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No. 2 Published by and for the students of North Carolina Central University in Durham, N.C. 27707 September 17, 1980
after shooting by estranged husband
Nursing professor out of hospital
from Echo staff reports
and The Durham Morning Herald
An assistant professor of nursing who was shot and wound
ed in her office Monday, September 9, has been released
from Duke University Hospital.
According to Dr. Johnea D. Kelley, chairperson of the
School of Nursing, Mrs. Joan Martin, who was shot in the
chest, is“still under a doctor's care” and her whereabouts are
being kept confidential.
Kelley did not know when Mrs. Martin would be returning to
work.
How has the Nursing department been affected by this inci
dent?
“A tragedy of this sort would almost paralyze a faculty,”
Kelley said. “But we are managing to keep going. We have ap
pointed someone to teach Mrs. Martin’s classes.”
Mrs. Martin, who has taught at NCCU for ten years, was
shot with a .38 caliber revolver, Durham police detective
Allen Hare said.
Her husband, Joseph H. Martin, was later arrested at his
son’s apartment at 501 Elf St. and charged with assault with
a deadly weapon with intent to kill, inflicting serious injury.
Martin was placed in the Durham County Jail under $10,000
bond.
After shooting his wife, Martin reportedly got into a taxi and
rode to his son’s apartment, where he had been staying
recently, and waited for officers to come and get him. Accor
ding to Hare, Martin did not resist arrest.
Law and nursing to face
ABA, University probes
Victor Hunter pounces on 6-point fumble recovery as teammates
signal touchdown.
Gridders win 2nd
By Winston L. Majette
The saying“first come, first serve” didn’t
apply in the way one normally expects it to.
Because the Trojans of Virginia State Univer
sity were the one’s to come across the goal
line first, one might not have expected them
to be served their second loss of the season
by the score of 35-13. But so it was, to the
delight of the Central fans assembled for the
Eagle’s second football game of the season
Saturday.
The first few minutes seemed to bring back
horrible flashbacks of the fumbles in the
game with the Livingston Bears. After a
22-yard offensive surge, the Trojans came
face to face with a great defensive play from
defensive ends Nathan Johnson and Wendell
Matthews, causing a fumble recovered by the
Eagles on their own 41-yard line.
Though the Eagles were able to gain yards
at mid-field, they were unable to score.
Upon getting the ball back, the Trojans
seemed unable to gain yardage. Warren
Felton carried the ball for a tptal of “No”
yards.
But Alvin Hampton ended this monotony by
connecting with Benjamin for a 61-yard of
fensive charge.
During the next set of downs, one did not
have to be superstitious to experience a feel
ing of deja-vue. If you’ve saw the Eagles play
the Bears you know that the Eagles and
Bears exchanged the ball on almost identical
plays, both causing fumbles.
On the Eagles next possession Kenny Pugh
handed the ball of to Roscoe Burnette for a
gain of 9 yards. Then Yuille came in to throw
a superb 19-yard pass on an exceptional
catch by Carl Sanders. On the next two plays
Burnette ran for 6 yards and then lost two.
Yuille attempted a long pass to Sanders, but
it was ruled incomplete. Sounds familiar
dosen't it.
The Trojans seemed to become impatient
about being held scoreless and held on to the
ball until they crossed the goal line.
Running back Kevin Ross converted a Tro
jan fourth down play, and then Alan Hampton
handed off to Warren Felton for a gain of 21
yards. The Trojan drive was almost stalled at
the end of the first quarter, but a pass in
terference penalty left the Trojans on the
Eagle one-yard line at the beginning of the se
cond quarter. On the next play, Felton car
ried the ball over. Virginia.State led 7-0.
The Eagles’ nekt possession was cut short
by a fumble. But Lorenzo Ingram so in
timidated Virginia State quarterback Hamp
ton, that he threw a bad pass, and VSU turn
ed the ball over on downs.
Then the Eagle passing game picked up.
Yuille through two long-gainers to Sanders to
put the Eagles inside the Trojan thirty. After
moving the ball on a series of running plays,
the Eagles scored on a 7-yard pass to 'Victor
Hunter.
The defensive teams took over for the rest
of the half, which ended in a 7-7 heat.
In the second half, the Eagles showed they
could both run and pass. Yuille hit Hunter
See FOOTBALL TEAM, page 5
A “thorough analysis” of the poor showing by graduates of
the University of North Carolina system’s predominately
black schools on the state’s bar and nursing exams is being
conducted by UNC officals, according to The Durham Morn
ing Herald.
More recently, an Associated Press story has reported
plans for the American Bar Association to conduct an inspec
tion of Central s Law School.
University!President William Friday called the results of the
University analysis “deeply disappointing.” These results will
be presented at the upcoming Board of Governors meeting
next month.
According to the Associated Press story, the ABA will
decide in November whether to inspect the Law School. Ex
perts cited in the story say there is very little chance that the
Law School could lose its accreditation as a result of the in
vestigation.
