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The Spark, Volume 34, No. 1
No full textCENTRAL
PIEDMONT
CO/v\MUNllY
COLLEGE
TAYLOR HALL 205, P.O. BOX 35009
Dr. Nick Gennett, Vice-President of Student, Staff, and Or a nizational Develo ment . . . . . Photo by Te~rie B~ntley·
secunty matters with students includino Bi lial Abdul Haqg d O . H P and Dr. Jim Wingate, Vice-President for Education, discuss
, o q an clav1a unter.
Students and Security Discuss Differences ,
by Thomas Henkel
Staff Writer
In a closed meeting on Thursday,
November 15, members of student
groups met with Central Piedm·ont
Communiy College administrators and
Charlotte police officers to air their
grievances. The CPCC security staff
stands accused of racial and religious
harrassment. Chairing the discussion
was CPCC Vice-President of Business,
John Harper.
A student was arrested by campus
guards in October. He was escorted
from the college in handcuffs and was
jailed. However, the warrant issued for
this person was -revealed to have been
made through a computer error. Although
cleared, the citizen's reputation
was besmirched as that of a drug dealer.
On October 31 and November 2,
this reporter personally witnessed,
separately, two similar such occurrences.
On Halloween, a young African-
American male was cuffed and held
by two officers, as they marched quickly
down the steps of the Van Every patio
area and down Elizabeth A venue. On
November 2, the incident was repeated,
with different people under the same
circumstances, but this time, no restraint
was used.
William Jordan, Director of Public
Safety, said that much crime takes
place in the Van Every building, adding
that "as much as 5 for adults and 3
for children 4 to 12. All button, food,
and souvenier sales are cash.
Charlotte Transit is extending its
hours on New Year's Eve to give the
·patrons a chance to ride to and from
First Night on the bus.
News Release
j
.\·' i.
; l
· opinion
™I Co-Editors
Photography Editor
Advertising Editor
Staff Writers
Staff Photographers
Terrie Bentley
Melissa Sims
Angelina Korinis
Beth Smith
Phillip Adams
Terrie Bentley
Jill Bolick
Anita Hartley-Bush
Philip M. Clay
John Fullagar
Thomas Henkel
Todd Kaperonis
Sharon Mason
Joan Palmer
Melissa Sims
Troy Brailey
Greg Forwerck
Jason Griffin
Paste-up Artist
Staff Cartoonists/Illustrators
Typesetters
Angelina Korinis
David McCoy
Johnie Roberts
Beth Smith
Joe Cathey
Thomas Henkel
Doug Williams
Todd Clontz
Melissa Sims
Student Publications Advisor
Student Activities Director
Mary Murchison
Ross Surphlis
THE SPARK wishes to acknowledge its
appreciation to the Graphic Arts
Department for its cooperation and for the
use of its MacIntosh computers for
typesetting. We literally couldn't have
done it without you!
From the editors' desks ____ _
We've lost the reason for the season
by Terrie Bentley
Co-Editor
Come with me to a place where a
pan of spicy water simmers on the
stove, filtering the air with good scents.
A place where Pop, grinning, brings in
the Christmas turlcey and Mom bakes
snowman cookies for Katie and Pete,
who, laughing, run the train below the
tree. Everyone is smiling on Christmas
Eve.
Stores open up their shelves and
thrust holidays upon us like it is no
more than putting a new brand of
hotdogs up for sale. It's as if we've put
our holidays up on the auction block to
make a buck.
Guest Editorial ______ _
Okay, forget the . Norman
Rockwell scene. Forget the scented air,
the cookies, the shining tree, and the
home-made presents. In this day, all of
those can be picked up at the local Kmart.
Cheaply.
A person can buy any type of
decoration now. Santa comes in all
sizes. So does Rudolph. You can get
dime-sized manger scenes or scenes
that are yard-size. As in front yard. I
long for the day when we don't have
money for"real" gifts and have to resort .
to the kind that comes from the heart.
Yes, w~•re a money-minded society.
Instead of spending 25 to make a
present, we'd rather spend 50 for one
Western_f orces should leave that will be returned.
Mideast now Yes, we live in a quickly moving
society. We have no time for that weird
sentimental stuff. We can save time by -
buying a whole Christmas holiday while
we're buying the Halloween costumes
for Katie and Pete. Cheaply.
The problem is that the winter
holidays have become so systematic,
we've lost the reason for the season.
