilla Mae, died. My grandmother had been sick in the hospital with a liver problem for some time. She was very old and very sick. I was young and didn’t under stand much, but I knew she was going to die. Every day when I got home from school I’d run from the school bus and ask how “Moma” was doing. Moma was the nickname given to her by all her grand children. Every day my mother would say she’s still about the same, no improvement. I’d go on about my business and pretend not to worry, but deep inside, it was killing me. My dad would also prelend not to worry, but I knew better because worry was written all over his face. Moma was his mother. He would walk around the house quiet as ever, some days he would be mean to the entire family. But we knew what was causing his changed behavior. One day when I got off the bus and went to look for by mother to ask about Moma’s health, I found my mother sitting on the back porch looking sad. I immediately knew what was wrong. “Hows Moma doing?” I asked. She didn’t make it,” my mother said. “She died this morning.” I didn’t know what to say or do. I turned around and went to my room. I cried most of the day, mostly on the inside. My grandmother’s death had a terrible impact on me for some time. Every time something in my life would go wrong I’d find some way to blame her because she had left me. I’d also blame God for taking her away from me. As I got older, however, I was able to understand my grandmother’s death a lot better. I realized that everyone must die. Because Moma was a good Christian, and because this world is so cruel, I knew she was better off where she was. I pictured her in heaven with God, happy and worry free. From that time on I learned to ac cept the death of a friend or family member a lot better. Moma’s death also taught me to value a person’s life while she or he is living. Be kind to a person as best as you know how; tell that person you love him or her while your loved one is living, because you wont be able to do it after they are gone. Above all Moma’s death also taught me to live your life to the utmost and to accept things as they come. Corliss McCabe oimcemmg ECSU student»>»on iom|>ass Office, Room 111, >
Elizabeth City State University Student Newspaper
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Dec. 12, 1989, edition 1
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