TUESDAY
Walnut Creek Star
Hitmaker Paula Abdul will be among the
stellar acts to entertain this season at
Hardee’s Walnut Creek Amphitheatre. She
performs May 15.
Paged
1
Denying Allegations
The Rev. Jesse Jackson denies he offered to
help a bank get new business in Africa and
had his hotel bills paid in Paris by the bank.
Page 6
This Week
In 1909, Matthew Henson set foot on
I the North Pole. He accompanied the
expedition as navigator, guide and the
only American who spoke the Eskimo
language. He died in obscurity, but in
1987 blacks petitioned the American
government to have his remains moved
to Arlington Cmeetery with full military
honors.
Carolinian
A RALEIGH, N.C.,
Q\ V0L.51.N0.39
\ TUESDAY, APRIL 7,1992
N.C.'s Semi-Weekly
DEDICATED TO THE SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST
SINGLE COPY i% C
IN RALEIGH ^90
ELSEWHERE 300
Blue Rated Most Effective Lawmaker
HOUSE SPEAKER DAN BLUE
BY CASH MICHAELS
Staff Writer
Of the 50 members who make up
the North Carolina Senate, and the
120 lawmakers of the North Caro
lina House of Representatives, N.C.
Speaker of the House Daniel T.
Blue, Jr. (D-Wake), the first Afri
can-American this century to hold
I that post, is ranked No. 1 in effec
tiveness, according to a new survey
released last Thursday.
The rankings show that two other
African-American lawmakers in the
E N.C. House, Rep. Milton “Toby”
Fitch, Jr. (D-Wilson) and Rep. H.M.
“Mickey” Michaux, Jr. (D-Durhatn),
also made the top 10 list.
The study, conducted by the
North Carolina Center for Public
Policy Research, Inc., surveyed the
legislators themselves, as well as
registered lobbyists based in North
Carolina who regularly work in the
General Assembly. The Capital
Press Corps was also polled to fi
nally determine the rankings.
Evaluations of legislators’ effec
tiveness were based according to
their participation in committee
work, skill at guiding bills through
floor debates, and general knowl
edge or expertise in special fields.
The respondents were also asked to
consider the respect the legislators
command from their peers, the po
litical power they hold, and their
ability to sway opinions of the other
lawmakers.
According to Ron Coble, executive
director oftheN.C. Center for Public
Policy Research, there are key rea
sons for Speaker Blue’s high rank
ing.
“Dan Blue’s ascendancy to the
speaker’s office was a sea of change
in many members’ effectiveness.
For those Democrats who rode in on
the same tide, they got committee
chairmanships and their effective
ness went up for. For Blue’s fellow
African-American lawmakers, the
rising tide lifted their boats,” said
Coble.
Coble noted to The CAROLINIAN
that the N.C. General Assembly is
losing more of its most effective
members after the 1991-92 session
than at any time in the last 15 years.
Three of the 10 most effective sena
tors—Henson Barnes (D-Wayne),
Kenneth Royall (D-Durham) and
William Goldston (D-Rockingham)
are retiring from the Senate. Four of
the 10 most effective members of the
House of Representatives, Dennis
Wicker (D-Lee), Harry E. Payne, Jr.
(D-New Hanover), Mickey Michaux,
Jr. and R. Samuel Hunt, III (D
Alamance) are either retiring or
leaving to run for other state offices
(Michaux is a candidate for the
newly created 12th congressional
(See DAN BLUE, P. 2)
US Air Faces Bias Charges
NAACP
Demands
Fair Play
BY WAYNE BROWNE
Reprinted from the Philadelphia
Tribune
A federal court judge is expected
to rule soon on motions that would
affect black pilots and flight atten
dants at USAir, one of the five larg
est passenger airlines in the nation.
Just four months ago, in Decem
ber 1991, USAir agreed to settle a
federal discrimination complaint
brought by pilots and flight atten
dants. A federal court judge ordered
the company to restore the employ
ees’ pay and their seniority.
On a recent trip from
Greensboro, NNPA
president and Publisher of
The Philadelphia Tribune
was ordered by a flight
attendant to relinquish his
seat to a white traveler...
Debbie Millenson, litigation coun
sel for the U.S. Labor Department’s
Civil Rights Division, said the af
fected employees have yet to be rein
stated because of opposition filed by
the Airline Pilots Association. The
APA says restoring their seniority
would effectively “displace current
pilots.’”
This action came on the heels of
another federal court ruling, made
last spring, in which USAir was
ordered to pay two black pilots up to
$1 million in back pay on charges
that the airline discriminated
against them.
The national office of the NAACP
says USAir has yet to follow the
example of United Airlines in nego
tiating a “fair share” agreement
with the nation’s oldest civil rights
organization.
(See USAIR, P. 2)
HISTORIC TO(JR-Part of a program provided by Ms.
Vivian E. Irving for the Queen of Hearts was a trolly tour
through historic Raleigh as a feature of Raleigh’s
Bicentennial observance. A number of historic sites were
viewed at each of the six stops, including Historic
Oakwood, Moore and Union Square, hi photo: Ms. Amelia
Byers, president Queen ot Hearts; Or. Rhonda Covington,
Ms. Sheila Francis, Ms. Parker Call of Capital Area
Preservatin, Inc., Ms. Vivian E. Irving and Calvin Parks,
tour guide.
united JNlegro uoiiege f una Planning
Strategy For Effective Fundraising
ivyi\xv, n.i.—uooi ncciv,
the United Negro College Fund, one
of America’s oldest philanthropic
organizations in the field of educa
tion, announced a major restructur
ing in order to improve its cost-effi
ciency in fundraising and to become
more competitive for philanthropic
gifts in the 1990s.
