THE CAMPUS ECHO
EXCELLENCE WITHOUT EXCUSE
ISSUE 22
NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY
MARCH 11,1993
NEWS
BRIEFS
Honors
Winners
To Receive
Certificates
All students receiving
awards at the 44th Annual Hon
ors Convocation wiU be presented
specially inscribed certificates of
achievement, announced I>r. Ruth
Kennedy, chair of the Honors
Convocation Committee and pro
fessor of English at NCCU.
“The committee wanted
all honorees to receive a tangible
expression from the university for
their outstanding accomplish
ments in academic pursuits,
leadership and service,” said
Kennedy. “The certificates, the
committee feels, will provide the
proper recognition of excellence
and, at the same time, inspire all
students to strive for the distinc
tion of being honored on this
special occasion.”
The certificate was de
signed by artist James Osier, a
member of NCCU’s Media Re
sources Cfcnter.
The convocation, which
honors NCCU student excellence
and achievement, will be held
Thursday, April 1, at 10 a.m. in
the McLendon-McDougald
Gymnasium.
The keynote speaker will
be U.S. Rep. Melvin Watt, the
new congressman from North
Carolina’s 12th District.
Physical Plant
To Honor
Superior Workers
Four outstanding employ
ees of the NCCU Physical
Plant will receive awards for
maintaining professional
standards in their work, for
promoting good relations with
the student body, and for good
attendance.
The awards, which are part
of a new incentive program to
boost employee morale, will
go to one employee from each
of the four divisions of the
Physical Plant-maintenance,
housekeeping for academic
buildings, housekeeping for
auxiliary buildings, and
grounds.
“We want to let our em
ployees know that we care for
them and appreciate their
work,” said Robert Smith,
assistant to the vice chancel
lor for facilities.
Physical Plant employees
are responsible for janitorial
services, building repairs, and
maintenance of the grounds
on campus.
The names of award recipi
ents and the exact nature of
the award will be announced
later this month, Smith said.
Congressman Watt Featured Speaker
At NCCU’s 44th Honors Convocation
“Give ‘em Mel” was the
campaign slogan that led Melvin
Watt to a seat in the U.S. House of
Representatives. The new con
gressman from North Carolina’s
12th District scored an impressive
Nov. 3, 1992 win, gamering 72
percent of the vote.
That same slogan—^“Give
‘em Mel”—was the rallying call of
Dr. Ruth Kennedy, an NCCU En
glish professor who chairs the
Honors Convocation Committee,
when speakers were being pro
posed for the awards program.
“Each year in planning this
celebration of excellence, the com
mittee seeks to present to the uni
versity community an individual
whose achievements have been
distinguished and exemplary and
whose presence will be both signifi
cant and inspiring to our students
and faculty. Congressman Watt was
a natural choice,” said Kennedy.
Watt will speak at the 44th
annual Honors Convocation April
1, in McLendon-McDougald
Gymnasium. The event begins
at 10 a.m. and is open to the
public.
Shortly after accepting
toe committee’s mvitation, Watt
learned that he had been chosen
as part of a select congressional
group to visit South Africa,
presenting a conflict with his
speech at NCCU, noted
Kennedy. “The committee, in
consultation with Chancellor
Julius Chambers and the con
gressman, changed the date and
time to keep Watt as the
speaker,” she said.
Watt—whose impres
sive career spans law, business,
and politics—is an important
symbol for a day that honors
academic excellence and
achievement at NCCU, said ■
Kennedy.
The congressman’s
current responsibilities include
serving as a member of the
Democratic Caucus Steering and
Policy Committee: the Banking,
Finance, and Urban Affairs Com
mittee, the Judiciary Committee;
and the Post Office and Civil Ser
vice Committee.
A member of the firm of
Ferguson, Stein, Watt, Wallas,
Adkins & Gresham since 1971,
Watt is also part owner of East
Towne Manor, a 120-bed board
and care facility for the elderly and
disabled, which he helped develop
in 1989.
His political activism in
cludes service from 1985-86 in the
N.C. Senate, where he was regarded
as the outstanding freshman legis
lator and became known as “the
conscience of the Senate.” He was
manager for three of Harvey
Gantt’s campaigns—city council,
mayor of Charlotte, and the U.S.
Senate race against Jesse Helms.
In 1986, deciding against
a second term in the N.C. Senate,
Watt announced he would not
seek elective office again until his
two sons , Brian and Jason, com
pleted high school. After honoring
that pledge, he ran successfully for
his current position in the U.S.
House of Representatives.
The Charlotte native
graduated Phi Beta Kappa from
the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill in 1967 with a degree
in business administration. Hav
ing earned the highest academic
average in the UNC School of
Business, he was appointed presi
dent of the business honors frater
nity.
In 1970, he received his
JD degree from Yale University
Law School. He was selected to
the Yale Law Journal and authored
the ‘Tax Exemption for Organiza
tions Investing in Black Business,”
78 YaleL.J. 1212, in 1969.
Watt and his wife, the
former Eulada Paysour, have been
married 25 years.
A member of the Mt. Ol
ive Presbyterian Church, Watt
served as president of the
Mecklenburg County Bar and has
been activeon various professional,
community and civic boards and
organizations—^including Johnson
C. Smith University Board of Visi
tors, Central Piedmont Commu
nity College Foundation, N.C.
