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Show Listen up News editor. Karl Lynn Harland Phone:626-7655 OPEN HOUR Bev Smith promotes minorities at Convocations By Julianne Hancock campus affairs editor-The Signpost B ev Smith claims she is living proof that you can do any thing. "When someone says you can't do something, get out there and do it!" she told the audience at Convocations on Thursday. "Make them a liar." Smith knows what she is talking about She spoke about minorities and women in journalism. "For today, the word 'minority' means anyone who is not a white male," she said. Smith wasn't involved in journalism when she was discovered by a NBC executive at a party. "He came up to me and asked me, 'How would you like to be on TV?' I looked down at his drink." After Smith, or "Ms. Bev" as she likes to ;be called, determined the man was not Idrunk, she realized who he was. '- - i- started out at the top. That is xjerynvery rare," Smith said. 4,he did the news at noon, 6 o'clock, and eleven. Smith said she faced a lot of discrimination in the ROTC cadets repel By brian Cloward senior news reporter-The Signpost I or ROTC members at Weber i' State University, the word 'fun' has a different meaning than what most people think of; a blood drive and repelling from a 60-foot wall. On Wednesday the ROTC hosted a blood drive in conjunction with the Columbia Ogden Regional Hospital. The drive was extremely successful due to more participation than in previous years. "Our appreciation goes out to several WSU organizations who donated 43 pints of blood which nearly tripled our outcome last year," said Capt. Jones of the ROTC program. Some of the top donating organizations involved in the blood drive included Greek sororities, including Otyokwa, which donated 1 1 pints of blood, and Pi Kappa Alpha, which donated eight pints of blood. The student body and staff of WSU donated 6 pints of blood. The ROTC beat all participants with 18 pints of blood donated to the hospital. "The ROTC and Columbia hospital are very pleased with the results and we hope to donate even more blood next year with the help of the student body," said Lt. Col. Esplin, department chair of the ROTC program at WSU and a 1 977 graduate of the program. "These kinds of events are what really make the ROTC what it is today." Maybe even more scary than donating blood was the repelling lab that the ROTC participated in Thursday. Cadets of the program repelled off the football stadium's west wall, tower business. She filed a law suit after her boss called her racial and sexist slurs. Smith said when people turn on the television, they see what they believe to be a diverse setting. "Take Good Morning America. They had a woman anchor, a male anchor and a black weatherman." Smith notes that many Americans do not realize that it is not as equal as it seems. "Joan Lunden spoke out many times," Smith said. While journalists do the same thing, sit side by side everyday, but don 't get paid the same, it proves that there is not equality in the field." Smith called it "in-house discrimination."Smith said there is no way to combat discrimination besides working against it. She told a story about a superior who constantly gave her the worst story assignments. When she was assigned to a story about a turkey farm, she made the best of it. "There was a shot of me feeding a turkey that made it in the newspaper. I turned 'ca ca' into something," she said. Whatever happens in your job, never be discouraged, Smith said. ing over 60 feet in height. "Doing these types of exercises teaches cadets about fear," said Cadet Capt. Olson. "When this occurs, they begin to think about life and what is really important." It would be hard not to think of one's life as each cadet dangled 60 feet in the air with just a rope and harness between them and the pavement.The lab began with a harsh reminder of what could happen to each cadet if they didn't follow strict guidelines. A crash dummy dressed in military attire was dropped from the stadium's wall plunging to the ground with a big thud. A look of fear could be seen on each cadet's face after the demonstration ended. However, confidence was lifted as several senior cadets repelled down the wall with the utmost ease, giving the rest of the cadets a bit of relief. "The reason for doing these sort of events is to show each cadet that they can accomplish just about anything if they put their minds to it," said Esplin. According to Esplin, the mission statement for the ROTC is "to commission the junior officer's leadership and to help young people to be better citizens." Such conduct is seen today in the program with the help of events such as those accomplished this week. The ROTC program was instituted in 1 97 1 at WSU. Since then there has been 389 officers commissioned, most going on to serve in several positions in the Army. The program provides tuition aid, as well as money for books and an additional $150 per month. Fifteen percent of the ROTC program consists of women. "The ROTC has put literally thousands of students through school here at Weber," said Esplin. "It not only 5 Bev Smith "Don't let them win!" At a luncheon later with ASWSU and other campus representatives, Smith couldn't emphasize enough about the way to save the country Smith traveled to Israel last year to trace the steps of Africans in Israel for a documentary. "I went to find out why black Americans went to Israel as opposed to Africa. I wanted to meet some Africans who had been in that part of Israel forever," she said. down to provides money for college, but gives students many opportunities to grow outside of traditional schooling."Several cadets in the program have the same feelings, including Cadet Anderton, a three-year ROTC member."Along with my paid tuition, a dorm room and extra money, I get to participate in many activities like this one today. Sometimes we even get to shoot machine guns and fly in helicopters!" For those who may be interested, several other events are up and coming. These include a white water rafting trip on Sept. 19 and 20, a helicopter flight to Mountain Green on Oct. 8 and an M-16 rifle qualification on Nov. 19. 111; .'ii 0r .v? Scott Farmer (above) gave blood at the ROTC blood drive Wednesday. Byron Leavitt (right) repells down the face of the Stewart Stadium Thursday. Smith had arranged to go to a town where one man was a descendant of Moses and the rest of the town was related to each other. "When I hit the town, and the desert opened up, and everyone in the town was of color, it was a mind blower," Smith explained. "Because it's not what you expect. Every hue, every color was in this town, but they were all related. "I couldn't stop crying. You were a part of that because you were there. You were part of God's plan, you had value, you had worth, you were there." What shocked her even more about the town, was after her warm reception, she was told the town received her show, Our Voices (BEN, 11:00 a.m. EST, Sundays) on satellite. "What are the odds that the descendants of Moses watched my show?" She further explained that they saw her as a positive. "All they see on cable is negative. All you see about any minority is negative. They didn't know anything else. All they knew is that I wasn't a negative." Smith had advice for students who wanted to know how to smooth race relations on our campus and in give blood at WSU l ' Z&. America. "God was into colorization before Polaroid was," she said. "You have to step outside of yourself. We live in a society of fear. We give children fear," Smith said. "We need spirit. We have lost the spirit of Americanism. Where do we get that spirit when illegally we bombed two sites in Afghanistan and Sudan? When do we get that spirit when a guy took a ball and hit it. What kind of a way is this to feel good and proud? It isn't." Smith points out the best way to fix the mess the world is in is to "do away with race." She knows that it is a scary thought. "You have to let people get to know you, even when you aren't sure who you are yourself." Finally, Smith said people are complicating the world. "We're like flowers in a garden. We don't call a rose a rose and not call it a flower. Just as a dandelion is a flower, and an orchid is a flower. I'm a flower, you're a flower. That is what we have to pass on." "You can make yourself a connector. Without a connector there is no juice, no power. America is not connected." VI fry W trr 1 :5 i4i. -.V.- |