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Vol 67 | Number 11 THE TSU HERALD | March 3, 2015
CAMPUS NEWS page 5
WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH: DR. JOANN HORTON
LIFE & STYLE page 6
COMMON AND JOHN LEGEND MOVE CROWD WITH STIRRING ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
OPINION page 7
ADDRESSING THE LACK OF DIVERSITY AT OSCARS
POLITICS page 7
HBCU ON THE VERGE OF CLOSING
Texas Southern Men’s Track and Field claim 2015 Indoor Championship Title
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Campus News Suspect arrested in connection to university bomb threat The five easiest trends to follow for Spring 2015
BY AMBER VERNON Contributing Writer
What started out as a normal day on February 11th erupted into chaos when a man walked into a classroom threatening to bomb the university. The incident occurred around 10 a.m. during a history class in the Jesse H. Jones School of Business. Students said the suspect walked in mumbling to himself. “At first I didn’t think anything of it,” freshman, Alesandra Fullerton said. “I thought he was just talking to the guy in front of me, but the girl next to me started freaking out. As soon as he walked in, she said something’s not right.” History professor Lee Benjamins, the instructor at the time, said he recognized that the man was not a part of his usual class. After Benjamins questioned him about being in his class, the man walked down to his podium.
“He then tapped on the attendance sheet and said ‘I’m Jesus Christ,’” Benjamins said. After claiming to be the savior, the man walked toward the door and said, “I’m going to blow this mother [expletive] up”. “That’s when we all ran out,” freshman, Noel Velasquez said. “People were screaming and yelling. One girl fell and people were stepping all over her.” Fullerton said she and other classmates got stuck in the doorway trying to flee the building. “It was like what you see in the movies where you see people are panicking and they’re all running to the door, trying to get out,” Alesandra said. “I also almost got hit by a car while running across Cleburne Street without looking both ways, trying to get as far away as possible.” Benjamins said he followed the man as EDITORIAL STAFF he tried to leave and pointed him out to a campus policeman. T h e T S U H e r a l d The officer then conEDITOR-IN-CHIEF is MECOLE’ HAYES tacted the authorities. published by the Students and faculty students of Managing Editor Te x a s S o u t h e r n were then evacuated from LENZI CAUSEY the business school. U n i v e r s i t y. Neighboring schools Campus News Editor Opinions exMARIEA BOYD p r e s s e d a r e t h o s e such as Thurgood Marof the shall School of Law and Sports Editor w r i t e r a n d d o Mickey Leland School of SIDNIE HOLMES not Public Affairs were also n e c e s s a r i l y r e - evacuated. f l e c t t h o s e o f t h e Dogs were used to Opinion Editor administration. LINDSAY GARY T h e n e w s p a p e r i s search the premises, but p r i n t e d b i w e e k l y, no device was found. Life & Style At 11:30am, authorities except KENNETH WARE JR. d u r i n g h o l i d a y s declared the university and safe. Publications Manager e x a m i n a t i o n p e r i According to KHOU, TIYOSHA TURNER ods. authorities have arrested F o r a d d i t i o n a l the suspect and identified Advisors i n f o r m a t i o n , c a l l him as Jess Gray. He is SERBINO SANDIFER-WALKER (713) 313-6710. MICHAEL BERRYHILL not a TSU student. Velasques believes Gray might have had some psy-
chological problems. “He was an older guy and I thought maybe he had some medical conditions,” Velasques said. “Maybe he was depressed and wanted some attention or something. He was wearing white attire and he had a beard. He also had a cylinder shaped hat.” Since the threat, Fullerton has been having anxiety about going to her history class. “I was so paranoid that I thought he put something there that would detonate at a later time,” said Fullerton. “I was hesitant to go back to class.” While Fullerton hesitated returning to class, Velasques moved on. “Stuff like this happens,” Velasques said. Benjamins said not much has changed since the incident. “It hasn’t really affected me other than I have to talk to people about it,” said Benjamins. “We just missed some class time.”
