Newspapers / North Carolina Central University … / March 5, 1986, edition 1 / Page 3
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page 3 Gramm-Rudman Act affects education programs The 4.3 percent cut of federal funds to the education pro gram proposed by the Gramm-Rudman Act will mean changes to N.C. Central University and its students. The proposed bill was passed to balance the budget by 1991 and will reduce governmental spending. Dr. Cecil Patterson, vice-chancellor of academic affairs at NCCU, described the education program as “most vunerable” to the Gramm-Rudman axe. “Cuts in the education program will have an immediate im pact like Social Security or Welfare would.” explained Patter son. These programs lay in 70 percent of the budget that will not be cut. Students will feel the pinch of the reduction in Pell Grants and the Student Guaranteed Loans. Money, which was once appropriated when an individual budget ran out, will no longer be the case. Increases in the interest rates of SGLs with longer pay periods will also affect students. They will start paying the in terest back before the loan itself. But how all this will affect students will “depend on where students place their priorities," said Patterson. “Up to now students have been able to buy cars, rent apartments, etc, with money left over after tuition was paid, this will no longer be the case. There will be less money that is harder to get." Patterson continued. The cuts in Pell Grants leave NCCU's future uncertain. Eighty-five percent of NCCU's students are receiving federal aid and the cuts might decrease enrollment. However, students who attend schools with higher tuition receive minimum aid and may have to attend lower-cost schools like NCCU. “Schools like Johnson C. Smith and Shaw better watch out” said Patterson. Students will not be the only ones with less money. Pro grams for improving operations of the university will also be cut 42 percent of the programs at NCCU, like the Title Three Program , that bought the new computer for the registrar’s office, are federally funded. This year, $480,000 was spent on this program and the proposal for next years budget is $560,000. In addition, the budget for new employees has already been frozen and there will be no hiring for a while. Chambers communicates with computers By Anita Davis “I don’t think it’s easier...just more exciting,” says Dr. Kenneth Chambers about teaching freshman composition by computers at N.C. Central Universi ty. Chambers became interested in computers during his three-year tenure at the University of Iowa. Sks in terested, that while writing his dissertation, he decid ed to write it on the computer. As a result of this “convenient way to communicate,” he started doing all of his writing on computers. As an instructor at Central, Chambers fills his students’ spirits through an experimental computer course in freshman compositon. The class of 30 meets Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 1-5 p.m. in the William Jones Building. Do word processors help make better writers? Chambers is interested in finding out. He’s split his freshmen into two sections. In one, students com plete all out-of-class essays on word processors; in the other, students complete out-of-class essays by handwriting or typing. The course content for both sections is identical. “The data collected so fm has convinced me that word processing, in comparison to handwriting and typing, is more effective in producing uniformly neat, attractive, easy-to-read essays and also in creating better organized, more qualitatively developed, carefully edited essays,” says Chambers. By using the computer. Chambers says, “The students write longer papers and do not mind revising them. The ease of the revision process encourages editing for grammatical errors—such as tense and person shifts, comma splices, fragments, weak sentence variety, and lack of subject-verb agree ment. Some of the students don’t like it, but the ma jority of them take to it ‘like ducks to water.’ ” Chambers feels the computer deserves more atten tion in the teaching of writing because of its revision capabilities; the availability, attractiveness, and ac cessibility of relating instructional materials outside the classroom or faculty office; and the improvement of student attitudes toward writing. “Right now,” says Chambers, “there is not enough software (educational computer programs) and not enough money.” Chambers hopes that next year students will have a computer room for composition in the Farrison- Newton Communications Building. “Students can do their work, punch a few buttons. and send it to me in my ofBce where I will grade and send it back to the students. Clever!” he said. Chambers is a native of Toledo, Ohio, where he at tended the public schools and received his Bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green University. Upon graduation. Chambers taught high school in Atlanta for five years. His intentions were to teach in a big ci ty school and attend Atlanta University for his master’s. Instead, he received his master’s from the University of Iowa. Chambers has written and directed plays. He has also compiled poems from many famous figures, such as Langton Hughes and Paul Lawrence Dunbar, into a booklet, “Filling the People’s Spirit.” Air Force ROTC entices students to join “Aim high with Air Force R.O.T.C.” You may have seen this slogan posted around campus as part of AFROTC efforts to become more active at N.C. Central University. “Blue-suiters” now escort the homecoming queen and her court, serve as part of the honor guard at athletic events, and participate in Founders Day ceremonies. If this glamour and the chance to serve your country ap peal to you, here is what it takes to start an Air Force career while you are earning your undergraduate degree. To enter AFROTC you must be a full-time college stu dent, physically qualified, tt U.S. citizen. Freshmen and sophomores can enter the General Military Course (GMQ, and juniors and seniors can join the Professional Officer Course (POC). You can register for the GMC as you would for any other class, but entering the POC as an officer candidate requires satisfactory scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and the Air Force Officer Qualification Test (AFOQT), a 2.0 grade point average, a satisfactory physical exam, and successful completion of field training. The AFOQT and physical exam are administered after enrollment in AFROTC. Between the sophomore and junior years, AFROTC cadets go to a field training camp. Cadets enrolled in the four year program attend a four-week camp; sophomores entering the two-year program attend a six week camp. At the beginnig of the junior year, each cadet is sworn in to the Air Force Reserve. After graduation, the cadet is commissioned as a second lieutenant and serves on active duty—four years for nonflying cadets, with longer hitches for those who want to be pilots or navigators. The Air Force has benefits comparable to many corpora tions. Dental and medical care are furnished at no cost. Other enticements include 30 days annual vacation with pay, and retirement after 20 years. With an allowance for living off-base, a second lieutenant on flying status could earn up to $21,000 annually. Those interested in the program are invited to contact Chelce Villines or Capt. Riley at the AFROTC cottage. Savoyards to stage Gilbert & Sullivan’s ^The Grand Duke’ “The Grand Duke,” the 14th and last comic opera written by Gilbert and Sullivan, will be presented by the Durham Savoyards on May 16-17 and on May 23-24. Randolph Umberger, professor in the N.C. Central University drama department, will be the drama director. Kent Otto will produce, and musical direction will be by Ben jamin Keaton. Auditions will be held on March 9 and 16 from 2-5 p.m. at the St. Philips Episcopal Church, 403 E. Main St. For further information you may call Kent Otto, 682-5708.
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March 5, 1986, edition 1
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