, . *
Roundtable opposes suspension of CAT-TV program
Gardner
By PAUL COLLINS
TMCHBOMCLE
The Black Leadership Round
table decided last Thursday night
to write letters to news media aqd
circulate a petition opposing
CAT-TV's 90-day suspension of
"Truth to Youth," a show pro
duced by Johnnie Gardner,
i The Roundtable took that
action at the request of Gardner;
who is a member of the Round
table.
CAT-TV is a public access TV
channel.
Lisa Cockerham, CAT opera
tions chair, wrote in a March 8 let
ter to Gardner "A grievance was
made to the CAT Operations
Committee concerning your
endorsement of a for-profit busi
ness on...your program Truth to
Youth caMecast on CAT on Jan.
15, 1999. The Operations Com
mittee met on March 8,. 1999, to
review the grievance.
"On Jan. 15, 1999, in the dos
ing of your program, Truth to
Youth, you said, 'Go to Special
Occasions Bookstore. Go down to
Special Occasions Bookstore. Talk
to Brother and Sister McCarter.
They have what you want and
what you need. If they don't have
it, they can get it for you.'
"Arxording to CAT Policies &
Procedures: Page 3, Section S:
Programming: Noncommercial &
Sponsorship Cannots: 1. CAT
programs cannot promote or
endorse a for-profit business. 3.
CAT programs cannot call viewers
to action on behalf of a business.
"The Operations Committee
has determined you have violated
the above stated CAT Policies &
Procedures, You were issued a
written warning on Aug. 17, 1998,
for a first violation of CAT Poli
cies & Procedures. You have now
committed a second violation. In
accordance with CAT Policies &
Procedures, your right to use CAT
has been suspended for 90 days
effective immediately until June 6,
1999..."
In a strongly worded letter to
the CAT Operations Committee
and chair, Gardner says his sus
pension may be racially motivat
ed. R -
"1 believe this is a racist
attempt to stifle any Mack person ?
who truly wants to educate and
inform their people," he wrote.
"This dates back hundreds of
years, knd it is the very reason why
J.A. Rogers could not get his
books published by the establish
ment. He had to publish them
himself, and now hoe it is almost
the year 2000 and we are con
fronted with the same racism. In
See lowiMbsWs on A10
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75 cents WlNSTON-SALEM GREENSBORO HlGH POINT
For Reference
M?!*3b.-^-^12 #*W 1T|A\\ T1 Not to ba taken
s%y2^ v/HRON J ,r?m tws ,ibrary ?
WINSTON bAi?t* ^
' 1974 - Celebrating 25 Years - 1999 -
No birds, just bees
Photo by T. Kevin Walker
Titha William* play% tha rota of a ear during a ?1tit at Oiggt tlamantary School last wit, whHa trika Spanear playt eatth with a imag
inary ball. Tha woman parformad tha tkit to thaw firtt-gradart tha dangart of playing In tha ttraat.
WSSU students tout kiddie safety
By T. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE __
It couldn't have been scripted
better by a Hollywood screen
writer.
As a trio of occupational
therapy students from Winston
Salem State University touted
v the value of good safety habits to
!* a group of first-graders at J.D.
Diggs Elementary School, a
>;? portly bee buzzed and swooped
through the classroom.
It caused pandemonium
among the youngsters, many of
. whom readied themselves with
folded tablets arid paperback
books, waiting to take aim at the
* A
uninvited predator. <
The bee drama gave the three ]
instructors a chance to put their !
lessons to practical use. i
"Don't swat at the bee; you s
will agitate it," said Ericka i
Spencer, trying to prevent the ]
students from being stung. "It is
just as afraid of us as we are of i
it." ]
The unplanned bee tips came i
during a lesson on playground i
safety, one of six lessons the col
lege students have presented to i
the class over the past two i
months through a collaborative
effort between WSSU and' Bow- i
man Gray School of Medicine.
"Think First for. Kids" is an
extension of the popular "Think
First" program for high school
students. The national program
was founded in 1986 by a neuro
surgeons' organization tp edu
cate young people about injury
prevention.
The program teaches children
everyday safety habits in hopes of
preventing serious injuries from
occurring in the home, at school
and at play.
A recent Bowman Gray study
concluded that spinal cord
injuries among young people
were especially high among stu
dents in middle school. The
study's results prompted Bow
man Gray officials to approach
t
WSSU's division of health sci
ence about conducting the
"Think First" program in local
elementary schools, according to
Dorothy Bethea, a faculty mem
ber in WSSU's department of
occupational therapy. Bethea
spoke on behalf of Cynthia Bell,
the department's field work coor
dinator, who missed last Thurs
day's lesson because she had
another commitment. *
"We want to catch the chil
dren in their formative years so
that it will have an impact later
on," Bethea said.
