“He who dances last is the one that steals the show,” were the words taken from an African proverb and used by Ambassador Welile Nhalpo to describe the First Lady of South Africa, Nompu-melelo Ntuli Zuma’s, trip to How-ard University. Howard University intended to be the first stop on the First Lady’s trip to Washington D.C.; however, Howard University “stole the show” as her last stop.

The College of Arts and Sciences welcomed Zuma on Fri-day afternoon with a ceremony in the Browsing Room of Founders Library where President Sidney Ribeau delivered the official wel-come.

Following the ceremony a

reception was held in Carnegie Hall. The reception came alive with performances from the students from the Fine Arts de-partment and Afro Blue.

Assistant Director of the South African Archival and Re-search project organized the event. Johnson said, “I want to be a way to affirm Howard Univer-sity’s commitment to the people of South Africa and an opportunity to create new ways to build on that relationship.”

Sindle Dlamni, a secod year student at Howard’s School of Di-vinity and native of South Africa was moved by the experience and honored to see and hear the first lady.

“It was really exciting and really powerful,” she said, “espe-cially to think that she’s someone’s Michelle Obama.”

Howard University has a long history with South Africa and was very involved with the anti-apartheid struggle. Howard was honored with a plaque of appre-ciation from the immediate former South African President, Thabo Mbeki. In 1995, Howard Univer-sity honored former South Afri-can anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela an honorary doctorate. Shortly after, in 1996, a delegation of faculty and staff visited South Africa to form projects between the university and the country.

Out of that visit emerged the Howard University Republic of South Africa Project to preserve South African history. This is now known as the South African Archi-val and Research Project.

University of California (UC) students were beaten, tear-gassed and shot at, as they pro-tested a 32-percent spike in tuition and the layoffs of more than 800 employees. Students at UCLA, UC-Santa Cruz, UC-Davis and UC-Berkeley all participated in a series of protests along the Cali-fornia coast.

One of the biggest protests took place on the campus of UC-Berkeley where more than 3,000 students, faculty and staff were in attendance. The protest was initi-ated much like the Sept. 4 protest on Howard’s campus, by a for-warded text message. After hear-ing that the UC Board of Regents

approved a 10-percent tuition increase for the next semester, which will lead to a 32-percent in-crease within a year, two students decided that something should be done. Sources say that there was a meeting in the middle of the night to organize their occupation of Wheeler Hall.

Approximately 40 stu-dents barricaded themselves in the building early Friday morn-ing, locking doors, pulling fire alarms and using chairs to build a fortress. Students were hoping to surprise administration. How-ever, after spotting someone in the building, a janitor of the building reportedly tipped off authorities, initiating the early cancellation of classes and closing of librar-ies across the campus. Soon after,

students began to stand outside of the building in support of their colleagues.

The protest began peace-fully but quickly turned violent when RIOT police, SWAT, the police departments of Oakland and Alameda and University po-lice arrived to the scene. Students consulted with lawyers to nego-tiate with authorities on three demands: amnesty for all stu-dents involved in the protest, for 38 janitors to be rehired and for Ridgedale, a housing community for low-income students, to stay open. Even though all students were unarmed, reports confirm that students were beaten in the streets.

Students Suffer Brutality, Protest Tuition Increase

THE HILLTOPVOLUME 93, NO. 59 WWW.THEHILLTOPONLINE.COM

Monday, November 23, 2009

WEATHER5248

Tomorrow: 58

ONE DIRECTOR IS TAKING IT TO THE TOP

49 The Daily Student Voice of Howard University 1924Established

E&P PAGE 7

Photo Courtesy of Michelle Falcone

RIOT police were on the scene as students from various University of California campuses protested against a 32-percent tuition increase, reportedly effective next school year. The students will see the first increase next semester.

NATALIE CONEContributing Writer

NATION & WORLD

PAGE 4

SPORTSTHE LADY BISON WERE DEFEATED 67-66 BY LONG ISLAND UNIVERSITY ON SATURDAY. FIND OUT MORE INSIDE.Notebook

Monday’s

PAGE 5

THE HEALTH CARE BILL HAS BEEN OFFICIALLY MOVED TO THE SENATE FLOOR. READ TO FIND OUT MORE.

BREAKING NEWSACCORDING TO CNN, OPRAH HAS ANNOUNCED THAT SHE WILL BE ENDING HER TALK SHOW IN 2011.

Students were able to sweep up many new opportunities after the cast of “The Clean-Up Woman” visited Howard Friday.

The play was in the Washington, D.C. area for the weekend allowing the Office of the Vice Provost of Student Affairs, Endustry Power Players (EPP) and the Division of Fine Arts to capitalize on the opportunity and bring the cast to Howard. The event entitled, “Inside the Actor’s Studio” was a moderated panel discussion. In what coordinator and sophomore film production major Zon D’Amour Dumas calls “an intimate setting,” students sat in chairs on that stage of Cramton Auditorium surrounding the actors. Students were able to ask Lawrence, actress Jacquee Harry, Telma Hopkins, singer Ali Woodson and actor Christopher Williams questions ranging from their industry experience to advice on how to deal with hardships.

The event ended with Lawrence promising opportunities to Howard students to help work his shows, according to Dumas, from production assistants to costume designers.

INDEX Campus 2 Nation & World 4 Sports 5 Editorials & Perspectives 7 Hilltopics 8

BY RILEY WILSONStaff Writer

S. African First Lady Visits HU

Brian Lipkins-Scott - Staff Photographer

The first lady of South Africa spoke to students in Founders Library.

The New ‘Clean-Up Woman’ Visits HUBY JESSICA LEWISCampus Editor

Spike Tells HU to ‘Do the Right Thing’

“Crooklyn.” “Do The Right Thing.” “Malcolm X.” These are just a few of the many films that world-renowned director and documentarian, Spike Lee, has cultivated.

Spike Lee came to speak to the students of Howard University in the Howard University Hospital Friday, Nov. 20, 2009, as a follow-up of his pre-inauguration seminar on Jan. 19, 2009 titled “Refresh the World”

held in Cramton Auditorium.“I am always happy to

come to Howard University and share my film making experience,” said Lee.