And to clarify something, it is not to
"be nice to mankind." After all, there is
a reason why those stores sell manger
scenes in the first place.
by Thomas Henkel
Staff Writer
Oh! America and its inferiority
complex. Every time it starts feeling
sorry for itself, it goes to beat up some
piddly country with which it has no
business at all (Vietnam, Grenada,
Panama ... ). The World Wars were noble
causes, but since then, the waters have
darkened and deepened.
In these uncertain times the glory
boys ruining- er, rwming the nation
will do anything to feel good about
themselves, -tojustify,howeverweakly,
a defense build-up of Jrillions of dollars.
I can easily imagine some•_; fat
general in -Ole Pentagon saying, "I'm
\ > bored, let's invade Grenada!" Gre~ada
was, as Gary Trudeau aptly put it," ... a
Special Olympics for the Army." The
armed forces supposedly exist to serve
the people, but for the last thirty years,
that tail has wagged the dog. Eisenhower
warned America of the dangers
of the power-seeking military-industrial
complex; what a pity no one was
listening.
Now America, once again, is in
the throes of a mighty macho fit, drunk
on blood yet to be spilled. For an American
offensive, the casualty estimates
have ranged from the hundreds to the
thousands. However, now, if we do go
to war with Iraq, our great and honorable
commanders believe the deaths
and injuries could be kept within
"acceptable limits."
"Acceptable limits?!" If just one
person dies, George Bush, that is too
much! Why? No one should die simply
because the price of a bloody gallon of
gasoline goes up two quarters!
Human rights? Oppressed Kuwaitis?
The United States says it cares
about them, but of course, it actually
does not. They are pawns for both
sides; for our government, they are a
convenient mask for its own evil greed.
Instead of completely unnecessary
posturing, like one of those ballooning
lizards that uses its exaggerated
size to bluff away enemies, the
Western Powers should withdraw
immediately from Saudi Arabia. They
should pressure Israel to return the West
Bank to the Palestinians.
Before store owners over-commercialized
Christmas, they should have
posted a warning that said Christmas
shopping is hazardous to your health.
The Islamic countries have always
resented the West, the "Great Satan,"
.because the West helped form the Israeli
state, but created no similar nation
for the Palestinian natives. Also, the
West has milked these countries for
their natural resources for most of this
Hanukkah lights shining through commercialism
"" .
century. And now, once again, here
comes greedy America and her Friends;
the Bush administration and the military
are behaving like a pack of spoiled,
agressive little boys. No surprise.
by Melissa Sims
Co-Editor
Christmas, Christmas, Christmas!
Is that all anyone thinks about this
month? Well, of course, some people
don't think about it as much as others ...
They think about Hanukkah instead.
The Israeli regime of Itzhak Sha- If you're not Jewish, it's likely
mir has been to that land what P.W. you don't know much at all about
Botha was to South Africa. The unwar- Hanukkah. And if you're not Jewish,
ranted agression of the Israeli militia - it's likely you don't think about how
and the Fascist policies of Shamir have · -we shove this "Christmas season" down
at last brought down on their ugly heads everyone's throat. Consider what you'd
the unanimous condemnation of the think of someone who didn't know
world. Perhaps, if Shimon Peres gets what Christmas is. That would be stu-in,
positive changes will occur. Until pid, right? Okay, perhaps you should
then, we should hammer away at Sha- · feel stupid for not knowing about Ha-mir
for the creation of of a separate nukkah. It's an important time of the
Palestinian state.just like Israel. An au- year, too.
tonomous Palestinian homeland would This December, Hanukkah will
go farther than anything else in achiev- begin on the twelth of the month. If
ing peace in the entire Middle East. you 're Jewish, it begins on the 25th day
of the Hebrew month, Kislev. It's cele- •
brated for eight days as a "Festival of
Lights." Each night, one more candle
on the menorah (an eight-branched candlestick)
is lighted than on the night
before.
Earlier in history, the king of Syria
had tried to force everyone to practice
paganism. In the Jews' Holy Temple,
he erected a statue of one of his gods
Zeus. He did some other rude things
and the Jews rebelled. How could they
betray their God?
Judah Maccabee and his followers
joined together to amazingly defeat
the Syrians. Victory came for the Jews
when they recaptured Jerusalem in 165
B.C. They took away the idols from
their Holy Temple and began celebrating
the victory for freedom of religious
worship.