“At first I didn’t think anything of it. I thought he was just talking to the guy in front of me, but the girl next to me started freaking out. As soon as he walked in, she said, “Something’s not right.” - Freshman, Alesandra Fullerton
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Campus News TSU students initiating change in Third Ward BY JENNIFER RUSSELL Contributing Writer
Texas Southern University’s Enactus members have teamed up with the Houston Housing Authority (HHA) and Cuney Homes Resident Council to bring nutrition, financial management, and gardening classes to Cuney Homes residents. The first educational class began Wednesday, February 25, 2015, in the Cuney Homes Community Buidling, where Jenny Guzman of Texas Capital Bank taught residents on ways to manage spending habits and create monthly budgets. Enactus President Jimmy Dillard describes the organizations mission. “One focus of TSU Enactus is to have a direct impact on the community surrounding us. After accessing the needs in the community we developed a plan of action. In our assessment, we discovered that
there is need in the Cuney Homes community for nutrition education, financial literacy, and workshops on how to grow fresh vegetables. Our mission is to teach our community a better way. Enactus is about changing lives and when we see opportunities to make change, Enactus will take action,” Dillard said. TSU Enactus recently became the recipient of a grant under the Unilever Bright Future Project partnership to help support the organization’s goal to focus resident’s attention to a nutritional strategy that can help improve the lives of Cuney Home residents. Enactus club members, along with their faculty and business advisors, have been in dialogue with the HHA, Cuney Homes Resident Council, and the HHA Board of Commissioners to explore implementation approaches that
will lead to measurable outcomes and positive impacts in the community. The club has begun coordinating continuous weekly educational classes to residents and plans to organize shopping excursions to engage the youth, seniors, and heads of households in their initiative. Enactus students are also coordinating community resources around financial literacy and reducing household expenses. The organization is working with the City Controller’s Office and other project partners to contribute efforts to HHA’s programs to help Cuney residents move to self-interest. Residents, management company representatives, and commissioners to have Enactus members bring their projects to other HHA developments have expressed it.
“Know Your Rights” seminar teaches students saftey tactics against police brutality BY CAMBRAI ROBINSON Contributing Writer Police brutality has been a burden on our nation for over 100 years. For over 85 years, Texas Southern University has been a fruitful act against police brutality in the community while educating students on “knowing their rights.” The Collegiate 100 Black Women of TSU and the Pre-Law Society presented “Know Your Rights” with special guest speaker Jolanda Jones. Attorney Jolanda Jones is noted as a true warrior when it comes to fighting for the justice all over the world. “The City of Houston, and the entire student body of TSU embraces Jones as a “community hero,” says TSU Senior, Jake Lambert. If it’s not one of the million things we can appreciate our beloved Texas Southern University for, we can agree that as one, we
value and stand up for our Civil and American Rights. Through various interactive scenarios, students learned how to exercise their rights when stopped by the police. Attorney Jones premiere focus was to help students avoid police brutality for educational purposes only. Students learned that rather if you’re at home, in the car, or at work; you have the right to exercise your rights in any situation encountered with the police. Attorney Jolanda Jones advised students to follow necessary steps accordingly so that they have an understanding of how to conduct themselves with the police anywhere they are. At Home -Never open doors or garages unless the police
have a warrant. -Keep your doors, windows, and gates locked with no trespassing signs posted -Never speak except to say “I exercise my 5th Amendment Right to Remain Silent and I Want to Speak with my Lawyer. In the Car -Give your identification card or driver’s license and insurance only. -Roll up windows, step outside of vehicle with hands raised and lock doors. No quick moves. (Yes, you are allowed to step out of the car in any situation encountered with the police and are able to lock your car doors) -Police are not allowed to search your car without a warrant. - If it is meant for you to speak with police or to consent to something then do so only after your lawyer and gives you permission.