Lee started off the interactive discussion as he spoke of his journey until this day. Attending Morehouse College in Atlanta, Lee was a mass communications major. He continued his education at New York University.

When an audience member asked Lee a question on what is more difficult, acting

in his films or directing. He answered, “I hate to act,” adding that writing is more difficult than directing also.

“I did not feel confident until my third film, “Do The Right Thing,” Lee said.

Howard alumnus James Shields studied marketing at Howard University then realized that art was his passion. He is currently living in New York pursuing his art career. He was inspired by this Spike Lee Joint, “Do The Right Thing,” and has created different art

murals depicting “Buggin’ Out” illustrations.

“I came because a friend of mine, Kyle, told me Spike Lee was going to be here. He’s a big inspiration to me. I feel like I’ve experienced a lot of his films, they definitely put me on black culture,” said Shields. Spike Lee represents a lot in the black community and I appreciate what he’s done.”

BY CAMILLE AUGUSTINStaff Writer

Famed director visits Howard once more, provides insight and inspiration

Brittany Jacob - Contributing Writer

This year marked the 22nd Annual Homeless Walk.

Howard students joined thousands of energetic residents on Saturday morning to come together for one common cause: homelessness.

Bundled up in her winter gear, Mary Godie, junior broadcast journalism major, participated in the 22nd Annual Help the Homeless Walk along with five other eager School of Communication Student Council members.

“We were there to support the cause as part of the External Affairs Department,” says Godie.

One of the many participants was D.C. resident Walter Lovelle, also a member of the homeless community.

“I’m here to support the walk,” Lovelle said, as he snacked on a muffin while sitting back in his electric wheelchair. On his side, he had a white bucket that read, “Can you spare some change?” with a stuffed Elmo doll inside it. Lovelle

has been homeless for four years now.

Although it was a chilly 48-degree morning, several organizations joined for the cause. The members of Greater Mount Calvary Holy Church hosted their own Homeless Ministry, catered to helping the homeless.

The Fannie Mae Help the Homeless Walk is the nation’s largest fundraising effort to benefit the homeless.

Thousands Support Homeless in D.C.BY BRITTANY JACOBContributing Writer

> See PROTEST, page 3

> See WALK, page 3

> See SPIKE, page 3

> See FIRST, page 2

2 CAMPUS November 23, 2009

THE HILLTOP

Give Back.

“Think of giving not as a duty but as a privilege.”

-John D. Rockefeller

Finals, elections, my birthday, and Thanksgiving: that is what the month of No-vember always signaled in un-dergrad. I remember feeling a sense of dread each time this part of the semester arrived. It is a completely different feeling in graduate school. For one, all of my classes occur once a week for two hours each. Initially I was excited about this. I figured I would have more time to study, work, volunteer, and have time for myself. Although this may be somewhat true, there are definite negative aspects to this schedule. In graduate school it is sink or swim. You are on your own to remember important class dates and your relationship with your professor is purely organic. You have to make the effort to speak to him or her on your own time.

I don’t know what I got myself into when I decided to stay in school. It is hard to force myself to focus on school with so many other distractions and responsibilities, but I know it is essential if I want to keep a grade point average that I can be proud of. The papers are intense, the subject matter com-plex, and the time for quality work is a lot higher in graduate school. Over the next few weeks I am expected to complete nearly 100 pages of work. If I was smarter I would have began working on the assignments a lot earlier, but I am a chronic pro-crastinator. The major downfall for me is my neurological disor-der, it is increasingly harder for me to stay up late doing work so I have to pace myself a lot better or I will not be able to function during my day to day activities.

November has also come to represent the time of year that elected officials at Howard begin to deliberate about what they want to run for in the spring general elections. I have had a number of undergraduates ask my advice concerning how to run a low budget campaign, but I have noticed that the urge to run for office in graduate school is different. In undergrad people run because individuals feel they have to, in graduate school most people run because if they don’t know one else will. It is difficult to get students with families and full time jobs to want to run for positions in student government. Their con-cerns are more focused on pro-fessional development and less on how Howard can become a better university in the 21st cen-tury. Those who run for office in graduate school seem to genu-inely care about advocating for the students in their respective schools and colleges; whereas, most people in undergrad ran for a title. There are people who care for Howard and the suc-cess of their peers, but the load in graduate and professional school can hinder your ability to be effective and to lead. It takes an extraordinary person to be able to handle the professional, familial, and academic work required in graduate school on top of being a student leader. that they are taking away from their own professional develop-ment.

This is my last column; I pray that I have been able to give each of you a look into my “transition” from Howard un-dergrad to graduate school. It has been an awesome semester of reflection and I pray that you have learned something from at least one of my rants. Have a Merry Christmas and Happy Winter Break! See you on the Yard!

Victoria Kirby is a graduate student, read more of her columns at thehilltoponline.com.

BY VICTORIA KIRBYContributing Columnist

Tis’ The Season: HUSA Lights It Up

Campus Briefs

- Today, a me-morial service will be held in honor of Span-ish professor Effie Boldrige, who passed away November 1, at noon in the An-drew Rankin Me-morial Chapel.

- Mr. Troy Stovall has been ap-pointed as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer to Presi-dent Ribeau.

- The Howard University Police Department and Metropolitan Po-lice are investi-gating a robbery/kidnapping inci-dent that occured on Friday at 5:15 p.m. on Georgia Ave. The suspect demanded that a student walk to the ATM and get out money.

- Cordell Rich-ardson, Ph.D., has joined the staff of the Of-fice of Special Student Services serving as the di-rector of Judicial Affairs.

John Wilson Jr., Ph.D., spoked on the topic of “Smarter, Deeper, Better Christian.” He encouraged the audience to be better critical thinkers.

“Thinkings givers your de-termination, a sense of perspective, and creativity,” Wilson said.

He brought up how the Pros-perity Gospel was contaminating the Black Church. He said black churches need to be more invovled with black colleges and they are too focused on money and the bling. “Preachers have become icons of prosperity accumulation,” he said.

Wilson serves as the Executive Director of the White House Initia-tive on Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the U.S. Depart-ment of Education.

