Business Focus
Briefs
Group will meet Aug. 12
The Winston-Salem Chapter of International Associa
tion of Administrative Professionals (1AAP) will meet Aug.
12 at the Ramada Plaza Hotel on University Parkway
beginning at 5:45 p.m.
The program will be meeting planning presented by
Diane Pearse of Adams Hall Group.
All those interested in learning about what IAAP has to
offer are encouraged to anend. To make a reservation, call
Mashelle Odom at 716-3482.
Mewhinney elected chair
of Elder Law Section
Kate Mewhinney, clinical professor of the Elder Law
Clinic, has been elected chair of the N.C. Bar Association
Elder Law Section for 2003-2004.
Mewhinney has been the managing attorney for this
clinic since its inception more than 10 years ago. She has
been a national leader in elder law.
The Elder Law Clinic is a program provided by the
School of Law in partnership with Wake Forest University
Baptist Medical Center. It provides free legal assistance to
low and moderate income citizeas aged 60 or older. Law
students, working under the supervision of Mewhinney,
represent clients, gaining practical experience and provid
ing a much-needed community service.
Toyota Motor Sales honors
Winston-Salem dealership
Modem Toyota was named recipient of the 2002 Toy
ota Motor Sales President's Award. The 17th annual award
was presented to a select group of dealerships across the
country.
It is the fourth year Modem Toyota has received the
President's Award.
The Modem Toyota ad will be featured in subscriber
copies of the Aug. 11 issue of Time Magazine, available
this week.
Toyota Motor Sales recognizes its finest dealerships
with the prestigious President's Award. It is the highest
honor a dealership can receive from Toyota and is awarded
only to those dealerships that have demonstrated a com
mitment to maintaining Toyota's high standards for cus
tomer satisfaction.
In order to qualify as a President's Award winner, deal
erships must excel in delivering great products and proving
stellar customer care in all areas of dealership operations.
Modem Toyota also has been recognized for ongoing
community support for the American Red Cross. Dealer
ship employees give blood at the dealership's quarterly
blood drives.
The Seattle Medium publisher dead
SEATTLE (API - Connie Bennett Cameron, editor
and publisher of The Seattle Medium newspaper, radio
host and black community activist, died Monday of a heart
attack. She was 51.
Her brother. Chris H. Bennett founded The Medium in
1970. She started work there as a summer volunteer in
1977 and helped to make it one of the largest black-owned
communications companies in the Pacific Northwest with
newspapers and radio stations in Seattle. Tacoma and Port
land. (Tie.
Cameron's passion for minority issues took root when
she was among the first black students to be allowed to
enroll at ihe high school in her hometown, Waynesboro,
Ga.. her brother said. She earned degrees in English and
broadcast journalism at Savannah State University in Geor
gia in 1973 and was offered a job as weather announcer at
a television station in Texas.
Besides writing, she hosted "Rhythm ?and News," a
weekly radio show, with her nephew, Christ. Bennett, and
helped organize the city's annual African-American Com
munity Soul Festival.
In recent years Cameron wrote a set of poems called
"Preacher Man" and followed that series with another,
"Brother Man."
Cameron recently received an award for editorials from
the National Newspaper Publishers Association. j
_____ I
Minonty auto dealers are
touting Enterprise Rent-A-Car
-o
The National Association of Minonty Automobile
Dealers (NAMAD). which represents 550 minority auto
dealers nationwide, has signed a national marketing agree
ment with Enterprise Rent-A-Car that positions Enterprise
as the preferred source for replacement auto rental services
for NAMAD member dealers.
The agreement, signed in July during NAMAD's annu
al conference in La Costa, Calif., also strengthens the busi
ness relationship between Enterprise and NAMAD mem
bers. Enterprise has'agreed to enhance its ongoing program
to purchase vehicles from minority dealers and continue to
use the parts and service units at minority dealers.
Enterprise agreed that minority dealerships will be able
to acquire used cars from Enterprise.
Law firm cited for diversity
Constangy Brooks & Smith LLC is one of three law
firms nationwide named by Sara Lee Corp. as preferred
partners, based on commitment to diversity. The selection
was announced in the May issue of Chicago Lawyer, a
publication of The Law Bulletin.
According to the announcement made by Sara Lee,
Constangy Brooks & Smith LLC, as a preferred partner,
will receive preference when Sara Lee seeks outside coun
sel on legal matters and may use the designation for recruit
ing minority and women lawyers.
Selection of the partners was based on Sara Lee's
analysis of data about its primary law firms, including the
number of women and minorities employed and their sta
tus within the firm.
Duty - and nature - calls
? ? "" PR Photo
Sgt. Michael Baex, 28, of Elmont, Long Island, holds the door open for Lance Cpl. Christian Valencia, 21,
of Queens, N.Y., during a 27-flush salute to kick off a charity initiative with Charmin and the Marine
Toys for Tots Foundation at Chelsea Piers in Manhattan on July 31. For every flush on Charmin's Potty
Palooza, a 27-stall mobile restroom that tours the country, Charmin will donate 10 cents to Toys for
Tots. From July to November, Charmin anticipates that more than 1 million people will visit the Potty
Palooza, amounting to a donation of more than $100,000.
Forsyth Tech hires new employees
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Forsyth Technical Community
College has hired the following
employees:
? Dr. Robin L. Harvey has been
named director of the Winston
3 a i e m
Teachers
Academy.