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Cover Story
Texas Southern Men’s Track and Field claim 2015 SWAC Title BY TONY MONK Sports Writer
For the first time in nearly two decades, the 2015 Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship belongs to the Texas Southern University Flying Tigers. The respected Coach Clyde Duncan who was also awarded the 2015 Men’s Indoor Coach of the Year award led the Tigers. It had been since former head coach Dave Bethany tenure with the Tigers that they won a championship back in 1994. “I am very pleased with the team, it was a total team effort,” Coach Duncan said, as the Tiger’s amassed 128 points, just edging Grambling state University totaling 124 points, with Prairie View A&M finishing third with 85 points. The final standings would include Mississppi Valley (64), Alabama State (62), Jackson State (57), Southern (29), Alcorn State (21), and Alabama A&M (18). Taking home the championship wasn’t the only thing the Flying Tigers would achieve, as a few of their standout players would take home a few awards of their own. Demetrious Williams would be awarded with the 2015 Men’s Most Outstanding
Field Performer. Williams claimed a victory in long jump, leaping 7.20m, but would later turn around with his second victory in Triple Jump with a staggering length of 15.21m (49-11.00). “It was unreal, but I knew I could do it, even when some people thought I couldn’t”, said Williams as would like for his latest achievements to help him transition to the Outdoor portion of track, as he didn’t want this to be a one time thing, and to keep pushing towards more individual goals. His fellow teammate Jawalyn Brooks would rewrite the story book, and set a new SWAC record for men’s pole vault, jumping a height of 4.65m (15-03.00). “It was a very humbling experience, I know I just have to keep working hard, and keep jumping higher to achieve greater heights,” Brooks said. Joining Brooks in the record books would be teammate D’Andre Lewis who claimed the 1600-meter mile SWAC title, setting the new record of 4:18.71 beating the previous record by a mere second 4:19. Neither player would see their latest
achievement as the end of the line, as they were all confident they could make a repeat performance in future meets. And as for those meets Coach Duncan and the Flying Tigers have their sights set on the Outdoor SWAC Championship to be held in Huntsville Alabama, on April 24th through the 26th. Coach Duncan put strong emphasis on how key it is to make the transition from outdoor to indoor. Following the Outdoor Championship will be Regionals held May 27 ththrough the 28th, followed by Nationals to be held June 8th. The Flying Tigers gave a lot of thanks to the Athletic Department, Charles McClelland, as a big support in aiding the team to where they are today. Though just their second championship in two decades, it would also mark their seventh victory in league championships. The SWAC champion Tigers will compete in the NCAA Indoor Championships to be held March 13th.
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Campus News Women’s History Month: Dr. Joann Horton Texas Southern’s first female president BY MARIEA BOYD Campus News Editor
Dr. Joann Horton served as the first female president of Texas Southern University from September 1993 through October 1995, during her presidency she set the foundation for accomplishments to come. As the third of eight children Horton grew up in Lenoir, North Carolina where her mother instilled hard work and the importance of education. During the hard times of the Jim Crow laws and segregation Joann excelled in high school as a member of the honor society and voted “Most Intellectual” as the first African American to graduate from a white school in her county. Horton went on to attend Appalachian State University, as one of the first African Americans to integrate the school. She graduated in 1970, with a Honor student award and a Bachelor’s of Science and a Master’s of Arts in French. During her presidency Horton focused on improving graduation rates and the student registration process. She also worked to enhance the University’s operations policies and procedures and to enhance the professional
climate within the University.
Dr. Joann Horton circa 1993
“I envision TSU to be an open, dynamic, learning environment dedicated to students, faculty and to the community, in order that the university would be a major player in an international marketplace,” said Dr. Horton. To help with the academic performance during her reign , Dr. Horton initiated the university’s first Institutional Statistical Report in Fall 1994 with the goal of improving graduation rates. Following the law school bar performance rates increased from 59% in July 1993 to 69% in February 1994. The Pharmacy school also saw a increase with an 88% first-time passage rate on the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy Licensure Examination. Horton’s dedication to achievement resulted in more than 1,000 students graduating in May of 1995. “As the Heart of Texas Southern University’s success is a shared understanding of its historic role, purpose and individuals, particularly African-American youth, who have greatly benefitted from being part of an ennobling educational setting. Unquestionably, TSU has fulfilled its mission in the noblest fashions.”
TSU #FitnessDay offers healthy solutions BY NANDI GEIGER Contributing Writer On February 25th, 2015, the Texas Southern University Recreation and Wellness Center hosted its annual Fitness Day. Students crowded the gymnasium of the recreation center eager to learn more about fitness and health. Several vendors were in attendance with helpful information, cutting edge products and nutritional snacks ready to greet students as they entered. Among these vendors were: Snap Kitchen, Herbalife, the Aids Foundation of
Houston and Advocare, a health and wellness company that also assists with finance and income. Erik Lege, Fitness manager of the recreation center, lover of all things fit, and coordinator of the event was surprised at the low turnout of the event. He blames the weather and the time slot chosen for the event. “My goal this year was to increase the attendance of Fitness Day as well as to have one-hundred percent of the activities to be
strictly physical,’’ Lege stated. Still, students had a blast with the various fitness challenges which included an intense rope challenge, jousting, a bungee race as well as two other circuit competitions and hourly raffles for door prizes. For next year’s event, Erik stated that he would like to shorten the duration of the event and change the time slot in lieu of a larger turnout. “My hope is that Fitness Day will be one of the largest events on campus.”
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Life & Style Common, John Legend move crowd The five easiest trends to follow for Spring 2015 with stirring Oscars acceptance speech BY KENNETH WARE JR. Life & Style Editor Moments after Common and John Legend gave a moving performance of “Glory,” the original song written for the film Selma, the two won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Their speech touched on the Voting Rights Act, protests in Hong Kong, the mass incarceration of black men in the United States, and of course the iconic bridge in Selma. “We say that Selma is now, because the struggle for justice is right now,” Legend said. “We live in the most incarcerated country in the world. There are more black men under correctional control today than were under slavery in 1850.”
