FEBRUARY Â 2012
observer THE Â OFFICIAL Â STUDENT Â NEWSPAPER Â OF Â ESSEX Â COUNTY Â COLLEGE
SINCE Â 1968
THE Â STUDENT Â VOICE
Governor  Christie  Visits  Irvington  Church  “Remember  that  you  are  in  a  house  of  God,� -  Pastor  Ron  Christian  Reminds  Attendees By  Wintella  Powell and  Lev  D.  Zilbermintz
 About  400  people  packed  Chris- tian  Love  Baptist  Church  in  Irvington  to  hear  Governor  Christopher  Christie  speak  about  crime  and  education.  The  event  held  January  19,  2012  was  organized  by  church  leaders  in  coordination  with  the  Gover- Photo  credit:  The  Seattle  Times QRUÂśV RIÂżFH  The  event  started  at  10  a.m.,  with  a  blessing  by  Reverend  Reginald  Jackson,  chairman  of  the  Essex  County  College  Board  of  Trustees.  Following  recitation  of  the  Pledge  of  Allegiance,  a  choir  of  three  Page  six young  children  sang  the  national  anthem. Pastor  Ron  Christian  of  Christian  Love  Baptist  Church  introduced  Governor  Christie.  The  pastor  asked  the  audience  to  act  respectably  to  each  other  and  the  elected  representatives.  “Remember  that  you  are  in  a  house  of  God,â€?  said  Christian. By  Ben  Potesky Mayor  Wayne  Smith  of  Irvington  called  on  Staff  Writer the  attendees  to  be  “very,  very  professional  and  respectfulâ€?  when  addressing  Governor  r.  Martin  Luther  King,  Jr.  Christie. should  have  been  at  home   Upon  entering  the  church,  Gover- with  his  wife,  children  and  nor  C hristie  received  a  warm  welcome  and  grandchildren  celebrating  a  standing  ovation. his  83rd  birthday  on  the  15th  of  this   In  his  speech,  Christie  talked  about  year.  Unfortunately  on  April  4th  1968  ZKDW KDSSHQHG EHIRUH KH WRRN RIÂżFH $F- cowardly  people  who  feared  MLK’s  cording  to  the  governor,  over  117,000  jobs  message  of  peace,  justice  and  equal- were  lost  prior  to  his  election.  Taxes  were  ity  ended  his  life  far  too  early.  MLK’s  raised  115  times.  Within  eight  years,  New  assassins  did  succeed  in  destroying  his  Jersey  became  the  state  with  the  highest- body,  but  they  did  not  succeed  in  de- paid  taxes  in  America,  said  Christie.  Be- stroying  his  message.  On  January  17th  cause  of  this,  people  began  to  move  out  2012  hundreds  of  people  from  all  over  of  state  to  Florida,  Virginia,  Pennsylvania  NJ  gathered  in  ECC’s  Mary  Burch  and  North  Carolina. Theatre  to  celebrate  his  life  and  ac-  Christie  described  to  the  audience  Photo  credit:  Wintella  Powell complishments. Lawrence  Hamm,  delivers  passionate  speech how  he  had  to  make  some  tough  choices   The  event  was  hosted  by  Dr.  LQ WKH YHU\ ÂżUVW ZHHN RI WDNLQJ RIÂżFH $F- Akil  Kokayi  Khalfani,  the  director  of  FRUGLQJ WR &KULVWLH VWDWH RIÂżFLDOV WROG KLP the  Africana  Institute  at  ECC.  Khal- ity.â€?  Dr.  Abdullah  emphasized  about  the  that  if  he  did  not  cut  two  billion  dollars  in  fani  opened  by  paying  homage  to  all  power  of  education,  and  how  even  today,  spending  in  the  next  three  weeks,  New  Jer- the  men  and  women  who  fought  on  for  anyone  to  truly  be  free,  they  must  sey  would  not  be  able  to  make  payroll  in  the  front  lines  of  the  civil  rights  move- have  an  education.  Recalling  her  child- March.  Realizing  that  the  state  was  in  seri- PHQW ZKR VDFULÂżFHG WKHLU OLYHV LQ hood  in  the  South,  she  remembered  hav- RXV ÂżVFDO WURXEOH &KULVWLH FXW WKH EXGJHW order  that  their  children  and  grandchil- ing  no  choice  but  to  go  to  “colored  onlyâ€?  two  years  in  a  row. dren  could  live  in  a  country  that  would  places  in  public.  Abdullah  said,  “I  say  Over  600  programs  were  cut  during  Chris- not  treat  them  as  second  class  citizens.  to  you  today  although  we  may  not  have  WLHÂśV WZR \HDUV LQ RIÂżFH EXW WD[HV ZHUH The  ECC  head  then  turned  over  the  lines  for  white  and  colored  we  still  have  not  raised. stage  to  ECC  President,  Dr.  Edythe  engrained  in  our  society,  engrained  in  our   Christie  said  that  there  were  three  M.  Abdullah.  Dr.  Abdullah  opened  minds  things  that  separate  us  as  human  important  things  that  needed  to  be  ad- with  a  powerful  quote  from  MLK  “An  beings,  and  we  must  free  ourselves  from  dressed:  reduction  of  income  taxes,  im- individual  has  not  started  living  until  those  chains.â€?  Following  Dr.  Abdullah’s  proving  education  and  cutting  down  crime. KH KDV ULVHQ DERYH WKH QDUURZ FRQÂżQHV powerful  speech,  Rev.  Lola  Akiwowo  led   By  way  of  example,  Christie  of  his  individualistic  concerns  to  the  an  opening  prayer,  followed  by  several  pointed  to  the  fact  that  “property  taxes  broader  concerns  of  all  humanity.â€?  fantastic  songs  performed  by  the  ECC  went  up  less  last  year  than  in  20  years.â€?  She  then  went  on  to  say  “MLK  was  choir  that  truly  embodying  the  events  This  was  accomplished  with  the  help  of  not  only  about  the  struggle  of  African  tone.  authorities  in  Trenton  and  Newark’s  may- Americans,  but  the  struggle  of  human- continued  on  page  two or,  Cory  Booker.
