The state’s public colleges may have their academic degree programs scaled back, based on recommendations approved Tuesday by a state higher education review panel.

The Louisiana Postsecondary Education Review Commission also voted to propose equal funding for associate degree programs at community colleges and the two-year degrees at universities. Today, universities receive more money because the faculty members are paid more.

Commission member and former LSU Chancellor James Wharton pushed three other

recommendations approved Tuesday.

“There may be graduate programs that don’t have anything to do with that region of the state,” Wharton said. “Should the state support graduate programs that don’t have anything to do with the region?”

Commission member Belle Wheelan, who is the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools president, said some of the bachelor’s degree-focused universities “grew too far.”

Commission member Mark Musick, the Southern Regional Education Board president emeritus, said regional universities should focus more

on teaching undergraduates, while LSU must do a better job of attracting and educating graduate students.

Wharton has complained, for example, that too many public schools have specialized engineering programs. LSU, Southern University, the University of Louisiana at University, Louisiana Tech University and the University of New Orleans all have multiple engineering degree programs. McNeese State University has a general engineering technology program.

Wharton on Monday and Tuesday has mentioned the University of Louisiana at Lafayette when discussing

the outgrowth of regional universities and degree programs.

The review panel, often dubbed the Tucker Commission after House Speaker Jim Tucker who sponsored the legislation, is tasked with advising ways to streamline higher education. Gov. Bobby Jindal has asked the commission to recommend how to cut $146 million from college budgets during lean fi nancial times.

Wharton’s approved recommendations were to:

—Require the state’s higher

INSIDE CAMPUS BRIEFS................2 NEWS.................................3

S O U T H E R N U N I V E R S I T Y , B A T O N R O U G E , L A .

STATE & NATION................5SPORTS.............................8

A & E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 VIEWPOINTS....................11

PM SHOWERSHIGH 70° | 50° LOW

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2009WWW.SOUTHERNDIGEST.COM VOL. 54, ISSUE 17

estABLished in 1928

STATE & NATION

senate health care battle beginsSenate bill calls for $849 billion. pG. 5

SPORTS

su bedevils nw stateAlso: Lee sets SU career mark. pG. 7

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Filming season heats up in la.Twelve projects under way. pG. 9

See civil rigHTS page 3

THE NEXT ISSUE OF THE DIGEST WILL BE TUESDAY, DEC. 1.

Art george has a discussion to southern University students and faculty on how to take over their careers last Friday afternoon, in the Hi-tech Room of the Pinchback engineering Building. george is the senior Vice President and worldwide manager of he texas instrument’s High-Performance Analog business unit.

photo By wil norwood/diGest

BY tHe AssOCiAted PRess

By Billy washinGtondigest stAFF WRiteR

Southern University’s Depart-ment of History hosted the “Civil Rights Initiative: A Dialogue,” Wednesday, in T.T. Allain, which featured Emmy nominated fi lmmaker and former Southern student Keith Beauchamp.

The turnout for the fi lm screening of the documentary “Wanted Justice: Johnnie Mae Chappell,” which has already aired on The History Channel, was so large, it had to be showed in two separate viewings.

“I liked the documentary,” said Dennis Davis, senior marketing major from Varnado. “I thought it was very informative. I learned a lot about the Johnnie Mae Chappell case; I learned some of my history I didn’t know about. I enjoyed it and I hope they crack the case.”

In 1989, Beauchamp fi rst realized some of the world’s social injustices when he was threatened for “dancing with a white friend of mine,” he said; before that, he had seen Jets magazine’s cover story on the 1955 murder of Emmett Till. The Beauchamp family used to use Till’s murder as an example of what could happen for treading on the color line. “Don’t let what happened to Emmett Till happen to you,” his family would warn.

After leaving Southern to pursue his fi lmmaking career, the former criminal justice major was set to seek justice using another avenue. Films! He gathered research material in an attempt to formulate a screenplay. Instead, under the guidance of Mamie Till Mobley, Emmett’s mother, Beauchamp decided to make a documentary fi lm instead.

“Beauchamp is credited with introducing the evidence that reopened the Till case by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2004; evidence which included

Civil Rights-era cases discussedBy darrius harrisondigest LAYOUt editOR/egO editOR-iN-CHieF

The college of Engineering hosted a discussion and dialogue session on career planning advisement last Fri-day in the P.B.S Pinchback High Tech room. The guest speaker of he event was Texas Instruments Senior Vice Presi-dent and Worldwide Manager of High Performance Analog (HPA) business unit, Arthur L. George.

George earned his bachelors of science in electrical enginee-ring from Southern in 1983. According to the Texas In-struments’ people page, George received the Southern Uni-versity’s Outstanding Alumni Engineering Achievement Merit

Award in 2007. He also earned a master’s degree in 1990 from Southern Methodist University.

George begins his speech by stating that he will discuss the past, present, and future of his life.

“There are three critical questions people often ask about their career?” said George as he opened his speech. “First, I will give you the answers to these questions. The answers

are Yes, Yes, Yes.” He asked the audience if

anyone owned an I-pod to describe the transformation of technology from his time to present.

“How many of you own an I-pod? I can remember when my I-pod was a boom box on my shoulders, “ George said.

He also elaborated on his humble beginnings of life before he came to Southern

University. “I was born and raised in

Ethel, Louisiana. I was born into a family with two hard working parents who didn’t have everything but still managed to maintain and they always told us that with education we will have a better life.”

There are many questions one may ask about their career

George advises studentsSU alum and Texas Instruments VP stresses persistence

State schools may lose some programs

See george page 3

See programS page 3

CLASSIFIEDthe 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.

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.

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 225.771.2230.

PAGE 2 / CAMPUS BRIEFSAll submissions must be received by 3 p.m. each Friday for Tuesday’s Issue and by 3 p.m. each Wednesday for Friday’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

CORRECTIONSFact 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.

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 bi-weekly (tuesday & Friday) with a run count of 6,000 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 & Friday 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.

PUBLICATION ASSOCIATIONSthe 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 Journalist (sPJ), Full member of the Associated Press (AP) and the Louisiana Press Association (LPA).

ADVERTISER MEMBERSHIPSthe southern digest subscribes to the American Passage, Alloy M+M, 360 Youth, Zim2Papers, All Campus Media, Ruxton group and College Publishers On-Line services.

