Charlotte Business League
Will Present
Roy Ayers
In Spirit Square Concert
Entertdn^nt/P^IB
Census Bureau Asks Blacks To Be Counted
»»-•_t n. _
Graphic Presentation Of Election Results
' _Editorial* Pf«A
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Price: 50 Cent*
Gantt Looks Ahead
By HbA White
Pod Staff Writer
Although he's on the verge of
stepping down as mayor, Harvey
Gantt says he isn’t through with
the political arena.
Gantt, Charlotte’s first black
™*yor, lost a does election to Sue
Myrick last week in what many
observers labeled an upset, A
week after the election, Gantt
aays ha has been able to reflect
back, with a sense of reality that
wasn’t possible at first.
"You never expect to lose, but al
ways be prepaired to loee is my
motto,” he said. "It was a shock to
me as it was very disappointing
but that'tfthe nature of politics.”
Gantt reflected upon the cam
paign as a strange occurance po
litically: 0 popular incumbent
who is unexpectedly beaten. But
he refiisedtto point out one single
factor as tAwhy he failed to win.
”1 doiit fa tend to look back at
why I loet a race,” he informed.
"You think it ovar for a few days
then you njove on." V ' . • ■
Like it or not, Gantt said, race is
isuiV-vJSu-ii adihiiilefc' .
Harvey Gantt
a fact of political life. He got
nearly all the black vote and 36
percent of white support, but it
wasn't enough to overcome My
ricks support among whites.
Ron Leeper, who just missed out
on the fourth city council seat, as
sorted that the election turned
along racial lines.
"Race was a factor, there's no
getting around that," Gantt stat
ed. "It's tough to win in a city
that's 75 percent white, but we
knew that going in."
8ome observers charge that
Gantt's campaign suffered from
its own success, that the candidate
and his supporters felt the election
was wrapped up when he an
nounced a reelection bid.
MyriA,
on the other hand, built
support as the campaign
progressed by attacking Gantt on
traffic congestion, leadership
and his character. By election
day, the momentum was clearly
on tho challenger's side.
Gantt agreed to an extent about
complacency, but he insists that
his campaign was run on the is
sues, not personal attacks.
"There wasn't the fire or enthu
siasm of other campaigns," he re
counted. "It may be providence,
maybe the third time wasn't in
tended. Clearly this wasn't in the
See Gantt On Page 2A
JLeeper To SH_% Political Gears
I
RonLeeper
tag the city’s business, Leeper in
formed thkthe will turn his atten
tion toward fda (family. ’ fj' ,
“I'm going to apend more time
with' my jwife and Idda (Rhonda,
Id and Abba, 13) who have grown
up pith me in politics," he said.
"I probably have neglected them
in bfatag a public official."
Even after his lose, Leeper said
he indirectly heard about mayor
olect Sue Myrick's invitation to
Join an advisory panel she plans
to implement. Leeper said he nev
er‘talked to Myrick about the posi
tion and would rather do some
things that aren't related to poli
tics.
• "Mrs. Jaynes ni— not talked to
stated. "I h ne
i■ i that to
flfcf largo campaign, Leeper
said, was a good idea although he
gaWup a safe seat to try to run in
a (laid of oight. After serving
District 8 since 1977, Leeper felt
Charlotte Observer), 9 out of 10
people knew who I wee, Leeper
surmised. ’Given the name rec
ognition end my experience, I
should've come in second. After
off, it comes
Bnce."
Although he got soma white sup
port, Leeper didn't get enough to
win election. He suggested that
white voters look st more than la
bels when they go to the polls.
’It's always been tough for
blacks to win citywide and I don't
see it getting any saaiar.
Progress can only, be attained
when everybody' moves at ths
same time,’ he said. ’If you're
pushing one way and the other
fellow ia pulling the other way,
you're not going to gat much
dona. But sometimes you just
have to push by yoursslf to change
things."
During the campaign, Leeper
denounced the practice of single
■hot voting in a four-seat race. To,
single shot, supporters vote for
one candidate only, in hopes of
padding his total while keeping
the opposition's down.
Leeper suggests that while sin
gle-shot slections may not bs the
best way to elect blacks to dtywide
offices, some other method may be
needed to win.
’It's time to go to the drawing
board,’ he said. ’Thai* are other
methods for blacks to win at city
wide elections, and they should bs
explored. We have to analyse
every option to determine what is
best to get the people wa want"
Black voters, though, shouldn't ;
take the election re suite as a
backlash against black candi
dates, Leeper asserts. Blacks
should try to work even herder
within the system to effect
change.
The best candidate doesn't al
ways win,’ hs said. "My concern
ie that weYs moving to a paint
whore people are leee likely to
vote. We sought to take tome
rieka. Toe many people ill the
fAmmunitv rrtnnmrf /gif M il.
_____. . _
INSIDE THIS WEEK
system. If we participated to our
fall potential, we could have a tre
mendous impact on every elec
tion."
Loan Flan
KAlaEIGH (AP) ~ U.S.Educa
tion Secretary William Bennett's
proposal to end federal loans to
schools with high student loan de
fault rates would have a chilling
effect on students who attend
black colleges in North Carolina,
officials say.
