Perhaps our community needs
ft genera^ i of business whiz-kids
in order to correct the too long
held image of business inability.
We are being redundant when
we say that we have mastered
sports, entertainment and
religion.
When news headlines appear
reporting on “financial manage
ment problems” in our educa
tional institutions, our mastery of
sports, entertainment and the
practice of religion has not met
the need at hand.
It may be helpful to begin plac
ing as much emphasis on business
appreciation as we have em
phasized education.
Weekly, if not daily, our youth
are impressed with the idea of be
ing a top-flight running back,
dribbler, dancer, singer or any of
the other skills that obtain atten
tion. These talents are then sug
gested as being the road to suc
cess in our community.
It is unfortunate then that these
same talents are not transfer
rable in their benefits to the in
stitutional and long-term welfare
of the community.
The result is that alongside
reports of athletic prowess we
find accounts of institutional
financial mismanagement.
$tories of masterful showmanship.
and musical talent are accom
panied by accounts of business
failures.
As our churches prosper, our
schools decline.
It is clearly apparent that the
same effort must be made to in
still natural business talent in
coming generations sufficient to
reorder our priorities and our
reputations.
The emphasis must be made
early in the lives of our youth, dur
ing kindergarten and elementary
school years. -
The business orientation must
be promotedin the home, church,
school and all other facets of com
munity life.
We must applaud business
acumen as much as we recognize
athletic talent, musical ability or
church performance.
The survival and progress of
our community and the institu
tions that are within it or support
it depend upon minds available to
produce progress. It is necessary
then that we take the necessary
steps to provide for our future sur
vival and progress.
Developing our appreciation for
business is not an undertaking
that we should look to government
programs or corporate America
to support. Our survival must be
Mir concern foremost—with any
>ther outside help being ap
preciated if it comes—but not be
ng dependent upon such.
If the policy-makers and ad
ninistrators of institutions like
V.C. Central University and the
teveral others that receive
ngative media attention were as
mflcient in the business world as
he educational world, maybe the
leadlines would read differently.
12-Month School Is Good Idoa
a lz-montn eaucauonai calen
dar would take kids off the streets
at crucial times of the year, put
them in a learning environment
and maximize physical and man
power resources available.
All three of the above results
are healthy for Wake County
citizens because they all help
reduce costs to taxpayers.
Children on the streets,
especially during warm months,
engage in many costly activities
t^at property owners, business
owners and die police have to
recover damages for. If stagger
ing school attendance for various
Eoups or varying months would
lp reduce the incidence of
nuisance activities, we my go for
it.
Because there is a significant
need for many of the students to
improve their school performance
as is often reported in the press
from tests and studies, every op
portunity should be capitalized on
by students, parents, teachers
and school administrators to
upgrade student achievement.
The activities with which youth
occupy inemseives uuring sum
mer months are too often non
productive or counterproductive.
The result is that performance
retrogresses instead of progress
ing.
' Church edifices and school
buildings traditionally sit vacant
and underused each week or for
months, respectively. Enormous
costs are incurred in erecting and
maintaining these facilities, and it
makes more sense to use diem to
their maximum.
Many teachers and ad*
ministrators would seek to take
advantage of the opportunity to
work year-round. Those in the
educational world often observe
that teaching is a low-paid profes
sion, and probably so, for nine
months of work. This possible
boost in working time should
result in a commensurate in
crease in pay.
We urge the Wake County
Board of Education to strongly
consider the 12-month pildi pro
gram and, hopefully, move
toward adopting the program for
the entire iystem.
" iroro xm
IS of
Americans,
tory of this
isly created
iEDi'runiAUK.»i
MILLER
MILLER SAYS
BY SHERMAN N. MILLER
SHALLOW IMAGE OR DEFACTO RACISM
Black Americans are often stereotyped as solely {unlov
ing people. But is this image true or merely misguided
folklore?
The 1968 Winter Olympics of
fered an opportunity to examine
the validity of black America’s
purported blind pursuit of
pleasure. On Medal Day for the
figure skating competition, I, was
at the black Elks Lodge in
Newark, Del. The Elk brothers
and sisters are everyday black
Americans who know how to let
their hair down on the weekends.