North Carolina Central University, the only black school in
the system with a law school, had 18 out of 76 people to pass
the bar exam. This is an 18 percent increase over last year’s
54 percent failure rate.
82 percent of NCCU’s nursing students who took the states
licensing exam failed it. The school has tried since 1972 to im
prove its students results on the licensing exam.
Failing professional exams is not limited to students at the
black colleges of the UNC system. According to Friday, some
white campuses have as high as 20 percent failure rate.
The UNC Board of Governors has given NCCU’s Nursing
program until the spring of 1981 to bring its passing rate up
to at least 66 percent. Unless this is done, the program is in
danger of being discontinued.
Harry Groves, dean of the School of Law at NCCU, said that
the school will adhere to tougher admissions criteria next
year to offset its low pass rate.
Other black schools that had low passing rates on the state
licensing exams were A&T and Winston-Salem State. A&T’s
passing rate was 19 percent, while Winston-Salem’s rate was
41 percent, the highest of the black campuses.
If it occurs, the ABA inspection will be the second for Cen
tral in three-years. Central was last inspected by the Bar
Association in January of 1978 and would not normally be in
spected again until 1985.
Central’s Law School was just reaccredited this year after
being placed on probation in 1975.
Chancellor to hold convocation
By Winfred B. Cross
For the second time in as many years, Albert N. Whiting, chancellor of North
Carolina Central University, has called for a university-wide convocation on
Sept. 25 at 10:40 in McDougald Gymnasium.
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In This Issue. . .
More football coverage:
members of the team talk
(page 5)
Would you believe strip volleyball?
(page 6)
Follow-up on Black College Day
(page 3)
Whiting said the convocation is being held as an annual event and not
because of a serious university problem.
“The convocation was started because students, faculty and alumni have
requested that there should be at least one general assembling of the univer
sity each year,” said Whiting.
The chancellor went on to say that this year’s address will be similar to last
year’s speech.
“I will basically give a state-of-the-university address,” said Whiting. “I will
also make statements about the troubled Law School and Nursing Program.”
Whiting added that he was pleased with the student turnout at last year’s
convocation.
“The students are to be commended on their participation last year,” he
said. “I am hoping for an even bigger turnout this year.”
At last year’s convocation Whiting listed several steps which Central must
take to remain a “viable force in the state’s higher education program.” At
least two of these steps have already been done. They include accelerated in
tegration of the campus and extended continuing education efforts for non-
traditional students.
Whiting also commented on the renovation of several buildings and marked
improvement in the athletic program. Thus fa? the school’s C.T. Willis Com
merce building is under renovation and the football team won its first season
opener in five years, following that with another impressive win last Saturday.
These nursing students look calm and
poised, but the school is under pressure.
Alums talk on
low bar scores
By Teresa Burke
“I wouldn’t go to a black lawyer; he can’t do anything for
me.” According to one alumnus of NCCU’s Law School, this is
an all-too-common opinion.
With the recent reports concerning the low scores and high
failure rate and of Central’s law graduates who take the bar
and a possible inspection by the American Bar Association,
the blame has been dumped at many doorsteps. Chancellor
Whiting and law school Dean Harry Groves are in agreement;
there will be changes in law school admissions and grading
standards.
Two former NCCU law school students were contacted for
their opinions concerning the controversy surrounding the
law school. Their viewpoints, although they often differ,
reflect the feelings of many law school alumni.
Attorney Frank Bullock, a 1973 law school graduate, does
not consider the admission and grading standard changes to
be a good move. “Grade inflation is not the cause and I don’t
think the teachers’ attitudes have mellowed any since I was at
Central. They (the teachers) are reflected by their students,
so when low scores become public it would seem natural that
they would crack down instead of letting up.”
Attorney Doug Webb, a 1980 NCCU law school graduate,
feels that the reasons for the high failure rate are more per
sonal. It can be attributed, he says, to study habits, or even
intelligence. He reasons that the school is not to blame: If “I
was taught enough to pass, then everyone else should have
passed.”
Others argue that the bar exam, like the SAT, is
discriminatory and is designed for a particular segment of the
population. But Webb, who passed the three-day-long exam
on the first try, disagrees. “The bar exam is difficult, yes. It re
quires a sufficient arena of knowledge.”
Bullock, a former State Bar Association president, scored
low on the SAT and did not pass the bar on his first try. His
low grades, however, do not reflect his successs as a lawyer.
To him, high grades in the class do not equate with proficien
cy in the courtroom.
A great number of people enter the law field every year, and
the bar exam is seen by some as a sieve, a way of “tightening
up” the market.
But does the bar have the ability to measure a person’s
ability to practice law?
According to Webb, “A single testing cannot,” but, he adds,
the exam is necessary. “There has to be some kind of stan
dard,” he declares.
Though the bar exam may be a standard, that does not
mean that its grading is not open to some discussion. Com
menting on this issue, Bullock said, “The bar is full of discre
tion. You get credit for a wrong answer if you can justify that
wrong answer. If you fail and ask to see your exam, you get it
back with no corrections on it. If you pass, your paper is
destroyed. A lot of discretion.”