Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Oct. 29, 1981, edition 1 / Page 4
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Page 4-The Chronicle, Thursday, October - Wiqstoi N(t . ;X-N ? North ( aioUim UUtli Fubllihrr t Attot Ulion M _ _ ? i 11 ^ncpa :pij Robert til N.C. Press Association S/mrts Lrfih vivX'ivXvx^vX'XviiXy/.vXvxXvXiX'XviyXvXviiX'i'X'X'Xvi X'X'XvX'X^v.yx^x.X'X'XvXvXX'X'XvX'XvXvXXXXX'XXX'! Vote 1 The general election will be held next -r i ?-' - * 4 i uc^uay, o<ov. j, once again, calling registered voters to the polls to cast their vote for mayor and the aldermen. The mayoral race saw a single confrontation between candidates Wayne Corpening and Marshall T. Wills and that small debate took place during a breakfast hosted by the Chamber of Commerce to meet the candidates. Wills challenged ^oip<.niiig to a debate on several occasions immediately following the primaries but Corpening refused. The debate that took place at the breakfast was as unexpected as unplanned. To date, neither one has addressed any problems relative to the black community Corpening has allowed several important issues in the black community to go unattended, preferring to rely on his relationship with the East Ward Alderman as his link to the community. One such situation that Corpening has not dealt with is Winston-Salem State University. The school needs to expand. Corpening abandoned the university when it tried to acquire Bowman Gray Stadium. Corpening could have gotten behind the Chancellor and pushed for it, but he chose not to. We don't know what Wills* position is. The two men represent diverse approaches to the way, city - government should be run, yet it is hard to pin point Corpening's stand on any issue facing the city, while Wills is direct and candid on his ideas. On Fair Housing, both men feel that fair housing is already practiced in the city land, therefore, the need for an ordinance is unnecessary. Wills, part owner in Realty World, said that the realtors in the city adhere to the strict rules stipulated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Corpening said that if it is demonstrated that discrimination is being practiced in the city, then, he would want cnmpthino tr? Ko ^Ana ?Uai.? ! ? > iw VV UVI1V QUVJUL li 1111 ? mediately, but until then, he thought the ordinance was not necessary at this time. Crime was an issue Wills raised, quoting statics from the police department, showing the serious crime (rape, murder, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and larceny) had increased 21.4 percent, while Corpening has been mayor. Wills doesn't believe that the increase in crime is connected with the high unemployment rate and the cuts in social programs handed down from the federal government. But, we disagree. Wills said that, if elected, he would apBy Clifton Graves Ho ward Wi Larry womble deservedly won the Democratic primary in the Southeast Ward, and hopefully, will be victorious in next week's general election against Dale Catlett. But the Womble-Catlett race, notwithstanding, perhaps, a more significant, more far-reaching political victory has already been won. Rev. Howard Wiley's historic campaign run as an Independent (Unaffiliated) candidate may well have opened the door for future political initiatives of this nature. At a time in history, when there is growing disillusionment with both the Democratic and Republican parties, Rev. Wiley's precedent-setting campaign was at once a breath of fresh air and renewed hope. By successfully challenging a Board of Elections requirement that "Unaffiliated" candidates for aldermen garner 15% of the registered voters in the city, as opposed to the respective ward, Rev. Wiley became the first Black in history to qualify as an '^independent," in a Winston-Salem electionHAnd though, the actual impact of Rev. Wiley's efforts may not come into fruition until future elections, many in our community are already aware that a tunnel has been dug through the quagmire of Democratic/Republican politics; a tunnel B ?-T 29, 1981 i-Salem Ctiroiiicle , , , ^Fuunderrfrre?~ _ f* ubisi Eycmonye :? |j& - --> .---- mtmut . ~~ Aatlt lirNi er Elaine L. Pitt ?tcu<*uu?m :^|g: O/tuv Wunuitiv Vov.5 point a blue ribbon panekto consist of a citizen from each ward to stldy the crime problems in each area and report back to the board of aldermen and himself. Corpening, however, doesn't feel that crime is nearly so serious and said that the statistics Wills quoted are unfair and isolated. Corpening said that the rate of crime increase in Winston was lower than that of any major city in the state. However, it appears that Corpening has been so busy taking care of big business, he completely ignored the community. There definitely has been a lack of effort to get industry to address community needs. Whoever is elected will have to address the needs of the community. Right now, we're not sure who it should be. Mass Transit is another area on which the two men disagree, where Wills feels that the total way the system is run needs an overhaul, Corpening said that the idea presented this year is a good one that needs some work and refinement. In contrast to these two candidates is Betsy Soares, the Social Workers Party candidate for mayor. Soares won her bat, tie to be placed on the ballot as a third paiiy cunuiaaie lasi wcck ana cauea it a victory for working people. / Her campaign platform calls for ,fche passing of the fair housing ordinance and a massive public works program to provide jobs at unibn wages. Soares, a 27-year-old welder, is a member of Local 641, International Association of Machinists, and a member of the Young Socialist Alliance. In the alder manic *r