The speech and the performance of the song left the Dolby Theater speechless. Literally speaking, what Legend said is true, but it is important to add some context. According to the Los Angeles Times, Legend’s remarks appear to originate with scholar and attorney Michelle Alexander, who published the book The New Jim Crow in 2010 — a blistering racial critique of the modern American prison system. “There are more African Americans under correctional control in prison or jail, on probation or parole, than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began,” Alexander told PBS’ Frontline in 2013. Alexander has argued that mass impris-
onment is a present-day form of discrimination and racial control. “I am so proud of John Legend for using his moment on stage to raise awareness of the most pressing racial justice issue of our time,” Alexander told the Los Angeles Times in an email. “He’s absolutely right that the struggle for racial justice is not simply part of our history, but is as urgent now as ever.” The key difference between Alexander and Legend’s remarks is that Alexander makes it clear she is including probation and parole — and not just prison — in her definition of “correctional control.”
“Sex in The City” discusses relationships, domestic violence and sexual intercourse BY CAMBRAI ROBINSON Contributing Writer The Student Psychological Association Presented “Sex in the City” an interactive open group discussion on relationships, domestic violence, and sexual intercourse. A friendly debate quickly escalated from students on each topic in relation to today’s society. “Dating in college was not the fairytale I expected. You have to get to know the person first,” says TSU Freshman. Many students tend to forget that dating on campus can and may be dangerous. Many students don’t understand the risk of going out, dating someone, and having sex before getting to know them. The general purpose of the discussion was to provide an overview of dating, sexual intercourse, and domestic violence.
For years, various college campuses have faced problems in dating, sexual intercourse, and domestic violence all on a college campus. Many tend to ignore the barriers that may exist for students in accessing resources to help them fight against their issues. “Women aged 16-24 experience the highest per capita rate of intimate partner violence”. The following statistics were taken from the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 2007: 53% of victims of domestic violence were abused by a current or former boyfriend or girlfriend. 21% of college students report hav-
ing experienced dating violence by a current partner. 13% of college women report they were forced to have sex by a dating partner. Among college students who were sexually assaulted, 35% of attempted rapes occurred on dates, 22% of threatened rapes occurred on dates, and 12% of completed rapes occurred on dates. Over 13% of college women report they have been stalked on campus. As many as one quarter of female students experience sexual assault over the course of their college career (Break the Cycle, Inc., 2005). Approximately 90% of victims of sexual assault on college campuses know their attacker
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Opinion/Politics Addressing the lack of Diversity at the Oscars BY LENZI CAUSEY Managing Editor
“Welcome to the 87th Oscars. Tonight, we honor Hollywood’s best and whitest,” host Neil Patrick Harris said at the start of Sunday’s show. #OscarsSoWhite, the hashtag that exploded via social media sites, was the handle both viewers and critics used to describe the play of the night. Unfortunately, despite how uncomfortable the joke may have made the audience, it was derived from truth because of it’s undeniable lack of diversity. The constant criticism of the Academy is not all out of educated guesses and speculation; it is proven by multiple assessments to be majority white and male. Three years prior to this year’s Oscars award show, The LA Times conducted a study that disclosed that the Academy was 94% white, with the average age of 62 years old. Since the study (conducted in 2012), the academy has appended more women and citizens part of minorities, but according to the Times’ most recent survey taken in early 2014, the percentage of older white men in the organization has decreased only by an approximate 1 percent. According to Al Jazeera, there were no female nominees in seven categories, includ-
ing directing, writing and original screenplay. Since 2012, only 19 percent of all Oscar nominees have been women. This year, many expected Ava Duvernay, as the director of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King biopic, “Selma”, and as a Black female contender, would be nominated. Unfortunately, the norm was very much in effect and it was comprised of group of middle-aged men; four out of five of whom were white. Behind the backlash from the failure of DuVernay to be nominated, a protest was planned by the Los Angeles chapter of the National Action Network, an organization that was founded by Rev. Al Sharpton in 1991 to promote and execute civil rights for AfricanAmericans. “The Los Angeles chapter of the National Action Network has agreed to forgo our planned protests of the Oscars today and pursue instead a direct dialogue with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,” the Los Angeles chapter’s political director, Najee Ali, said in a statement with the LA Times. The protest was a measure to address the lack of diversity among Academy Award nominees, but was called off by DuVernay. Upon my research on why she called
off the protest, I ran across several articles on the subject with an overwhelming amount of racially discriminatory comments. On WTNH.com (Channel 8 news station in New Haven, Connecticut), these offensive comments ranged from: “Your movie sucked and changed historical facts. Nothing to protest...Better luck next time cry baby,” to “Have your own awards on BET.” Some even made quips about DuVernay’s long locs. Although I can identify with frustrations such as those Ava DuVernay has recently been subjected to as a young, Black woman, I do realize the sparse amount of diversity in this year’s “winner’s circle” at the Oscars. Patricia Arquette, Best Supporting Actress winner for her performance in “Boyhood,” gave an acceptance speech touching on women’s rights and wage equality that was very well-received by the women in the audience and on social media. In the future, it is the hope of all minorities to be included in what’s assumably “acceptable” or even “extraordinary” in the eyes of those who critique entities of American culture. It is even more of a hope that more of us will be put in positions to give those critiques.
