"ECizabetfi City
State Universitij
THE
Vol.69, No.3 Circulation 2,200
Vilqn£
Tride
December 12,20Q3
Elizabeth City, North Carolina
Gore
addresses
racism
Siisan Correll-Hankinson
8bcorrell-hankiti8on@mail.ec8u.edu
Editor
Former Vice President Al
Gore, as part of the American De
mocracy Project, was featured in a
video conferencing forum entitled
“Race and Democracy” at Elizabeth
City State University. He asked and
answered questions like “What is the
definition of racism?”
The forum was telecast from
the Satellite Video-Conferencing
Center at Middle Tennessee State
University, where Gore is a visiting
professor. It was viewed on campus
via the interactive video services de
partment housed in the ITC building.
He began his lecture by point
ing out the contrasts between De
mocracy and Racism. Some of the
points he raised about Democracy
were that it is “equality, a sharing of
power, voting, and majority rule.” He
then explained that “Racism inter
feres with the function of democracy
and minorities don’t feel that they
have the self governance they should
have.”
During his presentation Gore
encouraged responses from the au
dience by asking questions and
pushing for answers. When he
asked, “What is the definition of rac
ism,” members of the audience were
reluctant to answer at first, but one
by one they created a short list of
definitions. One woman said that it
was a "fear of differences” another
said it was “egocentrism” and yet
another member said that it was
“based on human nature and a pro
pensity to make assumptions.” All of
these definitions culminated into the
question, “Is it faulty thinking?”
To explain the relevance of this
thought process, Gore referred to the
work of John Hope Franklin, James
B. Duke Professor Emeritus of His
tory at Duke University and the au
thor of From Slavery to Freedorri. He
said that there were two major points
that Franklin makes about race: Race
is always present and if you pretend
it isn’t you are deceiving yourself and
if you acknowledge race and deal
with it in the appropriate manner you
can transcend race.
The question of how to tran
scend race was addressed by Gore
in citing a theory of Franklin’s that
suggests, if we accept the differences
between us and acknowledge the
unique historical experiences asso
ciated with those differences race
can be transcended. This is difficult
because it is not a logical process.
Gore said that racism is not just
an American problem. Racism exists
in every society. He gave the ex
ample of the Tutsis and Hutus of
Burundi and Rwanda and tSe 1994
genocide that occurred between the
SEE GORE, PAGE 5'
ECSU students show their
winter fashions.
Pg.7
Professor
Joyner
displays
African
American
inspired art
work.
Pg.4
Massage therapy relieves
student’s stress Pg. 6
Attack
on
AIDS
W£
Susan Correll-Hankinson
Items used in the prevention of AIDS were lianded out
to students on World AIDS Day.
O
'
Beverly Shannon, a staff Registered Nurse in the Student Health Services
Department, shares packets with students for World AIDS Day, December 1,
2003.
ECSU prepares students
Susan CotTell-4ianldns(»i
sbcoirell-hankinson@mall.ec8u.edu
Editor
Students were exposed to an abundance of safe sex paraphernalia
and AIDS information on Dec. 1, which was recognized internationally as
World AIDS Day.
There were more items offered than previous years, due to a grant that
was awarded to Student Health Services from the Center for Disease Control
and the Department of Health and Human Services.
The grant was offered to North Carolina Universities in response to an
increase of AIDS and HIV cases in the six colleges in the Research Triangle
area. Statistics show that the number of reported AIDS and HIV cases rose
from three in 2000 to thirty in 2002. “Twenty-nine of the thirty are males,”
Mrs. Beverly Shannon, from Student Health Services, said. “There is a high
incidence of bisexuality going on with these men, and they are not being
honest about it with their heterosexual partners.”
Bedell cafeteria was turned into an HIV and AIDS infonnation headquar
ters with tables displaying colorful condoms and individuals ready to an
swer questions. The display was impressive and spurred curiosity among
those who took the time to attend.
“Getting the students informed properly is our goal," Shannon said.
SEE AIDS, PAGE 5
Courtesy of Keisha Williams,
University Relations &Marketing.
Young man
plagued by
AIDS
Susan Con^ll-Hankinson
8bconrelt-hanklnson@nnail.ec8u.edu
Editor
A young man’s story about
dealing with the effects of AIDS
since he was five years old is what
inspired reluctant students to go to
Health Services on campus and get
tested for HIV.
Jorge Cruz got the first shock
of his young life when he was five
years old—he lost both of his par
ents and his brother to AIDS. Cruz,
now 18, paced nervously as he told
his heart-wrenching story to ap
proximately 60 Elizabeth City State
University students, who attended
a special forum on AIDS sponsored
by Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. Mrs.
