The Compass
Thursday, May 9, 2002
3
( Campus News )
Lady Vikings Capture CIAA Title Women’s Tennis Team Services End
Shannon Penn
cltilrip@hotmail.com
As soon as the umpire yelled
“play ball” in their first game of the
year, Coach Janie Cofield knew this
would be a magical season.
“I knew at the beginning of the
year that we had a great team,” said
Cofield. “It just took us some time to
show it.”
With six of the team members
still playing basketball, the Elizabeth
City State University Women’s Soft
ball Team lost their first seven games.
“We felt we weren’t a complete
team without those players,” said
Cofield.
When the six players did join the
team, the Lady Vikings won 12
straight games.
“That was the turning point of the
season. We gained confidence and
felt we could compete with anyone,”
said Cofield.
With the leadership of Team
Captain Raquita Washington, the
Lady Vikings finished the regular
season with 21-9. Washington was
Kerry Ann Cummings
klc90@hotmail.com
Did you ever sit back and wonder
to where your favorite professor
disappeared? Well, it is retirement
time. Paula Bowe, the Benefits Ad
ministration for Human Resources
said that during the last two years at
Elizabeth City State University, 16
professors have gone into retirement
and the numbers have been increas
ing ever since then.
In 2000, four professors retired
and all were male. In 2001, one
female professor and four male
professors retired. Although 2002 has
not come to an end, two female
professors and five male professors
have already retired.
A professor has to put in 30
years before he or she decides to
retire, regardless of their age with
named to the All CIAA First Team;
Nicole Higgins and Kelly Banks were
named to the All CIAA Second Team.
The Lady Vikings were seated
second in the Central Intercollegiate
Athletic Association Softball Tourna
ment. In the first two rounds, the Lady
Vikings defeated Fayetteville State
University and Virginia Union Univer
sity respectively. Johnson C. Smith
University defeated the Lady Vikings
(4-2) in the third round, which sent
the team to the losers’ bracket. By
defeating Bowie State University, the
Lady Vikings set up a rematch with
JCSU. The ECSU Women’s Softball
Team capped off their tremendous
season by defeating JCSU (4-3, 7-2)
in the CIAA Championship. Shortstop
Raquita Washington, Pitcher Lisa
Harris, and Third Baseman Tavheisha
Walton were named to the All-Tour
nament Team, with Walton capturing
Most Valuable Player honors.
With most of the team returning
and losing only three seniors, there is
no reason why the Lady Vikings
cannot repeat as champions next
season.
full-unreduced benefits. It does not
matter how old a professor is, ECSU
cannot force them to retire because it
is against the law and the university
can be sued. The professors who
retired from ECSU did so because of
desire and because they have
worked more than 30 years in the
school system.
“Every professor who has retired
so far was great and they will truly be
missed here at ECSU,” Paula Bowe
said.
The pension for a retired profes
sor is 54% of whatever his or her
gross monthly salary was. After
retirement, at least 65% come back
and volunteer services to ECSU. In
the wink of an eye, there will be no
more professors left at ECSU to
teach. Students, be thankful, because
in the next five years, you might be
teaching yourselves.
Shannon Penn
cltilrip@hotmail.com
What began as a dream became
a reality this school year as Elizabeth
City State University debuted their
first ever Women’s Tennis team.
Senior LaTasha Copeland was one of
the first students to join the team.
“I played tennis my senior year in
high school,” she said. “I wanted to
make history by becoming a member
of the first ever team. Besides, I didn’t
want to go my senior year without
participating in something.”
With grit and determination.
Heather Malone
cmalone@adelphia.net
A banquet honoring the students
of ECSU who have earned a minimum
of 24 hours of credit at ECSU with a
cumulative grade point average of 3.5
and above was held on the eighteenth
of April in the K.E. White Graduate
Center. The Honors Convocation
Committee of Elizabeth City State
University sponsored the event.
Here is one student’s account of
her experience at the banquet. The
student said that her husband had to
work. She invited a friend to accom
pany her. They dropped their children
off at the babysitter’s house, dressed in
their semi-formal attire, and headed to
the K.E. White Graduate Center. They
had arrived just in time for dinner and
jumped in the line leading to the buffet
table. After filling their plates, they
searched for a place to sit. Every seat
was either occupied or spoken for.
They asked two ladies, both of whom
they had seen servicing the buffet
area, if they could please get some
chairs to sit on since all of the chairs at
the tables were taken. The ladies
proceeded to remain rooted in their
spots leaning against the door frames
next to the buffet tables and looking
around the room to confirm that yes,
every seat was taken. The student and
her friend waited for the ladies to at
least direct them to extra chairs so that
they could set them up themselves.
