Newspaper Page Text
March 19, 1979
The Maroon Tiger
Page 2
Spelman Coronation A Success
by Sheron L. Covington
The first annual Spelman Coro
nation was held February 8, at 8:00
in Howe Hall. This affair was a
refreshing alternative from the
highly celebrated Morehouse coro-
t nation, and allowed the various
class courts and the Blue & White
court to be presented to the Spel-
‘ man student body. The stated pur
pose of the coronation was to
“present a non-verbal expression
of the development of a man-our
King.” This purpose was well dem-
j onstrated through the pantomines
I that were done by each class court.
The idea of a Spelman coronation
was the brain-child of Ms. Karen
t Graham, Ms. Natalie Nelson and
Ms. A1 Michelle Burke, who along
with many others exerted great
efforts to ensure its success.
The program began with the
Freshmen court, which communi
cated the idea of THOUGHT. This
court was made up of Johnny
Thompson, Kenneth Shipp, Alfred
‘Chip’ Johnson and Maynard
Scarborough as Mr. Freshman.
The Sophomore court of Dedrick
Lewis, Ellis Washington and Daryl
Renfro
by Curtis Sharif
5 Pioneer—The word conjurs
visions of rough, tough men grap
pling with the tangles and bram-
i bles of a wild untamed land. And
somehow—though not without
bumps and bruises; ups and
downs; victories and defeats;
i through the sheer force of resolute-
1
ness and determination—the pio
neer succeeds. He triumphs. He
conquers all obstacles in his path
till at last he stands—fist on hips,
j his face windswept, reflecting the
rays of the setting sun—on the
mountain of success. Surveying his
domain. Well pleased.
Chico Renfro is a man who fills
that word—pioneer—to its fullest.
His frontier, however, is not one of
wood and beasts and war parties.
But of stadiums, playing fields,
gymnasiums, professional leagues,
athletic conferences, video and
audio air waves.
Indeed, in 1976, Chico was offi
cially cited as a media pioneer by .
the Atlanta Association of Black
journalists.
But like any true frontiersman, a
job done is but another begun for
Chico and the trailblazing efforts
that led to that award have since
been dwarfed by later
achievements.
An outspoken, uncompromising
man of principle, he is. To a fault,
think some. But not Chico.
Speaking before a group of mass
communication students at Clark
■ College, Renfro related an incident
that displays the character of the
man. While working as a radio
sportcaster, he said, he was offered
a sportcastingjob on network tele
vision as a color man. He turned
the offer down. Why?"Because I'm
not a color man. I’m a play-by-play
man. And I'm a better play-by-play
man than all of those white guys
Mr. Blue and White, LeGree Holman, dons crown septre.
Mr. Sophomore, Darryl Dixon show off his strength.
Dixon as Mr. Sophomore, dis
played actions of FORMULA
TION in their performance. The
junior court, which consists of five
members, James Jackson, Ike
Mullins, ZelmerBothic, Lee Steph
ens and Victor Thomas as Mr.
Junior, enacted a skit which
revolved around the ideas of
TESTING. The Senior court —
Joel Boykin, Kevin Mason and
Arelious Wilson as Mr. Senior
presented an act on the theme of
ACCEPTANCE. The finale was
the spotlighted entrance of the
Blue & White court — Antonio
Bolton and Brom Williams and the
crowning of Mr. Blue & White,
LeGree Holman by the lovely Ms.
Maroon & White, Ms. Jerri
DeVard. The coronation was fol
lowed by the Blue & White Ball,
which was held the following Fri
day night at the Colony Square
Hotel.
Is A Pioneer
they have doing it. So they refused
to let me do play-by-play. And I
refused the job.”
A student suggested that per
haps a better course of action
would have been to compromise
and accept the lesser position to
“get your foot in the door.”
“I guess there’s something to be
said for ‘getting your foot in the
door,”’ Chico mused. “Maybe I
should have given up something-
but I didn’t.” He smiled as he
turned for the next question.
An idle boast? Another case of
‘sour grapes’? For some maybe, but
not for Chico.
