SaeednminEditoCredo of the Black PressThe Black Press believes that America can best lead the world away from racialand natural antagonisms when it accords to every person, regardless of race,color or creed, full human rights. Hating no person, fearing no person in thefirm belief that all are hurt as long as anyone is held back.Ten Traits of the SuccessfulEntrepreneurReprinted From Money MagazineEntrepreneurs arenTt born.TheyTre trained for success. TheNorth Carolina association of CPAssays that while, in general, success-ful entrepreneurs tend to be creativeindividuals who are adept at problemsolving, there are other characteris-tics that can be learned. From thevantage point of CPAs who consultwith thousands of companies on run-ning their businesses, here are the 10key traits of the successful entrepre-neur:1) Goal-driven. Staying focused ona clear goal"and keeping employeesfocused on that goal"is often one ofthe most difficult tasks of the entre-preneur. In fact, one of the most im-portant lessons business ownerslearn early on is that their companycanTt be all things to all people. Themore focused the company is on pro-ducing what it makes best, the morelikely it will succeed.2) Customer-focused. Without cus-tomers, you canTt build a business.The successful entrepreneur spendstime understanding the interests andbuying trends of potential customersand views the companyTs products orservices through the consumerTseyes.3) Team-oriented. Most successfulentrepreneurs recognize that theycanTt build or run their businessalone. Delegating responsibilities toteams of employees or even outsideconsultants will not only allow thecompany to focus on its core compe-tencies, but also will improve the ef-ficiency of its operations and provideavenues for creative ideas to filtertheir way up to management.4) Skills-oriented. Each member ofthe team must have demonstrableskills that can contribute to thecompanyTs overall performance. Theastute entrepreneur makes sure thathis team possesses a diverse skillbase"one that complements his orher own skills and can create syner-gism in a team environment. And theentrepreneur is committed to em-ployeesT maintaining their skills byproviding ongoing educational oppor-tunities.5) Techno-Knowledgeable. Virtu-ally every aspect of a business, frommanufacturing to financial manage-ment to marketing, requires techno-logical proficiency. The entrepreneurmust possess some knowledge abouttechnology and take the initiative tohire individuals who can implementtechnology plans and procedures.6) Global-thinking. More and morebusinesses today are going interna-tional. Operating in a global environ-ment means that entrepreneursmust understand the trends and eco-nomic and legal issues that have animpact on international markets andproducts, as well as local customs.But companies similar to yours oper-ate in other parts of the world canprovide valuable information thatmay be put to use in your own busi-ness.7) Flexible-minded. The successfulentrepreneur is sensitive to thechanging marketplace, competitorstrategies, and customer preferencesand adapts products or services ac-cordingly.8) Bottom-line oriented. Makingmoney"and profits"requires man-aging money successfully. Being fi-nancially astute, carefully managingvendors and suppliers, and hiring theright team of financial advisors canall help a business prosper.9) Socially responsible. Being so-cially responsible can also contributeto a companyTs success. In todayTsbusiness and social climate, entre-preneurs that are looking to providea social benefit by making a commit-ment to serve the economically dis-advantaged, protecting the environ-ment, or adopting some other socialcause, are more likely to be favor-ably perceived by end-users of theirproducts and services.10) Future-oriented. Successfulentrepreneurs donTt get over-whelmed or consumed by day-to-dayproblems. They have a vision for thefuture of their company and make aneffort to understand the trends andforces that will impact their abilityto achieve that vision.Lastly, thanks to the impact of theWorld Wide Web, more and morecustomers are expecting businessesto be accessible 24 hours a day. Forthe entrepreneur, that means mak-ing a commitment of time, energy,and resources to be responsive tocustomer demands and needs.Thanks, Coach News of the death of CoachNorvell Lee of St. AugustineTs Col-lege came as a shock to everyone inthe African-American communitylast week.After all, it had only been Marchwhen The CAROLINIAN had de-voted a great deal of space to thepraises being heaped on Coach Leefrom far and wide, even as far as theN.C. General Assembly.He had, in the scant two years hehad been here, made an indeliblemark on people here, as he turnedthe Falcon basketball programaround on a dime and ended in tri-umph with the 1997 CIAA basketballchampionship.It was the first such title theschool had garnered in 52 years, andCoach Lee was an instant legend.Praises were still being sung andalumni, fans and administrators alikewere still trying to decide how to re-ward him further when it waslearned that he had died, lastWednesday, of an apparent heart at-tack.The death of one dear to