HAT.EIGH. N. C.
VOL. 49. NO. 61
TUESDAY j
JUNE 26,1990 '
N.C. s Semi-Weekly
DEDICATED TO THE SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST
SiNfti c
c 'state LIBRARY
acquisitions dept.
IalEIOH NC 276! 1
Stormy Weather Approaching
Budget Problems, Decay Threaten Howard
p ranKiyn tureen Jenifer has been
sworn in as the 14th president of
Howard University after he began
college there S3 years ago.
The 122-year-old institution, whose
rich history is an ivy-clinging tale in
itself, is facing gnawing budget pro
blems and campus divisions that are
still simmering after last year’s stu
dent unrest.
wnue not dying, Howard is serious
ly ailing with an enormous deficit and
structural decay while many of the
12,000 students live in crumbling dor
mitories, plus student housing is in
short supply.
The private institution’s nearly $460
million annual budget ran a deficit
throughout the mid-’OOs, peaking at
$20 million. Faculty members speak
oi Duuamgs aecaying after years of
neglect and inadequate office space
and equipment.
“I’m not the great white knight
coming to save the dying baby,
Howard,” Dr. Jenifer told the New
York Times. “I’m honored to come to
Howard. Howard does me a great
favor by having me come.” Jenifer
for the past four years has been the
Boston-based chancellor of the
Massachusetts Board of Regents of
Higher Education.
University administrators say
financial problems were eased by
erasing some of the school’s pension
contributions. But the move drove a
deeper wedge of frustration between
Howard’s longtime president, James
E. Cheek, and the school’s staff,
already hostile from other economic
complaints.
i jmt March, feeling alienated from
the university’s leadership, some
2,000 students occupied the ad
ministration building for three days.
Chief among their concerns was the
appointment of Republican National
Committee Chairman Lee Atwater to
the school’s board of trustees. A week
after the proteste, he resigned from
the board.
During the same time, the universi
ty’s faculty—the country’s largest
concentration of blacks holding doc
torates—was growing dissatisfied
with Dr. Cheek. The student
newspaper, the Hilltop, called Dr
Cheek the “invisible president’’
(See HOWARD U., P. 2)
Reward Offered
POLICE SEARCH FOR ARSONIST
High School
Damaged In
Burgulary
On June R, an unknown person
unlawfully entered Enloe East High
School, located at 126 Clarendon Cres
cent. During the burglary the suspect
set several small fires in classroom
No. 123. Total damage was estimated
at $25,000.
Police believe that the suspect
possibly obtained a small cut from
broken glass during entry or exit
from the scene.
Anyone with information about the
burglary and arson is asked to call
Crime Stoppers at 834-HELP. Callers
need not give their names or testify in
court and may be eligible for a
reward.
In other news: Charges resulting
from a barroom melee in May involv
ing five N.C. State University
students have been dropped after the
matter was settled out of court.
The students were
issued a citation for
engaging in an affray
resulting from a
barroom melee but
the matter was settled
out of court.
Howard J. Cummings, Wake Coun
ty assistant district attorney, said the
charges had been dropped last week
for two reasons. Three of the par
ticipants agreed to resolve the
dispute with a private mediator, and
charges against two others were
dropped after it was determined they
had been trying to break up the fight.
The students had been issued a cita
tion for engaging in an affray after
police were called to Barry’s II on
Hillsborough Street on May 23. Mr.
Cummings described the incident as
a drunken brawl.
Hie three who went into mediation
were: Shad Allen Santee, 20; William
Michael Boyer, 23; and Robert A.
Boyer, 19. Mr. Santee is a member of
the NCSU football team, and Robert
Boyer is a former member of the
wrestling team.
Cummings said the two who had
tried to break up the fight were Monty
Ray Frost, 20; and Ronald W. Morra,
19. Mr. Frost is a member of the foot
ball team.
Cummings said private mediation
was an alternative to court available
when all parties agreed to it.
r
ELDERLY HOUSMfi-Cutting the ribbon at the Roanoke
Commons dedication Wednesday evening, Jane 20, are
(left to ri|hQ: James Brown Jr., vice chairman of the
Downtown Housing Improvomont Corporation (DWC),
RaMgh Mayor Pre-Tom Ralph Camptel Jr., and City
CouncMofs Mary Catos and Maty Nona.
