Smart Start holds annual awards ceremony
By DAMON FORD
Tie Cwmni
Bridger Field House was filled
with dignitaries on a mission Fri
day - to honor businesses who help
families.
The event, sponsored by
Forsyth Family Focus, paid hom
mage to businesses - small and
large - who help to bridge the often
difficult gap between work and
home.
Forsyth Family Focus is a col
laborative effort of the Forsyth
Early Childhood Partnership.
Greater Winston-Salem Chamber
of Commerce and the Work/Fami
ly Resource Center.
Several companies were recog
nized for their efforts to help
employees strike a balance between
family care and work by providing
supportive benefits and services
"(The awards) are based on
known standards of creating fami
ly focused corporations" said Tom
Williams director-N.C. business
committee for education. "It's an
award against rigorous standards"
The awardees included
Wachovia Bank with the Pacesetter
Award, Wake Forest University
School of Medicine for the Large
Company Award. Partners Nation
al Health Plans of North Carolina
won the Medium Company Award
while The Enrichment Center was
given the Small Company Award.
Honorable Mention Awards
went to The Children's Center and
Forsyth Early Childhood Partner
ship.
In 1995 that Forsyth Early
Childhood Partnership became the
county's Smart Start agency. Smart
Start seeks ft> help N.C. children
ages five and under live healthier
lives by providing them with
affordable child care, health care
and other family services.
The three speakers at the lun
cheon spoke on ways their compa
nies have provided support for
employees and their families
through with services such as on
site child care, parental leave and
other benefits.
Edgar Murphy III. community
relations manager for Nortel
Northern Telecom spoke of the
importance of providing todays
youth with higher education.
"Our kids are not competing
against kids across the street or
across town, we're competing
against kids from all around the
world." Murphy said.
Even Governor Jim Hunt
talked about the important roles
companies play in their employees
lives. 1
"Supporting families is not
only the right thing to do - it's
good business." he said via satellite.
, Photo by Damon Ford
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Start
Daly nominated for minority seat on UNC board
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DURHAM - A Republican
lawmaker and a conservative
activist have mounted an appar
ent challenge to a policy reserv
ing seats on the University of
North Carolina Board of Gover
nors for minorities.
Jack Daly, a conservative
activist who ran for state auditor
three years ago, has been nomi
nated by Rep. Steve Wood, R
Guilford, for a seat reserved for
minorities on the Board of Gov
ernors. A state House nominat
ing committee was to meet today
to select candidates.
The board is currently
chaired by retired RJ Reynolds
executive Benjamin Ruffin, the
first African American to serve
in that position.
Many lawmakers say Daly,
who has filed numerous lawsuits
challenging race-based or gen
der-based policies, is bucking for
a discrimination lawsuit against
the state. Daly, who is white,;.
called such speculation prema
ture.
"In all likelihood, the (Board
of Governors Nominating Com
mittee) will find that I am ineligi
ble for one of these seats because
of my race," he said. "I don't
know about _______
(a lawsuit). I
am a candi
date for the
BOG
because I
think I have
something to
offer."
Daly said ?
he's noticed *
over the
4l
Rufftn
i
ycai* mai mere i icbs cum pen
tion for minority seats then for
at-large seats and so chose the
shorter odds.
The committee will shrink the
minority field of candidates from
five to four people and the at
large group from 13 to id. House _
members will then vote on final-,
ists for the board slots.
Wood nominated Daly, who
checked both the racial minority
and women's boxes on the nomi
nation form. The clerk's ofTice
forced him to choose one or the
othej:.
"They're just setting the stage
for a lawsuit," said Rep. George
Miller, D-Durham, echoing a
common sentiment inside the
Legislative Building.
Wood was recently kicked out
of his party's caucus for breaking
with his party and supporting
Mecklenburg Democrat Jim
Black for House Speaker. On
Wednesday, Republicans were
distancing themselves from
Daly's minority-slot nomination.
The 32-member UNC Board
of Governors governs the 16
campus university system. Law
makers in each chamber nomi
nate candidates every two years,
a committee pares the list, and
the House and Senate vote mem
bers for four-year terms from the
finalist list. V
A total of five candidates
Were nominated for two available
minority slots this year. The
committee will pare it down to
four final candidates for House
members to vote on, with the top
two vote-getters winning seats.
"The other four people in this
category are black, for sure," said
Rep. Mickey Michaux, D
Durham.
Daly recently graduated front
the UNC School of Law and
now runs the N.C. Foundation
for Individual Rights, which he
called the conservative version of
the American Civil Liberties
Union.
