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VOLUME 94, ISSUE 19 // MARCH 2 1, 2 0 0 8
THE GUILFORDIAN
Guilford College // www.guilfordian.com // Greensboro.nc
Amy Drolet/Guilfordian
"Hip-Hop Now: The Series” educates campus
through discussion and performances
By Deena Zaru
Senior Writer
Guilford hosted its first ever "Hip-
Hop Now: The Series" summit, an event
thought up and planned by junior Cedric
Essah, on Feb. 29 and March 1.
"I was interested in creating dialogue
about hip-hop between students on cam
pus and the Greensboro community"
Essah said. "I wanted people to be able
to create connections through the sum
mit, which was set up to educate, engage,
cultivate and celebrate hip-hop here at
Guilford."
Visiting instructor of music Kami
Rowan was the faculty advisor for the
summit. It was co-sponsored by the
Campus Activities Board, the Student
Community Senate, WQFS, and the music
and philosophy departments.
"Cedric was in my music and contem
porary culture class last semester," Rowan
said. "We connected and he told me about
his dream of doing this, and I wanted to
support him."
Rowan said the event allowed students
to get educated about hip-hop.
"Hip-Hop is a very complex culture
with many facet," Rowan said."While
it represents a facet of Black America,
African American culture is more diverse,
intricate and complex than a single genre
of music."
The series began on Feb. 29 at 7 p.m. in
the Bryan Jr. Auditorium with a panel dis
cussion facilitated by Terence Muhammad,
a faculty member at A&T. The panelists
included Delyte, a radio DJ for 102 Jams,
regional hip-hop producer 9th Wonder,
Bryon Turnam, a faculty member at A&T,
as well as the owners of the urban cloth
ing stores East to West and Hints.
Essah said that he was very impressed
with the quality of the panel discussion
and the diversity of the participants.
"The panel consisted of an ongoing dis
cussion beginning with the history of hip-
hop," Essah said. "Then we moved from
there to talk about women in hip-hop, the
fashion trends of hip-hop, and we ending
with a discussion about how hip-hop can
be a tool for social change."
First-year Christina Sommerville, who
assisted with planning the summit, appre
ciated the panel discussion because it
covered these various areas of hip-hop
and brought them together.
"The panel discussion dissected the
true meaning and purpose of hip-hop,"
Sommerville said. "With that information
I. was allowed to decipher the difference
between true hip-hop and the less than
tasteful music labeled as hip-hop today."
First-year Grady Gamble appreciated
the historical context that the panel dis
cussion provided.
“I liked that the speakers truly knew
hip-hop and were not simply bashing
today's artists," Gamble said. "My favor
ite information was given by 9th Wonder
when he spoke on the influence of Africa
See "Hip-Hop" on page 8
NEIGHBORS REACT
TO HOBGIN’S RETREAT
By Jake Blumgart
Senior Writer
On Jan. 15, the Greensboro City Council,
with Guilford's support, rezoned the wood
ed area abutting the Armfield Athletic Field,
allowing for the construction of controversial
new high-density apartments. The council's
decision, and the college's approval of the
new development, highlight tensions gener
ated by the expansion of both the city and
the college.
Dubbed Hodgin's Retreat, the new apart
ments could potentially ease Guilford's
housing shortage, guaranteeing the college's
support while drastically altering the to
pography of the surrounding environment,
prompting the enmity of many students, fac
ulty and residents of surrounding neighbor
hoods.
"Everyone in these neighborhoods has
basically been told 'making money is more
important to us than your quality of life,"'
said Jack Zerbe, professor of theater stud
ies, and member of the small community
of active and retired professors who live on
George White Road, one of the neighbor
hoods directly affected by the new develop
ment. "Some people who live around here
only found out about it in the paper. No one
ever tried to contact me. I've lived here for
18 years. That isn't how it is supposed to
work. The only people I see who like it are
the developers, and the city, because they'll
get more tax revenue."
Tjre college benefits from the new devel
opment as well. Guilford's size has increased
every year since 2004 and the college has
struggled to find enough housing for the
ever-increasing influx of new students. Hod-
gin's Retreat, which is closer to the library
than the North Apartments, will provide
housing for up to 150 students.
"The train has left the station on this is
sue," said Kent Chabotar, president of Guil
ford, who wrote a letter to the city council
endorsing the development. "Now the chal
lenge is to make it the best possible project
with the least possible damage to the neigh
borhood and environment."
Construction of Hodgin's Retreat will be
gin in mid-March. The city council vote was
the last possible impediment to the develop
ment. The apartments will be operational by
the beginning of next fall semester.
"I think it's going to be a problem," said
Paul Zopf, retired Dana professor of sociol
ogy and resident of George White Road. "We
love this place and until recently we have en
joyed living here, but things are changing in
ways that produce a lot of anxiety for me."
The nature of the George White commu
nity began to shift with the beginning of the
fall semester, when the housing-starved col
lege moved five students into the neighbor
hood. Zopf now regularly finds beer cans lit
tering his yard, keeping company with the
trash left by Kaiser House party-goers. He
See "Hodgin's Retreat" on page 5
Piedmont Biofuels recycles caf oils
By Lauren Newmyer
Staff Writer
"It's no secret anymore that
for every nine barrels of oil
we consume, we are only dis
covering one," stated the BP
statistical Review of World
Energy.
With gas prices skyrocket
ing and talk of the fright
ening and fast-approaching
phenomenon known as “peak
oil,” demand for alternative
energy sources has emerged.
On Feb. 27, Greg Austic
from Piedmont Biofuels gave
a presentation on biodiesel,
a fuel derived from vege
table or animal fat that can
be combined with or used
independently from regular
petroleum diesel fuel.
Piedmont Biofuels is a
co-op located in Pittsboro,
NC that manufactures, mar
kets and sells biodiesel.
From their other location in
Moncure, NC, they conduct
workshops on making fuel to
run a vehicle out of vegetable
oil. Piedmont Biofuels also
actively lobbies for renew
able energy.
Waste Management takes
care of most recycling and
trash collection, but there is
no state or federal designat
ed service to recycle cook
ing oil despite the fact that
businesses and institutions
receive fines if they do not
have their old oil picked up to
be recycled. In recent months,
Austic has come to Guilford
every three weeks to pick up
all the used cooking oil from
the cafeteria to recycle it into
biodiesel.
"The alternative to
Piedmont Biofuels picking
(used cooking oil) up and
turning it into biodiesel is
that nothing be done with
it except let it pollute," said
junior Gabriela Spang. "As
long as we are frying foods
and using cooking fats, it
makes sense to recycle them
into fuel for automobiles."
Spang, who has an intern
ship with Sodexho coordinat
ing events for sustainability,
invited Austic to give a pre
sentation on the advantages
of switching to more sustain
able fuel sources.
"Alternative energy is a
See "Peidmont Biofuels" on page 2