ace, incumbents Virginia K. Newell, Vivian Burk*.and . Larry Little are unopposed in their respective wards. Larry Womble will face republican candidate R. Dale Catlett for the seat in the Southeast Ward. Catlett is opposed to the proposed EastWest Freeway and supports the downtown revitalization efforts. Catlett does not support the transit system and said that the money the city spends on it could be used for more vital functions than mass transit. If the system can't operate on its own funds, then, it should be shut down, as was done in Birmingham, Ala. That stand ought to alert every white democrat in the Southeast Ward to elect Womble. We hope the voters will realize that black politicians did not get us in the mess we're in, but could get us out. Womble could be the man. No matter what your preference, it is important that you vote. And no matter who wins, we all should hold them ac- . countable. lev's Victory ? of hope that offers all the citizens of this city/county/state viable, alternative candidates, not necessarily bound to"Party" dogma nor dictates. Viable, alternative candidates who address the issues, not personalities; and who7will strive to put new meaning into quid pro quo politics -the system of political trade-offs (something for something) that has usually resulted in quid pro non ("something for nothing") in regard to the Black and low-income white communities. The 4 4 something" has been our votes and financial support; the 44nothing" has been the return on our investment in candidates/parties that have taken our votes for granted. Therefore, be you staunch Democrat or ardent Republican, you, nonetheless, must appreciate Rev. Wiley's courageous campaign. For the issue here is not "party politics," but rather, 44Power"; the need fnr flia DlnoL ?? ?-* * ? iwi wiv uiavK wv^uiiuuiiuy, in particular, 10 establish an independent political and economic power base!! Thus, we are indebted to Rev. Wiley; his able attorney, Mrs. Mary WrightHunt; campaign manager, Mrs. Lee Faye Mack; and a host of volunteers who assisted in his campaign. They have dug the tunnel, and lighted the path...it is now up to us to follow. t A Icohol - Toba W&SfftngTOii - President r\cagan,~TRmTiTTi17g thai we now in a recession, is I casting about Tour .way-vlo 9 I increase federal revenues without proposing further I budget cuts in basic I I Michael Jacobson, I alarmed at the national I JiSMHHBHHN*. trend in alcohol abuse, looking for ways to wake us up to the danger and also to already leaky "safety net" pay for the treatment and programs won't be < rehabilitation of alcoholics, tolerated and is casting a I They may be about to ar- balcfuI eye at Reagan's un- i rive at the same solution: a . i i_ I _ r% * bigger tax on alcoholic ,uutna?ie intense ouaget. beverages administration is now The Congress has served looking at increased taxes notice on the President that on alcohol and tobacco as further assaults on the an escape hatch. hi * I r ^= TM* L K T1MX3 SYNDICATE . ? i ^ ? ? ?? i n "' ;?? * i i f? T^'/' , The President's decision to back a new strategic arms package including the reborn MX missile and the oncedead B-l bomber signals the start of a new arms race that will make the world an even more dangerous place. The debate over the President's plan will feature volumes of expert analysis both for and against the specifics of each weapons system. But amid the welter of conflicting claims, one basic fact is not expected to emerge with any clarity, so it might be well to state it now and to remember it in the days to come. Both the United States and Russia have enough nuclear missiles to blow any enemy off the face of the earth and to wipe out much of the rest of humanity at the same time. That's it. You can forget all about the supposed "window of vulnerability" theory that says the Russians can take out our missiles unless we install new delivery systems. They won't, unless they are mad enough to accept a retaliatory strike that would leave them in nuclear ashes as well. If, as the Pentagon fears, land-based U.S. mijssiles are vulnerable to attack, then the Russians still have to take into account airborne and submarine-launched missiles. Chronicle Letters Spread The Word Dear Sir: hrough your newspaper. The people should know 1 would like to spread the ibout the man they chose to word on Larry Womble, the epresent them and their people's candidate for ward in the general election \lderman of the Southeast Dn the Democratic Ticket. Ward. I couldn't think of a Mr. Womble is a very hard setter way to do that than See Page 25 "Sizwe Bansi And Us" Dear Sir: Repertory Company's recent production of "Sizwe In times when Black Uni- Bansi Is Dead," your acute ty should be the chime of comprehension of the the day and is not, your essence of the f)lay and its written reflections of the social/polit4cal ramificaNorth Carolina Black See Page 25 4 * cco Tax, A Goo William 11 Raspberry 11 Jacob son, executive to the one now reportedly director of the Washington- under consideration at the based Center for Science in White House. the Public Interest, must be "We have calculated," smiling. he told Stockman, "that if Earlier this month, he the alcohol tax had kept wrote budget director pace with inflation since David Stockman with a 1951, the U.S. Treasureproposal strikingly similar would have received $77 m giving you these pretty bootstraps! You, course, must buy your own boots." ? VO ? . ptofi ^ i h ? t \ "* * * -. . , ? - 1 / The scariest part of the MX fiasco is that it could only make an enemy more likely to jump the gun and make a first strike. In the words of one expert: "It is a weapon system that can be both a means to launch an atomic strike