Winston-Salem Greensboro High Point no 38
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I Slade named Dean of new Woodruff Center
?y JEKJ YOUNG
OUBMBi
When the new Marie S. Woodruff
Center opens in August Dean John
Sladc will be watting by the door to
greet hk student*
Siade, who was named dean of
the extension campus of Forsyth
Technical Community College last
week, is raring to go. An outspoken
community leader and former assis
tant editor for The Chronicle,"
fflade,37, promises the new center
located on Lansing Road will be
something the community can be
proud of
"This is not my first administra
tivc job." he Mud "I've always known
that education ia where I belong. I
have a passion for teaching But I'm
very-hooked and tied to what the
school's mission is. But you some
timea have to move out of tbedass
room to make the kind* of thing*
you fed you need to make happen,
. And Slade tee* great thing* hap
pening at the 30,000 iquare-foot
campus named for the first African
American member of the Forsyth
County Board of Commissioners
and outspoken advocate for the
county's African-American commu
nity.
The Woodruff Center boasts 30
distance learning center that will
allow students to communicate via
the North Carolina Information
Highway with the main campua
But for Blade; the moat important
thing is the students. An award win*
ning instructor, Blade has spent the
last six years educating countless stu
dents in FTCCs humanities depart
ments Part of his job will be to
assess the needs of the community
and make the curriculum reflect
them.
"As we move along what we will
be doing is surveying the community
to find out what kinds of courses
and services the community wants,"
he said. "It will be my job to bring al
the right people together to make
Mire those thing* happen. Well aleo
try to offer aerviee to people that
they may not even know they need.
The community needs it and the edu
cational community needs it"
Slade is not new to cottage admin
istration. After leaving The Chroni
cle," be spent several years at
Winston-Salem State University,
fust as director of publications and
later as director of summer school
Kgram. He is also one of the
nders of The Twin City Golf
Association, which provides under
IvMswAl
Professors at WSSU ?
up in arms over huge
raises for 'assistants'
By SAM DAVIS
THBCH*ONK^
Some members of the
faculty at Winston-Salem
State are not pleased with
the direction in which the
university is headed and
?question the leadership style
'of Alvin J. Schexnider.
In recent weeks,
Schexnider has come under
fire after allegations sur
faced that he might have
misused or misappropriated
foods.
But even before the
recent allegations by
Schexnider, faculty mem
bers at WSSU say that they
were dissatisfied with some
of the decisions made by
Schexnider. They also have
voiced their displeasure at
the growing disparity
between administrative and
faculty salaries.
When Schexnider came
to the university, he forced
many of the school's long
time top administrators to
Sgn. He replaced them
i individuals that he per
sonally chose. Along with
the new hires came salaries
' that are out of line with
their predecessors and the
rest of the administration
and faculty.
In addition, some say
Schexnider has created a
hostile environment because
he has fired or forced indi
viduals to resign because of
Us personal biasea
The faculty senate
recently presented him a list
of 33 issues which they feel
need to be addressed. Thus
far, Schexnider has not been
willing to meet with the fac
ulty senate to address them.
Alvin J. Schexnider
Several members of the
faculty spoks to
Chronicle" on the condition
that their names not be
used.
"There are some
inequities that exist and
something has to be done
about them," one source
said. "How can you bring in
assistants that are making
the kind of money that they
are making when you have
people that have been here
for years that aren't close to
making the same type
salaries. They tell us its
because supply and demand
dictates it, but there is no
way to justify it."
They point to the salary
structure among
Schexnider's top assistants
as being far out of line. The
"BD 119," a public record
which lists the salaries of all
faculty and staff, bears out
that fact. For instance,
James Wingate, who was
brought in by Schexnider to
serve as his executive assis
tant, has a current salary of
$85,000. Everette Wither
spoon, Vice Chancellor for
Academic Affairs, makes
Sff WtSUot A3
Cemetery expansion stymied by deadlock
By JEJU YOUNO
When Nelson Malloy drives by historic
New Evergreen Cemetery, he sees more than
the thousands of headstones that line its
lolling hilla
Buried there are several members of his
family.
"I have relatives there," he said. "My
mother, a son, my grandfather and grand
mother and some uncles. There are lots of
close friends that are buried these too. That
cemetery is very near and dear to our hearts
It's part of the community."
For years, the cemetery has provided a
common ground for black Winston-Salem's
wealthiest and poorest residents
Malloy, ? member of the Board of Alder*
man, is especially frustrated because despite
the efforts of four of the five black aldermen
on the Board, the cemetery will no longer
take patrons after 2,000, when experts esti
mate it will reach capacity.
