Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / March 13, 2003, edition 1 / Page 6
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OPINION The Chronicle [nmsr H. Pitr Publisher Co-Founder ri4i?i Pitt Business Manager ttick* assuit Office Manager f. KiVIU W/llKiM Managing Editor Ktr Sruirz Production Supervisor a gig -<qfci Mort, CwoHna Amalgamated X National Nawapaper Prm Aaaociatton of Circulation pu^^nnr*. mc PuMMmts AaaodflHon File Photo Voters will soon have a lot of detisions to make. It s not too early to talk about 2004 - . ) Val Atkinson 1 Jones | Street In just over nine months North Carolinian '"wanna bes" and incumbents will have to file for Council of State offices, the U.S. presi dency, the U.S. Senate, and 13 congressional seats. This is not to mention the almost countless judicial seats that arc up for election. Yes. folks, it's that time again! And you probably thought you were finished with elections for a while. But the truth of the matter is that elections will always be with us. Every even year there are congressional elections. Every four years there are presidential and Council of State elections. And on odd numbered years there are local elections. So it's never too early to start talking about an election. ' But in 2004 North Caroli na will be faced wj^ a con siderable challenge (or oppor tunity). First of all. Sen. John Edwards will run for presi dent of the United States and maybe for the U.S. Senate, kc Easley will run for re-election. Several members of Congress will run for re election, and some may not. Republican Rep. Richard Burr, in North Carolina's 5th Congressional District, is considering a run for the U.S. Senate and Congressman Walter Jones, a Republican representing North Carolina's 3rd Congressional Districi. isn't sure if he'll run for re election or run for a statewide seat. The Democratic primary for commissioner of labor and superintendent of public instruction may be crowded. Republican Commissioner of Labor Cherrie Berry is a Democratic mark, and Super intend Mike Ward has decid ed not to run for re-election. Agriculture Commissioner Meg Scott Phipps has, man aged to draw considerable fire frorri her detractors, and Ralph Campbell (state audi tor) will always be targeted by Republicans who're trying to oust him to appeal to their rfbase. \ All in all, this should be ah interesting primary for Democrats. Some names to watch are Ron Penny, Brad Thompson. Harry E. Payne Jr.. Howard Lee. Bill Martin and Dan Blue. None of the aforementioned has commit ted to run for office, but each would be a wonderful candi date.. /ff \ 'Or**; Submit letters and columns to: Chronicle Mailbag, P.O. Box 1636, Winston-Salem, NC 27102 y Please print dearly. Typed letters and columns are preferred. If you are writing a guest column, please include a photo of yourself. We reserve the right to edit any item submitted for clarity or brevity. You also can e-mail us your letters or columns at: news@wschrrmicle.com. iTU AU&WST*. Jfc, tm<&\ I Joe billionaire "I HAVE & CONPEQSION- I DON'T &QALLY WAVE 300 BILLION DOLLARS,,." Be prepared To the Editor: The recent elevation of our nation's terror alert level led to much uncertainty and fear as America's families grappled with how best to prepare for a terror attack Soon after the ter ror alert was increased, much of the nation, and North Carolina in particular, experienced severe snow and ice storms that serv ed as a reminder that we must be prepared for any disaster, natural or man-made. The best response to any emergency depends heavily on a family's preparation. Families should have emergency strate gies in place, food and medical emergency supply kit. and a family communication plan Led by Secretary Tom Ridge of the Department of Homeland Security, the federal government has a valuable new resource to help families prepare for emer gency situations. The new Web site www.ready.gov and a free guide available at 1-800-BE READY outline useful prepara tion techniques for any type of emergency situation. I am proud of the way North Carolina's local officials and first responders have augmented y their emergency response capa-" bilitics; it is important that our families follow suit by renewing and increasing their preparation efforts as well. I encourage your readers to take time to visit the www.ready.gov site or call for the preparedness guide. The information is also available on my Web site at www.house.gov/burr. ? As always. I welcome any com ments or concerns from the peo ple in the Fifth District. Congressman Richard Burr Internet child porn is a major problem To the Editor: Did you know that there are over 100.000 unsuspected child pornography sites today? These sites are com pletely illegal and whoever is behind the making of them is guilty of a felony. With recent technological advances, the use of the computer and Inter net has grown tremendously. That is for sure. But what is unsure is whether or not this privilege is being used for good or being abused. Adult-oriented sites make up just less than 2 percent of the Web sites on the Internet. This number seems little but 2 percent is around 400,000 Web sites. Other sources such as David Burt of N2H2 say 1 about 300.000. Regardless, the usage of the Internet to view these sites is being abused and should somehow be filtered. If not. this