The Southern Digest April 24, 2012

Wednesday

Today

78/55

84/65

85/66

www.southerndigest.com

Volume 58, Issue 16

Zimmerman drops out of sight

SPRING SGA ELECTION RESULTS

Friday

Exclusive content @

Tuesday, April 24, 2012 see State & Nation, page 5

86/63

Thursday

SU tennis wins 3rd straight SWAC title see Sports, page 9

Lessons can lead to innovation we need see Commentary, page 11

McCorkle, Rogers, Alexander victorious

SGA PRESIDENT Willie McCorkle III

1,078*

Shaquille Dillon

371

Dadrius Lanus

57

SGA VICE-PRESIDENT Bryson Alexander

910*

Ricardo Peters

403

Maurlence Martin

183

MISS SOUTHERN Erin Rogers

814*

Makala Clark

693

CHIEF JUSTICE Simone Bray

704*

Joseph Sam

496*

Vance Mitchell

294

SENIOR CLASS PRESIDENT Julius McCray

187*

Dmitrius McGruder 133

The Southern University student body elected new student leadership for the 2012-13 academic year during Monday’s spring elections.

Seven seats were up for grabs, and all but one was decided during the election.

Above, SGA President-elect WIllie McCorkle III claps as his supporters cheer his name after his landslide victory with 1,078 votes, over opponents Shaquille Dillion and Dadrius Lanus. McCorkle will replace Demetrius Sumner, who served as SGA President for the last two years.

At right, Miss Southern-elect Erin Rogers embraces a supporter after learning she defeated Makala Clark to become the next Miss Southern.

Rogers will ceremonially take over for current Miss Southern Chisolu Isiadinso during Homecoming week in mid-October.

Photos by Trevor James/Digest

MISS SENIOR Rashieka Blaze

202*

Arletha Penn

120

JUNIOR CLASS PRESIDENT Charissa Carroll

219*

Lawrence Christy

126

REFERENDUM NO. 1 FOR AGAINST

1,360* 150

REFERENDUM NO. 2 FOR

586

AGAINST

915*

Christie Carral

The Southern Digest

Willie McCorkle, Bryson Alexander and Erin Rogers won their respective races Monday in the Spring Student Government Association elections as all but the chief justice race was settled.

McCorkle will succeed Demetrius Sumner as SGA President, garnering approximately 71 percent of the vote (1,078 votes) in a three-man race with Shaquille Dillon (371) and Dadrius Lanus (57). Alexander also picked up a supermajority in the three-man race for SGA Vice-President, earning 61 percent (910 votes) of the student vote.

“Humility with dignity humbles with pride,” said Willie McCorkle after hearing he had won SGA President’s seat. “We’re just getting started.

Thank you to all. The future of SU is in great hands. In the fall comes a new SU. Thank you for putting faith in me as being your SGA President.”

The platform for McCorkle included the landscape and campus modification, addressing and improving deplorable living conditions of residences on campus, building a bridge between administrators, SGA, and the student body creating a oneness on the yard, improving campus safety and student relationships

with campus police, increasing transparency of information released to students from SGA, establishing relationships with the Scotlandville community and major technological advances.

Meanwhile, Rogers bested Makala Clark for Miss Southern, winning the position 814-693.

Current Miss Southern Chisolu Isiadinso will ceremonially pass the scepter to Rogers in midOctober during Homecoming week.

Rogers said she was completely flabbergasted after hearing the results that she won.

Rogers’ platform includes the continuation of Up ‘til Dawn, Keeping our Sisters Fit, Erin

the official student newspaper of southern university and A&m college, baton rouge, louisiana

C.A.R.E.S and getting students registered to vote for the upcoming Presidential election.

“Thankful to the lord’s blessing with prayer and hard work, anything can happen. I couldn’t have done this without my mom and campaign team.

Thank you everyone for helping me reach my dream as Miss SU,” Rogers said.

The chief justice race will move on with Simone Bray and Joseph Sam in a Wednesday runoff election. Bray narrowly missed winning the position outright by 44 votes. Bray led the three-person race with 47 See SGA Elections page 3

Campus Life southerndigest.com

Page 2 - Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Campus Briefs

Monday-Thursday and from 9a.m. until 2p.m. on Fridays.

today

Residential Life applications available

Campus Access

The department of Residence Life and Housing announces Summer and Fall 2012 housing applications are available. Go to www.housing.subr.edu; type it, print it, and bring it in by May 1.

Harding Boulevard will be the sole entrance/exit between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.

Vehicles entering the campus during those hours must stop at the Checkpoint prior to entering the campus. On weekends the Mills Avenue entrance will remain closed from 10 p.m.

Friday until 5 a.m. the following Monday morning.

Please contact Lt. Floyd Williams at 771-2770 for more details.

Slave Narrative Exhibit

The National Society of Leadership and Success in collaboration with the John B. Cade library presents the works of Dean Cade’s 1930’s Negro History Class who interviewed freed slaves. Dena Cade’s memorabilia, a power point presentation “The Struggle Continues”, audio CD of spirituals and “The Rhythm of Africa.” The exhibit is available for viewing now through April 31 in the first floor lobby of the library. Faculty, students and organizations are encouraged to attend.

SU Wesley Foundation

The Southern University Wesley Foundation is accepting donations of non-perishable and canned foods for their food drive. They will be accepting donations until April. Worship services are on Wednesdays at noon. The foundation will also be hosting Throwdown Thursdays at 7p.m. with competitions on Wii Sports, Karaoke, Dance. Spoken word and open mic. Compeition winners will receive $20 gift cards. Refreshments will be sold to support the foundation’s efforts. Call 225.778.0076 for more information.

Southern Artists

The Frank Hayden Hall Visual Arts Gallery will exhibit the works of Nathaniel Landry, Antoine “Ghost” Mitchell and Heather Holliday until May 2. Gallery hours will be MonThurs. 10a.m.-4p.m. For more information contact Robert Cox at 225.771.4103.

Café Lacumba

Come join your colleagues and faculty for a delicious and healthy lunch! All items are made fresh and can be enjoyed as you dine in or on the go. Café Lacumba will be serving sandwiches, wraps, salads, snacks and beverages every Wednesday from 11 am- 1:30 pm. Café Lacumba is located in 161 Pinkie Thrift Hall. For more information call 225.771.4660.

The National Society of Leadership and Success

Membership is open to all majors and classifications.

Executive board and leadership positions are available. Member benefits include scholarships and awards, graduation honor cords, leadership certificate, personalized letter of recommendation, resume enhancement, online job bank with access to employers seeking to hire society members and more. Contact Cosette Richard, President of the Southern chapter Sigma Alpha Pi at subr_nsls@yahoo.com.

Center for Student Success

The SU CSS offers a free paper service. You can have your paper reviewed for clarity, grammatical errors, sentence structure, etc. CSS will also be offering English workshops every Friday at 10 am. CSS will be offering seminars to assist students with topics such as discovering their learning styles, study skills, to stress management. Contact CSS for more information on any of these programs and for tutoring questions at 225.771.4312 or stop by 107 in Stewart Hall.

april 24 Battle on the Bluff

HBCU Boxing Presents “Battle on the Bluff” on Tuesday April 24 at F.G. Clark Activity Center. The match will feature Tez “Deuce” Washington and Dwain “Fuse” Fuselier.

