THE CAMPUS ECHO
EXCELLENCE WITHOUT EXCUSE
ISSUE 18
NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY
JANUARY 14,1993
NEWS
BRIEFS
CLINICAL
TRAINING SITE
ESTABLISHED
BOBBIE REDDICK
ASSISTANT PROFFESOR
To combat the critical prob
lem of a lack of health care pro
viders to rural Americans, espe
cially African-Americans, North
Carolina Central University de
partment of nursing collaborated
with a community service agency.
The North Carolina Student Rural
Health Coalition (NCSRHC) plans
to offer a monthly nurse-managed
health promotion and screening
clinic to the rural community of
Shiloh.
The clinic represents a rare
opportunity for students to study
the health care needs of mral in
dividuals and their families and
allows the residents of Shiloh to
have access to badly needed health,
particularly health promotion,
maintenance and illness preven
tion.
The clinic has evolved into a
funded project with the goals of
establishing a new clinical training
site for students in three university
departments, nursing, home eco
nomics and Health Education, and
implementing a collaborative
model of health care delivery to
raral populations. Students from
these departments will have the
opportunity to develop skills in
community assessment, commu
nity health delivery, leadership,
planning, client assessment and
teaching, and client and commu-'
nity advocacy.
UNIVERSITY
PICKS SPORTS
OVER EXAMS
(CPS) BOULDER, Colo.
Hundreds of Univeraty of
Colorado students taking French tests
received A’s on thdr final exams be
cause the women’s basketball team
wouldn’t leave the basketball couit
A scheduling mistake Dec.
14 at the univ^ty’s Coots Event
center left more than S(X) students and
the wcxnen’s basketball team ccxnpet-
ing for ^pace (xi the basketball floor.
The ftireign language depaitment had
reserved space for die French finals at
the same time the basketball team had
stheduled a {xactice.
“While officials were dying
to son out the proUem, one of die
instnictois announced to the dass that
the exam was concluded prematurdy
and that the students taking the test
would receive A’s,” Arts and Science
dean Qiailes Middleton said.
Some students were angiy,
saying thedecisicxi to allowthebasket-
ball (layers to remain on the floor
showed that die university valued
athletics ova* educaticxi. Middleton
said that the exams should have had
{xiority over die practice.
“We are extremely sorry this
happoied and win take steps to make
sure itdoesn’thaf^xai again,” he said.
The New Black Empowerment:
Change Across America's Universities
By Karen Neustadt
College Pr^ Service
College campuses through
out the nation will celebrate
Martin Luther King Jr.’s birth
day on Jan. 18, marking the end
of a year of unprecedented black
empowerment fueled by the fires
of Los Angeles and inspired by
the film about the life of Malcolm
»
X.
Racial incidents and insti
tutional neglect brought a flurry
of disenchantment with current
black leadership.
“People are more aware of
their heritage. I think people
are finally beginning to recog
nize we don’t have to sit at the
back of the bus, that we are a
viable presenc," said lyailu
Moses, director of the African-
American Cultural Center at
North Carolina State University
protest its programming txilicies.
The students, who requesteu
more prime-time hours for Afri
can- oriented music, crowded into
the broadcast booth and adjoin
ing lobby for about two hours.
The demonstration was scheduled
after students approached the
station’s general manager and
were told no changes would be
made in the music format.
Black students at the Uni
versity of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill recently used new-
foundclout-including avisitfrom
filmmaker Spike Lee, who made
movie “Malcolm X”-to convince
officials to build a free-standing
black cultural center.
“The protest started in 1991.
They had given us a renovated
snack bar for an office and though
they promised us a cultural cen
ter, it wasn’t going past that,”
said Tim Smith, a quarterback on
the UNC football team and a
founding member of the Black
Awareness Council, a group of
black activist athletes.
While black students debated
the wisdom of a separate facility,
a consensus was finally reached
Denzel Washington and Malcolm X (Ebony photo)
of peaceful protests, sit-ins and
demonstrations by mobilized
African-American students,
some of whom say they have a
powerful new sense of identity
and purpose.
While King is being honored
on most campuses, his message
of peace that galvanized the civil
rights movement of the fiOs' has
been modified by the more ur
gent motto “by any means nec
essary” adopted by slain black
leader Malcolm X.
Some students suggest that
resurgent interest in Malcolm X
clothing, hats, buttons and T-
shirts is connected with feelings
at Raleigh.
“It is empowering,” she
added.
Moses said that black stu
dents at NCSU are learning to
“maturely approach” the
school’s top administration in a
way that would not have been
possible a decade ago.
“I think that there is a re
vival in our culture, and it is
being translated into students
taking more of a responsible
role in addressing issues that
were incorrect,” Moses said.
For example, 65 black
students recently staged a sit-in
at the college radio station to
dorsed a plan in November for
the center, which will include a
gallery to display African-
American art
“We take everything from
Malcolm XtoMartin Luther King
... the Black Panthers and we
incorporate it into what we do
today. It’s a different time, so
things may not work for us today,”
Smith said.
Smith said watching televi
sion coverage of the Los Angeles
riots last year changed his life.
The violence erupted after the
aquittal of four white officers in
the beating of black motorist
Rodney King.
“I don’t remember this, but
my mom said I just sat trans
fixed, saying over and over, T’ve
just got to do something. I’ve just
got to do something...’
■'11 IS ooviuus (.since the riots)
that students have become more
aware of their treatment,” he
added.
Smith noted that the white
student population was support
ive of the Black Awareness
Council efforts, and many joined
black students in the demonstra
tions.
“Once you give people the
facts, the truth speaks for itself,”
he said.
The two North Carolina
campuses were not the only ones
to confront racism directly.
