Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Oct. 13, 1979, edition 1 / Page 4
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Hmptc 4 ? The Chroaick^ ^ . Jvw6tf IV IV79 vieWPC (~NP^^i wi/j l| | Ernest H. Pitt I i^mmi 1 Member North Carolina Yvetto McCnllOII I BUck Publisher'! AMociattoa City Editor ; UNC Network- : The guilty party is the University of North Carolina network. At the beginning of August, the network was invited by letter to advertise the television program in the Chronicle in connection with the series. Similar letters were sent to other firms in hopes that enough support would be generated to allow our paper to run the series for free without reducing the coverage our readers have come to expect. There was no response from the network. However, upon the launching of the television show, we noticed advertising in4he only two local newspapers not carrying the series. A telephone inquify to network officials produced the lame response that the advertising was being placed in the largest circulation newspapers to get the most impact for the least amount of money. We were also informed that the network did not know which newspapers were carrying the accompanying course. That seemed odd to us until we found out that local coordinators have also contacted the network to seek promotional spots concerning class times and the like for local students, to no avail. There is a little more background to this situation. The local course is one of six such programs being operated nationwide through libraries with the sponsorhip of the American Library Association, through the ultimate sponsor, the National Endowment for the Humanities. ? Two of the six programs are based in North Carolina in Forsyth County and Cumberland bounty (FayettevilleV.In Cumberland, as in Forsyth, it has been a weekly newspaper, the Hope Mills Outlook, which has come forward to provide the public service of carrying the course. As is the case in Forsyth, the Outlook has not been included in the advertising plans for the UNC television serjes. nor has there been any announcement that the courses are available in that newspaper. Obviously, what we find here is, to coin a phrase, "a failure to communicate." But even more so, we find an underlying^ attitude which is at variance wit ha number of goals whichj>ur society has set. One of the espoused purposes of _ public_ television has been touring * new vitality, a new mode of operations to the vast wasteland which has been American television. PTV programmers were not to be concerned so much with the Neilson ratings, as with producing quality productions. Accordingly, marketing for programming which might be tailored for specific segments in a way which would not be feasible for commercial TV should be different. It requires no leap of the imagination to discern that the people who most need to know about a television link to the courses by newpaper are the people who read the course everv week. What Repair Chronicle Camera visited a playground and parking area on the northeast side of Winston Lake to ask park users how the ( r^S *!j| facilities could be improvr ,!? m Carolyn Simon -- "They m i % DH need to put a fence around u a . the playground so the kids * fLI f F* Hi won't run out in the street WIfc Ah HH and it just needs repair^Syi Bffll ing; they still haven't LH W ,n those holes in the BRoea Carter " It needs 1 BMW morc facilities for kids to El play in. There's nothing M Hal Rico Carter "It needs L i H a snack bar and the;, should keep it up a little P] HB better. They also need a | j HD little playhouse." Article Martin - "Thev need to make another way out of here (pointing to dead end) This is like Sunset Strip on Sunday. You can't get out of here for all the people. It needs better lighting and >ints? | iston-Salcm Gj\fX>riiclc | Founded 1974 | ? Ndubisi Egemonye | President John W. Temple ton 1 Executive Edit gh Robert Eller Elaine L. Pitt Sports Editor Office Manager im?mHHim?mi!?IHIU?mtMlllltimHIHH?IIIHIUmilHHHIHWIIIHHH?mHIIIWIIIHH?IHI From page l-? t? llllltlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllltlllllllllllllllllNIINIIIIIIillllllllllllltlllllllllNlllltlllllllllllllll The state of North Carolina, through Gov. James R Hunt Ir anH ?thpr i^fTipiQli. Koc a nrvlim) r\( ? w ? l 1 . UliU V/IIIV I V/IIIVIUiJt I IU.1 U pUIIW J UI promoting small businesses and minority businesses. Ostensibly, each unit of state government, such ^s the UNC network, should make efforts to further that goal. The governor's office or the secretary of commerce's office spends very little money. Relatively low-level official undertake such tasks as placing advertising. In Connections was a golden opportunity for a state government agency to use its resources to aid frvrr^smaH -businesses 7 the newspapers who are donating space fo the libraries for the course, not only through advertising, but through promoting the fact that the newspapers are providing the service. Alas, the opportunity has been disregarded. We^and each North Carolinian, has to question exactly what role the network sees for itself, particularly after having received a substantial boost in operating funds and capital improvements from the General Assembly. Is the network seeking to become a publicly financed version of the commercial stations or is the network going to address the communication needs facing North Carolinians. The record of public television, in general, has been dismal. Occasional bright moments have been