DHIC Dedicates Roanoke Commons
Affordable Housing To Elderly
BY PETER A. HALL
Special to The CAROUNIAN
“There is a great need for affor
dable rental housing in the Raleigh
area,” explained Gregory F. Warren,
executive director of the Downtown
Housing Improvement Corp.
“Roanoke Commons is one step
toward meeting that need.”
On June 20, the nonprofit DHIC
dedicated Roanoke Commons, an
apartment complex for low-income
elderly and handicapped people. Hie
development, which contains 33 units,
is located on Sanderford Road in
Southeast Raleigh.
The dedication on Wednesday even
ing was attended by DHIC board
members, Raleigh Mayor Pro-Tern
Ralph Campbell, Jr., and City Coun
cil members Mary Cates, Barlow
Herget and Mary Watson Nooe. Also
joining in the ceremony was William
Windley, representing U.S. Rep.
David Price, as well as a number of
local residents. The ribbon-cutting
event celebrated the latest bousing
development by DHIC.
DHIC Vice Chair James H. Brown,
Jr. presided over the dedication
which honored Ms. Madelyn Watson
by naming the street in the Roanoke
Commons complex for her. A retired
professor at Shaw University, Ms.
Watson served on the DHIC Board of
Directors from 19047.
Roanoke Commons is designed to
address the needs of low-income
elderly and handicapped people.
Rents at Roanoke Commons are bas
ed on the income and the particular
Voters Decide Who
Benefits In U. S.
Ia the hut election, voter tur
noat fell to ■ record low. Only 4t
percent of eligible Americans ac
tually voted. Among low-income
nnd minority eitisens,
widespread apathy about the
election took hold. We face an
epidemic of non-participation
which saps the strength of our
democracy and tragically
distorts national priorities.
Unless low-income and minori
ty cttlsens register and vote, they
will continue to he denied a voice
. on electoral and legislative bat
tles. Without this voice, the In
justice and poverty our eitisens
suffer will cootinne. They will be
remembered by peHtlcUme at an
easy target when the budgetary
ax falls, forgotten wbea the decl
goverameat beaefite are
made boeaaao they de net vote.
Your Vote
Is Needed
Therefore, it la ear alia, te
register all Wake Ceeaty dtlseas
that are aet registered. Please
make aa effort to flad the
registration stands la year
of current residents pay between $40
and $50 a month. Each resident en
joys the security that their rent will
never be more than 30 percent of their
income.
Funding for the project was ac
quired from the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development,
under the Section 202 program. The
use of Section 202 funds guarantees
that the apartments will remain af
fordable for the next 20 years. The
total HUD commitment to the project
(See HOUSING, P. 2)
Price Seeka Funds
To Help Feed Poor
Mothers And Babies
Full Funding Needed To
Fight Infant Mortality
Fourth District Rep. David Price has urged congressional leaders
to invest more money in the federal WIC program, calling it a
“critical weapon” in North Carolina’s battle against infant mortali
ty
Price and 220 other congressmen sent a letter to Appropriations
Committee Chairman Jamie Whitten last week, asking the commit
tee to provide $2.36 billion—an additional $150 million over this next
year—for the Women, Infant and Children program next fiscal year.
That would match spending levels already approved in the House
Budget resolution.
“There are few investments of federal dollars as worthwhile as
WIC, which results In savings in health care and in helping disadvan
taged young children—our future work force—reach their full poten
tial,” the letter said. “While tough budget choices most he made this
year, priority needs to be accorded to continuing WIC’s expansion.”
Hie WIC program provides milk, cheese, eggs, cereals, fruit or
vegetable Juices and infant formula for low-income pregnant
women, new mothers, infants and children under five who may not
get proper nutrition. Only half of the eligible women and children
now participate in the WIC program because of limited funds, Pricde
said.
In North Carolina, the federally funded program serves 30,000
women, 40,000 infante and 65,000 young children. But some 10,000
low-income women and children are expected to be cut from the
state’s WIC programs by Sept. 30 because of unexpeted increases in
grocery store prices. Many other states are also reducing food
allotments and participants to make up for higher food prices.
“In North Carolina, where we have the highest infant-mortality
rate at any state hrtbrmatlaii.it’s especially important that we pro- ;
tect the WIC program,” said Price, a member of the Congressional
Sungelt Caucus’ Infant Mortality Task Force. A study by the Na- j
tional Bureau of Economic Research found WIC to be the second
moot cost-effective program for reducing infant mortality in the
United States. Each dollar spent on WIC has been found to save $3 in |
health-care coots for infante and young children.
