JANUARY 25, 2006
1801 Fayetteville Street
Durham, NC 27707
Campus 14
BeyondNCCU .. 5
Feature 6
A&E 7
Classified 10
Sports 9
Opinions 12
North Carolina Central University
VOLUME 97, ISSUE 7
919 530 7116/campusecho@nccu.edu
WWW.CAMPUSECHO.COM
Sports
The Panthers are out of
the Superbowi, but are
the Eagles are still in
the CIAA?
Page 11
A&E
Beat battle
competition blows the
bystanders away
Page 7
Opinion
Doesn’t ‘diverse’
include ‘married gays’?
asks Ariel Germaine
Page 12
Feature
Campus Echo praises
the kids’ creativity
Pages
A
Campus Echo
10 SCHOOLS HEAD TO ATL I §iE JJ MiyTE CHANCE
Sound Machine tuba player Antoine Luster during a late afternoon practice session preparing for the Honda Battle of the Bands.
Bryson Pope/Echo staff Photographer
The March to Atlanta
Sound Machine prepares its return to the Battle of the Bands
By Ebony McQueen
ECHO STAFF WRITER
N .C. Central University’s Sound Machine will be packing their
bags and hitting the road Friday for the 2006 Honda Battle of the
Bands Invitational Showcase in Atlanta, Jan. 28.
The Sound Machine was selected from among the bands of 41
Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for the band and University to get
additional exposure,” said Kawachi Clemons, assistant band director.
Two bands were selected from each
of the five conferences based on a vot
ing process. The Sound Machine was
the only band selected from North
Carolina.
For the second year in a row, the
Sound Machine will perform against
nine other HBCUs.
“We’re just excited to play on the
same field as other bands who have
done commercials and advertise
ments,” said Clemons. “It’s always an
honor and privilege to be in the pres
ence of other musicians.”
The Sound Machine has been prac
ticing every day for the Showcase, with
additional practices to add the finish
ing touches to their routine.
“It shows a lot of dedication for a
college student to take time out of
their Sunday afternoon to practice,”
said Clemons.
For English and Mass Communi
cations junior Denea Nriaka, it will be
her first year performing with the
Sound Machine in Atlanta.
“I’m excited about going,” she said.
“All of our hard work will definitely
pay off, and I can’t wait to go to
Atlanta.”
Each band has 12 minutes to per
form whatever they want. They also get
to perform a pre-game show along with
the other bands.
Although the performances will not
be judged, each band still puts togeth
er their best halftime performance for
this high-profile event.
“Over 50,000 people attended last
year, and they expect even more this
year,” said Clemons. “It gets larger
every year because of the support from
the students.”
Business management senior
Sharron Fox said she is driving to
Atlanta to see the Sound Machine per
form.
“I know it’s going to be packed with
students cheering their school on.”
Music sophomore Gerran Adams leans right during a
practice run of Missy Eiliott’s “We Run This.’
Bryson PoPE/Echo Staff Photographer
Dean
flubs
school
status
N.C. Central University’s quest to
regain accreditation may go faster
than expected according to officials
By Jean Rogers
ECHO STAFF WRITER
A month after a deadline misstep cost
N.C. Central University School of Business
its accreditation and its dean, the
University’s administration
is expecting to get reaccred
itation sooner than original
ly thought.
According to Chancellor
James H. Ammons, it’s
expected to take less than a
year for the School to renew
its accreditation instead of
the 12-18 months they had
anticipated.
The School, which lost its
accreditation from the
Association of Collegiate Business Schools
and Programs when former dean Benjamin
Newhouse failed to apply for reaccredita
tion on time, has already started the process
■ See ACCREDITATION Page 3
$12.7 billion
in student
loan cuts
By Deneesha Edwards
ECHO EDITOR IN CHIEF
Students worried about their growing
student loan debt may soon have more to
worry about: Congress is likely to pass a bill
that will slash $12.7 billion from federal
student-loan programs over the next five
years.
The changes will not affect the number
of student loans given, but will affect the
interest, rates students and parents pay.
The cuts — the biggest in the history of
the student loan program - will affect the
PLUS and Stafford Loan Program by
increasing interest rates an average of 28
percent. They are scheduled to become
effective July 1, 2006.
The Republican “reconciliation bill” is
part of a $40 billion deficit-reduction pack
age passed by Congress at the end of
■ See LOANS Page 2
Benjamin
Newhouse
Service lost in self-serve USA
If s fast, ifs convienient, hut it doesn’t smile
Customers use self checkout lane at The Home Depot, in
Orlando, Florida. One third of aii transactions are self-serve.
Jacob hAHOSTONlOrlando SentineVKRT
By Stevenson Swanson
CHICAGO TRIBUNE (KRT)
NEW YORK — From the gas
that people pump themselves
to such brave new frontiers of
do-it-yourself-land as the self-
serve checkout kiosks at Wal-
Mart and Home Depot stores,
American consumers are
shouldering an ever-growing
chunk of the work involved in
everyday transactions.
The explosion in self-
serve options is generating a
backlash. Communications
experts say people are more
isolated than they used to be
in the days of face-to-face
service, and other observers
question how much time
people are really saving if
they must constantly adjust
to new machines, absorb
new instructions and deal
with the inevitable snags.
“We’re exhausted doing
all this work,” said Nicols
Fox, a writer at work on a
book called “The Case
Against Efficiency.”
“There’s just so much that
we’ve been asked to take
over. I think we’re reaching
a breaking point here.”
Hardly anyone disputes
that the information age has
brought many benefits.
Many like the convenience
of zipping into a bank to get
cash from an automated
teller and relish the free
dom of going online at 3 a.m.
to order steaks from Omaha
and salmon from Seattle.
In the last three decades,
ATMs have grown from a
novelty to commonplace,
with more than 371,000
machines in use.
■ See SERVICE Page 5