Monday night a board vote to decide
whether to expand the cemetery, the first to
open its gates to African Americans, ended
with four aldermen voting to expand and four
. i
voting to allow the cemetery to fill, then close
its gates. The deciding vote belonged to the
Mayor John Cavanaugh who left for vacation
early Monday.
'Tm in favor of expending ft," he said.
"We began discussing this last year. We wen
saying we wanted to stay in the cemetery busi
ness. Unfortunately the vote was tied. 1 guess
the mayor conveniently was not them to cast
the deciding vote."
The tie means the measurn did not pass
and the only way ft can be brought bcfui o the
board again is ft one of the four alderman
opposed to the measure, which would have
purchased an additional 13.3 acres from Win
ston-Satem-based Williams Development
Company for the cemetery at a cost of
$175,000, decide to take a second look at the
And that, says Alderman Vernon Robin
son, who voted against the proposal, is not
goins to happen. Robinson said the city
should have never been in the funeral busi
MMk
"The issue has been decided," he said. "In
order for this to open back up those who
CamaSary on M
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High Point officer
files harassment suit
By DAMON FORD
THE CHRONICLE Reporter
A High Point police officer has filed a discrimination
lawsuit against the city.
Michael A. Dunn, who was fired from the force last
April, filed the suit May 7. Dunn claims he was discrimi
nated against because he is black and for stances he took
on religious issues. Dunn is an ordained minister and
serves as associate pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church
in High Point.
Dunn's ex-wife, Gwendolyn Tyson, also accused him
of forgery on a $21,000 check written to both of them by
Fleet Funding, a home insurance company. The money
was used to help repair damages caused by a 1994 fire to
their home. Dunn claims Tyson's accusation was the
neys Amiel Rossabi and Stuart Albright.
"We think he was fired without basis," Rossabi said.
"Everything that you see in the filed suit tells where we
stand on this case."
Officials in High Point declined to discuss the case
"We haven't filed an answer to the case," said High
Point City Attorney Fred Baggett. "We'll just let every
thing unfold in the court."
Dunn, who could not be reached for comment, is seek
ing $20,000 in nominal, compensatory and punitive dam
ages as well as back pay. In addition, he wants the city to
reinstate him to his previous rank, Master Police Officer
III, and grant him a hearing before High Point's new city
manager regarding the reasons for his discharge.
"The question is: Why is the city of High Paint doing
what they're doing," Rossabi asked. "(Dunn) has many
years as a police officer. Good officers serve the youth of
High Point."
Before his firing, Dunn's attorneys claim he was a
model employee, with three nominations for officer of the ,
year. He also spent several days a week at local schools as
part of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program.
In addition, he taught classes on gang awareness and
worked with prison ministries.
In the lawsuit, Dunn claims he was treated differently
than his white counterparts on several different occa
sions
In one incident, his supervisor, Officer Danny Nunn,
allegedly warned him that working with the High Point
Jail Ministry is "going to get him in trouble." Dunn
claims Nunn would also often criticize written reports he
submitted. He also claims Nunn would trash his reports
and make him rewrite them because of an omitted or
See Officer un A2
Assembly debates revamped 12th District II
By JERI YOUNG
TUB CHBONICLB
After months of wrangling, the
North Carolina General Assembly
may have finally come up with a
12th Congressional District that
wiU stand up to a group of federal
judges who have ruled the ribbon
thin and predominantly black dis
J trict unconstitutional.
In March a three-judge federal
appeals court panel ordered the
district redrawn. The panel which
split along party lines, said in
drawing the original district, legis
lators relied too heavily on race in
drawing the district which snaked
along I-8S from Charlotte to
Durham.
The two Republican judges on
the panel, Terence Boyle and
Richard Vorhees, want the district
redrawn, while Democrate Sam
Ervin III dissented. The resulting
controversy has kept Rep. Mel
Watt in limbo, because the panel
put a hold on a elections until the
district is redrawn.
"The disappointment from the
African American community, No.
1, is the ruling of the court,' said
N.C. Sen. Frank Ballance (D-War
ren). "The 12th District is not a
majority black district. Why it is
the target of a lawsuit is the ques
tion. The court held that race was a
major factor in drawing the lines.
We disagree with that.
"Historically, until 1992, not a
black person was elected (to con
gress from North Carolina). It
seems we are going back. They
may make it impossible for a black
person to be elected. That will be
bad for blacks and bad for North
Carolina.
Under the new proposal Guil
ford County would be dropped
from the 12th and Forsyth County
divided in two. The district, once
almost 47 percent black, would
drop to 36 percent black, but
would still connect Charlotte and
Durham.
The district would also remain
more than 60 percent Democrat.
Both Houses are slated to vote on
the proposal late Wednesday or
earty Thursday.
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