Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / May 4, 2017, edition 1 / Page 8
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OPINION The Chronicle James Taylor Jr. Publisher Ernest H. Pitt Founder, Publisher Emeritus 1974-2017 Donna Rogers Wali Pitt Timothy Ramsey Todd Luck Tevin Stinson Shayna Smith Elisha Covington Paulette L. Moore Managing Editor Digital Manager Sports Editor/Religion Senior Reporter Specialty Reporter Asst. Advertising Manager Office Manager Administrative Assistant Our Mission The Chronicle is dedicated to serving the residents of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County by giving voice to the voiceless, speaking truth to power, standing for integrity and encouraging open communication and lively debate throughout the community. Refreshing display of leadership Leaders can be found in many places. Sharon Harrison was fortunate one was the chairman of the Forsyth Technical Community College board. Harrison underwent a whole lot of misery over a check that was sent to the wrong address. The check was hers, but apparently the person who lived at that address, her old address, pretended to be her and cashed her check. As Cash Michaels, a reporter for The Chronicle, told the story, Harrison had dealt with two banks, the Federal Reserve, the U.S. Department of Education, Forsyth Technical Community College (FT), and the Winston-Salem Police Department since September 2016 - seven months - before she found a break through in her case. Harrison was due a federal student loan refund check, which had to go through FT. She had received other such checks just fine. But a human mistake led to the beginning of her problems. Someone at FT sent her check to the wrong address, this time. Harrison had been a student at FT. Someone used her student address when they should have used her present address to send her her money. One mistake. One human mistake. But, then, the humans who were supposed to address Harrison’s problem did not. Harrison’s prob lems kept mounting up, including financial distress affecting her credit because she was not paying back money she never received. Even Dr. Gary Green, the president of Forsyth Tech had not met with Harrison and his staff has done little, Harrison said, to bring about a timely res olution. But a banker who happens to lead the FT Board of Directors spotted a customer service problem and handled it quickly. This was a chance to solve a cus tomer’s problem and maybe advance a pleasant out look toward FT. This was a chance that FT officials and employees didn’t see. When The Chronicle contacted Alan Proctor, chairman of the Forsyth Tech Board of Trustees, true leadership came forth. Proctor is also listed as a sen ior vice president for Wells Fargo Bank. Wells Fargo was one of the two banks Harrison was involved with. Michaels reports that after advising him of Harrison’s dilemma, Proctor called her and prom ised to have the situation addressed by the following day, which he did. Proctor called Harrison, she told The Chronicle, telling her that Wells Fargo had cut a check to cover the stolen money, and would be send ing it to BB&T. BB&T, in turn, would forward the money to Forsyth Tech, which would then send Harrison another check for $4,347.59, the amount of the original check. So, how quick was that compared with seven months? A happy customer goes a long way, spreading the word about products to family and friends. An unhappy customer usually goes farther in the wrong direction. The word gets around about the poor serv ice. 1 Sharon Harrison is now in a wait-and-see mode, Michaels reports. She received a call from Forsyth Tech, telling her it would take “two to three days” for the check to be credited to her account at the school. Then they will process a check, and call her to come to the school to get it personally. But she was also told that Forsyth Tech wants her to call the student loan office and “get them to send her the amount of the interest accrued from the date of the loan until present...” and they will also issue a check to cover that as well. It’s interesting what leadership can do to foster a satisfied customer. We need more Alan Proctors in our lives. 4 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Be prepared with tornado safety tips To the Editor: With severe storms bringing the risk of tornadoes and hail to the Carolinas, motorists should be pre pared and to remain cautious if driv ing Here are tornado safety tips to motorists: A “tornado warning” means a twister is developing or is actually on the ground. It is more severe than a “tornado watch,” which means con ditions are favorable for the develop ment of severe thunderstorms, which may or may not spawn twisters. If a tornado warning is issued for 3 your area, leave your vehicle imme diately and seek shelter in a sturdy building. Never try to outrun a tornado. Your car or pickup will offer no pro tection from a twister. It is impossible to know which direction