Newspapers / Elizabeth City State University … / April 1, 2005, edition 1 / Page 5
Part of Elizabeth City State University Student Newspaper / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Opinion The Compass/April 2005 Page 5 Defendiim flie E^word MAfBUSH ttk* «fmOBAmM$HdemPlABOR, Ut ^ HmtfU" Learning vs. earning: The value of college By Corey Freeman Staff Writer Is college oven'ated? Is a college degree a must in order to be successful? 1 believe the answer to both questions is no. College is not oven ated. It is a wonderful experience that everyone should have the opportunity to partake in. A college degree is a vital piece of equipment for anybody seeking a job in modem society. On the other hand, a college degree is not a must-have to be successful. Bill Gates is the wealthiest man in America and he did not graduate from college. College does not guarantee success either, but it does increase the odds. 18-year-old Latrice Johnson, a Mass Communications major at ECSU, said, “I feel hke the hands on training I’m receiving gives me a greater chance at future success.” Given the number of people looking for jobs today you may find it difficult to believe, but some industries are concerned about worker shortages due in great part to stagnant or even declining enrollments in the academic programs that prepare new workers for new jobs. All Americans have been auto programmed since youth to Students speak out about Iraq election By Robert Overton Stajf Writer he Iraqi people can rejoice in celebration as a result of the recent election, which took place in mid-February. Their new democracy, a reality made possible by the United States, has been a very controversial issue facing the U.S. public since it was proposed by President George W. Bush. Elizabeth City State University students were asked to react to the election by answering the proposed question: Do you think that democracy will succeed in Iraq? believe that in order to be successful in life you need to achieve a higher level of education. Skeptics still debate about the importance of college in today’s job market. Rfecent years have given rise to skepticism due to a period of record downsizing that slashed more than 4 million workers from the payrolls. 44 tot im‘n Mate [»rngr»tfi!n;4 Yiitrtis t» b«lk'i« rta le orl»r to to artm i> n higb w B# However, new research shows that (according to the Chicago- based firm “Spring Graduate Market Outlook”), College graduates with degrees in a broad range of fields will reap the benefits of an on-goiug market recovery that has added 2.2 million jobs over the last 12 months. Global outplacement firm challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., said that the nearly 1.4 million college students graduating this spring would tlnd Chris Perry, a junior from Elizabeth City, said, “ I feel that it won’t work because of the rebellious Islamic fanatics that make up much of the population. Every day a U.S. soldier is being killed, or a car bombing is killing fifteen people. I think it will only create more chaos.” Timothy Moss, also a junior from Ehzabeth City, said. the strongest entry-level positions in over three years. 20-year-old ECSU junior Tisha Smith said, “The job market today is very hard and competitive.” She is not alone in her thoughts. The majority of college students feel a slight uncertainty of automatic job placement upon graduation. A search of a couple of databases found three majors that boast an 80 percent job placement rate, so if you are still undecided on which career to pursue, one of these could be for you. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that the U.S. will need a million new nurses by 2010. According to the American Hospital Association, 100,000 nurses are already needed to fill current vacancies. Of the 10 fastest growing occupations between 2000 and 2010 according to the BLS, eight are computer related. The need for skilled computer scientists, particularly in security and database administration, will likely grow. Every year since 1990, more than 4,000 people have earned a Master of Library Science degree, the basic credential for landing a position as a librarian. Based on U.S. census data, more than 25% of the nation's 125,000 professional librarians will reach retirement age by the year 2009. That’s a lot of jobs to fill. “Much rioting and violence has erupted in Iraq over the past few months because of the election, and the war itself, though it is wise to spread peace and democracy all over the world, it is also foolish to sacrifice so much time and money to people who obviously do not want to be helped.” Kinney Neal, responding to the same question, said, “ I feel as if an election will do a lot of good, however, the final decision should be left up to the people.” The election made world headlines, since it’s the first time a democracy has ever been implemented in Iraq society. The people were used to the dictatorship of the tyrannous Saddam Hussein. Though many of the Shiite and Sunni Muslims who dA'ell in Iraq are overwhehned with the outcome of the election, many more are still rebellious and still hve as if ruled by the imprisoned dictator. By RenelFinkenkeller Columnist A h. I just love to sit still for 90 minutes and A. m listen to a professor prattle on and on with his/her opinions as if they are shooting stars I am oh so lucky to witness. Don’t you? I love it even more when the ideas each one shares sounds exactly like the last eight hundred opinions I’ve been subjected to by all my other professors in the past couple of semesters. And so many of their ideas are congruent with the very textbooks they teach from; textbooks which, by the way, are written by other professors across the country that we students should be quick to challenge. Higher education is frock with originality and a delightful openness to new and improved concepts, have you noticed? Despite the fact that I’ve carried a very easy 4.0GPA every semester I’ve atteiided ECSU, this semester I must openly admit I’m struggling to pay attention long enough to be granted a C on a test. I’m bored. I’m annoyed. I’m something. Memorizing this babble, and using every ounce of restraint I possess to not raise my hand to correct a professor on his/ her most recent mistake on a historical date, idea, or issue has exhausted me to the point that I just don’t care. It’s no longer any fun proving that I know more than my professors. I’m ready to graduate. Some of you may be offended that I could possibly be taking my education for granted right now. Some of you are upset that my grades thus far have been a walk in the park compared to your struggles with studying and keeping up with assignments. But I bet the majority of you readers will be appalled that I could be so open about thinking I’m smarter or better than my elders. Welcome to the United States of America—the land of the