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6ut excuse
Issue 63
North Carolina Central University
Durham, NC 27701
Monday, Feb. 10, 1997
Crime in Durham strikes a nerve
Chancellor
Chambers
wants to fund
security
measures
By Kifimbo Holloway
Staff Reporter
While most students made
the lazy drive from their home
towns on Jan. 6 in preparation
for the second semester, Arric
Easterling was recovering from
gun shot wounds he suffered
while walking from his car on
Lawson Street to his residence
hall.
The 19-year-old sophomore
was shot in the arm and hip by an
unknown teenage assailant he
encountered on his way from the
Latham dormitory parking lot to
Chidley Hall.
Easterling's shooting has
raised concern among adminis
trators for people who come
onto the campus from neighbor
ing streets and present a poten
tial threat for students.
"[We want to] ensure safety.
Chambers said. " And we plan
to do that."
Chambers believes that fac
ulty, campus security, and stu
dents must work hand and hand
to promote safety on campus.
Shortly after Easterling's
(Above)
An arial view of the North
Carolina Central Univer
sity campus and the
surrounding community.
(Right)
Shooting victim Arric
Easterling stands at the
entrance of NCCU
shooting, representatives from
the faculty, campus security
and the student body met to sur
vey the campus in search of po
tential crime areas.
The Chancellor is also at
tempting to fund additional secu
r;;
rity measures on campus.
Improvements in lighting and
a shuttle bus are in planning, but
nothing is official.
Chambers sees a tie between
campus security and student
pride.
VI
5
In a recent visit to some of
the resident halls, Chambers
was disturbed by the unsanitary
living conditions he witnessed.
He feels that the way students
maintain their dorm rooms re
flects the pride they have in the
school.
"You don't sweep chicken
bones out into your hall," Cham
bers said.
As for students who vandal
ize and commit crimes on cam
pus, Chambers said that they will
shortly meet their doom.
" You have one time and you're
out," he said.
Easterling agrees that student
pride is essential for the future of
the University.
"We can establish the fact that
we're NCCU, and this is our little
world within Durham and shield
the activity that doesn't concern
us out," Easterling said.
Although his parents wanted
him to return to South Carolina
and enroll in an in-state school,
Easterling returned to NCCU.
"There will be your good and
bad everywhere," he said.
His daughter, Arieyana,
turried a yoa«- old
shooting.
Easterling says she is much
too young to understand what
happened.
He is not bitter towards the
university, nor strickened with
fear, but said that he is more
cautious than he had previously
been.
"l am a little aprehensive about
things," he said.
Understanding how lucky he
was, Easterling is ready to con
tinue working towards his de
gree in Computer Information
Systems.
In life, Easterling said, every
thing happens for a reason.
Students should be aware of the company they keep, officials say
By Nneka Hall
Staff Reporter
Inquisitive minds venture into
the halls of NCCU each semes
ter, hoping for a quality educa
tion and a safe place to lie their
heads.
The university setting is
warm and close-nit, a comfort
that can lead students to forget
the community that exists be
yond the campus.
Statistics show that in the
Fayetteville Street area, from
Aug. to Dec. of last year, there
were 52 counts of drugs/nar
cotic arrests, two reported stab-
bings, two reported rapes, 7
gunshot wounds, 35 counts of
assault, 4 shootings, 47 incidents
in which shots were fired, 6
armed robberies and the list goes
on.
Many of these incidents in
A campus police vehicle parked outside of the Chidley Hall substation.
volved people who were in their
teens to early twenties.
"Violence [near campus] is
the result of a growing culture of
violence in America," said Vice
Chancellor for Student Affairs
Arthur Affleck.
He believes that students
should be aware of who they
interact with from the commu
nity, as well as who they choose
to bring onto the campus.
Youths who live in the local
community see the cars stu
dents drive and the clothes they
wear as a model of what a young
person deserves, Affleck said.
Affleck thinks that these
young people become en
tranced with the student culture
at NCCU, and that some will do
anything to obtain this 'wealth'
for themselves.
Officer Greg Grayson, of the
Durham Police Department,
said that this area has always
had a problem with campus dis
turbances.
Grayson, a 1983 NCCU said
that the University functions as
a home away from honie.
"We are a family," he said.
"And as such there are some
things we must do as a family."
He believes that the solution
to campus safety is for students
to account for their own safety.
According to Affleck, the
chancellor is working to solve
the problems and provide a safer
environment for NCCU co-eds.
Steps taken include; new
doors and working locks for
Chidley Hall, the hiring of more
campus police and security of
ficers, a working card scanning
system, the enhancement of
lighting on campus, and an es
cort (bus transportion) service
with a door-to-door policy for
those who live on campus and
transportation for those who
must park off-campus or in a
distant parking lot.
"A culture of viojence can
not be changed by those on cam
pus," Affleck said.
r —— — — — — —— Ti
I
I Officer Greg Grayson
I will speak on campus
I safety precautions
I in the lobby
I of Baynes Hall on
I Wed., Feb. 12 at 8 p.m.
I