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The Organ of Student Expression Since 1925 ^MAROO 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 News 1 World & Local. Music Industry Game Changers Sparks In the Dark AUC Artist Spotlight 3 Business & Tech 4 Features 6 Opinions ..8 A&E 10 Sports. .12 p. 6 p. 8 p. 11 on the web % www.themaroontiger.com www.twitter.com/themaroontiger {jf Recycle The Maroon Tiger