There were a few brave souls
watching the Olympic ice skating competition In the
lodge’s main barroom. Everyone else was engrossed in a.
record hop. My wife, an avid Olympic fan, was glued to the
television.
As the competition got under way, I was very apprehen
sive because Debi Thomas was forced to carry the weight
of the black community on her shoulders. I secretly prayed
that she would not fall down.
As Debi skated onto the ice, her presence electrified the
entire lodge. The disc jockey was forced to kill his music.
Each jump and rotation left everyone on the edge of
their seats. When Thomas’ hand touched the ice to prevent
a fall, everyone wanted to cry for her. Some people could
not contain their feelings.
When Thomas finished her routine everyone knew the
gold medal was lost. Thomas’ tears became an indelible
symbol of black America’s pain. But once Thomas’ score
was tallied the Elks were happy she had won the bronze
medal.
After my emotions calmed, I realized that Thomas’ true
victory was that she had opened the white bastion of the
Winter Olympics to black America. Furthermore, the
black Elks’ actions suggested that the purported pleasure
versus-value dichotomy in black America is just another
ill-fated myth.
ERNIE'S
WORLD
.. BV ERNIE JOHNSTON. JR. .
GETTING TO THE HEART OF THE VOTES
ATLANTA, Ga.—The woman hurriedly ate her
brenkfaat explaining that ahe was on her way to a third
church.
She had already been to an 8 a.m. service and the
breakfaat waa a break that ahe took before being off to the
aecond service.
At firat I wondered why thia woman would be going to
three aervicea.
Right at that preciae moment the woman began to ex
plain.
She held up a check made out to her for $100. The check
repreeented a donation to her political campaign.
It waa the aecond time around for the woman who the
laat time around pulled in $4,000 votes for the Judicial
clerk’a position ahe ia running for.
Thia time around ahe plana to double or even triple thoae
votes and ahe is going to do it exactly the way she was doing
it that Sunday.
Her opponent, who has been in the position for about a
dozen years, won with some 80,000 votes but thia woman
with boundleas energy believes she can win with the votes
that are not spoken for.
« Her strategy is to talk one-on-one with you and before
leaving, she has either a committed vote or a commitment
to volunteer'for her campaign.
And ahe is good at her methods of campaigning. Thia
one Sunday as she sat down, with a group of churchgoers
ahe outlined her campaign. • ' ; , .r,
trirat ahe told them that her camnaisn wasn’t one til
which the could promise job* and then went on to explain
what the office was all about.
“You can tell your friends that I am naming and your
Mends can tell other people," she told the group.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson probably reinstated the type of
campaign (Hat this woman is waging.* % ■
Jackson has basically built his campaign around the
church and he spends the major portion of his time speak
ing in the churches where he can meet the masses or peo
More and more candidates for office are taking a page
from Jackson’s book Just as this woman is doing to go ex
actly to the heart of the votes.
I have always been a firm believer that candidates for
office should wage a one-on-one campaign, hitting the
street comers, going into the churches and extending a net
work of votes from individual to individual.
And that’s the old style of campaigning when wbere
were no television or radio or
jut mnnciu intn WAl
put money inio campaign wim
.
mm
fundraisers to
another church, she
wnen people respond 10
like this, it makes it all worthwhile,” she
,dl
CHUCK STONE
Our most honorable man
“Talk about your Bush-Dole race
and your Dukakis-Simou-Jackson
race, this is the hottest race!” ex
claimed a chuckling Jim Classman,
publisher of Roll Call, a popular Capi
tol Hill weekly.
Budget Committee Chairman Rep.
Bill Gray, D-Pa., is in that “hottest
race* to win. He’s not just another
black congressman. He’s the black
congressman. Political beatification
has even merged his two names in one
genuflecting breath, Billgray.
The story on the race was first re
ported in Roll Call, when Ohio Rep.
