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February 26,1998

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." I’t‘ .VIIIlI III‘IIII' t‘IW/IIL'I/flt‘)‘ HIVI’L’IIIg I'Irlt‘I' .II I VI\V.

‘SOMETHING IN COMMON’

New forms of adversity challenge diversity

By Jill Erwin

S. 11/111' .SVI/(II-II 1/111

Imagine walking into your
cltss. .md having all eyes on
yfIII

Imagine bLing the only
member of your r.'1LL' in the
maioriiy of yottr LlassL's.

\m‘ i'eali/e that this is
reality for some his students.

In his first sLiiiestei'. l,eroy
Young said three wltite stti~
d1 111s asked him. at different
points 111 time. if he had come
to [K on .111 athletic scholarv
sltip.

“l somewhat expected it
when I caiite here." said
Young. .1 political science
.sr-phomore, "\\Vhy not .111 aca-
demic scholarship?"

Melissa Moore. .1 sctiior
politiLal science and l’nglish
major. has only one Llass iii
winch there are more than
one or two other blacks. Vl'hat
is .1 social work class, where
athletes comprise the inaioi'ity
ol the minority students.

More often than not.
\loore walks into the class and
finds herself pleased .11 the
sitfht of another lilaLk Sliltlt'll'.

She was borit and raised in
lktltiinore. and never found
herself worried about these
types of problems.

“Maybe itVs because it was .1
bigger city. or I was just

younger. htit I doth reiiietnher

all these conflicts." Moore said.

“\\Vhen I moved to Lexing-
ton 111 198.". it was all I heard."

Moore. .1 former Miss Black
LVIsV. .ilso laments the changes
the campus has undergone
since her arrival. \\Vhen she
first got here as a freshman, she
remembers the black students
speaking to each other as a sign
11f recognition. Now, she says.
all that has changed.

“Here all almost the .sattie
age. btit it's like .1 totally dif—
ferent generation," Moore
said. “It‘s one thing to he one
of the ‘lonely‘, htit when yoti
don‘t even get respect from
your own. it hurts."

I’re—pharmaey sophomore
I .al)onda Shearer agrees.

“\Vhen I was a freshman.
even if we didn't know each
other. we were like. ‘I Icy. how
you doing?" " Shearer said.
‘5111 now. after sitting 11111 .1
semester, it‘s like nobody

\ft ic 111-'\111L‘t ic-an

llistot'y

WWW

V A look at the African-Anter-
icati Atlairs department

V UK blacks liteakititi haulers

wants to speak to anybody
anymore. even though we're
here for the same purpose."
Shearer faces the same
problem as Moore when it
cotites to black student rcpre~
sentation. She has only one
class with tiiore than three
black students, and she esti—
mates the percentage in that
class at about 3; percent.
Shearer says it‘s .1 totally differ;
L-nt environment walking into a
class as the only black student.
“I feel isolated." Shearer

 

 

said. “I want to talk to every—
body regardless. but soinL'v
times they look at me like,
‘\\hat is she talking abotit?‘l
just sit 111 my own little world."

Moore says one of the
problems encouraging the
separation ofthe black student
population is the large num-
her of minority j'iotips on
campus. li'om thL National
-\ssoci.ition of lilack '\ceoun~
tants to the .\ational Society
of Black I'iiigineers to Black
\Voices to the Black Student
[1111111. there are groups for
most interests.

“\\Ve split ourselves tip so
iiitich. it‘s hard to bring us all
together. ' " Moore said.

\Voungs says it‘s not onlv
Moore who has noticed the
change.

“It pretty iiitich bothers
everybody." Young said.
“'IiIIL'I‘L‘ are some org.1ni/..i~
tions to pull the black students
together, btit something. I
doth know what it is. discord
or something htit we‘re not
coming together. It makes yott
feel as if you re still alone."

\oting came to LVK from
Louisville Manual I ligh School,

one w hiLh was maiority white.
btit very diverse nonetheless,

He admits that when he
walks to class and sees another
black student. he feels somev
what relieved.

"It‘s like .1 bond. \‘le all
have something 111 common."
Voting saltl. "If we took hall
the blacks off campus. it
would be like me going to an
all-white campus. I would feel
like I‘d lost touch with myself.
'l‘here would he no connec
tion with people who know
what I in gtht” through

I11 his Sptitish and politic .1l
sLienLe Llass‘Ls. lie is the sole
black student. and in his mind.
that makes .1 difference to the
rest of the class.