STUDENT MEDIA OFFICEwww.subr.edu/studentmedia

director - tBAAssistant director - tBAPublications Asst. - Fredrick BatisteAdvertising Mgr. - Camelia gardner

CONTACTS (Area Code 225)Advertising Office - 771.2230digest Newsroom - 771.2231student Media services- 771.3004the Jaguar Yearbook - 771.2464YeARBOOK Newsroom - 771.4614egO Magazine Newsroom - 771.4614

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 STATEMENTthe mission of southern University and A&M College, an Historically Black, 1890 land-grant 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.

The Office of Student Media is a Division of Student Affairs.

2009 FALL DIGEST STAFF

PAGE 2 ANNOUNCEMENTS & PAID CLASSIFIED INFO

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFNorman J. dotson Jr.

COPY EDITORSKenyetta M. Collins

erica s. Johnson

SPORTS EDITORLarry Young Jr.

PHOTO EDITORWil Norwood

LAYOUT EDITORdarrius Harrison

NEWS EDITORMary davis

DIGEST STAFF WRITERSMorris dillard

Briana BrownleeCandace edwards

Breanna Paultremaine sandersBilly Washington

DIGEST PHOTOGRAPHERSApril Buffington

trevor JamesJustin Wooten

SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY sUite 1064 – t.H.HARRis HALL

P.O. BOX 10180 – BAtON ROUge, LA 70813225.771.2231 PHONe / 225.771.3253 FAX

WWW.sOUtHeRNdigest.COM

What’s the quickest way to

get news and events to

the student body?

Put it in the...

CampusBRIEFS

Fax your campus event to

The Southern DIGEST

at 771-3253

Deadline for announcements are three days

prior to the publication date.

campuswide.

center For student success

Students peer tutoring is available at the Center for Student Success in Room 107 of W.W. Stewart Hall. Follow the Center for Student Success on twitter to see exciting upcoming events. Twitter.com/Jaguar_Nation

Food and nutrition eXperts needed

The Dietetics Program is looking for male and female students who can become food and nutrition experts to work in healthcare settings, food industry, sports nutrition, corporate wellness programs and in the hospitality industry. Learn more about scholarship and career opportunities at Room 109E P.E. Thrift Hall or call 225.771.4660, ext. 203.

Food product developers and entrepreneurial

eXperts neededThe Food Science and

Management/Culinary Science emphasis prepares students for an exciting and challenging career in the nation’s largest business: food. Graduates assume a variety of careers in the food industry as research chefs or product developers as well as in food systems management as managers in the expanding hospitality industry. For more information, come to Room 109E P.E. Thrift Hall or call 225.771.4660, ext. 203.

senior recitalThe Southern University

THE SOUTHERN DIGEST 4 - DAY WEATHER OUTLOOK

SATURDAY, NOV. 21 TUESDAY, NOV. 24SUNDAY, NOV. 22 MONDAY, NOV. 23

HI - 72° / LO - 55° 10% CHANCE OF RAIN

HI - 62° / LO - 47° 70% CHANCE OF RAIN

Fewshowers

partly cloudy

partlycloudyHI - 67°/ LO - 49° 20% CHANCE OF RAIN

Page 2 - Friday, November 13, 2009

CAMPUS BRIEFSwww.southerndigest.com

Page 2HI - 68° / LO - 50° 30% CHANCE OF RAIN

Music Department Presents Lorenzo McCoy’s senior recital Monday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. at the Debose Music Annex Building. The event is free and open to the public.

insurance licensinG courses

SU’s Division of Continuing Education and College of Business will sponsor insurance licensing courses on the Baton Rouge campus. The courses, which are open to anyone interested in becoming a licensed insurance agent, will include continuing learning classes for those who are already licensed

Registration is ongoing for the classes. The starting date for the class will be determined at the end of registration. For more information about the courses or registration, call 225.771.2613.

online literature maGazine

Dr. Munir Ali invites all students and faculty to submit any form of original literature (poetry, short stories, etc…) to be published in an online journal. For more information contact Dr. Ali at 771-2870 ext. 321 or email munir_ali@subr.edu or munirmali@yahoo.com.

For more information call 225.771.2230 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.

GET 36 ISSUES FOR JUST $40Name:

Address:

City/State/Zip:

Daytime Phone: ( )

su student recruiters wanted

SU students, become an SU student recruiter! Help recruit students in your hometown. Pick up reply cards in the Office of Admissions and Recruiting. Contact Mrs. Pat Anderson at 225.771.2430.

su karate cluBThe Southern University

Karate Club welcomes all persons interested in training Shotokan Karate. Training is scheduled for Tuesdays and Thursdays at noon at the J.B. Moore Hall Auditorium. For more information, call Edwin Walker at 771.3721 or e-mail edwin_walker@subr.edu.

Beep meetinGsThe Southern Univ-

ersity chapter of the Black Executive Exchange Program meets Tuesdays at 11 a.m. in Room 222 of T.T. Allain Hall. BEEP is open to all majors

Campus BriefsTODAY

leGal servicesDUI & criminal defense.

Attorney Darlene Rebowe Baton Rouge 773.5535. Free consult.

automotiveDap’s Towing, Tire

Repair and Jumpstarts 225.276.3047.

apartments For rent

Move-in special $99 dep. Everything new. 3 blocks off campus. 1bd $525, 2bd $625. H20/trash included. call 928.0444.

Classifieds

t-showers

Friday, November 20, 2009 - Page 3

NEWSwww.southerndigest.com

george from page 1

civil rigHTS from page 1

unquestioned witnesses and references to uncharged participants of the murders. This evidence was compiled into his first documentary film, “The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till.”

FBI Civil Rights Unit Chief Cynthia M. Deitle was in attendance of the event. She answered questions from panelists, which included the families of the victims. “I thought that what he [Keith] was doing was worthy of time and attention.”

“I needed Keith,” she said, I need the families and I need you to bring these people to justice; that’s what we are here for, if we don’t do this, who is going to do it,” she asked.

Family members on the interview panel displayed their distaste with the proceedings of the separate, delicate cases and spoke about the bureaucracy system in place to sanction these cases. “It’s

sickening to have someone to pay taxes to, who don’t do a thing for you,” said Henry “Hank” Allen, son of Louis Allen, a hate crime victim in Mississippi.

“Somebody is lying,” he said. “I’m no fish, don’t feed me a worm. Either we are going to do something, or there is no reason to talk about it.

Shelton Chappell, youngest son of Johnnie Mae Chappell’s 10 children, discussed his family’s quest for justice. Johnnie Mae Chappell was gunned down with a .22 caliber pistol on March 23, 1964.

“We have been on Oprah, Dateline NBC ... why can’t we get justice,” Shelton Chappell said.

