DECEMBER 5, 2007
1801 Fayetteville Street
Durham, NC 27707
North Carolina Central University
VOLUME 99, ISSUE 6
919 530 7116/campusecho@nccu.edu
WWW.CAMPUSECHO.COM
Campus
1-3
BeyoM
5
Photo Feature..
6
A8dE
7
Ctassifled
8
Sports
9
Opinion
10
A&E
Good sounds: The
Operatorio Ensemble
performed ‘The Ballad
of the Brown King”
Page 7
Campus
She gave the gift of life
— a kidney for her kid
sister Chrystai
Page 2
Campus
There’s a big debate
about it: To snitch or
not to snitch?
Page 3
Phptp Feature
Message tees are the
new thing, and one
former NCCU student is
setting a new standard
Pages
Campus Echo
Hope returning to Baghdad
By Leila Fadel
MCCXATCHY NEWSPAPERS
BAGHDAD — Taking advantage
of a dramatic* drop in car
bombings and sectarian
murders, Baghdad residents
are once again venturing out
to local markets and restau
rants after dark in many
parts of the city.
They’re celebrating wed
dings and birthdays in pub
lic places and eating grilled
carp on the Tigris River late
120-
hour
hurdle
Service hours
a final harrier
By Akilah McMullan
ECHO STAFF REPORTER
You’ve ordered your cap
and gown, taken your senior
pictures, mailed out your
invitations and notified your
parents.
Finally, after all the
blood, sweat and cramming,
you are ready to walk and
make your parents proud.
But what happens when
you haven’t completed your
120 community service
hours?
Tell your parents they
may need to cancel that
hotel reservation because
N.C. Central University
requires that all students
complete at least 15 hours of
community service per
semester enrolled in order
to graduate.
According to the commu
nity service department, 30
percent of December gradu
ating hopefuls is missing
■ See SERVICE Page 2
Bodies
for hire
Pharma tests
bring income
By Teccara Cabmack
ECHO STAFF REPORTER
Study, study, study! When
N.C. Central University stu
dents hear the word “study,”
their first thoughts may be
history dates, mathematical
equations or Science
Odyssey homework.
However, the word now
evokes a different kind of
thought: mean, green cash.
Many college students are
becoming the subjects of
pharmaceutical clinical tri
als to bring in extra money.
As the semester progress
es and refund money dwin
dles, students are looking
for a way to make money
while staying focused on
school.
■ See PHARMA Page 3
into the night.
A local television station
has begun a feature called
“Baghdad Nights,” showing
the capital’s residents shop
ping, eating and socializing
after the sun has set _ a sight
that until recently was
unheard of in most neigh
borhoods.
In Mansour, in central
Baghdad, eight ■ young
brides, dripping in new gold
given to them by their
grooms, visited Tanya’s hair
salon this week.
Just two months ago, the
shop was lucky to get one
bride a month.
“Before there used to be
no merrymaking for the
bride,” said Suad, a young
hairdresser who would only
give her first name for safety
reasons. “Now they are com
ing again.”
As Baghdad has changed,
even security barriers have
had a makeover, incorporat
ed, if that’s possible, into the
urban landscape. Over the
past six months, artists have
painted them with depic
tions of Iraqi life, ancient
Egyptian hieroglyphics and
fantasy pictures of peaceful
scenes.
But Baghdad residents
are skeptical that their new
freedom will last.
“It’s in the hands of God
now,” said Umm Fatma,
■ See BAGHDAD Page 5
A newly opened park on Abu Nawas street along the Tigris River.
Leila Fadel/MCT
NCCU JAZZ, VOCAL ENSEMBLESlO?-} THE BOftD TO
The NCCU Jazz and Vocal ensembles will attend the lAJE Conference in Toronto, Canada in January.
Savin Joseph/Ec?io Staff Photographer
STUDENTS TO ATTEND INT’L CONFERENCE
I
By Shelbia Brown
ECHO EDITOR-INA3HIEF
ra Wiggins, director of jazz studies at N. C. Central University, said stu
dents seldom get the opportunity to work alongside jazz pioneers like
Quincy Jones, Nancy Wilson and Herbie Hancock.
that attracts more than 7,000
students and jazz instructors
from across the world.
This year the conference
will run January 9-13; students
■ See lAJE Page 2
But next month, 35 vocal and
jazz ensemble students will
travel to Toronto, Canada to
attend the lAJE, the
International Association for
Jazz Educators, where they will
engage in workshops with some
of the jazz industry’s biggest
names.
“They get to see first hand
what it’s like to perform at that
level,” Wiggins said.
In its 35th year, the lAJE is a
highly selective conference
Jazz ensemble members practice Monday
afternoon during sectionals.
Savin Joseph/EcIio Stajf Photographer
Eagles bring World AIDS
Day to the yard
By Sade Thompson
ECHO STAFF REPORTER
The N. C. Central University
Miller-Morgan Health Science
Building swarmed with eager stu
dents, volunteers and AIDS sur
vivors, last Saturday, all promoting
awareness of a 25-year-old killer.
World AIDS Day, observed every
Dec. 1, was established by the
World Health Organization in 1998.
The event’s purpose is to serve
AIDS victims and to raise aware
ness about the continuing epidem
ic.
For the second year in a row
World AIDS Day was marked at
NCCU with a march, performances
and testimonials.
“The turnout of the community
becomes greater because of a grow
ing acceptance of being aware and
the willingness we have to fight,”
said Sebastian Battle, an HIV pro
gram advocate and a staff member
of Durham’s Early Intervention
Clinic.
Marchers flowed from Nelson
St. eastbound to Fayetteville St.,
shouting, “Fight AIDS, not the peo
ple with AIDS.”
Activities then shifted inside
where health facilitators, includ
ing the staff of Durham County
Health Center, provided informa
tion and answered questions.
Then everyone gathered in the
auditorium for a selection of testi
monials.
Rebecca Hall of WTVD hosted.
I See AIDS Page 2
Riverside High School marchers extend a banner in honor of World AIDS Day.
Dominique Holiday/EcIio Staff Photographer