Newspaper Page Text
THE MAROON TIGER
Serving as The Organ of Student Expression for Morehouse College Since 1925
Vol LXXV No. X
"And let it all be done."
Thursday, March 27, 2003
Our one and only question:
WE
WANT
PEACE
'I WAR MOVEMENT
VERSITV OF PHAKA
Inside The Tiger
ELECTION 2003 PREVIEW
Meet the Candidates pg 4&5
Ten greatest moments in
Morehouse Sports pg 10.
Why are we marching
Perspectives pg. 8
Paige brings ‘Bush Pouncs’ to Morehouse
Colin Hosten
Campus News Editor
During his visit to
Morehouse College, Educa
tion Secretary Rob Paige spent
much of his address either
defending or supporting the
educational policies of the
Bush Administration. Affir
mative action, poor teacher
salaries, and increasing un
employment among college
graduates are just some of
the topics that Secretary
Paige addressed while
speaking to an audience that
included students, faculty
and various Georgia educa
tors.
The main focus of
Dr. Paige's address was the
education policy adopted by
the Bush administration
titled "No Child Left Be
hind," which was also the
subject of his presentation.
Dr. Paige was full of praise
for the policy, which, he
said, would result in vast
improvements in the overall
American education system.
Saying that we live
in a "new world with new
challenges," Secretary Paige
noted that the segregationist
policies that governed Ameri
can life in decades past, recall
ing his own experience grow
ing up in a racially segregated
Mississippi, still exist today
but in a different form. Ac
cording to the Secretary, race
rather than education is the di
viding factor today.
According to Dr. Paige,
the U.S. has been lagging behind
other countries, many of which
have recognized the need to in
ticking, Dr. Paige detailed the
improvements in education
policy and funding that the Bush
team had made when compared
to previous administrations,
such as increased funding for
childhood schooling, he said that
the only reason he enrolled in
college (Jackson State Univer
sity) was because, he "liked to
breathe—my parents would have
killed me otherwise."
Hosten/STAFF
Morehouse student Ashley Stewart presents US Secretary of Education, Dr.
Rod Paigewith a Morehouse sweater. In the middle is Executive Director of
the Morehouse Leadership Center, Dr. Walter Fluker.
crease their education funding.
He continued to say that for too
long in this country, certain chil
dren have been "expected to
fail." The "No Child Left Be
hind" policy, however, is meant
to put an end to such practices.
Getting into some poli-
special education, tripled fund
ing for reading programs, and a
$305 million increase in educa
tion funding for Georgia.
He further spoke of the
necessity of parental involve
ment in a child's educational
success. Describing his own
Speak
ing on the im
portance of
Morehouse, Dr.
Paige noted
that students
here must al
ways be mind
ful of the thou
sands of black
people who do
not have the op
portunity to at
tend such a
prestigious in
stitution.
"It's
not enough to
just get a great
education, any
more," Dr.
Paige said.
"Morehouse
men should be
measured by
what they do
with the educa
tion they get,
not just for
themselves, but for others."
Concerning HBCUs in
general, however, Dr. Paige
stated that such schools must be
prepared to meet a world of in
creasing challenges, especially in
light of the decreasing number
of advantages for black people.
During the question and answer
period, Dr. Paige was asked
about one such advantage, affir
mative action, given recent state
ments by President Bush against
such practices at the University
of Michigan.
Saying that the goal of
affirmative action to increase di
versity was desirable and neces
sary in America, "even in the
University of Michigan," Dr.
Paige asserted that such goals
could be achieved by other, more
efficient means. He cited the ex
ample of Texas, home state of
President Bush, where the use of
race as a criterion for admission
to schools of higher education is
against the law. Instead, the ten
percent plan is used, granting
any student who graduates in
the top ten percent of his or her
class automatic entry into any
public Texas university. Paige
said that since that program was
implemented, the level of racial
diversity at the University of
Texas has grown tremendously.
Paige, incidentally, is the
first African American to hold
the post of U.S. Secretary of Edu
cation.
Another student wanted
to know the solution for increas
ing unemployment among col
lege graduates. Paige said that
there was one profession expe
riencing a severe shortage in cer
tain areas that would welcome
all interested college graduates-
See SECRETARY pg 9