us is al-ways sad. But Coach LeeTs passing isparticularly poignant for the St.AugustineTs community, becausethey were still basking in the glow ofhis triumph and wanted to praisehim even further. Not to mention en-joying what further victories hemight bring them.Nevertheless, we suspect thatCoach Lee, as many other highlycompetitive, motivated men in hisfield, would tell us that, if you haveto go (as we all must), there is surelyno better way to go out than as awinner.A pilot will tell you he wants to goout flying. A race car driver, behindthe wheel. An explorer, gazing fromthe summit of his last conquest. Anathletic coach, as the head of a cham-pionship team.Coach set a standard. He willnever have to know the bitterness ofdefeat which is the omnipresent flipside of all athletic endeavors. His lastmemories are of sublime, supremevictory.Our hearts go out to his family,who are surely consumed with griefat this time. But may we offer whatsmall consolation there may be inknowing that he left us, and will al-ways be, a champion.c HEY, MISTER...~OF WINES WHTHAT PIZZA?waa =ENTERYOUR 9 «312. DIGIT ACCOUNTNUMBER...FOLLOWED BYYOUR 15 DiaITYOUVE REACHEDTHE PSYCHICHOTLINE...Parents Need To Ask,oWhy ArenTt Our KidsSucceeding??BY TREY BANKHEADItTs been asked before: Does the traditional style of publiceducation work for our kids? That question, while important,pales in significance to the REAL question, which is oWhyarenTt our kids, on the average, succeeding??Let me put it this way: The number one reason kids dropout of school is because they feel odistanced? from the schoolsystem. In other words, they feel as though the educators donot care about them, so they see no point in trying to gaingood grades when they feel no one will treat them fairly.How does this news affect you, the reader? Read on.ItTs not a secret: kids do not all learn the same way. Thatinformation had been known for a long time, now, but alter-native styles of learning are still routinely put down andchallenged as soon as they are conceived. Consider thesepoints:oAge-based? grade grouping is no longer efficient. ItTshard to accept, especially with the stereotypes runningaround about Generation X and Generation Y. But, letTs facefacts: kids today are smarter than we were at their age.They have access to far more information at an earlier age,and so can use the information earlier. Plus, not all kidslearn the same way, or at the same pace. Still, too manyschools insist on remaining with the otried and true? stylesof education. A relatively new style of scheduling, the 4x4 oroBlock? schedule, allows kids more flexibility by structuringschool more like college, allowing for a more natural transi-tion. One semester, a student might have English, SocialStudies, and two electives. The following semester, the othercore course would follow, with two other electives. Studentswould be dealing with four ninety-minute classes a day,rather than having so many more subjects to split their at-tention with. Also, kids have longer to achieve competency incore courses, and are promoted due to their successes, attheir own speed, not due to their age.Kids donTt learn the same way. Guess what? Ever wonderwhy your child might not be able to learn in that oone classhe keeps failing?;; It may not be the subject, but the way itTspresented. Everyone has their own style of learning. Somepeople learn best by reading, some by seeing it in motion(like a demonstration or a movie). Others learn best by justhearing the information presented. One kid I knew in collegewould tape her classes, and would fall asleep in class. Then,sheTd go back to her dorm, and just listen to the lectures.And she got it, every time. A dyslexic student of mine suc-cessfully passed my English class with an oA? because wediscovered that she could type information with greater co-herence than simply handwriting. After that, all of her pa-pers came in typed, and her grades shot right up. Teachers,administrators, and parents need to realize that one oper-fect? system NEVER works for everyone. DonTt believe me?How is it that kids can memorize entire movies and albums,but not books and poetry? When you come down to it, whatTsthe difference?North Carolina has an influx of private and charterschools. ThatTs right...As of Fall 1997, thirty-five charterschools were scheduled to open in North Carolina, includingone in Pitt County. There are already a lot of private schoolsopen, with more opening all the time. And, letTs not forgetthe number of parents who have opted to educate their kidsthemselves, at home, through home schooling. People needto ask why alternative education is in such demand. Or, toput it another way: If the traditional style of teaching wasworking, would there be such a huge amount of dissatisfac-tion, as evidenced by the growing number of alternativeschools?ThereTs a lack of strong Black role models. LetTs face it:There are not a lot of teachers out there that olook like us.?And itTs kind of hard for a Black kid to identify with a storyby Shakespeare about this long-dead White guy who wentnuts because his mom married her dead husband's brother. Imean, come on, everyone knows kids