Johnnie Mae Chappell’s children were forced were forced into foster care after her murder because their father was deemed unfit to raise the children.

education oversight body the Board of Regents to review the role, scope and mission of colleges to eliminate or minimize “mission creep.” That creeping involves colleges going beyond their basic missions, such as offering too many graduate-level degrees.

—Require the Regents and college management boards to review and eliminate more duplicate academic programs and to reduce “excess hours” required to graduate in academic programs.

—Require the Regents to consider

program quality, state workforce needs, completion rates and other factors in the program reviews. The motion also would make the Regents complete annual update reports for the governor and legislative leaders.

“In some small way it does hold feet to the fire,” Wharton said. “But, more importantly, it informs our government officials.”

State Commissioner of Higher Education Sally Clausen said about 100 “low-completer” academic programs were axed

statewide. Many were at technical college campuses and not universities.

Commission member David Longanecker, who is the president of the Western Interstate Commission of Higher Education, said next month he wants to discuss the state rearranging the structures of the state’s higher education systems.

The review commission next meets on Dec. 14-15 with focuses on funding issues and the makeup of the higher education systems.

but George elaborated on only three. The most common questions according to George are: Can you Love your work? Can you love your co-workers? Should you be proud where you work?

George also gave those in attendance his five keys to success in the business world.

“While on campus or within the work force, you must first understand your talent. Second, you need to build a network. Third, you need to produce results. Fourth, you need to communicate results and aspirations. And last but not least, you got to have faith. Having faith is the most important.”

A question and answer session was held at the end of the speech and a student raised eyebrows by asking, “What if we follow this criteria and still not have a job?”

George simply responded by stating, “You got to be persistent. You can’t allow yourself to make excuses and take shortcuts.”

Marlon Young, a senior engineering major, asked should students keep their textbooks within our major.

“Yes, they will pay off in the long run.” replied George.

When George was asked how can one find their talent; George stated, “You have to try different things and ask for opinions from friends.”

Krystal Robinson, an accounting major and native of Las Vegas, Nevada said, “I believe this presentation was a very unique presentation. He touched on every aspect of life and I think it was different from other lectures I have attended.”

Many other students enjoyed George’s presentation as well.

“The lecture was very good and very informative and it wasn’t the typical speech.” said Janelle Williams, a business management major from St. Petersburg, Fla. “The lecture basically informed us to apply ourselves to everything,” continued Williams.

programS from page 1

Representatives from American Honda presented Southern University’s “Human Jukebox Marching Band” with an award for their participation in the upcoming 2010 Honda Battle of the Bands Challenge invitational showcase. Southern is one of eight HBCU marching bands set to perform Jan. 30.

“During the fall season, bands sign up to participate and according to votes by university presidents, band directors, and fans, eight are chosen to perform at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta,” said Erica Braxton-White, an American Honda representative.

Band directors and university presidents were not allowed to vote for heir own institutions, however, their votes accounted for two-thirds of the selection criteria. On-line voting accounted for the remaining third.

The seven remaining participants include Albany State’s Marching Rams, Clark Atlanta’s Mighty Marching Panthers, Florida A&M’s Marching 100, North Carolina Central’s Marching Sound Machine, Prairie View’s Marching Storm, Virginia State’s Trojan Explosion and seven-year veteran Tuskegee’s Marching Crimson Pipers.

Each institution that is invited to this challenge is awarded $20,000 towards their music programs. This is in addition to the $1,000 grant for their participation in the pre-qualifying fall campus tour.

“Being invited to the invitational is an award in itself. All of the band members receive an all expenses paid trip to Atlanta including the hotel stay and food. There is a band dinner the first night they arrive,” said White.

American Honda gives over $200,000 each year to HBCU’s and over the course of eight years they have given over a million dollars in grants and scholarships.

Another program American Honda is doing is the Fox Music Experience, which was launched three years ago to offer one student participating in the invitational showcase a chance to spend a few weeks during the summer to learn film and television music production first hand on the lot of Twentieth Century Fox Studios.

“Each of the eight bands nominates one student to be in the running for this internship program and this is based solely off of popularity vote. On the Honda Battle of the Bands website each student is profiled and fans can go and vote everyday for their favorite student. The one the most votes will be selected to go on an all expense paid trip to Los Angeles

to work with Fox Studios in the television and theatrical music department so they can learn where they can take music beyond just the field,” White stated.

SU’s own junior Music Education major, Jeffrey Hyppolite was chosen at its candidate for this internship. Hyppolite is from Missouri City, Tx and plays saxophone, according to his biographical information on the website he plans to become a music professor and guide young minds to reach their own individual potentials. All fans can go vote now at www.hondabattleofthebands.com through January 8th on their favorite candidate.

This is the first year that SU has been invited to perform in this event since the challenge first began eight years ago in 2001.

“Every year is great! We usually have a surprise performance from a guest artist to show up, so this should really be a great show,” White commented. “This is Southern’s first time so we are so excited to have you guys this year.”

Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at www.hondabattleofthebands.com, through Ticketmaster or via the Georgia Dome box-office for price of $10-$12. Doors will be opened at 1:30 p.m. and the show will begin at 3 p.m.

SU band formally invited to Honda BOTB

By norman j. dotson jr.digest editOR-iN-CHieF

Human Jukebox to join FAMU, Prairie View and five others for January event; Honda donates $20,000 to schools’ music programs

SALT LAKE CITY—The case of one of four teens who were cited after rapping their order at a McDonald’s in Utah appears headed for trial.

Police in American Fork, about 30 miles south of Salt Lake City, cited the teens with disorderly conduct last month after the drive-through rap.

The teens have said they were imitating a rap from a popular YouTube video, which begins: “I need a double cheeseburger and hold the lettuce.”

Spenser Dauwalder, 18, has said employees at the fast-food restaurant told him and his friends they were holding up the line and needed to order or leave.

But Dauwalder said no one else was in line. He and his three 17-year-old friends left without buying anything.

A manager wrote down the car’s license plate number and called authorities, police Sgt. Gregg Ludlow has said. Officers later cited the teens in a high school parking lot outside a volleyball match.

“We thought, you know, just teenagers out having fun,” Dauwalder told KSL Newsradio last month. “We didn’t think

it would escalate to that.”Dauwalder is challenging the disorderly

conduct infraction in state court in Utah County. He pleaded not guilty earlier this month, and at a hearing Wednesday, a bench trial was set for Jan. 29, said his mother, Sharon Dauwalder.

“It’s just, it’s wrong,” Sharon Dauwalder said. “I think the whole thing is wrong.”

