Newspapers / Winston-Salem State University Student … / May 1, 2003, edition 1 / Page 11
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The News Argus, May 2003 1 1 eatWes F .STUDENT t Campus resources available to help dissuade suicide By Regan Thomas Starkie ARGUS REPORTER Low self-esteem, a feeling of worthlessness, insecurities, no sense of pride in one's self. If you add these characteris tics with an unstable family life, stress from work and school along with troubles with your mate, what would you have? An individual who may one day think about and attempt to commit suicide. The thought has crossed thousands of individuals' minds worldwide, but recently the concerns have been fixated oh college campus. Suicide is been the second- leading cause of death for col lege students in the United States. The big question that needs to be asked is why? Why do these students feel they have no value? About 29,350 Americans com mitted suicide in 2000, accord ing to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More people die from suicide than homicide; there are about 1.7 times as many suicides as homicides. It is the 11th leading cause of death for all Americans, and the third leading cause of death for young people, according to CDC. Acceptance on a college cam pus is the driving force for many students. The opportunity to be seen and to succeed in the face of others is the fruit of their labor. Failure is not an option. Yet still, many fall into states of depression. "They feel they're along and unhappy with their lifestyle", stated Shana Moore, a fresh man mass communication major. "I hate to see people by them selves. But I never thought about doing it myself and don't know anyone who has. But if I knew someone who thought about it I really don't know what to say or do." The problem lies with that knowledge students have on the issue. Many students do not know what symptoms to be aware of when someone is thinking about killing themselves. The lone wolf in the cafeteria, talks of leaving school for a while, not wanting to hang out but always in their room and key words such as good-bye instead of see you later are tale- tale sign that something is on that student's mind. Keosha Montgomery, a sophomore psychology major, said, "People try it because they feel it's their only way out. The pressures to try and live up to your parents and admin istration expectations make it hard for students. If they only knew there are other options like people who are there for them when they need them, I don't think they would ever go through with it." Winston- Salem State University has such an option. The University Counseling Center (UCC), in room 305 of the Thompson Student Services Center, offers programs and services to assistance students that are having difficulties adjusting to collegiate life. From the pressures of high parental expectations to per sonal and social acceptance among peers, the counseling center gives a student an ear to listen to and shoulder to cry on. Dr. Deborah Fountain, the director of the University Counseling Center, said that the University Counseling Center offers services if any matter arises. Along with Student Heath Services, Campus Police and other key units on campus. The University Counseling Center is there for any incident pro viding group and individual services. Winston-Salem State University has a low percent age when it comes to this issue. Speaking with Lt. Marcus Sutton of the university cam pus police, "there's a lot of ten sion around; living away from home, parents and the.stress associated with classes." Just this year, he said there was one incident where a stu dent's concerned parents called campus police asking to check in on a student. But Sutton's caseload has not reflected any strange behavior that has been reported here at WSSU. CEASEFIRE, from page 10 it is certainly not cheap main taining all the needed equip ment and material. Not only do you have to think about turntables, but a new record or single comes out everyday. All this adds up. Cease spends anywhere from $50 to $150 each time he steps foot in a record store. In the beginning. Cease's parents, who are African, didn't really understand the whole concept of a deejay. "My parents were skeptical at first," said Cease. Cease performed his "scratching skills" for a talent as a contes tant in the Mr. Ram pageant 2002, and what his mother deemed as just a hobby turned into the utmost sup port as she saw the passion her son had to deejay. Now, "My family, especially my brother and sister, are really supportive," said Cease. His mom's support allowed him to crossover and even perform at African parties. Cease said he believes this thirst for entertainment and mixing is actually spiritual. He was the first generation of his family to move here to the United States. His family is from the Congo in Africa, and he was bom in Brussels, Belgium. Batsuli has been in Charlotte since he was three. "Each one of us in our fami ly is extremely talented and I think God put us here in America, because America has opportunities," he said. "Another thing is that I've been getting signs." Not only did his first for tune cookie depict his musical fortune, but another one read, "You will do well to expand your business," is a sign that represents what he hopes for in his future endeavors. So, from where did the name "Ceasefire" derive? Originally, it was simply DJ Cease, but with the growing attention he was receiving, he ventured for a new name. "I was watching Rambo one day, and the lieutenant had yelled out, cease fire!" He liked it, and when he phoned his friend, John Adams, he liked it too, so therefore, it stuck. "My friends helped me open up my eyes to stuff I've always wanted to do. That's another thing with your destiny, sometimes when you're movin' away from certain stuff you should be doin', some things will bring you back toward what you really wanted to do deep down inside." One can hear Ceasefire mix ing a variety of music any where from Go-Go to House, oldies to rump-shaking beats. "Deejaying is all psycho logical," he said. "You have to be able to watch and read the crowd." Cease also revealed ofie of his secrets to being a deejay. "Basically, what you have to do is make everybody feel special ... a big thing is talking to the crowd." Ultimately, DJ Ceasefire wants to be owner and CEO of a record company and also said, "I'm trying to get my own DJ mix squad." From only one turntable to two, 10 records to about 900, and from a job a Pizza Hut to charging up to $500 to deejay for one event, this student entrepreneur is definitely on his way and has the backing of not only his friends, but a strong confidence in himself, bearing the phrase a deejay like no other. "I believe every thing happens for a reason, and each person has their own destiny, but it depends on you, if you have that drive to go get it or let it slip by." Contact janell /. Lewis at jlewis@thenewsargus.com. MISS WSSU, from page 10 cally black colleges and uni versities (HBCUs) and wants to inform students in grade school that they can have an educational experience equal