VOLUME 19, No. 14
Ciiarlotte
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 11,1993
50 CENTS
Lifestyles
College
bound. 8A
Your student is smart as a whip
and weighing college choices.
But what about your finances?
The best way to plan is far in
advance.
Entertainment
The music man. IB
Sonny Moore (rear and on the
right) opens his own recording
studio in the West Charlotte
Business Incubator.
Sports
Trojan warrior. 7B
Two years ago, Olympic High
School's football program was a
so-so outfit. But that was be
fore Thabiti Davis arrived. Now
he is primed to lead the Trojans
into the first round of the N.C.
4A playoffs Friday.
Dreams vs.
reaiity. 7B
A Study released this week says
high school students, especially
in urban areas, have unrealistic
goals when it comes to making a
careeer as a professional ath
lete.
Religion
Confiict in
the Bible. 9A
A book alleging errors in the
best-selling book of all time -
the Bible - is sparking debate
and controversy.
Opinion &
Editorials
The New
Rjepublicans. 5A
Columnist
Tony
Brown
counters
) President
\Bill Clin-
I ton's claim
jof New
Democrats
INDEX
Opinion/Editorials 4A-5A
Lifestyles 7A
Around Charlotte 8A
Rellgioo^A
Ci^H§d 12B
=orSubscription
Information, Call
376-0496
©The Charlotte Post
Publishing Company
Getting a gun in Mecklenburg County isn't
very difficult for adults. And now, kids are
finding it doesn't take much to get
Number of
Charlotte-
Mecklen-
burg stu
dents ex
cluded for
carrying
guns.
' -£i*
tfr^
K4f
PHOTO XLLU8TEIATION/GALVIN FERGUSON
Easy accesis leads to proliferation
By Winfred B. Cross
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Sept. 22. A 15-year-old
North Mecklenburg High
School student walks up to a
fellow student, puts a gun to
the back of his head and
pulls the trigger.
BAM!
Miraculously, because the
gun was dirty, the bullet had
little velocity, lodging be
tween the student’s scalp
and skull. The victim was
treated and released.
The shooter has been ex
cluded from school and
awaits trial.
The aforementioned situa
tion is not an indictment on
the school system; it's a
problem shared by all of so
ciety. Kids are becoming
more vicious and more and
more of them are carrying
guns.
According to the U.S. De
partment of Justice, the
number of teenagers across
the nation arrested for mur
der Increased 85 percent be
tween 1987 and 1991. Sev
enteen percent of all those
arrested for violent crime in
1991 were between the ages
of 10 and 17 years old.
According to figures from
the National Education As
sociation (NEA), an estimat
ed 100,000 kids carry guns
to school each day.
In 1993, 65 of those stu
dents were excluded from
Charlotte-Mecklenburg
schools. That was up from
52 the previous year.
Bryan Blavatt, court liai
son for the school system,
says the numbers will grow
because of tougher policies
and more student coopera
tion.
"We’re dealing with the fact
that a lot of people are pro
active with this new disci
pline policy. We’re trying to
create an environment that
is safe and the kids are
helping us," Blavatt said.
’They are giving us tips and
we’re going after them. It’s
good that good kids are
starting to take control.
They’re saying 'look, we’re
going to take control.’’’
Once a kid is caught on
campus with a gun, the
school’s principal is re
quired to request expulsion.
The student gets a hearing
and if it’s determined he or
she had a firearm, the stu
dent is expelled from all ac
ademic programs for the re
mainder of year. The
student has to petition the
superintendent in order to
return to school the next ac
ademic year.
Only two months Into the
school year seven students
have already been excluded
for possessing guns, includ
ing the North Mecklenburg
shooter. Blavatt said the
system will "go the full ex
tent of the law on this one. If
it turns out to be the parent’s
gun, we’re after them too.
We’ve got the full coopera
tion of the police depart
ment."
Blavatt is cautious about
too much emphasis being
placed on students with
guns, however.
"Any violence in our socie
ty is an alarming trend. One
has to remember we’re talk
ing about a microcosm of
the total society. I’m won
dering if there’s not a rise in
gun possession in society in
general."
Captain John O’Hare, com
mander of the Charlotte-
Mecklenburg Police Depart
ment’s youth services bu
reau, says it’s the 20 and un
der population that is
showing one the greatest in
crease in carrying guns.
