Opinion: What Should We do with Black History Month?

By Anthony Foster

Menlo Oak Staff

Black History Month is supposed to be a time when America pauses to acknowledge the importance of the African-American journey through U.S. history.  There are many reasons to recognize African American icons in today’s society, and in many ways African-American contributions are being spotlighted with increased frequency. This recognition has led some to wonder if society still needs Black History Month.

Black history is full of important societal movements that have helped to shape the American society.  The battle to bring equality and justice to black Americans was achieved through a multi-ethnic coalition, one that Dr. Martin Luther King described as containing, “black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics.”

But we do not celebrate a “White” history month or “Jewish” history month. Why then should we celebrate “Black” history month?

Simply put, there is importance to paying attention to the events of black history.  The history of the United States and its racial interactions show that with inner-strength and courage, we are all people capable of achieving anything.  More importantly, studying black history shows that equal and respectful interaction between people of all races is needed to maintain in a successful society.

Advocates for eliminating Black History Month like to say that black people are more than successful enough today not to warrant a month of study. We need to look at the bigger picture.  

Black people have been successful for far longer than the last decade, or even the last century. African-American success stories were not celebrated, or just ignored.

Black History Month is about teaching America and its youth about the issues we continue to fight today and the idea of a better future.

Menlo College Professor Zaki Hasan, believes that race and the uniqueness of the black experience, or any racial experience for that matter, is important to understanding U.S. history and the American experience.

“We aren’t there yet,” Hasan states simply when talking about the goals that America has for its fight against racism.  

Black history deserves to have special recognition. However, changes are need in the way Black History Month is celebrated. It is time to bring a shine a new light on its purpose.

Black History Month is not about segregating black accomplishments from those of other races.  It is about knowing what black history teaches America about its present and its future.

Partial Power Outage Disrupts Campus Email, Activities

A power outage that lasted nearly six hours on Monday left parts of the Menlo College campus in the dark and disrupted the school's email and other Internet-based services.

The outage started shortly before 11 a.m. with the library losing power. The library is where some of the schools computer servers are housed. Because of the outage, Internet programs  such as MyMenlo, Jenzabar, and Internet-based campus services such as the cafeteria's meal plan system were unavailable.

The power outage left  parts of the Florence Moore Building in the dark. Students also reported difficulty accessing the Internet from their dorm rooms. 

The electricity was working in Brawner Hall, but students and faculty reported having difficulty connecting to the Internet.

In the library, librarians were sitting in the darkness, chatting with each other and trying to read. The rooms were completely empty. Some of the librarians talked about going home. Since the library is completely electronic, they couldn't work.

Across the campus Monday morning,  students were frantically looking for working printers so they print out their assignments.

Students who had work to submit via email, such as senior Kaila Lunn, were left wondering if they would be able to meet their deadlines. 

“All the work I had done I had to submit through the school’s email,” said Lunn.  “And even though I was able to find access to the Internet, the Menlo email system was still not working.”

Throughout the day, people asked one another if they able to get online. Tension was noticeable when Menlo community members realized there was no Internet connection.

Power was restored shortly before 5 p.m. In an email, Menlo's Chief Information Officer, Raechelle Clemmons wrote that IT services were also being brought back  online.

"We will use this outage as an opportunity to look at creating less multi-building interconnectivity and more redundancy, where possible, so we won't have situations where services continue to run but are inaccessible because of an outage elsewhere on campus," Clemmons added.

Anthony Foster and Bill Bennett contributed to this story.

Keeping Radio Alive, KMXX is on the Rise

By Anthony Foster
Menlo Oak Staff

Many media consumers say radio is nearly dead, but a group of Menlo College students don't seem to be listening.

A handful of Menlo students have taken on the challenge of reviving the campus radio station, KMXX. One of their first creations was "Fun Fridays,” a new show and the station's main source of content.

"Fun Fridays" is recorded live in Kratt Hall every Friday morning. The show features a rotating set of co-hosts. It is easy to see that Menlo students are the ones completely in charge of the show's content. So far, the program’s topics  have ranged from sports to comedy to weekly movie and media reviews.  The best part of what KMXX now offers may be the humor that students bring to the programs.  

Inside KMXX Recording Studio
(From left to right) Sasha Selvin, Amanda Torres, Sasa Maksimovic

A recent “Fun Friday” show featured Menlo College students Sasa Maksimovic, Sasha Selvin and Amanda Torres.  The show’s topic was the weekend’s much anticipated Super Bowl XLVI between the New England Patriots and New York Giants.  While the talk was about weekend foods, best party spots and winner predictions, co-host Maksimovic’s best prediction came when he said slyly, “I think the Giants are going to win because Tom Brady wears Uggs.” 

Co-host Amanda Torres jokingly responded,  “But why couldn’t you wear them, Uggs are so warm and make your feet feel amazing.”  


Maksimovic seemed to think there is a manly inability to wear Uggs and responded humorously with, “I have a beard,” indicating that men, beards, and Uggs should not, and do not, go together.

"Fun Friday"  is funny and easy to listen to and it is attracting an audience, if the calls from students to the show is an indication.  

Raising the visibility of KMXX  is one of the goals of the students. Members of the student-run station have  created advertising banners that will soon decorate the campus.  The students hope this marketing campaign will create “in your face” and hard-to-miss advertisements that will spark the interest and lead to new listeners.  The marketing slogans are classic and clever featuring taglines such as, “You want the best, you got the best in KMXX,” and “So good that they had to put us in the basement.”  Additionally, to attract listeners, the station will hold contests with prizes given away to student listeners.

While the station has been around for some while, it went on a short hiatus before the 2011-2012 school year due to technical difficulties in the recording studio.  Now, with the studio back up and running, KMXX has attracted a distinctive student crew who promise to deliver diverse programming.

"I've done some voiceovers, but radio for the most part is something different that I can have some fun with," says Josh Waller-Weinberg, one of the more popular “Fun Friday” co-hosts.  Some say Waller-Weinberg’s on-air voice already sounds like a polished professional.  Waller-Weinberg is a great representation of what the show has to offer.

Currently the station's access is limited, but that all should change with a live stream active on KMXX.Menlo.Edu . This should give more students opportunity to listen to the station and tell their friends and family about it as well.


Waller-Weinberg hints at a positive future for the station as he mentions, "I know that I have come up with some surprisingly great and funny content, and I think if students were to listen they would be pleasantly surprised."