BY TAHIRAH HAIRSTON Campus Editor

Sean Robinson - Staff Photographer

Howard University Student Association along with students from the Howard community held the first annual HUSA Christmas Tree Lighting on Friday.

According to HUSA, the purpose of the tree was to bring the Howard community together with the District of Columbia community and this is a tradition hoped to be continued at Howard for years to come.

Various organizations such as Campus Pals bought ornaments to be placed on the tree, located on top of the Undergraduate Library (UGL).

“I think the tree lighting was only on component of the tree, it was something that was a great event, hopefully in the future it will be a more grand event,“ said HUSA executive president Bryan Smart.

The Hilltop 24 List will be

published next semester.

Happy Holidays!

More recently Howard University and South Africa have con-tinued to build that bond. In 2005 when the na-tion was devastated by the effects of Hurricane Katrina, South Africa donated money to How-ard to aid students who had been affected by the storm.

At Howard, The college of Arts and Sciences and the law school both offer oppor-tunities for students to study abroad in South Africa. And according to Dean Cudore a na-tive of South Africa and the Dean of Howard’s school of Social work,

this spring break the school will take a group of students to

volunteer and serve in the Country.

In con-cluding the event, Dean Donaldson of the College of Arts of Sci-ences shared “this is the start of a new begin-ning.” Through the South Af-rican Archival and Research Project Profes-sor Johnson and the staff of the College of Arts Sciences with the help

of students plan to con-tinue to build on this re-

lationship and strengthen this new beginning.CONTINUED FROM FRONT

Brian Lipkins-Scott - Photographer

The first lady of South Africa Nompumelelo Ntuli Zuma made her way to Howard University last Friday.

First Lady Visits HowardUndergradTransition

Speaker Schedule 2009 -2019December 6

The Honorable Elijah Cummings, U.S. House of Representatives December 13

Dean of The Chapel January 10

The Rev. Dr. William D. Watleym Senior Pastor, St. James A.M.E. Church

I think myself happy, king Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before thee touching all the things whereof I am

accused of the Jews. - Acts 26:2

THE HILLTOP

NEWS 3

Michelle Falcone, a junior de-velopment studies major attending UC-Berkeley, was one of the protesters and witnessed some of the brutality.

“It is their job, but I believe there was a different way to handle that, be-cause it was entirely peaceful on the stu-dents’ behalf,” Falcone said. “Students sat on the ground and put their hands in the air to show it was peaceful — [we] shouted peaceful protests like, ‘We’re not violent, how ‘bout you’ — [we] were just standing there, and the cops came in violently.”

Falcone said one of the occupi-ers kept reiterating, “All we have right now is this door locked — that is the power we have right now. As soon as we let that go, we lose our power. We’re willing to stay in this building as long as you students are willing to stay here and support us.”

The students stayed there for more than 11 hours before being escort-ed out of the building. The protesters were not arrested, which was the only demand that was immediately. The sta-tus of the other demands is in progess.

Marie C. Johns, chair of Aca-demics for Howard’s Board of Direc-

tors, said that UC is not the only univer-sity going through tuition issues.

“I know the state of California is going through tough times,” Johns said. “We have faced tough times too — as a people and as an institution. We just have to keep [Howard] strong.”

“Fifteen percent of full-time students at public four-year institu-tions attend institutions that increased their published prices by 12 percent or more,” according to the 2009 College Board report “Trends In College Pric-ing.” This accounts for more than 1.5 million students.

College Board also recently con-firmed the assumption that college tu-ition is increasing at a faster rate than the Consumer Price Index. This makes it more difficult for students seeking funding for post-secondary education.

“If a college education is to become more affordable for more stu-dents, institutions will have to find ways to offer high-quality higher education in a more cost-effective manner, and state and federal governments will have to improve their systems for supporting both post-secondary institutions,” as stated in the College Board report.

Calif. Students Protest Large Tuition HikeContinued from FRONT, PROTEST

All of the proceeds are used to support and benefit organizations that aid in preventing and ending homelessness.

The funds are raised through sponsor contributions, community mini-walks and the actual Homeless Walk-a-thon.

The ALIVE! House Shelter for Women and Families had a brigade of strollers rolling through the crowd with a sign that read, “Thank You Fannie Mae.”

“We need the money to run the shelter,” said Susanne Arnold, Chair of the Advisory Committee at ALIVE! House. “The walk-a-thon funds one-fourth of the income for our shelter.”

Along with ALIVE! House, 175 different agencies benefited from the walk. Arnold will find out just how successful this year’s walk was in February. Last year, ALIVE! House shelter received $26,000 from the Help the Homeless Walk-a-thon.

Arnold talked about “a young mother with four children” who is not much different from many students who walked.

She said the mother is in the “same demographic” as many Howard students with “vastly different circumstances.” The mother simply mad a bad choice in high school that left her homeless.

Some people become homeless because of unforeseen economic crises, job losses, serious medical conditions, deaths or other circumstances, according to the Fannie Mae Web site.

A married couple, Gloria and Don McClure, brought their sixth-month old son, William, to his first homeless walk. Don McClure said he was really cold and “couldn’t imagine being homeless everyday.” He said, “You can’t sneak and go home if you wanted to.”

According to the Fannie Mae site, in the District, there are more than 6,000 people without homes, which includes 1,149 children.

Students, Residents Walk for Homeless

Lee said his inspiration “music, sports, [and] walking down the street.”

The short film, “Jesus Children of America”, was based in Brooklyn and portrayed a young teenage girl who learns she was born HIV-positive.

Students also viewed two music videos from Michael Jackson, “They Don’t Really Care About Us,” and “This Is It”, both directed by Spike Lee.

Act III of the groundbreaking documentary, “When The Levees Broke” was also shown.

Lee is planning to do a sequel to this documentary.

Taylor Martin, sophomore professional theatre major from North Caroline A&T, said that she missed her rehearsals to come and listen to Spike Lee speak.

“Spike Lee is the man. He has such a big impact on my life,” said Martin. “One of my goals before I die is to work with him. I would be honored to be in one of his films.”

The short film “Jesus Children in America” was sophomore photography major, Keri Douglass’ favorite part.