Spenser Dauwalder’s attorney, Ann Boyle, said the whole incident has been overblown.

“I just believe that the kids had a right to sing their order,” Boyle said. “They asked them to leave, and they left.”

But attorney Kasey Wright, who represented American Fork in court Wednesday, said the case isn’t about free speech.

“This is not a First Amendment case,” he said. “This is disturbing the peace. It’s interrupting a business.”

Wright said he’s open to working out a deal in the case “if it can serve the demands of justice and the public interest.” He said the trial likely wouldn’t last more than an hour and is similar to what would happen if someone fought a speeding ticket in court.

By elizaBeth whiteAssOCiAted PRess WRiteR

www.southerndigest.comPage 4 - Friday, November 20, 2009

Utah teen to challenge citation for McDonald’s rap

www.southerndigest.comget online @

southern alumnae Jennifer Johnson teaches dance steps to students at the spanish Club’s Latin dance Night at t.t. Allain Nov. 12.photo By wil norwood/diGest

AND FIVE, SIX, SEVEN, EIGHT ...

UPPER DARBY, Pa. (AP) — A suburban Philadelphia police chief says two teenagers are being held after officers arrested them and found video recordings they made of themselves burglarizing homes.

Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood told reporters Wednesday that the 15- and 16-year-old boys “terrorized the neighborhood” with their burglaries and added a bizarre twist with the video recordings.

Chitwood says in one of the homes they unwrapped

Christmas presents and stole electronic games. He says they can be heard on the video remarking that Christmas came early for them.

Police say they had just set off a burglar alarm when officers caught them on the street with backpacks full of around $1,000 worth of stolen goods, mostly electronics.

They’re being held in juvenile detention.

Teens taped themselves stealing presents

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The National Urban League is teaming with a small-business financial specialist to offer loans to companies unable to get approved by banks.

On Deck Capital will provide loans through Urban League local affiliates, starting in Philadelphia and Los Angeles and then expanding across the country, it was announced Wednesday.

The program offers one-year loans ranging from $5,000 to $100,000 at interest rates of 18 to 36 percent. All the loans must be repaid through automatic daily “micro-payments” from the business’ bank accounts.

The program will focus on urban areas with high concentrations of minority businesses and help create new jobs there, said Patricia A. Coulter, president and CEO of the Urban League of Philadelphia.

“In today’s really tight market, credit has dried up, banks are not lending,” she said. “It’s even more critical for small and minority businesses to have access to capital.”

To qualify, businesses should generally have between $500,000 and $2 million in annual revenue and have been operating for at least three years, said On Deck founder and CEO Mitch Jacobs.

Jacobs said that for small loans, banks rely on the business owner’s personal credit score, which often has suffered because the owner has tapped every possible avenue to grow their company.

On Deck uses a proprietary technical system to examine other data about the business, such as customer transactions, online payments and other electronic banking records.

Jacobs acknowledged that banks offer better interest rates, but said they do not have the time or resources to deal with “micro-loans.” On Deck has made about 1,000 loans totaling about $50 million since 2007, he said.

Their typical customers: “Restaurants, retailers, hair salons, pet shops, flower shops, doctors offices, dry cleaners,” Jacobs said.

Urban League, partner to offer small biz loans

Friday, November 20, 2009 - Page 5

STATE & NATIONwww.southerndigest.com

By cain BurdeauAssOCiAted PRess WRiteR

senate Majority Leader sen. Harry Reid, d-Nev., second right, with sens. Chris dodd, d-Conn., left, debbie stabenow, d-Mich., second left, and dick durbin, d-ill., right, speaks to the media about the democratic health care bill on Capitol Hill Wednesday in Washington.

photo By manuel Balce ceneta/ap photo

By david espoAP sPeCiAL CORResPONdeNt

W A S H I N G T O N — T h e political stakes enormous, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid launched long-awaited health care legislation Wednesday estimated to extend coverage to 94 percent of eligible Americans at a cost of $849 billion.

Initial maneuvering on the Senate floor was expected later in the week on the measure, bitterly opposed by Republicans eager to deny President Barack Obama a victory on his top domestic priority.

Officials have said the measure would require most Americans to carry health insurance and would mandate large companies to provide coverage to their workers, as well as ban insurance company practices such as denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions.

As rank-and-file Democrats gathered to learn details of the measure, a senior Democratic leadership aide said the Congressional Budget Office had estimated it would spread coverage to 31 million Americans who currently lack it while still reducing federal deficits by a total of $127 billion over 10 years.

The aide also cited a CBO estimate that the bill would achieve cuts of $1 trillion over a decade in projected health care costs. The estimate of 94 percent coverage was less than the 96 percent estimated for legislation the House passed earlier this month, but no precise comparisons were possible without as-yet-unreleased CBO documentation.

The aide spoke on condition of anonymity, saying rank-and-file senators had not yet learned of the details.

Aides have said previously much of the bill would be financed by cuts in projected Medicare payments. Reid has also had under consideration higher payroll taxes for upper wage earners, but there was no word on whether he had decided to incorporate that provision into the measure he crafted.

At its core, the bill would set up new insurance marketplaces — called exchanges — primarily for those who now have a hard time getting or keeping coverage. Subsidies would be available to help defray the cost of coverage for people with lower incomes.

Reid announced two weeks ago it would also include an option for consumers to purchase government-sold insurance, with states permitted to drop out of the system.

Reid did not speak with reporters before stepping into the closed-door caucus, although he was expected at a news conference later in the evening.

In a sign of the challenge confronting him, the Nevada Democrat met earlier in the day with Sens. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Blanche Lincoln

of Arkansas, moderates within his party who have expressed reservations about the bill.

“He is walking through the particulars with them,” said Reid’s spokesman, Jim Manley. “We need 60 votes to get this bill to the floor.”

Nelson later issued a statement strongly suggesting he would vote with fellow Democrats on an initial showdown expected within days. Landrieu said, “I’m not going to be for anything that doesn’t drive down costs over time.”

Lincoln, the only one of the three who faces re-election next year, told reporters, “We’ll wait and see.”

With the support of two independents, Democrats have 60 seats, the precise number needed to choke off any Republican delaying tactics. None of the 40 Republicans is expected to defect on the first test vote, expected by weekend.

Senate battle begins

NEW ORLEANS—A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the Army Corps of Engineers’ failure to properly maintain a navigation channel led to massive flooding in Hurricane Katrina.

