Campus Campus Echo Wednesday, September 6,2006 North Carolina Central University Elemenatary education junior, Vanessa Joyner, and eiementary education senior, Nataiie Whitney, speak with a Kenya Teievision Network reporter about their African experiences. COURTESEY OF BRETT CHAMBERS Learn now, teach later Eagle teaching fellows spread their wings in new territory By Shelbia Brown ECHO STAFF WRITER Thirteen N.C. Central University Teaching Fellows experienced some thing new in Nairobi, Kenya this summer. Students, along with fac ulty members ^nd advisors left Durham on June 17 and returned on July 5. “It was a travel and teach experience,” said NCCU Teaching Fellows Director Katrina Billingsly. “We wanted to introduce the stu dents to Kenya.” Nine Kenyan families were selected as host resi dences. In each host family ,either the husband or wife was a school teacher. Students lived with the families and went to school with the teacher. The fellows served as teacher’s aids and learned about education in Africa. “Being in Africa made me appreciate the simple things that we have here in America,” said history edu cation junior Makeda Miller. Though she said she had some trouble adjusting to the experience. Miller said she would like to return some day. Prior to the Kenya trip, attendees were required to take a class on the culture and Kenyan languages, such as Kiswahili. Faculty and advisers began planning the trip a year ago. The idea for the trip came from NCCU professor Masila Mutisya, a native of Kenya. Billingsly said Mutisya' wanted students to have an international experience in in her homeland. NCCU partnered with Nairobi’s Kenyatta University, and Mutisya went to Kenya in the sum mer of 2005 to set up the program with the Nairobi public school system. The program was designed to give NCCU teaching fellows first-hand teaching experience. The Wachovia Foundation has funded the teaching fellows program with a $600,000 grant given in 2004. The grant paid the tuition of Wachovia scholars and funded the Kenya trip. The fellows met with one of Kenya’s 42 tribal groups, the Massai, and witnessed their rituals. The fellows kept a daily of their African experience and submitted a final reflection paper for their grade. In addition, each student received six hours class credits and 30 community service hours. “I had to get accustomed to their culture... it was a great experience,” said James Knight, an English education major who served as a teacher’s aid at the Nairobi Primary School. HARRY GLENN Continued from page i knew what hit him.” At her home in Piscataway, N.J., Cobb- Glenn dropped to her knees and prayed. Phones began to ring and neighbors came to her door. Five days after the attacks, she had the diffi cult task of telling her son that his father would never come home again. “It was a heinous crime, and it continues to be a crime,” she said. “It robs you. It really does, and it’s painful. It doesn’t matter how positive you try to look at this tragedy,” she said. Sharon and Harry met as undergraduates at NCCU in the School of Business and began dating after gradua tion in 1983. Sharon graduated with a marketing degree and Harry with a computer sci ence degree. “He was my best friend and soul mate,” said Cobb- Glenn. She said her husband was passionate about his family, old school rap, sports and reading. As a dedicated communi ty activist, he frequently vis ited his old neighborhood in East Harlem to mentor ele mentary school kids. “He was a peaceful per son,” said Cobb-Glenn. It is a struggle for Cobb- Glenn to get up everyday knowing that Harry is not at her side. “I can breakdown in tears at any given point — the sky is as blue today as it was on that morning of September 11, 2001, it takes you back, it puts you in a place you don’t even want to be,” she said. “It chokes you up ... it breaks your spirit.” For Cobb-Glenn, focusing and remembering the good times she and her family cherished with Harry keeps her going. She spent a lot of time volunteering and serving on committees formed after the attacks. “To be in the company and support of the people who have a shared bond — the loss of our spouses — helps.” Even five years later, she still struggles with her loss. “It’s one day, one hour, one moment, and a lot of prayer to God for courage, strength to get me through the day, and to continue to bless my son ... and every one else that has suffered,” she said. Roosevelt and Birdie Glenn, Harry’s parents agree. “We try very hard not to think about it, especially since we live in Harlem,” said Roosevelt Glenn. Birdie Glenn explained that any mention of 9/11 re opens the wound. “Around that time, because it’s on TV and everywhere else, I just cut it off,” she said. NCCU held a memorial service immediately after the attacks and planted a Rose of Sharon tree in Harry Glenn’s honor, out side the Hoey Administration Building. “Even in death he still finds a way to take care of us. He’s our guardian angel,” said Cobb-Glenn. Today, Jaylan is actively involved in sports. “He plays travel basket ball and soccer. I keep him focused just like his father would,” she said. SURCHARGE