“Miss the HU townhall meeting? Here’s the Script coverage of it.” November 16, 2008

            Hampton University administration is trying to understand the student body a little more. The Student Government Association (SGA) hosted a town hall meeting on Tuesday to allow students to speak freely with administration.

            The administration panel included President William R. Harvey, SGA President Kayla Platt, Vice President of Student Affairs Barbara Inman, Provost Joyce Jarrett and a host of other administration and staff.

            Before opening the forum for questions, Harvey spoke of the progress HU had made in his 31 years as president, including its 250 million dollar endowment and 11 million dollars spent in scholarships this year.

            Harvey and others answered questions ranging from topics of campus life with the cafeteria and dorm visitation to financial concerns of scholarships and inadequate funding for academic buildings.

            While Harvey spoke of the new proton beam therapy center, skin of color research institute and the weather satellite, some students wanted to know why that money wasn’t being used towards more pressing needs, like a new cafeteria or a new business school.

            “We can’t be all things to all people but we are going to continue to be very responsible with our funding,” Harvey said when students inquired about more scholarships.

            Jarrett said that the wait on a new business school was because of a lack of fundraising.

            “We have master plans for a business school,” Jarrett said. “The charge to the dean and that school is to be aggressive in fundraising so that the university can break ground.”

             The small audience fielded questions to the panel until the meeting’s close. Though many questions were answered and issues addressed some felt like the meeting wasn’t as productive as it could have been.

            “This would have been much more effective if more people would have known about it,” said Christian Cheairs, a junior broadcast journalism major from Chicago.

            Many were unaware of the meeting with its only advertising being a banner in hanging in the student center and a mass text that circulated the campus.

            Some felt the meeting had been successful.

            “It’s always a great pleasure to have students voice their concerns so administration can find out about student issues,” said Platt, a junior communicative sciences and disorders major from Simi Valley, Calif.

            Yet these town hall meetings have seen success as one audience member thanked administration for taking action after a request was made to change the student id numbers from social security numbers to random ones at another meeting. The town hall meetings are scheduled to take place once each semester.

           

“I’ve had it with HU administration.”

            It takes a lot to create a working relationship between administration and students and Hampton is a long way from it. The Student Government Association (SGA) held a town hall meeting to help students voice their concerns to administration.

          Though I do feel like President William R. Harvey honestly cares about creating solutions to fixable problems, most on the panel did not. He provided straight-forward answers to tough questions, no matter if his answer was considered pleasing to the students or not.

          Harvey said it best.

          “There’s no need to be rude,” he said. “I know how to say yes and I know how to say no. If I say no, I know how to do it. I don’t have to be rude about it.”

          Or in other words, there’s a way to speak to people. People appreciate kind honesty, but honesty nonetheless. When Harvey was questioned about a freshmen step show and Greek suspensions for hazing, he spoke candidly.

          “I’ve been an Omega for a while,” Harvey said. “You can’t say its tradition. That’s bull. You want to stay on campus, follow the rules.”

          That’s blunt honesty but a straightforward answer.

          When Barbara Inman, vice president of student affairs was asked if a suspension from an organization warranted suspension from school, she dodged the question. She masked her unwillingness to answer by repeatedly asking the usher to repeat the question. After repeating himself three times she finally answered.

          “The question was so general, I guess I’ll give a general answer,” she said.

          Yet when an audience member tried to narrow the question and ask about specific students, Inman said she was unable to give out personal information about specific students. So, what then is the answer? If a general question is too general and a specific question is too specific then what question should be asked? What wording would warrant an answer?

          It is my belief that students deserve honest responses from administration, after all that’s the purpose of hosting the town hall meeting, to hear the students’ concerns and address them. An administration can’t solve every problem in one meeting, after all some problems aren’t solvable, but every problem deserves to at least be addressed.

          When I submitted a question and asked why the Hampton Script hadn’t received the 10 computers our editor-in-chief Keisha Ralliford had requested in August and only approved for six I was told that some of the computers were deemed functional. After I followed up with a question of who deemed them operational Inman told me that she and a computer technician from the ATM had reviewed them and found four were in working condition. Yet, when the computer technician from the ATM reviewed the computers he told Ralliford that they weren’t worth saving.