He received
a bachelor of
arts degree
in' elemen
tary educa
tion. a mas
ter of arts
degree in
middle
grades edu
Harvey
cation and an education specialist
degree in educational administra
tion from Appalachian State Uni
versity.
In 1996 he completed his doc
torate in educational leadership
and supervision at NOVA South
eastern University.
He has been a teacher, a coun
selor, a program director and a
principal. He also has been an
English instructor at Mitchell
Community College. He has 24
years of work and teaching experi
ence.
? Patrice B. Mitchell haS been
named director of admissions for
Student Development Services at
Forsyth Technical Community
College. She
received a
bachelor of
arts degree
in communi
cation from
Salem Col
lege and a
master of
arts degree
in public
administra
tion from
UNC-Greensboro. She was most
recently the director of admissions
for Winston-Salem State Universi
ty. She has more than 14 years of
financial aid and admissions expe
rience.
? Lawrence A. Moretz has been
named director of counseling for
Student Development Services at
Forsyth Technical Community
College. He
received a
bachelor of
arts degree
in education
from Wake
Forest Uni
versity and a
master of
arts degree
in counselor
education
from UNC
Greensboro.
Over the past 14 years, he has
Moretz
Mitchell
been a counselor and coordinator
for Charter Behavioral Health Ser
vices, AIDS Care Services and
CenterPoint, all located in Win
ston-Salem. He has 14 years of
work and teaching experience.
? Renarde Earl has been named
the director of public safety. He
received a bachelor of arts degree
in criminal justice from N.C. Cen
tral University.
A graduate of the Administra
tive Officers Management Pro
gram at N.C.
State Uni
versity (27th
Session,
Class of
2000), Earl
completed
the advanced
law enforce
ment certifi
cation and
the basic law
enforcement
training
Earl
instructor certification.
He also has worked for the
Winston-Salem Police Department
as a patrol officer and on the
downtown bicycle patrol. Before
coming to Forsyth Tech, he was a
sergeant and supervisor with the
Wake Forest University Security
Police.
? Robert N. Hall has been
See FTCC on A9
Cracker
Barrel
faces new
lawsuits
Blacks in several
states say they were
treated poorly
by restaurant staffs
BY DAVID HAMMER
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -
Twenty-three blacks filed a
lawsuit against Cracker Barrel
Old Country Store, alleging
they received poor service
compared with white patrons at
the company's restaurants.
A Cracker Barrel spokes
woman said last week that the
lawsuit was unfounded and part
of a wider attempt to discredit
the Tennessee-based company.
Several of the plaintiffs
who visited Cracker Barrels in
Bryant and North Little Rock
said they waited in the chain's
signature porch rocking chairs
while whites who came later
were seated first. They said
they were then seated in a back
smoking section, served slower
than whites and were openly
rebuked when they com
plained.
"When I talked to the man
ager, he said if I wasn't satis
fied, there was a Burger King
down the street," said the Rev.
Henry Harris.
Harris said the treatment he
received reminded him of dis
crimination he and his family
experienced more than 40 years
ago, when discriminatory Jim
Crow laws were in place in the
South.
Plaintiffs' attorney Philip
Kaplan said a similar lawsuit
filed last year in Georgia will
show that these were not isolat
ed incidents but part of an
"insidious" pattern. The suit
seeks monetary damages and
revised policies.
Cracker Barrel spokes
woman Julie Davis denied any
systematic discrimination and
said the judge in the Georgia
case had endorsed the compa
ny's training methods after a
thorough investigation. That
judge ruled in January that
would-be joint plaintiffs had
failed to show a sufficient pat
tern of treatment to justify a
-class-action lawsuit.
Restaurant gets rare NASCAR honor
o
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE _
TAMPA, Fla. - Checkers
Drive-In Restaurants Inc.
announced last week that Larry
Rockwell, Checkers/Rally's fran
chisee of the year, would wave
the green flag on Aug. 3 to begin
the 2003 Brickyard 400. a
NASCAR Winston Cup Series
event.
"It is a tremendous thrill to
have the opportunity to wave the
green flag to start one of the
largest sporting events in the
world, and I am honored that
Checkers Drive-In Restaurants
Inc. has presented me with this
one-of-a-kind experience," sa\d
Rockwell, owner/operator of four
Checkers locations in Alabama.
He continued: "I chose to
become a Checkers franchisee
because of the chain's growth
potential, the superior menu
choices, and the franchising sup
port the company provides. It has
been very rewarding to find that,
in addition to the brand's
strengths, dickers Drive-In
Restaurants Inc. goes the extra
mile to recognize franchisees
who do a great job."
Checkers Drive-In Restau
rants Inc. and its franchisee com
munity teamed up earlier this
year to form a category-exclusive
sponsorship with the Indianapo
lis Motor Speedway. This spon
sorship names Checkers/Rally's
as the Official Burger of the
PR photo
Larry Rockwell owns and operates four Checkers locations in Alabama.
Brickyard 400 and the Indi
anapolis 500.
Rockwell joined Checkers in
1988 as an assistant manager at
an Atlanta-area restaurant. '
Through hard work and excellent
performance, he was quickly pro
moted to the positions of general
manager, training manager and
then an area supervisor. In 1996.
when Checkers offered its top
performing employees the oppor
tunity to own their own restau
rants. Rockwell seized the oppor
tunity and purchased his first
store in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Today,
he owns four locations in
Tuscaloosa, Huntsville and
Decatur, Ala., and has a fifth
location opening later this year in
Tuscaloosa.