Admission is $10 and doors open at 5:30 p.m.

Bookstore new hours The SU Bookstore has new hours. The bookstore will be open from 8a.m. until 5p.m.

The Sentinel Of An Enlightened Student Body since 1926

Who’s Speaking Out?

april 25 Dissertation workshop

The Southern University Office of Graduate Studies presents the 2011-12 student development series; including a workshop “The Ph.D. Dissertation Process: Everything You Always Wanted to Know” Wednesday, April 25 at 5:30 p.m. at TT Allain Room 313 (the Global Communications Facility).

The workshop is free and open to the public. april 26 Southern University Graduate Association

The Southern University Graduate Association will hold a general meeting Thursday April 26 at 5 p.m. in Mayberry’s Magnolia Room. Chancellor James Llorens will be a special guest and refreshments will be provided.

Annual Honors Program

The Southern University annual honors program will be held on April 27 at 10:15 a.m. in Seymour Gym. All students that have earned 3.0 or better Fall and/or Spring are to be honored. Honorees, parents/ relatives and friends are invited to this program.

How will you ensure that your final grades will be good grades?

Kayla Dunbar

Mariah Domino

Lake Charles senior mechanical engineering

baton rouge junior psychology

“Pray to God for good grades amd hope the professor grades with a curve.”

“I will ensure that my final grades are good Domino by studying hard,starting this week until my finals.”

Dunbar

Ja’Quan Waldon

Daniel Nelson

Alexandria, la. senior mechanical engineering

Orlando, Fla. senior civil engineering

“Study hard, get good rest and do my best on the finals.”

“I’m in engineering, we never get good grades.”

Waldon

Nelson

Ronald McNair Scholars

The Ronald E. McNair scholars program invites students with an interest in a Ph. D, 3.0 or higher GPA, first generation college students and students who will have at least 60 hours at the completion of Spring 2012; to apply for the scholar program. Contact Janeal Banks, coordinator in Higgins Hall room 208D. Ag Stars

Ag STARS (Shaping Tomorrow’s Agricultural Research Scientists) participants Delane Ross, Adria Smith, Lillian Profit, Patience Muse, Karl Harnsberry, William Lavergne, and Andrea Bridgewater won first and second place in the oral research competitions at the 27th annual MANRRS conference in Atlanta.

Calling all Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors with a 2.5 GPA and no declared major.

Want to pursue an exciting degree in agricultural sciences?

Want to be an Ag Star mentor?

Ag Star participants can earn $1,000 stipend per semester.

Apply in Fisher Room 113.

ISSN: 1540-7276. Copyright 2008 by The Southern University Office of Student Media Services. The Southern DIGEST is written, edited and published by members of the student body at Southern University and A&M College.

All articles, photographs and graphics are property of The Southern DIGEST and its contents may not be reproduced or republished without the written permission from the Editor in Chief and Director of Student Media Services.

The Southern DIGEST is published twice-weekly (Tuesday & Thursday) with a run count of 5,000 copies per issue during the Southern University - Baton Rouge campus fall, spring semesters.

The paper is free to students, staff, faculty and general public every Tuesday & Thursday morning on the SUBR campus. The Southern DIGEST student offices are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday - Friday. The offices are located on the first floor of T.H. Harris Hall, Suite 1064.

The Southern DIGEST is the official student newspaper of Southern University and A&M College located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Articles, features, opinions, speak out and editorials do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the administration and its policies.

Signed articles, feedback, commentaries and features do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors, staff or student body.

Southern University and A&M College at Baton Rouge is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097, telephone (404) 679-4500, Website: www.sacscoc.org.

MISSION STATEMENT The mission of Southern University and A&M College, an Historically Black, 1890 landgrant institution, is to provide opportunities for a diverse student population to achieve a high-quality, global educational experience, to engage in scholarly, research, and creative activities, and to give meaningful public service to the community, the state, the nation, and the world so that Southern University graduates are competent, informed, and productive citizens.

Website: www.subr.edu.

PAGE 2 ANNOUNCEMENTS & PAID CLASSIFIED INFO

GET 36 ISSUES FOR JUST $40 Name:

ALL CLASSIFIED MUST BE PAID IN ADVANCE

BY CASHIERS CHECK OR MONEY ORDER. NO PERSONAL CHECKS ACCEPTED. Students must have proper ID and phone numbers to get student advertising rates.

Address: City/State/Zip: Daytime Phone: (

CLASSIFIED The Southern DIGEST is not responsible for the contents, promises, nor statements made in any classified and reserve the right to reject any ad request with explanation. No classified ads will be accepted or processed over the telephone and must accept the type font sizes of The DIGEST.

)

For more information call 225.771.5833 or mail your subscription payment of $40 to: The Southern Digest Subscriptions, PO Box 10180, Baton Rouge, LA 70813. Business, cashiers checks and money orders accepted only. No personal checks or credit card orders accepted. Make all payments to The Southern Digest.

Rates do not apply to students who are representatives & employees of the company. In the event an error is made in a classified ad, immediate claims and notice must be given within 15 days. The DIGEST is only responsible for ONE replacement or run in the next publication. Classified are due ONE WEEK prior to run date.

Paid Classified can be ordered by contacting the Student Media Advertising Manager at 225.771.5833.

PAGE 2 / CAMPUS BRIEFS All submissions must be received by 3 p.m. each Friday prior to Tuesday’s Issue and by 3 p.m. each Monday prior to Thursday’s Issue.

PAGE 2 is only available to officially registered campus organizations, Southern University Departments. All briefs should include a date, time, contact name & number.

Submit announcements to: The Southern DIGEST - Suite 1064 Harris Hall, Attn: PAGE 2 CORRECTIONS Fact and accuracy is our goal and our job. As the voice of the Southern University student body we are committed to ensuring to most fair, truthful and accurate accounts of our work. In the event of an error we will make all corrections on Page 2.

Bring corrections to The Southern DIGEST office located in Suite 1064, Harris Hall.

News southerndigest.com

Tuesday, April 24, 2012 - Page 3

The Sentinel Of An Enlightened Student Body since 1926

Campaigns prove to be strategic

SGA Elections from page 1

Charles Hawkins II The Southern Digest

Campaign flyers and posters are not all that is required to secure a position and run a campaign for the Student Government Association at Southern University.

Candidates for this year’s SGA positions discussed their finances, motivations and purposes as they run for their positions to represent the student body.

Candidates like Erin Rogers, a senior biology major from New Orleans, have planned their run for their respective position.

“Ever since I was a freshman this was an endeavor I wanted to pursue,” Rogers said.

Rogers vying for Miss Southern University, 2012-2013 began a savings account for her potential run with family support as well as saved small amounts of her AmeriCorps stipends to fund her campaign.

