East Ward from page A1 not know that the Council Member who Montgomery beat in the primary - Johnson - was seated directly in front of her "That's not the issue!" said Johnson, who said concerns were being raised because she and other candidates were not allowed to freely campaign on the WSSU campus like ydntgomery was. Elaborating on her concerns after the forum, Johnson said she made several, attempts to get her message out on the cam pus. She said she was ultimately directed to the Office of Campus Life and informed that she could bring fliers on the campus but that any kind of formal forum to present herself to students would have to be initiated by a WSSU student or campus organization. Nancy Young. WSS-U "s interim director of Public and Media Relations, confirmed Tuesday that campus political rallies or forums must be student-driven. There are some exceptions, though. Young mentioned the campus' two "Free Speech Zones." where any student or non-student can go and say pretty much anything he or she would like. She said Chancellor Donald Reaves never received a request from Johnson or the other candidates for campus access. If *ai?es\ bad been requested, she said, the university would have been more "sensitive" to helping the candidates get their message out on campus in order to be as fair as possible in light of Montgomery's candidacy-. "It is really up to the candidate to rfiake their wishes known." said Young. Johnson has also questioned whether WSSU freshmen were residents of the county for at least 30 days, as required, when they voted for Montgomery. The Forsyth Cpiinty Board of Elections looked into the matter, but only tossed out less than a handful of ballots, not enough to make a difference in a race in which Montgomery got tw ice the number of votes that Johnson received. It had been reported that Johnson was blind-sided by Montgomery's plan to win the primary with student votes. But Johnson said that was not the case. She had read a story in Yes! WeskJx early in the primary season in which Montgomery discussed his strategy. She had thought that enough of her longtime. loy'Ol constituents would show upon prirriarj day to overcome the big crowds of students who took advantage of early voting to cast ballots for Montgomery. "1 think it's a wake-up call for the commu nity at large," said Johnson, who believes that many people stayed home from the polls because they assumed she would be safe. Elections rules prohibit Johnson from mounting a third-party or write-in campaign in order to challenge Montgomery in the November General Election, when he will face no opposition, but Johnson says many in the East Ward have approached her with con cerns about Montgomery. "The community is concerned because Photo b> Kevy? Walker Carolyn Merritt listens as Council Member Jonson speaks. they don't know who Derwin is." said Johnson. Montgomery admitted luesday that he has work to do in terms of introducing him self to the ward as a whole. He says that process has already begun. "1 will attempt to represent everyone to the best of my ability," he said. The Hopkins. SC native is only 21, but has already amassed an impressive communi ty service resume. Montgomery is the presi dent of the WSSU NAACP chapter; the chap lain of his fraternity, the Mu Epsilon Chapter of Omega Psi Phi; and the youth minister at Calvarv Baptist Church. Earlier this year, he received an. award proclaiming him a "young dreamer" at the city's annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. pro gram. Ironically. Johnson recommended Montgomery for thai honor. Accomplishments aside, there are still many who say that Montgomery's candidacy was orchestrated by Larry Little, "a former City Council member and legendary local activist. Johnson did not mention Little by name but did say that she believes Montgomery was helped. Little is professor at WSSU who had taught Montgomery in the past . But Montgomery says his campaign was his own and that those who believe he is sim ply a puppet are doing a disse.rvice to WSSU - which he says, is filled with bright students with extraordinary abilities - and to young people.- . ? . ? ? ? , ' "That's to say that young people can't have their own goals and set their own stan dards." he said. "We diminish the accom plishments of young people when we believe that they can't do anything (on their own)." Both Johnson and Montgomery said it's time to move on. He wants those who have doubts about his leadership to give him a chance and stand with him as he pushes for better days for the East Ward. "I am excited about energizing this com munity." Montgomery said. She says after her term ends in December, she'll have time to work in her yard a little more, but won't vanish from the public scene. "1 will stay engaged," said Johnson. "1 am not a person to just sit idly and twiddle my thumbs." Health care from page A7 color, where more than seven million African Americans are without coverage. This is not a , contrived problem; rising healthcare costs are a real cri sis. So why. suddenly, must healthcare reform legislation become a budget-reduction bill? Instead of focusing on how to obtain the best coverage possible for millions of people without insurance, the debate in Congress has been trans formed into a referendum on . vx/hirh nlan can save gov ernmeijt the most money. This is. not how it should be. When Congress was allocating billions of dollars for the war in Wilson Iraq, tne focus was on now to win the war. not on how much taxpayer money could be saved. . Right now, the nation needs its leaders. President Obama and the Congress to focus on the best plan for the people, regardless of the cost. There has been much debate over whether there should be a "public option" allowing the government to offer insurance. The public option should be considered not based on its cost, but its merit. It should be included if it can offer addi tional competition in the mar ketplace and drive down the premiums charged for other insurance plans. Now is not the time for ideological battles over government-run pro grams. now is the time for finding and implementing pro grams that work, be they gov ernment, private or hybrids. The nation needs programs that reduce the cost of insur ance to consumers and cover the uninsured. The Kaiser _ Family Foundation recently released data further reinforcing why real healthcare reform must be enacted. Already, healthcare coverage for the average American family costs $13,375 a year, and health insurance premiums increased 138 percent over the last 10 years-. At that rate, many fami lies will suffer financial hard ships. Yet. largely because of the diversionary issues used to cloud the debate, the public doesn't focus on the fact that we all pay a price when health care costs skyrocket. The busi nesses that pay the healthcare coverage for 160 million Americans must either deduct more money from employee wages or raise the price of their products or services, or in some cases, do both. Healthcare in America is a train racing toward derailment. When lawmakers consider the cost of a plan, they need to also consider the pain and higher cost caused by their inaction. And they Heed to remember that if the town hall meetings had been populated with people without insurance, they would wave signs, say ing, "Help Me." Dr. Henrie M. Treadwell is director of Community Voices, a nonprofit organization at Morehouse School of Medicine working to improve health services and health-care access for all Americans. City spreads around public safety stimulus money CHRONK I J S I AH- REPORT Winston-Salem w ill recei\e almost S2.y million in federal grams for pub lic safet) . Most of the money will go to the Fire Department, which will receive $2jlX)8,54 1 toward construction of Fire Station 19 on Glenn High Road. The grant will cover two-thirds of the sta tion's estimated $3 million cost. The grant was awarded by the Department nt Homeland Securitv as Dart of the $380 million in grants, financed by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Greg Turner, the assistant city manager for public works, noted that construction oT Station 19 was the City Council's top priority for this grant program. The Police Department will receive three Turner separate grants totaling $877,331. Of this, $453,904 is a two-year Byrne Memorial 1 Competitive Grant that will enable the Polite Department lo hire three adili tional crime analysts and an additional network administrator, giving the department an eight-person crime analy sis staff. A 2Zp _ \ -\ w L. ^ w -\ \ w fx ? \ Graham Allison comf.s to Wake Forest to share insight about GLOBAL NUCLEAR CHALLENGES AM) THE FRAGILITY OF THE NUCLEAR order. Dr. Allison is Director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Douglas Dillon Professor of Government at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. He served as Speciai Advisor to the Secretary of Defense under President Reagan and has thi sole distinction of having twice BF.F.N AWARDED THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSES HIGHEST CIVILIAN AWARD, THE Distinguished Public Service Medal. October 1, 20 09, 7:00 p.m. Brendle Hall ?> ? r\- n9\vs rf v . c" v v o I C *? V\XE FORES'" ART ? CRAFTS ? MUSIC ? KID'S CORNER Join us on the sidewalks of Winston-Salem's Downtown Arts District Euoi