Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / July 3, 1986, edition 1 / Page 2
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editorials “A Man For All Seasons" Willie Lee “Bill” Johnson, a practitioner - of quiet diplomacy who became the city’s first black mall carrier and first to work for a white daily newspaper, civic leader, the .« father of three sons and three grandchild ren, and for over 12 years the motivating force behind the Charlotte Post, died recently at the age of 68. (r, Because of Bill’s wide yet unassuming contributions to the betterment of the community - especially Johnson C. Smith *L and the black community - through his quiet diplomacy approach, we who have labored under his leadership at the Post are • privileged to bestow upon him that rarest of dignified titles, “A Man For All Seasons.” ■ Bill Johnson’s death ends 12 plus years of balanced, thought-provoking influence on the broader Charlotte community. His editorials and stories have offered a black perspective on a wide range of important issues. For this effort, many of our citizens are richer in knowledge and understanding of many of the complex Issues that can and do affect people in an urban living environment. , \ W f Forty-one years ago toward the end of World War n. Army Private first class Bill Johnson was contemplating I career in journalism when he wrote in a military newspaper some of the thoughts that guided him through his years at the Post. In those war torn years Bill said, “We fight for 130 million different ideas...Some fight for the right to have a farm and to raise whatever they think best for themselves...We fight for the right to bufld...a bigger and better world, not to destroy and conquer. To teach oor children to love and help one another and not to kill. To train them with balls and bats, not rifles and ballets...We fight to preserve the American Way of Life...” .It was this same kind of fighting spirit that led Bill Johnson to purchase the Post at a time when the newspaper, founded in 1918 and believed to be one of the oldest Mack newspapers in the nation, was sliding into a nearly Insurmountable debt crisis. However, with a fighting seal, Bill vowed to revive the Post and to make it once again a profit-making enterprise. In this effort, Mr. Johnson used a federal loan in 1982 to upgrade his capital equipment, then a year later he moved the business from West Blvd. to larger quarters off South Try on Street. Circulation and advertising rose significantly and the newspaper’s profit margin rose nearly 190 percent between 1982 and 1984. It was the same kind of fighting spirit cloaked in quiet diplomacy that enabled Bill Johnson to convince Charlotte Observer' sports editor Wilton Garrison In 1M7 to give a part-time Job covering sports among black high schools and colleges, thas becoming the Observer’s first Mack writer. With persistence and patience, BIB was able to expand news about Mack athletics from just lists of scores of games without any detaBs to full game coverage and! profiles on black players and coaches. BIB “was a pioneer in that significant move ment,” says an Observer editorial. WilUe L. “BUI” Johnson, ltlft-lttS, was truly “A Man For AB Seasons.” His death leaves a void in our community that cannot be filled because of his unique character. Let us hope as BUI assumes his permanent rest among the angels that we can and wUl carry on the traditions of what the Charlotte Post that he built stands for. Famous Lady Is Symbol Of Hope with starvation, ramine and devastating poverty such a harsh reality in many if not moot parts flf the world, some people might wonder why over $230 million and two-and a-half years of labor by nearly 200 Ameri can and French architects, artisans, painters, carpenters, engineers, iron wwKers, brick masons , and laborers have ^nan *agL dttasKt—- - -A WUI*«s wejDB ror me mosi exhaustive facelift of a statue in history. A facelift that should last for the next 200 years. . .In a physical sense, this effort has been made to offset IM years of erosion from alternately brutal cold and heat, saltwater filled heavy winds, acid rain and human neglect of the world famous Statue of Liberty. Beyond the desperately needed physical improvement of the Statae, a gift from France, is the more important fact of what the Statue of Liberty symbolizes. For the masses of Immigrants who have entered America with dreams of freedom and escape from poverty, political and religions oppression, greater economic or educational opportunity