Campus
Campus Echo
Wednesday, January 25,2006
North Carolina Central University
STYLE offers lifeline
Project to help to HIV positive students
By Kristiana Bennett
ECHO STAFF WRITER
HIV positive students
will soon have a lifeline in
Project STYLE, a program
that creatively confronts
the issues of AIDS testing,
treatment and support for
HIV positive students.
STYLE — an acronym
for Strength Through
Youth Livin’ Empowered
— will be launched on
N.C. Central University in
February.
Guy Jenkins, outreach
worker and counselor for
STYLE emphasized that
an HIV positive person
can’t be spotted in a
crowd.
“I’m 24 years old and
have been diagnosed for
seven years, and I don’t
look like what TV portrays
as an HIV positive per
son,” said Jenkins.
In 2005, North Carolina
researchers discovered
that out of every 84 newly
infected male college stu
dents 73 were African-
American.
“The concern is that
this is our best and bright
est within the minority
population who are com
ing down with a lifelong
and potentially lethal dis
ease,” said Dr. Peter
Leone, HIV medical direc
tor at the N.C. State
Health Department, in
USA Today.
According to David
Jolly, co-investigator for
STYLE, it is imperative
for students to learn their
HIV status to ensure that
they have “the opportunity
to lead long, healthy lives
and prevent the spread of
AIDS.”
STYLE is a health-ini
tiative program created
for African-American men
18-30 years old.
It provides referrals to
treatment centers, support
groups for HIV positive
students, one-on-one
counseling, and an outlet
for non-HIV positive stu
dents who would like to
learn more about the dis
ease or who just need to
talk to someone.
STYLE is funded by a
five year grant from The
Health Resources and
Services Administration to
the UNC School of
Medicine.
The school chose NCCU
to be the headquarters for
historically black univer
sities in North Carolina
because it is the largest
HBCU in the Triangle and
has been very proactive in
dealing with AIDS.
This is the first univer
sity-based program of its
kind in the country, but
Shaw University, St.
Augustine’s College and
other HBCUs will be fol
lowing NCCU’s lead.
STYLE, unlike tradi
tional community-oriented
HIV outreach programs,
will provide a personal
and informal atmosphere
geared toward students.
“I want students to real
ize that STYLE is fun and
approachable,” said
Jenkins.
STYLE also works
closely with The Men’s
Health Initiative, a project
operating out of NCCU’s
Department of Health
Education, which focuses
strictly on prevention.
“These two projects
provide a comprehensive
approach to HIV among
African-American men,”
said Jolly.
With AIDS running ram
pant in the African-
American student commu
nity, STYLE is an impor
tant step in combating the
disease.
For more information
on STYLE contact Guy
Jenkins at 530-7927.
December that cuts fund
ing from student loans,
medicaid, federal child-
support enforcement funds
and pension insurance just
to name a few.
The bill has passed both
the House of Representa
tives and the Senate, but
because of some minor
modifications made in the
Senate, it will return to the
House for final passage at
the end of January.
Vice president Cheney
broke the tie vote over the
bill in the Senate. In all, 44
Democrats, five Repub
licans and one Indepen
dent voted against the bill.
The student loan cuts
come at a time when tax
cuts are favored by the
Republican dominated
Congress. The House
recently passed $110 bil
lion in tax cuts, while $106
billion more might be cut
over the next five years.
“This is the most unwel
come change — and insult
— to higher education ever
made,” said Terry Wall,
office manager of the
University of North
Carolina Association of
Student Governments.
“We v/ant the bill to be
an investment [in] our edu
cation. It’s important when
this money needs to go to
our future, and it’s going
elsewhere — war and cor
porate tax breaks,” Wall
LOANS
Continued from page i
said.
According to Wall, the
problem is especially
severe because, with so
few grants available, stu
dents are forced to turn to
loans.
“So many students are
in need of assistance,” she
said. “I know it will dis
courage students that are
graduating over the next
couple of years.”
Sharon Oliver, N.C.
Central University’s
.Scholarships and Student
Aid director said she
understands resources are
limited and Congress has
to spread the money
around, but education
should be a priority.
“I don’t ever support any
cuts in education,” she
said. “This is how we
change America; We make
sure students are educat
ed.”
Oliver added that this
new bill will impact
lenders — and eventually
students — if interest rates
and fees become higher.
“Over 90 percent of stu
dents at N.C. Central
University are on some
type of financial aid,”
Oliver said.
According to Finaid.org,
an online student guide to
financial aid, 65 percent of
undergraduate students
borrow money to finance
their education.
The average federal stu
dent loan debt for graduat
ing students is $19,202, but
over 25 percent of under
graduates borrow over
$25,000.
The bill would increase
Stafford loans rates from
4.7 to 6.8 percent, and it
would increase PLUS loan
rates from 6.1 to 8.5 per
cent. *
For example, a student
borrowing $20,000 at 4.7
percent would pay back
$25,080 over 10 years, but
at a rate of 6.8 percent that
same student would end up
paying back $27,600 —
$2,520 more.