While Rogers has been planning financially for their campaign Ricardo Peters, a senior criminal justice major from Bogalusa, La., found other methods to gain campaign funds.

“I took up donations from hometown,” Peters said.

Peters is vying for SGA Vice President against Maurlence Martin and Bryson Alexander.

While candidate plan for their current run, Julius McCray, a junior criminal justice major from Baton Rouge has served in SGA previously.

“I’ve been active in the SGA since my freshman year, and I wanted to take a bigger leadership role,” McCray said.

Some candidates find the campaign process filled with complications such as encouraging student involvement.

Arletha Penn, a junior accounting major from Houston said one of the hardest aspects of campaigning is getting students to the polls.

“Just getting people to go out and vote,” Penn said.

Penn vying for Miss Senior against

photo by Keldric Nash/Digest

Throughout election week, campaign teams for candidates seeking student offices spent countless hours promoting their respective candidate to the student body.

Rashieka Blaze agreed with McCray that building a rapport and connection is another hard aspect of the campaign process.

“Trying to sell yourself to people,” said McCray.

Willie McCorkle III, a junior mass communications major from New Orleans, cited his previous involvement in the SU community as a reason for his campaign team make up.

“Because of my recent endeavors and initiatives and reaching out to student to get them informed as well as involved with matters that directly affect the university prior to running for office, “ McCorkle said, as his reason for students volunteerism in his campaign effort.

McCorkle said, the most important aspect was taking the time and making effort to reach out to every student personally.

Peters discussed the motivations behind his campaign effort.

“To make a difference before I leave, and to improve on campus living,” Peters said.

Rogers’ purpose involved the nationwide issue concerning a lack of voter turnout in the black community.

“The lack of voting, I pulled many statistics of voter turnout nationwide and research has proven black community doesn’t vote,” said Rogers, when asked about her purpose for running.

Rogers’ purpose also included carrying on a legacy of a strong powerful leadership role, and mentoring young women.

Rogers’ purpose involved a nationwide issue, while McCorkle focused on issues at Southern University and the students that face them.

“It’s not about just a catchy slogan, but the theme is, “going to work for SU” because there are many attacks against the university that students should be aware of, and keep them at the forefront,” McCorkle said.

percent (704 votes) of the votes, followed by Sam’s 33 percent (496 votes). Vance Mitchell finished the race with 20 percent (294 votes).

“I need to relay my message to everyone. Get everyone to believe in me,” Bray said. “Chief justice is a position that can help them. It’s not just a position for me. I’m ready to help them and be there for them.

Anything can happen in the runoffs, I’m still here.”

In other races, Rashieka Blaze will join Rogers on the royal court as she defeated Arletha Penn 202-120 in the Miss Senior race. Julius McCray won the Senior Class President race, beating Dmitrius McGruder 187-133.

“I’m excited and ready to get to work,” said McCray. “I look forward to making our senior year the best,” he said.

In the junior class president race, Charissa Carroll picked up 219 votes to defeat Lawrence Christy.

“Thank you for everyone that believed in me. I will try my hardest to make next year the best,” said Carroll.

Two referendums were also on the ballot. Referendum No. 1 — a proposal to reorganize selfassessed student fees, create a $5 Human Jukebox fee and increase the special events fee from $10 to $50 — passed as students voted 1,360-150 for it.

Meanwhile, Referendum No. 2 — a proposal to designate a $5 fee for supporting the cheerleaders and dance teams — failed as students voted 915-586 against it.

Sumner said he was proud of the turnout, adding 1,515 total students voting understood their duty in the process.

“I see a group of leaders with ability and SGA has a long way to go,” he said. “They will take us where we need to be.”

CATS renewal passes; SUBR service to continue Marcus Green

The Southern Digest

The fate of the Capitol Area Transit System was at stake as voters went out to vote Saturday to keep the system operational.

The $10.6 million CATS property tax was approved by a narrow vote and looks to improve service across Baton Rouge and Baker.

Sandra Joseph, a Baton Rouge Senior citizen said, “I have lived here for twentyfive years and most of that was spent riding buses where I had to go. There was no way I was not going to try to save our transit.”

The CATS system, which has had a long history of being undefended, was facing a $2.1 million deficit due to neither Mayor Kip Holden or the Metro Council supplying the necessary funds to cover it.

The passage means CATS, which

has a operating budget of about $12 million, will now receive an additional $17.2 million annually, bringing its total budget to just short of $30 million.

With this increase in funds, CATS can now make good on the following pledges to its customers with the passage of the tax: Decreased average wait times from 75 minutes to 15 minutes.

Eight new express and limited stop lines, serving the airport, universities, malls and other areas will be added.

GPS tracking on the entire fleet, with exact arrival times accessible on cellphones. Also new shelters, benches and signage at bus stops are in the plans for re-vamping the system.

Expanding service to high-demand areas and increasing routes from 19 to 37.

Three new transfer centers operating in a grid system to replace the outdated route system, which leads all buses back

to the bus depot onFlorida Boulevard.

It will also add a foundation for Bus Rapid Transit, where buses get their own right-of-way-lanes.

The vote was also important to the Southern University community as its CATS Southern shuttle would have been out of service with the rest of the CATS in July.

“The shuttle is my only means of transportation when I’m in Baton Rouge,”said Patrice Wilson, a sophomore sociology major from Miami. “I don’t have a car and without the CATS system, I wouldn’t be able to go to work or school.”

Earlier last month Southern University held a Voter Registration contest where the Greek organizations went against other Student Organizations.

The goal was to register at least 300 people to vote with the winning organization would get naming rights to the Southern Shuttle for the next year.

The contest was won by, the Alpha Tau chapter of Delta Sigma Theta.

Willie E. McCorkle, a junior mass communication major said, “I’ve been organizing all year long trying to get students involved in this critical issue and how it affects Southern University.”

Many students were very concerned about the issue and did their part to help.

“I don’t ride the bus but I went out and voted Saturday because I have a lot of friends and family who do and they depend on CATS to get around the city,” Reginald Parks, a junior mass communication major from Baton Rouge said.

“I’m proud to say that Southern University’s precinct had nearly tripled this year, as far as student turnouts,” McCorkle said.

Although people from Baton Rouge and Baker successfully saved their CATS service, Zachary wasn’t so fortunate.

Page 4 - Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The Sentinel Of An Enlightened Student Body since 1926

Half of new grads jobless or underemployed Hope Yen The Associated Press WASHINGTON — The college class of 2012 is in for a rude welcome to the world of work.

A weak labor market already has left half of young college graduates either jobless or underemployed in positions that don’t fully use their skills and knowledge.

Young adults with bachelor’s degrees are increasingly scraping by in lower-wage jobs — waiter or waitress, bartender, retail clerk or receptionist, for example — and that’s confounding their hopes a degree would pay off despite higher tuition and mounting student loans.

An analysis of government data conducted for The Associated Press lays bare the highly uneven prospects for holders of bachelor’s degrees.

Opportunities for college graduates vary widely.

