2 The Compass Wednesday, February 19. 1992
1
Hfchard Harrison
Svhotnore
I feetthat women shxjKJ be allowed
to have implarts if they to. Jn
ondertor a woman to feel good about
etf,^he must first be happy with
her appearance
Talk of ECSU:
Do you believe that women should be able to have
breast implants, even with the risks that may be
involved?
Jessica Burden
Senior
*1 support a woman making her
own decision. Just acircumstances
vary, so dowomen;therefore, f feel
1o each her own."
Kelsha Wilson
Sophomore
“I feet that if a woman is healthy and
does not need to have a breast
inplant then she should not have
the surgical procedure due to the
fact that it may cause health
problems in the future."
Karen Kavanaugh
Senior
“Yes, I believe in implants for breast
cancer patients if they are told of the
risks that may be involved. I was tokJ
thatthere is a new kindof implantthat
is less risky as the silicone implant.
But once they wegh what the
consequences ‘might be’ and decide
to go in that direction, IwouW back
them 100%.“
Forum
Should African Studies be required at ECSU?|
By Taiick Scott
I am writing to address the issue of the
importance of the mandation of an Afri
can history course at ECSU. The signifi
cance of mandating an African History
course at a "black college," is as rdevant
as a family giving their child a first and
last name. A person's first name identi
fies who that person is and their last
name emphasizes where they came from.
Normal loving and caring parents
wouldn't question giving their child a
name; it's automatic. So why is our ECSU
family questioning mandating our Afri
can historical name?
SonK members of the family, such as
Dr. Leon White, disagree writh mandat
ing an African history course, because to
force stvidents to take an African history
course is, "contradictory to the efforts of
the many Mack people who once had to
sneak and learn to read by candlelight,"
according to Dr. White. This is a true
statement 1 believe, but then I would like
to pose this question to Dr. White and
others who f^ the same way. "What
then is the solution to the problem of our
student's lack of interest in their history if
not nundating it?"
Another administrator points out that
there are 'Tjlack studies" courses already
offered as an elective at ECSU and the
enrollment in such courses is pocw. Lack
of interest may be one of the resisons why
student enrollment is poor, but there are
also other factors, such as the courses are
only offered every other semester, they
are offwed at times that conflict with core
curriculum courses, arxi advisors usu
ally will direct students to take courses
dealing with their major as opposed to an
African history course.
An article in The Daly AdxxoKe ad
dressing die issue on mandating African
history at ECSU argued that mandating
African history would be biased to other
cultures. The descendants of Africa in
America and around the world have been
through and are still going through a
holocaiist. We are robbed of our religion,
culture, language, and our names. When
the physical slavery etvied these things
were not given back to the African. This
leaves the descerxiants of Africa today in
a mental slavery where they are blkid,
deaf, and dumb to who they are and
whaie they came from.
Just about every so called nationality in
America speaks tf>eir native tongue and
practices beliefs from their homeland if
they so chose. The African descendants
in America do not have this option. We
only know the language ai>d rituals of
our former slave masters. You can not
expect an African American parent to
teach his or her child the ways of the
Continued next page
ByJ. Gaiy Briim
The problem of mandating African-
American Studies at ECSU is a comph-
cated one. The ^ple logistical problems
in creating a new multi-di^plinary
course and fitting it into an already packed
general education curriculum a.re
erwrmous. Even more difficult are the
philosophical issues diat must first be
addres^.
The most important issue is that of oiu-
identity. Sonrteassert ti«t ECSU is a'Ijlack
college." OAers claim it as a "regional
university." It seems clear that we are in
many ways both of these tilings. We must
never for^ tiiat ECSU provided educa
tional opportunities to an African-Ameri
can population that would not ott>erwise
have had thenv
Our students have fought long arnl
hard in ti>e fight for d vil rights. Bu t ECSU
is a state institution. Its mission is to serve
all dtizens of North Carolina, and espe-
dally those of the Northeastern region of
our state. The subsidized education cur
rently provided to residents of other states
is secondary to the service of our taxpay
ers. The Northeast needs a regional uni
versity. ECU is too far away from us, and
too dose to Raleigh. If we are ever going
to change the perception of our area as
the "backwater" of Nortii Carolina, edu
cation is an essentia] ingredient In the
end, those who purchase a product dt
fine its use. The purchasers of ECSUi
product are North Carolina taxpayers.
A second issue is that of exclusior'
African culture is not the orUy one under
represented in our study of the human)’
ties. Hispanics, with their Iberian legao
have greatiy influer>ced life in Amerio
The Indigenous Peoples of North Am0
ica were slaughter^, yet we cetebratf
the "great explorer" whose first visiono/
them was as potential slaves. America^
of oriental descent brir^ with them a rid'
heritage of spirituality and commurit)'
Even within tt»e European-Americai'
commtmity we can see that Irish histoi)
is su(^>ressed to allow the English
I»actice revisionist justificaticHt of th®
brutal colonialistic practices. How caK
we advocate anything that falls for >
continuation of exdusion, even if it is**
exclusion favoring a group normal)}
excluded itself? Any p>roposal to change
the Euro-centric orientation of our edu
cation must be all indusive, addressing
such issues as our patriarchal bias ai*i
our Christocentridsm.
The methods used in attaining the go®
of an African-American Studies
are in and of themselves questionabte
Ir\flaming passions has its time and it*
place. This is not one of them. Among 6*
"docximents" being circulated in supp^
Chntirtued next pe(f