Newspapers / Elizabeth City State University … / Oct. 21, 1992, edition 1 / Page 3
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The Compass Wednesday. October 21, 1992 3 A Quality Education? ECSU's acting Director of Admissions Tommy Faust deserves high praise for his hard work in recruiting the largest freshman class in the school's history. Assisted by Tony Price and the staff of the Admissions Department, Faust's dedicated work has paid off in producing the largest enrollment in ECSU's history. With an average SAT score of nearly 800, this year's freshman class proves that ECSU is becoming more and more competitive in attracting qualified, talented students in our region. Not all is perfect in Vikingland, however. The increased enrollment has several down sides: some dormitory rooms with three and even four students to a room, overloaded classes, and a parking problem that can drive the most affable among us into a rage. Chancellor Jenkins has said this is a "good problem," meaning, of course, that the problem has its positive aspects for the campus. But the housing crunch, the overcrowd^ classes, and the increasing scarcity of parking spaces do not translate into a "good problem" for those stu dents affected. Having to decide between breakfast and taxi fare was not a good problem for Charles Belfield. Nor was it a good problem for Keith Elliot when he found three other students in the room he had been assigned. And it is not a good problem for a student enrolled in freshman comp class to find his instructor is too overworked to give him the time and attention he needs. The Chancellor and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Dr. Leon White have clearly explained the reasons behind the enrollment jump, and we commend them for their openness with The Compass. However, we cannot help but observe that the end result doesn't add up to fair treatment for those students who must attend overloaded dasses, who find themselves crowded into rooms like sardines, or whose semester began with a stint in a motel miles from campus. ■ The bottom line is ECSU admitted too many students this year, and this has resulted in a hardship for many students. The school should have an internal cut-off point for accepting new students, especially when we reach the point of overload. As much as we want to see the campus grow, we urge administrators to remember that the quality of our education and overall experience at ECSU is as important as the school's growth. With all the emphasis on new buildings and growth, we sometimes get the feeling that adminis trators lose sight of this essential fact. Elizabeth City State University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate degrees. Twenty-two hundred copies of this publication were printed at 45 cents per copy. The Compass Editors: Lavenia Dameron News Mark Morris Sports Tarsha White Entertainment Craig Avondo Consulting Editor for Production and Design Advertising Manager Tolson Assistant Advertising Manager ....Kystia Gary Graphics Consultant Diane Patterson Photographers: Gary Brinn, James Sims Staff Writers: Gary Brinn, Arlinda Banks, Steve Booke, Tarsha Carter, Kysha Gary, Melanie Harrington, Jennifer Lewis, Evonne Martyn, Ursula McMillion, Mark Morris, Jody Riddick, Yolande Silver, Rodney Stallings, Pamela Tolson,Sarah Woriman. The Compass is published by Elizabeth City State University under the direction of the Apartment of language, Literature and Communication, Dr. Unda Rorerx^ Callahan, chair, ^ Mr. Stephen March, faculty advisor. The Compass welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should l)e sent to ECSU Box 815, Qizatieth City, NC 27909. All letters must be signed and include the writer’s address and telephone numt)er. They may be edited for length, clarity, and taste, as well as accuracy and QTammar. Because of limited sp>ace, rx)t all letters can be published. Lettei^s Clinton's main appeal to white middle class To The EditOK Why should we vote? First of all that question would be posed to people of African descent in American or the 90's favored name so far "African Americans." In November we have the national presidential elections which the known choices (or non choices) are George Bush or Bill Qinton. Oh yeah, we can't forget about Ross Perot, who wanted his sup porters to petition him onto the ballot as a means of scaring Bush and Qinton straight. OK, now as "African Americans" we can go through the process of elimination and strike out the candidate who has our interest last on the agenda or not there at all. George Bush would get knocked out of the box first. Not just by the so called "African American" but by other people's hit list, also. Why? Simply because the man is an upfront liar and has contra dicted himself throughout his four year term. His first lie was the one that b^n with "Read my lips." The lips were read and taxes were still raised. This was supposed to b>e the president of education and envirorunent. Not! As farascontraditionsgo,hisadminstration's policies toward Haiti and Somolia are nothing short of racist when compared to similar si tutationsdealing with European countries. Now that Bush is removed from the choice factor let us now examine mister Ross Perot. He had the potential of cap turing large a {percentage of "African Americans " because he claimed to repre sent change. But change from what? Is it change from the Reagan/Bush policies that helped Perot build up his billions? How can a man of big business really be for the people when he had to step on the backs of the people to get his riches. This is the same guy who, when addressing the NAACP referred to the "African American" as "You people." Perot has also suggested the police should conduct a house- to- house search for guns and drugs in urban communi ties ("African American" communities) as a solution for the dmg war. Please! Furthermore he ran around the country cheerleading about problems in the US but not offering any solutions. Now we come to our assumed favor ite—Bill Clinton. Why do I say assumed favorite? Well, ever since Franklin D. Roosevelt "African Americans" have wholeheartedlyand,alotoftimes,blindly throwm their support to the Democrates. So basically the "African American" sup port of Qinton is assumed a given— therefore taken for granted. On the surface Bill Qinton seems to haveitgoingon. He talks about reinvest ing in America. He says he wants to provide affordable health care for all Americans, furnish a college education opportunity for all who wish to go. Man, all of these things sound fabulous but who is Bill Clinton proposing these pro grams for? He says he is for the "forgot ten middle class." Whether the "African American" has a middle class or not can be argued. The question is did Clinton include the "Afri can American" in his definition of the "forgotten middle class"? Bill Clinton made it clear what groups he wants to distance himself from when he was supposed to present his "urban agenda" at the Rainbow Coalation an nual convention in June 91. Instead of discussing an urban agenda Qinton at tacked rap activist Soul Souljah (aka Lisa Williamson) on comments she had made some weeks earlier in theWashington Post about the mind set of gang members. Whether or not you agree wath what Souljah said is not the point. The point is that Bill Clinton spent his time at this meeting trying to chastise a rap artist and never got around to his urban agenda. This was a calculated move on Clinton's part to set a' rift between him and Jesse Jackson, and to show European Ameri cans that J. Jackson and the people he represents (it's assumed by many that Jesse represen tsall "African Americans") gets no respect and really has no hold on Clinton. The group Clinton is trying to attract is the suburban white middle class. Why? Because they make up about 80 percent of all campaign voters. It is this group that has voted Republicans into officebut now feel betrayed by the party and may be fX)tentials for Clinton. To illustrate Clinton's bias, I would like to point out ^ that since 1979 Bill Clinton and wife have owned 170 shares of stock in DeBeers, a company that does business with apart- heid-stricken South Africa. So where does all of this leave us now? Some people just won't vote because they feel that the two main candidates are just different sides of the same coin. Others will vote with the philosophy that even though neither one is good they have to keep the greater of two evils out of the White House. Some people are happy with their candidate. Then there are the people who don't really care about the candidate; just the fact that he represents their party is enough to get their vote. I wish we could talk about protest voting for some independents such as Ron Daniels or Dr. Lomora Fulani, but they didn't have ei>ough money to buy press like Perot so most of us don't know alx)ut Letters continue on page 19
Elizabeth City State University Student Newspaper
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