HBCU on the verge of closing BY ASHANTI HOWARD Contributing Writer
South Carolina lawmakers sat down last week with a proposal of shutting down the state’s only public historically black college for two years. The committee voted 3-1 in favor of shutting down the HBCU, but it has to be cleared through legislative hurdles. The plan is to close for the 2015-2016 academic school year in order to fix its financial problem. The university owes more than $11 million in debt and enrollment has plummeted. “South Carolina State has been underfunded since its existence,” said Vernell Brown, president of the school’s alumni association. In 2013, the Association of Public and
Land-Grant Universities looked into complaints about HBCU’s not getting enough funding. They found 17 universities, including SC State as underfunded by $56 million while predominantly white colleges got more than they were owed. As a result, a group of students and alumni have filed a federal suit accusing state officials for the schools’ deficiency. The charge is violating the U.S. Constitution by maintaining a “duel system of education based on race.” They say the state has underfunded them and are allowing nearby colleges to offer very similar programs. The school’s current condition is in
rough shape but protesters are hopeful. Since then, SC State’s president Thomas Elzey has been placed on administrative leave. The State House Ways and Means Committee proposed to replace all trustees and terminate the president. Students with a 2.5 GPA or higher would be allowed to transfer. SC State was founded in 1896 to educate African American students after being turned away from PWI’s during segregation. Since 1966, the university has been open to white faculty and staff with three percent white enrollment rate out of 3,000 students.
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What’s Happening on campus & around town
Monday - 3/2
Tuesday - 3/3
Wednesday - 3/4 Collegiate 100 Women and Delta Gamma presents: Dead or Alive 6 p.m. JHJ 113
Monday - 3/9
Tuesday - 3/10
Wednesday - 3/11
Thursday - 3/5 UPC presents: Deal or No Deal 7 p.m. Tiger Room
Friday - 3/6 Casey Grant Barnes & Noble Book Signing 10 a.m. Bookstore
Thursday - 3/12
Friday - 3/13
The Weekend 3/7 & 3/8
The Weekend 3/14 & 3/15
Men’s Track and Field Meet TBA Corpus Christi, TX
SWAC Basketball Tournament Our calendar is reserved for the advertisement of on and off campus events. If you are interested in having your event placed on our calendar, then please stop by room 221 of the Student Center or call us at (713) 313-6710.
20 Questions 1. How about the newly coupled game? 2. Are they really happy? 3. Aren’t Taj and Kayla the perfect couple? 4. Which couple showed that they didn’t know each other as well as they thought? 5. What are yall plans for spring break? 6. Anyone going to PCB? 7. What happened to 20 questions last week? 8. Ran out of shade to throw? 9. Yall know that’s why most people pick up the paper right? 10. Who’s going to wake the yard back up? 11. Anyone going to show the Freshmen how live the yard used to be? 12. Who’s excited for probate season? 13. Who plans on joining the homecoming planning committee? 14. What’s going to be the difference from last year’s committee? 15. Are we going to have a rooftop party for springfest? 16. Are we having a 90’s hump day? 17. Why haven’t any greeks been showing up to hump day? 18. What happened to all the greeks? 19. Is everybody suspended? 20. Did you hug a member of the track team, yall know they won SWAC?
Anonymously submit your questions via Ask.Fm today: TSU20Questions
DISCLAIMER: The questions are submitted by the student body and are not the views of The TSU Herald or Texas Southern University as a whole. Feel free to bring your questions to room 221 of the Student Center. Questions are printed at the discretion of The TSU Herald.