The board of directors of the
UNCF approved, at the recent
March meeting, a budget for fiscal
year 1993 which calls for savings in
administrative and fundraising
costs while at the same time seeking
income growth over the fiscal 1992
plan.
UNCPs 1992 fiscal year ended
March 31, and it expected to reach
its $54.6 million fundraising goal.
The new proposal calls for a four
percent increase for fiscal year 1993
which began April 1. The new target
Community Calendar
BOOKS FOR AFRICA
The Kemetic Benu Order of North Carolina State University is spon
soring a project to send books to educational institutions in Africa. Anyone
who is interested can drop books by the NCSU Student Center on Cates
Avenue. Books for the project can be donated until May 1. Books for all ages
are needed. For any additional information, contact Faheem K. Ashanti at
515-2425.
SCHOOL BUDGET REQUEST
The administration of the Wake County Public School System will
present its annual budget request for the 1992-93 school year to the Wake
County Board of Education’s Finance Committee at 1 p.,m. on Tuesday,
April 7. The board of education will hold a budget work session from 4-5
p.m and a public hearing on the budget starting at 78 p.m. on Monday, April
13. Both meetings will be held in the board room of the Administration
Building, 3600 Wake Forest Road, Raleigh. The public is invited to attend.
(SeeCALENDAR. I‘ 2>
cent reduction -in administrative
and fundraising costs will increase
the total funds available for distri
bution to the 4? member colleges
and universities to fulfill their mis
sion of providing for higher educai
tonal opportunity for record num
bers of young men and women who
are applying to member schools. In
the last five years, enrollment at
Felton Wins
Development
Recognition
Carolyn F. Felton, a biolo
gist in Research Triangle
Institute’s Center for Life Sci
ences and Toxicology, has
received
1992RTI Pi
fessional E
velopmei
Award. T1
awards
gram, now
its 16th year,
supports RT!
staff mem
bers in scien- MS. FELTON
tific activities that are be
yond the scope of their regu
lar contract research respon
sibilities.
Ms. Felton will use her
award to support research
toward a master’s thesis at
" *' i Central Uni
ill conduct a
experiment
with chlorinated drinking
water. Also, she will learn
(See MS FELTON, P. 2>
VV A 1 VVx. JtHUUW ll«W -
percent, from 46,000 students in
1986 to nearly 61,000 in 1991.
(See UNCF, P. 2)
Education uroup
Honors Robinson
BY LARRY A. STILL
NNPA New* Service
WASHINGTON, D.C.—In addi
tion to presenting Distinguished
Alumni citations to more than 100
outstanding graduates of histori
cally black colleges and universi
ties, the National Association for
Equal Opportunity in Higher Edu
cation honored Gen. Colin L. Powell,
Dr. Prezell R. Robinson, Rev. Leon
Sullivan, five members of Congress,
four leading citizens and two other
top HBCU presidents during its
17th annual National Conference
on Blacks in Higher Education
March 18-22.
The conference was climaxed,
however, when the approximately
1,500 dinner guests stood in accla
mation to approve a unanimous
membership resolution commend
ing NAFEO president Dr. Samuel L.
Myers and vice-president Wilma J.
Roscoe for their leadership of the
organization since 1977. NAFEO is
a voluntary association of about 106
HBCU presidents, plus 11 newly
developed, predominantly black
institutions of higher learning.
Gen. Powell, chairman of Presi
dent Bush’s Joint Chiefs of Staff,
was honored for his achievemients
in defense of the United States. He
told the conference, “I did not gradu
ate from a black college, but all of my
role models and the men I admired
in ithe military did...” Rev. Sullivan
was cited for his organization of the
DR. ROBINSON
first Summit of African and African
American Leaders in the Ivory
Coast, West Africa, last summer.
The minister announced that the
second summit is being planned for
1993 with African leaders.
Dr. Robinson, president of St.
Augustine’s College, and Dr. Walter
Washington, president, Alcorn
State University (Miss.), were hon
ored for serving as presidents of the
same institutions for 25 years or
more in an era when higher educa
tion chief executives are changing
(See EDUCATION, P. 2)
African-American Colloquium Involves
Students In Campus, Community Life
ASHEVILLE—African-Ameri
can students at the University of
North Carolina at Asheville are
taking charge of their own educa
tion, getting involved in campus life
and serving the local community
through an innovative UNC-A pro
gram—the African-American Collo
quium—begun last fall. The pro
gram is only one of two in the Uni
versity of North Carolina system.
The colloquium is a result of fac
ulty brainstorming sessions gener
ated by UNC-A’s drive to reduce the
attrition rate among its African
American students, who make up
about four percent of the student
body. Originally designed as an in
terdisciplinary, one-semester
course for freshmen and transfer
students, an overwhelming student
response has turned it into a two
semester course for all interested
African-American students.
The colloquium has four major
components—academic course
work, community service, peer
mentoring, and student-faculty
advising.
Part of the colloquium experience
is designed to offset problems that
all new students have in adjusting
to college life, problems that can
lead to students dropping out of
college.
“We know, through experience.
several student behaviors that often
lead to academic warnings and sus
pensions,” said Dwight Mullen,
Ph.D., assistant professor of politi
cal science and assistant vice chan
cellor for academic affairs, who is
JW
colloquium coordinator.
“We found freshmen avoided offi
cer hours with the faculty, failed to
pursue academic problems outside
of the classroom and would aca
(See COLLOQUIUM, P. 2)
mm'H
REDUCING ATTRITION-Dwight Mullen, coordinator ol UNCA’s African
American Colloquium, pauses during a highly animated conversation with
colloquium participant Delacy Bradsher, a UNCA senior. The colloquium, one of
only two in the UNC system, is succeeding in reducing the attrition rate among
African-American students.