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OCTOBER 11, 2006
1801 Fayetteville Street
Durham, NC 27707
Campus 14
BeyondNCCU .. 6
Feature 8
A&E 9
Classffleds 10
Sports 11
Opinions 12
North Carolina Central University
VOLUME 98, ISSUE 3
919 530 7116/campusecho@nccu.edu ;
WWW.CAMPUSECHO.COM , ' I
Sports
Eagles grind out
St. Aug Falcons 27-18
Page 11
Campus
NCCUto develop first
HBCU Jazz Institute in
the U.S.
Page 4
Opinions
Opinions Editor Kai
Christopher responds
to Hugo Chavez’s
remarks
Page 12
Feature
Letters to a
a hip-hop legend
Pages
Campus Echo
Study
abroad
in
limbo
Program in
jeopardy
By Ihuoma Ezeh
ECHO STAFF WRITER
Christine Perry hadn’t
thought about studying
Spanish until she stumbled
across a CD by the famous
Mexican-American gospel
and pop singer Jackie
Velasquez.
“I became infatuated
with the language and the
Spanish world became a
fascination for me,” Perry
said.
Last summer, Perry, a
N.C. Central University
Spanish junior, had her
first chance to immerse
herself in the language.
Along with 10 other
NCCU students, she went to
Mexico for a one-month
study abroad program at
the Universidad Interna-
cional in Cuernavaca,
Mexico.
“It doesn’t matter how
much you study a language
and the culture,” said
Perry. “Until you become a
part of it, you’ll never really
get the full effect of what’s
being taught.”
The Department of
Modern Foreign Languages
has used the UI program for
more than 8 years.
But now students and
foreign language faculty
fear that the study abroad
program at UI stands a
chance of being terminated
if program evaluations
required by the Office of
International Programs are
not completed.
Emmanuel Oritsejafor,
director of the Office of
International Programs, e-
mailed the 9-page program
evaluation to Cristina
Cabral, study abroad pro
gram coordinator, to for
ward to students.
Oritsejafor said the pro
gram needs to be evaluated
in order to improve stu
dent-learning skills.
Some students are ques
tioning the timing and
length of the evaluation.
Spanish senior Dorothy
Debnam, a student who par-
See ABROAD Page 3
No college left behind?
By Jodi S. Cohen
CHICAGO TRUBUNE
CHICAGO — Speaking as the
parent of a college student,
U.S. Education Secretary
Margaret Spellings said
Tuesday that colleges and
universities need to be
more affordable and better
show families what they’re
getting for their money.
Spellings offered some
specific recommendations
intended to shake-up
America’s diverse higher
education system and make
it more consumer-friendly.
They include making it
easier to apply for financial
aid, and creating a massive
database to allow families
to compare colleges’ per
formance.
She also suggested finan
cial incentives for schools
that collect and report
information about students’
academic performance.
“My daughter’s college
costs went up this year. For
what?” she said. “For most
families, this is one of the
most expensive investments
we make. Yet there is little
to no information on why
costs are so high and what
we’re getting in return.”
Spellings’ remarks come
a week after her 19-member
Commission on the Future
of Higher Education,
including corporate and
education leaders, submit
ted its final report.
Spellings appointed the
commission in September
2005 to look into ways to
revamp higher education,
specifically in regards to
cost, access, quality and
accountability.
Implementing most of
the recommendations
would require action by
Congress or agreement
from colleges and universir
ties. Spellings said Tuesday
that she will first focus on
the items she can do on her
own, including simplifying
financial aid forms and
notifying students of their
eligibility earlier than
spring of their senior year.
She also will meet with
accrediting agencies in
November to discuss put
ting more emphasis on eval
uating colleges based on
what students learn. The
Education Department has
the authority to approve the
■ See TESTING Page 6
Chancellor Ammons speaks at the official ribbon cutting of the Shepard House on Sept. 29.
Bryson Pope/ Echo Staff Photographer
SHEPARD HOUSE
REHAB COMPLETE
N .C. Central University
celebrated the opening
of the historic Shepard
House on September 29.
The building is listed in the
National Register of Historic
Places.
Located at 1902 Fayetteville St.,
at the corner of Fayetteville and
Brant streets, it has been closed
for extensive renovations since
2000.
When the project initially
began, the estimated cost for
repairs was approximately
$750,000.
Over $680,000 was donated to
the Shepard House project from
NCCU and benefactors such as
Gary Hock, the State Department
SHELBIA BROWN
of Cultural Research, and the
National Park Service Historic
Preservation Fund.
“It’s important to respect and
honor what our founder has
built,” said Julius Chambers, for
mer NCCU Chancellor.
Chambers made it a personal
goal to rescue the dilapidated
bulding.
BOG
votes
to hike
cost
Tuition could
rise 6.5%
By Ebony McQueen
ECHO STAFF WRITER
The UNC Board of
Governors has voted for a
bill that will allow all 16 of
the UNC
schools to
increase
their in-
state
tuition by a
maximum
of 6.5 per
cent per
year.
UNC Pres
ident Ers-
kine Bowles
proposed
the plan to
limit the
size of tuition hikes, by giv
ing universities a ceiling to
their increases.
The 6.5 percent cap will
be set for the next four
years.
“The Council of Student
Government Association
presidents are accepting
this,” said UNC
Association of Student
Governments President,
Derek Pantiel, a NCCU
senior.
“They understand the
increase is needed,” said
Pantiel.
The 6.5 percent cap still
exceeds the national higher
■ See ASG Page 2
Derek
Pantiel UNC
ASG presi
dent
NCCU gears up for review
Brown-Bracy is ready for the accreditation challenge
By Ahnna Cain
ECHO STAFF WRITER
Accreditation. It may
sound like a word out of a
spelling bee, but for a uni
versity it’s the official stan
dard used to gauge academ
ic standing and integrity.
“It is the standard
applied to the practice of an
institution,” said Pauletta
Brown-Bracy, N.C. Central
University director of uni
versity accreditation. NCCU
has been accredited since
1938.
Bracy is an associate pro
fessor in the School of
Library Science. It’s her job
to make sure things go
smoothly in 2009 when the
University faces its 10-year
re-accreditation review.
Bracy is clearly up to the
task. She blends a courteous
and matter-of-fact profes
sionalism with a delightful
sense of humor.
She has served on the
executive board of the
National Council for
Accreditation of Teacher
Education, an experience
that has prepared her for
the challenge.
According to the SACS
Commission of Colleges,
“Accreditation ... signifies
that an institution has a pur
pose appropriate to higher
education and has
resources, programs and
services sufficient to accom
plish and sustain that pur
pose.” It is an institution’s
way of publicly stating that it
has the “capacity to provide
effective programs and serv
ices” and is committed to
the “principles and philoso
phy of accreditation.”
Failure to achieve
accreditation can be a major
blow to the credibility of a
university. It makes it hard
er to attract funding and tal
ented faculty and students.
■ See SACS Page 2
Pauletta Brown-Bracy, N.C. Central University’s director of
university accreditation Is in charge of making sure NCCU
remains accredited.
Dana WOMACK/Staff Photographer