While there’s strong demand in science, education and health fields, arts and humanities flounder. Median wages for those with bachelor’s degrees are down from 2000, hit by technological changes that are eliminating midlevel jobs such as bank tellers. Most future job openings are projected to be in lower-skilled positions such as home health aides, who can provide personalized attention as the U.S. population ages.

Taking underemployment into consideration, the job prospects for bachelor’s degree holders fell last year to the lowest level in more than a decade.

“I don’t even know what I’m looking for,” says Michael Bledsoe, who described months of fruitless job searches as he served customers at a Seattle coffeehouse. The 23-yearold graduated in 2010 with a creative writing degree.

Initially hopeful that his college education would create opportunities, Bledsoe languished for three months before finally taking a job as a barista, a position he has held for the last two years. In the beginning he sent three or four resumes day. But, Bledsoe said, employers questioned his lack of experience or the practical worth of his major. Now he sends a resume once every two weeks or so.

Bledsoe, currently making just above minimum wage, says he got financial help from his parents to help pay off student

loans. He is now mulling whether to go to graduate school, seeing few other options to advance his career. “There is not much out there, it seems,” he said.

His situation highlights a widening but little-discussed labor problem. Perhaps more than ever, the choices that young adults make earlier in life — level of schooling, academic field and training, where to attend college, how to pay for it — are having long-lasting financial impact.

“You can make more money on average if you go to college, but it’s not true for everybody,” says Harvard economist Richard Freeman, noting the growing risk of a debt bubble with total U.S. student loan debt surpassing $1 trillion. “If you’re not sure what you’re going to be doing, it probably bodes well to take some job, if you can get one, and get a sense first of what you want from college.”

Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University who analyzed the numbers, said many people with a bachelor’s degree face a double whammy of rising tuition and poor job outcomes. “Simply put, we’re failing kids coming out of college,” he said, emphasizing that when it comes to jobs, a college major can make all the difference. “We’re going to need a lot better job growth and connections to the labor market, otherwise college debt will grow.”

By region, the Mountain West was most likely to have young college graduates jobless or underemployed — roughly 3 in 5. It was followed by the more rural southeastern U.S., including Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee. The Pacific region, including Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington, also was high on the list.

On the other end of the scale, the southern U.S., anchored by Texas, was most likely to have young college graduates in higher-skill jobs.

The figures are based on an analysis of 2011 Current Population Survey data by Northeastern University researchers and supplemented with material from Paul Harrington, an economist at Drexel University, and the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington think tank. They rely on Labor Department assessments of the level of

get online @

photo by mark humphrey/ap photo

In this photo taken Thursday, Kelman Edwards Jr. works on his laptop in an apartment complex clubhouse near the campus of Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro,Tenn., as he searches for a job. The college class of 2012 is in for a rude welcome to the world of work. A weak labor market already has left half of young college grads either jobless or underemployed in positions that don’t fully use their skills and knowledge.

education required to do the job in 900-plus U.S. occupations, which were used to calculate the shares of young adults with bachelor’s degrees who were “underemployed.”

About 1.5 million, or 53.6 percent, of bachelor’s degreeholders under the age of 25 last year were jobless or underemployed, the highest share in at least 11 years. In 2000, the share was at a low of 41 percent, before the dotcom bust erased job gains for college graduates in the telecommunications and IT fields.

Out of the 1.5 million who languished in the job market, about half were underemployed, an increase from the previous year.

Broken down by occupation, young college graduates were heavily represented in jobs that require a high school diploma or less.

In the last year, they were more likely to be employed as waiters, waitresses, bartenders and food-service helpers than as engineers, physicists, chemists and mathematicians combined (100,000 versus 90,000). There were more working in officerelated jobs such as receptionist or payroll clerk than in all computer professional jobs (163,000 versus 100,000). More also were employed as cashiers, retail clerks and customer representatives than engineers (125,000 versus 80,000).

According to government projections released last month, only three of the 30 occupations with the largest projected number of job openings by 2020 will require a bachelor’s degree or higher to fill the position — teachers, college professors and accountants. Most job openings are in professions such as retail sales, fast food and truck driving, jobs which aren’t easily replaced by computers.

College graduates who majored in zoology, anthropology, philosophy, art history and humanities were among the least likely to find jobs appropriate to their education level; those with nursing, teaching, accounting or computer science degrees were among the most likely.

In Nevada, where unemployment is the highest in the nation, Class of 2012 college seniors recently expressed feelings ranging from anxiety and fear to cautious optimism about what lies ahead.

With the state’s economy languishing in an extended housing bust, a lot of young graduates have shown up at job placement centers in tears.

Many have been squeezed out of jobs by more experienced workers, job counselors said, and are now having to explain to prospective employers the time gaps in their resumes.

“It’s kind of scary,” said Cameron Bawden, 22, who is graduating from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas in December with a business degree. His family has warned him for years about the job market, so he has been building his resume by working part time on the Las Vegas Strip as a food runner and doing a marketing internship with a local airline.

Bawden said his friends who have graduated are either unemployed or working along the Vegas Strip in service jobs that don’t require degrees.

“There are so few jobs and it’s a small city,” he said. “It’s all about who you know.”

Any job gains are going mostly to workers at the top and bottom of the wage scale, at the expense of middle-income jobs commonly held by bachelor’s degree holders. By some studies, up to 95 percent of positions lost during the economic recovery occurred in middle-income

www.southerndigest.com

occupations such as bank tellers, the type of job not expected to return in a more high-tech age.

David Neumark, an economist at the University of CaliforniaIrvine, said a bachelor’s degree can have benefits that aren’t fully reflected in the government’s labor data. He said even for lower-skilled jobs such as waitress or cashier, employers tend to value bachelor’s degreeholders more highly than highschool graduates, paying them more for the same work and offering promotions.

In addition, U.S. workers increasingly may need to consider their position in a global economy, where they must compete with educated foreign-born residents for jobs. Longer-term government projections also may fail to consider “degree inflation,” a growing ubiquity of bachelor’s degrees that could make them more commonplace in lowerwage jobs but inadequate for higher-wage ones.

That future may be now for Kelman Edwards Jr., 24, of Murfreesboro, Tenn., who is waiting to see the returns on his college education.

After earning a biology degree last May, the only job he could find was as a construction worker for five months before he quit to focus on finding a job in his academic field. He applied for positions in laboratories but was told they were looking for people with specialized certifications.

“I thought that me having a biology degree was a gold ticket for me getting into places, but every other job wants you to have previous history in the field,” he said. Edwards, who has about $5,500 in student debt, recently met with a career counselor at Middle Tennessee State University. The counselor’s main advice: Pursue further education.

State & Nation southerndigest.com

The Sentinel Of An Enlightened Student Body since 1926

Tuesday, April 24, 2012 - Page 5

Zimmerman fades from sight Kyle Hightower & Mike Schneider The Associated Press

SANFORD, Fla. — George Zimmerman, who slipped out of jail on $150,000 bail in the early morning darkness, went back into hiding Monday and likely fled to another state to avoid threats as he awaits his second-degree murder trial for the killing of Trayvon Martin.