“WIC is a cost-effective, preventative public-health program and i
a critical weapon in our fight against infant mortality," Price said. j
“It has proven success rates in increasing birth weights, lowering in- ;
font mortality rates and decreasing long-run health-care costs for
newborns and their mothers. It’s vital that we do all we can to sup
port this program and the women and children it serves.”
Inside Africa
DeKlerk, Mandela Playing Roulette?
BY DANIEL MAROLEN
It’s already four months since
Nelson Mandela was released from
prison to participate in South Africa’s
black-white negotiations for changing
the country into a free, non-racial and
democratic unitary nation. But those
negotiations haven't yet taken place,
and seem to be still a long, long way
to come.
Since Mandela’s release, the racist
Afrikaners who rule South Africa
with an iron hand haven’t yet lived up
to their promise of working hand-in
hand with the native Africans toward
a new democratic constitution that
will end apartheid. Instead, the ruling
Afrikaners have only shown their
resentment of democratic change
and power-sharing with the black
population fo the country.
The Afrikaners who are behind
South Africa’s woes, turmoil and
violence, resent democracy and
equality with die Africans. They have
constantly opposed Mandela’s and
ANC’s proposals to end apartheid.
They have even refused to accept
Mandela’s and ANC’s preconditions
for a black-white Indaba.
On the other hand, the extreme
rightwing Afrikaners, under the
leadership of Dr. Andres Treunicht,
have even threatened Mandela with
assassination, and President de
Klerk with removal from office
through the ballot box. The rightwing
Afrikaner Nationalists want apar
theid to be maintained, intensified
and even perpetuated. They thinfc
that de Klerk’s petty efforts of nibbl
ing at apartheid give the Africans too
much freedom. But both Treurnicht’s
rightwingers and de Klerk’s leftw
ingers are agreed in opposing majori
ty rule—one man, one vote.
Furthermore, de Klerk’s much
vaunted “reforms” of apartheid are
not conducive to change. They are
simply tactical delaying subtle gim
micks of reintroducing the
apartheid in newer forms and guises
In addition, de Klerk's “reforms” an
tantamount to the intensification
consolidation and perpetuation oi
apartheid and white domination
Since he became president nine mon
ths ago, de Klerk has openly and
vociferously rejected the concepts oi
majority rule and one man, one vote
And he has even vowed to legislate
for the "protection of minority
(white) rights.” Besides, de Klerk
has opted for a “bicameral parlia
ment” with veto rights to curb
African advancement.
Now, as Mandela embarks on a
(See INSIDE AFRICA, P. 2)
Renowned Siamese Twine
Leaving Special Legacy
To African-Americans _
TM Millie-Christine Historical Col
lection will honor the memory of the
American-born, world-renowned
Slameoe twins, Millie end Christine
McCoy, with an array of activities
scheduled for the weekend of June 28
through July 1.
Millie-Christine, were born to
Jacob and Momenia McCoy on July
11,1861. The McCoys wen slaves of
pun African descent, who belonged
to Jabe* McCoy, a wealthy lan
downer. This amasing life history is
classical American frontier, right in
the Mark Twain tradition.
The “Two-Headed Girl,” ah she
was billed by showmen P.T. Barnum
and H. Drew, began professionally
appearing in dime museums and cir
cuses during the second half of the
IMh century. Posters showsd a single
torsoed girl with two heads and two
arms dressed in an elegant party
dress, from which a petticoat
decorously poiksd.
Underneath the petticoat- visible
were two pairs of shoes which were
attached to MUlie-Christine’s four
leg*. Those poster pictures were far
from accurate, however. The sisters
were Joined together in a much more
Intimate way than their contem
poraries, the Siamese twins, Chang
and Eng, who were already well
known figures in show business when
Millie and Christine war* born in Col
umbus County on July 11,1861.
Like their parents, Chang and Eng
were slaves, the property of a planta
tion owner. Their mother was 32
years of age when they were born.
They reportedly weighed 17 pounds, J
but the birth was not a difficult one. 1
Shortly after Millie and Christine
were born, they and their parents
were sold. Several more transfers
took place, and the girls were
separated from their family. They
were a rare and valuable property. At
four years of age, they were one of the
• main attractions of the season when
they were exhibited In 1886 as the
“United African Twins” at the Egyp
H|n HfH in I/HHljm,
During the twins’ stay in England,
(See SIAMESE TWINS, P.2)