In early November, 200 black
students at the University of
Rhode Island demonstrated when
they learned that a Malcolm X
quotation carved in granite on the
front of the school library had
been edited to omit a reference to
“fighting the white man.”
The students were also an
gered that the quote was paired
with one from Thomas Jefferson,
a U.S. president who owned
slaves.
At Alabama State University
at Montgomery, a predominantly
black college, thousands of stu
dents took part in a demonstration
demanding lower parking fees and
a vote on the board of trustees.
Football players boycotted games,
and as many as 1 ,(XX) of the 5,500
students filled the hall of the ad
ministration building atone point
Student leaders say black
students are searching for their
place in history.
“The Malcolm X movie has
just come out and a lot of students
are trying to find out more about
themselves and thdir history,”
said Raul Hoxie, chairman of the
student-run University of Texas
Institute for the Healing of Rac
ism.
“We need to take responsi
bility for our own racism and hope
that it will be contagious so that
Others will • w ”, Woxie
sard, noting mat the Los Ange
les riots spurred many students
into action on ffie Austin, Texas
campus.
“There have always been
black organizations on campus,
and they have been doing
projects on black issues, but we
are now fortifying old values,”
he said.
Hoxie meets wiffi a group of
students each week whose goal
is to fight racism on campus.
The institute professes that
education and communication
are ffie keys to wiping out a
generation of racism.
“I joined because I believe
in the cause, and wanted to know
more about how I could grow
and relate to offiers,” Hoxie said
But institutional racism is
only a piece offfie equation, say
black students who have re
sponded during ffie fall semes
ter to racial slurs by protesting
until apublic apology was made.
At me University of Cali
fornia in Los Angeles, 200black
students marched in October to
demand mat me student gov
ernment stop giving money to
fraternities after media reports
focused attention on racist and
sexist lyrics in Theta Xi and
SigmaPhi fraternity songbooks.
University of Georgia stu
dents protested me same monffi
when it became known mat a Pi
Kappa Phi fratemitv handhnok
included the phrase “no niggers.”
The president of me fraternity
apologized publicly, aimough
me fraternity is appealing me
suspension.
Black students at Georgia
State University in Atlanta also
staged a sit-in October outside
See Change, page 3
Direct Loan Program Could Save $4.8 Billion
BY JEFFREY GOLDFARB
(CPS) - The federal government
could save $4.8 billion over the
next five years by providing loans
directly to college students if the
system were implemented prop
erly, a General Accounting Office
report said.
Such a plan could make it
easier for students to understand
meir payment schedules and loan
availability by eliminating banks
and guarantors like Sallie Mae mat
act as middle agents for govern
ment loans.
However, financial aid
officers have said ffiey don’t mink
the Department of Education could
effectively manage suchaprogram.
The government imple
mented a pilot program to test di
rect lending last June. However,
bom me GAO study and pilot
program could become moot if
President-elect Qinton keeps his
campaign promise to scrap me
entire current student loan system.
Members of Congress
have criticized me current system
for being overly complex, a
problem mat has contributed to
defaults. The high costs of ad
ministering me Federal Family
Educational Loan Program, for
merly me Stafford Student Loan
Program, have been denounced as
well.
“Advocates (of me plan)
see direct loans as an opportunity
to simplify me loan process and
reduce costs by eliminating several
financial intermediaries,” ac
cording to me GAO report, which
was released in late 1992. “Direct
lending would obviate me need
for commercial lenders, guaranty
agencies and secondary maikets.”
Under me direct-loan
plan, universities would act as
agents for the Department of
Education and dole out me loans,
while me government would ser
vice and collect me loans “presum
ably by contracting wim private
firms.”
‘The GAO report found
government savings in a number of
areas. The Department of Educa
tion currently reimburses guaranty
agencies for 100 percent of loan
default claims. That figure was
$3.2 billion in 1991. The govern
ment also subsidizes a portion of
students’ interest payments while
mey attend school.
“The expected reductions
in these costs would more man
compensate for me government’s
start-up and higher administrative
costs associated wim direct lend
ing,” me report said. .
The GAO also employed
focus groups of financial aid ad
ministrators and business officers
to remark on me prospect of a direct
loan program.
Some participants said mey
mought by eliminating me guaran
tors and commercial lenders, stu
dents would receive “correct and
consistent information about meir
loan obligations.” Students often
complain about me conflicting in
formation mey get about me loan
status, amount and repayment
schedule.
Most focus group mem
bers, however, said mey had little
or no confidence mat me Depart
ment of Education could manage a
direct loan program.
“In justifying meir negative
opinion, many participants cited
several problems, including bur
densome regulations, unrealistic
program goals, broken commit
ments, unanswered inqui ries, unfair
program audits, and misinforma
tion,” me report said.
In facti me group con
tended mat poor management of
me program could lead to greater
loan defaults and possibly eliminate
all projected savings of imple
menting me plan in me first place.
The Consumer Bankers
Associ ation commissioned KPMG
Peat Marwick, a Virginia account
ing firm, to analyze me report. The
firm rejected me report’s cost-sav
ing projections, saying GAO failed
to fully examine me costs of ser
vicing me direct lending plan and
phasing out me current program.
GAO also did not identify me risks
of such a transition. Peat Marwick
said.
Of me focus group. Peat
Marwick “noted mat participants
in mese sessions were given a de
scription of me direct loan program
different man mat reflected in me
GAO’s cost model and consider
me presentation of mat focus group
results to be biased.
A spokesman for Rep.
William Ford, D-Mich., chairman
of me House subcommittee on post
secondary education, said Ford is
taking a “wait and see” stance on
me direct loan proposal, holding
off until me Qinton administra
tion takes office and makes its in
terests and priorities known.
**IfA Man Hasn^t Discovered Something That He Will Die For, He Isn^t Fit To Live,'' — Martin Luther King Jr,