Mary Rose Oskar claimed that she
was the leading candidate to succeed
Rep. Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., as
chairman of the House Democratic
Caucus. It was a logical claim. Oaker
is the caucus vice-chairman and has
been running the show well since Gep
hardt started running for president
One of Oskar’s challengers, Mike
Synar, D-Okla., disputed Oskar’s
claim of widespread support. The oth
er, Gray, attacked the reporter, Shan
non Bradley,
Two weeks ago, Bradley wrote a
second story about a Gray-hosted din
ner to hand out f1,000 to each of his 11
Pennsylvania colleagues — whether
they Beetled tt nr not.
Congressman-to-congressman cam?
paign contributions create “a
corruption In the system,' declared
Rep. Jim Leach, a liberal Iowa Re
publican who has supported Gray on
Smith Africa.
But Billgray is an honorable man.
"This is the most outrageous, obvi
ous pandering I’ve ever seen,” de
clared one distressed
who paradoxically is supporting Gray
for the caucus chairmanship.
His support is natural. Billgray is
hflfwrtbh i
When that second Roll Call story
appeared, the exudation hit the fan.
BIDgray placed an angry call to Roll
CaUownsr Arthur Levitt, who is also
chairman of the American Stock Ex
change, *"^ questioned the reporter’s
integrity. He also denied trying to buy
_ .'is an honorable man.
history had repeated itself. In
the M days prior to me 1M4 election
for Budget' Committee Chairman,
Gray, a candidate for the poeitloo
doled out 127,000. It helped elect 4f
Democrats, who helped elect him
This year, his two-tana limit as Bud
get Committee chairman ends, and
the peacock-preening BUlgray des
perately covets another national pow
Knowing Billgrsy’i penchant for
being black when it snits his purpose,
some opponents urged blade Rep.
Alan Wheat, D-Mo., to run with Oakar
for secretary of the caucus. Within a
few days, however, blade leaden all
over America had leaned on Wheat to
withdraw.
Wheat genially shrugged off the
pressures as “part of the game.” Be
sides, BUlgray is an honorable man.
But he is as intolerant of dissent as
he is contemptuous of the Flnt
Amendment When he couldn’t per
suade fellow Philadelphia Democrat
Rep. Tom Foglietta, to withhold sup
port from the opponent of a BUlgray
City Coundl candidate, he reportedly
nurtured a local black judge’s explo
ration of a race against Foglietta.
BUlgray denies the reports. For
BUlgray is an honorable man.
Influenced by his “blackar-than
thou” ideology, 17 black mombon of
Congress have endorsed him for cau
cus chairman. However, one Influen
tial black Democrat Rap. Louis
Stokes of Ohio, has sent out a latter
supporting Oakar. Its S9 Democratic
slgnsn include Tans Rap. Mickey
t former of the Con
gressional Black Caucus; Woman’s
Caucus chair Pat Schroodar, libaral
fHof statesman Doo Edwards; ssuior
cltlasn advocate Clauds Pepper, and
Hispanic elder statesman Ed RoybaL
BUlgray does things in style. Last
year, he successfully hustled one of
the largest war chests on Capitol Hill
- fUMU. And only SO days after be
was first elected to of floe, from one of
America’s poorest congressional dis
tricts, be gifted his wife with adehna
mink coat
BUlgray has always been an honor
atm*
CHILD WATCH
BY MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN
If you are a parent or are about to become one, one of the moot important
decisions you will make is the choice of your pediatrician. He or aha will play
a very large role In your life and that of your child. Infants and very young
children need checkups several times a year, and even more often If pro
blems appear.
Take your time In finding the right pediatrician for your child. Uok for
an individual who:
e is willing to answer your questions. You need a doctor who will take the
time to talk to you about your child’s health, not rush you in and out of the of
fice. He or she should be a good communicator, giving you dear and detailed
instructions about any needed treatment. If you have particular concerns,
your pediatrician should be willing to discuss them with you.
