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Leaders of Tomorrow! APRIL/MAY 1998 MBC Wolverine OBSERVER 21
In My Opinion
Please Support Our
Non-Athletic Teams
Carvel Bennett
Director Student Activities & Student
Publications/ Columnist
W hile I am sitting here
writing this article, the
college’s administration
(and I guess some time within the
next few weeks, the college’s Board
of Trustees) is meeting to de
bate/discuss the issue of the budget
for the 1998-99 academic year. As
one of several Directors, I along with
other Deans, Department Chairs,
and Vice Presidents have submitted
budget proposals to be considered at
this important meeting. I am hoping
that not onely does this article get
read by the decision makers, but
that the decision regarding budgets
has not already been made by the
time this is published.
In my proposal, I have included
funding for several non-athletic
teams, academic-related extra
curricular activities and student
leadership related activities and
programs. This was a relatively
good year for our athletic program,
with one football player being
drafted to the NFL, but it was an
outstanding year for non-athletics
teams and programs. The Model
United Nations/Organization for Af
rican Unity team won first place at
their competition in Cambridge
(University), England. The Honda
Campus All*Star Challenge team
ended with a 5-2 win/loss record,
placing in the top 20 of 64 colleges in
competition. Blackmale Dance Team
placed 2 nd at the National Black
College Cheerleading and Dance
Competition, and won the Best Cho
reography award for the second year
in a row, Ecstacy Dance team placed
3 rd , and the Morris Brown College
Cheerleading Team placed 2 nd in the
Cheerleading Division. The
Brownite Yearbook won first place
for best college yearbook, and the
Wolverine Observer newspaper took
first place for best college newspaper
and first place for feature articles at
the 47 th Annual Southern Regional
Press Institute held at Savannah
State University. I am sure there
were some other outstanding accom
plishments made by other non-
athletic teams that I am not aware
of, and I salute them.
My plea to the Administrative
Council and the Board of Trustees is
simple...please support the budget
request for non-athletic teams.
These teams do not participate in an
Olympic arena on Saturday evenings,
nor do they have a band and cheer
leaders routing for them on the side
lines, but it does not diminish their
hard work and tireless effort. Often
times they get no support from their
fellow students, and when they leave
for competition few people know.
Despite all this, they return to the
campus with trophies and awards.
It is time the entire campus com
munity take heed and support ALL
our teams. As we take visiting
groups on tours of the campus these
teams should be talked about and
their accomplishments made known.
The Model UN/OAU team were am
bassadors in England, Blackmale
and Ecstacy Dance teams repre
sented the college well on Good Day
Atlanta, and our newspaper and
yearbook have now set the standards
in collegiate journalism. One
couldn’t ask for more from these stu
dents.
As we debate the budget and set
about questioning the figures,
please, consider the contributions to
the college these young people have
made as they represented us (and
have won in many cases) at these
various competitions around the
state, country and world. Many of
these teams participate not just in
regional competitions, but compete
in national tournaments and against
schools that would be considered Di
vision one in NCAA terms.
As the coach of three of these
teams and the advisor to the Wolver
ine Observer I trust that all teams
(athletic and non-athletic) will re
ceive some consideration this year as
we all strive to take Morris Brown
College to the forefront of higher
education into the next millennium.
Generation K Apathetic?
Spring Break Activities
Say Otherwise
F or a few weeks in late March,
college students scatter the
globe in search of sun, fun,
and... houses to build? That’s right,
the last string of the “X Generation”
entered college this Fall, and is
expected to continue a trend that has
blown the myth of an “apathetic,
selfish” generation wide open. More
students than ever, over 15,000 in
YEAR 2028 CONTINUED
the same the day before, but it was
very intriguing and interesting that
we got such a close approach. I don’t
think the new calculation that NASA
got will change again.”
