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Show A PAID SUPPLEMENT TO THE THUNDERBIRDFEBRUARY 13, 1984 Martin Luther King III is Convocation speaker His father, Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1 968 and Martin was assassinated Luther King, III inherited a name and a is hard to live up to. SUSC that legacy students will have the opportunity to i l listen to Martin Luther King, III at Thursdays Convocation. Kings appearance is in conjunction with National Black History Month and SUSCs Ethnic Week, which is scheduled for February Black Student Union Vice President Aaron Sampson, said the BSU chose King as the speaker because he would coordinate well with upcoming events in February and Martin Luther King Day was recently named as a national holiday. Sampson added, "I'm really anxious to hear him speak because Id like to hear what he has to say myself. think its in the best interest of the school and everyone in town. Anyone who attends will benefit, no matter who they are. Stuart Riley, BSU president, said, the club is really excited and looking for a large turnout. We are expecting a lot of people from Salt Lake City and the surrounding area to attend. King speaks out on many issues but one he stresses is education. "Why 20-2- 4. I ui Martin Luther King III speaks at SUSC Thursday, Feb. 16. Funding major problem for Finding funds to insure the continuation of the Center after June 30, 1 984, is the major challenge confronting the Center at this point, according to Director Bonnie L. Mitchell. For the past three years the center has been funded primarily by a federal grant, which cannot fund the same type of activity in the future. Originally, it was intended that Southern Utah State College would gradually pick up the costs for the staff and programs of the Multicultural Center as federal funding decreased. However, since the Utah legislature has not appropriated any additional money, the Center may not exist next year. This is happening while the number of minority students served by the Center has increased dramatically over the past few years, and the scope of the M.C.C. activities has also widened noticeably. In the Fall of 1969, there were only 18 minority students enrolled at SUSC; by 1 979, minority enrollment had increased to 1 26; by Fall Quarter, 1983, minority enrollment had reached 198. The primary source of growth in enrollment has been the Native American population, while enrollment of Black and Hispanic students has remained relatively constant over the past four years. While handling a sharply increased counseling load to accommodate the influx of Native American Multi-Cultur- wear $500 clothes or a $100 hat on a cent head? he asks. There are more opportunities for you today than at any other time in history, he advises students. "You tell me you want to fight the power structure. Thats insane. But what you can do is k the power structure." King is an advocate of busing to achieve integration. The people who argue are not arguing over busing, but over students being mixed, says King. Active in voter registration drives, King was also a delegate to the 980 Democratic National Convention, having been a supporter of Jimmy Carter since 1976. King was technical adviser for the NBC movie, King, about the life and work of his father and he also played a small role in the film. Luther believes in getting involved. He says, As long as people are oppressed in this society, will not be at peace. ..Violence to me has always been wrong. You can't solve anything by violence. Black folk have guns, but the power structure has bombs. Weve got to live together as brothers so we dont perish together as fools. Peace may not come in our time, but we must have hope. 5 out-thin- 1 Center Multi-Cultur- al Students, the Center has also made a conscious al effort to involve other minority students besides Indians. A recent development has been the establishment of the Black Student Union, which is sponsoring the convocation speech of Martin Luther King, III, and activities to commemorate black history during the week of February 20 - 24, 1984. Advisement of the Black Student Union and promotion of their activities is seen as essential to fulfilling the mission of the Center to become truly To make matters worse, these increases in Milti-Culhjr- al multi-cultur- Cutbacks in aid to SUSC's facility for minority students are occurring while the minority population here is rapidly expanding. See page 3 for related story. enrollment and responsibilities have been accompanied by a concurrent decrease in MCC staff members. During school year 1980-8- 1 the staff consisted of five persons: a director; a counselor; ethnic curriculum specialist; a Navajo language instructor; and a secretary. Currently there are only thre staff members: the director; the counselor; and the secretary. In order for the minority students to continue to receive the advisement necessary for their success in coliege, it is imperative that funding be found to continue operation of the Center. Possible sources of funding are currently being explored. Anyone with ideas or information about possible sources of funds is encouraged to contract 0 the Center at (801) or 7771. Multi-Cultur- al 586-777- |