In 1996, Daly lost his bid for
state auditor to incumbent Ralph
Campbell. In 1994, he ran in
Mecklenburg County for a state
House seat and lost by about six
votes.
Black leaders attack testing programs
By ANJETTA MCQUEEN
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - Minority
children, who often attend poor or
struggling schools, could suffer
under rifewefforts to make schools *
more accountable for their stu
dents' performance, some civil
rights leaders Say.'
President Clinton's* education
' proposals, which include tying a
child's promotion or graduation to
rigorous testing, should include
plans to fix city schools and pro
vide better teachers there, said
Hugh B. Price, National Urban
?'' League president.
The civil rights organization
has called for an academic bill of
rights that would require school
distiicts to prove they are giving
minority children an equal educa
tion before adopting such test
based promotion plans.
"Accountability begins wit^i
quality," Price said. "Few urbah ,
districts can claim that the key
ingredients are available to all stu
dents, especially low-income
minority pupils."
Advocates for minority chil
dren have long complained that i
high-stakes testing and other
changes rarely address the real (
needs of children: more qualified ]
teachers, better equipped class
rooms, stronger courses and more
money in general.
The Education Department's
proposals to change federal law
will require states to increase such
resources in tandem with ending
social promotion, said Judith
Johnson, the assistant secretary
who oversees kindergarten
through-12th grade programs.
The accountability plans, to be
1 1 ?
rcicascu in
April, will
include feder
al money and
support to
target poor
and minority
areas, she said
Some
states, such as
Texas and
Ohirir have
resisted the
!: J _r 1 1 ? .
Price
_ i -I
luea 01 exciuuing minorny cnn
dren from tests, arguing that all
students should be held to the
same higher standards.
Studies show schools with high
minority enrollments are more
likely to have less-experienced
teachers and older equipment, as
well as lower test scores. Many,
especially black children, are also
more likely than white children to
have low birth weights, poor
health care and come from impov
erished families, all factors that
usually hinder learning ability.
Memphis City Schools Super
intendent Gerry House says the
district, which is 85 percent minor
ity, holds all children to the same
standards, but also recognizes that
many children don't have comput
ers at home or parents who read to
them, So it set up after-school pro
grams to compensate.
"We must not literally or figu
ratively fail our children because
-it's easier than recognizing our
own failures," said House.
New standards should aim to
rid poor schools of low-level
courses and programs, said Vinet
ta C. Jones of the College Board,
who noted that many high-school
math courses in schools with poor
er students don't emphasize alge
bra or calculus.
Budgets and grants computed
from lower property taxes and cen
sus undercounts mean less money
for poor communities, said Wade
Henderson, director of the Lead
ership Conference on Civil Rights,
a civil rights law watchdog group.
"We need to compensate for
years of deprivation," said Hen
derson.
Bigotry resolution divides House
By JIM ABRAMS ,
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - A simply
worded Republican resolution
denouncing bigotry of all kinds
turned into a nasty exchange on
the House floor and ended in
defeat Tuesday.
"This bill is a ruse that is total
ly characteristic of Republicans
who want givil rights on the
cheap." thundered Rep. John
Conyers, D-Mich.
"When I have had racist
attacks made about me," retorted
Rep. J.C. Watts of Oklahoma, the
only black Republican in Congress
and the author of the resolution, -
"no one ran to the floor to con
demn that." j
The resolution was brought up i
under special rules requiring a
two-thirds vote for passage. It
failed to reach that, with 254 in
favor, most of them Republicans.
152 opposed and 24 voting "pre
sent."
It stated that the House "reaf
firms the determination of all its
members to oppose any individu
als or organizations which seek to
divide Americans on the grounds
of race, religion or ethnic preju
dice."
The Republican leadership,
over Democratic objections, craft
ed the measure as a substitute to a
Democratic resolution that would
have condemned a particular
group, the St. Louis-based Council
of Conservative Citizens, accused
by critics of having a racist agen
da
The CCC gained national
attention after it was revealed that
Senate Majority Leader Trent
Lott. R-Miss.. and Rep. Bob Barr,
R-Ga.. had addressed the group.
Barr said he condemned the
teachings of the CCC and accused
the Democrats of hypocrisy for
not criticizing a fellow Democrat
for addressing the same group. He
alleged that Minority Leader Dick
Gephardt, D-Mo., spoke to the
group.
However, a CCC spokesman
Sfc Bigotry on At 7
News Deadline
y (
is Monday at
5:00pm
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