“I think it was very generous of him to take time to generate such information,” said Douglass.

And what is next for Spike Lee? “More films,” he said. “Everybody has a talent, but if you do not expose yourself you will not birth the talents within you.”

Photo Courtesy of Emmitt McGee

As a follow-up to his pre-inauguration visit in January, Spike Lee returned to Howard’s campus to share his story about

Spike Lee Pays HU a Visit, Follows Up From Seminar

Continued from FRONT, WALK

Continued from FRONT, SPIKE

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Only ONE issue ofThe Hilltop left!

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start!

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Without a vote to spare, Sen-ate Democrats have advanced ma-jor health care reform in Congress, opening the legislation up for de-bate and finally to a potential vote.

With 60 votes in the affirma-tive, all Democrats and Indepen-dents were needed to pass the clo-ture vote, which bars the possibility of a debilitating filibuster. All of the Republican senators voted no with the position that the measure would result in increased medical costs and greater tax burden for Americans.

Sophomore music education major Alex McKeithen was happy

to hear about the news. “It’s about time,” he said. A supporter of the Democratic Party’s efforts to re-form and expand health care, he also views the current furor over the legislation as part of a larger debate.

“It’s all about whether we want health care for everyone or not,” McKeithen said.

A final vote on the matter is scheduled for after Thanksgiving, while the president hopes to sign potential legislation into law by the end of the year. With the Demo-cratic Party in control of both hous-es of Congress and the presidency, this debate and the passage or lack of health care reform has major ramifications.

The 2010 Congressional elections are less than a year from now and will decide the fate of a third of all congressmen.

Democrats are trying to fulfill their agenda of change and prog-ress, as well as keeping the Repub-lican Party in check. Republicans hope to reclaim some of Congress and paint the health care bill as a government takeover of health care and an overall era of big govern-ment, spending and immense taxa-tion.

If the Democrats do not pass the legislation, it will portray President Obama as a man who is unable to persuade his party to further his agenda and potentially cause issues if he runs for reelection

in 2012. However, the Republicans have a lot to lose too, and could be viewed as obstructionists with no solutions if Obama is able to sign the bill into law.

Jordan Rivers, a sophomore civil engineering major, is confident the legislation will pass and is opti-mistic about its future.

“It speaks to the focus of the Obama administration and the Democratic Party to finally get something done,” Rivers said. He realizes the health care bill has been in the making for quite some time and hopes Saturday’s vote can pro-vide basis for a substantial increase in optimism and activism to help the chances of the legislation.

The bill would mandate that

most Americans buy health insur-ance coverage and provide subsi-dies to those who cannot afford it.

Also, new regulatory reforms would be introduced such as plans to ban the practice of denying cov-erage based on pre-existing medical conditions. The legislations are also designed to lower health care costs for most Americans and offer some price benefits for small businesses.

The bill is intended to be funded through increased taxes, which will affect those making above $250,000. There will also be cuts to Medicaid.

“In the best case scenario, our nation can filter this momen-tum into unprecedented social change,” Rivers said.

Women in their 40s should no longer get routine mammo-grams for early detection of breast cancer, according to updated guide-lines set forth by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.

The task force, made up of 16 U.S. doctors, said women ages 40 to 49 should talk to their doctors about the risks and benefits of the test before having mammograms, then decide from that information if they want to be screened.

For women ages 50 to 74, routine mammogram screenings are recommended every two years.

The change in guidelines, released earlier last week, said that women in their 40s are more likely to get false-positive tests, which can lead to unnecessary biopsies and anxiety without substantially im-proving women’s odds of survival.

The recommendations do not apply to women who carry a high-risk of breast cancer. These women should continue to talk with their doctors about when to get screenings, the task force added.

The task force’s previous rec-ommendations urged women to be-gin having annual mammograms at age 40 in 2002.

Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in

women in the United States, and is the second highest cancerous cause of death. There were an estimated 250,000 cases of breast cancer di-agnosed in 2008, and about 40,480 deaths from breast cancer occurred, according to the task force. Accord-ing to the American Cancer Soci-ety, nearly 200,000 women will be diagnosed with invasive breast can-cer this year.

About two deaths per 1,000 women are prevented if women be-gin annual screenings rather than exams every two years beginning at age 40, said the task force.

The force also estimated that women who begin getting mammo-grams at 40 will have about 60 per-cent more false-positive results per 1,000 exams than women who start screenings at age 50.

Although the task force ac-knowledged that mammograms can save lives, they fear their new guidelines may be misinterpreted.

“We aren’t against screening women in their 40s, we just don’t think it should be routine,” said Dr. Diana Petitti, U.S. Preventive Ser-vices Task Force Vice Chair.

Many doctors and orga-nizations disagree with the new recommendations, including the American Cancer Society. They are disappointed that there were no breast cancer specialists on the task force who made the recommenda-tion to give the group a better per-spective.

“With its new recommenda-tions, the [task force] is essentially telling women that mammography at age 40 to 49 saves lives, just not enough of them,” said Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society.

“If we can catch breast cancer in earlier stages, even with women in the 40s, it is still a

worthwhile cause,” said Jacqueline Walton, an oncology certified nurse (OCN) in Shreveport, La. and mother of fresh-man health management major, Rachael Walton.

“I had two mam-mograms in my 40s, and breast cancer was detect-ed and able to be treated. Personally, I feel that the guidelines should remain the same for women in their 40s because there are many people who can receive their early detec-tion, even for women in their 30s.”

Monique Mar-shall, a freshman ac-counting major, is one of many who has lost a rela-tive due to breast cancer. Marshall’s 34-year-old relative’s doctor recom-mended that she have a mammo-gram, but she never received it.

“She went for a check-up a year later, and that’s when they found the lump,” Marshall said. “They told her that it could have been prevented if she would have gotten the mammogram, and it soon got worse. [The task force] should have left [the] recommenda-tion as it was, or even lowered the age.”

According to the National Cancer Institute, women aged 30-39 have less than a 1 percent chance — 1 in 233 – to be diagnosed with breast cancer, yet women of high-risk categories, including African-American women, are encouraged to talk with their doctors about get-ting screened prior to age 40.

