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FORUM The joys(?) of exercising again Nigel Alston Motivational Moments "To be nobody -but yourself - in a world which is doing its best night and day, to make you everybody else - means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting." -e.e. cummings "It's 10 minutes 'til 6," my wile announced She is an early riser, having already eaten breakfast and now reading the paper as 1 was slowly rolling out of bed. It is my day to meet the trainer and I have to get some cardio exercise in before he, Justin, puts me through my scheduled routine. We will work on my arms today. The last ses sion focused on the legs. I was a little unsteady from that workout for a day or two. Over the last two months, my muscles and I have been reintroduced to exer cise. Several weeks ago I shared the story of a gill I received for my birthday from a friend It u as a lour month memtx-rship at a local fitness club I could only shake my head at the time, as I fit in the category of those adults ((>0 percent) who are not regular ly active. Of course it depends on ?>hat you consider active. If it means some form of exercise, and it docs, I Has totally inac tive Regular suggests some pat tern of activity. I really belonged in the second category of adults - (25 percent) who are not active at all Thai's why getting started hurt. It was not the gift member ship that got me going, though It's interesting to note that unless something drastic happens to kick-start you, inertia keeps you in your current/state. Drastic could be deteriorating health, winded when you walk across the room, not being able to bend over to lie your shoes, or like Star Jones, your leg is so heavy you have to pick it up to put your shoes on. What woke me up. literally, was a phone call before 6 a.m. the week after my birthday. "I am on the way to pick you up," he said. "Pick me up for what?" I said to myself. "You must be out of your mind." And my wife couldn't believe what she saw next. 1 got out of bed, put my exercise clothes on (yes, 1 had some; I just had not used them), put my sneakers on, and headed to the Illness club. Actually, she was ama/ed, yet supportive. And I need a lot of support, as 1 am not a morning person I like to stay up late, and getting up before 6 a.m. is a major accomplishment - especially on a routine basis, as I do now Sometimes 1 feel as if I am sleepwalking through the motions: slowly putting on the sweat pants, sweat shirt and shoes, heading out in the dark and off to the gym. It is a battle some mornings Thoughts of, "Go back to sleep," compete with, "Don't stop now!" I am just telling you the truth. And my trainer, Justin, another friend's son, kqeps me moving. He records w hat we do in each session, providing words of encouragement as I make progress, even if it is barely noticeable. "Good job, Nigel." .Come on, three more." And when I think I am about finished, I hear, "You arc about halfway there, Nigel." Halfway! Oh man! I hurt! And al'lcr that, in a corner 1 hale (o go to, I usually hear something like: "That was sini pie, wasn't it?" Yeah, light Or, "That was fun, wasn't it?" Justin is a good coach He explains things, makes sure you understand why you are doing what you are doing, and keeps positively pushing you along the way. I still struggle to get up early in the morning. But I can honest ly say I feel betteiQdter I return home and prepare for work. I am beginning to tell a difference. And that is what gets me back for the next session. A related benefit of exercis ing, I understand, is it can put you in a better mood When you exercise, your brain releases a chemical called endorphins, which may make you feel happi er. Now , if I can just gel those endorphins released at 6 a.m. Nigel Alston is a radio talk show host, columnist and moti rational speaker. He is a mem ber of the Winston Salem State University Board of Trustees. Visit his Web site at wwwmotiva tionalmoments .com . Judge Alito's civil wrongs record George Curry Guest Columnist As the Senate Judiciary Committee examines the fitness of U.S. Appeals Court Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court, it would t>e easy to presume that civil rights groups are opposing Alito's nomination simply because he is a conservative. However, 4 careful reading of special reports compiled by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF), the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) and the Alliance for Justice shows (hat they have legitimate concerns about Alito's staunch opposition to civil rights and his eagerness to limit the power Congress has to remedy racial discrimination. "Judge Alito's 1985 applica tion to be the Reagan administra tion's Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Office of I-egal Counsel reveals the beginnings of his ideology and subsequent judi cial philosophy," the LOCR report observed. "Jn that application, he strongly embraces the conserva tive ideology of the Reagan administration, singling out his work to restrict affirmative action and limit the remedies available to victims of discrimination as areas that he was 'particularly proud.'" The LDF report quoted Alito's comments in more detail: "Most recently, it has been an honor and source of personal satisfaction for me to serve in the office of the Solicitor General during President Reagan's administration and to help advance legal positions in which 1 personally believe very strongly. 