Shannon, of Student Health Ser-
SEE PLAGUE, PAGE 5
Holiday cultures celebrated
Kimberly Powell
kmpowell@mail.ecsu.edu
Staff Writer
The spirits of Hanukkah,
Kwanzaa, and Christmas were cel
ebrated during the Holiday Cultural
Celebration in a program sponsored
by the Office of Student Life and the
Student Government Association. The
event was held in the University Cen
ter on December 4 and supported by
students, staff, and members of the
community.
Rev. Quentin Powell offered the
invocation and the Essence of Praise
Choir offered their rendition of “Joy to
The World.”
James Futrell, SGATreasurer,
presented Hanukkah, the annual fes
tival of the Jewish people, giving its
history and the importance of the holi
day.
Hanukkah begins on the 25*^ day
of Kislev, the third month of the Jew
ish calendar, con'esponding to Decem-
ber^on the Gregorian calendar, and
continues for eight consecutive days.
Along with the lighting of the candles
each night, a blessing is said.
Cleantha SamueH Miss ECSU,
presented the history and origin of
Kwanzaa. Kwanzaa is a seven-day
African American cultural festival that
is observed from December 26 to
January 1. Dr. Maulana Karenga
founded the cultural event to
Marjorie Jones hands out door prizes at the
Holiday Cultural Celebration.
strengthen the bonds be
tween black people.
Kiswahili, the African lan
guage commonly known
as Swahili, inspired Dr.
Karenga and the holiday
was named after the
phrase mutanda ya
kwanzaa meaning “first
fruits of the harvest.”
Mishumaa Saba symbol
izes the seven principles of
Kwanzaa. The lighting of
seven candles further sym
bolizes the principles of
Kwanzaa.
Danielle Graves,
SGA chief of staff, con
cluded with information
about the Traditional
Christmas. Until the 19th
century people worked and
carried on as usual on
Christmas Day. Today, the
Traditional Christmas re
ceives lots of attention and Harvey
is symbolized not only by eqsU’s Essence of Praise Gospel Choir sings
the birth of Jesus, but by
gifts, Santa Claus and
Christmas trees.
After the winter cultural cel
ebrations, ECSU started the holiday
season with a modern traditional cel
ebration of their own. Dr. Anthony
Brown, interim vice chancellor for
student affairs, lit the beautifully
decorated Christmas tree. The Es-
First
exchange
student
en route to
Australia
Kymber Lee Taylor
Kltaylor2@mail.ecsu.edu
Editor
Heather Allen, a student pursu
ing her second degree in geology, is
Elizabeth City State University’s first
exchange student. She will be leav
ing in early March for Sydney where
she will be studying at the highest
ranked university in Australia. Minus
the cost of her airfare and other docu
ments needed prior to departure,
Allen’s Harvard-like education will be
at a cost equal to that of an academic
semester of study at ECSU.
“When I earned my first degree,
many of my friends studied abroad and
I later regretted not doing so also,”
Allen said. “I didn’t want to miss the
opportunity again.”
The University of North Carolina-
Exchange Program, the program that
Allen is participating in, was estab
lished by the Board of Governors in
1997 and offers exchanges with ev
ery continent except Antarctica. The
program is possible through collabo
ration between all 16 of the UNC cam
puses. The central office consists of
only three employees but there are
nearly 100 faculty and staff members
across UNC that are supporting the
program.
SEE AUSTRALIA, PAGE 5
around the tree.
sence of Praise Choir again contrib
uted to the holiday spirit by singing
“Silent Night.”
For those who did attend, door
prizes were given in a drawing con
ducted by Mrs. Marjorie Jones.
People with the lucky numbers were
given gifts from under the tree.
Photo courtesy of ECSU-TV Channel 18/22
Talbert Grey and D.L. Underdue on
stage at Successfest.
Successfest
may raise
$40,000
Margaret Fisher
mdfisher@mail.ecsu.edu
Staff Writer
For the first time, Elizabeth
City State University’s radio station
combined efforts with the college’s
television station for Successfest
2003. The bi-annual pledge drive
brought in more than $20,000 for the
department.
Radio station 89.9 WRVS-FM
and W18BB-TV hosted evening tele
vision programs during the week of
Nov. 17-21. The live shows included a
round up of faculty and staff, includ
ing Chancellor Mickey Burnim, as well
as community members.
Off-campus guests included
the mayor, city and county manag
ers, chief of police, Elizabeth City Area
Chamber of Commerce and employ
ees from RBC Centura banks.
Talbert Grey, general man
ager of campus radio and television,
came to ECSU to'help improve both
stations. Successfest was the begin
ning of a switch from airing bulletin
board announcements to local pro
gramming.
“I think (Successfest) kicked
it off,” Grey said. “The bad part is that
many people didn’t know we had a
SEE SUCCESSFEST, PAGE 5