Page 4
THE COMPASS
Thursday, October 17, l]
CAMPUS NEWS
Photo by Jackie Rountree
Haley to ECSU: We represent those
who hoped, prayed for ’a better da}
Alex Haley, Fall Convocation Speaker, signs autographs following
the Fall Convocation and Candlelighting Ceremony. Haley is author
of the best seller Roots.
By Lavenia Dameron
“If you are blessed with a living
grandparent, raise your hand,” Dr.
Alex Haley told the ECSU family,
during the Fall Convocation.
“Whatever I might say, there’s no
advice that’s more important than that
you go hug them, and say ‘I want to
thank you for what you did to make
my life possible.’”
Haley, author of the best-selling
bookRoots, told the gathering that it’s
easy “in our fast-paced society to
overlook the contributions of grand
parents.”
Haley said there exists a special
bond between grandparents and grand
children “because grandparents will
tell grandkids things they will not tell
their own children. They also seem to
feel they share a common enemy—
parents.”
Haley, who lectures internation
ally, said that he tries to speak at a
small historically black school at least
once a year. And he said that at every
school he visits, the grandparents in
the audience always stand out.
“You will see the hands of grand
mothers who have been in so many
washtubs. You will see the knobby
hands of the grandfathers, whose faces
look as if they had been carved from
granite. You see the suits, and you
“Once you graduate, everyone in your
family stands a little taller. And other children in
the family are more likely to go. That’s the way
it spreads.”
Alex Haley
■II
know that’s the only one they have.
The grandmothers have on their Sun
day go-to-meeting dress. Their faces
have a hallowed-ground expression,
for many times it’s the only time
they’ve been on a campus.”
Haley asked students to raise their
hands if they were the first member of
their family to go to college.
“Once you graduate, everyone in
yow family stands a little taller,” he
said. “And other children in the fam
ily are more likely to go. That’s the
way it spreads.”
Haley devoted the the majority of
his speech to discussing his lxx)k
Roots, the resulting TV mini-series
based on the book, and his role in the
production process.
“The book went off like a rocket,”
Haley said. “Nobody could have
Spence addresses complaints Proud Vikings
about new telephone service
guessed that it would have touched so
many people in society.”
Haley summarized the capture and
enslavementof KuntaKinte, his fourth
greatgrandfather who was kidnapped
while chopping wood and sold to a
plantation owner in Virginia. Kunta,
portrayed by Levar Burton in the TV
mini-series, was brutally beaten when
he refused to answer to “Toby,” an
English name that was forced on him
by his master.
‘The actors did such a good job we
were ready to kill the man with the
whip,” said Haley. “We knew it was
not real but it made us mad.”
Haley recalled the mixture of
emotions that filled the set at the end
of the scene when the old slave. Fid
dler, portrayed by Lou Gossett Jr.,
embraced Kunta’s battered body and
said, “Deys gone be a better daj
Gossett “cried like a calf,”n
said. “His back looked like hei|
spasm and his shoulder blades Jo(
like vestigal wings.”
Haley described this as beinj
most emotional scene because iin|
“time of mixed emotions and
all people were praying for a h
day.”
Haley told the ECSU family,'
represent the descendents of those)
prayed for a better day.”
After the Convocation address^
Leon White installed the class n
dents. They are Jamie Gibbs,
class president; Roderick Peele,
ior class president; Michael
sophomore class president;
Dorothy Hager, freshmen class pi
dent.
Following the installation ofpi
dents, the Candlelighting Service
held.
During the ceremony. Miss EC
Tonya DeVaughn, said, “As youli
this flame should become brightei
brighter. Let this flame...quicken)l
desire for continuing excellence.'
The flame represents the kiwi
edge to be acquired at ECSU. M
bers of the Freshmen class lit
candles to symbolize Hope, Aw
ness. Appreciation for Beauty, Ti j
Faith and Love.
PbotobyJtckicR
By Lonnie Davis
ECSU students’ complaints about
the new telephone system on campus
can be attributed to “compressing a
two-yeai- process into six months,”
according to Sheldon Spence, Tele
communications supervisor.
Spence said when the decision was
finally made to put the telephones into
the rooms, “We went on and did it as
quickly as we could.”
The major complaint was that all
of the phones weren’t ready by Aug.
18, when students arrived on carnpus.
Students have also complained about
several technical problems they are
having with the new phones.
“In the new complex and on Park
Street, they shouldn’t have put tele
phones in every room,” said Kim
Whitaker, asenior English major. “The
lines cross too much. They should just
have one in each suite.” Added
Whitaker, “When it rains, the tele
phones are no good. There’s a lot of
static in the lines, and the lines are
busy even when no one is on the
phone.”
