New drug may help alleviate sickle cell pain;
UNC scientists look to NCCU for subjects
By Jim Jarvis
Current research at the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill with a drug called cetiedil may help ease
the severe pain that accompanies sickle cell disease, and
NCCU students—19 or older who have the disease—are
encouraged to enlist as subjects in the research,
according to Dr. Eugene P. Orringer, associate
professor of medicine and chief scientist for the project.
Interested students should contact Orringer through
the Comprehensive Sickle Cell Program at 966-2467.
At present, there are 15 subjects in the program.
Orringer would like to have 25.
“The drug (cetiedil) was originally synthesized in
France and used for hardening of the arteries,” said
Orringer. Only later was the drug found to benefit sickle
cell victims.
Over 2 million people have the disease worldwide and
it can affect every organ in the body; some of the larger
ones include the heart, the brain, and kidneys. The
disease also subjects its victims to severe
pain—commonly called painful crises.
These painful crises, which the drug will hope to
alleviate, occur when some of the victim’s pliant, donut
shaped, oxygen carrying red blood cells take on a rigid
banana or sickle-shaped appearance—clogging the
capillaries and thus cheating the body of vital oxygen.
The drug is now being tested for its abilty to de-sickle
those blood cells and turn them back into their normal
shape.
“There is evidence,” Orringer said, “that those
persons carrying a single sickle cell gene appear to be
somewhat resistant to malaria.” That is why the gene
didn’t fade from society, but has persisted till today.
About 10 percent of black Americans carry a sickle cell
gene. These carriers of a single gene are called sickle cell
trait individuals and normally carry out average healthy
lives.
The problem occurs when a person inherits t\yo sickle
cell genes; these are people who are affected by the
disease. About one out of 500 black Americans have
sickle cell.
“The drug was used in the early ’70s in Africa for
sickle cell disease without much rationale, but looked
very promising. Therefore investigators in this country
have been involved in testing and showing the anti
sickling properties of the drug in research laboratories.
And now we are carrying those experiments to the
clinical arena, using the drug in its trial,” said Orringer.
When painful crises occur, the patients will receive
oxygen, painkillers and fluids—standard procedure for
treating sickle cell victims. But the patient will also be
injected with cetiedil, the test drug, or an equal measure
of an inactive substance called a placebo.
Neither the investigators nor the patients know which
of the drugs have been given until after the study has
been completed. This type of study is called a “double
blind” and is very useful since it eliminates
psychological responses to a treatment that is being
tested.
Orringer doesn’t have any results yet, but he says in
laboratory tests, the drug reduced the sickle cell count
from about 85 percent to 10 percent.
Orringer called the drug “a very potent anti-sickling
agent when compared with urea or cyanate,” two other
anti-sickling drugs that were tested and used but have
since been discarded.
Similar testing with cetiedil is being conducted in
three other laboratories in the United States.
Campus ^cfio
Noa-Piwnt
Orranteattoa
D. S. POSTAGE
PAID
PermH N*. XN
OvbMk N. G.
No. 9
Published by and for the students of North Carolina Central University in Durham, North Carolina 27707
Friday
March 5, 1982
Washington D.C. rally
Students protest
proposed new cuts
in financial aid bill
By Calvin Lee Williams
with reports from the American Council on Education
“I was very disappointed in the rally because NCCU was the only black
school from North Carolina; and I was even more disturbed that only four
colleges besides NCCU (N.C State University, Duke University, The
University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and The University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill) from North Carolina attftided the rally-meeting,”
said Curtis Massey, SGA president at NCCU, during the March 1 rally
meeting for National Student Lobby Day sponsored by the U.S. Student
Association held in Washington, D.C.
An estimated crowd of 3000 students representing colleges and univer
sities from all parts of the United States gathered on the U.S. Capitol
grounds to voice their opionions to the proposed budget cuts in higher
education.