or simply to Join relatives and friends In America, the Statue of Liberty was the first visible sign of - V America that they saw. Then too, because America has historically, at least In the V past, kept its doors open to all who wanted . to come, the Statue of Liberty has further symbolized the broad baked freedom that America represents. The Statue is the symbol of hope, dreams t° be^fulfilled^ challenges to be of self-fulfillment unmatched anj in the world. The famous lady is a reminder of what is good in all America and can be an example for all the world to emulate. _God bless America for its goodness^ end. love to all mankind. r Speak Out! Do you have something to say? Then do so for everyone to read. The Charlotte Ppst, the only other voice in town, welcomes all letters on various subjects. / i Letters to the editor must include your signature and address. 1* f* Please limit letters to 500 words. ^Letters should be addressed to: Editor, The Charlotte Pest, P. O. Bos 30144, Charlotte, N.C. 28230. -TV THE CHARLOTTE POST North Carolina's Fastest Growing Weekly , ( —-——,-i-*■ 704-376-0496 "The People's Newspaper" 107 Years Of Continuous Service Bill Johnson Pub Emeritus Gerald O. Johnson Publisher Bernard Reeves Gea. Mgr. Laretta Manago Mag. Editor Fran F arr er-Bradley Adv. Mgr. Paaneite Gaither Office MgrL Published Every Thursday by The Charlotte Pest Publishing Company, fnc. Main Office: 1531 S Camden Road Charlotte, N C. Mara Second Claaa Postage Paid at Charlotte Member. National Newspaper Publishers' Association North Carolina Mack PaMIskers Association National Advertising Representative: Amalgamated Publishers, Inc One Year Subscription Rate One Year-|t?.7« Payable la Advance U8PS Nn. mssoo POSTMASTER Send Change of address to: Charlotto Post 1*31 S. Csmden Rd. Charlotte. N.C.4MM3 --- --— _ A . -_- . -_ MulerSay*: White Universities: A Microcosm Of Mainstream By Sherman N. Miller Special To The Post Blacks’ high attrition rate at Mainstream American universities is rapidly evolv ing into a constriction to black American socio economic progress. I wonder If many blacks enter these institutions with the wrong mind set for success. Plsensslons with other Macks who matriculated at mainstream ^ universities suggest that there exists a set of minority group sur vival principles which should be fully appreciated prior to Macks enrolling at these institutions. Carl Turner, M.D., a graduate of the University of Delaware and the Medical College of the University of Pennslyvanla, believes that clear goals, self understanding, discipline, and persistency are the keys to survival at mainstream universities. Yet what do we really mean when we say that one Should understand oneself? Antinet Janet, a research scientist at the DuPont Company who did graduate work at both the University of Missouri and Yale k; University, declares, “I knew who I am by net letting my past go - not letting my roots got Also by knowing Sherman ' . where I wanted to be. and that new I’m there.” During my own tenure at the University of Delaware people often marvelled at the high levels of academic excellence displayed by Oriental students. Itese students demonstrated a penchant for what Turner contends are the most im portant characteristics necessary for ethnic minori ty students to succeed at mainstream universities. 3 “The most Important things I think would be to study hard and apply (your self)/' he stated. Students are often told to apply themselves. But apply may be an abstract term to many students. What do we mean by applying oneself7 “I mean to critically evaluate (yonr) snbject matter and try to make it personally relevant,” says Turner. At the University of Delaware, I befriended other graduate and undergraduate physics students, from whom I learned a great deal. I also became friends with many of my professors who were always willing to offer their assistance. Yet my mind was always on my studies and I wasted little time worrying about a social calendar. Some blacks argoe, “Why go to a white university?” I believe blacks should be free to choose any college or university In the V.S. Main stream universities I feel, though, are microcosms of Mainstream America. That is to say that these univer sities will offer minorities an opportunity to adapt to the rigors of the Mainstream American culture prior to their making serious upward mobility mistakes that would permanently prejudice their managements’ opinions against their capabilities. I feel compelled to offer a set of postulates to enhance minority students’ chances of succeeding at mainstream universities. \'y.