obscured bv the fact that public television has mostly served as a conduit for programming from the British Broadcasting Company. Apparently, the powers that be in public TV have not noticed that America ~fras a distinct culture of its own. The doors to new producers and writers have been just as tightly shut as they are in commercial 1 television. In fact, we see a trend towards hiring producers from commercial television. Probably, in the area of minority programming, the record has been most dismal. "The bottom line is that national minority programming (that is. programming which is by and about minorities) is seriously deficient," concluded the November 1978 report of the Task Force on Minorities in Public Broadcasting. "The scarcity" of minority-programs~csir be~ attributed directly to the insufficient number of minorities employed in public broadcasting, particularly in decision making positions." the report added. Those conclusions are also valid for North Carolina. Only this year, the lone-minority oriented orocram. form^rlv Fhnnu P* nr>cn?r , o - j ?v sufficient budget and staff to do on-location work. Yet. there are no minorities in a position to decide whether the show stays on the air or not. There is little minority input in FOUNT (Friends of University Network Television) whose members See Page 18 s at Winston Lake more parking space.' needs some lights. hr ( onrad - "They Walter Plowden ? need to straighten it up "They need to straighten and get it looking a little it up so the water is clear, better. You can't even and fix up the picnic come here at night. It tables and the grills." , P l Simon Carter Ort'?i Martin ^ I / i Some Que&tio | By 'Publius' (Name withhel Although mucWof the initial publicity in the upcoming [ bond referendum has been favorable there are a number | of issues that have not received widespread public t attention. The intent of this citizen's editorial is to raise I some ot those issues. Referendum voting is one of the most democratic ways I of resolving public issues. Citizens can vote for or | against an issue which directly concerns them. But in | order for that process to be meaningful citizens have to have as much accurate and complete information as / ~ possfbTgr. To' date" information about the bond referendum has been incomplete. A major concern is cost. The proposed arena will not cost $33 million but something closer to $75 million. According to the feasibility itudy it will cost the I taXDavers about $2.5 million r?f?r v#??r for "\Ci v/#?arc tn nnv ? - * I? J* f-J off the bonds. That comes to a total of $75 million. But it may cost even more than that. Most major public building projects experience significant cost overruns. One should not be surprised if the cost of constructing the proposed arena exceeded the $33 million estimate by at least 10*20%. This would further escalate the total debt that the taxpayers would have to bear. The cost of the arena is also based on the assumption that the arena will be self.-supporting. The revenue projections of the feasibility study are very questionable particularly since Greensboro may build' its own converttion center and will actively compete to fill its coliseum. Is it reasonable to expect thai the Winston-Salem arena could profitably host 25 - "rock shows, name performers" per year ." l hat s one every two weeks. Or would the arena be hosting b ice shows. 27 college basketball games and 5 pro exhibition games a year every year? One has to be very optimistic or an unquestioning supporter of this project to believe it would. Yet if the arena does not host these events and consistently attract large crowds then, according to the feasibility study, it will not be able to cover operating costs. This would mean a further drain on tax revenues. The Benton Convention Center requires an annual mm w The long-festering issue of police excesses is now getting more attention after a long period in which only minority communities in some cities displayed concern. Thj single most important factor in bringing police acts under wider scrutiny is the Justice Deaprtment's lawsuit against the City of Philadelphia. T FiTecl fn August, the Department accuses the~ ?Philadelphia -Police Department of shooting nonviolent suspects, abusing prisoners, suppressing dissent within its own ranks, and engaging in systematic brutal behavior that "shocks the conscience." The Justice Department's charges and stories in local newspapers include: routine use of unconstitutional third degree methods, abuse of pedestrians and motorists without rancp nr Hup nrrvAcc ?w w. ? ? ? |/? I ? IV ? J I 11 ?? rogue cops, and harrassing critics. All are supposed to be pan of the general operating procedures of the B9fl An African village wo- tants is noticed. They go man could be described as about their jobs in a cool a woman who lives in a manner. Some of the smaller environment than women that I saw. mostly a town. The villages ,>1^ ones arc more zealous circumstance revolves -? ,n thcir work round a somew hat autonomous life contrary to those 1 ho absence ot transot the citv dweller port facilities is no hinderance to them, some A while ago I felt like a ?..iHong distances to village woman when our purthase food stuff Thev area ot Lagos went lor o,u,n ^ m Kr?lipv Tht, thirt\ days without electri- V(,n ol(, uomcn who tan iit\ But I saw the not stiin^ |,m^ walks ree.Mreme conditions ot the mam homc and busy real Nigerian village wo- (hl,m'.Kl.s mi)sllv wlth man awhile hack when I ?,Jlin|L^malv This ts drove through a small dont. wlThtiich a skitl that village, some kilometres 2 or .1 mats get finished in Irom Badagrv. called Aka- ( ? N rakumo. Akarakumo inhabited b\ about 4(X) people who speak lyun I heir prices range from .hkI Y<?ruba languages ^ 'he loose ours an left behind tur perso I he striking feature >>t nal use. l he weaving . i .. . .1?v- - :i.i> \ mam- in me MH'rai trade is passed from gene nil mho r ot shabhv huild- ration to generation. Oth m^s made trori raffia t*r |oi*s include- farming. Othet> a;v mud houses. mainiv cassava, vam, and I he ealm and happv >?vni * ultiv ation. chopping disposition ?