U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval sided with five residents and one business who argued the Army Corps’ shoddy oversight of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet led to the flooding of New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward and neighboring St. Bernard Parish. He said, however, the corps couldn’t be held liable for the flooding of eastern New Orleans, where one of the plaintiffs lived.

Duval awarded the plaintiffs $720,000, or about $170,000 each, but the decision could eventually make the government vulnerable to a much larger payout. The ruling should give more than 100,000 other individuals, businesses and government entities a better shot at claiming billions of dollars in damages.

Joe Bruno, one of the lead plaintiffs lawyer, said the ruling underscored the Army Corps’ long history of failure to properly protect the New Orleans region.

“It’s high time we look at the way these guys do business and do a full re-evaluation of the way it does business,” Bruno said.

The corps referred calls seeking comment to the Justice Department.

Judge: Corps negligent

Former Louisiana Congressman William Jefferson, second from left, is surrounded by reporters as he enters U.s. district Court in Alexandria, Va. for sentencing in his bribery case accompanied by his wife Andrea Jefferson.

photo By jacquelyn martin/ap photo

ALEXANDRIA, Va.— former Louisiana congressman who was sentenced last week to 13 years in prison on bribery charges will be allowed to remain free on bond while he appeals his conviction.

William Jefferson, a Democrat who represented parts of New Orleans, was convicted earlier this year for soliciting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for using his influence to broker business deals in Africa. His 13-year prison sentence is the longest ever imposed on a congressman for corruption charges.

Jefferson, 62, was the target of a 2005 FBI sting in which he was videotaped accepting a briefcase filled with $100,000 cash. Most of that money was found a few days later in his freezer.

Prosecutors, worried that a lengthy appeals process could delay Jefferson’s imprisonment by a year or more, had

wanted Jefferson to begin serving his time immediately. They also expressed concern that he might flee to Africa, where he has close ties with top officials in several countries.

But U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III ruled Wednesday that Jefferson’s case raises unique legal questions, and that he should be allowed to remain free because of the possibility that his convictions will be overturned.

Throughout the case, defense lawyers had argued that Jefferson’s conduct did not meet the technical definition of bribery under federal law, and was more akin to influence peddling.

Ellis, in several critical pretrial rulings, decided that the bribery law is more expansive than that, and that there is no real distinction between influence peddling and bribery.

In his bench ruling Wednesday, Ellis said he still believes he made the right call but acknowledged that an appellate court could see it differently.

Jefferson to remain free on appealBy matt BarakatAssOCiAted PRess WRiteR

www.southerndigest.comPage 6 - Friday, November 20, 2009

By michael r. BloodAssOCiAted PRess WRiteR

University of California headed to 32 percent fee hike

LOS ANGELES—Financially hobbled University of California moved Wednesday to boost student fees by $2,500 over two years as students staged raucous demonstrations across the state against the higher costs.

Fourteen protesters were arrested at a University of California, Los Angeles, meeting where a Board of Regents committee endorsed a plan that will boost undergraduate fees, the equivalent of tuition, by 32 percent in two stages by 2010. The full board is expected to approve the fee increases Thursday.

At the University of California, Berkeley, more than 1,000 demonstrators condemned the fee boost and high salaries for university administrators. Protesters carried mock gravestones to represent programs that have suffered under state budget cuts and waved signs reading “Save our university.”

After a series of deep cuts, and with state government facing a nearly $21 billion budget gap over the next year and a half, Board of Regents members said there was no option to higher fees in light of withering government dollars. University of California President Mark Yudof has said the 10-campus system needs a $913 million increase in state

funding next year, in addition to higher student fees.

More than two-thirds of the request would restore previous cuts. He did not rule out even higher student fees if Sacramento can’t find the money.

“When you have no choice, you have no choice,” Yudof told reporters after the committee vote. “I’m sorry.”

Board members pointed out that lower-income families would be shielded from the jump, and financial aid would help others defray the higher cost.

The Los Angeles meeting was repeatedly interrupted by outbursts from students and union members, who accused the board of turning its back on the next generation.

“We are bailing out the banks, we are bailing out Wall Street. Where is the bailout for public education?” asked UCLA graduate student Sonja Diaz.

Armed officers arrested 14 protesters after they refused to leave the meeting room. As officers approached them, the protesters locked arms and sang the civil rights anthem, “We Shall Overcome.” Others shouted “Shame on you.” Some cursed.

UCLA police spokeswoman Nancy Greenstein said a crowd as large as 500 outside the building tossed sticks, food and rags soaked in vinegar at police. A group that rushed the doors was turned back by police. Several police and two students suffered minor injuries.

MOBILE, Ala.—The practice week came and went without a mention of it.

As usual Southern offensive coordinator Mark Orlando went on game planning for Alabama State. And so did quarterback Bryant Lee.

Both, however, were cognizant of what was soon to happen.

“We were together all week and I don’t think we talked about it one time,” Orlando said. “We were preparing to win the football game. I knew that was out there on the table, but to be honest, we were coming in to do what we needed to do.”

On this night, SU would win passing the football and Lee would continue his assault on the school’s record book.

Lee entered the game 17 yards shy of Eric Randall’s school record 7,286 career passing yards. During the week Lee and his receivers had joked about who would catch the record setting pass. Juamorris Stewart even offered up a small incentive.

“We talked about it all week, who was going to be the person to get it,” Stewart said. “I ended up getting it so I have to give him a twinkie.”

Though the end result was sweet, the start to the game wasn’t easy as cake. Lee’s fi rst pass, a 10-yard gain, leaving him eight yards shy of the record, went to Gary Hollimon. Lee’s next pass attempt, on third-and-8 fell incomplete and his fi rst pass of the ensuing drive was intercepted, and SU trailed 10-0.

To have known Fernandez Griffin is to have known

someone very special. To most, he’s known as “Bumpy” or the “get back guy.”

He’s known for prowling the sideline at Jaguar football games, and personally kicking out anyone who dare stand in the player’s box. Legend has it he’s even done so to Rev. Jesse Jackson.

But if you haven’t met him, you should.

During his time at Southern, Griffin has embraced the surrounding community. And he’s done his part to give back. Along with the help of Southern’s Service Learning Center, students and faculty members, he’s put together a food drive giving back to the community during the Thanksgiving holidays 17 consecutive years.

Each year the food drive has increased in number.

“I put more into this than winning a football game,” Griffin said. “When you do

this you win in life.”Indeed. If Griffin’s program

could be measured in wins and losses, it would be undefeated. In its first year, it fed three families. Griffin then teamed with the school and Service Learning, getting donations from students. Since then, the office of Service Learning has built baskets of canned goods from what is donated and the Athletics department handles the turkeys and such.