Psychology senior
Candice Harding is taking
action now. Harding, who
plans to attend graduate
school, is consolidating her
loans now before the rates
increase.
“It’s frustrating,”
Harding said. “Even if I get
a job, I will end up spend
ing most of my money pay
ing off my loans. I will have
other things to pay for —
like a house.”
Harding also said that
it’s sad that Congress does
n’t support the students in
America, but will spend
billions of dollars in coun
tries that don’t even like
America.
“It’s terrible [that
Congress is] taking away
from college,” she said.
Maxine Hong Kingston talks with faculty and students in the
Farrison-Newton Communication Building during her Jan. 11 visit.
Khari Jackson / Echo Staff Photographer
Kingston speaks
her peace
National author preaches non-violence
By Larisha Stone
ECHO STAFF WRITER
Author and peace activist
Maxine Hong Kingston
looked out at the crowd and
quietly asked “Is it possible
to make peace — change the
world with the right words?”
The audience filling N.C.
Central University’s B.N.
Duke Auditorium had no
answer, but Kingston
scanned their faces quietly,
as if hoping someone might
be able to answer this very
important question.
“The only weapons we
have are our voices and our
words,” said Kingston.
Kingston spoke as part of
the Jan. 11, NCCU Martin
Luther King Celebration.
Her message of peace and
non-violence mirrored the
social concerns of Martin
Luther King King, Jr.
Kingston said she wants
to help students find their
own voices, then use their
own words to create peace
in the world.
She told the audience
about the ancient, mytholog
ical “Three Books of Peace,”
which, according Chinese
legend, are said to have
been filled with tactics to
end wars.
But she said that while
books like Sun Tzu’s “Art of
War” have been preserved,
the “Three Books of Peace”
had been lost and all but for
gotten.
In 1989, during the first
Gulf War Kingston decided
she would create a fourth
book of peace.
The, manuscript burned
in a house fire, so she began
what would later be pub
lished “The Fifth Book of
Peace,” getting input from
veterans and peace activists.
Kingston looked on the
fire philosophically: “What
is the relationship between
destruction and creation?”
She decided that “in a
time of destruction, create
something.”
A student asked Kingston
what could be done to break
the silence and speak out
against the present War on
Terrorism.
Kingston replied, “Speak.
Keep speaking up — keep
writing.”
Kingston’s visit was
spearheaded by Kuldip
Kuwahara, a professor in
the Department of English
and Mass Communication .
Kuwahara had support for
the visit from a Faculty Seed
Grant, the Women’s Studies
Program at Duke University,
and NCCU’s Lyceum
Committee.
Kuwahara said that
Kinston’s visit connected
well with the legacy of
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s
“Maxine comes to us as a
peace activist and writer in
a time of war,” said
Kuwahara.
Law student Tin Nguyen
was impressed with
Kinston’s presentation. “The
revolution starts with those
of us who wish to see things
get better,” said Nguyen.
Kingston got her bache
lor’s degree from the
University of California at
Berkeley in 1962. In 1997 she
was awarded the National
Humanities Medal from
President Bill Clinton.
AFRICAN
AMERICAN ART
• Greek Paraphernalia • Body Oils
and Burning Oils • Black Soap and
Shea Butter Products • Incense
• Rasta and Bob Marley Items • Cultural
T-shirts (1968 Olympics, Muhammad Ali,
Angela Davis) • Books, including urban
fiction and conscience categories •
Website:
GreekStuff.com
At Northgate Mall
(next to Sears)
919-286-4600
Deluxe Cleaners
& Laundromat
NOW OPEN!
1811 MIX Parkway (next to Wynnsong Theatres)
(919) 493-7755
Mon-Fri 6:30 am -10 pm
Sat 7 am - 10 pm
* Same-day service
• Wash, dry, fold service
> Full service Mon.-Sat.
* Expert tailoring
• Leather/suede/rug
cleaning
* Largest laundromat in
NC
• Large-capacity
machines for blankets
comforters, and rugs
Free Dry with * * Shirts
In-Store Wash * | Laundered
of S5 or More ' ' for 99^
Not valid on leather or rugs.
One coupon per visit.
I On hangers. No limit.
$5 Off All Dry
Cleaning of
$15 or More
Not valid on leather or rugs.
One coupon per visit. ^
United Christian
Campus Ministry
525 Nelson Street, NCCU Campus
Get involved in
Student Christian IVlinistries
•, Christian Student Fellowship
• FITT Men's Ministry
• Dance Ministry
• Prayer Line Volunteers
• Moral Emphasis Week
volunteers
March 30 - April 2
Sign up to attend the Baptist
Student Union Christian Retreat,
Atlanta, Georgia ,
Worship, Workshops and FunI
Tour the (vlartin Luther King, Jr. Center
for Non-Violent change.
For more information or
to get involved in Campus Ministries
contact us at 530-5263 or e-mail us at mpage@nccu.edu
Michael
Campus
D. Page
Minister