>t ih< mhabt* ,? ?rees tor ftreNvt>od / p ns On Arena d at author's request) operating subsidy of $140,000. One wonders how much more than that the proposed arena would need. Even supporters of the arena proposal concede that construction costs would have to be met from public revenues - namely taxes. Once the bonds are sold than the annual debt would be about $2.5 million. Based on our present tax structure a debt of that size would mean about a 9 cent increase in the tax rate, which is about a \j&0 increase. Assuming that public spending rises as a result of - growth and inflation then a tax increase would be required or $2.5 nrittion~would~have^to~be taken-from other city programs or services. Are ftiost citizens aware that approving the bond referendum might result in a tax increase of 12% in the near future. With double-digit inflation and an economic slowdown is this the time to increase taxes for a project that may be more a luxury than a necessity? A last point, which has not been clearly addressed by arena supporters, is who will benefit from the arena? In the feasibility study there is no mention of any specific jobs that will be created if the arena is approved. The/ feasibility study asserts that the arena will attract about $7.5 million in new expenditures from visitors. But some of those monies will go tKe the operating cost of the arena and paying for the aftractions. There is no mention of how much of that will be a net gain to the community. Most studies of major coliseums built in other cities indicate that the types of jobs they tend~tb~generate directly are part-time and dead-end type jobs. Should tax monies be spent on building an arena when there aie still pressmp social needs in the community? Will this be one more type of community development project that benefits a few at the expense of the many? Arena supporters say they want an open and frank discussion of the issues. 1 applaud that idea and hope to see it happen. According to the feasibility study two long term benefits of the arena will be "establishment of an identity for Winston-Salem" and "the development and health of the center city." Is that worth $75 million Fortunately the citizens of Winston-Salem have the opportunity to decide this for themselves on Nov. 6. Pojice BM * ' J! department. In the past eight years more than 150 civilians have been killed by Philadelphia policemen. In more than half of those cases the civilians had been unarmed. About 75 civilians are shot by city policemen every year. While the suit charges the police with across theT>oard brutality, it also says blacks and Hispanics are singled j>ut as special police targets. - . _ The courts will decide the accuracy of the Justice Department's charges, but you know that for a federal Department to brave inevitable political pressures and considerations to file a suit of this kind, naming not only the police but twenty top city officials including the mayor, the situation has to be pretty extraordinary. The story doesn't end in Philadelphia. Other urban See Page IS . Village Woman I which they also sell and interval of about a year cracking of palm kernels after the birth of a baby follow as part of their before another delivery, trades. As the baby gets older. The complete housewife the mother ties it on her role is not generally found back while doing some here nor in any other job. On the other hand, if place Nigeria. A woman she has an elderly child, is expected to be a bread she does the baby sitting, winner liko her male coun- The Akarakumo girl martcrpart. ries with the approval of ... her parents who after As to what softens their , . . ? . . having been contacted lives, there is no modern . ... and necessary ceremonies amenities to aid them. _ , ,. . nenormpn hr r? . . . . mm ...? vrf v? VIIV 11 Lven in Lagos, wc live . . A . B . daughter to he* suitor, without running water. In . . 4? ... It is interesting to note Akarakumo. the villagers 4. 4 . A, ? that the Akarakumo woget water from streams . - . .. . . . . . . man is not often fully and bore holes. Laundrv . . , / ... ? - dressed, They oass loin is usualls done at some far , . . clothes over their breasts. out streams. _ ... But the aged and the very The women more often young ones do not care chan not give birth at much about covering up. home with the expert care They're often found with of older women. These wrappers that are tied women tend to take com- from the waistline. It plete care of new born appears that the Akafababies at the early stages kumo woman is far from while their mothers breast sophisticated, but is feed them. The typical seemingly content with village wo.nan keeps an her wav of life.
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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Oct. 13, 1979, edition 1
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