Newspaper Page Text
2 | THE MAROON TIGER
WEDNESDAY. OCTOBER 15, 2003
News
THE COLLEGE
Sharpton: urges students to
vote in upcoming election
“Blacks are more economically and
politically empowered than before,
yet we are not as organized and
focused... ” - Al Sharpton
♦
SHARPTON continued from page 1
“Blacks are more economically
and politically empowered than before
yet we are not as organized and
focused,” he commented. Almost as a
call to arms, Sharpton urged every
student to register to vote before leaving.
“We’ve got to vote to be represented in
the political process.”
Rev. Sharpton also took the
opportunity to advertise his bid for the
Democratic slot in the 2004 presidential
candidacy. A fierce opponent of the
incumbent President George W. Bush,
Sharpton quickly established the
shortcomings of the current
administration. Citing Bush's
inattention to minority concerns, he
proposed that the issues facing the
contemporary Black generation deal not
with Civil Rights but with economic
disparity, health crises, and criminal
activity.
Sharpton’s solutions involve
political reform. He proposed three new
amendments: (1) the universal right to
public education of equal high quality;
(2) the right to health care for every
citizen; and (3) the unadulterated right
Vi 4'
COURTESY OF WWW.OBV.ORG.UK
to vote. In reference to his last
proposition, Sharpton explained that the
Voting Rights Act did not completely
secure suffrage for all legal adults. He
did, however, go into depth in terms of
providing specialized programs or
methods for implementing his ideas.
Following his well-received
lecture, Sharpton entertained questions
from audience members for almost an
hour. The spectators held nothing back
and asked specific questions concerning
Sharpton’s solutions to issues such as
reparations and affirmative action.
Others inquired about his plans to
resolve the conflicts in Iraq and Liberia,
and his opinion on the "economic rape
of the third world nations.”
Sharpton’s responses to all the
inquiries centered on the theme of
internal reassessment and reform of
America’s political infrastructure.
Most audience members agreed
that the entire forum was substantive and
informative, providing an uncommon
chance for students and voters to hear
the presidential candidate.
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Cancer: Morehouse continues tradition,
walks for cure
CANCER continued from page 1
by Demond Drummer
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
When surveying the human map
of Morehouse College, one can
readily find a number of students,
faculty, and staff who are dedicated
to addressing the problem of breast
cancer. From performing advanced
biomedical research, to raising funds,
to working to raise public awareness,
the Morehouse community is actively
conscious of the issue of breast
cancer.
Breast cancer is a disease
characterized by the uncontrolled
growth of abnormal cells in breast
tissue; if allowed to proliferate to
other parts of the body, breast cancer
can eventually result in death.
Accounting for at least one third of
all cancers diagnosed in women,
breast cancer is the second most
common cancer among women in the
United States (skin cancer being
number one). Although 94 percent
of women diagnosed with breast
cancer are over the age 40, recent
statistics show that the incidence of
breast cancer in younger
demographics is rapidly increasing.
According to the American
Cancer Society, an estimated 211,300
women and 1,300 men will be
diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003
alone. Additionally, more than
40,000 women will die from the
disease in the same year. Compared
to women of other ethnicities, African
American women are more likely to
die from breast cancer after being
diagnosed. Currently, there is no
guaranteed way to prevent or cure
breast cancer.
In light of the reported statistics
and trends, it is not difficult to see why
breast cancer would be an issue of
concern for members of the
Morehouse community. Statistics
aside, however, such concern often
stems from a personal experience
with the disease.
Ulysses Burley III, a junior from
Houston Texas, lost his mother to
breast cancer when he was ten years
old. The experience prompted Burley
to decide at an early age to dedicate
his life to cancer research. In the
summer following his junior year of
high school, Burley participated in a
pre-college science program directed
by Dr. David Cooke, Chair of the
Morehouse College Biology
Department. Under the tutelage of Dr.
Duane Johnson, who now teaches at
Dillard University, Burley researched
ways to counter the proliferation of
breast cancer cells.
"The experience had such an
impact on me that I decided to attend
Morehouse College for my
undergraduate studies,” said Burley,
a Packard Scholar. “Morehouse, as
well as the Packard Scholarship, has
helped me to reach a level of cancer
research I thought I would not attain
until graduate school.” Burly has had
the opportunity research at some of
the finest institutions in the country,
including the Baylor College of
Medicine and Northwestern
University, all with the intent of
solving the riddle of the disease that
took his mother’s life.
Ulysses Burley, however, is not
alone; several students at Morehouse
have women in their lives who are
either living with or have passed as a
result cancer. Benjamin Jones, a
junior English major from Memphis
Tennessee, lost both his mother and
a maternal aunt to breast cancer.
"Breast cancer runs in my
family,” said Jones, “so it’s personal
for me.” Jones, a member of the Pi
Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi
Fraternity, Inc., worked to involve his
fraternity in a fundraising effort for
the Fourth Annual Morehouse
College Breast Cancer Awareness
Walk, held on Saturday October 11.
The Annual Morehouse College
Breast Cancer Awareness Walk, a
relatively new chapter in the canon
of Morehouse tradition, is the only
such walk among historically black
colleges and universities and one of
very few in the nation. The walk is
aimed at fighting breast cancer on
both the individual and collective
fronts - to heighten awareness and to
raise funds for research.
The Annual Morehouse College
Breast Cancer Awareness Walk is the
brainchild and passion of Sandra
Walker, executive assistant to the Vice
President for Business and Finance.
Walker always saw breast cancer as
a serious issue for African American
women. However, after being
diagnosed herself in 2000, Walker
became devoted to raising breast
cancer awareness in her community.
“I made a personal commitment
to inform as many people as I could
about breast cancer,” said Walker,
who submitted a proposal for the
annual walk in that same spirit. “I was
proud that the administration of the
college was in full support of the
event.”
According to Walker, President
Walter and Mrs. Shirley Massey have
shown enthusiastic support by
participating in the event every year.
Through the annual walk, Morehouse
has raised more than $40,000 for the
American Cancer Society’s Making
Strides Against Breast Cancer
campaign. All funds are donated on
behalf of Chandra Price, a former
employee of the college who was lost
to cancer in 2002.
And so, if the question of
whether a relatively small liberal arts
college for men can be actively
conscious of an issue that primarily
affects women ever arises, there can
be no doubt that Morehouse’s answer
would be a resounding “yes.”
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