J.CS.U.
Homecoming 1988
Festivities Kick-off
lifestyles/ Page 6B
VALENCE: Returning To JCSU
Entertainment/ Page 12A
Oral Cancer: The Warning Signs
Health & Physical Fitness Supplement/ Page 1C
/ns/rfe The
Alliance
Dr. W. J. Simmons I
First Black Appointed Dean
at Gaston College
Alliance/ Page ID
Charlotte ^osft
Vol. 14, No. 20 Thursday, October 27,1988
THE AWARD-WINNING " VOICE OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY"
50 Cents
Board: No
To Guns In
Schools
By HERB WHITE
Post Staff Writer
The Increase of gun seizures In
Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools
reflects the problems of society,
school board Vice Chairman
George Battle believes.
Students bring guns for a va
riety of reasons, said Battle, the
designated "gun czar" appointed
by Chairman Ashley Hogewood
to prepare a prellmlnaiy report
on the problem.
"Some of them are scared," he
said. "And some of them are Just
mean."
The board met Tuesday to dis
cuss ways to stem the flow of
guns onto campus, a growing
problem this year.
Everyone agreed something
should be done, but the conver
sation was heated at times, with
members of the audience Inter
rupting the board to state their
cases.
At least 14 weapons have been
confiscated this year, a pace
that will eclipse last year's 22
seizures. The most widely publi
cized Incident was a shooting at
a West Charlotte-Garlnger foot
ball game In which three people
were hurt
The board took no formal ac
tion, but asked administrators
to prepare a plan at the next
meeting.
Battle's report suggested the
board establish a policy of:
• Random, unannounced locker
searches.
• Establishing a hot line so
students may tip authorities to
possible gun possession.
• Having a board member
present at the court sentencing
of students on trial for gun pos
session.
• Maintaining court-ordered
counseling for firearm offenders.
Schools Supt. Peter Relic said
the schools' gun problem has
brought the community together
to work for its elimination.
"All right-thinking people de
plore guns In the schools and
we're angiy." he said. "...It's a plea
for this community to come to
gether."
Relic agreed that guns is a so
cietal problem, compounded by
the ease in acquiring weapons.
"Any young person can go out
on tlie streets and buy a gun," he
said, adding that parents often
condone their use by children.
Students, administrators and
staff have been "alert In the
schools." Relic said, and the sys
tem's suspension and expulsion
of offenders will remain con
stant.
"I'm satisfied and I hope the
board is satisfied that we can
continue to employ a strong dis
cipline policy," he said.
Members of the audience gave
their suggestions, even while the
board discussed strategy.
Carlton Lewis, a minister with
the Rod of God Ministries, said
students who cany guns are ac
tually looking for attention they
don't get in school.
'The home life and the church
es Is where we should base this,"
he said. 'We need to go directly
to the young people."
Lewis, who late stopped the
board's deliberations with an
emotional outburst, blamed the
use of guns in school as part of
the drug culture and compound
ed by a school system that
doesn't recognize blacks as
readily as whites.
'The young black men want to
be recognized as somebody, but
they are on the low end of the to
tem pole, the product of their
environment," he said.
See GUN On Page 2A
-V:
A NEW FACELIFT FOR PIEDHONT COURTS welcomed many
of Charlotte'a dignitariea at a re-dedication ceremony held
Photo/CALVIN FERGUSON
Wednesday. Clarence Westbrooks, President of Piedmont
Courts Regent's Aaaoclstlon. qiealu during the gathering.
Neighborhoods Get Improvement Money
The Foundation For The Caro-
linas announced recently that
$48,500 has been awarded to 15
neighborhoods through Its
1988-89 Neighborhood Grants
Program for low Income areas.
Its fifth year of operation, the
Neighborhood Grants Program
has provided approximately
$250,000 to fund a variety of
neighborhood Improvement
programs and to develop le.ader-
ship skills at the grassroots lev
el.
Neighborhood grants for 1988-
89 are:
- $7,500 to Brookhill, South-
side and Wilmore neighbor
hoods, located In the S. Tryon
Street area, for joint youth and
beautification programs and to
plan for community centers In
the area.
- $7,500 to the Huntersville
Community Development Asso
ciation in the Pottstown neigh
borhood for a food service pro
gram In which neighborhood
residents will be trained In food
service jobs so they may offer a
senior nutrition program and
other food services for their
neighborhood at a new kitchen
in a recently renovated commu
nity center.
- $4,880 to the First Ward FuU
Court Press j; rogram which pro
vides athletio, educational and
community service opportuni
ties to youth In Earle Village,
Piedmont Courts, Belmont and
nearby neighborhoods.
