__
Photos by L*yl? Farmer
Career Center students make their selections.
Students make their
Super Tuesday picks
BY LAYLA FARMER x
THE CHRONICLE
As voters in half of the
states around the nation head
ed to the polls on Feb. 5, the
day dubbed "Super
Tuesday," local students were
also weighing in on the '08
presidential race.
Students throughout the
school system took part in
Kids Voting, a mock election
designed to show them how
the governmental process
works.
"We really jumped on this
because as teachers and as a
faculty, we want students to
get a kind of experience ,of
voting and through that expe
rience they can learn what
they really want in terms of
political candidates,"
explained Maureen Stanford,
a teacher at the Career Center,
a popu
lar Kids
Vo t i n g
site.
T o
bring the
initiative
t o
Forsyth
County,
the
school
system
McAlister
joined forces with the Forsyth
County Board of Elections
and Kids Voting NC, a non
partisan, nonprofit organiza
tion aimed at increasing polit
ical awareness in young peo
ple. Students in grades K-12
county wide took part, casting
their votes for one of the four
Republicans (John McCain,
Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee
or Ron Paul) or Democrats
Barack Obama or Hillary
Clinton.
Career Center students
came out in record numbers,
with more than 400 people
"voting" before lunchtime on
Tuesday.
Andrew Beckman, a senior
at Mt. Tabor, was among the
throngs of students who
flocked to the media center,
where the voting took place
via computers.
"I've always wanted to
vote and I've been avid about
politics probably since I was
about 13," he stated. "There's
just always been poli{ic? in
-^hoJse - %yry
^conssfvf^e aad mymom is
very liberty, -Sto whenever
there's something political
going on, there's always a dis
cussion."
Beckman, a Huckabee
supporter, also' registered to
vote on Tuesday in prepara
tion for ?he upcoming elec
tion.
"We're going to lead the
country at some point, at least
someone our age will be even
tually, and it's better that we
start taking an interest now so
we don't have apathy later,"
he remarked. ^
Ashley My:rs, a Career
Center studei t and Kids
Voting volunteer, helped her
peers fill out vdtfr registra
tion cards.
Myers, a senior at
Parkland Magnet and Obama
? supporter, . said excitement
Ashley Myers was afnong the
young voters. ~
built up among students as
voting day approached. The
election has inspired her to
explore her own views as
well.
"(Voting is) fun; I mean
it's more of an individual
thing, it's basically telling you
that you're your own person,
you're not following some
body else's steps," she com
mented.
Akwete McAlister, who
teaches the advanced place
ment government politics
class at the Career Center,
says the momentum of young
people's interest in this year's
election is unlike any she's
seen before.
"This year has been
absolutely amazing and I
think part of it is that we don't
have an incumbent going back
into office; I think the war has
brought a lot of attention to
politics, and I also think that
the approval rating of
(President George) Bush is
just so low that kids really are
ready for something different;
even if it's in the same party,"
she commented.
Nearly 30,000 kids across
the state participated in the
2008 Super Tuesday. Obama
won Democratic nomination
with an astounding 70 percent
of the vote, while McCain
won the Republican youths' *
support, with 46 percent of
their vote, followed by
Huckabee with 31 percent,
Romney with 14 and Paul
with nine. *
visit www.kidsvotingnc.oi
For more' informa
News
Clips
More "C lick It or Ticket"
violations last year
There were 559.588 traf
fic and criminal citations
issued by state and local law
enforcement officers across
North Carolina during "Click
It or Ticket" and "Booze It &
Lose It" campaigns last
year.
That is a 35 percent
increase from the 414,351
citations issued in 2006.
Officers conducted more
than 46,000 checkpoints and
patrols during the 2007 cam
paigns, a boost of more than
64 percent from 2006.
"Law enforcement agen
cies ramped up their check
points and patrols and it paid
off," said Gov. Mike Easley.
"I want to thank each agency
for its participation in these
lifesaving campaigns and
urge citizens to buckle up,
slow down and not drive
after drinking."
Last year's total includes
15,303 driving while
impaired arrests and 64,481
occupant protection citations
for safety belt and child pas
senger safety violations.