Massey said the purpose of the rally-meeting was to speak to members of
the congress about the budget cuts in education. He said the students ques
tioned the proposed budget cuts in the following federal programs dealing
with education:
• PELL GRANTS ~ the foundation program for federal students assistance
~ would be reduced from $2.3 to $1.4 billion in fiscal year (FY) 1983. This
would eliminate over one million students, assuming a maximum award of
$1,800 as provided for FY 82, and leave only 1.6 million recipients with
family incomes under $14,000 (compared to 2.8 million current recipients
with family incomes up to $27,000). To avoid such drastic cuts in eligibility,
the adminstration is proposing to cut the maximum award to $1,600 - a 12
percent cut for the neediest students, although college costs in 1983-84 will
f
Shepard shines!
The brothers of Ebony Alpha Ebony clean and polish the
statue of Dr. Janies E. Shepard in front of the
Administration Bldg, during one of their many service
projects held in February. Pictured from left to right are
Artis Moore, Jerry Graves, John Bullock, and Vador
Whitaker. (Staff photo by Winfred Cross)
Howell, McKinney
elected as student
officials for ’82
be 15-20 percent higher than this year. (However, the budget projects a fur
ther cut to $1 billion for Pell Grants in FY 84.)
• SUPPLEMENTAL GRANTS (SEOG) would be eliminated. Presently
about 615,000 students receive these awards.
See STUDENTS PROTEST, page 3
By Winfred Cross
In an election in which only 22
percent of the total student body
voted, N.C. Central elected Student
Government officials. Miss NCCU,
publication editors, and class of
ficers.
Duane Howell, a junior from
Goldsboro, won a decisive 575-396
victory over Darryl Banks in the
SGA presidency race.
James Webb, a sophomore from
Leland, was unopposed in the SGA
vice-president slot. He received 799
votes.
Lori Grier, a junior from
Charlotte, was elected Miss NCCU
with 319 votes. Virgina Hargrove
was first attedant with 277 votes,
while Brenda Baldwin’s 183 got her
the second attedant spot.
Marion McKinney, a junior from
Thomasville, won a narrow 441-425
victory over Mark Adams fOr the
editorship of the Campus Echo. It is
the first time in the history of the
university a white student has won a
major elected position.
Earnest Walker and Lori Conway
were unoppossed in the respected
postions of Ex Umbra Editor and
Eagle Yearbook Editor.
According to election board
chairman Marie Geunble, this year’s
election was a dissapointment
because of a “lack of student in
terest, especially in the senior class.
“Only 146 graduating seniors
voted,” she said. “It seemed
nobody cared who their student
leaders were going to be next year.
A total of 1,066 studehts voted iii
the election. The sophomore class
had the largest number of voters, a
total of 323 voters.
Gamble said this was also the first
year Central has used actual voting
machines. In the past, voting was
done by paper ballots.
“The voting machines were a
learning experience for a lot of
students. The machines enabled us
to get the final tally by 5:15 p.m.”
Eric Jackson, a junior member of
the election board, agreed the
machines were helpful but said
students inability to use them cor
rectly was a sign of “low voter
registration on campus.”
See ELECTIONS, page 4
Friday lifts ban on photographs
Censorship story prompts institutional protest
By Marion McKinney
The UNC system’s ban of several photographs from N.C. Central’s sum
mer school catalogue has been lifted due to ^‘an institutional protest” issued
by Chancellor Albert N. Whiting. The protest came following a story
published in the last issue of The Campus Echo.
But the summer school catalogue has already been published with the
“corrected” pictures the UNC system requested.
According to catalogue editor Dr. Tom Scheft, there was a Feb. 17 prin
ting deadline for the catalogue.
On Feb. 22, Whiting issued the protest to Dr. William Friday, president
of UNC, after receiving letters from Dr. Waltz Maynor, director of the
Summer School program, and Scheft outlining complaints about the cen
sorship of the catalogue.
“I called Dr. Friday to register an institutional protest about a reference
made by Dr. Edward Crowe that a student’s cornrows were ‘a negative
black stereotype,’ ” Whiting said.
