Jesse Jackson Bulldogs win fi rst home game of ‘07 visits SC State season ON THE YARD, PAGE 3 SPORTS, PAGE 5 OUR 93rd YEAR FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2007 ISSUE 2, 8 PAGES SC State students support “Jena Six” at rally SC State student earns 4.0 grade point average for past three years COLLEGIAN STAFF REPORT SC State student Shawn Blake has 4.0 reasons to be proud. Th ree 4.0 reasons, that is. Th e senior from Columbia, S.C., majoring in in- dustrial engineering technology, has maintained a 4.0 grade point average for the past three years. Th is can be challenging for some, but when you’re a member of the Honors Program, the Golden Key International Honour Society and Delta Sigma Th eta Sorority, Inc., Sherral Brown-Guinyard, visiting professor of Political Science at SC State, talks to students at the “Jena Six” Rally, Sept. 20. as Blake is, it can be even more diffi cult. By DANTE MOZIE But she says she tries to manage her time. COLLEGIAN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF “You can’t always hang out when you want to, but I try to get my work done during the day so that I can At least 100 students, nearly all dressed in black, when three white nooses were hung on a tree aft er a have time to relax and do what I want to,” Blake said. gathered in the Student Center Plaza Sept. 20 to sup- black student sat under the tree, which was meant for Blake said that it’s all about sacrifi ce and studying port the “Jena Six.” white students. smart. Th e rally, organized by the Student Government As- Th e situation escalated into a fi ght between black “In the long run, this is gonna help me out, sociation, sought to support the students and protesters and white students. Initially, fi ve black students were because I am planning to go to grad school next year.” that gathered at a “Jena Six” rally in Jena, La. It also charged with attempted murder for the beating of a Blake said. “I know have to make decisions because… educated students on the situation, in which six black the choices that I make now are gonna look impres- PLEASE SEE JENA SIX, PAGE 3 teenagers were involved in racial tensions that began sive in the future.” Photo Credit: DEVEN D. ANDERSON / The Collegian When asked for advice for other students who JENA SIX CONTINUING COVERAGE want to succeed in college, Blake said that it starts IN THIS ISSUE..... with going to class. Columnist Deven D. Anderson traveled to the rally in Jena, La. and offers his “You can’t just want it and you don’t do anything perspective on the events there. about it, you have to go to class and take notes; you PERSPECTIVES, PAGE 4 have to study those notes (and) be able to read your own notes,” Blake said. “And ask for help; don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need help.” In Th is Issue INTERNATIONAL THE ROUND UP INTERNATIONAL STUDENT College Notes.........................................2 JUST PLAIN CURIOUS IN NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT Our Round Up Editor ponders Editorials................................................4 Senior Aaron Robinson was questions on the housing situation, recently featured on NBC music and entertainment. PAGE 6 International..........................................6 Nightly News. PAGE 6 The Round Up........................................7 Ads & Classifi eds...................................8 PAGE 2 The Collegian • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2007 COLLEGE NOTES One killed in University of Memphis shooting Rabies feared aft er bats take over MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Classes at the Univer- Th e university, which is primarily a dorm at Texas Southern University sity of Memphis were canceled Monday commuter campus, still decided to cancel aft er a football player was fatally shot on classes. Th e University of Memphis had campus, in what school offi cials said was 20,562 students enrolled for last fall, ac- a targeted attack but city police later said cording to its Web site. could have been random. “We feel like the campus is safe, but By late Monday aft ernoon police had we’d rather err on the side of safety than not identifi ed any suspects in the slaying not,” spokesman Curt Guenther said. of Taylor Bradford, who was shot about City police, who are handling the case 9:45 p.m. Sunday, apparently near a uni- because it is a homicide investigation, versity housing complex. expressed less certainty that Bradford had Aft er the shooting, the 21-year-old been specifi cally targeted than university junior crashed a car he was driving into a offi cials did. tree. Police said they had not determined City Police Director Larry Godwin whether he was shot before or aft er he said a motive for the shooting had not started driving the vehicle. been determined and police had no sus- Police were responding to a car crash pects