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Clark Ml^t(^University^ Panther November 13, 1991 Singleton Speaks Candidly Pafife2 JOHN PATTON In the role of a preacher in "The Color Purple," Patton used his singing voice to reunite father and daughter. In the role of a teacher at Clark Atlanta University, he will give music students insight into the history of Black music and composers. Patton will teach as a visiting professor of music at CAU for two weeks in November. "Many of our young people regard folk music as trite or unimportant. They try to discount what has gone on before. They wait for people like Dick Clark to determine what's good or not good," Patton said. "If they would learn from wisdom of past performers, it would give a higher quality of their performances." Beckwith Smoulders By Kanata Herring Contributing Writer Residents of Beckwith Dormitory were evacuated Nov. 2 after an early morning wake up to a buzzing siren. A malfunction in the mechanical room caused the fire alarm to sound at approximately 8:00 a.m. “I thought I was dreaming,” said jun ior f'Jicole. Residents were evacuated after an unidentifiable liquid was found on the mechanical room floor by dorm director David Cooper. Maintenance attempted to turn the heating system on in the dorm early Saturday. Because the sys tem had not been activated before, the “newness” caused a leak and an excessive amount of smoke. Coo per, who had no prior knowledge of the system being turned on, called the fire department. Four fire engines arrived 15-20 minutes after being notified. CAU is not hooked up to the central system that would ordinarily call the fire department, because of fre quent malfunctions with the alarm system. Cooper speculated that the fire department may not have been aware of the urgency due to the fact there were no flames. After further investigation the fire department found no damage and recommended the system be checked before being turned on again. Cooper said that one of his main concerns during the ordeal was resi dents’ response. “Why do residents have to see flames before evacuat ing?” he said. Residents’ doors were knocked on to assure that everyone was evacuated. Beckwith resident, Ravena Baskerville, said, “Because of the frequency of the alarm going off I was not compelled to immediately leave the building.” Many residents called the security booth and were told that they would be notified if an evacuation was necessary. Minutes later the residents were indeed told to evacuate. Maintenance reported that Beckwith has one of the best boiler systems and that the Saturday in cident is an isolated one. Mainte nance also insists Beckwith is “one of the best dormitories around,” and that the smoke detectors are very sensitive and immediately sound due to the heavy smoke in the mechanical room. By Misha Stums Contributing Writer The childhood wish came true for writer/producer John Single- ton, as he embarked on the suc cess of his first major movie, “Boyz N The Hood,” last summer. Singleton told six Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, and Spelman College students how his dreams became reality. “I knew after seeing “Star Wars,” that I wanted to go into film,” Singleton said. While growing up he used to admire Steven Spielberg until he realized that films were not being made about his people. Af ter graduating from high school, Singleton met Spike Lee and con siders Lee his role model because of his afrocentricity. Before Lee, most Blacks in film were portrayed as “foot-shuffling comedians” or “hustling pimps,” he said. The 23-year old, 1990 graduate of the University of Southern Cali fornia film school said that he had to fit into the “good ole white boy” school. He managed to fit in along with winning the Robert Riskin Writing Award and two Jack Nicholson awards for writing. He has received criticism from the media for his movie, such as the movie promotes violence, how ever, he wrote the story as a brief account of events which occurred in his life. “I’ll never write a film that you can’t get something from,” he said. The title of the movie which was taken from a song written by rap pers Ice Cube and N.W.A., por trays the life of most Black males growing up in South Central Los Angeles. “I don’t care how squeaky clean you are, if you’re black and have some kind of power, you’re going to experience negativism from tire media,” he said. “I try to portray females in a positive perspective,” he added. The character Tre Styles, played by Cuba Gooding ,Jr., was the son of a strong Black woman accord ing to Singleton. Most Black mothers are strong figures accord ing to Singleton, not sex objects. He briefly reminisces his child hood while comparing himself to Tre. He credits his mother with much of his success. However, he also believes that boys need their fathers. “A woman can’t teach a boy how to be a man. A man must teach a boy how to become a man,” he said. His next film, “Poetic Justice,” is about a 19-year old girl who writes poetry to alleviate her prob lems. The movie is scheduled for release in thg summer of 1993. Singleton commented on the animosity within the black popu lation. He would like to see more blacks promoting unity but he said that Blacks are afraid to unite. He added that many Blacks are interested in finding a job after college when they should be con cerned with helping each other. If Blacks hire other Blacks, the un employment economy could be bal anced. “We must support one another. If we don’t, who will?” he questioned. Singleton does not believe that economics should pre vent Black men and women from uniting with one another. “I plan to scout for more stu dents from the Atlanta University Center in the future,” he said. Teaching at a Black college is also one of his future plans. When speaking at different schools Singleton tells his audi ence to focus on the internal and not the external. “Learn to write a screenplay,” he said. “Diversity is what makes things complex and beautiful." Budget Restrains Homecoming Activities By Sonia White Contributing Writer According to Tanya Kimbrough, treasurer of the SGA, the estimated budget for this year’s homecoming was $36,500. This figure was based on the budgets of previous academic years, with money allocated by the school. Various homecoming committees established budgets early in the year. However, the greatest amount was reserved for the concert, featuring Tony Terry, Damian Dane and Brand Nubian, the Coronation ceremony and the Red, Black and Grey Ball. The estimated budget for the concert was $10,000, while the cost for the coronation and ball was $5,000 each. The remaining funds were dispersed to the talent show, fashion show, step show and the artist and vendors market Alumni contributions absorbed some of the cost for homecoming through events such as the CAU Southern Amateur Open Golf Tournament, the Hall of Fame Breakfast and the Tailgate Party. “As of now CAU’s SGA has spent $38,000 for the homecoming festivities, which leaves only $2,000 to use for the duration of the year,” said Jayme Bradford, undergraduate vice president of SGA. “Accurate figures for the homecoming budget will not be available until the festivities end,” said Michelle Rhodes, student activities director for the university and the advisor of SGA.