The program has grown, striving to expand and help more people. Last year it fed 248 families. This Thanksgiving, the goal is to

l arry yoUng

From the

PRESSBOX

By morris dillardDIGEST SpoRTS WRITER

Friday, November 20, 2009 - Page 7

SPORTSwww.southerndigest.com

See press box page 8

For Griffi n, annual food drive is a “win in life”

Southern quarterback bryant Lee broke the school’s all-time record for career passing yards in SU’s 34-24 win over alabama State.

File photo by Wil norWooD/Digest

Head coach Sandy Pugh felt opening her teams schedule against her alma mater was not much of a factor in Tuesday night’s win.

“It’s a win,” Pugh said after the game. “We won. It didn’t matter, bottom line we got that fi rst win.”

Carneta Henderson scored 12 points, Freda Allen had six and added eight rebounds as Southern pulled away to a 71-52 victory over the Northwestern State Demons.

Northwestern State (1-1) appeared as if they were going to cause Southern headaches early in the contest with consecutive three-pointers and a 14-2 lead within the blink of an eye.

SU (1-0) missed several lay-ups and turned the ball over occasionally, leading to a 10 point fi rst half defi cit.

“This team is really resilient,” Pugh said. “They’re able to come down from adversity.”

After Aerica Hicks checked into the game, momentum began to turn in the Jaguars’ favor. The defense applied pressure on whoever had possession of the ball and created turnovers to climb their way back into the game.

“Hicks came in and was able to create some defensive pressure and got a couple of steals for us,” said Pugh, “and we were able to turn the corner.”

SU then took control of what started as a scare to a 34-29 halftime lead.

Both teams went back and forth to open the second half until it was Northwestern State facing a defi cit mid-way through the second half.

Northwestern State gave the ball away 27 times while

Southern guard hannah kador drives against Northwestern State’s Jessica Mcphail during Tuesday’s season opener. The Jaguars overcame an early 10-point hole to rout the Lady Demons 71-52.

photo by april bUFFington/Digest

Jaguars bedevil Demons

Lee sets new SU career passing markBy larry youngDIGEST SpoRTS EDIToR

See bedevil page 8 See lee page 8

www.southerndigest.comPage 8 - Friday, November 20, 2009

feed 300.“I wish the day would come

when we could do 1,000 baskets,” Griffin said. “We should take pride in knowing out collective efforts can help somebody. If we can support this drive like we follow the football team, getting to 300 is not a problem.”

Companies the likes of Winn-Dixie, Piggly Wiggly, LeBlanc’s and Sam’s Club have all pitched in to make this project work.

There are already 800 pounds of canned goods and 350 pounds of meat on hand, and room for more. In these tough economic times, please don’t forget the ones that have it worse than you. If at all possible, donate whatever you can.

“We’re keeping our fingers crossed that this project can continue to grow each year,” said Kristan Gordon, coordinator and instructor for the Center of Service Learning.

All departments are asked to donate one box of food or nonperishable items. Food can be picked up Thursday at 6 p.m. in Stewart Hall Auditorium.

“This is one of the better projects we have on campus,” Griffin said.

“We just want to give someone something to eat on Thanksgiving. Any donations are welcomed.”

Do your part and drop by the food bank in 1100 Harris Hall. It’ll help feed a family.

press box from page 7

recording only 14 assists. Northwestern State’s turnovers resulted in 13 SU points.

SU didn’t let up, leading by 22 points with 3:45 remaining in the game, Tiffany Foster consecutive free-throws and Ebony Sellers jumper put SU ahead by 24 and effectively shut the door a Northwestern State comeback attempt.

SU shot 48.1 percent from the floor and scored 31 points off turnovers.

From there, SU began to concentrate on scoring inside. SU scored 16 points inside the paint while shooting 28.6 percent from behind the arc.

“If we can get to the paint for our mid-range, that’s what we want to do,” said Pugh.

The team made up for the ball handling problems on the defensive end. SU had three blocks and 10 steals while holding Northwestern State to 31.3 percent shooting in the first half.

Here’s the sweet part.On SUs third drive, Lee hit

Isaiah Nelson for five yards, leaving him two yards shy of the mark. Two plays later, Lee connected with Stewart for 22 yards, rewriting the schools record book with his name atop its all-time passing list.

“The person who held the record left some big shoes to fill,” Lee said. “A lot of people expected me to do it and he expected me to do it, too. I just give thanks to God.”

As for Randall, a sideline reporter for the Southern radio broadcast, he was there to see

it happen and congratulate Lee after.

“Records are put up to be broken,” Randall said. “I told Bryant Lee and coach Orlando you only have four or five years to be remembered. I think he did what he needed to do in that span to be remembered. He’s an outstanding young man. He’s always been yes-sir-no-sir, and you can see by his play he’s doing the right things in life.”

Orlando’s thoughts?“Probably, statistically, this

is his best game the season,” Orlando said. “We threw it tonight

and the guys responded real well. That’s what we had to do to win. I’m just proud of him.”

Indeed.When the final seconds

dripped off the clock at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, SU emerged with a 34-24 win, and Lee rang up 384 yards passing and four TDs. Lee earned top offensive weekly honors from the Southwestern Athletic Conference and the Louisiana Sports Writers Association for his performance.

Lee now has 7,654 career passing yards, and two more games to add to that total.

bedevil from page 7

lee from page 7

Read

the Digest at

WWW.

southerndigest

.com

The Southern University men’s basketball took its lumps against members of the Big 12 Conference, falling 91-63 Wednesday to Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla., while dropping a 61-45 decision to Baylor Monday in Waco, Texas.

In Stillwater, James Anderson scored 30 points and was one of six Oklahoma State players in double figures in the second round of the Las Vegas Invitational.

Though the Cowboys (2-0) were dominant in the second half, their 3-point shooting was a concern early. Oklahoma State connected on just 3-of-16 attempts behind the arc in the first 20 minutes but still held a 44-30 advantage at halftime.

Southern (0-2) took its biggest lead, 13-10, before the Cowboys responded with 11 unanswered points, including seven straight

from Anderson, who also finished with 10 rebounds. Marshall Moses added 14 points and 13 rebounds, Obi Muonelo contributed 12 points while Matt Pilgrim, Ray Penn and Keiton Page each chipped in with 11.

In Waco, the Jags started off slow against Baylor, just scoring 21 first half points and shooting 28 percent from the floor.