Among its new recommenda-tions, the task force also discourages the education of breast self-exami-

nation, and questions the usefulness of mammography for women 75 and older.

According to the task force, “There is moderate or high cer-tainty that the service has no net benefit or that the harms outweigh the benefits.”

“I believe self breast exams are prevalent to saving lives,” said Brittany White, a junior legal com-munications major.

White learned about the self-examination for breast cancer in high school, and believes that it is the best method for detecting the cancer at a young age, especially for high-risk African-American women.

“Women have to be respon-sible for the care of their own bod-ies, as well as for knowing their own body. The best prevention is self-checking,” she said.

The Howard University Cancer Center (HUCC) has served minorities and the underserved populations by reducing the burden of cancer through research, educa-tion and service.

According to HUCC’s Web site, “The studies of screening be-haviors as well as the development of new diagnostic tools for early de-tection are critical in reducing the burden of cancer.”

The center offers free mam-mogram tests for women aged 40-64 with Medicare Part A from the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia.

The debate about when to start getting mammograms will likely continue, as most doctors still recommend that women check with their doctors about when they should begin getting the screen-ings.

4 NATION & WORLD November 23, 2009

THE HILLTOP

47 Killed in Sudan Inter-Ethnic Clashes At least 47 people have lost their lives and several others injured in attacks between the Dinka and Mundari groups in southern Sudan. This attack - among the many inter-ethnic clashes that have taken place among rival groups - threatens to interfere with Sudan’s first multi-party elections in April. The attack was triggered when the Mundari ethnic group attacked two villages belonging to the Dinka people resulting in a counter attack by the Dinka. Reports released by the UN indicate that at least 2,000 people have died and 250,000 displaced in inter-ethnic violence across the south since January. The Minister for Agriculture Samson Kwaje was injured on Sunday when gunmen attacked his convoy as he encouraged voters to register for next year’s elections. Five people lost their lives in this attack. On Thursday, clashes involving the Dinka and the Shilluk tribes halted the voter registration process leaving at least 11 people dead and wounding several others. International efforts and crisis talks are currently underway to ensure that plans for the elections remain on course.

Information from www.NewsFromAfrica.org

Somali President Pressed to Resign by Parliamentarians Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has been called upon by his Members of Parliament (MPs) to step down for being inefficient. They accused him of neglecting the country since his election and making foreign trips. During a meeting in Mogadishu, the MPs urged the president to resign and create room for the election of a new leader who can serve the country better. During an interview with BBC, Ahmed did not seem bothered by the demands of the MPs and referred to the Ahlu-Sunnah group as just another armed militia fighting in his war-torn country. The remarks made by the president during the interview agitated the group. They have since threatened to take unspecified action against the Somali government. This is the first time the lawmakers are making such demands on the president. They have even threatened to revoke his position if he fails to resign. President Ahmed was elected in February in Djibouti and since then Mogadishu has experienced intense violence between government forces and Islamic insurgents bent on overthrowing the current UN-backed transitional administration.

- Compiled by Marquis H. Barnett, Nation and World Editor

Photo courtesy of The Sedona Observer

While women can conduct self mammograms, the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force encourages them to visit a doctor’s office in order to more accurately check for cancer.

Sports Trivia Answer:The Sacramento Kings hold the record with 43 games in a row

BY Le’DIA J. SMITHStaff Writer

BY OLLIE MONTGOMERYStaff Writer

No Mammograms for Women Ages 40 to 49After discussing new risks, a panel of 16 doctors now urge women from ages 40 to 49 to talk to their doctors aboutmammograms

Congress Moves Health Care Bill to Senate Floor

The Washington Redskins may not be coming to the end of the road due to the undying sup-port of fans in the DMV area.

After last week’s win against the Denver Broncos breaking the Redskins four game losing streak, fans were given much hope for the team. “They were predicted to lose and no one expected a victory, but this win shows anything can hap-pen,” Rob Jones, a local D.C. re-ident said.

The Redskins have not had what one would call a successful

season. Their record of three wins and six losses put them at the bot-tom of the National Football Con-ference East (NFC East).

This time last year, the Red-skins were doing much better with a record of seven wins and four losses. “The biggest difference from last year and this one is there’s a lot of doubt going on, which is mess-ing with their mental state,” said Senghor Copeland, a staff mem-ber at Howard University’s Punch Out.

According to The Washington Post, the Redskins players see their season fading fast with nothing left but a little bit of team spirit. In an

interview done by The Washington Post, third-year defensive lineman Lorenzo Alexander said, “We’ve got to go out there and play for pride. Play for the fans and play for ourselves and try to get some re-spect around the league, man, and just try to really finish out strong.”

Although Redskins fans still love the team, they are tired of see-ing them lose. James Cooper, a sophomore marketing major and D.C. resident, had his own theory on why the Redskins have had an unsuccessful season so far.

“Our offense is absolutely horrible. Jason Campbell sucks all together, because he’s flat-footed

in the pocket which is why he gets sacked so much, and the offensive coordinator needs to open a play book and stop running the same plays,” Cooper said.

Cooper also said that the only thing working in the Redskins favor is injuries. “With Portis out, it finally gave the better running back a chance to let his light shine. Betts is a more power runner than Por-tis,” he said.

According to the Redskins official Web site, their undesirable record is attributed to high expec-tations, the injuries and the lack of leadership given by the coaches.

Despite the Redskins record,

fans still believe in the best for the team. “I still have faith they could make it to the playoffs even though I know it’s probably not likely,” Jones said. “This past game against Denver was not supposed to be in our favor, but yet we pulled out a victory. We just need to keep up the momentum for the next seven weeks.”

Copeland agreed with Jones. “We only have six losses, and if they play how they played against Denver and win the rest of their games then we will probably make it to the playoffs,” Copeland said.

SPORTS 5

THE HILLTOP

BY LAUREN MCEWENContributing Writer

Sports Trivia!

What NBA team ended the longest losing streak on the road in 1991?

Search The Hilltop for the answer!

November 23, 1991

Evander Holyfield TKOs Bert Cooper in 7 for heavyweight boxing title.