"\\Vhen I first walk 111.
they re really tivinu toLiL 11L .1
pic"VtmL. Young said.‘ \\ hat s
he going to be like .- Is he inili
tant. is he nice?"

Young siid he doL'stia care
it others perceive him wronw
ly. He will 11111 allow his
minority stattis to cause him
to he quiet in class.

“I want to express myself."
\Voung .said, “I‘m not going to
back down."

Administration, black students attempt to boost retention

By Mat Herron
.\V1 2; \ I'.1IIIHI

Iieiiig a part of something.

'I'his presents IIIL‘ASl/e chale
lenges for students acatlctiii~
cally immersed 111 .1 plaLL' with
34.000 others like them.

For black students, the
challenge of belonging seems
doubly hard.

\ecording to retention fig-
tiics obtained from the Office
of Institutional Planning and
Budget. more black students
leive [7K in their first two
yLars than 111 their last two
This trend. while Liniy'ersitt'

offitiils say isn Vt totally otit of

Lontrol. shows retaining these
sttidents is not as good as it
should he.

Social work senior (ieorge
Myers says black students
leave often dtie to and unwel-
conimg climate on campus. as
well as the state's track record

‘ l’

*AA..-W .. . . .

in terms of race relations.

"l‘hey can't change the
track record of the state. btit
they can change the track
r'"LLoid of the [Viiiversitw ‘V said
\Iyers the ( .ollege 11f SoLigl
\\ork senator for the Student
(iovcrniiient .-\ssoLiation.
“\Vhen 'I'anya Marie (Iole
(was attacked in 1011111. the
administration didn't even
come tip with .1 statement
until they were forced to.

“I"or iite as a black student.
that tells me they cotild care
less ifIVm here."

Minority retention is also a
sticking point for Myers for
another reason: The L'niver-
sity Senate is considering
raising the grade-point aver—
age requirement to get into
(iraduate School, a move that

would lessen the number 11f

minority students who get
accepted.
The administration and the

stttdents are equally at fatilt
for not including black stu-
dents 111 mainstream campus,
btit alleviating this problem
might itist he .1 matter oI let»
llttg them know about
resources that are there. said
I.a( iene Brown. .111 economics
senior.

l"or exatttple. he said.
“Most black students doth
know about" the Learning
Seruces (lenter on
.\Vicholasvillc. 111' about the
Minority .'\ff.1irs Department.
a department Brown said “is
not lust for black students."

.-\nother solution is to insti-
tiite more activities that would
include more black students in
the mainstream. not just sepa—
rate organizations. Myers said.

“It almost seems like those
organi7ations have to be here.
because (black students) feel
disenfranchised," he said. But
Myers does say the existing

I

._....-—l< rv-Vva

programs and facilities. stieh
as the Martin Luther Km 1.11:
(lulttiral (lenter are very 1e11—
L'flL‘i'al.

But what about those stu—
dents who don‘t want to he
assimilated into the inain~
stream?

“I imagine there are people
that feel that way," Myers
said. “People may feel like
they're exposing themselves to
frustrations of trying to
become .1 part of something.
Sometimes you 111st get tired
of dealing with (your rac;e) it s
caster rto go to a plane that s
comfortable than it is going
out 1111 a limb."

Recruiting minority stu-
dents often requires just that.

“For one, we try to bring in
students to our campus,
African-.-\111erican students
that haven't always been jump~
ing 11 and down about UK."
said I'.minctt Burnam. director

..‘,. ...-..~ .,,..

3.

L7,-.7 7...L,.. .7...7L 77.,

-.~~M-.

1f African~:\meric.in Littler»
graduate Student Recruit—
ment.

The minority reLruiting
initiative. which targets l1Iac'
students across the state. has
been around for 11 years, btit
dates back to the ‘70s.
Although back then. Iiurnain
said, “there hadn‘t been much
fruit."

Bringing students to cam-
pus through the “(Louie See
For Yourself“ program. w hiLh
began in 1990. is one way the
department helps eliminate
the negative images prosper
tive students might have. Bur—
nam said. Recruiters also hold
a six-week summer program
for incoming black students to
get a jump 1m the college
environment before they're
actually in it.

