OPINION
The Chronicle i
Ernest H. Pitt
Publisher Emeritus
1974-2015
617 N. Liberty Street
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Elaine Pitt Business Manager
Donna Rogers Managing Editor
wali D. Pitt Digital Manager
Our Mission
The Chronicle is dedicated to serving the
residents of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County
by giving voice to the voiceless, speaking truth
to power, standing for integrity and
encouraging open communication and
lively debate throughout the community.
WSSU food
pantry reveals
breadth of
food insecurity
Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) and
Food Lion joined to open a food pantry on campus
this month.
Food pantries are known to help people in com
munities, but it's surprising that students on campus
es need one.
The fact is, food pantries have opened on other
campuses, also. The College and University Food
Bank Alliance has 271 active member institutions
across the country with food pantries for food inse
cure students. Another campus in the Triad that has
one is UNC-Greensboro.
WSSU Chancellor Elwood Robinson said, "I
think there's a misconception about college students.
People think that if you nave the resources to be able
to go to college, you have all your basic needs met."
That's true, people do think that.
However, the fact that the pantries are opening up
across the nation shows that food insecurity is wide
spread. People striving to gain knowledge to improve
their job and career prospects in the 21st century have
had to pay more for that opportunity, thus taking
away money that would have been used for basic
While there are restrictions regarding using the
pantry, the fact that it is even on WSSU's campus
speaks volumes. The focus has been on older people
who have to choose between paying for things like
medicine and food. The food pantry revelation should
spur more discussion about the state of college stu
dents, too.
Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines has organized
a Winston-Salem Poverty Thought Force to fight
poverty in Winston-Salem, which has a 24-percent
rate. It is unclear whether college students are count
ed in that 24 percent, but the mayor should include a
discussion of how to help college students in the
Winston-Salem Poverty Thought Force discussions.
(Although the discussion on Education/Life Skills
and Housing/Homelessness took place on Feb. 23,
the discussion on Unemployment/Job Skills and
Health/Wellness takes place March 17.)
GUEST EDITORIAL
Voter ID law is
common hassle, not
common sense
Proponents of North Carolina's new voter ID require
ment are mystified as to why anyone would object to
showing identification before casting a vote.
You have to show a photo ID for things much less
important than voting, they say. And besides, almost
everyone has a photo ID, and those who don't can go to
their local DMV office and get one free.
But this simple assumption did not hold up in the case
of Reba Miller Bowser of Asheville. She is 86 and has
voted without incident all her adult life while living in
Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. After she registered to
vote in North Carolina, things got complicated. Her son
took her to the DMV with a pile of ID papers, but she was
told that her papers were unacceptable because of differ
ences in her maiden and married name on separate docu
ments.
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daughter-in-law posted on Face book about it. A DMV
official later admitted, "We messed up on this one."
Bowser signed an affidavit and got an ID.
But this case is hardly isolated. Many women have
changed names on documents because they took their hus
band's surname. And getting it cleared up at DMV can be
as complicated and frustrating as doing a lot of others
things at DMV.
That's why the voter ID isn't common sense. It's a
common hassle for people who have the right to vote but
now must go through time-consuming steps and spend
money on documents before they can exercise that right.
The News & Observer of Raleigh
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Support John
Larson
for the South Ward
of City Council
To the Editor,
I'd like to encourage everyone to
support John Larson for the South
Ward seat on the City Council.
Sorry as we all are to see Molly
Leight retire, we are thrilled that her
replacement will be someone so
CAMPAIGN S"#
fled by
^'s p1^0"
^ fession
civic
experi
ence as well as his personal commit
ment, as a 40-year resident of South
Ward, to the quality of life in
Winston-Salem.
His years at Old Salem, from
which he will retire in December,
perfectly pit pare him to serve on the
Council. Currently on the Board of
Creative Corridors, John has long
been involved with efforts to
strengthen neighborhoods.
Winston-Salem will benefit from
John's expertise and energy and his
wide knowledge of the city. I hope
you will join me in voting for John.
Katherine Tucker McGinnis
Delay in plan on
clean power
disappointing,
and dangerous
To The Editor:
Mothers & Others for Clean Air,
a program of the American Lung
Association of the Southeast, was
disappointed to hear the Supreme
Court's ruling to put the Clean
Power Plan on hold as the courts
review the legal challenges, delaying
much-needed progress toward the
reduction of harmful carbon pollu
tion.
The decision does not necessari
ly need to delay real health benefits
to our families and neighbors, as
long as Gov. Pat McCrory chooses
to move ahead with plans to reduce
power plant carbon pollution in
North Carolina.
Carbon pollution drives climate
change that threatens lung health
and safety today. The Clean Power
Plan, which is die first-ever national
plan to reduce carbon pollution from
power plants, is critical in our fight
against climate change. Meeting the
plan's original, generous deadlines
promises significant health benefits,
including the prevention nationwide
of up to 3,600 premature deaths and
90,000 asthma attacks in 2030, as
well as 300,000 missed days of
work and school. N.C.'s families,
including our most vulnerable popu
lations, cannot afford delayed pro
tection.
Gov. McCrory, delay of these
benefits would not only be disap
pointing, but dangerous. We hope
you will continue to take steps to
reduce carbon pollution from power
plants by developing a strong state
implementation plan, which N.C.
can be ready to put in place when
the litigation is resolved. Mothers &
Others for Clean Air and the
American Lung Association will
continue to defend this critical clean
air and climate protection and
encourage neighboring states to
make progress as well. The impacts
of carbon pollution and climate
change are not going away, and nei
ther should our governor's commit
ment to protecting N.C. residents.
Alison Lawrence Jones I North
Carolina Project Manager
Mothers & Others for Clean Air
American Lung Association of
" the Southeast
Board needs to bring
Explorers Camp to
Cook Elementary
To The Editor:
I find it both ironic and tragic
that Cook Elementary School has
been declared the "worst perform
ing" school in the state of North
Carolina during the past six years.
As a parent of a former Cook stu
dent, I can say that I witnessed the
school's demise. After my daughter
transferred to Cook from Forsyth
Country Day in 2013, she was
forced to endure two years of inepti
tude before transferring prior to the
start of the 2015-16 school year.
My daughter lost her zest for
learning as a direct result of her
experiences at Cook. She was totally
unmotivated because of the distrac
tions happening in and out of her
classroom during her first year as a
second-grader at Cook. However,
after attending the Explorers Camp
during the summer of 2014, her zeal
for learning was restored.
Consequently, last year she passed
both parts of her end-of-grade tests
and posted an impressive 99 per
centile score in math.
The Explorers Camp offered a
fresh approach to learning and the
kids who attended were enthusiastic
about learning. They arrived each
day ready to learn and they had fun.
Last spring I suggested to the
local school board that they bring
back the Explorers Camp for the
summer of 2015. However, it never
got off the ground. The school board
discussed the Explorers Camp
briefly but let the idea quickly die.
Cook is now at a crossroad. It
has been announced that all staff
members will be released at the end
of this school year. The school is
scheduled for a re-start. The school
has already wasted millions of Title
I funds over the past six years.
Wouldn't it be a great idea to bring
the Explorers Camp back and man
date that all students who do not
pass EOG's at the end of school year
to attend it or not move on to the
next grade?
Theresa Davis
Winston-Salem
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