The Chron __
Vol.XXXVlNo.M WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. THURSDAY, March IH. 201(1
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Barnes
Bonham
Brown
Cotton- Williams
Johnson
Vic Johnson
Six are vying
for the two
Distict 1 seats
BY LAYLA FARMER
THI CHRONICLE
The ballot for the
Winston-Salem/Forsyth
County Board of Education
wijl be crowded this election
year.
The 2010 season marks
the first time in the county's
history that school board
elections will be nonpartisan.
The General Assembly
passed a ruling in 2009 to
make Forsyth County's elec
tions nonpartisan, yielding to
considerable pressure from
community groups such as
CHANGE (Communities
Helping All Neighbors Gain
Empowerment), which lob
bied to change the election
format in Forsyth, one of the
last major counties in the
state with a partisan school
board .
In District I . incumbents
Vic Johnson and Geneva
Brown are facing heavy com
petition. Four challengers -
Regina J Barnes, Jimmie Lee
Bonham, Chenita Barber
Johnson and Diana Williams
Cotton - have thrown their
hats in the ring for one of the
two seats in the District.
Both Bonham and
Williams-Cotton made
unsuccessful bids for the
Board in 2006. and Chenita
Johnson ran unsuccessfully
in 2004.
Bonham says his chief
concerns are the school sys
tem's high dropout rate and
the number of long term
expulsions that take place
across the system.
"Winston-Salem/Forsyth
County Schools is the fifth
largest system in the state,
but we have the highest sus
pension rate in the state," he
said. "We don't have a good
arm around discipline."
Bonham, 55. a native of
Winston-Salem and owner of
Hair by Jimmie. believes his
hometown roots will serve
him well as a school board
member.
Williams-Cotton, a con
sultant. says she will focus on
improving parental involve
ment if elected to the board.
She proposed holding month
ly meetings in the district to
keep parents abreast of the
issues the school board is
considering as a means of
See K lection on A5
Delivering Integrity
Pfento by l^yta Farmrr
Mail Carrier Jessica Webster is being praised this
week for a heroic save she made while on a routine
delivery route. See the full story page A 10.
Winston-Ghana Lifeline
sees positive results
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
This week. Dr. Emmanuel Srofenyoh.
head of Ghana. Africa's Ridge Regional
Hospital OBGYN section, paid a visit to
Forsyth Medical Center, one of the insti
tutions that has helped his hospital to
greatly reduce the number of women and
infants that die in childbirth.
Srofenyoh was in this country to dis
cuss Ridge Regional's progres> at a con
ference in Nashville. He stopped in
Winston-Salem to thank local doctors
and tell them of all the positive things
that are happening.
Ridge Regional has seen a 36 percent
decline in maternal deaths and a 34 per
cent decline in stillbirths in the last three
years, thanks to the efforts of Kybele, a
non-profit that uses medical education
partnerships to improve childbirth condi
tions worldwide.
Kybele was founded by Dr Medge
Owen, a physician at Forsyth Medical's
Sara Lee Center for Women Kybele has
made a way for medical professionals
from Forsyth Medical and other medical
facilities to visit Ghana to teach medial
See lihuni on A5
Pl?pt?>\f?> T?*ki I UCk,
From left : Karen Bartoletti. vice president of the Sara Lee Center for Women's
Health with Dr. Medge Owen. I)r. Emmanuel Srofenyoh and Center Director
Ann Smith.
Photo* hy Lavla Firmer
Chancellor Reaves addresses the crowd.
Reaves tries to mend
fences , build bridges
BY LAYLA FARMER
IHh C HROSK l I
Winston-Salem State University
Chancellor Donald Reaves has seen
his share of criticism. His less than
three-year reign of the
institution has been
marked by controver
sy. His decisions to
move the university's
athletic program back
to Division II after just
a short stint in D I and
to close an on-campus
childcare center have
rubbed some alumni
and WSSU supporters
the wrong way.
The chancellor
faced his critics and
supporters head-on
Tuesday evening, dur
ing a community
forum hosted by the
Ministers Conference
c -i 1
plans and goals for the institution,
he added.
"The thing that has impressed us
about the chancellor is he has a
heart for our institutions." said
Eversley. who serves as an adjunct
nrotessor at WSSU .
? -
"We're very confi
dent that when ygu
hear from him.
you'll he as
impressed as we
are."
Reaves
addressed the audi
ence candidly. He
told the story of his
personal rise to the
top tier of academia.
from his humble
beginnings in segre
gated schools in
Cleveland. Ohio,
where he worked as
a supermarket clerk
and a truck driver
Bill Hayes takes a question.
vn tv in^iuii-oaiciii (inu
Vicinity at Union Baptist Church
The Ministers Conference
wholeheartedly supports Reaves'
vision for the school, according to
President Carlton Eversley. 4. oca I
ministers felt that Reaves needed a
forum where community member
could hear first hand about Reaves'
he tore beginning
work toward his undergraduate
degree at age 24 A first generation
college graduate. Reaves went on to
obtain his master's and doctoral
degrees and serve in kev leadership
positions at Brown University and
Set' Kratrs on A2
AIDS cuts
a death
sentence?
BY LAYLA FARMER
THl CHRONICLE
Recent budget cuts across the state are hit
ting home for individuals with Hl\ AIDS who
depend on the assistance from the AIDS Drue
Assistance Program (ADAP) to pay for their
medications
On January 22. the state stopped new enroll
ment for the program, which proudes \ Hal
medication to people who are uninsured or ol
low-wealth and
living with
HIV/AIDS. In
addition, the state
has discontinued
funding for med
ications that tall
under the Tier 2
and Tier 3 cate
gories. which ard
general)) used to
treat conditions
that often accom
pany HIV.
For local resi
dent Richard
Cassidy. the cuts
mean he will not
be able to re-enter
the workforce as
he had initially
hoped Cassidy.
PlH*?Ky t as la f-arroc
Richard Cassidy depend s
on the program to work.
who was diag
nosed as HIV-positive in the mid IW(K. says he
had stopped taking his HIV medications
because he was unable to afford them In the
fall of 2(MV5.Cassidy. now 41 . developed a form
of cancer that often attacks HIV patients whose
immune systems are weakened with the dis
ease. B\ winter. Cassid\ sa\s the outlook was
bleak
"Around Christmas of 2005. (the doctors |
called m\ parents and told them . If you ever
want to see your son again, you have to come
now."* he related
But Cassidy fought back, and after years of
illness, has finally battled his cancer into remis
sion. He had hoped to go back to work, but
sa\s he would lose his Medicaid coverage if he
did so.
Without the safety net of the ADAP pro
Set* C'utv . >n 4 III
DON'T
PASS
THE BUCK
BUY LOCAL
?
(KAMI*