identifi ed. when Bradford was found slumped over “We really don’t know whether it in the vehicle on a campus street about was a random act or whether or not this 200 yards from his apartment complex. individual was targeted,” he said. “It wasn’t until the paramedics got Godwin said witnesses saw two there that they determined there was a unidentifi ed men running from the area MSNBC possible gunshot wound,” said Bruce Har- where investigators believe the shooting A still from a video shows a student at Texas Southern University attempting to get rid of the bats in his dorm. ber, director of university police. He was occurred and other witnesses reported apparently shot once, police said, though hearing gunfi re. More than 200 students moved from building into hotels an autopsy was pending. Godwin said investigators had no By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS University President Shirley Raines evidence that Bradford was involved in said authorities quickly determined any illegal activity. An infestation of bats at Texas Southern University has health offi cials con- Bradford’s killers were not a threat to “Everything I’ve heard about him ... cerned. other students but still banned all outsid- he was just a good kid,” Godwin said. Th e bats took over a dormitory, forcing more than 200 students into hotels. ers from campus housing throughout the Bradford, a 5-foot-11, 300-pound Now, there are worries the students may have been exposed to rabies. night. defensive lineman, was a junior who Videos posted on the Internet show students swinging a broom and a tennis In an e-mail alert to faculty, students transferred to Memphis last year aft er racket as several bats fl y about in a dorm hallway. One student said he killed and staff members at 3:40 a.m. Monday, two seasons at Samford University in dozens of bats but didn’t know if anyone was bitten. the university said “the initial investiga- Birmingham, Ala. Th e Nashville resident Health offi cials asked students who had been in the dorm to meet with them tion indicates this was an act directed was to have begun playing for the Tigers to determine whether any would need rabies vaccinations. specifi cally toward the victim and was not this season. Texas Southern offi cials, meanwhile, say they’re trying to rid the dorm of the a random act of violence.” - Th e Associated Press bats. It’s not clear how many bats were in the building. THE COLLEGIAN CALENDAR The Coronation Ceremony of Chat-n-Chew, presented by Bulldog Volleyball: SC State Bulldog Idol Miss SC State and the Instal- Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, vs. Norfolk State lation of Student Government Inc. When: Th ursday, Oct. 4 Association Offi cers When: Wednesday, Oct. 10 Where: Martin Luther King When: Monday, Oct. 8 Where: Dukes Gymnasium Jr. Auditorium When: Friday, Oct. 12 Where: Time: 6 p.m. Where: Smith-Hammond- Time: 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. Middleton Memorial Center Time: 7:13 p.m. Time: Admission: 3 ON THE YARD The Collegian • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2007 JENA SIX, CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Rev. Jesse Jackson visits SC State white male, but those charges have been changed to aggravated battery and conspiracy for all expect one. Mychal Bell, 16, charged for aggravated battery and conspiracy, had his case over- turned. Student Government Association Record- ing Secretary Whitney McCrea said that Afri- can-Americans have become so comfortable in America that they have stopped fi ghting for equality, healthcare and other issues. She added that the little attention given to the “Jena Six” by African-Americans is “cruel.” “Michael Vick was the talk of the world for dog fi ghting. ‘Jena Six’ had just gotten its publicity in the black community, but we must only blame ourselves,” McCrea said. Sherral Brown-Guinyard, visiting assistant professor of political science at SC State, said that the “Jena Six” case has social, political and legal signifi cance, and added that the city government of Jena, La. used excessive force to aggressively maintain an established “Jim Crow”-style system of responsibility. “Th is case further highlights the govern- ment’s negligence and lack of concern for the welfare of all its citizens,” Brown-Guinyard Students take photos of the Rev. Jesse Jackson during his Voter Education Tour for Jobs, Peace and Justice, Sept. 18. said. Civil rights leader motivates students to become registered voters at rally In her remarks, Brown-Guinyard brought attention to a student assembly held at Jena By DANTE MOZIE High School, in which she said LaSalle Parish COLLEGIAN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF District Attorney Reed Walters turned to the black students and said, “With one stroke of A motivated and excited crowd of students, faculty and said.