RALEIGH, N.C.,
THURSDAY,
AUGUST 1,1991
VOL. 50, NO. 72
s c>emi”Vveetu y single copy ap
^ IN RALEIGH
DEDICATED TO THE SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST ELSEWHERE 300
Shaw Friends of the Library
Join National Organization.
SeePage 13
i
•tTLty r, j**#*"??
NCAE Prexy Blasts
Teacher Salary Freese;
Plane Ed. Hearings
“Salaries are crucial to recrultlag and retaining quality teachers
In ear state who can provide excellence In education to our children.
NCAE will be working very hard to make sure the salary freeze Is
ewded In Item end does not drag on for six years as the last one
did."
With these words, Rose Marie Lowry opened her first press con
ference as president of the North Carolina Association of Educators.
She acknowledged that the General Assembly had a difficult Job
balancing the state badget. but she said that ‘‘As professional
educators we cannot be satisfied with the deep cuts In education."
Ibe conference came at the start of NCAE’s annual Summer
Leadership Training Academy, which has registered 400 association
leader* from ail parts of the state, at the Downtown Holiday Inn in
Raleigh.
Lowry also asserted that teachers want and need the option to
retire without penalty after completing 28 years in the public educa
tion system. "NCAE is goin^ to help them secure that option,” she
said forcefully.
Lowry saved the major portion of her remarks for school restruc
turing, In a time when parents want more from their public schools '
and children'Med more to be competitive In the economy of the
world, Lowry minced no words.
"The classroom teacher and other school level professionals are
the best people to say what changes are needed. We are going to
make sure that the voices of classroom teachers are heard
throughout this state,” she said.
To publicise the opinions of classroom teachers and the results of
NCAE reports on restructuring, Lowry announced that she will bold
a series of public education hearings around the state starting In the
faU.
, "I want to gather testimony from citizens about the quality of
1 education In their schools and Ideas for new school reforms. I want to
hear what the public has to say about the current method of financ
ing public schools. And I want people la all parts of North Carolina to
hear what clasaroom teachers want for the children in their
Lewsry released the findings of three new reports on school
restructuring by the Instruction/Professional Development Com
m iiulan ml NfAF.
Lowry laid, "Oa the basis of It* findings, NCAE will push strongly
for heterogeneous groupings es a positive way to teal with all types
Certifies tisa: “NCAE wants to go on record opposing any sieves
to water down certification of professional educators,” declared
WACHOVIA NAMES
NEW ASSISTANT V.P.
Suianne H. CMtleberry has
beca elected assistant vice presi
dent far Wachovia Bank. This an
neaacement was made by
Thomas A. Bennett, vice chair
man, following a meeting of the
Wachovia Board of Directors.
Ms. Castleberry Jeiaed
Wachovia in IMS ia Charlotte as
supervisor of the lockbox ser
vices area. She was elected
operations officer in IMS. She
transferred to Winston-Salem as
manager hi the corporate opera
tions support unit in IMS. Ms.
Casttebwry assumed her present
position in Raleigh as the cor
porate and retail account ser
vices maaagsr of the Central
Region Operations Center In
January.
Thomas B. Perron* of Raleigh,
immediate dai! nrMldont of the
^""Wmewvw |>ne* pro wesHVls* vi vmv
North Raleigh Lions Club, has
been presented the prestigious
Melvin Jones Fellowship Award.
A fellowship pin and plaque
were presented to him at the
club’s Installation of officers on
July is. A Melvin Jones
Fellowship is the highesst honor a
Lien can achieve. In the United
States, It is often given to Liens
Judged hy their peers to be
unusually generous with their
“ Ume and talent. The Liens Club
J. D. Lewis Files For City
Council At-Large Seat
J.D. Lewis, a longtime resident ol
the Raleigh community, filet
Wednesday as a candidate for one oi
the city’s two at-large council seats,.
Lewis said he is not running against
any candidate, but rather for one of
the seats.
On Tuesday, Frank L. Turner said
that he would not seek re-election tc
his council seat, an at-large seat 1m
won by a two-vote margin in 19N.