and a magnet to attract an atomic strike against it -and us." Besides increasing the likelihood of a miscalculation leading to a nuclear holocaust, the MX inevitably will lead to some Russian response such as an ABM defensive system. Then we would have to build one. Then they would do something else to which we would respond, and so on up the arms race spiral until one or the other side pulls the trigger or goes broke. And going broke is a real possibility. The strategic weapons plans of the Administration come to a whopp ing $180 billion - and that is before the cost overruns that double and triple the ultimate price of new weapons, a scandal rarely noted. How will we pay for these and other defense bills? Perhaps the idea is to finance them with proceeds of our record wheat sales to the Russians. There's another paradox. The Administration cuts food subsidy programs for the American poor while selling food grains to the Russians, whose payments are partially applied to buying weapons that will be aimed at Moscow! The new weapon systems the President wants have either been rejected before as unnecessary, such as the B-l, or, in the case of the MX, considered a destabilizing danger to our security. Instead of throwing money at the Pentagon for weapons that can only escalate the arms race and decrease national security, we ought to be making a new thrust to arms limitation. The Russians are tough customers and we should be under no illusions about their protestations of peaceful intentions. But at the same time, it is in their interest as much as ours to get off the escalator to doom. The same energy and effort that went into devising the new weapons proposals should instead go into a negotiating process that slows the arms race. National defense would be better served by plugging gaps in conventional forces and negotiating arms limitation with the Russians. As President Eisenhower once said: "when you get to the point that the outlook comes close to the destruction of the enemy and suicide for ourselves...then arguments as to the exact amount of available strength as compared to somebody else's are no longer the vital issues." It is ironic that an Administration pledged to fiscal austerity, less government, and strong defense has embraced policies that will bust the budget, increase government power, and weaken national security. d IdeajJx "Binon more ihan ii did. ?he lost revenue in 1981 alone would amount to about %\S ? billion. If, in addition to _ ?? i adjusting tbetix for In ft ation, the tax on beer and wine alcohol were raised to equal that on distilledspirits alcohol, the Treasury would have received an ad- I ditional $10 billion in 1981. Thus, these two sensible adjustments would provide 1 b a T*-- ? -? me i icasury wiin J25 billion per year." The result would make unnecessary, Reagan's proposed additional cut in federal spending of $13 billion. Still more savings would result if the "sin tax" were extended to cover tobacco. Under the present system, tobacco (except for large cigars) is taxed on the .basis of quantity sold, not I the selling price. Thus the 8-cents-a-pack federal tax I on cigarettes, a pretty stiff bite when a pack costs 25 V cents, is a bargain, now that the selling price has tripled. I Jacobson's proposal was not based on its revenueraising potential but on its 1 potential for reducing I alcohol abuse. "txcessive drinking destroys thousands of lives and families each year," he wrote for the current issue of Nutrition Action Magazine. "Alcohol can cause mental retardation when it reaches fetuses. Alcohol - especially in combination with cigarette smoking - can cause cancer of the mouth, throat, pharynx and larynx. Alcohol can rot the brain and liver. And alcohol leads to thousands of traffic fatalities, falls, suicides, fires and domestic disputes and deaths each year. The death toll due to alcohol is , irr^ted jp Fp^cJv between "jg 50,000 and 200,000 people a year." The dollar cost alone - in medical bills, properly damage and lost wages and productivity - reaches $100 billion a year and more, he said. Jacobson, who admits to liking "my glass of Chablis as much as the next fellow," argued that it is iniiw iu pui some reai money and muscle into the fight against excessive drinking." JHe told Stockman that he was surprised to discover that the alcohol in beer and wine is taxed at a lower rate than the alcohol in hard liquor, "even though alcohol, regardless of its source, has predictable effects on the body," and that the federal excise taxes on alcohoj had not been raised in 30 years. The additional taxes he proposes would, he said, "undoubtedly reduce the alcoholism problem in certain segments of the population." It is a good idea, on vir many every euuni. even those of us who would like to see Reagan change his mind about his mammoth defense outlays, or who favor the closing of some of the more unconscionable tax loopholes for the rich, can see the value of a proposal that promises to improve both the physical and fiscal health of the nation. As Jacobson points out, "thousands of lives and $100 billion a year is nothing to sneeze at." He also notes that some of the budget cuts already enacted are for money that would support health care, including alcohol-abuse programs. Thus, if his proi posal is accepted, Jacobson i told Stockman, 4,It would , be appropriate to earmark [ some of the increased . revenue for alcoholism I treatment and prevention programs, as well as other health programs. I'll drink to that, too. V
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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Oct. 29, 1981, edition 1
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