1 am particularly proud of my contributions in recent cases in which the government has argued in the Supreme ( 'ourt that racial and ethnic quotas should not be allowed." Ms opponents were not seek ing quotas, which had been forbid den by the executive order crcat ing affirmative action. Photo b> Chuck Kcnncd> /MRT Samuel Alito, President George W. Hush's nominee for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, is sworn in before the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearing on Monday. I.D1 discovered that, "As a lawyer in the Solicits General's office, Alito participated in three major affirmative action cases before the Supreme Court.... He argued against court-ordered affir mative action its a remedy for vio lations of Title VII of 1he .Civil Rights Act of 1964. . . against vol untary affirmative action under Title VII... and against voluntary affirmative aAion under the Constitution..,." In his 1985 application, LCCR noted, Alito wrote: "In college, I developed a deep interest in con stitutional law, motivated in large part by disagreement w ith Warren C 'curt decisions, particularly in the areas of criminal procedure, the Establishment Clause and reap portionment" LCCR observed, "At the time of his statement, nearly evejy one accepted the legitimacy of the Warren Court's 20-year-old rul ings on reapportionment - Baker v. Carr, which said for the first time, that the federal courts had a role to play in making sure that all Americans have a right to equal representation; Wesberry v Sanders, in which the Court ruled (hat ( 'origressional districts hitve to he roughly equal in population; and Reynolds v. Sims, in which the Court held that state legislate e districts had to be equal in popula tion, according to the principle of 'one person, one vote.'" On the bench, Alito dissented from the majority's decision that a black employee had supplied enough information for her racial discrimination case to be heard by a jury. In Bray v. Marriott Hotels, Alito favored a very narrow read ing of Title VH of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the section barring employment discrimination. The majority said that if Alito 's inter pretation of the law had been accepted, 'Title VD would be eviscerated" and that his view would "immunize employers from the reach of Title VH" in cer tain circumstances. The majority also took Alito to task for his dissent in Riley" v. Taylor, a case about w hether the prosecutor htid used racially -moti vated peremptory strikes to exclude African-Americans from a jury. LDF said Alito equated that action to the statistical oddity of five- of the last six U.S. presidents being left-handed. The judges in the majority rebuked Alito, accus ing him of minimizing "the histo ry of discrimination against poten tial black jurors and black defen dants." The Alliance for Justice Report noted, "University of Chicago law > professor ( 'a.ss Sunstein examined Judge Alito's approximately 65 dissents on the theory that 'when a judge bothers to dissent from a majority is a good clue to what the judge cares most about.' WhaJ Sunstein found was stunning .... (was that most) of Alito's dissents take positions more conservative than his col leagues on the appeals court, including colleagues appointed by Presidents Bush and Reagan ...."' ( leariy, All to is to the right of right-wingers. "Based on his history , philoso phy, and performance on the bench, LCCR, along with many in the civil rights community, has concluded that Judge Samuel Alito will not bring a balanced conservatism in the mold of Sandra Day O'Connor to the Supreme C 'ourt.TnStead he w ould bring a more hardened ideology that is outside of the judicial main stream on a number of critical civil rights issues and that is well to the right of where most Americans stand." George E. Curry is editor-in chief of the NNPA News Service and BlackPressUSAx-om. To con tact Curry or to book him for a speaking engagement, go to his Web site, wwwjjeorgecurry vom. -L Building Great Schools presented by Chris Venable, Architect of Third Creek Elementary School in Statesville. an award-winning school that costs less to operate and provides a healthy and productive learning environment Saturday, January 21, 10 - 1 1 a.m. WS/FC Public Library. 660 West Fifth Street Winston-Salem t Sponsored by the Foothills Group of the Sierra Club For information, call 723*1237 Jessie Draft & Associates LLC Jessie Draft/Broker CRS, GRI, REALTOR RNJDRAFT@MSN.COM 3750 Beeson Dairy Rd ?Winston-Salem, NC 27105 (336) 403-1254 Business (336) 748-0871 Fax MULTIMILLION DOLLAR PRODUCER ft Louise E. Harris \ Attorney at Law ? Bankruptcy ? Consumer Problems ? Traffic Tickets & DWI ? Divorce ? Eldercare Law 14 Years Of Experience Winston Tower, Suite 2223, 301 N. Main Street Call 24 Hours Winston-Salem, NC 27101 (336) 76 1 -0222 Positive Image Performing Arts 6 20 W. Fourth Street*WinsUm-Salem, NC 27101 CALL 340-6042 OR EMAIL PIPARTS@CS.COM HOME OF THE 2005 NATIONAL BLACK THEATER FESTIVAL DANCE TROUPE Rep. Larry Womble NC House of Representatives ' 71st District I el (336) 784-9373 Fax (336) 784-1626 E-Mail: I.Wistm@aol.com Home Address 1294 Salem I^ike Road Winston-Salem, NC 27107 CHYSLER DODGE SALES PROFESSIONALS /?$H??i22^ CHRYSLER *DOOG? i 1 Gary Woodard - Sales Representative "If you need a car, come see me, I'll treat you-right." Kerncrsvllle Chrysler Dodge 950 Hwy. 66 S. Kcrnersvtlle, NC 27284 Phone (336) 996-4111 Fax (336) 996-8462 www. 3 ldodge.com news@wschroiiicle.com The Choice for African-American News <17 N. Liberty Street Winston-Salem, NC 27101 The Chronicle was established by Ernest Pitt and Ndubisi Egemonye In 1974, and is pub lished every Thursday by Winston-Salem Chronicle Publishing Co., Inc. 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