Campus News
Page 3 The Compass Dec. 2005
SINGERS continued
Community Singers. They
have performed at various
sites, including the Robinson
Auditorium at the Fine Arts
Center.
The “Messiah,” by George
Handel, is a traditional
concert for musical groups
across the United States. The
entire work was written in a
twenty-four day spurt from
August 22 until September
14, in 1741. It was
performed for the first time in
Dublin, April 13,1742. The
words are taken from
scripture arranged by a friend,
Charles Jennings, in Handel’s
adopted home. Great Britain.
Handel toured Great Britain
and Ireland performing the
Oratorio.
The first major revision of the
“Messiah” was done by
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in
1788. In 1883, Sir George
Grove decided that the
Mozart editions be discarded
and a return to Handel’s
original scoring be performed.
It was performed in London
in December 1888, as
Handel had written it.
Whether or not King George
II stood at the singing of the
Hallelujah Chorus, the last
selection, is questionable.
Rumor has it that George
became tired after sitting for
so long, and when he stood,
in his box seat, all the rest
were obligated to stand
whenever he would stand;
thus the explanation given for
why we now stand at the
performing of the “Hallelujah
Chorus.”
Members of the local
community are joined by
music faculty in singing the
“Messiah,” and by the
Community Strings under Dr.
Michael Weaver of the music
Department of ECSU..
Soloists include Dr. Gloria
Knight, chairman of the
Music Department, and
other singers from the ECSU
Choir. Come and join this
special hohday performance
of a great tradition and
wonderful musical
experience.
2005 Honda Campus
All-Star Competition
By Audrey Jacobs
Staff Writer
i
CAMPUS
ALL-STAP
CHALL
On September 27,
students from Elizabeth City
State University participated
in the campus version of the
2005 Honda Campus All'
Star Challenge.
Walking into Meeting Room
A of the New Student Center,
the atmosphere was intense.
Two tables with four buzzers
on each were strategically
placed at the front of the room
so the supporting audience
could clearly see each
competitor. Derrick Wilkins,
Interim Chief Information
Officer of ECSU, who
coordinates the campus
event, stood at the podium
ready to fire questions at the
contestants. The ECSU
version of the HCASC was
officially underway.
The Honda Campus
All-Star ChaUenge (HCASC)
is the first-ever academic
competition between students
at America’s Historically
Black Colleges and
Universities. Derrick Wilkins
is more than enthusiastic
about the competition.
“Students on a
college campus should be
given opportunities to
participate in challenging and
exciting academic events
outside of the classroom, and
HCASC is the event,”
Wilkins said.
At the conclusion of the
ECSU campus level
competition, the winning team
was the Band of Brothers.
Each member of this four
player team received a $50
cash prize, but that’s not the
only incentive. This “seriously
fun competition,” says
Wilkins, isn’t just a local
game. Selected students will
have the opportunity to
demonstrate their skills at the
national competition in
Orlando, Florida.
Emerald Lucas,
Jerome Gillis, Arkeem
Fleming, Sean Williams,
Salimah Cogbill, Tyrone,
Knox, Jedidiah Gist, Daryl
Turrentine, Kristopher
Wilkerson, and Raymond
Franklin are members of the
varsity squad and candidates
to represent ECSU
nationally in March 2006.
“We wiU meet at least twice
a week to learn game
strategies, new information,
and to boost the confidence
level of the team,” Wilkins
said.
The HCASC has proven to
be a great opportunity for
ECSU students. According
to Tyrone Knox, varsity
squad member, “A
competition like this
promotes academic
excellence on our campus.”
Jennifer Young, another
competitor agrees, adding.
“This competition gives the
rest of the country a chance
to know ECSU.”
For the past two years,
because of their excellent
performance in the
competition, the team from
ECSU has been featured on
a two-page ad in US AToday.
For those interested in being
a part of this challenge next
year, Derrick Wilkins said,
“Stay on top of current
events, read the newspapers,
go to the movies, watch the
History Channel, and go to
class. AH of these things will
prepare students for
competition.”
The pageant of queens
Where big is beautiful
By Jerrae Henley
Staff Writer
Before tiie beginning
of her senior year, ECSU
student, Krystle Lee came up
with the idea to have a pageant
for plus size women on
campus. The ladies in the
pageant are pleasantly plump,
lusciously large, and showing
ECSU Vikings who’s in
charge.
“I wanted to do
something different because
many fiill -figured females do
not get the chance to
participate in pageants
without being ridiculed,” Lee,
the director, producer, and
editor said. “As a plus size
woman, we have to work
twice as hard as the average
sized person to get half the
respect that we very much
deserve.” Dominique Lewis,
afinahstsaid,
On August 25, 30
young ladies went to the
Little Theatre located beside
the G.R. Little Library to
audition for the pageant. The
auditions consisted of
introducing themselves,
showing off talent and
answering questions. The
judges were Krystle Lee,
Nykki Nianda and Dr.