Students from WSSU's occu
pational therapy, physical thera
Se< WSSU on A11
y
Mansions vs. shoteun houses
Bill to aid black colleges makes
its my through committee
By JERJ YOUNG
THE CHRONICLE
If N.C. Rep. Mickey Michaux.
D-Durham, has his way. the state's
historically black colleges and uni
versities will be $21 million a year
richer.
Michaux has proposed a bill that
would compensate the state's
HBCUs for past racism and funding
inequities. The state's five historically
black universities - North Carolina
Agricultural and Technical State.
Fayetteville State, Elizabeth City
State, Nortlf Carolina Central and
Winston-Salem State - would divide
an additional S21 million in funding
each year to make up for years of
being underfunded.
The bill would also provide addi
tional funding for the University of
North Carolina at Pembroke, which
boasts a large Native American
enrollment.
According to Michaux, the bill
has garnered support from legisla
tors, though no date has been set for
it to reach the House floor for a vote
"It's in Appropriations," he said.
"There's a lot of support for it. The
problem is whether or not well have
the funds for it. So far, the support
has been bipartisan; both Democrats
and Republicans have come up to me
and said they support it."
How to fund black colleges has
long been debated. Most were
founded near the tum of the century
?
because black students were not
allowed to attend the state's predom
inantly white institutions. As the
schools were absorbed into the uni
versity system - and away from the
private philanthropies that once pro
vided the bulk of their funding -
how much money they would get
from the state became an issue.
Black colleges also had more
open admissions policies in order to
catch students who might have fallen
through the cracks
"Some of the components that
deal with historically black colleges
and universities when they first came
into being still have to be taken into
consideration," said Carter Cue, uni
versity archivist at Winston-Salem
State University. "The factor that
Set MM on A11
Ministers say 'no'
to Williams' visit
' ?/" ?
?
Ultraconservative slated to speak at
Roundtable youth program in May
By T KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE ' ' . ??????
Controversy usually follows Armstrong Williams wherever he goes, but
in Winston-Salem, it has preceded him by a month.
Some local ministers are in an uproar over the . .
ultraconservative Republicans scheduled appearance
here on May 20. Williams will be the keynote speaker
at a summit for the Junior Roundtable, a group for
teenage members of the Black Leadership Roundtable,
and other young people.
Williams is a regular on talk shows nationwide, a
syndicated columnist who appears in more than 100
newspapers and the host of his own Washington,
D.C.-based radio talk show, "The Right Side with
Armstrong Williams"
Williams' visit to the Triad will be a homecoming of Williams
sorts. He once served as vice president for government
and international affairs at B&C Associates in High Point.
He also has worked for US. Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., and served
as a "confidential assistant" to now-Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas
during his days as head of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
He now is a much sought after speaker and CEO of The Graham
Williams Group, an international public relations firm he owns with Stedman
Graham, who is the fiance of talk show host Oprah Winfrey.
See Williams on M
Black members
leave theater board
Members upset over selection process
that may leave Holmes-Martin in cold
a ' ^
By T. KEVIN WALKER -
THE CHRONICLE '
The Children's Theater Board of Directors may be without its last
, two African American members when it reconvenes next month.
Controversy has erupted on the board after African American board
members say a vote was taken Monday night to hire a new executive
director for the theater. But other members of the board say the execu
tive director position has not been filled. African American board mem
ber Janet DeCreny has already resigned after she said the board voted
to hire an executive director, who is white, from outside of the state
instead of Roslyn Holmes-Martin, a local black woman who has served
as the interim director for more than a year. The other African Ameri-.
can member, Gloria Jefferies-Jones, says she may turn in her resignation
if the board doesn't rethink the decision. *
If Jefferies-Jones steps down, it will leave the board with only eight
members and no African Americans.
"She should have been given a chance to serve since she is doing a
good job," Jefferies-Jones said Tuesday. " I don't like the (selection
process). I don't think we^hould have brought in an outside person. If it
See Th*at*r on A9
?.
Basse# gives BCC groove
Movi* star Angola Santft was gufft fctiiof ?' ? konofft for
rfw Mif Choieo Con tor. For foil story too AS.
I
. ??^?IZZ] ? 'OR SUBSCRIPTIONS CALL (33S) 721*624 ? MASTERCARD, VJ5A AND AMERICAN EXPRESS ACCEPTED .