1 VIEWS ALREADY STRAPPED by , tight budgets and tiff I competition, the colleges don't expect to have enough financial aid to go around for the remaining group of "good" students, those who didn't :quite make it into the elect . -top 10 percent or 0 but still · have a t de I to offer. ,Even wi h 17 percent minority I students in the freshman class I at my univer ity, DePauw, I ; till turn away some very good : students because of financial : aid limitations. : When good Black and I Hispanic students are unable : to secure sufficient financial : aid, they tend to assume that : all colleges are out of their '! reach and stop trying for • higher education. That is, : unless they receive counseling : to the contrary from the : college-not a very common ': practice. I Colleges, accustomed to : competing aggressively with I each other, don't help steer I students to other institutions , that might welcome them and ; have financial aid available. I College admissions offices J must change this mindset; they have a responsibility to help l all students find opportunities -for further education, whether • t their institution or another. There are more than 3,000 colleges and universities in the nation, and it is to our advantage to help qualified ··high school graduates find acceptable alternatives when ou own institutions are i ccessible. One particular young Black , woman form Baltimore illustrates my point. Although she was accepted for admission, she and her family ere unable to obtain • sufficient financial aid in their : particular situation to enable • her to attend my university. • ather than accept that all options for financial a sistance ad been exhausted, I called : several colleges to inquire • about their interest in a really good student, but not necessarily reat one. IT DIDN'T take long before an institution responded and invited the student for an on-campu . interview. That college wa able to meet the tudent's needs, and he went on to be an active tudent who contributed to the I ife of that college. . Except for my contact with other college and the student's willingness to go along with me, 'the story might not have had uch a happy ending. CULTURALLY, T goal w the achievement of a "color-blind society," which in the words of Mar­ tin Luther King, Jr., would mean that n p Dr. Manning Marable is Pro/es", sor 0/ Political Science and Histo University 0/ Colorado, Boulder. nomm for Africana tudi to the oppressed nationalitie of the Uni ted States is seemingly to put them b ck in their respective places. Such a degree of rank oppor­ tunism on the pan of Thomas and his ilk has been correctly checked by a broad spectrum of persons within the African-American community. Ei ther Bush knew that omeone with Thomas' bac ground would never gain acceptance from the credible poli tical representatives and or­ ganizations in the community or be naively believed th t African­ Americans, oppre ed minoritie and liberals would accept anyone as long as their skin was Black. Le one For African. Stucfl With the current situation involv­ ing Africans Studies at WSU having reached crisis proportions, there is much to be learned from the political maneuvers of the Reagan-BUSh era. The phenomena of hand-picked leadership which is largely unknown and absent within the African­ American community has its parallel wi thin the Department of Africana Studies at W.S.U. Despite the un­ precedented efforts of African­ American students in creating the department, along with the support of the community, they have been the only sector within the University which has not benefited from the creation of Africana Studies. Over the last two years every pos­ sible advantage has been afforded to the administration and its selected "experts" to create a viable academic program with strong community links. Yet the department cannot even get off the ground and is in a state of perpetual foundering and incom­ petentcy. Since the fall of 1989, nearly one-million dollars ofUniver- si ty funding has been given to this department which remains largely unknown, unseen and unfelt by the students and the larger community. WSU's Pan-African Students Union (pASU) over the same peri has had a budget equivalent to 0 percent' of that of the Afri Studies "experts." on and governmental benign neglect . Time i out for playing aoo masquerading. These designataf "experts" must balt tbeircharade discontinue the blantant misuse f tax-payer money. In a time period when people I over Michigan are being forced 10 eliminate viable programs and whtn indigent persons are faced with elimination of support from the sta this type of "Tom-Foolery" (no p intended) can no longer be tolerat PASU DURING THIS time period has sponsored over thirty seminars, forums and conferences related to pertinent issues affecting African peoples on the continent and the Diaspora. . I t bas published four full i ues of an inter-displinary journal on Pan­ African affairs well as numerous leaflets, pamphlets and articles in various new papers related to raeist violence, the political ituation is southern Africa, the Persian Gulf, etc. In addition, and most importantly, the PASU bas intensified its contacts with gra sroot community or­ ganization who repre ent the lifeblood of Detroit in i efforts to combat encouraging urban blight What Must Be Done? • • , Our organization has et out accomplish an immediate task aim at rectifying the Africana Studi situation. • Initially we are establishing la "Working Commis ion for Africa Studie ," which will consi t of s1"O­ dents. working youth, communi persons and profes ional educato , whose job it will be to inve tigate e current crisis facing this demic pr gram at WSU. , • 'This Commission will exami the circumstances urrounding t department's rejection of intern - tionally reknown Pan-Afrie scholar, Dr. Horace CampeJl, for t II posistion of senior professor in Africana Studies program. Also the commission will I into the utilization of the a proximatel y $470,000 annuaJ budget of the department. In other wo we want the public to know whe the money is going, in light of e program's lack of activity and in - lectual direction. • . . FINALLY, THE commi si n will put forward a program off acti n which would ensure student a community participation and s port for the department. Only with the support of the .