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Sports with Walter Moore
The Savannah Tribune • Wednesday, June 17, 2009 -11
Walter Moore
SSU Ready For
MEAC Visit
As Savannah State
University gears up for a visit
from officials from the Mid-
Eastern Athletic Conference
(MEAC), this writer sat
down with Dr. Earl
Yarbrough (SSU president),
Dr. Claud Flythe (SSU vice
president of administration)
and Bart Bellairs (SSU ath
letics director) last week to
ask questions about SSU's
preparation for the upcoming
visit.
1- What will conference
affiliation do for SSU?
YARBROUGH- “Rivalries
will be developed and teams
will have a chance to com
pete for conference champi
onships. It also gives SSU a
chance to support the pro
gram. It’s hard to get moti
vated with no title to play
for.” FLYTHE- “It helps
level the student playing
field. It gives students the
opportunity to compete with
peer institutions. Being inde
pendent does not offer the
same opportunity. It also
helps the alumni base con
nect with their peers. Many
SSU alumni work with and
socialize with alumni from
FAMU, Bethune and SC
State. It will also help with
the traveling costs and will
allow our students to stay
close to home.” BELLAIRS-
“It puts you in line with great
academic institutions.” 2-
Are there any concerns on
your end as SSU prepares
for the upcoming MEAC
site visit? YARBROUGH-
“No, I don’t have any con
cerns.” FLYTHE- “This is
the end of the 4th quarter. We
can't afford to relax now. We
will have some concern until
they leave but we believe
things will be positive.”
BELLAIRS- “The ground
work has been done. The
administration did a great job
in preparing. I'm proud of
what the coaches have done.
Volleyball and softball set
school records for most wins
in a season and the men's bas
ketball team had their first
winning season in over 20
years." 3- Why does SSU
want to join the MEAC?
BELLAIRS- “If they
(MEAC) went to divisional
play, it would be perfect for
SSU.” 4- If SSU does not
join the MEAC are there
other options that might be
pursued for conference
affiliation? FLYTHE- “We
need to be in a conference.
When we arrived, SSU was
already committed to staying
in Division I and joining the
MEAC. There is no option to
go back to Division II.”
YARBROUGH- “It will be a
group decision. We will sit
down with those involved in
athletics and decide what is
best for the university. We
will decide as a group.” 5-
What is the current athlet
ics deficit? FLYTHE-“ I
refer the question to Mr.
(Edward) Jolley, the universi
ty vice president for fiscal
affairs.” When asked about
the deficit, Jolley replied “the
current operating deficit is
$270,000. That number could
decrease since we have
another session of summer
school to go and an increase
in enrollment may bring
down that number.” 6-
SSU’s athletic budget is
about $2.5 million. What
type of activities are being
planned to increase support
of athletics in terms of
scholarships, marketing
and attendance? FLYTHE-
“The budget is more than
2.5m, although we won’t say
how much more. We need the
support of everyone. This
cannot be done by the admin
istration alone. We will need
continued support from the
alumni, community, students
and businesses.”
YARBROUGH- “We will
National HIV Testing
Day
Saturday, June 27 is
National HIV Testing Day.
Free, confidential test
ing, with anonymous results
will be held here in
Savannah.
Testing begins at 9am
until the last consumer
exits.
Testing will take place at
My Brothaz HOME, Inc.
2111 Price Street Savannah,
GA 31401-
Free giveaways
including food, drinks and
other door prizes.
HIV Testing and
Counseling enables people
with HIV to take steps to
protect their own health and
that of their partners, and
helps people who test nega
tive get information they
need to stay uninfected.
Additional informa
tion about the Take Charge,
Get Tested events in
Savannah can be found by
calling My Brothaz HOME,
Inc. at 912-231-8727.
In your area, visit
www.hivtest.org to locate
the nearest testing site or
available community
resources.
Program funded in part
by the Georgia Department
of Human Resources, HIV
Essential Services, Public
Welfare Foundation and the
City of Savannah.
My Brothaz HOME,
Inc. (MBH) is a grassroots
community-based organiza
tion located in Savannah,
Georgia.
The organization was
founded in April 2000 in
direct response to the
HIV/AIDS epidemic in
Savannah.
AWOL ..continued from page 9
This year we are so lucky
to have on board the
Chatham County Youth
Commission as a lead sponsor
for this event.
The Chatham County
Youth Commission's mission
is to provide the youth of
Chatham County with a vehi
cle to leam about government,
participate in the process and
to represent and
articulate the needs of youth in
the County.
beat the bushes and talk to
everyone we can, to raise
money. The guarantee games
will also help out. Once you
join the MEAC, the schedul
ing problems will go away
and we will play teams our
fans are familiar with.” BEL
LAIRS- "We have got to be
creative because of the econ
omy." 7- What is the uni
versity’s position and per
ception of Gender Equity as
it relates to Title IX? FLY
THE- “Title IX is mandated
by state and federal law.”
BELLAIRS- “We have made
giant strides. We have dedi
cated a big portion of our
enrollment increase and stu
dent fee increase to help Title
IX. We surveyed the students
in the spring to get a feel of
what type sports they want. If
you have three assistant men's
basketball coaches you must
have three assistants for the
women's basketball team, no
matter if they are male or
female.”
Bradley Selected to Attend
Congressional
Leadership Conference
Lawrence Bradley, Jr. a
student at A.E. Beach High
School, has been selected to
attend the 2009
Congressional Student
Leadership Conference
(CSLC) on Engineering and
Robotics sponsored by
LeadAmerica. The CSLC
is a college-accredited invi
tational leadership program
for academically talented
and promising young leaders
from accross the United
States and internationally.
Lawrence will join
other exceptional high
school students with records
of academic achievement
who are invited to partici
pate.
The Conference is a 10-
day leadership program in
which students will explore
the potentials and challenges
in some of the most dynamic
technologies. The confer
ence will take place on the
campus of John Hopkins
University in Baltimore,
Maryland.
“In going to this con
ference, I plan to increase
my knowledge in the
Engineering field and use
this experience to help me
prepare for college and my
future”, Bradley said.
Lawrence Bradley, Jr. is the
son of Lawrence K. Bradley,
Sr. ( A.E. Beach ‘84), and
Patricia A. Bradley.
OGLETHORPE REALTY
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Savannah, Georgia 31405
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The event features food,
live music and more.
Copies of the PRO
JECTS album will be avail
able for sale at the event.
AWOL’s sound design
program and the Lake Bash
are possible thanks to support
from the Chatham County
Youth Commission, The City
of Savannah, Cricket Wireless
and The Governor’s Office for
Children and Families.
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