&ijL ^ Have a clear goal in mind that answers why you are going to a particular university. Concentrate on your studies. Do not expect a great social Hfe. Try to make white friends (teachers and students) who have goals similar to yours. Join study groups and make significant contribu tions. f Wj v ’ * ?• : ■ plant in utfciifia, ceifft '* nn ^ fohlclo® being differs from (he eicisting Charlotte W>ie ^n*rn'a*'(^ erigjng| height transit officials to gaggo riders' reaction to the special features '-m W&tLjEwmrm UMPEBf. MiT OXOAHIZB • * . • \L >■ ' -'M . ■V f. ' /.’Vi l ’ V.,' * ^jp Be ware The Siren Call Of Cheap OO f • • 1 r Sabrina’s column will re appear next week. • In Greek mythology, sirens were sea maidens whose ir restible singing hired sailors to their destruction. For the U.S., today’s siren call is the current deluge of cheap oil. It can lead the nation down a dangerous coarse unless Americans resist the temptation to succumb to a false sense of energy security: Lower prices at the gaso line pomp are providing mop* benefits to consumicfft bat tfiatY not cause for losing sight of ‘ the need for U.S. > energy production. Today’s global oil glut is a tem porary condition. Compla cency over current energy supplies could lead to go vernment policies that slow development of the United States’ petroleum resource base. Hie U.8. could well face another energy crunch before the end of the cen tury - and quite possibly within the next three to five years. The decline in oil prices is bringing drilling for new U.S. supplies to a near standstill. The number of 5 ? active drilling rigs exploring for new U,S. oil and natural gas supplies, which was close to 2,MO at the end of IMS, had dropped to 80S by the second week of May; that was the lowest weekly domestic rig count in the past 37 years. Not only are fewer new wells being drilled; marginal production wells are being shut in - many, probably forever. Shut-Ins occur because the value of the oil produced Is not sufficient to cover the costs of maintain ing production. Expert projections made even before the recent price decline agree that, as the nation approaches the year 2000, there will be a steady increase in U.S. oil consump tion, an inevitable decline in domestic oil reserves and production, and a sharp In crease in oil imports. The projections also agree that oil output in regions outside the Middle East will peak before the end of this century and then start to decline, while world con sumption continues to grow. The recent sharp decline in crude Qjll prices will will provide OPEC nations around the Persian Gulf with an expanding market for their abundant supplies. $ This has serious implica tions for U.S. energy security and the nation's factories and farms, which run on energy. This country will leave- itself open to grave economic and security dis locations If it becomes un necessarily dependent on imported ofl. Domestic re sources have to be found and developed in preparation Nr the time when world oil supplies will be mucji tighter than they are today. Common sense dictates, therefore, that the govern ment remove unnecessary restraints on domestic ener gy production, and avoid new ones. Public policies should allow oil companies to explore and drill on onshore and offshore government lands that possess energy potential, avoid discrimina tory taxation of the petro leum Industry, and complete the deregulation et natural gas wellhead prices. The year 2000 Is now less than 14 years away. The na tion Is closer to the 2lst century than to such events of the recent past as man’s first step onto the moon In ISM and the world’s first human heart transplant In 1*7. If Americans want to strengthen themselves against a new energy shock before the end of this cen tury, they must realise that the siren song of cheap oil today can mean greeter reliance on insecure Imports tomorrow.* ... / .' ‘ Final Regfetfration final registration far summer quarter St CPCC will b* July 74 on campus or at OPCCs learnt/* cantors In Ptnevltte, Matthews, CcrneMus, and PwedamMall High earner training, and liberal arte all will bn offered. Tuition for mart quarter clasaas begin July M and continue for 11 weeks. Registration centers will be open from I a m • ■twarjaat* *
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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July 3, 1986, edition 1
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