Later Monday, the Sanford City Commission rejected by a 3-2 vote the resignation of Police Chief Bill Lee, who was roundly criticized for not initially charging Zimmerman and had stepped down temporarily in March he said to let emotions cool.

Even though authorities can pinpoint Zimmerman’s location with a GPS ankle bracelet, that he must wear round the clock, the public may not see him again for some time. Zimmerman has waived his appearance at his upcoming arraignment next month, so he can stay underground if he wants.

“He’s doing well, he’s very glad to be out, trying to get settled in, still worried about his safety, but, you know, talking to his family and feeling much better than being in” jail, Zimmerman’s attorney, Mark O’Mara, said Monday night on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360.

O’Mara declined to say if Zimmerman was in Florida, only saying his client will travel to several locations for his safety.

O’Mara did not immediately return phone calls Monday by The Associated Press.

Zimmerman already has experience laying low: For more than a month before his arrest, he eluded the media and his

Michael Kunzelman The Associated Press

photo by brian blanco/AP PHOTO

George Zimmerman, left, walks out of the intake building at the John E. Polk Correctional Facility with a bondsman on Sunday in Sanford, Fla. Zimmerman posted bail on a $150,000 bond on a second degree murder charge in the February shooting death of 17 year-old Trayvon Martin In Sanford, Fla.

whereabouts were not known. His attorney has suggested he had several options for where Zimmerman can stay this time, and a judge indicated he was willing to let Zimmerman leave the state.

Until the next time he must come before a judge, Zimmerman will have to skip such routine pleasures as eating in a restaurant or taking a long stroll outside, said Jose Baez, a former attorney for Casey Anthony.

Anthony, acquitted last summer of killing her 2-year-old daughter, went into hiding

after her release from jail.

“He may be free, but he’s not free,” Baez said.

First, Zimmerman must limit who knows his whereabouts to avoid the risk someone will give the secret away, Baez said.

“Unfortunately, the people you think you trust, sometimes you find you just really can’t,” Baez said.

See Zimmerman Fades page 6

Regular legislative session reaches halfway point Melinda Deslatte The Associated Press

Halfway through the regular legislative session, lawmakers have given their final approval to sweeping education changes, but the one item they have to complete before they can wrap up their work remains an unbalanced jumble.

Next year’s $25.5 billion budget faces a list of troubles: falling income estimates, ties to uncertain retirement changes and disputes over how much one-time money should be plugged into the spending plan.

It’s not an unusual place to be with six weeks to go before the legislative session must end June 4. But the uncertainties are a bit larger than lawmakers often see, with more than $1 billion tied to unresolved issues.

The House Appropriations Committee continues to comb through Gov. Bobby Jindal’s budget recommendations for the upcoming fiscal year that begins July 1. Lawmakers on the committee won’t craft their version of next year’s budget until they get the latest revenue projections.

The state’s revenue

Feds find N.O. jail a‘ larming’

forecasting panel on Tuesday is planning to tweak income estimates, and the expectations are grim, with revenue figures expected to drop.

That dip will combine with legislative changes to Jindal’s pension proposals and lessen any savings for state agencies below what was contained in the governor’s budget recommendations.

“It seems like we’ll have a double whammy going forward,” said Senate Finance Chairman Jack Donahue, R-Mandeville.

Jindal’s chief budget adviser, Commissioner of Administration Paul Rainwater, said his office doesn’t yet have estimates of what size hole the changes to the retirement bills have made in the governor’s budget proposal.

“Do you have some thoughts about where we might look to fill that deficit?” Donahue asked.

Rainwater didn’t give senators any suggestions but said the Jindal administration will work with lawmakers on ways to shrink the 201213 budget once the shortfalls become clear from the retirement legislation changes

photo by travis spradling/AP PHOTO

Senate Natural Resources Committee chairman Sen. Gerald Long, left, R-Winnfield, asks a question of Scott C. Sinclair, not pictured, of TDX Energy, during Sinclair’s testimony regarding legacy lawsuits, during proceedings at the State Capitol in Baton Rouge Monday. Sen. Jody Amedee, R-Gonzales, is at right.

and from whatever changes are made to state revenue projections.

Beyond the budget, lawmakers have a slew of contentious items awaiting their decision in the second half of the regular session.

Of the more than 1,900 bills filed for consideration, only seven have reached the governor’s desk, nearly all of them tied to a series of significant changes to public education sought by Jindal and

hurried through the session as a priority.

Those measures, signed into law last week, will create a statewide voucher program for some low- and moderateincome students to attend private schools with taxpayer dollars; expand charter school programs; make it tougher for teachers to reach the job protection know as tenure; and give more authority to school superintendents to decide teacher pay and hiring.

NEW ORLEANS — The Justice Department says it found “alarming conditions” in a recent inspection of the New Orleans jail and uncovered persistently high rates of prisoner-on-prisoner violence and staff misconduct.

In a 21-page letter Monday to Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman, a Justice Department official says the jail is a “violent and dangerous institution” and accuses jail officials of failing to take basic steps to correct “systemic issues” and “serious constitutional violations” that were identified in a 2009 report by the department.

“Despite our findings and repeated attempts to encourage you to meaningfully address the numerous problems, the already troubling conditions in the Orleans Parish Prison ... are deteriorating,” wrote Jonathan Smith, chief of the special litigation section of the Justice Department’s civil rights division. “As this letter demonstrates, urgent and substantial action is required.”

But Gusman said his office “continues to improve the training of our deputies and the care of inmates in our custody.”

“In the last two weeks, we announced the closure of the House of Detention, specifically to move inmates into more modern facilities and close down a building that was in need of major repair,” Gusman said in a statement late Monday. “Days later we escorted members of the media through the new Temporary Detention Center and Templeman V to see inmate living quarters and deputy oversight. During that time, we shared explicit information about sexual assault investigations and their results.”

Gusman’s office and the Justice Department have been negotiating terms of a consent decree that would require changes at Orleans Parish Prison, the city’s only jail. The department said it will consider suing if Gusman’s office fails to negotiate in good faith.

A team of Justice Department attorneys and expert consultants inspected the jail during the first week of April, interviewing staff and prisoners.

“We found alarming conditions and were distressed that the problems we described in our initial findings letter persist or have worsened,” Smith wrote.

Page 6 - Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The Sentinel Of An Enlightened Student Body since 1926

Zimmerman Fades from page 5 The police chief is on paid leave. Not too long ago, the commissioners gave him a “no confidence vote” that city Manager Norton Bonaparte said still stands. The shooting also led to the local prosecutor recusing himself from the case, and the governor appointing Angela Corey, who eventually charged Zimmerman.

The majority of commissioners on Monday blamed the polarization over the Martin case and its handling by the police department on outside groups.

Lee had supporters at the meeting who wore, “Bring Back Billy” T-shirts, though there were detractors as well.

“I’m disappointed but not surprised,” said Velma Williams, the lone black representative on the commission who voted to accept the resignation.