See CHILDREN On Page 2A
Building
bridges
on city
council
Blacks have a
chance to forge
n6w coalitions
By Cassandra Wynn
THE CHARLOTTE POST
A lot of horse trading and
coalition building may be
the politics of the four black
members of Charlotte City
Council.
Blacks, who make up four-
fifths of the Democratic mi
nority on council, are now in
a strategic position to form a
block that could swing - not
so much between party lines
- but between lines of liberal
and conservative or special
interests.
While the black communi
ty picked up one seat, the
Democrats lost a seat and
their majority on the 11-seat
council. The other Democrat
on council is Sara Spencer.
All other council members
are Republican led by Mayor
Richard VInroot.
"This fortifies opportuni
ties to develop goals as they
relate to the over all the com
munity and more specifical
ly to the black community
and make Charlotte a world
class city that we talk about,"
said Ella Scarborough, who
will start her fourth term
later this month.
Scarborough’s decision to
run at-large allowed the elec
tion of Patrick Cannon in
District 3. Nasif Majeed (Dis
trict 4) and Hoyle Martin
(District 2) handily won re-
election. The result is more
bargaining power for blacks.
"We should develop an
agenda (for the black com
munity),’’ Scarborough said.
"I’m willing to take a leader
ship role in that. It is imper
ative that we build coalitions
with colleagues. There are
some issues specifically re
lating to the black communi
ty."
The black community at
least stayed even after last
week’s election, reasoned
Bill Culp, Mecklenburg
County Board of Elections
supervisor. ’The Republicans
are the winners. On some is
sues, the four black members
can make a difference. But
all the black members are all
different and have different
priorities," he said. "Like
other politicians, the black
members will do a lot of
horse trading. The Republi
cans will set the agenda and
decide what’s going to hap
pen. There is no question in
my mind that public safety is
what voters are concerned
about. The reason Ella Scar
borough won at large is that
she was able to articulate a
heavy punch on the crime
See COUNCIL On Page 3A
Draft targets 50% reduction in county teen pregnancies
By Herbert L. White
THE CHARLOTTE POST
A Mecklenburg County group is
working to cut teen pregnancy in
half by the year 2000.
The Mecklenburg Council on Ado
lescent Pregnancy (MCAP) Tuesday
unveiled a draft to reduce the inci
dences of teen pregnancy. A drafting
team of 14 individuals spent six
months putting together the plan,
which will Include community out
put before its implementation.
The number of pregnancies in the
county has showed a slight decrease
over the last three years, from 2,249
in 1990 to 2,064 in 1992. Still, an av
erage of six Mecklenburg girls get
pregnant every day.
Fifty-four percent of all Mecklen
burg teen births occur in Charlotte’s
inner city area - area codes 28216,
28208, 28206, 28205 and 28213 -
where the population Is overwhelm
ingly black.
Teen pregnancy's cost to the county
is about $30 million a year, said
Frank Spencer, executive director of
Children’s Services Network. If the
rate of pregnancy isn’t reduced, the
cost of care for children through
their first five years of life will in
crease.
"If we don’t change the rate at all,
our costs will rise to $42 million in
the next six years," he said.
The plan would try to reduce preg
nancies through four areas:
• Increasing the number of teens
who abstain from sex through edu
cation starting in kindergarten;
• Protect the sexually active from
pregnancy and sexually-
transmitted disease:
• Prevent additional pregnancies
among teen mothers and;
• Prepare the children of teen
mothers and other high-risk kids
for success in school and life to
make abstinence attractive.
Even in the sexually-active ’90s,
abstinence should be the corner
stone of any p'ogram, Spencer said.
’We believe increasing the percent
age of young people who choose ab
stinence is a realistic goal," he said.
’We think that is the best choice, the
healthiest choice, the one that is
consistent with the standards of the
community."
Along with the push for absti
nence, the draft also calls for con
traceptives for sexually-active teens
who feel saying "no" isn’t for them.
Distributing Norplant, a controver
sial birth control method used in
some N.C. counties and nationally,
could be among the options used in
Mecklenburg. Some African Ameri
cans consider making Norplant
available to poor women and teens
an attempt to control black birth
rates and too great a health risk.
The procedure, which lasts about
five years and costs about $500,
would be covered under Medicare.
’We feel very strongly our youth
need access to condoms and contra
ceptives,” said Jo Kelly, MCAP’s ex
ecutive director. ’We can’t fail to
make (Norplant) part of the plan."