Newspapers / Elizabeth City State University … / April 24, 2008, edition 1 / Page 3
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
AROUNDTHE CAMPUS THE COMPASS - SPRING 2008 3 Farewell Dr. Furlong Bj:Tasha Pippin As some students tnav know, this semes ter will be Dr. Martha Furlong’s last at Eliza beth City State University. After four years here, there are those who will be sad to see her go. Dr. Furlong’s passion is writing; she received her B.A. in Psychology with a mi nor in Writing, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in English / Creative Writing Poetry from the University of Southern Mississippi’s Center for Writers. She has taught everything from freshman composition and literature classes and Technical Writing to Contemporary American literature and African American literature, and of course. Creative Writing. Dr. Furlong’s relaxed teaching style and her way of relaying her passion for good writing, in any genre, to her students make. Dr. Furlong says that she hopes she has taught her students more than what was on her syl labus; She says she wanted them to learn that there is joy in learning. “E\ erydav 1 have stepped on this campus, one class or another has made me laugh, or I ha\e made them laugh — I don’t have too much of a problem with class attendance because I believe my students appreciate my love for teaching and enjov learning to strengthen both their thinking and writing skills critically and creatively — which col lege is about,” she said. Dr. Furlong says she has immensely en joyed the students she has met and taught here at ECSU. “I have had the most aw esome students in my classes; while some have been deeply in tellectual, spiritual or philosophical, others ha\e been bright and creative and funnv, and they have all been a joy to me in the class room. All ol mv student have taught me so much.” Dr. Furlong says the .student body is [hands down] what she will miss most about ECSU. Dr. Furlong says the most challenging course for her to teach was African Ameri can literature. De.spitc having taken African American literature courses in her doctoral program, know ing plenty about a the \vide canon of early African American writers as well as those who are publishing today, and even owning signed books of poetry from authors like Rita Dove, Marilyn ISelson,Tim Seibles, and more, she was nervous because “there is a school of thought that advocates that only African Americans should teach Af rican American literature.” When she broached her students about this issue to see how they felt, she says “their response was gorgeous.” They said, “Well, Dr. Furlong, African American professors teach all sorts of courses; you just teach us what you’ve prepared for us on our syllabus and it’ll be great!” She added, “and it was even greater!” Dr. Furlong’s students say that they will miss her greatly and say things about her like “she has a quirky personality that made her classes fun,” and “she’s always really upbeat and says hi every time I see her.” Students on ratemyprofessor.com, a \ol- unteer feedback website to voice opinions about professors, had nothing but good com ments about Dr. Furlong like one student who commented: “Dr. Furlong taught us to appreciate the w orks co\ ered. She went out of her w av to find information on the au thors not mentioned in the text to further our knowledge.” Another said, “She [Furlong] loves what she teaches and she gets right to the point. She tells you what you need to know and makes it interesting.” Said another, “she gave assignments that actually pertained to the readings. She motivates the .students to ana lyze works of literature so that they fully un derstand what they are reading and writing about. She also always knew what she was talking about!” So, goodbye Dr. Furlong. You will be missed. Single Mother Students: Making The Grade Bj: Archie “A.J”joshua Text books, term papers, exams and chil dren, for some young students these are all part of the college experience. Many col lege students have the dual responsibility of balancing books and bottles. Many of them decided not to give up their educational goals after having children. Deidra Rainey, senior, is one such .single mother. Rainey took a year off of college to have her child and then returned back school to further her education. “1 never thought I would not finish my education be cause of my child. I knew I was alone and had' to further myself for our future,” she said. This path was not without sacrifice Rainey said, “I lost out on a lot, I lost out on On Friday, February 22 a gunman entered an Elizabeth City .State University classroom. Professor Jingbin Wang in whose classroom the drill took place was not notified in ad vance. “I was prepared to die at that moment,” professor Wang told the News & Observer on March 2, 2008. The drill happened a week after the shoot ing at Northern Illinois University where multiple people were shot and the gunmen turned the gun on himself. Anthony Brown, vice chancellor for student affairs, said ev eryone was notified via text messages and emails were sent out five days before the in cident occurred. “I was not fully informed. They should have done a better job letting everyone on campus know what they were planning to do,” savs a freshman w ho ontests Brown’s claim. On Frid.iv, February 22 at about 1 : ?