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Volume 54 lssue 25
Hundreds come out for Cornel West
Photo h\ Jennifer Robinson
Dr. Cornel West gives a powerful speech in front of hundreds of students, faculty, and
staff. People from the Carrollton community as well as out of town were also on hand to
hear Dr. West speak.
Sieswerda tapped as
Media Day speaker
By Bobby Moore
Editor-in-Chief
Rmoore 7@my. westga. edu
On April 5, West
Georgia’s 25th Media Day
will feature an excited, and
honored, keynote speaker.
Tyler Sieswerda, a
1995 graduate of UWG
and a news anchor for
KVUE TV in Austin,
Texas, was surprised when
Dr. Camilla Gant of the
Mass Communications,
department approached
him about appearing at
Media Day.
“I was completely
shocked to be asked to
be the keynote speaker.
It was a huge surprise,”
Seiswerda said.
Not counting flying
over the campus in the WSB
helicopter, Sieswerda has
only been back to campus
once since his graduation.
He looks forward to
returning, saying, “It’s
always good to come
back home.”
After a slow start
to his college career at
Georgia State, Sieswerda
discovered what he wanted
to do for a living while at
"The Student Voiee at the l niversity of West Georgia since 1954 "
West Georgia.
While a student at
UWG, Sieswerda worked
at UTV, which at the
time was a much smaller
operation that operated in
the Humanities building.
While at West Georgia,
he was a drama minor,
which helped him prepare
for his current career, and
he took Media Law with
Dr. Chester Gibson.
“Everyone dreaded that
class, but it is important that
you understand the legal
side of things,” he said.
He also took advantage
of the school’s connections
with TV station in Atlanta,
landing an internship at
WAGA channel 5 in 1994.
“There are connections
there (WAGA) that still
exist today. In fact, they
recommended me for my
second job,” he said.
After a five month long
job search, Seiswerda landed
his first job in Colorado,
where he started out making
only $14,000 per year.
Despite the low pay,
he suggests that students
follow the same path.
“Starting out, you
get a lot more experience
working in local markets.
You won’t make much,
but the money will come.
I doubled my pay when I
took my second job (in
Arizona),” he said. “That
first station is an extension
of college. It is almost like
going to graduate school.”
Other career stops for
Sieswerda include working
for WSB in Atlanta and
his current job, where he
currently holds the top job
at his station.
Since that long job
search ended on the
weekend of his 27th
birthday, things have
worked out well for
Sieswerda, including the
timing of Media Day.
“My co-anchor is
on maternity leave, but
she comes back the week
before Media Day. Had the
school scheduled it earlier,
I would have been out of
luck,” he said.
Asa speaker,
Sieswerda has some
experience, as he has
spoken to everyone from
elementary school children
to college classes.
However, this will be
his first keynote speech.
By Kristal Dixon
News Editor
kristaldixon@gmail.com
Dr. Cornel West,
distinguished professor
from Princeton University,
spoke last Thursday at the
University of West Georgia.
Part of the newly
created Dr. Martin Luther
King Distinguished
Lecture Series, the
lecture was sponsored by
the Center for African-
American Male Research,
Success, Leadership.
Speaking to a lecture
hall of hundreds of
students, faculty, staff, and
others from out of town,
West gave a powerful
speech about why
democracy is important to
the hip-hop generation.
Democracy, he said,
cannot be discussed
without discussing the
contributions made by
African-American men in
the past and the present.
“Men like Frederick
Douglass and W.E.B. Du
Bois have been essential for
the survival of democracy
in America. Black men
have had a long history
of questioning America,”
West said.
Self-respect,
self-regard, and self
determination were also
topics West touched on in
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Photo by Crystal Far re r
Members of the United Voices Gospel Choir sold Krlspy Kreme donuts to raise money
for their organization. The fundraiser was very successful selling almost 100 boxes
of donuts. From left to right are Deborah Brisbane, Tejanae Caldwell, Stephanie Elliott,
and Shaundra Battle.
the lecture.
West urged the
audience to never take
situations as they are
and that they should not
be afraid to question
injustices.
He urged the audience
to strive for education and
not get caught up in the
quest for accumulating
material wealth.
He told the audience of
what he told hip-hop artist
Jay-Z in a conversation he
had with him.
“Don’t become a slave
to material toys as you see
your pockets grow,” he
told the audience.
West also discussed
stereotypes of black men
in the media, including
MTV, VHI and BET.
The stereotype of black
men as sexual predators, he
said, is a contradiction of
what he saw in the men of
Black Men With Initiative
when they arrived to
at Hartsfield-Jackson
International Airport to
pick him up.
“These black men I
saw tonight had elegance
and dignity. Put these
brothers on TV!”
West also pointed out
that even though black men
have faced intimidation and
discrimination at the hand
of white supremacists,
they have overcome racial
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
tyranny with a Socratic
approach. A Socratic
approach, he said, was
“essential to a commitment
towards democracy.”
West also criticized
society’s tendency to
dismiss social problems and
turn a blind eye to injustices
across the country.
Parochialism, which
West described as living
in a bubble, is widespread
among many in the United
States, according to West.
“Society likes to
separate itself from what’s
going on in the world.
There is no sense of what
people are going through.”
Dr. West is well known
for his catchy lectures and
his intellectual capacity.
He is currently a professor
of religion at Princeton
University.
He has written many
thought-provoking books,
including “Democracy
Matters” and “Race
Matters,” the best-selling
work which draws
attention to social matters
in the United States.
Dr. West has also had
some experience in the
entertainment world. He
appeared in a cameo role
in the “Matrix” trilogy and
has even dabbled in the
music industry.
See WIST \ page 2