          There is a discrepancy in the scenarios. Was the computer tech that told Ralliford the computers were no good wrong or when Inman supposedly reviewed the computers had she found something worth salvaging?

          Something has to be done about situations like this. In this case I would have preferred no answer to a half truth. It’s unacceptable. We have to hold administration accountable and question suspect answers.

          If the meeting would have had a moderator to ask the audience’s questions and create educated follow-up questions I believe the meeting would have been more productive. Too often administration was able to dodge questions because there was no one to force an answer, to press for a valid response.

          I believe the meeting was a step in the right direction but only one small step on a long path. The road must be walked by all, both administration and students. Administration, if students ask the question, we’d like an answer. Students, if administration holds a town meeting, they’d like you to come. You don’t have a voice unless you use it and if you have a concern, it won’t become an issue until you bring it to someone’s attention. That meeting wasn’t nearly as packed as it should have been for all the complaining that goes on around campus.

          It’s time to step up to the plate and all become accountable. Students, decide to ask the question. Administration, will you answer?

“Senior Year…I gotta make it better.” November 9, 2008

My senior year hasn’t been nearly as interesting, exciting, productive, or profitable as I’d plan it to be. As first semester reaches it’s final stretch, I vow to fix it. Make it better than it’s been. To achieve better grades. Seek a post grad internship. Party as hard as I can. On the weekdays. On the weekends. Work as hard as I can. Make enough money to pay my bills and enjoy life after. I vow to look back on my senior year and smile, even when I’m too old to.

            I vow to create a second semester that generates more memories than a Facebook album can hold, have more laughs than my lungs can take and smile harder than my cheeks allow.

Tribute to a Queen…My Mommy.”

I am…you

I’m you looking back

Just like you’re me looking forward

Yet I’m a more educated you

Just like you’re an uninformed me

 

I’m a better you

I’ve had a chance to look at your past and be apart of you’re present and future

Look at your wrongs and right them

Take your words of wisdom and use them

Decipher between the two and abuse them

 

I’ve cheated

Saw how you messed up and refuse to

See how you’ve achieved and aspire to

Seen when you were weak and despised

Seen you how strong you are and envy it

 

You’re a complicated me

You’ve taken the path and looked back

Seen the right road to far to get to and laid a track

Said, “Tiffani, you’re better than me, have a life better than me”

And I am

I have

Because of what of the example you’ve set and all that you’ve tried to be

 

You’ve failed

Who hasn’t?

You’ve risen

Not many do

 

It’s because of your resolve that I attribute my success to

Your determination to preserve in the name of me and all things marked future

When I could see past the present and be smart enough to

 

I am you

Every positive quality you possess

And every negative you struggle with

You’re constantly trying to better you

Inadvertently bettering me

After all, I’m aspiring to be a better you

So I salute you

The better you

The strong, God-fearing, loving, encouraging you

The complicated, at times unagreeable, stubborn you

Every part of you

After all, I’m only a better you

Only better because you made the mistakes and said, “Learn, Tiffani, so you can be the best you”

 

To my Mommy

My Janice

My Future-Me

I vow to make the Past-You proud

To be all the things that you had hoped to be

Achieve all the things you have planned for me

 

I am…you

I’m you looking back

Just like you’re me looking forward

I Love You

I Lost Me Yesterday

I lost me yesterday

Couldn’t find the damn thing everybody calls self for the life of…

Well, hell, me, if I could find me

 

I thought I saw me a couple of years ago when I was friends with the people who were more like enemies than friends

I had foolishly surrounded myself with people who couldn’t better me

Hell, they couldn’t better themselves

Yeah, I saw me then

Me then spent time trying to fit a mold

Me then was a young girl claiming to be a woman who knew something she didn’t

Yeah, I saw me then

 

Then I thought I saw me last year when I went on my Christian crusade determined to prove that I knew God personally

Yeah, I saw me then

Trying to prove something to people who probably didn’t know God even a tenth of what I do

Trying to show somebody that I’m not what they think I am

Yeah, I saw me then

 

And I could have sworn I saw me a couple of months ago when I decided to completely revamp myself