BY NATASSA ROBINSONContributing Writer

BY MICHAEL WATERSContributing Writer

As the 2009 football season ended, the Bison left the field until next fall. Ending the season with a record of 2-9 after falling to Dela-ware State Saturday, it’s clear that Howard University’s football team has not made a dramatic turn-around from past seasons, but prog-ress may not be too far off in the horizon.

“We made a change in the offensive line, and this year I think we might be in the top 16 in the country with sacks given up. It’s an improvement,” head coach Carey Bailey said. “Over our first two years, we gave up a lot of sacks and a lot of tackles for losses, which I wasn’t pleased with.”

Difficult circumstances pre-sented themselves early in the sea-son. Due to medical problems, the team’s previous offensive coordina-tor had to leave the team, leaving the Bison in a delicate situation.

“We ended up putting in a brand new offense the first day of camp, so we were ‘Stuck like Chuck,’ as they say,” Bailey said. “I think that’s one reason why we struggled scoring the points, be-cause we were still trying to figure out the offense mid-season. As the season’s gone on, I think we’ve been able to establish our offensive phi-losophy.”

Things seemed to be looking

up for the football team during the beginning of the season. The Bison defeated Georgetown University and Winston-Salem State Univer-sity in two consecutive games ear-lier this semester, but quickly lost steam.

The response from fans was somewhat less than forgiving.

“When I first heard that they started winning, it got my attention. Then they lost and I just was like, ‘OK, they’re just going to continue to lose,’” said Justin Frazier, a soph-omore political science major.

Coach Bailey cites troubles during the recruitment progress for the football team’s poor record.

“Until we’re able to catch up in recruiting, we’re always going to be short-handed to a certain extent. I was hired after the signing day, so we lost that recruiting class,” Bailey said. “Then last year, due to ‘fiscal complications,’ we were only able to get out for about a week and a half to do recruiting, so we weren’t able to stay on top of guys and go out and evaluate and monitor through-out the course of the season.”

Lack of time is not the only challenge the football staff faces during recruitment season. How-ard is historically under-equipped, and rumors of poor quality facili-ties lead some prospective athletes toward other schools.

“The parent of a kid we ended up losing to Hampton told me during the recruiting process,

‘Why would I send my son to a school where there is no upgrade from what he had in high school facility-wise?’” Bailey said.

Bailey also said that things that happen off the field determine what happens on the field.

“You have to have a solid weight room. You have to have meeting space, which we don’t have,” he said. “You have to make like you have it, but a lot of times, we’re work-ing with a blackboard and chalk, and other people are using PowerPoints. You learn to do the best you can with what you’ve got.”

Some Bison fans feel otherwise.

“When my father was younger, he and his friends just played in a field. There are a thousand success stories where they have nothing,” said Caroline Smith, a sophomore public relations major. “How-ard has more than I have heard about a lot of football teams having, and they have still had success. They should think of it that way.”

Coach Bailey’s plans for next year include positive thinking, but they also are to establish offensive philosophy, to have continuity and to establish an aggressive mind set in terms of de-

fense.“We take everything in

strides,” Bailey said. “Fight the bat-tles you can fight; do the things you

can do, whatever is outside of your control, give it to God and keep it moving.”

Bison Drop Season Finale, Look to Next Season

Photo Courtesy of Howard University Sports Information Office

The Bison football team dropped their season finale to Delaware State on Saturday with a score of 30-20, but are looking forward to improving their play next season.

Despite a valiant effort, the Lady Bison were defeated by the Long Island University (LIU) Black-birds in a heartbreaking home loss in Burr Gymnasium on Saturday.

LIU’s Connie James sank the go-ahead lay-up to put the Black-birds up 67-66 with 1:03 left in the game. The Lady Bison would never recover and eventually fell 71-66.

The score was close through-out the contest and neither team held a double-digit lead at any point in the game.

“They played a close game down to the last couple of seconds,” said Jessica Williams, a junior mar-keting major.

The Blackbirds of LIU jumped out to an early 26-19 lead with seven minutes left in the first half. The Bison battled back with a lay-up from Saadia Doyle and a three-point basket made by Chey-enne Curley-Payne.

The Lady Bison kept fighting and stepped up their defensive pres-sure. By halftime, they were faced with only a 30-33 deficit.

Howard came out strong in

the second half and gained a 39-37 lead after consecutive jumpers from Zykia Brown and Tamoria Holmes and back-to-back baskets from Doyle.

“It was exciting,” Williams said. “I can see the improvement from last year.”

After the rally, it looked as if the Lady Bison had wrestled con-trol of the game from the Black-birds, but they could never open up more than a nine-point lead on the Blackbirds.

With five minutes left in the game, the Howard lead was trimmed to five after a three-pointer by LIU’s Heidi Mothershead and a jumper from Chelsi Johnson.

Those two plays, along with a block from Mothershead, would set the stage for a LIU comeback.

Brown would push the How-ard lead to three on a lay-up with 1:31 left on the game clock.

Unfortunately, that would be the last point the Lady Bison would score. Three subsequent Blackbird lay-ups forced the Lady Bison into a hole they could not escape.

A missed three-pointer by Brown with eight seconds left would seal the Bison’s fate. “I thought it was going to go in,” said Craig Ramsey, a freshman

English major. “The way the game was go-

ing, I thought it would go into over-time.”

Brown was excellent for the Lady Bison, scoring a game-high 20 points and going 7-for-15 from the field.

Tamoria Holmes was an-other contributor scoring 14 points and handing out two assists.

Doyle had another strong game on Saturday. She scored 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds en route to her second double-double in just three games this season.

James led the Blackbirds in scoring with 19 points and Mother-shead added eight.

“It was a tough loss, but you can see the team has a lot of talent and potential,” Ramsey said. “They will win one soon.”

With the loss, the Lady Bison fall to 0-3 this season. They look to earn their first victory of the year on Wednesday at 3 p.m., when they face off with Jacksonville at Burr Gymnasium before facing Univer-sity of Maryland at College Park on Nov. 27.

