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The Organ of Student Expression Since 1925
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Morehouse College • Atlanta, GA
March 28 - April 3, 2012
Volume LXXXVI, issue 18
AUC Students March for Trayvon Martin
Cydney Fisher
Staff Writer
cydney. fisher @gmail. com
T he Atlanta University Center is tired.
On Monday, Mar. 26, students from all
AUC institutions marched to the Georgia
State Capitol to demand justice and equality
for the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
They joined thousands of other protesters who
all appeared to be exhausted of being stereo
typed and treated poorly by the majority of the
American population.
As they walked to the capitol, there was a
rush of excitement that ignited the crowd.
Chants of “I am Trayvon” and “We want justice
now,” swarmed the air. The hundreds of stu
dents were in a hurried frenzy, eager to make
a difference.
This event was sponsored by the Intercolle
giate Action Network (iCAN) with Morehouse
junior sociology major Spanky Edwards,
Morehouse’s Senior Class Council, the Martin
Luther King Jr. Chapel Assistants, and the Stu
dent Government Associations of Morehouse,
Spelman, Clark Atlanta University, and Morris
Brown among other organizations. These stu
dent-run organizations have given permission
to their peers to fight for what is right.
“The rally was intended to get people con
cerned, involved, and aware of some of the in
justices this country continues to ignore, and
I believe that it did just that,” Jason Culmer, a
junior at Morehouse College, said.
Various speakers were sharing their words,
inspiring the diverse crowd in attendance.
However, many believe there was a lack of true
inertia; many things were being said, but there
was no action to back them up.
Morehouse senior philosophy major Ra-
shad Moore believes differently, citing that the
death of Trayvon will not be in vain.
“Something deep inside of me thinks that if
this case does not swing towards justice, there
will be hell,” Moore said in response to future
advocacy for justice.
Overall, many feel equally that Martins
death was truly tragic, but was needed to ig
nite the fire that will help the black community
finish their fight for equality. Deemed a crucial
mark in this fight for equality, if justice does
not prevail, namely the arrest of Martins killer,
George Zimmerman, based on the comments
of speakers at the rally; it will be the beginning
of something truly explosive within the racial
ties in America.
Morehouse Debate Team Finishes
Season 16th in the Nation
Lance Dixon
Managing Editor
SUSTAINABILITY
CORN
Saving the Honey Bees
ldixon2012@gmail.com
P resident Robert Frank
lin has shouted them out
for their participation in the
Nations Classics exhibition
debate against Howard Uni
versity, and you might know
that Morehouse has a team,
but this team’s success extends
far beyond that. In his first
year as director of Morehouse
College’s Speech and Debate
Team, Professor Ken Newby
has been able to turn compet
itors into champions.
“I took over the program in
August... I only had a week to
work with students to prepare
them for that competition,”
Newby said.
The exhibition against How
ard was the first of many com
petitions for the team, who
refers to Newby as “Coach.”
The team has grown from
eight members last academic
year, under the leadership of
Dr. Christian Norman, to 20
members who have competed
in multiple competitions as
a part of the National Parlia
mentary Debate Association
(NPDA). The team finished
16th in the NPDA rankings
among 227 colleges and uni
versities nationally, including
top 10 ranked schools like
Texas Tech and the University
of Oregon.
“One of our goals for the
year was to reach the top 20
and we’ve done that,” Newby
said. “Hopefully, next year we
will reach the top 10 and a na
tional championship.”
After attending a practice
that the team held prior to
their most recent competition
on Mar. 16-18, the Pi Kappa
Delta Nationals in Kansas
City, Miss., it became clear
that the team is full of energy
and has a great rapport with
Newby. Their trip was made
possible thanks to Dr. Tobe
Johnson through the Mar
garet Mitchell Fund, Presi
dent Franklin’s office, and the
Morehouse SGA Senate. The
team reached the octafinal
round of the competition and
finished 9th in the nation on
a 2-1 decision—a tough loss
considering the team was the
second seed coming out of the
preliminary rounds.
Additionally, freshman de
bater Curtis O’Neal placed
second out of 76 speakers in
the novice division in parlia
mentary debate and his part
ner, junior Byron Granberry,
was the fifth best speaker.
Other results included junior
Franklin Kwame Weldon as
the fifth best speaker out of
36 speakers in the JV divi
sion of parliamentary debate
and freshman Raheem Coo
per-Thomas as the ninth best
speaker out of 38 speakers in
novice international public
debate.
“[Those were] pretty great
results considering the fact
See DEBATE, page 2 ►
Jordon Nesmith
Associate Campus News Editor
jnesmith 17@gmail.com
A s some of us may have
learned under the tute
lage of Ms. Frizzle and her
magic school bus, honey bees
play a major role in the pro
duction of many crops grown
by our society. However, in
the past five years 30 to 70
percent of honey bee hives
have become vacant, which
has left bee keepers and scien
tists alike perplexed.
Honey bees pollinate a col
lection of crops, ranging from
apples to zucchini and a vari
ety of others in between. This
recent mass decline of honey
bees, which is labeled Colony
Collapse Disorder (CCD),
will not only affect the level
of diversity among bees, but
also weaken the amount of
food production in the United
States and abroad.
Although no conclusive de
cision has been made for what
has caused such a widespread
disappearance of honey bees,
some contributing factors
have been documented. These
factors include malnutrition,
immunodeficiencies, mites,
fungus, pathogens, pesticides,
electromagnetic radiation,
and flawed beekeeping prac
tices. Recent research suggests
that CCD may be an effect of
more than one of these fac
tors.
While there have been fac
tors that have led to the low
populations of honey bees in
E R
the United States and other
parts of the world, it is be
lieved that the extensive use
of pesticides are among the
foremost contributing factors,
which could potentially make
this an instance of human er
ror.
The mystery of the honey
bees is still under investi
gation, but as a cautionary
warning, now seems like a
good a time to become more
concerned with the practices
of our society and whether
they support preservation
of life, insect, and human or
not. For more information on
this subject, the documentary,
“Vanishing of Bees,” provide
additional insight. Please con
tinue, everyone, to THINK
GREEN!
Morehouse
Supports Trayvon
Martin Case
Donnell Williamson
Contributing Writer
donnellwilliamsonjr@yahoo.com
Y oung, black and suspicious is what
they saw him as, yet he was just a
young, ambitious, black male unable to
fulfill his ultimate destiny. With the news
rampaging on the televisions and the
campus “fired up” and ready to fight for
justice, Morehouse students have begun
to support the Trayvon Martin case.
Over a month ago, Trayvon Martin, a
young 17-year-old black male, was walk
ing the streets out of a gated commu
nity in Florida, when the neighborhood
watchman, George Zimmerman, began
to pursue him. Martin was carrying a
bag of Skittles and a can of iced tea. He
was also wearing a hoodie. The watch
man called 911 and told them that there
was a “real suspicious” young man walk-
See TRAYVON, page 2 ►
inside track
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