Delbert Games. All of the
judges are members of the
Alpha Psi Omega, a theatre
fraternity which sponsored
the pageant. Nianda is a high
school teacher in Hertford
County, and Dr. Games is a
psychology professor at
ECSU.
Krystle Lee
After the 30 young women
auditioned, their first tasks
began. This test was called
Viking Pride. On August 27,
the ladies had to represent
ECSU by showing school
spirit at the fiirst football game.
They made up cheers, chants,
songs, and decorated
themselves by wearing the
school colors.
“I loved the first
activity because I am full of
school spirit and had no
problem wearing a blue wig
and face painting. Plus I
personally bought $30 worth
of candy to give out at the
game,” Leandrea Hill, a
finalist, said.
After each challenge, some of
the women were ehminated.
see PAGEANT on pg. 5
ECSU, first “Midnight Madness
By Angela Byrd
Staff Writer
Free food, music, a
basketball game and a free
fashion show was the hne up
for Elizabeth City State
University’s first “Midnight
Madness.” Organized by the
SGA on October 14 at the
Vaughan Gymnasium, the
event attracted 500. students
and lasted from 10 pm to 2
am.
The event started with the
gym a bit empty, but by 11 it
was a party or what some
called the madness. Family,
friends, and students who
didn’t attend NC A&T
homecoming or Virginia
State’s, came to see what
ECSU spring semester was
to bring. Fans stood to their
feet as Omega Psi Phi, Nu
Gamma Psi, and Alpha Phi
Alpha party hopped and
stepped, giving us a taste of
what we hoped to see
homecoming weekend.
Vike Nu Fashion Troupe
walked the ranway, tuming
the gym floor out with their
white and beige outfits. Just
when you thought it couldn’t
get any better, P.O.I.S.I.O.N
(ECSU’s Drum line),
entered, doing a mixture of
drumbeats including “go-go,”
and reggae to rock the entire
gym
The highlight of the night was
most definitely the women’s
and men’s basketball team
scrimmage. The crowd
stood to their feet as former
player Tyrone Smith retumed
to the court, after sitting out
for two seasons for getting in
trouble on campus. Smith
who is akeady picked for the
All Conference Pre-season
Team laughs when asked
about how it feels to already
be chosen as a leader. The
boys were definitely hyped as
they showed off their slam-
dunks and alley oops.
This years women’s
basketball team also looks
very promising adding
additional players at shooting
guard, point guard, small
forward, and the post,
including returning All
Conference Pre-Season
players Deanna Price, and
Celeste Trahan.
“I think we have a
winning team. I Ipve playing
with the new players too,”
said Price after being asked
about the recent additions.
As always Trahan stays
humble with her answer,
saying “I’m ready.”
If you didn’t enjoy
any of the activities, during the
night of madness, you were
sure to enjoy the free hot
dogs, hamburgers, chips, and
soda that were given out all
ni^t
By Fae Deaton
Staff Writer
For years LuAnn
Pendergraft has been teaching
a sequence on Museum
Studies. Now, you can obtain
a minor in Museum Studies
here at ECSU. The current
offering this semester is
Museum Studies II, coming
under the School of Arts and
Humanities’ Department of
Art.
The experience,
syllabus, included issues of
management, accessioning,
documenting, and handling
artifacts, as well as designing
ECSU offers museum studies Degree
hands on experiences for
young visitors to the Museum
of the Albemarle, and the
newly established Port
Discover Museum, the latter
under the direction of Mrs.
Pendergraft.
Lectures/training by the staff
of the Museum of the
Albemarle ranged from
history of the local museum,
guidelines for listing the
artifacts, how, when and
when not to accept donations
to a museum. How to
incorporate volunteers, and
working with the museum
board.
Guidelines for
security issues and “how to’s”
were given by the security
staff at the newly “opened”
Museum of the Albemarle,
complete with closed circuit
television as well as
documenting all visitors and
staff in the MOA so that all
could be safely removed in the
case of an emergency.
Being able to go into
the storage areas, as well as
the galleries that are still in the
process of being constracted,
some displays, such as the old
Jackson House gave a reahty
that could not have been
experienced by plain lectures.
Trips to the Museum of
Science and of History (two
museums) allowed a live
experience of how the finished
product(s) can function.
Another “Field Trip” was to
the Children’s Museum of
Virginia, located in downtown
Portsmouth Virginia.
Orientation presentations by
the Directors, accompanied
by visits to the various hands
on parts of the museum gave
reality to what being in the
museum field was all about.
The Museum Studies II
students even assisted in
packing the tool artifacts/
items at the old museum
building, complete with white
gloves, and clip boards as we
took tums wrapping the item
in special tissue paper and
carefully laying the objects
into the containers
preparatory to being moved
over to the big blue roofed
downtown Museum of the
Albemarle.
The Mus n students assisted
with the Day on the River at
the time of the Moth Boat
Races, set up outside on the
“green” in front of the MOA.
Exploration in the special
pond next to the MOA gave
the “hands on” science
exploration opportunity for
young researchers, complete
with notebook and clipboard,
to write down observations
and discoveries.
see MUSEUM on pg.5