Lady Bison Lose a Close Game in Final Minutes

Photo Courtesy of Sports Information Office

The Lady Bison loss to LIU Saturday 71-66 in Burr Gymnasium in front of a small crowd. Their next game is Wednesday versus Jacksonville.

Loyal Redskins Fans Disappointed With Team

THE HILLTOP THE HILLTOP

NEWS 3 6 ADVERTISEMENT November 23, 2009

The year 2001 was marked by the Halle Berry’s outrageous and atypical performance as a seemingly promiscuous and troubled woman, and her even more shocking win at the Oscar awards.

Her truly riveting, and equally controversial, role in “Monster’s Ball” earned her a place in history as the first African-American woman to ever receive an Oscar in the Best Actress category.

Interest ingly enough, the film that resulted in her win was produced by Lee Daniels, a virtual “no-body” in the world of film producing and direct-ing. His directorial debut years later, in a low-budget a film called “Shadowboxer”, earned measly recognition and financial profit in 2005.

But this year, Daniels returned with yet another box-office smash hit, con-tinuing his career in film as

the director of “Precious,” the controversial and heart-wrenching tale of an HIV positive teen mother, who was raped and molested by the mother and father and her painful road to redemp-tion.

Based off of the true novel “Push”, by author Sap-phire, “Precious” has been

endorsed by Oprah Winfrey, hailed by critics and audienc-es alike, and there are even rumors of a potential Oscar nod for not only Gabourey Sidibe, the lead actress who played the role of Precious, but also her abusive mother, played by none other than comedian Mo’Nique.

After producing the film that catapulted Halle Berry to Oscar-winning sta-tus, Daniels has directed the film that has not only called attention to some of the most unfortunate and un-comfortable issues of Ameri-can society, but he has s also introduced the world to a an unique and different main

character. Gabourey Sidibe is

like no other actress the world of Oscar-worthy acting and filmmaking has ever seen before; coupled with her genuine and moving performance in “Precious”, she has gained the potential of an Oscar nomination.

No matter how controversial his films might be, Lee Daniels has found a way to push the envelope and potentially push his leading actresses into the limelight of the Academy Awards.

We don’t know exactly how he’s doing it, but Dan-iels must be doing something right.

EDITORIALS & PERSPECTIVES 7

THE HILLTOP

Daniels Escorts Actresses to Academy Award Recognition

D a i l y S u d o k uDirections: Each row, each column and each 3x3 box must contain each and every digit 1-9 exactly once.

Nicolette McClendon - Cartoonist

Our View:Lee Daniels must be doing something right because his leading

ladies get Oscar nods.

THE HILLTOPThe Nation’s Only Black Daily Collegiate Newspaper

Brittany HarrisAsst. Business Manager

The Hilltop encourages its readers to share their opinions with the newspaper through letters to the editor or perspectives. All letters should include a complete address and telephone number and should be sent electronically on to hilltopeic@gmail.com.

Any inquiries for advertisements should be sent directly to The Hilltop Business Office at campusadvertising@thehilltoponline.com

THE HILLTOP2251 Sherman Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20001(202) 806-4724 (Editorial)(202) 806-4749 (Business)

businessoffice@thehilltoponline.com Now in its 85th year, The Hilltop is published Monday through Friday by Howard University students. With a readership of 7,000, The Hilltop is the largest black collegiate newspaper in the nation. The opinions expressed on the Editorial & Perspectives page are the views of the The Hilltop Editorial Board and those of the authors and do not necessarily represent Howard University or its administration. The Hilltop reserves the right to edit letters for space and grammatical errors and any inappropriate, libelous or defamatory content. All letters must be submitted a week prior to publication.

India ClarkBusiness Manager

Crystal J. AllenEditor-In-Chief

Jada F. SmithManaging Editor

Traver RigginsManaging EditorDeontay Morris

Deputy Managing Editor

Charles Metze IIINicolette McClendon

Cartoonists

Eboni FarmerOnline Editor

Alexis K. BarnesBusiness & Technology Editor

Cierra Jones Life & Style Editor

Anastacia MebaneCopy Chief

Genet LakewMetro Editor

Bree GantLandneshe Magwood

Sean RobinsonBrian Lipkins-ScottOluyomi Sodunke

Jasmine CarpenterBrittany CliftonRonesha Dennis Macy FreemanDilane MitchellMichele Steele

Copy Editors

Ryan HamiltonAdvertising Layout Manager

Royce StrahanSports Editor

Photographers

Jessica LewisTahirah Hairston

Campus Editors

Ryan FosterEditorials & Perspectives Editor

Faraday OkoroZelena Williams

Photo Editors

Marquis H. BarnettNation & World Editor

Erica HawkinsGraphics Editor

Courtney ColaLocal Advertising Manager

Jenise CameronAsst. Copy Chief

Jenerra AlbertOperations Manager

Izunna EnyinnahMultimedia Editor

PerspectiveDepreciation

You are born with worth, but now you begin to confuse your existence.

Misinterpretation of value may be one of the most detrimental sicknesses of all time. We, the people, are more than we are yet less than what we should be. Our ability to maximize our wealth of consciousness is lacking—so much so, that we now walk with our eyes closed.

We do not realize the importance of self-worth, so we deplete our value. If the economic crisis has not taught us anything else, it is that the less value you have, the less you’re able to get in return.

Depletion of value be-gins in the mind. One has to believe that less is more and more is less. Those situation-al circumstances will create you and not the other way around. Believe that there is a barrier of entry to every possibility desired.

The mind, that con-trols everything, will control you into believing that be-lieving is not believing if you believe in beliefs, if you be-lieve in the possibility of cir-cumstances. If not believing, you are chaining the power

of your mind. Binding your full-limitations to your bless-ings is like making an upward leap of faith—the only place to go is down.

Mind controls the body. What the mind thinks, the body does. It’s the con-trol that tells a bird it can or cannot fly. It’s the control that whispers reasons for lack of ability and the control that uses lust as a remunerable source of value—temporari-ly meant to satisfy the void of self-created worth.

