News Argus, December 2001
unions
& EDITORIALS
SELF
from page 3
Cryptopsy and Absu,
namely. Then I listen to
punk rock (NoFx, Bad
Religion, Against All
Authority, Green Day),
Motown (pretty much all
of it because I grew up on
it), jazz, rap (Mos Def,
Cypress Hill, Rage
Against the Machine, The
Roots, Jay-Z, Slipknot)
and the like. I enjoy read
ing everything from
Nietzsche and LaVey to
Vatsyayana. I love gothic
svelte imagery and urban
imagery.
What I'm getting at is
that one needs a broad
spectrum of knowledge
and culture in their lives.
The BET (Blacks
Everywhere Television)
train of thought cannot
progress the African-
American race that far.
Everywhere you go on
this campus, you'll see a
TV with "106 & Park" on,
bloodletting the masses
into a mental coma. I
think that the campus of
Winston-Salem should
realize that the school is
paying for 70-plus chan
nels and there is a great
bandwidth of entertain
ment on television.
We as black people
should leam to embrace
other cultures so that we
can understand how the
world works. If not
embracing them, at least
be knowledgeable of
them so that there is no
confusion or bias. For
those who have claimed
to have broken from the
mental chains of racial
stereotype, you are
halfway in your journey
of self-fulfillment.
Back of
Rest-Room
I
WAKE
FOREST
UNIVERSITY
The News
Argus will
continue to
study the
negativity
that is
placed on
WSSU and
the many
misconcep
tions that
plague us.
We will
also exam
ine school
spirit:
Where has
it gone,
and how
can it be
reclaimed?
Image can't be everything to students
By Keith Caesar
Argus News Editor
You've probably heard
the saying "image is
everything." And that
seems to be true more so
in this day and age.
However, images some
times form a barrier,
which leads toward intra
racism and other prob
lems amongst persons of
the same race. We find
things to grab at, effec
tively destroying any sort
of cohesiveness we may
have.
Right now, the very
image of blacks is being
sculpted by the world,
and the control of it is
being lost.
The ideal image of
black seems centered
around persons who are
light skinned, with long
wavy hair, a good build
and, in some strange
cases, persons having
green or blue eyes. These
are the images of blacks
that are becoming the
poster children for the
entire black race. We all
know that you can't limit
black to one specific type,
however, the image today
is a far cry from the
images of the '50s, '60s
and '70s.
Then there is this
gangsta image that is per
petuated by the media.
The only flaw is that the
gangsta of the past did as
they spoke. And today's
"gangstas" are simply
imitating bedtime stories.
Ultimately, the image
of young successful blacks
is that they are rich and
full of enough ice to
freeze the Sahara.
This forces me to ask,
what are the conse
quences of being someone
you're not?
In fashion, image is
everything. Egged on by
fashion designers and an
industry, which in the
case of the African-
American, has taken a
trend created by the black
youth and translated that
into financial empower
ment and gain which falls
directly into their pockets.
In education, image is
everything. People tend to
look at the schools that
students attend and judge
the intellect of students by
what they don't have.
This in itself creates a
class system, if you are
from a smaller college or
university, there is the
assumption that your
education is less valued.
It doesn't take a genius
to realize that some of the
greatest minds did not
attend Ivy league schools.
For a moment, let's
look at our surroundings.
Our campus is located
near a major interstate
which surrounds us. Add
a major traffic vein that is
smacked right in the cen
ter of the university, and
that makes for a lot of
noisy nights.
Now compare our sur
roundings with that of the
other institutions of high
er education in Winston-
Salem. It's interesting to
see that one area can be so
posh, while the other has
traffic running through it.
I'm positive that every
student can attest to the
daily response of fire
truck and police car sirens
whaling through the air.
I am sure the founding
fathers of the community
had some sense of what
they were doing when
they initiated new ideas
for zoning the city and
surrounding areas.
Image is everything.
If students put forth the
same amount of zeal into
their education as they do
into their outward
appearances, into this
image of an educated per
son, then wouldn't this
create and define what we
are becoming as adults
and professionals?
Shouldn't the greater
pursuit as neophytes be in
creating and becoming
characters of stature and
poise? People are remem
bered for who they were
and not for what they
were talked about as
doing.
Or are we simply living
up to the image?
Campus Voices
Where has WSSU’s
school spirit gone?
“We need a
little more spirit
than what we
have. There are
also not enough
activities
throughout the
semester to
promote school
spirit."
)
t.
Kean Weathers
freshman
The spirit
has deteriorated
into a ghost.
Everyone
comes to the
campus and
leaves. We
have a ‘driveby’
environment.
School spirit,
however, at WSSU is like mining for
diamonds in South Africa. It’s there,
but somebody got to dig it out."
Lorenzo Meachuml
professor of Speech Composition f
f
“School spirit
[here at WSSU
is horrible. We
do not go to
events held on
campus. This
past homecom
ing was the
second I’ve
attended, and it ^
was very different from my first year
The number of students was not even
jas large at the homecoming game."
Sheryl Coppetl
sophomore I
■“School
Ispirit is not
Igood. The
jstudent body
jdepends on
Ithe fresh-
Iman to pro-
Ivide spirit,
[and we just
igot here. As a freshman, we
'depend on the upperclassmen to
promote school spirit, which will
encourage us.”
Montrisha Bethea
freshman