The majority of commissioners said they wanted to wait for an outside investigation to conclude into the handling of the case by police before accepting the resignation agreement drawn up by the city manager and Lee. Commissioners in reading from the agreement said Lee didn’t want to step down, but thought it was for the best.

The city is also looking to find a permanent interim chief, perhaps as early as next week, Bonaparte said.

As for Zimmerman, in order to throw off curious onlookers and the media, he could change his look. Anthony went from a long-haired brunette to a bobbed blonde while serving a year of probation on an unrelated charge at an undisclosed location in Florida.

Next, Zimmerman needs to go someplace where he knows few people and they don’t know him, said Evan Ratliff, who wrote the book (or at least the

magazine article) on how to vanish in the 21st century. In 2009, Wired magazine challenged its readers to try to find Ratcliff, who deliberately vanished with the help of disguises, prepaid phones, fake business cards and software that protected his Internet identity, at least for a while. Ratliff eventually was caught because readers were able to trace him through the IP address of a computer he had used.

“He needs to be where he is not around people who are known to be close to him,” Ratliff said. “Not a friend’s house.

Not a relative’s house.”

Zimmerman needs to refrain from making any public statements, whether via social media sites like Facebook or Twitter or his own website, www. therealgeorgezimmerman.com, both Baez and Ratliff said. Zimmerman is using his website to help raise money for his legal defense.

Early indications are that will be tough for Zimmerman to resist. After a judge agreed to release him on bond, a statement placed on his website said, “GZ hopes to be able to update the site in the next day or two, God willing. He sends his thanks for your thoughts and support.”

If he just can’t resist getting messages out to his supporters, Zimmerman may be better off using Facebook and Twitter instead of his website because it probably has much weaker security than the social media sites, Ratliff said. Someone could find out where he is by hacking his website or an email account, he said.

“Anytime you are on the Internet, you are potentially traceable,” Ratliff said.

“The best way to not be found by anyone is to not use any technology at all.”

The Sentinel Of An Enlightened Student Body since 1926

Tuesday, April 24, 2012 - Page 7

Page 8 - Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The Sentinel Of An Enlightened Student Body since 1926

Sports southerndigest.com

The Sentinel of an Enlightened Student Body since 1926

Tuesday, April 24, 2012 - Page 9

Tennis nets 3rd straight SWAC title Aristide Phillips

The Southern Digest

Another year, another championship for the Southern University tennis team.

The Lady Jaguars’ 4-0 win over Prairie View in last weekend’s Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament earned the team its thirst-straight SWAC title.

Southern also earned the SWAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which begins May 17.

“The ladies really came out focused the whole weekend,” said head coach Jeff Conyers, who was named the SWAC coach of the year. “We started out a little sluggish because of the weather on Saturday, but on Sunday the ladies caught fire.

They were very focused, they were very hungry, and just like the weather was warm they were warm inside trying to win that championship and that’s what they did.”

Senior Carlista Mohammed defeated Alcorn State’s Kersten Vanem 6-2, 6-2 in singles along with Lois Alexis who defeated

ASU’s Merilin Tipp 6-2, 6-0 and Gabrielle Moore defeated Alcorn State’s Victoria Kozachuk 7-5, 6-0, Demetria Woods, Morgan Taylor, and Camara Davis. All went unfinished in their singles match.

In the doubles SU dominated the Panthers winning all matches, Mohammed and Moore won their match 8-3, Davis and Taylor won their match 8-6 to solidify the double’s point.

“These young ladies were some diamonds in the rough all of them could have gone to other mid-majors and top level D-1’s as well but they felt comfortable with Southern University, and that comes from the teams in the past that rich tradition with the Southern program,” Conyers image courtesy of su athletics said.

With the win, Conyers now The Southern tennis team won its third-straight Southwestern Athletic Conference championship at the has six SWAC Championship SWAC Tournament last weekend in Alexandria, La. The Jags now await NCAA Tournament selection. under his belt to add to a resume “We said we were hungry, we of three straight HBCU national and doubles play in the Jags win she was phenomenal the whole tournament, and that she was wanted it just how Jaguars eat, over PVAMU. championships.

“It feels amazing right now to totally focused in doubles we wanted to get them by the “It’s a phenomenal feeling Jugular and hold to them, we definitely when you can go out win three years in a row because throughout the tournament.

The Jaguars have been didn’t want to loose our food there and win championships I’ve been here for three,” for your alma mater,” said Mohammed said. “It was really dominant both on and off the and that’s what the ladies did emotional when we won because court also; the team has one of they jumped on it from the start Conyers.

Mohammed was also named this is my last year on the court.” the highest Academic Progress to finish, they wanted that meal When asked about the play Rate ratings in the athletic and that meal was the SWAC Most Valuable Player after championship,” said Conyers. finishing undefeated in singles from the senior, Conyers said department.

Jags sweep PV; take control of SWAC West

Kickoffs set for SU 2012 season Digest News Service

Aristide Phillips

The Southern Digest

The Southern Jaguar baseball seems to be getting back to regular form, which is winning.

SU swept Prairie View A&M in a weekend series in Texas, defeating the Panthers 8-5 and 3-0 on Saturday while blasting PV 12-2 on Sunday in seven innings.

SU (25-14, 14-7 Southwestern Athletic Conference) came into the series with an eight-game winning streak and winning nine of their last 10 games.

In game one of the Saturday double hitter SU took control over PVAMU (20-18, 11-6 SWAC) in the fifth inning scoring four runs to the three runs scored in the third inning, the Panthers tried to make it a game in the eight when they scored four runs of there own but weren’t able to do anything in the ninth.

In game two the Jaguars Jose DeLeon showed maturity at the plate striking out 12 at bats and only giving up three hits.

“We can still pitch better, with two outs and two strikes we still not doing the kind of job I would like them, we can be a lot more crisp, and we can make better pitches out of the strike zone with two strikes when we are way head in the count,” head coach Roger Cador said.

We really need to do a better job in those areas in order for us to be able to take the

photo by trevor james/digest

Southern head coach Roger Cador, right, follows as Clint Ourso (10) tries to reach first base safely against Prairie View in the MLB Urban Invitational. The Jags swept the Panthers last weekend in Texas to take control of the SWAC Western Division race.

ball down the road.”

On Sunday the Jaguars made easy work of the Panthers Pitching line-up scoring nine runs in the fourth inning.

Freshman Stephan Wallace scored two home runs bringing in an RBI in the process and also in that home run column in the same inning was Derrick Hopkins.

The Jaguars added a run in the fifth and sixth inning to solidify their sweep over the Panthers.

“They did a good job on Sunday, in pitching defense and timely hitting and that was the key to us being successful and winning all three games,” said Cador.

Although the Jaguars have been on this rather soothing streak of victories, it wasn’t this smooth and the players understand that.

“Very few teams do not go through some kind of slump and we started out well and

we hit a slump, and because of a couple of injuries it took a while once we got everybody back to get everything rolling,” said Cador.

When asked about the slump and the Jaguars recent return to normality Cador said, that the decision to go back to the regular line up guys that know that they were going to be in the line-up helped them relax and take better at bats.