- $4,000 to the Kingston Com
munity Organization near Shel
by, N.C. for a youth program
called Partners With Kingston
Youth.
- $4,000 to Seversville Commu
nity Organization In the Tucka-
seegee Avenue area for a beauti
fication program Involving
neighborhood youth.
-$3,800 to Reid Park Commu
nity Organization off West
Boulevard to expand a youth
motivational project and study
the feasibility of a community
development corporation for
neighborhood economic devel
opment and housing.
- $3,500 to Hampton Park
Community Organization off
Highway 29 In the University
City area for beautification and
small-scale rehabilitation of
homes.
- $3,000 to Sterling Communi
ty Organization off South Boule
vard for a neighborhood beauti
fication project.
- $2,000 to Washington
Heights Improvement Commit
tee for a beautification program
Involving neighborhood youth In
the neighborhood off Beatties
Ford Road In west Charlotte.
- $1,500 Optimist Park Com
munity Organization located off!
N. Brevard Street for beautifica- •
tion projects and a community
newsletter.
- $1,000 to Crestdale Commu
nity Organization In Matthews
for on going community educa
tion programs at the Crestdale
Community Center, which was
established through earlier
grants from the Neighborhood
Grants Program.
- $1,000 to Nevin Community
Organization to publish a news
letter for their community which
Is located off Statesville Avenue.
- $800 to Christ the King Cen
ter in the Optimist Park neigh
borhood for a newsletter to ac
quaint neighborhood residents
and supporters In other parts of
See NEIGHBORHOOD On 2A
Clark To
Run For
Reelection
Special To The Poet
Mary Clarke
recently an
nounced her
candidacy for
reelectlon as
president of
the Charlotte-
Mecklenbuig
County
Branch
NAACP.
Clarke was
Clarke elected presi
dent of the Charlotte-
Mecklenburg branch for the
term 1987-1988 after serving as
senior vice president (1985-86)
and as vice president for two
previous terms.
During her more than 30 years
of Involvement In the NAACP,
Clarke has served on various lo
cal. state, and regional NAACP
committees Including political
action, labor and Industry, cre
dentials, resolutions, nominat
ing, health programs, women's
auxlliaiy, membership, conven
tion planning and more.
Clarke's top priorities If elect
ed to a new term are focus on
school drop-out prevention,
youth and family participation
In the NAACP. alcohol and drug
abuse prevention, weapon con
trol in schools, senior citizen
assistance programs, single
member districts, and monitor
ing of the school board and city/
county commissions.
Also, Clarke says she plans to
Increase Involvement of NAACP
members in outlying areas of
the county In NAACP activities
and programs.
Clarke maintains that she rec
ognizes the Importance of politi
cal action, and she plans to In
crease the local NAACP branch
activities In the areas of voter
participation, education and
registration.
GAO Hits EEOC, Urges A Congressional Probe
By Chester A. Higgins, Sr.
NNPA News Editor
Washington, DC - The United
States General Accounting Of
fice, In a scathing 85-page re
port. has charged the Equ^ Em-
ployment Opportunity
Commission with faulty
"Investigative techniques" that
have resulted In up to "82 per
cent of Its cases being closed by
District Offices without being
fully Investigated." GAO also
charged that despite this short-
cutting of Investigative proce
dures the "size of the backlog
nearly doubled between 1983-
87, leaving more than 118,000
charges awaiting Investigation
by either EEOC or the state
agencies."
In summary, GAO declared
that "given EEOC's large work
load, large backlog of charges
and long-standing history of in
vestigative problems, (GAO) be
lieves that It Is time for a con
gressional review of the strategy
being used to enforce employ
ment dlscrimlnatoiy laws" In the
United States.
GAO recommended that Rep.
Augustus Hawkins (D-CA),
chairman of the House Com
mittee on Education and Labor
Committee "and other appropri
ate congressional committees
jointly establish a panel of ex
perts to consider the strategy
being used to enforce job bias
laws.
EEOC Commission Chairman
Clarence Thomas, In a letter to
Lawrence H, Thompson, GAO
assistant Comptroller General,
Human Resources division, hot
ly denied the charges, declaring
that the "draft report trivializes
civil rights enforcement to a lev
el commensurate with widget
making."
The embattled EEOC chair
man In an interview with NNPA
this summer predicted that GAO
would skewer him with a nega
tive report. He complained the
report also "fails to note EEOC's
many program Improvements
and unprecedented success In
clvU rights enforcement. It does
not accurately reflect EEOC's
current Investigative perfor
mance." He said, "the limited,
overly mechanistic study Ig
nores the complexities Inherent
In civil rights enforcement," add
ed that "GAO'S recommenda
tions present no original sug
gestions for Improvement and
disregard initiatives Implement
ed by EEOC."
