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The News Argus
Oct. 2. 2006
ational News
Hurricane season prompts preparations
Sharrod Patterson
STAFF REPORTER
The first-year anniversary
of Hurricane Katrina has
come and gone, prompting
more people to prepare for
this year's hurricane season.
The season, which officially
began June 1 and ends
November 30, has already
seen Tropical Storm Ernesto
make its way to southern
Florida.
No one wants to be caught
in a hurricane, so what are
some ways the nation is
preparing for the season?
In order to be prepared for
an eventual hurricane, the
National Hurricane Center
has what it calls "Hurricane
Preparedness Week," May
21-27. The main goal is to
make sure that everyone in
high-risk areas is prepared
for any and everything.
Being ready to evacuate
and having a safe place to
go is the main goal of any
one caught in a severe hurri
cane situation. Most colleges
and universities have evacu
ation procedures that help
students living on campus
find a safe place. Shelters are
readily available to people
who have had their homes
destroyed or flooded.
So what happened with
Katrina? According to what
the director of the Federal
Emergency Management
Agency, David Paulison,
told FEMA, "Katrina's sheer
force overwhelmed local,
state and federal agencies."
FEMA had its "National
Preparedness Month" in
September. FEMA workers
have been trying to help
recover the nearly-destroyed
city of New Orleans and
other cities along the Gulf
Coast affected by Katrina.
FEMA has also changed its
emergency response and
recovery plan so that, as
many Americans hope, his
tory doesn't repeat itself.
For more information on
hurricane season, see these
Web sites: www.nhc.noaa.
gov, www.fema.gov.
Loretta Copeland Biggs will be
keynote speaker for WSSU’s
Founder’s Day Convocation
Tiphane Deas
MANAGING EDITOR
Winston-Salem State University announced
that Attorney Loretta Copeland Biggs will be
the keynote speaker for the Founder's Day
Convocation on Friday, Oct. 6, 9:45 a.m. in
K.R. Williams Auditorium. Biggs is a woman
with a wealth of knowledge and experience
in the legal world, not to mention several
honors and awards under her belt.
Biggs is a cum laude graduate from Spelman
College with a bachelor's degree in political
science. She graduated with honors from
Howard University School of Law. However,
she is no stranger to the Ram family, having
served two non-con.secutive terms on the
WSSU Board of Trustees, including a current
term that began in September 2004. She
served her first term from 1999 to 2000.
Biggs is also a shareholder and partner
with the law firm Davis & Harwell, P.A.,
where she practices family law including
complex equitable distribution matters, com
plex civil litigation and appellate advocacy.
Professional positions she has held in North
Carolina include associate judge for the
North Carolina Court of Appeals, State
District Court Judge for the 21st Judicial
District, Forsyth County and assistant district
attorney.
Biggs was one of only three recipients in
the nation of the United States Attorney
General's Award for Outstanding
Contributions to Community Partnerships for
Public Safety, and has also been awarded the
Internationa! Common Ground Community
Award by the largest non-governmental con-
Harvard drops early admissions ...
should WSSU pick up the policy?
Tiffany Ross
STAFF REPORTER
As of Tuesday, Sept. 12, Harvard
University is no longer using early action
admissions. Early action admission allows
students to send in their applications and
receive their decisions earlier. The Ivy
League university decided to terminate
early admissions after acknowledging the
negative consequences of the program.
Harvard said that "early action admissions
hurts schools' diversity because poor and
minority students are less likely to use early
admissions."
Harvard also stated that "early action
admissions have created anxiety for more
affluent students who take advantage of
them."
The question is, if the early action admis
sions cause such problems, why have it at
all? Early admissions is often used as a
strategy to single out students with strong
academic skills, but the program really does
not have many advantages besides that.
After Harvard announced that it will drop
early admission.s, it encouraged other Ivy
League colleges to drop their early admis
sions too. So far, as of Monday, Sept. 18,
Princeton had announced its plans to drop
the early action admission program, and
many are soon expected to follow.
Winston-Salem State University has never
had an early action program; however, the
university does have rolling admissions as
well as dual enrollment. WSSU's rolling
admission program allows the university to
continuously accept applications for enroll
ment to return the decision to students
within three weeks.
Dr. Maurice Allen, Director of Admissions
at WSSU, encourages students to apply as
early as possible.
"Even though the university does not
have early action programs there is discus
sion regarding setting deadlines for appli
cants in the future," Allen said.
The dual enrollment program allows jun
ior and senior high school students to enroll
into college courses and receive credit. "The
university works with a few students from
Winston Salem Preparatory Academy that
participate in this program," Allen said.
How do WSSU students feel about WSSU
and early action admission? Melody Mallett,
20, a junior said, "early action admissions
might be a good thing for WSSU because
maybe it would give offices such as
Financial Aid enough time to process loans
in time for the fall."
Now that Harvard and Princeton have
dropped early admissions, the admission
process will become even more competitive
for colleges and their recruitment staff.
It could allow for more opportunities for
students who were left out or who were
skeptical about applying to prestigious col
leges. It gives the feeling that all applica
tions are welcome, and would diversify
prestigious campuses across America and
enhance learning experiences for those stu
dents.
Photo by Sharrod Patterson
Founder's Day honors Simon Green
Atkins, WSSU founder, as this statue
reminds students daily.
flict resolution organization in the world.
Biggs and her husband, Larry, are the par
ents of a daughter who is pursuing her mas
ter's degree in fine arts at the American
Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, Calif..
They also have a son who is a junior at
Morehouse College in Atlanta , Ga.
*Contributions from the WSSU Office of Media
Relations
Photo courtesy of MCT News Service
Hurricane season makes many worry about a “second” Hurricane Katrina attack.
Homecoming 2006
Events Calendar
October
1 Gospel Concert: 6 p.m.-8 p.m. (KR Williams)
Drive-in Movie: 9 p.m.-10:45 p.m. (Practice Field)
2 Comedy Show; 7:30 p.m.-lO p.m. (KR Williams)
3 Poetry Slam Showcase: 4 p.m.-7 p.m. (Thompson 207
A, B, C)
Street Ball Game: 7:30 p.m. (Gaines Center)
4 Coronation: 7 p.m. (KR Williams)/ Immediately fol
lowing, Royal Ball (Anderson Center McNeil Ballroom)
5 Yard Fest Concoction: 6 p.m.-9 p.m. (TSC Plaza)
6 Ram Rally: Noon-2 p.m. (Breezeway)
Ram Carnival: 2 p.m.-6 p.m. (TSC Plaza)
Step Show: 7 p.m.-10 p.m. (Gaines Center)
7 Homecoming Parade: 10 a.m.
Royal Reunion Luncheon: Noon (TSC Red Room)
8 Worship Service, St. Peters World Outreach Center:
10 a.m.
The News Argus
The Student Newspaper of Winston-Salem State University
Editor-In-Chief
Erin Perkins
News Editor
Tamika Green
Columnist
La'Chelle Lewis
Sports Editor
Steven Gaither
Managing Editor
Tiphane Deas
Advertising Manager
Patricia Commander
Photo Editor
Sharrod Patterson
The News Argus is a biweekly campus newspaper for the students, faculty and staff
of WSSU.
* Opinions expressed in The News Argus are not necessarily those of the faculty or
staff at WSSU.
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