I lowered my shield of self-preservation and wore a pretty painted façade of kindness

Yeah, I saw me then

So convinced that when people said I was cold-hearted I needed to change, warm up and be the person they wanted me to be

I hated myself then

Struggling daily about whether or not, I was “too Tiffani”

Showing too much attitude

Being “too smart for my own good”

Yeah, I saw me then

 

Last time I remember seeing that thing called self was yesterday

 I decided to bow gracefully and become the wife you thought you could make me into

Yeah, I saw me then

Wearing shoes that were cute as hell and probably fit somebody else perfect

But

They weren’t for me

I couldn’t walk the walk or talk the talk of the gentle, kind-hearted, even-tempered person you wanted me to be

No matter how hard I tried for you

I couldn’t fit those damn shoes

Yeah, I saw me then

 

I lost me yesterday

Couldn’t find the damn thing everybody calls self for the life of…

Well, hell, me, if I could find me

 

But yesterday had to do as yesterdays do and sleep while today began as todays do

Yesterday had lulled me into a deep sleep of warm yester years of a yester-me

Wait…that must have been a hell of dream because

How could I forget…

Those warm yester years weren’t so peaceful,

And that shit just wasn’t cool

 

But today is well, today

And as I rise I look at the outer shell of myself and as cute as it is

It doesn’t satisfy me nearly as much as I thought

And today I have realized

That yesterdays can’t be redone, reworked or whatever other re- you can think of

So today is all I have

And tomorrow

But that shit’s too complicated so I’ll stick with today

And today I have found myself

I am at times shallow, selfish, rude, and mean

But there are more times that I’m witty, intelligent, determined, and beautiful

My self-actualization didn’t take some deep mediation that involved monks and soothing music

Yep, I figured it out in almost a minute

I’m me and no matter how much I change

I am constantly growing, evolving into the woman of God I was created to be

My evolution speaks volumes about my character

 

His Divine Recipe

 

His Divine Recipe

 

God created you just for me

His recipe was complex and tedious

Took time that I didn’t want to wait for

And created you just for me

 

He gathered handfuls of intellect to keep me mentally stimulated

Cupfuls of sensitivity to help me through my rough times

A dash of romance to keep me captivated

And sprinkles of maturity to help me grow into the woman I was destined to be

And let it all seep into a huge pot of love

 

I asked could I help because I was so eager

I had been waiting all my life for you

But he told me NO

That you were His creation

 

So I stood at the edge of the table and asked if you were done yet

He said NO

That you needed time to cook

So he turned up the heat and made you suffer

He brought you hard times, made you cry, and made you pray for help

I ran to Him and tried to turn off the torturing

He told me NO

That you had to endure to become the best that you could be

 

Ready to see His creation I asked yet again if you were done

He told me NO

That you had to be left alone to cool

I told Him that I didn’t want to leave you alone because you would be lonely

He told me that you needed to be kept in solitude so that once you were given to me you would possess the strength He knew you needed

 

I left you alone but ran back to watch you cool

I looked up at him and asked yet again

He said YES

That you had been through enough

You had been seasoned with perfection to be the best man you could

Cooked alive in sweltering heat to make sure you remained humble

And cooled in loneliness to form strength that withstood all tribulation

 

God created you just for me

His recipe was complex and tedious

Took time that I didn’t want to wait for

And created you just for me

“Obama Wins Historic Election.”

            In 75 days America will have a black Head of State.

            Democratic nominee Barack Obama has marked history and assumed the title as the 44^th president of the United States, the first black man to do so.

            His opponent Republican John McCain conceded on Tuesday after losing in projected electoral votes 338 to 143. Obama had assumed 78 of the minimum 270 needed for the win by 8:30 p.m., an hour and a half after the Virginia polls had closed.  Obama and Democratic former governor Mark Warner, a candidate for the U.S. Senate, won Virginia. Virginia was considered a battleground state in this year’s election though it had not elected a Democratic president in 44 years.  

            “We’ve come to the end of a long journey,” McCain said. “The American people have spoken and they have spoken clearly.”