The student in the photograph. Marietta Poole, had complained to
Whiting about the embarrassment she had suffered following the publica
tion of the photograph in The Campus Echo. According to Whiting, Miss
Poole walked into the student union while other students were reading the
paper. Some students indentified her as the woman in the photo by pointing
and saying, “There she is.”
The second reason Whiting objected was “in reference to the insensitivity
in conducting a review of the pictures in the catalogue knowing that the
review and the consent decree represented a touchy issue.”
Whiting also suggested that either Friday or Crowe apologize to Ms.
Poole. “Dr. Friday felt that it was necessary,” said Whiting, “and accor
dingly Dr. Crowe telephoned Ms. Poole to explain his comment, and I
presume, to apologize.”
Friday said that the restrictions on the use of the pictures in the summer
school catalogue no longer applied. But the lifting of the censorship came
six days after the catalogue was sent to the printers.
However, Whiting was optimistic about the outcome of the issue. “As a
result of this incident,” Whiting speculated, “it is my belief that the whole
review process of campus publications will be re-examined.”
Campus
Speakout
Darryl Hylton,
senior, Washington,
D.C.
“Crowe is living
in the 18th century, f
Cornrows and beads
on the hair are like a
style of clothing.
They are just part of
a fashion.”
What is your opinion on UNC administrator Dr. Edward Crowe’s comment that
cornrows and beads are “a negative stereotype”?
Darryl
Amelia Clay,
freshman, Roxboro
“It was wrong. I
don’t think anyone
has the right to say
something about the
way someone wears
her hair. She should
be able to wear it
anyway she wants.”
; John Bullock,
I Junior, Soul City
\ “It was very silly
of Crowe to call it a
stereotype. The
braided hair style is a
part of the black
heritage not a
negative stereotype.
Marlaina Bowens,
sophomore,
Washington, D.C.
“Cornrows are a
hairstyle that a lot of
people wear. It
seems that he
(Crowe) is stereotyp
ing blacks. He has
no right
how to
hair.”
to tell us
wear our
Sandra Winstead,
freshman. Rocky
Mount
“Because he is a
white person, I don’t
think he would really
know what offends
black people. Braid
ed hair has its origin
in the black heritage.
In ‘Roots,’ for ex
ample, Cicely Tyson
wore her hair braid
ed.”
Betty Jackson,
freshman, Charlotte
“Having your hair
braided doesn’t of
fend me. I don’t
think he had the
right to say what of
fends us’ and what
doesn’t.”
Betty Jackson
Late student fees
may cause default
By Marion McKinney
NCCU may default on its bills for normal operating expenses if students
do not pay their bills promptly, say two administrators.
Dr. George T. Thorne, vice-chancellor for financial affairs, said the
university’s financial distress was due in part to the unusually high number
of postponements in grants of financial aid this year.
In a Feb. 25 memorandum to faculty members Vice-Chancellor for
Academic Affairs Dr. Cecil L. Patterson stated: “If we do not collect these
student bills, we cannot get our matching part of the state appropriations. If
we fail to collect the state funds, we will run out of money before the end of
the quarter and be unable to meet our own bills.”
According to Thorne, we do not have much time, because “all bills incurred
by the university must be paid within 30 days.”
Failure to meet its financial obligations may result in reductions in
salaries, books, equipment and student services, Thorne said.
The financial crisis may mean students will no longer be able to freely
postpone paying their fees, said Patterson. The University system leaves the
policy of postponement to the discretion of the chancellor.
Postponement of payment allows students whose financial aid is late to
register for classes on time. However, it places a financial burden on the in
stitution by delaying the flow of money coming into the university. In
allowing postponements, “the chancellor really sticks his neck out,” said
Patterson.
Patterson said that North Carolina sets the cost of educating a
student—excluding room and board—at approximately $2500 per year.
The student pays $625 in tuition, one-fourth the cost of his education.
The state appropiates the rest of the money to cover the university’s ex
penses.
However, if the university fails to collect those funds, it must pay back a
percentage of the state appropiation.
When asked about the effects possible changes in the postponement
policy would have on students. Dr. Patterson said, “It is going to have to
come down to what the student’s values are as to what is important.”