Officers also issued
184,969 speeding violations
and located 3,701 fugitives
from justice.
^additionally, the
National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration
reports that North Carolina's
2007 safety belt usage rate
increased 2 percent to' 88.8
percent, its highest rate ever.
For the first time last year
the Governor's Highway
Safety Program joined forces
with the N.C. Highway
Patrol to address speeding. In
conjunction with the Patrol's
"Operation * Slowdown,"
local law enforcement agen
cies participated in "No Need
2 Speed," a high visibility
enforcement campaign aimed
at encouraging drivers to
slow down and follow the
speed limit.
WFU makes Peace Corp
Wake Forest University
has made the Peace Corps'
top 25 list of small colleges
and universities with the
most Peace Corps volun
teers.
With 17 Wake Forest
graduates currently serving
as Peace Corps volunteers,
Wake Forest is ranked 16th
on the current list. Since the
Peace Corps was founded.
182 W#ke Forest alumni
have served as volunteers.
Schools are ranked
according to the size of the
student body. Small schools
are those with fewer than
5,000 undergraduates; medi
um-size schools are those
with 5,001 to 15,000 under
graduates; and large schools
are those with more than
15,000 undergraduates.
Stitts new Habitat board
president
The board of directors of
Habitat for Humanity of
Forsyth
County
has
elected
its 2008
officers
and
appoint
ed sev
eral new
mem
bers,
includ
ing Winston-Salem State
University professor Kathy
Stitts, who will serve as pres
ident.
The other officers are:
Bill Green, vice president;
Lou Baldwin, secretary, and
David St. Clair, treasurer.
Jeff Clark, outgoing presi
dent, was named ex-officio.
New members appointed
to t&e board are: Nigel
Alston, director of employ
ee/community relations,
GMAC Insurance; Jack
Curlett, retired executive of
the Encore Group; Rose
Fitzgerald, a Habitat volun
teer; Sister Larretta Rivera
Williams of St. Benedict the
Moor Catholic Church;
Sandy Perkins Stinson, pres
ident of the Neal Place
Neighborhood Association;
Trent Wall, senior financial
analyst with Southern
Community Bank and Trust
and Jane Williams, a psy
chologist at the Wake Forest
University School of
Medicine.
Forsyth AARP chapter will
host discussion
The Forsyth AARP
Chapter Number 1797 wilJ I
meet on Tuesday, Feb. 12 at
3:15 p.m. at The Shepherd's
Center of Greater Winston
Salem, 1700 Ebert St.
Febrflary is American
Heart Month, and the pro
gram will be presented by Dr
William McCann. He will
discuss, "Hard on the Heart:
Are Some Emotions
Unhealthy?"
Membership is open to all
persons 50 years of age and
older. National and local
AARP members are encour
aged to attend. For further
details, contact Nancy Hall at
336-765-2215 or nanckp
py@msn.com.
Magazine says NC has great
business climate
North Carolina has been
named the state with the
third-best business climate by
Chief Executive magazine, a
trade publication for top cor
porate executives.
The Chief Executive rank
ing is the latest in a string of
accolades for the state. North
Carolina has also been cited
by Site Selection magazine as
the state with the top business
climate six of the last seven
years and first in the
Southeast in ' attracting new
industrial plants; by the
accounting firm Ernst &
Young for having the lowest
business tax burden in the
nation; by Forbes Magazine
as the third best state for busi
ness; and by Development
Counsellors. International as
having the" second-most
favorable^ business climate
among the 50 states.
"These rankings confirm
that North Carolina is the
place to be," said Gov. Mike
Easley. "Corporate executives
know our state is listening to
them and we know what they
need to succeed."
?hief Executive's "Best &
Worst States" survey was
conducted earlier this month.
It asked 605 top executives to
evaluate their states on a
broad range of issues includ
ing proximity to resources,
regulation, tax policies, edu
cation, quality of living and
infrastructure. North
Carolina received an "A-" for
its supenoi living e.nv ,
ment and a "B+" both for its
taxation and regulation poli
cies and workforce quality.
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