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The Voice of the Black Community
Also serving Cat
liiiliiliiihliM
11 11 11 M 11 11 11 11 1111111111
WEEK OF FEBRUARY &-15, 2006
Congress
flunks out
CHANGING ACADEMIC CULTURE
«»»»«jn»n«5-DIGIT 28216 SIO PI
]3ies B. Duke Library
100 Beatties Ford Rd
Charlotte NC 28216-5302
on black
concerns
By Hazel Trice Edney
SA710SM. SKWSRAPtJi
PLBlJSmJiS ASSOCIATIOS
WASHINGTON - Although the
head of the Republican National
Committee and Presid^t Bush
have pledged to make a more con
centrated effort to win over black
voters, 98 percent
of Republicans in
the House and
Senate earned an F
on the latest
NAACP Civil
Rights Report
Card, compared to
only 2 percent of
Democrats receiv-
Ford
ing failing grades.
“(Republican Party Chairman
Ken) Mehlman has been out beat
ing the bushes and saying that the
Republican Party was appealing
for the black vote, but this is the
most powerful evidence and con
tinuing evidence that the
Republicans have not realigned
their public policy approaches to
attract the black vote.” says
University erf* Maryland Political
Scientist Ronald Walters.
According to the NAACP'S mid
term report for the 109th
Congress, all but one of the 231
Republicans in the U S. House cf
Representatives got an F, The
exception was Rep. Christopher
Shays of Connecticut, who earned
a D. No House Republicans got Bs
or Cs.
In the Senate, 51 of the 55
Republicans earned Fs. Lincoln
Chafee of Rhode Island was the
only one to get a C, the top grade
among GOP members. Olympia J.
Snowe and Susan Collins, both of
Maine, and Mike De^^e of Ohio,
all received Ds. Sen Jim Jeffords
of Vermont, an Independent, got a
C.
Of the 201 House Democrats,
123 earned As, 38 got Bs, 29
received Cs, six were awarded Ds
and five flunked with Fs. That’s a
decline fiom the 108th Congress,
when no Democrat received an F.
The five House Democrats who
earned Fs this time were Rep.
Leonard Boswell of Iowa, Rodney
Alexander of Louisiana, Collin
Peterson of Minnesota, Dan Boren
of Oklahoma, and Gene Tajlor of
Mississippi An Incomplete was
See CONGRESS/2A
PHOTO/CURTIS WILSON
West Charlotte High School principal John Modest checks on Demario Wiggins and Markey Edwards
during their senior class exit project
Modest goal: Boost
West Charlotte High
Facing declining test scores and discipline, first-year
principal sets sights on returning school to excellence
By C. Jemal Horton
FOR THE CHARWITE POST
John Modest smiles a whole lot
more than your old hi^ school
principal fi^m back in the day
There are no scowls with
Modest. Voice-raising is pretty
much non-existent. And the man
has such an engaging personali
ty that people, even students,
ei\joy being around him.
Joe Clark he is not.
Modest, however, is exactly
what former Charlotte-
Mecklenburg Schools
Superintendent James Pughsley
thought low-achieving West
Charlotte Hig^i School needed
when he lured the well-respected
principal fium Wake Cbunty last
year.
And after six months on the
job, during which Modest has
made critical strides in revamp
ing the mind-set of the oft-
maligned school, a lot of people
already are inclined to agree
with Pughsleys assessment of
Modest.
“First of all, he has an open-
door policy, and that shows the
students they’re important,” said
Mable Latimer,” a 1952 graduate
of the school and past national
president of the West Charlotte
National Alumni Association.
“The students can come right
in here to talk to Mr. Modest.
Children can tell whether you
care about them; they’re percep
tive. It doesn’t take long for tl^m
to tell whether you really care. It
helps them to know that you’re
there for them. And Mr. Modest
is there for them. He is a listen
ing ear. We truly believe he can
take West Charlotte where we
need to be.”
Don’t let the smiles and the
earnest conversations fool you;
Modest is anything but a
pushover.
Part of what makes Modest so
highly regarded as an adminis
trator is his dexterity: he’s firm
See MODEST/3A
“Not only do we need to
have high expectations
of them to perform at a
high level academically,
but also in the way they
conduct themselves. ”
West Charlotte High School
principal John Modest
CORETTA SCOTT KING 1927-2006
Civil rights leader lauded
for building own legacy
By George E. Curry
SATIOSAL SEn'SPAPER
PUBUSHERSASSOCUnOS
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOflOB CARR
Mary Ravenell of Rowesville, S.C. stands in line to attend the Coretta
Scott King homegoing ceremony at New Birth Missionary Baptist
Church In Lithonia, Ga, Tuesday.
WASHINGTON - With four U.S.
presidents in attendance - two
Democrats and two Republicans -
the 6-hour fimeral of Coretta Scott
King on Tiiesday started out as
though it might be a star-studded
exercise in pohtical correctness,
with speakers gingerly avoiding
issues that have sharply divided
King
Country Day's D^on
Bivens ascerxls to top spot
in N C.amateur tennis ID
Life IB
Religion 5B
Sports 1C
Business 7C
upen
onuitian
mperiH
Poorer neighborhoods
likely at higher risk
with federal, N.C. law
By Herbert L. White
herb.whited iliecharlotteposii'om
Government has always had immi
nent domain gw&c private property
But developers won’t be far behind,
A recent U.S.
Supreme Court ruling
affirming govern
ments’ right to seize
private property and
sell it to developers has
raised concerns that
the politically weak
will suffer most
In North Carolina,
Turner
the state’s Urban Redevelopment
Law allows sweeping latitude for
government to seize property accord
ing to a report authored by the con
servative John Locke Foundation. Its
scope is so wide, said Daren Bakst,
the Raleigh-based foundation’s legal
and regulatory policy analyst, that
non-blighted property can be taken
for economic development,
“North Carolina law needs a nar
row definition of blight, or it will be
open season on private property,”
Bakst said. “Right now its laws are so
vague they are open to all kinds of
interpretation. ”
Charlotte City Council member
Warren T\imer, whose southwest dis-
Rease see URBAN/8A
Jurist brings
diversity to
top court
Tunmons-Goodson first
black woman on panel
By Sommer Brokaw
7H£ TRIANGLE IRIBUNE
them in the past.
President George
W. Bush, an ardent
opponent of affirma
tive action and other
social programs
favored by both Dr.
Martin Luther King
Jr. and his wife,
Coretta, was eflfiisive
, in his praise of Mrs. King.
“Tve come today to offer the sym-
Rease see KING/7A
Patricia Timmons-Gk>odson will
make history as the first black female
appointed to the N.C. Supreme Court,
Gov. Mike Easley appointed
Tlmmons-Goodson to the position, giv
ing the Supreme Court two women on
its panel Chief Justice Sarah Parker,
who replaced the retiring I. Beveriy
Lake, is the other female.
The Supreme Court
hears cases involving
constitutional issues
and considers errors in
legal cases or interpre
tations of the law. Only
three black jurists have
served on the bench
prior to Timmons- Timmons-
Goodson’s appoint- Goodson
ment: Henry Frye,
James A. Wynn and G.K. Butterfield.
“It is for sure a rare privilege,”
Tlmmons-Goodson said. ‘T don’t care
what race or gender you are.”
But, Goodson said she did face prej
udice back in the early 1980s.
“When we didn’t have as many
See JURIST/2A
A&E1D
Happenings 6C
INSIIE
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