Guard Nick Walls had nine points and forward Jazz Williams chipped in with eight points. Southern turned the ball over 19 times while only taking 11 free throws to the Bears’ 27. The Jaguars shot 28 percent from beyond the 3-point line.

LaceDarius Dunn scored 13 points for Baylor and forward Ekpe Udoh had 11.

Southern’s cross-country road trip continues this weekend with Saturday’s tilt against Utah.———

DIGEST sports writer Justin Wooten contributed to this report.

Road unkind to JaguarsSU suffers double-digit losses to Big 12 members Oklahoma St., Baylor

DIGEST NEWS SERVICE

by ThE aSSoCIaTED pRESS

Friday, November 20, 2009 - Page 9

arts & entertainmentwww.southerndigest.com

In this Nov. 12, 2009. photo, crew members prepare the set for the action-thriller “The Mechanic”, in New orleans. With hurricane season ending, film and TV production in south Louisiana is picking up, and New orleans is on track to break last year’s filming record.

photo by cheryl gerber/ap photo

NEW ORLEANS—With hurricane season ending, film and TV production in south Louisiana is picking up, and New Orleans is on track to break last year’s filming record.

David Simon, creator of “The Wire” and “Homicide: Life on the Street,” started shooting the first season of his HBO series “Treme” in New Orleans this month, and actor Jason Statham had a downtown office building bustling with production of a scene for the action thriller, “The Mechanic.”

They are among at least eight film and TV projects in the New Orleans area this fall — and more than a dozen statewide — providing an end-of-the-year boost after a sluggish summer, said Sherri McConnell, head of the state film office.

“Summer is usually a slow time for us,” McConnell said, citing higher production costs during hurricane season, which runs June 1 to Nov. 30, as a factor. But this year film industry strikes, the economy and uncertainty over the future of Louisiana’s entertainment tax credit program were also to blame, she said.

Before the state Legislature approved a 5 percent boost in incentives for movie and TV makers this spring, the 25 percent tax credit was set to drop to 20 percent in 2010 and 15 percent in 2012.

“That had a lot of production companies reluctant to do

business here,” McConnell said.

The boost to 30 percent “was a very positive move,” she said.

McConnell said her office received 25 applications for projects in the first half of 2009, but since July 1 more than 60 have come in.

“We have more than doubled the amount of applications in the office since the change in the law,” McConnell said.

If all the projects get under way before the end of the year, the state may reach its filming record of 84 projects, set last year.

Bill Chartoff, producer of “The Mechanic” — a remake of 1972 Charles Bronson film — said the stable state tax credit was a plus, as was the charm of New Orleans as a backdrop.

“New Orleans has a wonderful mood and atmosphere and character to it,” he said.

Robert Sertner, executive producer of “The Business of Falling in Love” starring Hilary Duff, which also is filming in New Orleans this month,

said his decision to shoot in Louisiana was bottom-line driven.

“It’s always about the financial bottom line,” he said.

While activity is spread across the state — with the action flick “Battle: Los Angeles,” in Baton Rouge and Shreveport and “Secretariat” with Diane Lane and John Malkovich in Lafayette — New Orleans is seeing the bulk of the action with at least eight projects through the end of the year.

Among them is “Brother’s Keeper,” a film by World Wrestling Entertainment, which also shot “12 Rounds” in Louisiana last year and “Knucklehead” earlier this year.

The city is on track to break last year’s record of 21 projects, said Jennifer Day, director of the New Orleans Office of Film and Video, which expects to have 23 projects by year’s end.

Since 2002, more than $400 million in tax incentives have been awarded in Louisiana, and production expenditures

since 2002 exceed $2 billion — including $200 million in payroll — according to state figures.

The incentives program has not been without problems. Former state film commissioner Mark Smith pleaded guilty in 2007 to taking about $65,000 in bribes to help inflate tax credits. He was sentenced to two years in federal prison in July.

On Dec. 12, Malcolm Petal, producer of “Bug,” ‘’Factory Girl” and “Mr. Brooks,” pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe Smith. He was sentenced to five years in prison.

In 2007, a state law tightened oversight of the program, which provides tax credits to production companies that use goods and services while shooting in Louisiana.———

On the Net:New Orleans Film and Video, http://

www.filmneworleans.orgLouisiana Film and Television, http://

www.lafilm.org

Filming season picks upBy stacey plaisanceaSSoCIaTED pRESS WRITER

LAS VEGAS—The physician being investigated in Michael Jackson’s death reached an agreement Monday in a separate child support case that will keep him out of jail.

Prosecutors sought an arrest warrant for Dr. Conrad Murray after he failed to appear for previous hearings in the case. He is accused of owing more than $14,000 to a California woman and her son dating back to October 2008.

With Murray in court, his lawyer Christopher Aaron paid $700 cash and promised to pay another $303 as part of the deal approved by Clark County District Court Judge Gerald Hardcastle.

Aaron has said Murray, a cardiologist, has been unable to pay because he had to close his medical practice and move due to threats following Jackson’s death June 25.

“He’s radioactive,” Aaron told The Associated

Press. “He’s unemployed and unemployable.”In Oct. 27 court filings, Clark County Deputy

District Attorney Gerard Costantian asked the court to find Murray in contempt and send him to jail unless he could demonstrate an inability to pay.

The Los Angeles County coroner has ruled Jackson’s death a homicide, caused primarily by propofol and another sedative.

Murray told investigators he administered pro-pofol as a sleep aid, along with multiple sedatives, in the hours before Jackson died.

Murray has not been charged with a crime but is the focus of the Los Angeles police investigation, according to documents made public with search warrants served as his home and offices.

Miranda Sevcik, a spokeswoman for Murray, said he continues to maintain he neither prescribed nor administered anything to Jackson that should have killed him.

Murray was hired to $150,000-per-month contract to be Jackson’s personal doctor during a world tour.

Murray avoids jail in support case

Dr. Conrad Murray, a physician for the late pop star Michael Jackson, appears at a child support hearing at Clark County Family Court, Monday, Nov. 16, 2009, in Las Vegas.

photo by isaac brekken/ap photo

By stacey plaisanceaSSoCIaTED pRESS WRITER

JACKSON, Miss.—The mys-tery surrounding bluesman Robert Johnson’s life and death feeds the lingering fascination with his work.

There’s the myth he sold his soul to the devil to create his haunting guitar intonations. There’s the dispute over where he died after his alleged poisoning by a jealous man in 1938. Three different markers claim to be the site of his demise.

His birthplace, however, has been verified. The seminal bluesman came into the world in 1911 in a well-crafted home built by his stepfather in the Mississippi town of Hazlehurst.