Hanukkah is celebrated for eight
days because of something amazing. A
sacred cruse of oil was found in the
Please see Hanukkah page 3
r,ijmer to the Editors
Change the name of the paper to
THE SLANT ________ _
Dear SPARK,
I am writing in regards to the
column edited by Melissa Sims in the
November 1990 issue of the paper. I
would lik~ to present an opposing viewpoint.
In her column, she tries to make
it known that the Senatorial race between
Harvey Gantt and Jesse Helms
was decided purely on the matter of
race. That assumption is very debatable.
As one who cast his ballot for
Senator Helms in this particular election,
I would like to express my reasons
for doing so. Having never been a racist
or anything remotely similar to that, I
can honestly say that I voted for the
candidate who best represented this
state and the Judeo-Christian values, as
outlined in the Word of God, that made
this country great. Ms. Sims closes out
her column by saying "Where Helms is
very strong financially , Gantt is very
strong morally." This particular comment
would be funny if it wasn't so
athetic. WhereMs. Sims etsherdfini-tion
of morality is quite unknown to
me. It surely doesn't come from the
Bible, which is God's infallible Word.
Had she taken the time to open its pages
she would have found scriptures like
proverbs 14:34, whichsays"Righteousness
exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach
to any people."; "When the
wicked rule the people mourn, but when
they perish there is rejoicing."; and
"Woe unto those who call good evil
and evil good."
I Timothy 3:1-5 reads, "But know
this, that in the last days perilous times
will come: For men will be lovers of
themselves, lovers of money, boasters,
proud, blasphemers, disobedient to
parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving,
unforgiving, slanderers, without selfcontrol,
brutal, despisers of good, traitors,
head-strong, haughty, lovers of
pleasure rather than lovers of God,
having a form of godliness but denying
its power. And from such people turn
away."
Anyone who condones homosexuality
and abortion, which are clearly
described as immorality in the Word of
God, falls into the category the previ-ous
verse describes. So if you really
want to discuss moralily, Lhc Word of
God is your standard and judge. It's
time men and women sLand up for
morality and elect Godly men and
women to office, in spile of being criticized
and persecuted. For it says in II
Timothy 3:12 that "All who desire to
live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer
persecution, but evil men and seducers
will grow worse and worse, deceiving
and being deceived." We need men and
women today who arc bold and will
stand up for righteousness.
Maybe it's time you had more
conservative editors writing more truthful
articles instead of always printing
liberal biased views. If not, perhaps
you should change Lhe name of your
papertoTHE SLANT, instead ofTHE
SPARK, for it seems to describe the
slanted views most of the columnists in
your paper have.
Sincerely,
Sherwood Page
THE SPARK welcomes
letters to
the editors
205 Taylor or you can
mail them in care of
THE SPARK to: .
P.O. Box 35009
Charlotte, NC 28235
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~~itors' Response
Opinion supported with fads-by
Melissa Sims
Co-Editor
Dear Mr. Page,
I'm afraid you missed the point of
my editorial. It was placed on the opinion
page and stated the facts I found in
my research. I did not imply that the
outcome of the Senate elections would
be based purely on thematterofrace. In
fact, that's the very point I was trying to
discourage. I merely chose one topic
out of the many differences between
Gantt and Helms to write about. You
might note, as well, that the editorial
was written one month prior to the
election.
I do not care to address your ques- ·
tions of mybeliefinGod orin the Bible ..
I said nothing about either in my editorial
because I found neither particularly
relevant in the issue of black versus
white./ stated/acts about and only
about the issue I was debating. I was a
bit annoyed though, that you assumed
I do not have respect for God. I do have
a great love and respect for God
There is something about your
letter that I would like to comment on.
You are saying that / am a brutal
despiser of good, because Gantt wants
to allow the freedoms of homosexuality
and abortion. Again, I was speaking
about the color of the candidates' skin,
not condoning anything you accuse me
of. In fact.just because Gantt wanted to
allow those freedoms doesn't mean that
he actually condones them.
Though I sincerely wish you
hadn't brought the Bible into this, I
wonder why you quoted it as often as
you did. Why hide behind the Bible?
You seem to have very strong opinions
of your own. And Mr. Page, I have read
the Bible.
As for changing the name of THE
SPARK, it's frankly a dumb idea. If
you want a conservative newspaper,
perhaps you'd like to put most of your
free time into writing for our paper;
you 're welcome to join the staff.