Spence said the problems students
have encountered are “wiring prob
lems that still have to be worked out.”
He added that in implementing the
new system the University has faced
“unanticipated technical problems,
such as additional add-ons in the New
Complex for each room, instead of
just for each suite.”
Additional student complaints have
focused on the lack of a student direc
tory, an additional charge in student
fees to cover the phones, students’
inability to use long distance AT&T
credit cards to ;all home, and their
inability to diai tne operator or infor
mation.
“The policy on dialing and credit
cards is to protect the financial inter
ests of both the University and stu
dents,” said Spence, who added that if
students were able to dial zero plus the
number, they would be able to charge
the call to any particular phone.
“There has been a problem in the
past with some student workers who
have abused the telepHones,” he said.
“This is also the reason the University
did not want operator assisted calls
made.”
Spence said that students cannot
use AT&T credit cards because the
University has a contract with Caro
lina Telephone and Telegraph Co.,
which precludes using AT&T. Stu
dents can use Sprintor MCI, however.
Spence said Dr. Leon White, Vice
Chancellor of Student Affairs, made
the decision not to have a student
directory in order “to protect the pri
vacy and integrity of students.”
Spence said that students should
report telephone problems to their
dorm director, who will in turn report
them to the telecomm unications build
ing.
The University is using dorm di
rectors to report problems rather than
letting students report the calls them
selves because “there were so many
calls and most of the problems were
user problems,” Spence said. “Also,
the telephone company said it was
going to charge the University S32.50
for each visit to the campus.”
Repairs to telephone lines will be
done by the local service if possible,
said Spence. He added that repairs
have “from an eight to twenty-four
hours turn-around time.”
The new student telephones fea
ture four-digit on-campus dialing, call
waiting and call forwarding.
“The idea of the telephone system
was excellent, but more planning in
the actual process should have been
done,” said senior Sheila Lassiter, a
resident of the New Complex.“Rushed
jobs most of the time mean a lack of
quality in the job itself.’
The ECSU cheerleading team appears fit and and relaxed on a recent fall day on campus. They are (le
right) first row: Tonia Leach, Dawn Conner, Trevondia Boykin. (Second row): Clara Godwin Joy
Robinson, Michelle Brite, Terri Lewis, Loretta Johnson; third row, Erica Leary, Renaldo Windham.
The Phoenix has arisen at ECSl
r O —^ ^ T \jUUllCJ All UIV.' J WU 1 lO^lI.
Campus radio station to stay open
despite major cuts in state funding
By Lonnie Davis
Despite a 50% cut in state funding
for the University’s radio station,
WRVS will remain open, according
to ECSU Chancellor Dr. Jimmy Jen
kins.
“The radio station will not close,”
said Jenkins. “But we have to be real
istic about funding.”
Jenkins said he will keep the sta
tion in operation by conducting a fund
raising campaign, incorporating the
station as a lab for students in the
Department of Language, Literature
& Communication. Then educational
funds could be used for the radio sta
tion.
Under that plan, “Academic Af
fairs will be the supervising agency,”
the Chancellor said.
The S72,000 cut in funding has
already led to the loss of one staff
position at the station. The cuts are the
result of an overall $371 million re
duction in state spending for 1991-92.
WRVS station manager Edith
Thorpe announced at a staff meeting
that she is currently interviewing
applicants for four new positions;
however, none of the positions has
been filled.
The following positions are cur
rently vacant at WRVS: productions
director, whose job responsibilities
include planning workshops, training
on-air announcers in the operation of
production equipment and supervis
ing all in house production activities;
program director, who will plan, evalu
ate and determine the station’s pro-
eramming; public affairs director.
“The radio station will not close. But we
have to be realistic about funding.”
Dr. Jimmy Jenkins
who will plan, create and produce all-
in house public affairs programming;
and director of development, who will
plan and implement fund-raising ac
tivities.
Thorpe said another staff person
would be hired soon, but she wasn’t
yet sure what position the person would
assume, due to confusion over state
budget cuts.
Andre Smith, the station’s former
News and Sports Information Direc
tor, resigned during the summer to
take a position in Texas.
Paula Sutton, WRVS’s Public
Affairs Director, left the station dur
ing the summer.
“She was not fired,” said Thorpe,
who had recommended that Sutton’s
contract not be renewed.
In commenting on the station’s
present leadership, Jenkins said that
Thorpe has done an acceptable job
and maintained a level of profession
alism within the station. “However,
she is under review, as all of us are,”
Jenkins said.
