Newspaper Page Text
The Panther
April 4, 1994 P5
PERSPECTIVES
The
Clark Atlanta University
anther
Tara C. Gunter/Editor-In-Chief
K.A. White/Business Manager
Ed Blakemore/Editorial Editor
Commentary
Consolidation '94:
Consolidation ‘94 was presented to cele
brate the history and the accomplishments
of Clark Atlanta University since its con
ception in 1988.
Originally Clark College and Atlanta
University, the now six-year union was
formed between the two colleges to com
bine their strengths and purpose for future
endeavors.
While keynote speaker, Bryant C.
Gumbel may have delivered a truly inspir
ing and informative speech about the pub
lic’s perception of the media, his speech
was not geared towards the purpose of the
occasion.
The purpose was achieved more effec
tively by the graduate and undergraduate
presidents of the Student Government
Association, Phillip Dunston and Jamal
Coleman in their greetings.
Dunston encouraged the students to help
build a better community by building bet
ter people, starting with themselves.
Coleman addressed the fact that our mis
sion as a people will not be accomplished
until, as students, we consult with each
other, with our faculty and our staff and
until as a people we consult with ourselves
and our God.
Staff Assembly President Vivien Usher
said it best when she said, at the end of her
greeting, that we have come a long way in
a short time, but the best is yet to come.
Student's Death Should Raise Consciousness
Corey Cavalier
Staff Writer
If it's one thing that my
dad has always taught me
is that bad things are going
to happen, that’s a given.
But never should we let
such events keep us from
moving on.
The fatal shooting of a
Morris Brown freshman
over Spring Break should
be a wake up call to all of
us in the AUC.
It should not take an
event like this to raise the
consciousness of all stu
dents. The death of fresh
man Kenyan Howard, who
was shot inadvertently by
freshman Arnold Burney,
should, if anything, send a
message to us all.
Tragedies such as this
will happen. That is not to
say that we should let
occurrences like this deter
us from pursuing our edu
cation, quite the contrary.
Along with getting our
education, we should think
about how we can prevent
such incidents from hap
pening again. When they
do happen we must do all
we can to console those
involved, be strong, and
most of all, move on.
Realizing there is a
problem is one step. In fact
that is the first step in mak
ing sure incidents like this
never occur again.
Burney said that he pur
chased the gun on the
street for “protection."
We must eliminate the
factors that led to this stu
dent purchasing the
weapon in the first place.
It’s a shame that we live in
an environment that forces
many black men and
women to feel unsafe
around our own people.
We cannot allow our fel
low brothers and sisters to
be hurt in and around the
AUC. We need to insure
that all persons who attend
these colleges have a safe
and serene environment in
which to conduct their
studies.
Lets learn from this
tragedy, find a solution to
the problem move on.
We’ve got work to do.
What is your view?
We want to know what
you think about this
editorial, so we can
publish your thoughts
in our April 11 issue.
Call 880-8077 and
leave a message.
T.C.G./The Panthert
Graffiti Belongs Off The Wall
By T.C.G.
Staff Writer
Didn't graffiti play out
with breakdancing? Guess
some things never go out of
style.
Those persons that deface
school property should put
their spray cans to paper
instead of a wall and make a
quick buck- afterall, that’s
the "American way."
Walking into any campus
bathroom stall you can not
help but notice the little
paintings: Call Mike for
a good time; Cali Is All
That!; New York, in the
house.
Although cute, if you
like chicken scratch,
these signs are good for
one thing: to pass the
time before you flush.
However, when you
see the time and
painstakingly clear pai-
entience and effort that
went into making some
of these signs you have
to wonder: is it art or
some poor lonely soul
who really thinks some
body is gonna call him
or her for a date?
Graffiti Artists are not
the first persons to
paint on walls, maybe
subways, but not walls.
The thing that is con
fusing is that some of
these people actually
have talent (afterall, not
just anybody can
scratch "I love you" on
a desk and call it a mas
terpiece); however, it is
being wasted on a hard
canvas going no where.
Staff
Prayer In School Is Needed Now
News: 880-8077
News Assistant: Lisa Flanagan
Features Editor: Chandra Thomas
Features Assistants: Stacy Adams,
Tarsha Burton
Entertainment Photographer: Rondre
Summerville
Spoils Editor: Kevin Donalson
Personals Editor: Kimathi Lewis
Photography Editor: Rondre
Summerville
Graphics Editor: Jamal Caliste
Adviser: Sabbaye McGriff
Business
Business Manager: K.A. White
Advertising
Advertising Manager:
Franchella Slater
National Advertising Rep.:
Redelia Shaw
Opinions expressed in The Panther
are the opinions of the writers and
do not reflect the ideas or opinions
of The Panther staff. All rights
reserved. Reprints by permission of
the editor and adviser.
■in m • : i.v t «■ t ' • M * >
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i.» t .t\
By Stacy Adams
Features Assistant
For 32 years, the right to
have prayer in schools has
been denied by the
Supreme Court because of
separation of church and
state laws.
However, a recent inci
dent in a high school in
Jackson, Mississippi is
challenging these laws.
Students at this school
took a vote. The result: a
daily 12 second prayer was
okayed by their principal,
Dr. Bishop Knox.
Needless to say, this
decision has caused a big
debate over freedom of
speech and individual,
rights within schools.
Despite the great num
ber of students, parents,
businessmen and adminis
trators who supported
Knox, he was suspended.
Even the state’s gover
nor gave his approval on
the subject.
Yet, politicians, lawyers
and other notable
Americans insisted on tear
ing down this one positive
act that could shed some
light on the dark situations
in our nation’s schools.
These opposers said that
if Christians are allowed to
pray, eventually Satanic
worshippers will want to
too.
They said by giving
motivating words in the
are forcing their peers to be
subjected to their religious
beliefs.
All of this may be true
to a certain extent.
American citizens are
informed of their rights as
deemed by the
Constitution, even if they
are not allowed to use
them.
However, if one 12 sec
ond prayer a day can give
even one student inspira
tion, where is the harm?
If one word of encour
agement can discourage a
student from committing a
violent act, what is the
problem?
If one acknowledgement
of God can create a better
haps some of the nation’s
mind boggling problems,
like how to deal with the
country’s troubled teens,
would be solved and our
schools improved.
Theses same views can
be applied to CAU stu
dents. By this being a
religious-based university,
more students should take
advantage of the inspira
tional outlets offered here,
such as Chapel service or
services at a neighborhood
church.
Attending a religious event
will not solve all problems;
but, perhaps it will offer
some positive perspectives
to difficult situations many
students face. *" ’
morning, Christian students - learning environment-, per-*