Thomas said "between 1982
and 1988, EEOC surpassed the
agency's previous enforcement
record... and obtained more tan
gible benefits, both monetary
and non-monetary, for victims
of unlawful discrimination than
were obtained by any previous
Commission. A total of $8.6 mil
lion In monetary benefits was
secured by EEOC between Octo
ber 1, 1987 and June 30, 1988,
alone." He also claimed "our
pending charge Inventory has
been significantly reduced," but
did not offer figures In support
of the allegation.
GAO recommended that EEOC
clarify and enforce Investigatory
policies and standards. Includ
ing obtaining and verifying all
relevant evidence, direct EEOC's
district offices to monitor Inves-
See GAO On Page 2A
County
Offers
Grant
NAACP May Challenge N.C. Broadcast Stations
STATESVILLE, N.C. (AP) —
The state NAACP says It may
challenge the renewal of broad
cast licenses
for as many as
29 North Caro
lina radio sta
tions for fail
ure to hire
women and
minorities.
In extreme
cases, the FCC
could decline
to renew a sta
tion's license,
forcing It off
Schatzman the air and
rendering It worthless to Its
owners. In a market the size of
Charlotte, an FM station sells
for $7 million to $10 million.
Even If a challenge falls. It can
be costly for a station.
"In 1974, we challenged WBAL-
TV In Baltimore," said Dennis
Schatzman, executive director
of the N.C. Conference of the Na
tional Association for the Ad
vancement of Colored People. "It
ended up costing them $250,000
— and that was In 1974 dol
lars."
The potential challenges were
announced Thursday by David
Honlg, general counsel to the
Maryland Conference of the
NAACP and to the National
Black Media Coalition, an or
ganization of owners of black-
owned radio and TV stations.
Honlg spoke on license chal
lenges before the 45th annual
convention of the N.C. Confer
ence of the NAACP. The conven
tion continues In Statesville to
day and Saturday.
The NAACP took no specific ac
tlon on Honig's report.
Allen Dick, general manager
and vice president of WKRR, one
of the stations mentioned by the
NAACP, said his station has
made a speclflc effort to recruit
women and minorities.
Of the station's 15 full-time
employees, six are women, Dick
said.
The station has had less suc
cess hiring blacks, Dick saild.
"I have solicited and Inter
viewed but we have no black em
ployees," Dick said. "It's not
from the lack of trying."
Dick said as the 3-year-old sta
tion grows and expands, the op
portunity for minority employ
ment will Increase.
"We'll give an Interview to any
one — black, white or Indian,"
Dick said. "If anyone Is Interest
ed, send us a resume."
Other stations mentioned In
clude WZZU In Burlington.
WCHL In Chapel Hill, WLOE and
WWMY In Eden, and WBIG in Re-
Idsvllle.
Michael Whalen, general man
ager and part owner of WLOE
and WWMY, said since he and
his partners bought WLOE 15
months ago, they've have a hard
time finding qualified employ
ees In gener^. He attributes part
of the problem to the station's
size and the challenge of attract
ing people who want to work In
larger metropolitan areas.
But he said his station does
make a special effort to recruit
minorities and women. Of the
station's 11 full- and part-time
employees, four are minorities
or women, he said.
"I understandably become a bit
annoyed when people say, 'Do It
because It's the law,"' Whalen
said. "I do It because I want the
best people. I'd hire an all-
minority staff or an all-woman
staff If they were the best peo
ple."
As a condition of their Ucens-
See NAACP On Page 2A
The Mecklenburg County
Commissioners voted recently
to give the westslde business In
cubator project a hand In rais
ing money.
The commissioners, behind a
proposal by District 2 Incum
bent Bob Walton, voted 4-2 to
release $25,000 In a challenge
grant to the project.
Barbara Lockwood, Carla Du-
Puy, deny Blackmon, Rod Au-
trey and Walton voted In favor of
the proposal while Peter Keber
and George Higgins voted
against it.
Walton Is the only black and
Democrat on the board.
"We want to show our concern
for economic growth on the
westslde," Walton said.
The funds will be released
when the Beatties Ford-West'
Trade Street Merchants Associ
ation closes In on its goal of
$150,000 for the Incubator. The
organization has raised over
See INCUBATOR On Page 2A
Inside This Week
Editorials Pg. 6A
Obituaries Pg. 3B
Entertainment Pg. 9A
Sports Pg. 9B
Lifestyles Pg. 1B
Classifieds Pg. 16B
Church News Pg. 3B
The Alliance Sec. D
Subscribe to the Charlotte Post, call 376-0496.