to or better than that of a very prestigious institution. "I want to go out into the community and speak to high schools and middle schools, [and] talk to those students about the importance of attending HBCUs and tell them about the great opportu nities they have." While students are under the supremacy of Turner dur ing the 2003-04 year, she has a load of a plans and ideas that she thinks will better the university as whole. One of her campaign activi ties was going dorm to dorm, making students aware that they were free to talk to her about the changes they want ed implemented next year. She understands that she can't represent the university well without the suggestions and opinions of students. "That was really good because a lot of the sugges tions that the students gave me were things that I would like to work on for next year." One amendment Turner would like to make involves the transportation, or lack thereof, on campus. She would like to use one of the vans or buses to take students with no vehicles on frequent trips to Wal-Mart or the movies on the weekend. "It would show that we're trying to reach out to them in other ways than just forming activities. We want to make sure they're taken care of within the educational arena as well as the social aspect." Turner also plans to develop a stronger unity among all the organizations on campus who sometimes have animosity toward each other. There could be workshops pertain ing to fund raising, budget planning, or activity plan ning, where the queen or another from the organization would come to represent it as a whole. Someone who is a professional on the matter would give council and tech niques on how to have a ful filling year. "I think that would give the organization the opportunity to not only increase their activities and fund raising capabilities but also the opportunity to work together and unify their members in their organizations," Turner also wants to estab lish more activities to build communication skills. She thinks that many of the stu dent speakers at shows on campus do not speak as well as they should. "Our speech class is great at WSSU, but maybe we need to have speech classes outside of class." This could be a collabora tive effort with increasing the communication between fac ulty and students. Turner said that if the faculty would have the students more involved with the plans, as far as speakers, students would be more interested and willing to participate if they feel like they were involved in the planning process. The issue of going out into the neighboring grade schools with the other university queens is yet another plan. "Rolonda had the queens involved in community ser vice activities. That's some thing I'd also like to continue." Turner pointed out that even after coronation, the queens are just as important and that they should repre- Number of Hispanics continues to increase sent their individual organi zations just as she would the entire school. "The more positive people we have, just like the queens and kings showing their lead ership skills, the higher our approval rate of WSSU, and more people will believe in our school as a great school for higher education," Turner said. Upon graduation, Turner would like to attend Georgetown University to achieve her master's in inter national affairs, and then receive her doctorate in public administration. One day she would like to work for a school system with interna tional education. Even more, she hopes she will still have room to work for an embassy or the United Nations. Expressing her desire to also help unite communities through nonprofit organiza tions in her future career. Turner is clearly eager and willing to embrace and work with WSSU, adding that, "The best thing about a leader is being able to help others become leaders. Contact janell /. Lewis at jlewis@thenewsargus.com. MOCK TRIAL, from page 10 as "psychologist" and junior psychology major, Daiquari Ross, who offered psychologi cal analysis on the behaviors of criminals. Their opinions on the actual sniper case were supplemented by the infor mation they learned in prepa ration for the trial. "You've always got to ques tion the majority," said Krystle Myers, a junior politi cal science major and defense attorney in the trial, of the nation's view and opinion of the accused. "We got the opportunity to study and use actual evidence from the real case. I believe the evidence was too inconclusive for it to have even been tried." Trisha Pollard, a junior pub lic administration major and member of the prosecution team, had a different take on the real case. "I enjoyed working on this because it's such a high pro file case," said Pollard. Among those who attended By Cecilia Davis ARGUS REPORTER the trial were Little's students and parents of those partici pating in the trial. "I learned information that I haven't learned from the news," said Jasmine Hargrave, a freshman physi cal education major. Contact Nicole Ferguson at nferguson@thenewsargus.com. Does it seem like you're hearing a lot more Spanish lately? If not, where have you been? Hispanic language and culture has been a part of American culture since the beginning of America. More recently however, it has entered every aspect of daily American life — from the aisle in the grocery store that only has Mexican food to the catchy hooks of many hip-hop songs. This surge of Hispanic culture was validated recently when the Census Bureau announced that the Hispanic population now makes up 13 per cent of the nation while African- Americans linger at 12.7 percent. This 13 percent does not include the 3.8 million Hispanics in Puerto Rico, which is a United States territory. A Hispanic Web site called Hispanic Trends reports that between 1990 and 2000 the Hispanic population grew by 13 million peo ple, which is an increase of 58 per cent. The majority of this growth comes from higher birth and immi gration rates. Although African-Americans are a close second, it will be hard for us to take first place again. The trends show that Hispanic populations will continue to increase. The important question is how will this affect American culture, and more espe cially African-American culture. Opinions on the BET.com Web site vary greatly. Jason Shelton, a junior computer science major, said, "1 do not believe that an increase in the Hispanic pop ulation will have a negative effect on the African-American communi ty. With a plethora of Hispanics in the United States, 1 believe that the Hispanics will have a significant impact on American society." Michael Brookshaw, a Spanish professor, said, "This has been the case for a long time. People must understand the history. Mexicans have been here before everyone. Many of our states and cities have Spanish names. We've always had an intimate relationship with things Spanish. The thing that is going to change is that the Hispanics are going to gain power. African- Americans need to become more politically and economically power ful or other groups are going to pass us. It is a wake up call for Black Ameri(^.
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