. But let it be known, Sherwood
Page, that you did not support your
response with much more than namecalling
and scripture. / supported my
opinion with recorded facts from reliable
newspapers and magazines.
Sincerely,_
Hanukkah __ _
Conlt from page 2
JUins of the Temple and was lighted.
Though the cruse contained enough oil
for only one day's Hghting, it shone
miraculously for eight days.
Now_you know. There is yet another
holiday in December, but there's
something special about it. It's remained
a little untouched by commercialism; it
is a truly religious holiday.
CLASSIFIEDS To place your ad in THE SPARK call 342-6665.
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■news
Tutor layoffs hurt _ _
by Sylvia J. Buckley
Student and fonner tutor
State budget cuts have hit Central
Piedmont Community College's
campus. One of the first areas hit was
the Special Services Department. Parttime
tutors in Special Services were all
laid off as of October 17. These tutors
.worked ·· with students who have
learning disabilities. Some of these
students have various physical
conditions which can interfere with
learning unless the students are given
that extra help , guidance, and
encouragement.
. Gus Boukouvalis, head of Special
Services, says the hardest thing for him
to do was lay off people who had
worked as tutors, some for as many as
ten years. These people were very
committed to helping the learningdisabled
students improve their
education and themselves.
The budget is 25,000 more to get through to July,
1991. The layoffs will also continue
until then. In the winter quarter there
will be a reduction in interpreter services
to the hearing impaired, as well.
All of this will affect the learningdisabled
students the most.
Special Services will attempt to
group students taking the same class in
the same section. Hearing-impaired
students in technological programs will
get notes from teachers when necessary
to answer questions. There will be more
- hand-outs given to students. The fulltime
staff of Special Services will be on
hand to tutor L.D; students who need
help in any subject.
At this time, there is no possibility
of getting funding from somewhere .
else. Other students, staff, faculty, and
alumni can help · during this crisis by
volunteering an hour or two a week of
their time to record a chapter or two
from a textbook onto a standard size
cassette for the visually- impaired
students or help other students work
through their problems during the soonto-
be-formed study groups. Helping
other students will improve yourG .P.A.
and enjoyment at CPCC. Work-study
students may also preferto do this kind
of work.
Any donations of money, standard
size cassette tapes, working tape
recorders which use standard size
cassettes, and any school supplies are
welcome. If you can do any of these
things, please call 342-6739. If you
have suggestions on how to improve
the situation, call extension 6739 and
leave a time and telephone number
where you can be reached.
This is not the first time CPCC has
had to deal with such a crisis. Every
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time before this, Special Services has
had to bear the brunt of the budget cuts.
Each time, they have come through
with staff morale and cooperation
improved.
Special Services tutoring will have
only the lead tutor Harriet Johnson. She
will work with those needing individua).
IT'S CRLLED R STRTE
BUDGET CUT.YOU'LL
HRRDLY FEEL R
TH ING! •••
help in the mornnings, and the rest
during the afternoons in Van Every
from 12:30 until 4:30.
With help from all of us, Special
Services can come through this troubled
period. So pitch in, show your spirit,
and get involved.
In 01emory ____ _
by Caldwell Cole
On Friday, October 26, 1990, one
of our own CPCC students, Gregory
Leroy Gresham, departed this life
around 11 :30 p.m. Greg was a passenger
in the car driven by Archie Barrier,
when they were struck by an on-com-
• ing car that was racing another automobile.
He died at the scene.
Greg was from Shelby, North
Carolina. He was 18 and a 1990 graduate
of Shelby High School who was attending
CPCC to study Business Administration.
Greg was a quiet sort of person.
Those of us who knew him best had
grown to love him. We will always
miss his smiling face. Greg's death
came as a shock to me as it did to
everyone else. It hurt a couple of us
perhaps more than it hurt others, because
we were there. He had told me
that he would be right back, but was
gone from thirty seconds to one minute.
Turning to follow him down the
street one-and-a-half blocks, I saw him
lying on the ground, dead. Dead from
someone's lack of intelligence. It hu
Tiger Mascot With Student Life at South Campus
No full textSouth Campus' Student Life make sure students don't go hungry at the Op. Fair
Satellite in a Parking Lot
No full textA group of individuals standing beside a satellite in a parking lot
Students in Halloween Masks
No full textStudents wearing Halloween-like masks in the Van Every building