Turner, a retired assistant personnel
director for the state, said he decided
against a second term because he
needed to spend more time with his
rental business.
Lewis is currently corporate affairs
director for Capitol Broadcasting Co.,
a former television editorialist and
host of some of the station’s issue
oriented public affairs programming.
“I have been asked to run for many
years,” Lewis said, “But my Jobs
prevented me. So I elected not to do
it—not to wear two hats. Although I
have always had an affection for the
town and the community and If I can
help in any way make it a better place
I will be happy.”
Lewis also hosted a popular teen
dance show on television for 22 years,
"Teenage Frolics,” and is an ac
complished speaker on various issues
from education to development.
The filing deadline is Aug. 9. If
Charles C. Meeker, a farmer two
term council member, decides to run,
he will likely Join a crowded field for
the two at-laige seats.
Wake School Board member Henry
C. Knight, in an announcement
Wednesday, said he plans to run
Knight earlier this month had an
J.D. LEWIS
nounced that he would not seek
another term on the Wake Board of
Education. "1 also aald that I was not
ready to stand on the sidelines
politically and .rauld be Interested in
seeking an at-large seat on the
Raleigh City Council, If the opportuni
ty presented itself,’' Knight said.
“The recent announcement by Mr.
Turner has afforded me that oppor
tunity. Raleigh is an exciting city.
She has grown from a sleepy,
Southern capital to one of the beet
places in the world to work, play,
study, and raise a family,” Knight
said.
Anne S. Franklin, the council’s
other at-large member, said recently
that she planned to seek re-election to
a third term.
NAACP Braces For Battle
After Nixing Thomas Pick
WASHINGTON, D.C.-The Na
tional Association for the Advance
ment of Colored People on Wednes
day ended almost two weeks of
suspense by announcing its opposi
tion to the nomination of federal
Judge Clarence Thomas to the U.S.
Supreme Court.
The group urged the Senate to block
Thomas’ confirmation in what is
shaping up to be a loud and heated
battle.
While other liberal, minority and
women’s groups had immediately ex
pressed dismay after President
George Bush announced his choice of
Thomas to succeed retiring Justice
Thurgood Marshall, the NAACP’s
reaction had been guarded, saying
that it needed to study the record and
gather opinions from board members
and constituents.
In opposing the nomination, the
NAACP becomes the largest and
strongest black interest group to hold
that position. The National Urban
League just last week announced that
it would not oppose the nomination.
Dr. William Gibson, chairman of
the NAACP National Btoard of Direc
tors, said Thomas’ nomination was t
not in the best interest of African- \
Americans, and cited Thomas as be- t
ing anti-affirmative action an incon- E
sistent on civil rights. “That makes V
Thomas a threat when the court is I
already radically conservative,” Gib- ii
son said. o
The NAACP is the nation’s oldest a
and largest civil rights organization 1
and is widely seen as the group best
positioned to lead any serious C
organized opposition to Thomas. p
One of the most vocal opponents of
confirmation for Thomas has been
le Congressional Black Caucus,
foich reiterated earlier this week
hat Thomas "must not be
ominated. Make sure that’s clear,
fe’re in no mood to compromise.”
epublicans on Capitol Hill are try
ig to paint the CBC leadership as out
1 touch with the black masses, who,
ccording to polls, support the
honuu nomination by 56 percent.
At a news conference last week, the
BC presented a “bill of
articulars.” They know Judge
(See NAACP, P. 2)
Crack Cocaine Use In Violent Crimes...
Death Penalty Advocated
Young Blacks
Involved In
Drags Target?
The Senate’s new crime bill is
drawing opposition from federal
judges and lawyers who contend it
would impose billions of dollars in
hidden costs on the criminal-justice
system, seriously compound
inequities in the sentencing of
defendants with more black juveniles
doing*'hardtime.”
The measure, approved recently by
a vote of 71 to 26, also could have a
devastating impact on the federal
prison system. In addition to
imnoping the death, penalty for 51
cranes, the bill includes a new layer
of mandatory minimum sentences for
drug and gun offenses, provisions
that could generate tens of thninmnds
of new federal inmates at a time
when federal prisons are operating at
nearly 150 percent of capacity.