The ladies did not budge. Determined
to enjoy herself, because she was an
invited guest, the student suggested to
her friend that they sit in the back of
the room. She asked the same ladies if
they would please get them some
silverware so that she and her friend
could eat. Again, the ladies looked
around to confirm that there were still
no empty seats. And again they did not
make a move.
The student and her friend went to
the table in the back of the room. As
they sat down they commented about
how this round table, covered differ-'
ently than the rest, looked out of place
and wondered why it was there. They
dismissed the query and began to eat
their dinner with their fingers.
“It was a site, two women at a
formal, or semiformal, event eating the
dinner provided in a Cro-Magnon Man
style,” said the student.
Her friend spotted a different
server pouring tea and asked if she
would bring them silverware and
drinks. The woman was kind enough to
oblige.
So there they sat eating their
dinner with plastic knives and forks, at
an awkward table. After Chancellor
Burnim’s speech, two students ap
proached them and quietly informed
them that they were dining on their
props. A short production was sched
uled for the event; this explained the
oddity of the furniture. Embarrassed,
they removed their dishes from the
prop and opted to leave the banquet in
Coach Eugene O’Neal’s squad fin
ished the season with a surprising 6-
3 record.
“We did better than most people
thought we would. Every‘team has its
ups and its downs, but we bounced
back and learned from our mistakes,”
Copeland said.
Copeland considers the team to
be pioneers who have given young
girls the drive and motivation to play
tennis.
“I won’t ever forget our experi
ences together, on and off the court,”
she said.
lieu of standing for the rest of it.
“It was a good thing we left be
cause as we were walking out of the
doors, we heard an announcement
asking everyone to turn their attention
to the back of the room for a short
skit,” the student said.
For those of you who attended
the event, you probably saw them
sitting in the back of the room. The
said student was the one in the white
dress. Her friend, in the dark skirt,
does not attend ECSU. This banquet
was her first impression of our institu
tion. Was it a good one? Not exactly.
‘The food was good and I was
glad I didn’t have to cook that night,”
her friend said.
The student believes that the
sponsors of the banquet had good
intentions.
“I also believe that it is a wonder
ful idea to honor those students who
have proved themselves to be aca
demically superior,” she said.
But, she, being one of those
students, did not feel honored that
night. She felt offended and angry. The
proverbial wheels in her head started
to turn. She thought about the kinds of
people who attended these sorts of
events. They are supposed to be
ladies and gentlemen.
“Not long ago, a gentleman, upon
seeing a lady with no place to sit,
would offer his seat. Would this chival
rous act have been acceptable and
appreciated? Yes,” she said. “I would
not expect someone who is in the
process of eating his meal to get up
and give his seat, but if he has already
eaten and is just talking with ‘the
guys’, then it is, in my opinion, appro
priate.”
She had also attended the ban
quet for the students who had earned
a spot on the Chancellor’s List. That
time, the student had to bring her
daughters with her. She had a four-
month-old infant, and a two-year-old
daughter. Every seat was taken, so
with her baby in her arms she stood
the entire time, as did her toddler
daughter. What bothered her more
however, was the fact that standing
next to her was a woman who looked
to be in her seventh or eighth month of
pregnancy. Nobody had offered her a
seat either.
One could go on and on about
uncivil behavior occurring not only at
ECSU, but also everywhere in the
state and the country. But, the article
must end. Decency and good deeds
are rapidly becoming a thing, of the
past. They used to be common, every
day words. These days, if someone
does a good deed, they are labeled a
Good Samaritan and make an appear
ance on the six o’clock news.
Anybody reading this paper right
now has probably already experienced
an act of rudeness today. Think about
the way it feels when you get treated
badly, then think about the familiar
phrase, “Do unto others as you would
have them do unto you,” and then do it.
The Compass
The Compass is pubhshed by EUzabeth City State University
under the direction of the Department of Language, Literature, and
Communication, Dr. Velma Blackmon, chairperson.
Antonio Barrow
Assistant Editor Kymber Taylor
Photograplier Harvey
Layout Designers AntonioBarrow
News Writers Heather Malone, Shannon Penn,
Kerry Ann Cummings
Advisors Dr. Emmanuel Ngwainmbi and Mr. Kip Branch
Financial Advisor Stephen March
Please send your letters to the editor and poetry to ECSU Box 815,
Elizabeth City, NC 27909. All letters must include writer’s signature,
address, and telephone number.
Elizabeth City State University is accredited by the Commission on
Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award
baccalaureate degrees.
To Inger Parker,
Editor 2001-2002
Congratulations on a
job well done.
From the Compass
Staff 2001-2002. ,
ECSU says “Farewell” to Retirees
•Decency and good deeds? What are those?