Ms affordable for your family. Hie first step, If you have health in
surance, is to find out which services it covers. Moot insurance policies do not,
cover some key preventive health services for children such as Immunise*
tions.and this means you will have to pay for them. Doctor’s foes vary wide
ly, Including those of pediatricians. Find out how much a doctor’s services
will cost, and whether or not you will have the option of paying In In
stallments.
•Can provide help daring emergencies. You will And that worrisome
probtaqshlvea way of cropping up on weekends or in the middle of the night.
It could be a high fever that refuses to go down, or an injury in a household ac-:
cident. Find out whether you can call your doctor or an attending nurse at any
hour. Does he or she make house calls?
e is affiliated with a good hospital. Find out which hospital admits your
doctor’s patients. Check to make sure it is a high-quality facility.
e Shares your views on personal issues. Doctors have many different at
titudes and approaches on such issues as breastfeeding and circumcision. It
is a flood idea to make sure you feel comfortable with your pediatrician’s .
ideas on tbase subjects.
•Takes a breed Interest la year child. A good doctor does more than e*«
amine your child and prescribe medication. He or she should take an interest
to your child’s overall well-being. This means treating the child as a member
of your fondly, and knowing about the health of other family members. It
means checking up on whether your child is eating the right foods to grow and
thrive. It means taking an interest in the child’s safety and the suitability of
child care and schooling situations. While your doctor should not dictate such
decisions for you, he or she should be able to provide guidance if you want it.
GOVERNOR
tolKHmOwtU. Gov.
OTHER VIEWPOINTS
SSI
We alJ know that there was a time in our state
- <*' ' Al l • » - . . J'. Il ilL . ■ A A — S_ — _
m
ir state’s political history wnen op
felt that in order to be elected to public office it was
ti,n ontu*Qm ***** * ”*■
_ i Carolinians long ago acknowledged
thatwe wen, one and all, the better off for, it. Now, Hr. Jordan is apparently
attempting to dreg us back intoa time when racial demagoguery was the only
[ with black leaders, what could they have possibly asked
; that so riled him to the point that he would, in effect,
Klux Klan would disown him if he did? As a black
_and a member of Gov.. Jim Martin's Council of Minority Ex
ecutives, we have asked the governor to support hings that are of significance
te the well-being of our state. That they may be ef more
r to Mack citizens than to others is of little concern or consequence
aggregate, they benefit our state. ••»
I cannot Imagine an honorable governor of North Carolina, such as Jim
Martin, auggaating that if he supports positive initiatives and programs
designed to benefit the people of our state that he would hesitate to do so out of
fear that he would offend some hate group. Let’s take a look at some of the
things that the other black leadership vehicles around our state have asked
Gov. Jim Martin to support
1. issuing an Equal Employment Opportunity Policy Statement for so as
to expand Job advancement for all state employees
1 Initiatives designed to strengthen the w«ok f*m«
3. A Jobe Plus program designed to assist people in getting off welfare by
4. Becoming the first governor in the nation to initiate a program
specificaUyfor uplifting historically black colleges and universities of which
5. Expanding opportunities for minorities and women entrepreneurs to
access state contracts.
* ; 6. Backing a Victims Compensation Program.
7. Declaring a war against illegal drugs and substance abuse.
Are these programs and others things that Gov. Jim Martin is afraid that
If he lends his support conservative white voters in eastern North Carolina or
anywhere else in our state would then refuse to vote for him? Very obviously
not No, they are positive things that work to the benefit of all of the people of
North Carolina. That Bob Jordan, as a redneck, would disdain them is very
sad indeed.
I assumed that the initiatives and programs like the ones maottoaod
above are the same kind as those that black Democrats were trying to get Mr.
Jordan to support. As a redneck, would-be governor, he refused. Now perhan
the lieutenant governor is right. Maybe his redneck constituency wiU not vote
for him if he supports programs like compensating crime victims or crackhw
down On drug dealers. However, IH bet that should Mr. Jordan, on htenext
visit “down east,” take the time and ask some of the region’s white conser
vative voters about matters, they will almost declare to the person, that they
support both programs.
(See VIEWPOINTS, P. •)