Democrats and Republicans are
battling this session to see who can be
the “toughest” on crime and the
parties’ proposals for a new Violent
Crime Control Act is just that. The
act expands the list of charges to
which the death penalty can be
applied and both target those
involved in the drug trade for severe
penalties.
The Bush administration has not
taken a position on the admendments,
but President Bush has said th$
crime bill is one of his top priorities,
and administration officials praised
the Senate version for including
(See TOUGH PENALTY, P. 2)
wm***
WRITING PROJECT-Margaret Douglass, left,
dance/drama teacher tor Waks County Schools; Gareth
Cordory, standing, protossor of EngHsh at tho University of
Canterbury, Now Zealand; and Clementina Holloway, right,
teachar of bohavtoraly-handicappod students at Gold Sand
Middle School, LauMmrg, give feedback eo her writing to
Jesse McClain, language arts teacher at Cantngtea Jr. Mgh
School, Durham. Al an partldpatlag la the Capital Ana
Writing Prelect at NCSU.
wilder may rind Challenge rrom
Jackson In Preaidmitial Race
BV FRANKLIN TATE
NNPA Newt Service
(Part I)
In an exclusive inerview for the
NNPA, the nation’s only black gover
nor, L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia,
spoke by telephone like the unan
nounced candidate for president that
he is. 4
Fresh from a 10-day European
trade mission that took him to Lon
ion, Brussels, Warsaw, Hamburg
snd even Taiwan, however, Gov.
Wilder was born into humble beginni
ngs. One of eight children, “My
father was an insurance salesman,
snd my mother raised a family... in
Htween, she did domestic work,” he
laid.
Divorced for 13 years, Wilder has
three children. His only son, L.
Douglas Wilder, Jr., is an attorney
vith his father’s former law firm in
Richmond.
The nation’s only black governor
lince Reconstruction is a product of
listorically black colleges, “I
[raduated from Virginia Union
Jniversity,” he said, "and received
ny law degree from Howard Univer
ity Law School.”
Before winning the governor’s seat,
« served in the Virginia Senate and
ron his first statewide election by
ecoming lieutenant governor.
Wilder is very proud of the fact that
is state’s population is only about 19
ercent black, and the black voting
opulation Is about 19 percent, but he
cceived 41 percent of the white vote
i the gubernatorial race in 1989.
With such resounding proof of abili
1 to attract white votes, the governor
>rmed a committee to explore his
rospects for the presidency three
lonths ago. He made his second trip
> Iowa, the first caucus state, in ear
r May and campaigned as though he
ere an announced candidate.
When asked if his bachelor status
(See CHALLENGE, P. 2>
GOV. L. DOUGLAS WILDER
innovative Child Project
To Local Community Ctre.
The 1991 Summer Playground ac
tivities designed (or children in
several of the community recreation
centers are innovative in many ways.
One such program is called Music On
Parks.
“It was quite unusual and unique
the way that this program got
started,” say; Carol P. Langley, who
coordinates educational programs
for the Raleigh Parks and Recreation
Department.
In October 1990, Willie Jordan, a
well-known music educator, began
her work with Raleigh Parks and
Recreation as music consultant to the
reading program, Radical RAP
(Reading At Parks) and the
summer’s Math Magic Program.
“When the new Math Magic Pro
gram was established." says Ms.
Langley, “the age groups to benefit
from this program Include children
ages M2. This left another large
group •«' children, ages W, without
any structured activity, who would
also be present during the same time
slots as Math Magic.”
The sites include Roberts, Camp
bell, Method, Walnut Terrace,
Biltmore Hills, Halifax, Chavis and
Southgate. The immediate opportuni
ty was Initiated for Ms. Jordan to
organize and write lesson plans for
MOP.
The basic objective was to teach
music as an art of communication
that includes structured listening,
singing, and music history. During
the first week of this program, July
1-5, the children were taught about
(SeeCHILD PROJECT. P. 2)