Continued from page i finish in four years and it affects transfer students, freshmen, and in-and out-of- state students. So how is this any concern of the N.C. General Assembly? Taxes. As of fall 2006, tax payers kick out $8,735 per student per year of enrollment with more than 173,000 students in N.C. public institutions. Do the math. “Students don’t realize that N.C. taxpayers pay per student enrolled full time in a N.C. institution, regardless if you pay by way of financial aid or out-of-pocket,” said Bernice Duffy Johnson, assis tant vice-chancellor for aca demic services. “The longer a student stays in school, the more money the state has to give to the student. This money is needed for salaries, new buildings and pro grams.” One mass communications “super senior,” who asked to remain unnamed, started pursuing his undergraduate degree at NCCU in the late 90s and is now looking to fin ish his 4-year plan this December. He has double the amount of maximum credit hours and his surcharge has reached almost $300. “It’s really embarrassing,” said the student. “But some times circumstances occur that keep you from finishing what you had planned. In my case, it was a child.” Students give many rea sons why they rack up credit hours. Some fail or withdraw, and some even register for classes to get a refund check and then drop them. Whatever circumstance, stu dents are charged for any overage and the fee is added later in the semester. “And it’s not like they tack it [surcharge] on during the registration phase,” he said. “They wait until midway through the year to add the charges.” All regular semester courses taken at N.C. Central University, including repeat ed, failed and courses dropped after the last regis tration date count toward the allotted 140 credit hours. “Honestly, the university is supposed to dismiss a stu dent after 168 attempted undergraduate hours,” Johnson said. “However there are some exceptions.” Evidently, this super sen ior has been extremely exceptional. He began his four-year plan when mass communications was only a concentration in the English department. “Yeah, I’ve been here a while,” he said humorously. “I mean, it’s alright to take mad classes, as long as there’s a plan behind it. On the other hand, if you want to waste time, you should with draw and explore other avenues. PRINTING Continued from page i ,it costs us on average nearly $50,000 per year to maintain print supplies for the 10 open computer labs main tained by ITS on the cam pus,” Marrow said. He said the cost does not cover the other 30 computer labs maintained by the indi vidual departments. According to Marrow, the software use will reduce printing costs by 50 percent during this first year. Marrow said the University opted for con trolled printing after they noticed that paper waste occurred in high volumes. According to a Rochester New York- based print asset management company, Pharo’s Systems International, Inc., 40 to 60 percent of annual printing is discarded because it is unnecessary. NCCU joins over 1,000 higher education institu tions across the country in using Pharo’s software in controlling print. The University of Kentucky, which provided free annual printing for its 35,000 students at a cost of approximately $600,000 with about 6.4 million sheets of paper in 2003, reduced the costs by controlling stu dents’ printing according to Pharo’s Systems International. At that rate, NCCU’s 8,500 student population would cost the University about $145,000 in one year. After introducing the printing controlling soft ware in which 100 free prints were provided to stu dents per quarter and a fee for extra prints, the University of Kentucky print volume dropped by 72 per cent for an estimated annual saving of $74,000. Some students said con trolled printing at NCCU was long overdue, while oth ers don’t agree with the idea of charging students. “I feel certain that this plan will work There is always a lot of unused printed paper in the Shepard Library,” said history junior Nikki Barbee. “It’s definitely going to make me think twice about what I print before I do it.” Mass, communications senior Christopher Jackson said the University should find other ways of curbing the problem. “To charge students an additional cost for printing after we have been charged for other things is ridicu lous; we pay for a technology fee,” said Jackson. “What they should do is put a block on websites that are not deemed educational, and maybe that will deter students from printing unnecessary items.” ft’s time to start preparing for the “world of work.’ 2006 Annual Fall Career Fair October 5 9:30 am to 1 pm L.T. Walker Complex Network opportunity for career positions, co-ops, and internships. Professional dress is required. University Career Services William Jones Building, Room 005 , 530-6337/mstuckey@nccu.edu United Christian Campus Ministry 525 Nelson Street, NCCU Campus For more information or to get involved in Campus Ministries contact us at 530-5263 or email us at mpage@nccu.edu Michael D. Page Campus Minister Join Christian Student I'' Feiiowship Fat t-KiiiSP*, CALI 1.800.230.PLAN Pn.nrKil IMrctiiK Rxi