“It takes leaders and we have a couple of good leaders in Clint Ourso and Danny Garcia and Brian “Doc” Foster, those guys are really good leaders and they do a good job of reminding,” said Cador, “Its good for the coaches to remind players what they have to do, but it means a great deal when peer reminds you of what you have to do.”

The Jaguars will return to action tomorrow to host the University of New Orleans at Lee-Hines Field at 6 p.m.

Southern University has finalized the start times for its 2012 football home schedule, the Athletics Department announced Friday.

The Jaguars also confirmed the scheduled kickoff times for five of its six road games.

Southern’s Sept. 1 season opener at Nex Mexico remains as the only game time to be determined.

Southern’s home opener against Mississippi Valley, which is slated for a ESPNU live telecast on Thursday, Sept.

13, is scheduled for a 6 p.m. kickoff.

Homecoming 2012 will feature the Jaguars hosting Texas Southern in A.W. Mumford Stadium at 5:30 p.m.

Southern’s final two home games against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Oct. 20 and Alabama State on Nov. 10 are both schedule for 6 p.m. kickoffs.

For more details regarding season ticket applications and season book renewals, fans are encouraged to contact the SU ticket office at 225.771.3171.

Culture southerndigest.com

Page 10 - Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The Sentinel Of An Enlightened Student Body since 1926

‘Think Like a Man’ earns $33M

Festivals boom as Jazz Fest begins

David Germain

The Associated Press

Stacey Plaisance

The Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS — When Hurricane Katrina scattered New Orleans residents and its musicians across the country, many wondered if the best days of New Orleans music had drowned with the city.

But if its music festivals are any indication, New Orleans is proving its music scene is waterproof.

New Orleans festivals are as strong as they’ve ever been, and at least one is bigger than before Katrina hit in 2005.

French Quarter Festival, which took place in mid-April, started almost 30 years ago as a small festival for locals. But in recent years, has blossomed into a roughly $300 million moneymaker for the city. It brings in some 500,000 music fans each year, as does the upcoming New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Fest.

The French Quarter Festival is also the unofficial start of spring festival season in south Louisiana, when the revelry of Mardi Gras and chill of winter end, giving way to flip-flops, floppy hats and folding chairs toted by music lovers from across the globe.

Photo by gerald herbert/ap file photo

Jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal performs at the Louisiana Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans. April marks the start of spring festival season in south Louisiana. As the revelry of Mardi Gras and chill of winter end, spring festivals usher in the flip-flops, floppy hats and folding chairs toted by music lovers from across the globe. French Quarter Festival and Jazz Fest in New Orleans, and Festival International de Louisiana in Lafayette, La., are all held in April. Other Louisiana festivals held in spring and summer include Bayou Country Superfest in May, New Orleans Cajun-Zydeco Festival in June, Essence Music Festival in July and Satchmo Summerfest in August.

Jazz Fest spans two weekends, April 27-29 and May 3-6, at the Fair Grounds racing track, followed by New Orleans Cajun-Zydeco Festival in June, Essence Music Festival in July, Satchmo Summerfest in August and the Voodoo Music Experience in October. There are countless other festivals throughout south Louisiana packed between the months of April and October, among them Bayou Country Superfest in Baton Rouge, La., and Festival International de Louisiane in Lafayette, La. “We’re just experiencing good times,” said Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews, who was hand-picked to perform for President Obama and his

family at the White House in February. He also worked on the album, “Rebirth of New Orleans,” that this year landed Rebirth Brass Band a Grammy, making Rebirth the first New Orleans-style brass band to win the honor. Andrews and Rebirth were among the acts featured at this month’s French Quarter Festival, and both are set to perform at Jazz Fest.

“For New Orleans, the music is the heartbeat of everything,” Andrews said. “Now that we’re on the path to becoming stronger again, everything is just looking beautiful for us.

It’s wonderful. I’m happy to be in New Orleans. I’m happy to be from here and be a New Orleans musician.”

Trumpeter Irvin Mayfield says overcoming tragedy and coming out stronger on the other end is nothing new for New Orleans. The nearly 300-year-old city has had to rebound from centuries of disasters including fires, plagues, hurricanes and most recently, the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Through it all, New Orleans music has flourished and hard times have just been folded into the city’s history.

“I think if you ask the question, ‘Is that because of Katrina?’ I really think the answer is ‘It’s despite Katrina,’” Mayfield said. “This is what we do. We would do this regardless.”

Hudson testifies in murder trial Michael Tarm

The Associated Press

CHICAGO — The trial of the man accused of killing Jennifer Hudson’s family opened with the marquee witness, as prosecutors put the actress and singer on the stand Monday for emotional testimony that may leave a strong impression on jurors.

Hudson, wearing a subdued black dress, broke down on the witness stand, stopping to dab her tears and try to regain her composure, as she testified just yards from the man prosecutors say killed her mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew in a fit of jealous nearly rage four years ago.

Hudson, the 2004 “American Idol” finalist and 2007 Oscar winner for her role in “Dreamgirls,” was the first witness called after prosecutors and attorneys for William Balfour finished their

opening statements. While she couldn’t tell jurors details about the shootings themselves, she did offer moving testimony about her family, including her reaction to her sister, Julia Hudson, telling her she was going to marry Balfour.

“None of us wanted her to marry him,” she said, her voice cracking and struggling to hold back tears. “We did not like how he treated her,” she said.

Putting the star on the stand first was a shrewd move by prosecutors, according to one former federal prosecutor.

“It rivets the jury,” said Phil Turner, a Chicago attorney. “For better or worse it increases the importance of the case in jurors’ minds.”

Judge Charles Burns has instructed jurors to set aside any sympathy for Hudson, but Turner said her presence is sure to be

Photo by tom gianni/ap photo

In this courtroom sketch, singer and actress Jennifer Hudson testifies Monday in Chicago at the murder trial of William Balfour, charged in the October 2008 killings of her mother, brother and nephew. Looking on is Cook County Judge Charles Burns. Oscarwinner Jennifer Hudson broke down in tears Monday while testifying at the trial of the man accused of killing her mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew in a jealous rage four years ago.

noted. And Hudson can now sit through the rest of the trial, in full view of the jury. Witnesses typically are not allowed to watch trials until they have testified, Turner said.

“Now the jury knows everything about her and that she’s in the

courtroom only accentuates that this is an important case,” he said.

When Hudson’s sister, Julia Hudson, testified later in the day about her ex-husband’s alleged threats against her family, Jennifer Hudson was watching from a fourth-row bench.

LOS ANGELES — The datenight movies “Think Like a Man” and “The Lucky One” finally have knocked “The Hunger Games” off its No. 1 box-office perch.

“Think Like a Man,” based on Steve Harvey’s dating-advice best-seller, debuted as the top weekend draw with $33 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. That’s almost double what studio executives had expected for the Sony Screen Gems ensemble movie, which features Michael Ealy, Taraji P. Henson and Gabrielle Union.

The Warner Bros. drama “The Lucky One,” starring Zac Efron in an adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ romance novel, opened at No. 2 with $22.8 million. It also came in a bit above studio expectations going into the weekend.