            Hampton University students, most Obama supporters, gathered together after the election results to celebrate Obama’s triumph. In addition to attending a poll-watching party in the Student Center atrium, many students met outside Ogden Hall and the Hampton Harbor Apartments. Celebration in the Harbors included bonfires and fireworks before moving to Ogden.

            Screams of joy and triumph echoed the campus as students celebrated their first time voting in a presidential election and the historical election of Obama.

            Rashad Drakeford, a senior political science major from Queens, N.Y. was among those many students. Drakeford serves as the National HBCU Director for Students for Barack Obama.

            “I was extremely excited,” Drakeford said. “Relieved, prideful, a lot of different emotions. It means a lot to not only us but people who are not even born yet.”

            Obama’s win is not only monumental in America but abroad.

            “The world is different on November 5^th because of what happened on November 4^th,” Drakeford said.

            Students shared their excitement for the change in the oval office but believe there is much work to be done.

            “I’m excited,” said Whitney Curley, a junior psychology major from Hampton. “I feel like it’s going to be a great thing, a good change for America. I’m ready to see what happens.”

            “Now, he has to govern and we have to help him govern,” Drakeford said. “We have to do our part.”

            While some celebrated, some students were working. Chris Swails, a senior broadcast journalism major from Cleveland, OH, was among those covering the election with the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications.

            “I was at Christopher Newport University reporting when I first heard,” Swails said. “But when it was official I didn’t believe it. I still don’t believe it. I’ve been watching CNN trying to gather info.”

            Though Swails is in shock when asked if he was excited, he answered, “Excited isn’t even the word.”

            While some students registered and went to the polls to cast their vote for Obama, some sent absentee ballots to their home states.

            Chelsea Sealey, a sophomore pharmacy major from Dayton, OH sent her absentee ballot in almost two weeks ago and was in support of Obama.

            “I think he’s more geared towards the middle class and I like his short term goals more than McCain,” Sealey said.

            Kehinde Adesina, a sophomore pharmacy major from Vacaville, Calif. had sent her ballot in three weeks ago but turned out to the Student Center to watch the results.

            “I want to be around people who want to celebrate change,” Adesina said.

            Change has come as Obama will be sworn in as president on Jan. 20, 2009 and as the Democrats have won majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.  

            Obama spoke before an estimated 125,000 people in Chicago’s Grant Park on Tuesday after winning.        

           “This reaffirms the fundamental truth that out of many, we are one,” Obama said. “What we achieved today gives hope for what we can achieve tomorrow.”

“My Vote Made A Difference…I Helped Obama Win Virginia.”

The urgency and pressing need for a change in the White House has never been so clear, at least not in my 21 years of living.

            I’ve lived through my fair share of events, Y2K and September 11^th alone were huge, and yet nothing has affected me more than watching presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama run the most successful campaign any Black man has done in his attempt at the White House.

            It wasn’t merely the fact that Obama was Black, after all Jesse Jackson was Black and never stood a chance. It was the poise, intelligence and simplicity in which Obama carried himself that I began to love. He represented what my young eyes had never seen in politics, honesty. Now, I’m not naïve enough to believe that everything that comes out of his mouth is 100% honesty, after all it’s politics, no one who’s 100% honest makes it anywhere, an honest but true fact. It is his overall air of honesty that I appreciate. His ability to use simple terms to explain complex problems. No eloquent terms to grandly describe what he would attempt to do for America. No staggering statistics to discredit his opponent. Just facts.

            Yet aside from his political standpoint and views, I also loved that Obama had a wife he openly expressed love for, a stable family and a solid career before his run for president. The Obamas represent a powerful Black family with ease. A family operating under Christian beliefs with unity. Black power and Black love at its most successful level. I loved it.

            It is because of my belief in his idea for change, his political views, his family and his competence as a leader that I couldn’t wait to vote.

            I got up at 4:30 a.m. after volunteering with a midnight canvassing for the Obama office until 1: 30 a.m. Operating on less than three hours of sleep I eagerly got up and was excited to go vote. I picked up my friend Craig and we went. We arrived right before the polls opened at six and stood in the long line to vote.