The process is repeti-tive in each and every one—the need to make due, uses sex as a feigned source of amplification. Mind controls the body into forgetting the apparent operations of de-preciation. There’s no way you can continuously use and not depreciate in value. That when bells of love and hope comes to your door-step, bargain and exchange no longer includes bargain. Because of your minds’ utter disregard for the affect your forgetful promiscuity has on your diminishable value, you are destined for the bottom of the barrel.

Your spirit is that which should be an untouch-able source of existence yet,

it tends to be the last step in complete depreciation. Your spirit, being the eminent cen-ter of your inceptive value, is the last to go. Your body is but a sponged vessel of ever growth—the outer skin of your spirit’s resemblance.

Depreciation will flow like oil from your mind, saturating your body, and filling your spirit with the composi-tion of all things done: your ignorance of solemnly didac-tic blood.

Your love for per-sonal and intellectual deple-tions. Your tendency to lust for touch. Your deception to others. Your lackadaisi-cal nature. Your worrisome mind for worthless individu-als. Your cockiness. Your stu-pidity. Your obsession with narcotics. Your belief that prayer without self-effort will suffice.

The composition of all things depreciation will leave you worthless. Then you die.

Riley Wilsonjunior, marketingmajor

The last issue of The Hilltop this will be Tuesday, Nov. 24.

It’s been fun!

Have a great holiday season!

See you next year!

Something to say? Speak up.Send your

perspectives tohilltopeditorials@gmail.com

8 HILLTOPICS November 23, 2009

THE HILLTOP

Join the Ladies of

Zeta Phi Beta. Sor. Inc.

Alpha Chapter, in the lower level of

Blackburn on Nov. 23, 2009.

Will we collect clothing

donations. Boxes will be available to

put unwanted, gently used clothing for

the less fortunate. Lets keep those in

need warm throughout

the holidays!

On Campus for the

Thanksgiving Holiday?

5th Annual Howard

Thanksgiving Dinnerpresented

by Sodexo, Noonday

Fellowship, and Chapel

AssistantsComplimentary

food, door prizes, games,

and music! Bethune Annex

Cafeteria, Thanksgiving

Day 1:00pm-5:00pm

HUSA Presents...

Love.Live.Life Concert

Monday, November 30,

2009

@ 7pmBlackburn Ballroom

Tickets $5 - sold in

Cramton Auditorium

All proceeds go to “Keep A Child

Alive”

Performances by:

-Rampage

-Tenn Stacks

-Messiah

And MANY more... Text

HUSA49 to 41411 for more info.

The Therrell Smith

School of Dance is currently seeking a part-time

dance internto assist

reknown dance instructor

Ms. Therrell Smith during

Saturday dance classes.

For more

information or to apply, email

Info@tsschool

ofdance.com.

Bison

Yearbook

wants all

Under-

graduate

and

Seniors to

come out

Nov 2-

Dec 6

between

8am-5pm

to the

Music

Listening

room in the

Lower Level

of

Blackburn for

Yearbook

photos.

All

UNDERGRADUATE

students are

“FREE”

Seniors $20

CASH

ONLY!!!

Attention! Attention!

If you are a creative

person with a passion for special events this is the job for you. The Homecoming Policy Board is currently

seeking qualified

candidates for Chair and

Treasurer; both

candidates must possess

the following:

1. Strong Leadership

Skills 2. Strong

Organization-al and Ad-

ministrative Skills

3. Innova-tion

4. Excellent Communica-tion Skills 5. Sound judgment 6. Works well with

Others 7. Junior

Status or sixty credit hours

at Howard University

8. Currently registered

and validated,

full time, and posses a 2.7 GPA at the

time of their selection and

remain registered

and maintain a 2.7 GPA standing throughout their term of

office. 9. A 5-7 page

typed proposal with a clear vision

of your projected

focus of the 2010

Homecoming Program.

10. Deadline: November 30,

2009 on or before 10:00

a.m.

SittersWanted$12 or

more per hour.

Register free for

jobs near campus or home.www.student-sitters.com

Student

Organization

for

Undergraduate

Sociologists

Presents

“Modern Day

Minstrels”

Bamboozled

Movie

Viewing

and

Discussion

November 23

6pm

Locke Hall

Auditorium

HUSA and Target H.O.P.E.

will be hosting Join the Chain, Make A Change

December 1, 2009 at 12pm on the yard which is an event for

HIV/AIDS Awareness. We are calling all organizations and Howard U

niversity students to get involved. $40

dollars entrance fee for

organizations and a $3 dollar

fee for individuals.

There will be a table in the

bottom of Blackburn TODAY for

payments to be made.

Why should I be an

Economist?

Come meet and greet Howard’s student

Economist.

Come and ask questions,

find out about careers as an

economist

When: 11/25/09

Where: Economic

Department Academic Support

Building B 3rd floor

Time: 1 to 4pm

-Lunch will be provided-

See you there!

Sponsored by ODE and GEA

Enjoy these Holiday

Specials @ Joya:

·$5 Eyebrow Waxing w/svc.

·$7 w/o Eyelash Artistry

·$25 Roller wrap (Tues. & Thur.) Only

·$45 Relaxer, Trim, & Deep Cond. (Wed. & Fri.)

Only.

· $10 off Natural Hair Svcs. w/ ad!

(All specials by app. Only).

2624 Georgia Ave NW.

WDC 20002.

(Must Bring Ad to receive specials!)

UGSA Presents...Late Night Breakfast“All The

Way Turned Up”

December 3, 2009Ticket

Distribution in Blackburn December

1-2ndw/Howard ID and a

non-perish-able food

ItemCome for Food, Fun, and Prizes

We’re Turning it all the way up!

UGSA would like to

announce that

Staff Applications

for Springfest

2009are available in Student Activities Starting

Tues Nov 24 2009

and will be due on Dec

4, 2009

LAST WEEK FOR SKI

TRIP EARLY BIRD

SPECIAL

Need a ride to

Detroit for Thanksgiving?

HU Alumni offering rides to

Detroit for Thanksgiving

Wed Nov 25, 2009,

Call C.C. 202-247-0653

$20 AIRPORT SHUTTLE

Ride to

BWI - Only $20.00

Leaving Daily

5:00 am - 10:00pm

Call202-423-

6808