free, and the ego- and ethnocentric! A place where if you’re brave enough, you can think as highly of yourself as you want. Some may believe it’s a selfish way to live, or an insensitive frame of mind to think of yourself or your culture as better than others. A recent professor of mine made no bones about believing that anyone who thinks the U.S. is the best country on the planet must be an untravelled, ignorant redneck. For a split second I almost considered raising my hand. Shoulda, coulda, woulda. No problem with missing my opportunity now. Instead of venting in front of 30 other classmates, I can just vent to the entire campus here. Freedom of speech—what a lovely gift our founding fathers gave us. Well, it’s a gift according to liberals, a right according to conservatives. I bet that’s not an idea you’ve come across recently in any textbook here on campus. Well, I have many others where that came from! Why on earth do those who possess a graduate degree or higher, have traveled or lived somewhere abroad for any period of time, and are contributing in some way, shape, or form to an educational institution automatically think that they are more intellectually enlightened if they come to the conclusion that multiculturalism is the only way to lead our society? These people would have us believe that it’s impossible to return from a thorough tour abroad with an understanding of other languages and cultures, and still believe the U.S. is the best place to live. Right. And that’s why every airplane overseas has been nicknamed “The Freedom Bird” by most Americans living in other countries preparing to return home! I have had the privilege of living a little before coming to an age where I feel it necessary to return to college to receive a piece of paper that says I’ve been educated in order to pursue my dreams. This piece of paper, however, hasn’t given me anything. All my years of reading, travelling, personal investigations, experiences, and engaging my attention to more places on the dial besides MTV, have given me the foundation necessary to qualify my political, spiritual, and social beliefs. A smug professor in all his/her liberal glory gleefully labeling those who would come to conclusions different from his/ her own has contributed nothing to my knowledge base except to beware of those who deem themselves educated. The feedback I’ve received from many colleagues and professors concerning my belief that ethnocentrism by U.S. citizens is a good thing is one of shock and horror. Ifl came to class wearing a swastika on my arm (although my roots possess Jewish- German decent) and a white hood over my face (even though I am also part Cherokee Indian), students and instructors couldn’t be more surprised. I’ve heard the question repeated from the front of each class: How did the term “liberal” ever get a negative connotation? Being liberal is a good thing if you think about it. Well! How did being ethnocentric ever get a negative connotation? I mean, if you’re from another country, sure it’s a bad thing. But if you’re American, you’re right! No one will ever persuade me or verbally pressure me into believing the U.S. does not possess the greatest sense of human rights to be granted to any individual for no other reason than they were simply conceived into this world. I guess it would seem obtuse or inconvenient to mention the ever-increasing desire of persons from other cultures to come to America and forge a new life or lifestyle here. Multiculturalists are usually liberals, and liberals always contend they have the firmest grasp of human rights, preserving human dignity, and understanding human needs in an intelligent and sensitive manner. Let’s think about that, shall we? If you have a problem with a country (like Turkey) that professes to be democratic and secularist but still arrests Christian missionaries and refuses to allow the term “Jesus” to be spoken on its streets, you might be ethnocentric. If you have a problem with tribes in New Guinea because they believe all young boys from the age of 10-35 must live a homosexual lifestyle with older men because they firmly believe a young boy will never grow into an adult if he doesn’t drink the ****(figure it out for yourself), you might be ethnocentric. If you have a problem with rape not being considered a crime in any middle eastern country, because men believe a woman can’t be raped unless she somehow enticed a man to do so, and then she is hunted down and killed for losing her virginity, you might be ethnocentric. If you have a problem with tribes in Africa performing circumcisions on 13 year old boys, and then while he lays on the ground suffering, he is kicked and taunted by the other villagers, and if he sheds a single tear he is cast out of the tribe for “not being a man”, you might be ethnocentric. If you have a problem with abortions taking place daily in China and India because mothers have discovered they are going to have a girl, and boys are considered more valuable property, you might be ethnocentric. If you have a problem with countries (Hke France and Canada) claiming to be free- speech nations, but are currently forcing publishers to censor passages in the bible the government no longer approves of, you might be ethnocentric. If you have a problem with Norway’s top multiculturalist professors preaching that if Norweigan women don’t want to be raped by the young male immigrants from the middle east that are about to make up 60% of the country’s population, they better reconsider what they choose to wear to night clubs, you might be ethnocentric. If you have a problem with orphans being abandoned and left alone in cribs their first 8 years in orphanages without any human contact or development because they aren’t considered a priority by the government in countries like Romania or Hungary, you might be ethnocentric. If you have a problem with the Islamic religion because they believe adoption is a sin, and therefore allow orphans to roam the streets until they are old enough to enter a school for militant training, you might be ethnocentric. And finally, if you have taken a close look at other countries, other cultures, other religions, and still come to the conclusion that the U.S., despite it’s many problems, still possesses the most absolute form of government and Constitution for enforcing all human rights, (and let’s be honest; the most patriotic sounding music ever granted a national anthem), then you are a well informed ethnocentric. And if you happen to be a professor on campus, me getting the chance to take one of your classes will be a fresh breath of air! ■den’t Mb yeu Arn^t F trvUefSX jmiNW Bsf f rfm Democracy in Iraq: To be or not to Ise?
Elizabeth City State University Student Newspaper
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
April 1, 2005, edition 1
5
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75