“Think Like a Man” was produced for about $13 million and took in nearly that much on opening day Friday alone, with business getting even better on Saturday. Sony executives had figured the movie might pull in about $17 million for the whole weekend.

“It was a wild ride. It just got better and better as the night went on Friday. Then to be up so much on Saturday,” said Rory Bruer, head of distribution at Sony.

Lionsgate’s blockbuster “The Hunger Games” took in $14.5 million, slipping to third-place after four weekends at No. 1. The film raised its domestic total to $356.9 million.

“The Hunger Games” added $13 million overseas, where its total now stands at $215.8 million, for a worldwide haul of $573 million.

Disney’s nature documentary “Chimpanzee” opened at No. 4 with $10.2 million.

Despite some healthy newcomers, Hollywood’s overall revenues dipped for the second weekend in a row. Domestic receipts totaled $129 million, down 5 percent from the same weekend last year, when “Rio” led with $26.3 million, according to box-office tracker Hollywood. com.

Revenues likely will decline again next weekend, with no huge newcomers expected to come close to the $86.2 million debut of “Fast Five” over that same weekend last year.

But business should shoot back up after that as the superhero ensemble “The Avengers” launches one of Hollywood’s biggest summer lineups ever over the first weekend of May. “’Fast Five’ basically performed to summer box-office numbers in pre-summer last year,” said Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian.

Commentary southerndigest.com

The Sentinel Of An Enlightened Student Body since 1926

Tuesday, April 24, 2012 - Page 11

Lessons can lead to innovation we need SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY SUITE 1064 T.H. HARRIS HALL POST OFFICE BOX 10180 BATON ROUGE, LA 70813 PHONE: 225.771.2231 FAX: 225.771.5840 ONLINE @ www.southerndigest.com

STUDENT MEDIA OFFICE

Director....................................................... TBA Publications Asst..................Fredrick Batiste Business Manager..............Camelia Jackson

CONTACTS (area code 225)

Student Media Newsroom............771.2231 Advertising Office.......................... 771.5833 Student Media Services.................771.5812

SPRING 2012 STAFF

Editor-in-Chief.............................. Evan Taylor Managing Editor....................................... TBA Copy Editor................... Norman J. Doston Jr. Photo Editor............................... Trevor James Staff Writer............................... Christie Carral Staff Writer...............................Marcus Green Staff Writer....................... Charles Hawkins II Staff Writer............................ Lauren Johnson Staff Writer............................ Aristide Phillips Staff Writer.................................Jessica Sarpy Staff Photographer....................Arielle Burks Staff Photographer.......................Talor Kinzy Staff Photographer....................Keldric Nash Staff Photographer...................Ariana Triggs

SUBMISSIONS POLICY

The Southern DIGEST welcomes letters from readers commenting on current issues and other matters of general interest to the SU family and public. We set aside this space to publish these letters for others to enjoy.

This newspaper is not responsible for individual opinions expressed on its editorial and opinion pages. The Southern DIGEST reserves the right to edit any contributions and or reject them without notification. Authors are encouraged to limit the length of submissions to 300 words. Letters should not include libelous statements. Offensive and personal attacks will not be permitted. The DIGEST will not print “open letters” addressed to someone else.

All contributions must be type written, signed and must include the author’s address and phone number.

Unsigned letters will not be printed. Southern University students should include their majors, hometowns and year in school. When referring to specific DIGEST articles, please include the date and title. All materials should be directed to the editor in chief of The Southern DIGEST, P.O. Box 10180, Baton Rouge, La. 70813. Materials may be delivered by hand to the DIGEST office located in Suite 1064 Harris Hall or can be e-mailed to digest@subr.edu.

History can teach us many life lessons.

It can teach you about what to do and not to do in everyday situations.

It can teach you etiquette, it can teach you professionalism, best practices and even prophesize the future.

America has taken heed to many life lessons just in the form of financial awareness, regulation and reform.

According to Webster’s New World College Dictionary, a lesson is defined as something to be learned which is for the sake of one’ safety, well being, etc.

I would say that America has learned lessons from financial crisis for it’s progress and well being.

America learned from Black Tuesday and the Great Depression.

October 29, 1929 the stock market crashed. By 1933, 11,000 of 25,000 banks failed. As a result unemployment reached 25-30 percent and this led to the economic failures of Germany, Britain and other countries around the world.

America learned the lesson of insurance and the government assumed the role of ensuring financial stability. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was established in 1933.

The 1973 Energy Crisis. In 1973 Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) barred the U.S. from purchasing oil and dramatically increased prices for other customers.

Evan Taylor By 1978, The Carter Administration secured legislation that promoted conservation and decontrolled the price of domestic natural gas.

America learned the importance of fostering its own oil and gas for its country and not to depend on foreign oil supply to run the country.

The market crash of 1987. “Black Monday” the market dropped 508 points and the selling continued in foreign markets. Garnering a 22 percent loss in the New York DOW. The massive selling frenzy was seen as a failure and malfunction of the internal mechanisms of the market.

America learned that computers were only as capable as the programmers had equipped them.

A market of no internal regulation would fail to adjust to massive human panic.

And the 2008 recession, categorized by a downward trend in the business cycle due to a decline in production

and employment, which lowers household income and spending.

Whether a recession develops into a depression depends on the extent and quality of credit, ability of fiscal policies to reverse trends and amount of excess productive capacity.

America learned the need and reach of the economic downturn, what was needed to adjust it and what stimulates the economy most is production and employment that increases spending.

America has learned more and will learn more if we take heed to the lessons history can teach.

If we keep these lessons in mind and search out others that will continue our progress.

If we don’t take stagnation and pity for our country instead of adjusting and correcting its issues.

If America is to be built on innovation, we must take heed to those things that create it.

Issues equal problems.

With consideration and thought, those issues bring about solutions.

With more consideration, planning and execution those solutions create innovation.

That innovation builds progress and teaches lessons.

With a country that has innovated in the past again and again, what is stopping us now?

Learn lessons from innovation America. If we don’t, who will?

Editorial policy

Staff editorials represent the opinions of the author and the majority opinion of the Southern DIGEST Student Editorial Board, which is comprised of the student staff of editors and columnists. The Southern DIGEST provides an open forum to educate, inform and enlighten the students, faculty and staff at Southern University, Baton Rouge, La.

PUBLICATION ASSOCIATIONS

The Southern DIGEST is a member of the Black College Communications Association (BCCA), National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), University Wire Network (U-Wire), Associated Collegiate Press (ACP), College Media Advisers Association (CMA), Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), Full member of the Associated Press (AP) and the Louisiana Press Association (LPA).

ADVERTISER MEMBERSHIPS

The Southern DIGEST subscribes to the American Passage, Alloy M+M, 360 Youth, Zim2Papers, All Campus Media, Ruxton Group and College Publishers On-Line services.

The Office of Student Media is a division of the Office of Student Affairs.

get online @

www.southerndigest.com

Page 12 - Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The Sentinel Of An Enlightened Student Body since 1926