            With umbrellas up and surrounded by people,  I never felt more proud to be a Black American. Not only Black because Obama is Black but American because of our democracy and our progress. The playing field will never truly be equal and racism will never truly end but America has grown by leaps and bounds. The thought of a Black man running for president was only a figment of our civil rights leaders’ minds, merely a dream that no one knew at the time could actually come to fruition.

            In some strange way I felt like I was a part of the civil rights movement, a full circle movement. It began long ago with people dying so that I could do exactly what I was doing now, stand in line with other young Black college kids and vote. Many of the people fighting for my right to vote were no older than I am now.

            As I handed over my voter registration I felt proud, which sounds simple but is the only way to describe my emotions. As they said, “Tiffani Haynes, here to vote,” I beamed inside. That’s right, I was here to vote. To change history. To become apart of history.

            I filled in the bubble that said Barack Obama/Joe Biden as full as I could get it. I didn’t want a single chance my vote was missed. It was silly but those were my thoughts. I slipped my ballot into the machine to be counted and was handed my “I Voted” sticker.

            That’s right. I had voted. Tiffani Haynes, here to vote.

“Jokes, Tricks and Hoaxes…Any way to steal a vote will do.” November 3, 2008

Voters Across Nation Hit by Dirty Tricks

By DEBORAH HASTINGS

,

AP

posted: 34 MINUTES AGO

comments: 2069

filed under: Election News

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(Nov. 2) – In the hours before Election Day, as inevitable as winter, comes an onslaught of dirty tricks — confusing e-mails, disturbing phone calls and insinuating fliers left on doorsteps during the night.

The intent, almost always, is to keep folks from voting or to confuse them, usually through intimidation or misinformation. But in this presidential race, in which a black man leads most polls, some of the deceit has a decidedly racist bent.

Complaints have surfaced in predominantly African-American neighborhoods of Philadelphia where fliers have circulated, warning voters they could be arrested at the polls if they had unpaid parking tickets or if they had criminal convictions.

Over the weekend in Virginia, bogus fliers with an authentic-looking commonwealth seal said fears of high voter turnout had prompted election officials to hold two elections — one on Tuesday for Republicans and another on Wednesday for Democrats.

In New Mexico, two Hispanic women filed a lawsuit last week claiming they were harassed by a private investigator working for a Republican lawyer who came to their homes and threatened to call immigration authorities, even though they are U.S. citizens.

“He was questioning her status, saying that he needed to see her papers and documents to show that she was a U.S. citizen and was a legitimate voter,” said Guadalupe Bojorquez, speaking on behalf of her mother, Dora Escobedo, a 67-year-old Albuquerque resident who speaks only Spanish. “He totally, totally scared the heck out of her.”

In Pennsylvania, e-mails appeared linking Democrat Barack Obama to the Holocaust. “Jewish Americans cannot afford to make the wrong decision on Tuesday, Nov. 4,” said the electronic message, paid for by an entity calling itself the Republican Federal Committee. “Many of our ancestors ignored the warning signs in the 1930s and 1940s and made a tragic mistake.”

Laughlin McDonald, who leads the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, said he has never seen “an election where there was more interest and more voter turnout, and more efforts to suppress registration and turnout. And that has a real impact on minorities.”

“Decision Day is almost here!”

Election Day is merely two days away and the anticipation seems to be eating away at everyone. Early voting has seen huge numbers and polling sites are expecting an even bigger turnout.

Yet, as the anticipation builds to determine who will become the leader of the United States, I feel an extreme amount of apprehension. When you want something or hear about something for so long, the thought of it not occurring is staggering.

It seems the whole school, from President Harvey down, is pro-Obama. Yet, I know this is not the factual case, this is what it appears. America, specifically Black America, is hinging on the win of Obama. I’m nervous to see what would happen if he doesn’t win. Will there be riots? Celebration parties? Sighs of relief? Moans of anguish? No one knows for sure.

The speculation and anticipation is killing me. I can’t stand it anymore. I can only pray and hope that America elects Obama so that we can begin to have a better America, one of change. It’s time for a Democratci rule and a new wave of administration. We’ve seen what the Republican party can do and it’s time for a change in the direction. It’s time to Barack the Vote!

Obama/Biden ’08! : )