"I would describe the secretary’s
policies as Neanderthal,” Robert
L. Albright, president of Johnson
C. Smith University in Charlotte,
told the News and Observer of Ra
leigh. "It's designed to punish in
stitutions, and ... it would proba
bly does us.”
In Raleigh, offidals at Shaw
University and St. Augustine's
College said Bennett's threats
showed a lack of compassion for
students from low-income fami
lies who rely on federal aid.
Bennett said Wednesday that the
government would have to spend
$1.6 billion this year, nearly half
the federal Guaranteed Student
Loan budget, to <pver loans that
students failed to repay, a situa
Albright
tion ho called "intolerable."
In interviews Friday, educators
from black schools attacked Ben
nett for threatening to end federal
student loans to schools if their
student loan default rates exceed
Albright Reappointed To CollegoBoard
■ dent,
O. Smith University,
ed 20 percent by 1880. Black col
leges rank near the top of the list
of North Carolina schools with
high default rates.
Nationwide, according to feder
al figures, there are 2,190 colleges
or trade schools with default rates
' of 20 percent or higher. In re
sponse to high numbers of stu
dents failing to pay off their
loans, the Senate is considering a
bill that would allow guarantors
to refuse to guarantee loans to in
stitutions with a default rate high
er than 26 percent.
A list issued by federal educa
tors showed 65 colleges or trade
schools in North Carolina with
default rates at 20 percent or high
er. Among those were several pre
dominantly black colleges in
cluding St. Augustine's with a de
fault rate of 64.6 percent; Shaw
with 33.3 percent; Johnson C.
Smith with 47.7 percent; and
North Carolina Central Univer
sity with 33.5 percent.
On Friday, members of the N.C.
Association of Colleges and Uni
versities split over the issue dur
ing their annual convention in
Durham, narrowly defeating a
resolution that would have ex
pressed opposition to any legisla
tion calling for punitive actions
against students and schools that
default on student loans. The 29
28 vote was split along racial
lines, with most black colleges of
ficials supporting the resolution.
Oscar S. Smith Jr., director ol
marketing and communications
for the 1,671-student St. Augus
tine's, said that the four
year college had been working to
reduce its default rate for several
years. Smith said efforts to reduce
the rate were hampered by a lack
of enforcement power over stu
dents who wouldn't pay.
"We don't have the authority to
enforce those laws,” Smith said.
• "It lies with the individual or par
ent or guardian of whoever takes
out that loan. We do everything,
we can to encourage them to pay it
back, but we can't enforce it."
Half of Shaw University's 1,600
students receive federal aid, said
Thomas E. Kee, Shaw's executive
vice president. Kee said Bennett's
proposal to end aid would be "very
serious for our students."
Kee disputed the Department of
Education list showing his col
lege with a 33.3 percent default
rate.
"At our last report, we were
slightly over 20 percent and ... we
expect to be lower than that by the
end of the year," he said.
Albright suggested the federal
government could find other
means of getting students to repay
loans, such as seizing tax refund
checks and garnisheeing pay
checks. He said Bennett's propo
sal "had he potential of actually
closing" many colleges and
trade schools.
Business League To Present Awards At Fete
in* unanotte dudimm League
will present its 1987 Buainaaa
Awards recipients and Buainaaa
Hall of Fame inductees during its
Tenth Annual Awards celebration
on Thursday, November 19,1987.
The awards recipients and in
ductees will be announced and in
troduced at a luncheon news con
ference at 11 o'clock at McDo
nald's Cafeteria on Beatties Ford
Road at Interstate 8ft.
The Charlotte Buattaae League is
on sloven-year old oTganlwtion of
minority -owned companies, black
professionals and major corpora
tion • whose primary otyaetiva is
the promotion end enhancement
of black buainaaa and economic da
velopTfl(fc| i.'Ji V b'*" rip |
The awards are presented in
three categrries: "New Business of
the Year* for minority-owned
company in business two years or
lees; "Business of the Year* tor 1
nority-owned company in bust
rt.v"
naaa flva yaara or mora; Huai naaa
Hall of Varna’ for minority buai
naaa paraon in buainaao at laaot 20
yaara and/or rati rad altar mini
mum 20 yaara.
In addition to thair buainaao auc
eaaaaa, tha awardaaa and induetaaa
ara citad for thair community and
Nn*irM«i«A<t
civic involvement and lenderehip,
and far their eupport of the pro
motion and enhancement of other
black buafneeeae and economic de
velopment.
Nominatione for the bueineea
awarde and Hall of Fame are eob
mitted to a committee of former
Charlotte Business League Presi
dents who make the final selec
tions. Some of the previous
awards winner* have included?
Jean Webber, fanner owner of A1*
manufactured computer cards i
company and now president of J
Metro-Crescent Communications, *
which owns and operates WJXY- '
TV CHANNEL 46; Charlotte ^
Mayor Harvey Gantt and his part- !
ner Jeff Huberman recognised fur *
their succeasfbl architectural firm '
of Gantt-Huberman fr Associates; ;
Naaif Majeed, owner of the Burger |
Ring franchise on Beatties Ford J
Road at 146; the late Dr. C. Wav* *]
ran Williams, Sr., a Charlotte r
•eon, businessman, and
organiser of s West
Health Center that now
lotto Business League, call
League Office at 8764188.