“There are so many predictions on
how the world will end, not really
knowing what God has in store for
us. When will these people stop
trying to tell the future and work
on wl^at is happening today (now),
so who’s to say that the second
prediction is correct. I will just keep
my faith in God, and pray that the
correction stands true.’ Said Nicola
Hosier an Office Assistant working
at The Economic Development
Center at Morris Brown College.”
“I wish that organization would
verify things a little more before
they go public with it, because some
people value this time they have on
this earth” said Alpha Harris, a
cashier at Eckard Drug Store.
1997, are skipping South Padre and
Ft. Lauderdale and setting off to
perform community service
anywhere from Maine to Lima.
Service- oriented, or Alternative
Spring Breaks (ASB), began popping
up in the mid eighties, according to
Ann Schimke, author of Great
Escapes: The Spring Breaker’s
Guide to Beaches and Beyond. “In
1991, two enterprising graduates of
Vanderbilt University decided
Alternative Spring Break needed an
agent, somebody to encourage and
promote it,” says Schimke. “They
filled the position by forming a non
profit called Breakaway: the
Alternative Break Connection.” In
1997 Breakaway helped organize
over 350 ASB programs at colleges
nationwide, from swamp restoration
to soup kitchen duty. In addition,
service organizations including
Oxfam America, Habitat for
Humanity, and Christmas in April,
operate Alternative Spring Breaks of
their own.
Accommodations and rations on
ASB’s are less than luxurious, but
the experience, say ASB alumni, is
well worth the sacrifice. “In that
week, we learned a lot about each
other and life. Strangers became
friends; friends became even closer”
says Jason Re of St. Anselm’s
College, one of many student
contributors who tell their spring
break tales in Great Escapes.
Some students choose to help their
fellow GenX’ers during break.
Although the typical “wet days,
wetter nights” theory of spring break
drinking remains, the “MTV
Generation” is once again proving
more responsible than given credit
for. Bacchus and Gamma, two
organizations run by college
students, promote safe drinking
behavior during spring break.
Student organizers descend on
Panama City and south Padre Island
and set up breach events, such as
rock climbing and bungee jumping.
They hope these “natural highs” will
dilute students’ focus on alcohol, and
provide a captive audience for spring
break safety tips. In Panama City,
Daytona Beach, Key West, and Lake
Havasu, students from Beach Reach
offer free rides to breakers who over
indulge. The initiative, founded by
the Southern Baptist Convention,
also plans pancake breakfasts and
nightly Beach Express Coffeehouses
during spring break.
Does all this mean the “Baby
Busters” are foregoing typical spring
break activities? Certainly not, but
they are branching out. Ski trips, or
“Snow Goose Getaways,” as Schimke
dubs them, are gaining popularity.
Mountains in Vermont, Quebec,
Colorado, Wyoming and California
are attracting breakers who like
their sun and fun reflected off a little
powder.
Europe, Jamaica, the Bahamas,
and Mexico are still seeing their
share of spring break action. Start
up airlines offer cheap spring break
rates and all-inclusive deals with
area hotels, making leaving the
country a more affordable
proposition.
Other students are throwing some
gear in a backpack and hitting the
open trail. Members of the
Intercollegiate Outing club
Association plan hiking and camping
breaks at hundreds of colleges. Says
Schimke, “Spring break in the 1990’s
is as likely to mean white water
rafting or a drive to the Grand
Canyon, as it is ‘wasting away in
Mar garitaville’.”
These programs, destinations, and
more are described in Great Escapes,
along with plenty of trip ideas and
inspiration. Schimke also addresses
those not-so-fun spring break issues:
date rape, drugs, alcohol poisoning,
and the perils of casual sex. Her
advice is straightforward, accurate,
and easy to digest. You may read
free excerpts, and order on-line at
http://www.octameron.com.
Jerry
Springer
Show
by Monique L. Jennings
m
ilthy film/esZ: Unsafe
sex, love triangles, Laura
May’s husband Billy Bob
gets his mistress pregnant and other
dirty little secrets.
Dysfunctional families and
screaming audiences is that what
everybody loves about the Jerry
Springer Show? I wonder what it’s
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