i
Red Cross: blood shortage is severe. See page A3
DAVIS LIBRAkY
Li
NC 27dj.4-8890
I le is slowly ticking away for census 2000
/ALKER
LE
Linning out and soon cen-
go down in history as the
t exhaustive effort ever to
living man, woman and
fFicials are making a final
h those who did not fill
6 nsus; questionnaires and
ited at home by a census
cy has set up a toll-free
eople who have yet to be
counted.
Officials with the local census
office, which covers Forsyth and seven
surrounding counties, say the hotline
is the last resort for locals to be count
ed before the census machine shuts
down until 2010.
U.S. Sen. John Edwards made a
stop at East Winston Primary School
last Friday to address the urgency of
the matter.
“There are probably people who
have still not been counted and we
want to get the word out,” Edwards
said before giving out the toll-free
number.
Edwards made his remarks in front
of several dozen youngsters from the
school’s summer enrichment program
and nearby Shiloan-St. Peter day care
center. After the senator quizzed the
children about the relevance of the
census, he told them that an accurate
census count could lead to more
financial resources for schools.
Historically, the census has under
counted the nation’s children, espe
cially minority children.
Edwards, U.S. Rep. Mel Watt and
other politicians jumped on the census
bandwagon months ago, holding press
conferences to promote the effort and
making public service announcements
for radio and television.
Census officials said this year’s all-
out effort to make people aware of the
census paid off
The local office wrapped up the
door-to-door phase of this year’s cen
sus operation last week. During that
phase, nearly 1,700 enumerators
attempted to complete census forms
for those who did not return them.
Marshall Jefferies of the local cen-
See Census on All
Photo by Kevin Walker
Sen, John Edwards, left, talks with Jimmie Bonham
and Victor Johnson after a press conference.
Board amends GPA
policy for athletes
BY SAM DAVIS
THE CHRONICLE
• ..
'■
ters of the audience listen to a talk by businessman Joe Dudley,
Photos by Paul Collins
A controversial measure
passed late last year - designed to
raise the standards for attendance
and grades by Students participat
ing in extracurricular activities in
Forsyth County’s public high
schools - has been amended.
Last Thursday the Winston-
Salem/Forsyth County School
Board voted to change the new
guidelines before they could ever
be implemented.
Citing a need to stress acade
mics to student-athletes and others
participating in extra-class activi
ties, the local School Board decid
ed last November to institute poli
cies more stringent than those
imposed by the N.C. High School
Athletic Association (NCHSAA).
It included mandating that stu
dents could not have more than 10
days of absences during a semester
and all students had to compile at
least a 2.0 grade-point average in
the quarter immediately preceding
their participation in sports or
other extracurricular activities.
However, after much delibera
tion and debate among principals
and coaches, the School Board
decided to reconsider its position.
According to several sources, one
influential principal brought the
attention back to the board after
one particular student-athlete in
the system failed to achieve a 2.0
grade-point average and would
have been ruled ineligible for the
fall athletic season. That incident
See GPA on A9
piritual Gathering
Activist group may
er Memorial hosts Western N. C.
ME Zion Church Conference
set up branch in city
BY CHERIS HODGES
THE CHRONICLE
'l|, COLLINS
ONICLE
rst want to share with you
ajtod has done for me....He
illy changed my life,” busi-
|q Joe Dudley said as he
•ijed a crowd of several hun-
:‘people Friday at Goler
'filial AME Zion Church, the
' I
■the noth session of the
ill North Carolina Annual
ihnce of African Methodist
tjlial Zion Church. Dudley is
Wsident and chief executive
^f Dudley Products, a hair
uty products company in
Kernersville.
“I have built my business on the
trust of God and teachings of
Jesus Christ. I want to tell you
when you put your hands in the
hands of the Man...you cannot
help but succeed. He brought me
from ... mentally retarded and told
me that you could make it with the
help of my mama. He said, ‘Joe, I
know that you are retarded but
that’s OK.’”
Dudley later said, “Integrity is
the doorway, gateway to wisdom,
which is creativity:”
See Goler AME on A11
Joe Dudley, president and chief executive officer of Dud
ley Products, gestures to make a point about how God
has helped him overcome obstacles to success.
The National People’s Democ
ratic Uhuru Movement is a social
organization that wants to change
the system for poor and minority
people across the globe.
The group was founded in 1991
in Chicago by the African People’s
Socialist Party. There are more
than seven branches of the group
across the country in cities like
Philadelphia, Baltimore, Chicago
and Tallahassee.
Now there are plans to bring a
branch to Winston-Salem.
NPDUM is a group that mir
rors the ideology of the Black Pan
ther Party. The group’s national
platform includes “demands” for
community control of the police,
democratic rights for African Peo
ple in the United States, control
over schools, mandatory African
history in public schools, end to the
court system and prison system, /
and other demands. •
The local branch of NPDUM -
will focus on problems unique to 1
the city, said Storm Foreman, ”
membership coordinator.
The problems the group identi- ’
fied in Winston-Salem are police ■{
harassment and housing. *
According to Scimel Loyd, a
member of NPDUM, the group ’
gives a voice to the poor and ”,
minorities. '
“No one speaks for Africans,
See Activist on Alo;
HAWS wants to narrow digital divide
BYT. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
end.
Photo by Kevin Walker
rk with SuccessMaker software at the Happy Hill Gardens computer lab.
first HAWS has opened so far.
When it comes to people living in pub
lic housing, the so-called digital divide is
more like the Grand Canyon.
The divide has come to symbolize the
growing schism between the haves and the
have-nots in terms of access to computer
technology. The term was first coined
when it became apparent that access
ramps to the Information Super Highway
are too few in minority communities. The
disparity is greatest for the nation’s poorest
citizens.
The Winston-Salem Housing Authori
ty is in the middle of an initiative to lessen
the technology deficit for public housing
residents here.
HAWS recently opened its first com
puter lab in the Happy Hill Gardens com
munity. Plans are to open a lab in the
other three major public housing commu
nities - Cleveland Avenue Homes, Kim
berley Park and Piedmont Park - by year’s
“Many residents do not have access to
computers because they do not have trans
portation to get to the libraries,” said
Oscar Pilson, director of management
information systems at HAWS.
The lab has been a welcomed addition
to the after-school tutoring program that
HAWS has had in place in Happy Hill and
other communities for years now.
The lab caters to young people, though
computer software is available to help
adults prepare for the GED test. HAWS is
hoping to expand its services for adults as
the program matures, Pilson said.
“We are starting first with the children,
but this program is really in its infancy,” he
said.
All the labs will offer SuccessMaker,
innovative software that measures stu
dents’ learning levels in math and reading
and then prescribes exercises tailor-made
for them.
Pilson believes that HAWS is the first
housing authority in the region to use Suc
cessMaker. The Happy Hill lab has a com
puter instructor who leads the children in
various applications. Three teachers are
also available to the students.
Pilson said once SuccessMaker pin
points trouble spots for students, the teach
ers can “target teach.” With the analysis
reports from SuccessMaker, teachers can
also group students together with similar
difficulties.
“(SuccessMaker) allows the teachers to
move faster and the students have fewer
questions,” Pilson said.
After completing a brief series of exer
cises, SuccessMaker can quickly determine
at what grade level a student is function
ing. Many of the young people who use
the lab test below their grade level. Pilson
pointed out several of these students as he
scrolled through analysis information last
week. Some students tested at several
grade levels below their actual level.
“We don’t panic here,” Pilson, who
See HAWS on AlO