AssociationofBlackLawyers,N.C.
Academy ofTrial Lawyers, Legal Aid
of the Southern Piedmcxit, NCNB
Community Development Corp.,
Chariotte Chamber of Commerce
^xxts Actxxi Council, Auditorium-
Coliseum-Qvic Center Authority,
United Way, Mil Museum, Inroads,
Inc., Family Housing Services, Public
Educatkxi Foium, Dilwoith Commu
nity Develqinent Association, Qties
in Sdxxils, West Chadotte Buaness
Incubator, Housing Authority Sdnlar-
stnpBoaid, and Nforehead Scholarship
Selection OMnmittee.
Watt’s leisure time activities
iiKlude tamis, badcetball, reading, and
spending time with his family.
Chambers Meets With Echo Staff
Campus Ecbo/Jason Williams
Chancellor Discusses Challenges
Facing Campus Echo Staff
By JASON WILLIAMS
EDITOR
“I want to see the Campus
3cho develop into apremierpublica-
;ion,” said Chancellor Julius Cham-
jers during a meeting with the Echo
italT on Thursday.
Chambers met with the staff to
liscuss ideas and incentives to en-
rourage more students to woik for
he student newspaper and what the
iniversity can do to make the Echo
letter.
The print media is critical,”
Chambers said, comparing it with
ncreased student interest in the elec-
ronic media. “We have so few mi-
lorities and so few disadvantaged
leople as editors, writers and pub-
ishers.”
At an earlier Faculty/Senate
neeting Chambers said that the Echo
lacked substance.”
Chambers, a member of the Cam
pus Echo during his undergraduate
years in the mid-1950s, said that
attitude of the staff was different
then.
“We were proud of itand wanted
to see it grow,” said the 1958
graduate.
With that in mind. Chambers
couldn’t understand why no
members of the current staff have
stepped forward to mn for editor
next year.
“We’ve always had a student
government president. We’ve al
ways had a Miss NCCU,” he said.
However, the incentives for
president and Miss NCCU are
seemingly better. The president
and Miss NCCU both receive fiiee
room and board. The editor does
not.
Members of the staff also dis
cussed the paper's budgetary con
cerns with Chambers.
The Echo, which operates with
a $22,500 annual budget, has three
paid staff positions: the editor, as
sociate editor and business man
ager.
After the staff and printing is
paid for, the Echo essentially oper
ates on $14,000.
Currently, the Echo has $2,000
left with an anticipated $7,000 in
ad revenue.
The number of staff writers and
journalism professor was also an
issue.
Despite a large turnout at its
initial meeting in September the
staff has dwindled to 10 people, in
a department that has at least 50
media journalism majors.
“We need to have more jour
nalism professors,” said News
Editor Maurice Crocker. “We only
See Chambers, page 4
SGA Rescinds
Requirement
For 3.0 GPA
By JASON WILLIAMS
EDITOR
Student Government officials and Vice-Chancellor of Student Af
fairs Dr. Roland Buchanan have agreed to rescind a ruling requiring a
3.0 GPA to hold five student government offices for the upcoming year.
Some students had complained the increased GPA decision, alleg
edly made during the 90-91 SGA session never went through proper
channels and is not valid.
Officials agreed Feb. 25 to follow the Eagle Eye Handbook, which
states that candidates need a 2.5 GPA. Officials also extended the filing
deadline until March 3.
“The decision was not made on personal scenarios or melodramatic
presentations,” said Student Body President Riyllis Jeffers.
Jeffers says that the paperwork from the original decision is missing
and that SGA must follow the only documentation it has. Charles
Feamster, co-chairman of the Election Board agrees.
“A lesson can be learned from this. Documentation is the key to have
any effect organization,” Feamster said.
Since the change and the extension for filing, 16 more candidates
See SGA, page 3
Institute For The Study of Miniorty Issues
Sponsors Two-Day Desegregation Conference
By RONDA ROBINSON
STAFF WRITER
North Carolina Central University’s Institute for the Study of Minority
Issues ^XMisored a two-day conference on desegregaticMi March 5 and 6. The
conference focused tm the educatitm of mirrorities siixe the 1954 Brown vs.
Topeka Board of Education case that led to school desegregadcxi
The Third National Conferoice m Desegregaticai, held at the Durham
Qvic Center, included workdxrps mi cultural diversity, educating blade males,
sexual harassment and innovative teadiing methods.’
Al6ng with ChatKellor Julius Chambers, who ^x*e mi ttie history of
school desegregatiMi, the CMiference included such panelists as Irving Joyner,
assodate dean of NCCU’s School of Law; C. Owen Fhilipa, the new superin-
toxlentofthe Durham PublicSdxxrlSyston; Doris Betts, awriterand professor
at the University of North Carolina at Ch^l Hill; Barbara Reynolds, a
columnist for “USA Today”; and Vic Hackley, chancellor of Fayetteville State
University.
Several educators and cMnmunity leaders were pxesait to hear the
pranelists discuss afilrmalive actiMi programs itteluding the recruiting and hiring
of mirrorities mi college campxises. Several piartelists said that although
aflirmative action programs may include tokoi hiring, which is the hiring of
minorities to fillquotas,itmayallowsomeminorities to provethanselvesintheir
field.
"When angryy count four; when very angry swear"-Mark Twain