“It works as a very good

See RETENTION on 5

 

 

 

Senator
forums to
take aim
at apathy

By Jed Leano

(doll/I'II‘IIIIII‘Q II VI‘IIt'I

Vlihe Student (1(1\L'Tltllleltl \ss1 1L'IdlIUI] passed a
bill last night requiring student senators to hold
one forum per semester to address student con—
cerns.

I'ireshnian senator .ind bill L'o-sponsoi‘ Keisha
(Iarter led the charge 111 thL fiery debate. w hiLh
brotiUht tip many qtiLstions as to the Ltirrent and
ftiturL roles of S( \ 111 student .10 Hrs.

“ l he hill is absolutely necessary because we are
facing .i serious problem with our constituents."
(iartet' said. "'IVliey doth know what S(1V.-\ is. let
alone w hat S( i.-\ does. This bill allows tis to con~
”((1 with students. 'V

I)Cl).IlL over the bill hL'ighte'nLd only as its
opposition iaised the question of what S(1V .\ L an
and cannot do. Sen. StaLy ML(.arthy from the
(Iollege of .\rts and Sciences opposed the bill
because she said she thought it tried to do too
itttich in too little time.

“This bill 1111th work because it tries to address
students. btit it only ends tip being an overkill."
.\lc(..1rthy said. “If all the senators do one forum
per semester. this is going to ttirn 11111 to be about
10 forums in .1 span ofonly three months. People
are going to think. “I‘his is ridiculotisl I don‘t it ant
to go to thislm

.\mid the chaos. some senators found themselves
changing their views and ultimately supporting the
bill. It eventually passed 31—4. I lL'ndriL‘k l'iloyd, I.L'x—
ington Community College senator, was one oftheiii

“\\Ve sit on our asses 111 111‘ little drunken
stupors." l"loy1l said. “\\ e come into these Sen—
.itL' meetings and try to get out as sooit as possi-
ble. S(i'\ means nothing to students. and we
wonder w hyl

“If we do this. we can start representing otir
constituents and actually do our rob." he said. “I
mean. I look at what goes 1111 in here. and I realiIe
that this bill absolutely has to be p. 1sse.d "

Bill co— sponsor and (.ollege of SoLial \\Vork
Sen. (icorge Myers said the hill pttts attention 1111
S(£ .\ at a time when students are unaware 11f
what‘s going on.

"Me cath sit here and call it only .1 matter of

student apathy," Myers said. “\\Vhat about our-
selves? \\Vhat have we done to ntake sure that stu»
dents are not left in the dark?"

Meanwhile .loe Schtiler. executive director of

\cademic .\ffairs. asked sLn. itors about their ability
to aLLept LhangL. \\ hile it is l1111'.tit il to aLLLpt the
status quo. he said thL bill is not the kind of drastiL
Lh. ange some people think it is.

“This has the potential to make a great impact
on sttident government and the amount of em.
dents we're able to reach." Schtiler .said. “I spoke

to .1 lot of students about this measure and a lot of

them are glad that S(i.'\ is making the effort to
address student concerns."

I‘ilt'L‘IlttttS for new S(i \ officers start in about
one month.

 

NEWSIJytes

team But! resolution
stops student protest

.'\ protest of IVS. involveiitent in the Middle
I".ast scheduled for i p.111. at the Free Speech \rea
ofthe Sttident (Ienter has been canceled

Declining interest in the protest because ofthis
week's diplomatic resolution between the L'nited
\Vations and Iraq led to the cancellation.

The group who organiIed the protest last week
said in a fly L‘r they were protesting the sanctions
against Iraq that are harming innoLent people and
possible bombings without an .IC\I1IL‘ able mission.

NAMEdI'opping

I'll! I.“ W081“ TOP ml. WIT.
..\I\I IBIV. (Ialif. Tommy IL'L'w was in jail

\esterday for investigation 11f spousal abuse and
Vwife Pamela Anderson I (‘8 obtained an emergen-
Ly order a rainst him.

I ee 1 al ed 91 I from their home Iticsday night
to report that the \Iotley ( rue drummer had
attacked her. sheriffs Deputy .\ngie I’rewett said.
I ee had a bloody broken nail but declined treat-
ment the deputy said.

I cc. IN, was booked and held in lieu of SI mil-
lion bail which is who the nonnal amount because
he's on probation for attackin apher last
year. His arraignment was Iik cf'a “11?me

Compiled [111m .rmff u'n'r 111111111.

 

 

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