The inquisitive student probably
did not know it, but two weeks
prior Chico Renfro participated in
the first televised game ever played
by art Atlanta University Center
team—as play-by-play man.
Nearly three million viewers saw
the Morris Brown College-
Bethune Cookman game.
And aside from performing the
broadcast duties for the game,
Chico singlehandedly persuaded
WTCG (Channel 17) station owner
Ted Turner and program director
Sid Pike to televise the game.
(Chico hosts a weekly football
show on Channel 17 during the
football season. During the base
ball season he is the official score-
keeper for the Atlanta Braves
Baseball Club which Turner also
owns.)
End of story? Not quite, follow
ing the Morris Brown game Renfro
again convinced Turner to teleyise
the upcoming Southern Intercolle
giate Athletic Conference (SIAC)
championship basketball finals in
Tallahassee. Florida.
“Turner agreed to do the pro
gram as a public service,” Renfro
related. “1 was glad to get the game
televised. But I asked myself‘why
does he have to give us anything?
Black people are consumers. Why
can’t advertisers sponsor this pro
gram like another program?’
“So I took the program to Mac
Donalds, Coca Cola, and some
beverage companies. I’ve sold
SI 1,000 worth of time already and
I’ll have another $11,000 before the
game is televised. This will be the
first time in years that the SIAC
Tournament will make money.”
So will Chico rest, now that he
has won yet another victory?—not
Chico. For even now he is fighting
for future goals—for SIAC games
to be televised on a regular sche
duled basis; for high school games
to be broadcast on racjio; for man
agement positions in professional
sports; for sportcasting jobs in the
broadcast booths; and the list goes
on.
“You’ve got to fight for what you
want, and you get no more than
what you fight for, Chico says.
But for how long, Chico?
To answer that question, simply
tune in to Chico’s next broadcast
and you’ll hear him say, at the end,
“...and remember sports fans —
the game of life is never over until
the final whistle has blown.”
THANKS...
FOR
HELPING
PEOPLE
HELP
THEMSEIVES.
THE
UNITED
vast.
Carl Merkerson, Director of Food Services.
Behind The Counter
by Reginald Scott
and
Juan Dunlap
A recent interview with More
house cafeteria food director Carl
Merkerson, proved to be honest
and quite informative. In the inter
view with Merkerson the Tiger was
informed that the cafeteria serves
over nine hundred students daily at
a cost of $1,035.00. Merkerson
stated that 15% of this cost goes
toward beverage drink alone.
Though the cost is high Merkerson
states that he is still able to serve
nutritious meals. Merkerson made
further comments saying “If the
students would not take utensils
from the cafeteria the money used
for replacing them could be used to
buy more varieties of food. We
spend over $3,200 yearly to replace
glasses, silverware, plates and even
chairs.” Merkerson made the com
ment “If the students would take
up theirtrays more money could be
concentrated on food.” He
explained that when trays are left
on the tables the employees are
paid “overtime,” because their job
ends when the cafeteria closes after
meals have been served. Another
way Merkerson feels he could con
centrate more money on food pur
chases is to ban all off-campus
students from the cafeteria. He
stated that they are the primary
ones who take utensils from the
cafeteria or take meals without
paying for them.
Merkerson made mention that
he has several ideas for increasing
the efficiency of the cafeteria. He
would like to increase the number
of work-study students he hasfrom
three to eighteen, thus increasing
man-power by 20%. With these
extra students Merkerson could
form a food assembly line. Individ
uals could prepare the food while
others served and others cleaned
trays. He would also like to have
music, soft music, played during
serving hours which is done at
Spelman College. Merkerson
finally commented on changing
cafeteria serving hours. Though
reluctant to suggest possible hours
he did agree with the Tiger to serve
breakfast between 7:00-9:00; lunch
from 11:30-2:00; and dinner from
5:00 to 6:30. These hours propose a
more convenient time for both the
students and employees. Until such
time changes are made Merkerson
suggests that all late students
should see him to receive a meal
and that the cafeteria will imple
ment a five minute “grace period”
for students who are late for meals.