The curse of the
Babe has ended!
Page 5
Page 3
Special holiday
tribute section
Page 8 I
ElizabethCity
E C S U
JiTATR UNIVERSITr
THE
OMPASS
Vol. 70, No. 3
December, 2004
Elizabeth City, North Carolina
Student Government Association president Don Morring, Jr. speaks to a crowd of protestors preparing to march across campus on Thurs
day, November 18 in protest of the school’s new book-buying policy to be implemented for the Fall, 2005 semester.
Photo by loby tate
Demonstrators confront school officials
By Nate Rhone
and Toby Tate
Chanting, “Robocop
has got to stop” and “enough is
enough,” and carrying hand-
lettered protest signs, some 200
students marched through the
narrow streets of the Elizabeth
City State University campus on
Thursday, November 18. The
purpose of the protest was to
confront school officials about
the recent decision to
discontinue the book rental
program in favor of students
buying textbooks and the alleged
brutalizing of a student by a
campus police officer. (See story
on page 1).
The protest, part two
of a unifying rally held the day
before in an emergency student
body meeting to discuss the very
same issues, saw students march
from Roebuck Stadium to the
Thorpe Administration building.
Before the
demonstration on Thursday,
Student Government Association
President Don Morring, Jr. had a
final prayer with those
assembled.
“Let us respect those
we are about to confront,” he
said. “Guide us and protect us.”
Advancing though the
streets, the feeling seemed to be
one of unity, determination, and
high spirits. One protestor was
overheard saying, “I dealt with
too much of this stuff last year.
If they’re marching. I’m
marching with them!”
Elliott Robinson, Vice
Chancellor for Business and
Finance, Dr. Artie Travis, Vice
Chancellor for Student Affairs,
Dr. Anthony Brown, Associate
Vice Chancelor for Student
Affairs and several other officials
stood waiting outside the Marion
D. Thorpe administration
building, watching as the crowd
formed before them at a podium
equipped with a P.A. system.
Almost immediately, unarmed
security guards from Big Dawg
security surrounded the
protestors. Overhead flew the
American flag. The first to speak
was SGA President Morring.
“We are here to respect
the institution of ECSU,”
Morring said, reiterating the need
for a peaceful demonstration.
Morring then introduced
Robinson and Travis.
According to Robinson,
the reasoning behind the new
book-buying program is not
financial, but strictly academic.
“Students need to build
up their libraries,” Robinson
said, but he was almost drowned
out by a chorus of boos. One
student asked, “We’re able to buy
our books now, so why change
it?”
Many who argue in
Demonstrators
at ECSU head
for the Marion
D. Thorpe
building to meet
with school
officials on
November 18.
favor of the book buying policy
say that it is not a big deal
because students at other schools
pay for their books, but those
who are not in favor of the poUcy
say that renting their books is
one of the reasons they chose to
come to ECSU.
Lloyd Rome, a
junior, said, “I don’t have the
money, and if they are going to
force us to buy books, I might
not come back.”
Tammy
Bunch of Winfall, a returning
student and mother of two, said
she is barely able to afford the
cost of tuition and book rental,
and paying for books would
make the cost of college
prohibitive.
“I don’t think my
education should stop because I
have to start paying for books. I
want a chance to finish my
See Confront on page 2
Student charged
with drug posses
sion alleges brutality
Photo by Toby Tate
. j iiK’ letter It)
. iunt Chan-
V t^uriiiin i>n
7.
«.»
■iCL- liic icsults or
ih(.' Zootncrang i~olI
cuiu'crning the hook
renlal program po.^lcd
b. I lit* C«)mpass on
page h.
By Toby Tate
Editor-in-Chief
An EUzabeth City State
University student, Ricky Kent
Spivey, Jr., 26, who recently
alleged police brutality by ECSU
campus police officers, has been
charged with possession of
marijuana up to half an ounce,
resisting a public officer and
possession with intent to
distribute. The report was filed
at the Pasquotank County
Courthouse on November 13,
2004 by one of the arresting
officers, M.A. Gray.
According to a copy of
the arrest warrant held by ECSU
Chief Information Officer John
Smith, Spivey was searched at
the Pasquotank County jail and
found to be in possession of nine
bags of marijuana worth about $5
each. The bail was originally set
at $5,000, but was increased due
to the seriousness of the charges.
Spivey has previous
convictions for DWI and driving
on a suspended license in April"
of 2004. He is currently on
supervised probation.
Spivey told the
Compass that on November 13,
he was in one of the stalls in the
dorm restroom at Doles Hall
when he was confronted by
campus police.
“I was in the stall, and
the door opens, and there was an
Photo by Toby Tate
Ricky Spivey
officer,” Spivey said. “He asks
for my I.D. while I’m still going
to the bathroom. He said I looked
suspicious because I had my shirt
closed while I was sitting there.
I said, ‘Sir, you’re violating my
rights.’ He said they needed to
take me downtown for some
questioning. Then, another
officer comes in, and they search
me.”
Spivey said that two
more officers came in and tried
to cuff him, a fact which was
disputed by John Smith.
. “I had only two officers
on duty that night,” Smith said,
“Gray and Simpson.”
Spivey said that when
he tried to back away from the
officers, “They grabbed me and
threw me on the floor and tried
to choke me and punched me in
the chest twice. I’m screaming
for help, and he (Simpson), is
See Brutality on page 2