A group of students at WRVS met
with Chancellor Jenkins this past
summer with a list of complaints
against Thorpe. The students com
plained of the general manager’s “in
flexibility and vindictiveness” and
questioned her professionalism.
One student who met with the
Chancellor said, “Everything that we
learned at the station we learned from
the two staff members who were gone,
and not Ms. Thorpe.”
Another student said, “There was
no communication between the Gen
eral Manager and the students.”
When informed of these statements,
Thorpe said, “In the past the student
staff included some who wanted to be
a part of the station because it made
them popular on campus. Many times
in the past, students were required to
attend sessions, encouraged to be
creative and to produce their own
programs, but they never took advan
tage of it.
‘These students would rather use
the station as a hang out,” Thorpe
continued. “The station is better off
because WRVS is not here for that.”
When questioned about this meet
ing, Jenkins said he had “no comment
about personnel changes.”
Jenidns said that he expects WR V S
“to continue to be part of the pubhc
relations arm of the University.”
By DeAnna Rudisill
Elizabeth City State has a literary
magazine for the first time in ten years.
The Phoenix is a literary magazine
with poems, short stories and art work
by ECSU students, said Sharon Chap
pell, former president of the Pickwick
Society and co-editor of The Phoenix.
The magazine is sponsored by the
Pickwick Society, an honor society in
the Department of Language, Litera
ture & Communication.
For ten years students and faculty
members have been unsuccessfully
trying to fmd funding for a literary
magazine, said Chappell, but the liter
ary magazine was launched after a
group of students asked Chancellor
Jimmy Jenkins’ for his help with the
magazine this past fall.
Jenkins funded the magazine
through his discretionary fund, Chap
pell said.
Chappell pointed out that several
supporters of The Phoenix have ex
pressed concern about the publication
ceasing now tiiat the reaffirmation
team visit from the Southern Associa
tion of Colleges and Schools is over.
“The Phoenix will definitely con
tinue as an annual publication,” said
Jenkins. “We are looking for the most
convenient way to make it a perma
nent thing.” I
The magazine may be ftti
through student fees, Jenkins sa 1
Participation in the magaziij
open to all students on campus-|
Chappell. “We felt that any sti !
who hked to write or do art |
should be able to get involved.’
The Pickwick Society will ti ^
series of creative writing work; j
to prepare students to contribi - j
The Phoenix, according to Chaf l,
The Phoenix will be distril I
again in mid-October for anyone}
hasn't received a copy, Chappell i
The location and time will be p ^
on campus. i
McCants now at Winston-Salem S
By Lavenia Dameron
C. D. Spangler, President of the
University System has appointed Dr.
Gerald McCants as Special Assistant
to the Chancellor at Winston-Salem
State University. McCants, former
Director of Academic Development
at ECSU for over four years, assumed
his new position on Aug. 14.
McCants said he was transferred to
Winston-Salem because Spangler felt
Winston-Salem State could “profit
from what I had to offer.”
McCants’ duties include working
Vaughan
continued from p.l
lent chance to become the city’s first
black mayor this century,” reasoning
that, “the other two candidates would
decide the white vote and give
Vaughan the victory.”
Vaughan admitted he would have
done things differently if his cam-
with programs such as student reten
tion, recruitment, financial aid, athlet
ics, institutional research and prepar
ing documentations.
“I’ve been here for six weeks and I
still don’t know my way around,”
McCants told The Compass. “So’l
spend most of my time in my office.”
Accordingto ECSU Chancellor Dr.
Jimmy Jenkins, McCants will not be
replaced at ECSU due to budgetary
constraints.
“I will miss the students, people I
worked with and the general popula
tion,” said McCants.
paign hadn’t been derailed by Jen
kins.
“If I had not been encumbered by
ECSU, I would have conducted a
campaign,” he said.
Why did he not call for a run-off
when he was only 12 shy of a victory?
To win a three-way race, a candi
date must have 50% of the votes plus
one, and if the winning candidate does
not receive a majority, the second
runner-up can call for a run-off.
Several members of the E
family said they would mis;
McCants.
“I miss him, the University n
him and the University needs
said John L. Whitley, Direct
Incentive Scholarship Progra
ECSU.
“Dr. McCants is a warm, ii
gent, hard-working educator,”
Stephen March, an instructor i
Department of Language, Litei
& Communication. “He will beir
by both his students and his friei
the University family.”
Vaughan waited until Thur
two days after the election, K
nounce he would not call for or
“I delayed my announcemei
discuss my decision with somd(
advisors and supporters,”
Vaughan, “I can save the city S(
(the cost of a run-off).
“I had stated publicly that I v
not call for a run-off,” said VaU'
“and I am honor bound to abide 11
earlier statement.” '