probe lent will continue to grow. The problem does not stop there. Not only are children being exposed to this material but are taking part in it. Pete Townshend. a famous rock star of the musical group The Who. was recently arrested on charges of possessing images of children and distributing some of those images. These problems are not just on the Internet. Current singer and pop star R. Kelly is facing charges of child molesting for sexual relation ships recorded on tape with several girls under the age of 18. Kelly wrote songs such as "1 Believe I Can Fly" and "The World's Greatest," and was thought to be a good role model for youths with songs like these. Apparently not. ^ Elliot Kimliall Mount Tabor High School Grade 11 Kudos for Martin, WSSU board To the Editor: I would like to publicly thank Dr. Harold Martin, chancellor or Winston-Salem State University, for having the foresight to bring the alumni together recently to discuss the future plans for WSSU. He also had the com mon sense to ask for our input into those plans. The board of trustees has also tried to involve the alum- - ni. Thomas Terrell, chairman of the board, is very knowl edgeable of the history of WSSU and is always eager to learn more. The majority of its members are able to dis cuss with you the origin - of this great institution. The trustees and faculty have become visible at various ath letic events. This is progress under Martin's administra tion. I have very strong feelings and a great love for WSSU. I 'm also critical when univer sity policies and procedures are not followed I have been extremely pleased with the operations at WSSU under Martin. I feel an obligation to share my feelings and opin ions at this stage of the uni versity growth because I was so much at odds with the past administration. Finally, I would ask the alumni to support the univer sity financially. I believe in my heart if WSSU had not worked with me while a stu dent I would not have been able to achieve the little suc cess that I have. Thank you. Dr. Martin, for giving us the opportunity to tell you and the board our visions for WSSU. Beaufort 0. Bailey Class of 1957 ?? Happy Hill's HOPE VI c? Ernie Pitt This & T hat Last week the Housing Authority of WinstontSalcm received an SI8.2 million grant for the Happy Hill community. The daily newspaper, in an edi torial. talked about how Happy Hill would be rehabilitated anil renovated. In fact, the paper mentions renovations and rehab four times. The paper seemed to be suggesting to its readers that the money was earmarked not for demolition and reconstruc tion, but for rehabilitation and renovating. That is not the case. The money is for HAWS to demolish and rebuild. I found the paper's interpre tation quite interesting since I know of at least one City Coun cil member who has been sug gesting that because the units are made of brick and have hard wood floors, they should not be demolished. Of course, that is only part of the story. What that City Council member does not mention is that the master bed room in each of those units is no bigger than a jail cell. A jail cell is approximately 6 feet by 8 feet while the bedrooms at Happy Hill are approximately 7 feet by '/feet The other missing element in the reports is that Winston Salem was the only city in North Carolina to receive a grant. My * congratulations to Reid Lawrence, executive director of HAW'S; W'ayman Williams. HAWS' tfpPE VI director; the Communities Group, which helped write the application; and John Eagen. the local developer partner. I am certain that they will do an outstanding job with Happy Hill because so much has been learned since the Kimberlv Park grant and the unfair nega tive criticisms thrown at the peo ple who are at the Housing Authority trying to make things work. What is becoming increas ingly apparent to nic is that the Cilv Council should ho assum ing some responsibility for put ting an economic development plan together for the eastern part of this city, where most African Americans live. That would necessitate bringing on board an economic development profes sional whose priority would be to put deals together to create more and better jobs for resi dents on that side of.town. One way to begin this process would be through Com munity Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. The national objectives of CDBG funds are: {I) to benefit low - and moderate-income people. (2) to prevent or eliminate slums and blight, and (3) to meet urgent community development needs. s I cannot see any other area of town that meets those criteria better than the African-Ameri can community. If it is the city's responsibility, why doesn't someone who has the power do something? We must keep in mind who the needy are. City Council members must begin to push for the same kinds of things for the African-American community that everyone else is trying to get. Federal and state programs can be accessed. Whatever happened to the "Enterprise Zone" designation? Ernie Pitt is the publisher of The Chronicle and the chairman of the HAWS Board of Commis sioners. His e-mail address is ei pi tt(iivi'schron icle.com. HAM?^HILL GARDENS
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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March 13, 2003, edition 1
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