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FEBRUARY 27, 2008

CAMPUSOne student grappleswith a life-changingfact: Her unplanned

pregnancy.

Page 6

N O R T H C A R O L I N A C E N T R A L U N I V E R S I T Y VOLUME 99, ISSUE 101801 FAYETTEVILLE STREETDURHAM, NC 27707

919 530 7116/CAMPUSECHO@NCCU.EDUWWW.CAMPUSECHO.COM

BY AKILAH MCMULLANECHO STAFF WRITER

An internship at theright company at the righttime can mean the differ-ence between employ-ment and unemploymentfor college graduates.

However, complaintsfrom perspective employ-ers may leave N.C.Central University masscommunication majorsblacklisted.

Many universities offerinternship courses that

allow students to intern inexchange for college cred-it, preparing them for lifeafter graduation.

However, some NCCUstudents have left intern-ship sponsors disappoint-ed.

“Overall, I would saythat the experience [withNCCU interns] has beenan average experienceand I would rather it bean outstanding experi-ence,” said MonicaBarnes, director of com-munity affairs for ABC-11

TV in Durham.Barnes also oversees

the internship programfor the news station.

Barnes said NCCU’slack of equipment andtechnology is preventingstudents from reachingindustry standards.

“I believe there are alot of bright students, butthe preparation is notthere,” she said.

Greg Pulley, mass com-munication senior,interns at ABC-11 andagrees that he was not

prepared to begin work.“The reason why I say

that is because we didn’thave adequate equip-ment,” Pulley said.

He said NCCU needs tobe more in tune withindustry standard tech-nology so that studentsare not blindsided whenthey enter the workforce.

Pulley said he is work-ing hard to make a goodimpression of NCCU atABC-11.

Some interns not readyInexperience with audio, video equipment partly to blame

BY FRANK DAVIESSAN JOSE MERCURY (MCT)

WASHINGTON — BarackObama’s ascendancy comeswith a popular affirmation:“Yes, we can.” Maybe itshould be “Yes, we click,” ashis presidential campaigntakes online politics to newlevels.

Obama became the front-runner for the Democraticnomination this month aftera string of primary and cau-cus victories, and his inspi-rational appeal and effec-tive campaign organizationare getting most of the cred-it for his stunning success.

But there is anothermajor factor: smart use ofnew technology, fromrecord-breaking fundraisingto Facebook widgets attract-ing new supporters andmass texting to keep hisbackers connected.

While every candidate inthis year’s presidential con-test has used the Internetfar more effectively thananyone who ran in 2004,Obama is so far ahead ofother candidates in Webtraffic, social networkingand user-generated videothat he’s in a class by him-self.

“Barack Obama is suc-cessful because he is Barack

Obama, and his message isspot-on with Democrats,”said David All, a Republicanstrategist specializing innew media.

“But he is leveraging thatwith the most effective, com-prehensive online strategyof any campaign. He’s usingthe tools that help you findand mobilize new voters.”

Andrew Rasiej, a leadinganalyst of online politics,said the Obama campaign“has come the closest toachieving the Holy Grail ofpolitics on the Internet —converting online enthusi-asm to offline action.”

Other candidates alsohave struck gold on the Webthis election cycle: Obama’slone remaining Democraticrival, Hillary Clinton, hasmobilized an army of social-networking contacts into anoutreach campaign of cellphone callers. DemocratJohn Edwards developed afervent following in the lib-eral blogosphere, and wasone of the first candidates tohire popular bloggers.

Republican Ron Paul’sbackers pioneered “moneybombs,” and set a one-daymark with a fundraisinghaul online of $6 million lastyear. Republican Mike

Obama teamWeb savvy

NELMSTAKES HELM

n See IINNTTEERRNNSS Page 2

PHOTO FEATUREOur editor-in-chief

ate here, liked it, anddecided a photo

essay was in order.

Page 10

SportsCasey Daniel and

Jennifer Hukill playtheir last game with

the Lady Eagles

Page 13

BEYONDAfter 50 years,

Cuban leader FidelCastro is out. What’s

next?

Page 7

IT’S OFFICIAL|CHARLIE’S IN CHARGE

BY GEOFFREY COOPERECHO STAFF WRITER

At first, Robert Harris didn’t understand Chancellor CharlieNelms’ vision for N.C. Central University. But after Nelms’inauguration speech last Friday, the computer information sys-tems senior from Maryland said he has a better understandingof what the school’s tenth chief administrator wants to do.

About 2,500 people, including Durham mayor William “Bill”

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As Barack Obama’s campaign continues to leave atrail of wins across the United States, many believe

that his success has to do with his smart use ofonline media like Facebook and YouTube.

Eaglelandhawks ’nalia

Marvin Bass’ businessmarks 14th year

n See OOBBAAMMAA Page 9

BY NATALIA NICHOLEFARRER

ECHO STAFF WRITER

It’s easy to take school mer-chandise stores for granted,as school paraphernalia hasbecome so commonplace thatEagle gear can even be foundin area Wal-Mart stores.

But when Marvin Bassopened the doors toEagleland in 1994, studentscould only find the logo sweat-shirts and tees that are such afundamental part of the col-lege experience in N.C.Central University’s book-store.

“Back in my day, there was-n’t a lot of NCCU merchandise

and paraphernalia,” saidBass.

“Students were dissatis-fied with the merchandisebeing only in the school store,so there was a demand and aneed for Eagleland.”

Prior to the store opening,Bass was just a vendor settingup shop at athletic events andgraduations to sell merchan-dise to Eagles and Eagles-at-heart.

But his business grew somuch that opening a store wasthe next logical step.

The location chosen was2501 Fayetteville St., a 10-minute walk from campus.

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