() p.m. t \t messaijes won.' sent out to >tudents ^\arning ahc'ut a trunman eiitcrina a More Irlal! classroom that afternoon. .Soon after wards a man entered professor Wang's cla'.s- room who was later disco\ered to be carrv- [some of] my college experience.” ABC news featured a story, “Balancing Books and Baby Bottles”, in September 2007 about single fathers on college cam puses. The piece showed many single par ents decided to go to college because of not despite their children. Most student parents believe that furthering their education will help provide their children with better op portunities in the future. Single parents now' have a lot more help than ever before. Most colleges provide some form of day care service. Also special grants, loans and scholarships are provided with the specific purpose of helping single parents successfully na\ igate college. There are also organizations and groups designed to help parents stay ahead. Although there is a lot of help out there for student parents, there is also much op position T Many people feel that students who have young children should spend more time with them. “It just doesn’t seem fair for the child if die parent is always gone at school,” said Angel Thomas, senior at ECSU. Thomas is a child care worker and deals with small children ages 3-7 on a reg ular basis at her day care center. “I think it is selfish of the parent to leave their child for school, especially if the child is under the age of tw o because its there most important developmental years.” Rainey says, “What would have been selfish would have been to say at home know ing that nothing was going to change for me or mv child.” ing a gun made of red plastic. Many students said it looked like a real gun. The gunman told everyone he had been kicked out of school and needed a lung transplant. He told the students to line up and that the student with the lowe.st grade point axerage would be shot. ■According to published reports and eve witnesses, about ten minutes after the gun men entered the room campus police ar rived and told everyone it was just a drill. “Unfortunately we learned from fright ened students that result when li\ e .scenarios are carried out,” said ECSU’s chancellor, Wil lie Gilchrist in an email sent out to students. Counseling was available on campus for staff and students affected b\ the drill through the University’s Counseling and Testing Center. Follow ing the V'.A lech shootings, colleges and uni\ersities across the country started having emergency drills. LIXC Greensboro held a drill in January but no students were present at the time. l/r. I/c.!///rcr rcporicJ thii .v'tori Irom the scurci:^ iiit'J hcnn. He J.'J noi inten !cu the personnel inivlieJ Did You Know? Elizabeth City State University w as founded on March 3, 1891, when Flouse Bill 383 was enacted by the North Carolina General Assem bly, establishing a normal school for the specific purpose of“teaching and training teachers of the colored race to teach in the common schools of North Carolina.” The bill was sponsored by Flugh Cale, an African American representative from Pasquotank County. CLssof ISS9 As ECSU’s history continues to evolve, highlights of the last decade include a doctor of pharmacy degree in collaboration with UNC-Chapel Hill (Augu.st 2005); the first four mas ter’s degree programs in Elementary Education, Biology, Mathematics, and School .Adminis tration; and six baccalaureate degree programs- - Marine Environmental Science, Social Work. Communications Studies, Aviation Science, Pharmaceutical Science, and Graphic Design; .^Center ol Excellence in Remote Sensing Education and Research (2003). fVtween 1999 and 2006, ECSU repc'atedlv earned national acclaim in .\mcrican’^ Best Colleges (U.S. New s and World l^e|)ort Magazine) fc>r its top five ranking in the category of “Top Public Comprelu n- iive Colleges”in the south. The EducationTrust national report recognized ECSU in 2004 and 2005 tor its high graduation rate. NC.A.A Foundation and US.ATodav ranked ECSU in the top 10 ol Division 11 colleges lor the graduation rate of its student-athletes (200! and 2002). Mock Gunmen Enter ECSU Classroom By: Jordan McA I lister
Elizabeth City State University Student Newspaper
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
April 24, 2008, edition 1
3
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75