Now, 71 years after his death, local officials want to restore the home in hopes of drawing Johnson fans and their tourism dollars to Copiah County, about 100 miles from the Delta region that most bluesmen called home.

Johnson’s life and music have been the subject of multiple books. And producers are shopping a script in Hollywood about him penned by Jimmy White, the screenwriter for the Academy Award-winning film, “Ray.”

“It’s amazing that after all these years, people still talk about Robert Johnson on the level that they do,” said the bluesman’s grandson, Steven Johnson.

Johnson’s influence can be heard in the works of numerous artists, from Muddy Waters to Eric Clapton, who covered 14 of the bluesman’s songs on his 2004 album, “Me and Mr. Johnson.”

Johnson’s birthplace set for restoration

www.southerndigest.comPage 10 - Friday, November 20, 2009

After decades of the student section traditionally being on the 50-yard line an executive decision was made to move it. Perhaps, the administration felt crushed beneath the gravity of budget cuts. Or maybe they sought to capitalize on the possible revenue that could be brought into a school in dire straits with a cloudy, dismal financial forecast. I am only able to offer conjecture about their rationale for the decision.

I am in no way writing this to defend the seemingly arbitrary decision of our administration to move the student section. Nor am I writing this to share in the outrage so many of you feel because of this decision. I am, however, writing this to question our passions as the student body of this university. It has been said that we are driven by our passions. And as an extension of that belief one

might assert that we are defined by those passions.

We are passionate about the insignificant nuances of life while comfortably feigning ignorance about those things that threaten the very foundations of our lives. We stand idly by while our governor shows an ill regard for education and all the factors thereof. Maybe we haven’t noticed the obvious attack on the university to which we hold in such high esteem. Perhaps the very real possibility of this University not existing in the years to come hasn’t even crossed our preoccupied minds.

I hear complaints all the time about the university’s seemingly archaic registration methodologies. The same registration process that my seventy-one year old grandmother experienced when she was a student here. I, too, have complained about our willingness to remain technologically prehistoric and I, like you, have done nothing outside of complaining. Why?

We wander aimlessly through our lives concerned with rims, the latest fashion fads, football seats and etc but we ignore the signs of the times. We ignore our own regression as a people. While speaking in the Cotillion Ballroom Dr. Cornel West stated that, “True education begins when you look in the mirror and ask yourself who am I, really?” Who are we, really? Do we even have the wherewithal to surrender ourselves to the brutality of introspection? We are

certainly not the same people who united themselves in the face of great opposition and fought for their right to the Jeffersonian ideal of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We are, instead, absentminded youth with a central focus of frivolity.

Energy must be exerted to reel in our misguided passions. Let’s refocus. We must redeem ourselves as a people. The election of our country’s first black president, in and of itself, does little to redeem us as a race but it should, however, force accountability. We cannot continue to defame those who went before us and fought adamantly to prove our worthiness and to secure a real place for us in this country. Let us not be driven by the insignificant but instead let our powers be honed and united so that we can disprove those who think us inferior.

Friday, November 20, 2009 - Page 11

VIEWPOINTSwww.southerndigest.com

In Greek, the meaning of the word left-handed is “awkward.” In Italian, it means “crooked.” In Dutch, it means “to be clumsy.” Why do we have to be awkward, crooked or clumsy?

Being left-handed in a right-handed world is tough. In my family, on my dad’s side I am the only grandchild that is left-handed while on my mom’s side my cousin and I are the only the left-handed grandchildren. So I know we are a minority, but we still have needs. We need love too!

I have learned to make due with the necessities that left-handed people don’t have. I learned to cut with right-handed scissors, because when I was in Pre-K there were no left-handed scissors. It may seem small, but when you are 4-years-old and are used to holding your pencil with your left hand

and when it’s time to cut your turkey, you can’t because the scissors don’t work. You have to switch hands and then the teacher gets angry because she has to spend time out of teaching the lesson to help little Shaniqua cut her turkey because there were no left-handed scissors.

Growing up, I have had to learn to use the computer mouse with my right hand. Now there are wireless mice so it is easier for a left-handed child to learn to use it. I have tried to use the mouse with my left hand and it doesn’t

work. It feels weird. One of the MAJOR cons to

being left-handed in a right-handed world…THERE ARE NO LEFT-HANDED DESKS!! It is really uncomfortable to have to sit sideways with half your butt off the desk because you can’t write well. Why can’t they make more left-handed desks? Like even the damn ACT discriminates, they ask if you are left or right handed. I really don’t know why because there were NEVER any left-handed desks in ANY of the classrooms where I took the ACT and I took it 3 times. At Southern, I have only come across left-handed desks in Higgins. In Hayden, those raggedy right-handed wooden desks from 1880 need to be burned or removed. Even right-handed people have a problem writing and sitting properly.

Another con to being left-handed is getting ink on your pinky finger. Since we write forwards and not backwards, we get ink on our pinky fingers – really annoying! I’m tired of right-handed people telling me “you write backwards” – umm no I don’t. You do, my hand moves forward, your hand moves backwards.

Oh and another thing, if one more person tells me “you write neat…for a lefty” – I’m going off. What is that supposed to mean, just because one left-handed person writes like a kindergartener doesn’t mean we all. I pride myself on my “neat handwriting.” I don’t need you to tell me that. Like who are you? That’s like saying, “You have nice hair…for a black girl.” Well damn, can’t I just have neat handwriting and nice hair?

SUBMISSIONS POLICYThe 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-mail to digest@subr.com.

EdItOrIaL POLICYStaff 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.

What are your plans for Thanksgiving?

emanuelBoudreauxbaToN RoUGE

FREShMaNSpEECh/LIbERaL

aRTS “Eating and going to the Bayou Classic. And studying.”

boUDREaUx

jamielacastleBerry

boGaLUSaFREShMaN

SoCIaL WoRk

“Spending time with family and friends, studying for finals,

attending the Bayou Classic events, and can not forget eating that good country food.”

CaSTLEbERRy

kaylafleming

baToN RoUGESENIoR

pSyChoLoGy“I have to work for Thanksgiving. That sucks. I am cooking a pie, though.”

thomashulBert

baToN RoUGEFREShMaNFINaNCE

“Spending time with family, watching the Cowboys, and house hopping, maybe.”

speak outBy wil norwoodDIGEST phoTo EDIToR

FLEMING

hULbERT

Can us lefties get some love?

breanna paUl

treMainesanDers

Who are we?

www.southerndigest.comPage 12 -Friday, November 20, 2009