a tornado may decide to go. Seek shelter indoors. A basement is safest. Closets or small interior rooms are best. Stay away from south walls, west walls and all windows. Get under a solid piece of furniture or a mattress. If you are caught in the open with no substantial buildings available, find a ditch, ravine or low-lying area and lie flat. Stay away from roadway overpasses. Do not seek shelter in a mobile home. These structures, even if tied down, offer little protection from tor nadoes and should be abandoned. Remember, wet roads mean poor traction. Conditions are most danger ous during the first ten minutes of a heavy downpour as oil and debris wash away. Driving on wet roads in the rain is like driving on ice. Slow down. Take it easy. Allow extra time to reach your destination. Never use your motor vehicle’s cruise control feature in rainy weath er. AAA Carolinas Charlotte Note: Connect with AAA Carolinas on Facebook at www.face book.com/AAAcarohnas and follow them on Twitter at @AAAcarolinas. Senate should not pass bill cutting ■ .. overtime pay To the Editor: This bill [the Working Families Flexibility Act] is terrible for hard working Americans. Republicans are trying to pass it off as a workplace flexibility measure but in reality, it undermines the existing right to hard earned overtime pay. This legislation gives employers the right to substitute overtime pay for comp time without a guarantee that employees can use their earned comp time when needed. I’m disappointed that my House Republican colleagues sided with big business over American workers to pass this legislation and I urge my Senate colleagues to vote against it. US. Rep. Alma Adams, (NC-12) Washington, D.C. Note: Adams is responding to the fact that the House voted to pass HJR. 1180, the so-called “Working Families Flexibility Act.” Administration of Donald Trump needs to reverse present course To the Editor: In the first 100 days of this administration, we have seen a series of unlawful and misguided executive orders, the imposition of a discrimi natory Muslim Ban, a massive roll back on federal civil rights enforce ment and a resulting wave of litiga tion across the country challenging this administration’s unlawful actions. This administration must reverse course before causing further damage to American democracy. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law will continue to mount litigation, as it has already done, challenging discriminatory actions taken by this administration. We will use the courts as the forum to check this administration’s efforts to turn the clock back on frag ile civil rights gains that have been made. In Trump's first 100 days, the new administration has: ""Instituted an unlawful ban on people traveling into the country from several predominantly Muslim nations. ""Taken action to obstruct federal civil rights enforcement, including abandoning its position in litigation challenging Texas’s discriminatory voter identification law. ♦Undermined progress made toward criminal justice ‘ reform by seeking to derail implementation of a carefully negotiated consent decree setting forth overdue reforms for the Baltimore Police Department and eliminating an executive order that sought to phase out use of private prisons. ♦Appointed Cabinet-level and other senior officials to key positions in the absence of records which reflect a commitment to civil rights, particularly in the areas of housing and education. ♦Perpetuated myths regarding vote fraud and incited states to insti tute laws that restrict access to the ballot box though no evidence of fraud exists. Kristen Clarke, President And Executive Director Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Washington, D.C. Note: The Lawyers’ Committee, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, was formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimina tion. For more information about the Lawyers’ Committee, visit www.lawyerscommittee.org. We Welcome Your Feedback Submit letters and guest columns to let ters® wschronicle.com before 5 pm. Friday for the next week’s publication date. Letters intended for publication should be addressed “Letters to the Editor" and include your name, address, phone number and email address. Please keep letters to 350 words or less. If you are writing a guest column, please include a photo of yourself, your name, address, phone number and email address. Please keep guest columns to 550 words or less. Letters and columns can also be mailed or dropped off at W-S Chronicle, 617 N. Liberty St., W-S, NC, 27101; or sent via our website, www.wschronicle.com. { our com We reserve the right to edit any item sub mitted for clarity or brevity and determine when and whether material will be used. We welcome your comments at our website. Also, go to Facebook page to ment. We are at facebook.com/WSChronicle. Send us a tweet on Twitter. We are at twitter.com/WS_Chronicle. 9 X
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