Dr.  Martin  Luther  King,  Jr. In  His  Own  Words
Remembering  Dr.  Martin  Luther  King,  Jr.
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Photo  credit:  Wintella  Powell NJ  Governor  Chris  Christie
 To  applause,  the  governor  said  that  he  wanted  to  cut  income  taxes  by  10%  and  raise  the  income  credit  for  the  working  poor.  Another  important  thing  is  the  education  system.  Christie  said  that  teachers  need  to  be  evaluated  to  ensure  WKDW WKH\ DUH TXDOLÂżHG WR WHDFK FKLOGUHQ Any  teacher  who  does  not  have  the  necessary  teaching  skills  will  have  to  leave.  “The  criteria  for  the  success  of  the  school  system  is  not  based  primar- ily  on  your   zip  code,  but  on  the  quality  of  the  teachers,“   said  Christie.  Christie  said  that  only  “twenty- three  percent  of  children  in  Newark  graduated  with  a  high  school  diploma.â€?   The  governor  also  noted  that  his  great- grandparents  emigrated  to  Newark;Íž  that  his  grandparents  and  parents  lived  in  Newark  until  1967.  “My  parents  moved  out  of  Newark  in  1967  because  they  were  afraid  I  would  not  get  an  education,â€?  said  Christie.  Crime  was  the  third  important  issue  that  Christie  addressed.   The  gov- ernor  questioned  the  logic  of  releasing  violent  offenders  before  they  came  to  trial.    “They  should  keep  you  in  jail  until  you  came  to  trial.   If  you  are  ac- TXLWWHG WKDW LV ÂżQH Âł VDLG &KULVWLH  The  governor  wondered  why  $27,000  was  spent  to  house  non-Âviolent  offenders.  By  comparison,  drug  treat- ment  costs  $12,000  per  year.  Following  his  speech,  Chris- tie  took  questions  from  the  audience.  A  member  of  the  audience  commented  continued  on  page  two
Long  Lines  Plague  ECC  Bookstore  Buyback  Program By  Lev  D.  Zilbermintz News  Editor
Photo  credit:  Wintella  Powell (&& VWXGHQWV ¿OO (&& %RRNVWRUH IRU )DOO Buyback  program.
 A  long  line  of  students  snaked  to- ZDUGV WKH %X\EDFN RI¿FH ORFDWHG LQ front  of  the  ECC  Bookstore  on  Level  1.  Students  were  patiently  waiting  in  line  to  sell  their  college  textbooks  back.  Every  so  often,  the  line  would  inch  forward,  and   an- other  student  would  try  sell  his  or  her books.  According  to  the  store  policy  post- ed  at  www.essex.edu/bookstore/policy. html   used  books  have  a  return  value  of  30  percent  of  the  purchase  price.  This  means  that  a  book  which  originally  cost  $60  will  be  sold  back  for  $20.  Used  books  can  be  returned  dur- LQJ WKH ¿UVW WZR ZHHNV RI )DOO DQG
Spring  semesters.  During  Summer  I  and  II  terms,  used  books  can  be  returned  during  WKH ¿UVW ZHHN RQO\ ,Q RUGHU WR UHWXUQ WKH books,  the  student  must  have  the  original  purchase  receipt,  stated  the website.  ECCO  staff  talked  to  students  dur- ing  the  Fall   Buyback  program,  held December  12  –  16,  2011.  Most  students  were  resigned  to  getting  only   a  little  mon- ey  for  their  books.
was  displeased  with  the  slow  pace  at  which  the  cashiers  worked. “Cashiers  need  to  put  more  effort,  pas- sion  in  their  job,�  said  Tabatha,  a  Social  Science  major. ECCO  staff  counted  at  least  twenty  stu- dents  waiting  in  line,  and  only  one  ca- shier  serving  them.
Marva  Rudder,  the  Director  of  the  Bookstore,  defended   the  cashier.  In Izaias,  an  undecided  major,  said,  [I  take]  an  email  response,  the  director  wrote,  “Whatever  money  they  [the  Bookstore]  “The  cashier  performs  satisfactorily.  give  me.  Use  it  to  buy  books  for  next  se- No  complaints  were  ever  made  regard- mester.â€? ing  the  process.â€? Another  student,  Tabatha,  Class  of  2013, Â
Essex  County  College  303  University  Ave.  Newark,  NJ  07102
continued  on  page  two