?See rage AS
yainston-Salem, NC
Vol. XXXV No. 33
20 120409 1 5 -DIGIT
NORTH CAROLINA ROOM
FORSYTH CTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
660 W 5TH ST
WINSTON SALEM NC 27101-2755
,3,Ojv.s.t
n.c
THURSDAY, April 16, 2009
Carver
runner
going to W.
Carolina
-See Pane BIO
Art
helps
cancer
patients
n . 75 cents
Preachers ^ yb,v(//y
preach
the Words
Of JeSU?rth carina
rtn CoilO
William Andrews leads last week's Tai Chi for Arthritis class.
New class helping those who suffer from arthritis and other aliments
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
No pain, no gain?
The old fitness adage
couldn't be further from the
truth for those taking the new
Tai Chi for Arthritis class at
the Winston Lake Family
YMCA. The harder they
work, the less pain they can
expect to have from arthritis
and other health conditions,
according to Instructor
William Andrews, who led the
hour-long class Friday morn
ing.
Photos by Layla Farmei
Cotton Conrad and Cheryl Jordan take part.
"It's good for what ails you
... movement is your best
medicine." Andrews
remarked. "(The) Chinese
have used tai chi in conjunc
tion with medicine as a pre
ventative program for disease
and illness. It's also used now
in conjunction with treat
ment"
Tai chi is an ancient mar
tial art that is often utilized as
a method of promoting health
and wellness. Considered a
"soft style" martial art, its
See Tai chi on A 7
City campaign to confront predatory lending
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE ^
. ? ?"
Predatory lending. The phrase may
technically have more than four letters,
but the connotation of it these days is
something like profanity, as the housing
crisis that has swept this nation has made
certain of that. Though there are other
factors that are also to blame for the
waves of foreclosures that have left count
less Americans on the streets, predatory
lending is perhaps one of the most promi
nent, in part because of its tendency to tar
get disadvantaged buyers.
In honor of Fair Housing Month,
observed each April, the city's Human
Relations Commission launched a com
See landing on A12
Photo by Layla
Fanner
Mayor Allen
J o i n e s
addresses
the issue as
Council
Member
Evelyn
Terry, right,
and HRC
Director
Wanda
Allen
Abraha look
on.
Professors share home life, work life
Photo by Uiyla Farmer
Omari and
Kami
Simmons
teach law at
Wake Forest
University.
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE '
Yell out "Professor Simmons" at Wake Forest
University Law School, and two heads will turn
your way.
Omari and Kami Simmons spend their
evenings in their suburban Winston-Salem home
with their two little girls and their days at the uni
versity. teaching students who are not much
younger than they are. They both are assistant pro
fessors in the law school and left behind already
well-established careers when they joined the
school's faculty in 2006.
Kami Chavis Simmons, a Harvard Law School
alumna, worked in private practice and served as
an Assistant United States Attorney before joining
the faculty at Wake Forest. She says her inquisi
tive nature drew her to law at a young age.
"I'd always thought that I'd be a lawyer," she
commented. "I've always been a thinker; I've
always been interested in the underlying ration
ale."
Sec Professors on A4
BUY LOCAL
I
Allegacy Photo by Berme Carpenter
Students help a classmate open an account.
Student-run
credit union
opens at Atkins
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
A student-run Allegacy
Federal Credit Union offi
cially opened at Atkins
Academic and Technology
High School on Monday.
State Superintendent of
Public Instruction June
Atkinson and Simona Atkins
Allen, a granddaughter of
Simon Green Atkins, for
whom the school is
rently in charge of the Atkins
Allegacy program.
"After the training peri
od, we do not go and stay
there - they're, completely
on their own," said Belinda
Wilson, director of business
development for Allegacy.
"(By the end of the year)
they can say they have cash
handling experience and
account opening experience t
and they also get marketing
experience."
nameu, were
among the special
guests on hand for
the ribbon cutting
ceremony.
The credit
union is designed
to promote finan
cial literacy among
the students. Under
the advisement of
a faculty member,
students will learn
Alex Moreira
The credit
union is open dur
ing lunch hours
and on designated
days when stu
dents may need to
access their
accounts, such as
on picture day.
Members wjio
join through the
student-led union
can access full
the ins and outs of finance,
assisting their peers in open
ing accounts and navigating
the banking process.
"It just seems to be a very
timely thing right now,"
Atkins' Chief Operating
Officer Jeffrey Parris com
mented, noting the financial
crisis the nation is currently
grappling with. "I think
(financial literacy) is pretty
much a life skill. We don't
do a lot of teaching that, and
that's maybe something we
need to focus on more."
Nine students are cur
services at any Allegacy
branch location.
"Any financial institution
should be in partnership with
its community," Allegacy 's
John Williams, vice presi
dent of Human Resources
and Community Affairs, said
of the credit union's motiva
tion to implement the pro
gram. "We're a community
minded financial institution
to the extent that when we
help in the community, we
help ourselves."
The Atkins branch
See Credit Union on A 7
Egg-tra Special Day
Photo by Todd Luck
Jordan Hynes proudly shows the eggs he collected at
The Children 's Center 's recent Easter event. Read about
it on page A12.