learn best from whatthey can identify with! So, why is it so few are willing to doit? There are not a lot of Black teachers in public education.In fact, when I worked as a teacher for Pitt County Schools, Iwas told quite often that I was a rarity: A Black man whowas a teacher. At a recent presentation at J.H. Rose HighSchool,.a man in the audience asked SuperintendentHoward Sosne why there was not a larger amount of Blackteachers and administrations in Pitt County Schools. Dr.Sosne admitted that there were not, on average, a lot ofBlack teachers, and that that number is declining due tomore established teachers retiring or leaving Pitt County.However, Dr. Sosne did not answer the more importantquestion: What is Pitt County Schools doing to remedy this,especially I light of the fact that Pitt County Schools has oneof the highest dropout rates in North Carolina. And thatmost of those kids are Black! Maybe he should also be askedwhy a lot of Black teachers leave because of paycheckdisputes...such as being oshorted? for a check, and then notbeing paid what is owed them?Cultural differences need to be talked about. ITve heard ittoo many times before, oI donTt see color. When ITm dealingwith people, ITm colorblind.? And, my answer is always thesame: oOh, you're color blind? So you only see in terms ofBlack and White?? People need to realize that our differ-ences are actually a good thing. Making a school into a placewhere racial and religious differences are not acknowledgedis encouraging disaster. For example, my high school had aChristmas celebration every year, which meant they wereignoring all the Jewish students in the school. Many blackfamilies have started celebrating Kwanzaa. Trying to denyrace is denying people a vital part of who they are. Whensomeone tells me that oI never see you as being Black,? I aminsulted. Why? I am a black man. Being Black is an undeni-able part of who I am, and it has always influenced me.Ignoring that fact is ignoring me, and that I won't let peopledo.School systems need to be working together, rather thanfighting each other. There is a lot of fighting going on be-tween differing school types: the traditional public schoolsare trying to undercut the charter schools; the privateschools are seen as being superior to all the schools; home-schooling is portrayed as being the cowardTs way out. Peopleneed to realize that, if it is supposed to be the KIDS that areimportant, then they need to stop acting like spoiled bratsand do their jobs and support the kids. A kid doesnTt want togo to a country public school? Fine. Educators should figureout what the child needs and then find the school that bestserves those needs, regardless of affiliation. No more with-holding records when a child transfers from one school typeto another. NO more suddenly initiated changes in policythat only apply to a certain otype? of school. For that matter,legislators need to do the same thing: education can not belooked at as an issue of money. ItTs an issue of the future: ifthey expect this country to have one, they'd better get with itbefore itTs too late.Parents need to look at what they can do to help theirkids. Hey, parents, want to know another reason why yourkid is failing in school? Take a look at your living room.Everyone hears that Asian kids are oborn smarter.? Bull.One secret of their success is, on the average, they spendmore time studying. HereTs the numbers, on the average:Asian-American spend 12.5 hours a week studying.Anglo-Americans spend 8.5 hours a week studying.African-Americans spend 4 hours a week studying.Hispanic-Americans spend 3 hours a week studying.On the other hand, want to guess how many hours kidswatch television?Asian-Americans spend 23 hours a week watching TV.Anglo-Americans spend 28 hours a week watching TV.African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans spend be-tween 77 and 88 hours a week watching TV.Parents, this is your wakeup call! There are only 168hours in a week! One way to ensure your child will do betterin school: TURN OFF THE TELEVISION!Parents and educators must look out for the oRevenge?style of education. | freely admit it: part of the reason Ibecame a teacher was, in a way to oget revenge? on all theteachers ITd ever had growing up that told me I'd neveramount to anything. That English teacher in the 6th grade,the Spanish teacher in 8th...I was going to show all of them!But, a mistake that ITve been guilty of myself is trying to putforth an Afrocentric curriculum when not all of my studentsare Black! I grew up being one of the only Blacks in myentire school system, so I know how lonely it is. Is it right foreducators to construct schools that serve oa certain popula-tion? when a much larger population is in need? Many pri-vate schools seem to be drawn up on racial lines. For thatmatter, many schools in general seem to be drawn up thatway. I know that my hometown of chagrin Falls, Ohio, re-drew the property lines AROUND the Black community,thus keeping students from that community from attendingthe Chagrin Falls School system. A lot of Black teachershave started teaching Afrocentric curricula to students thatare not all Black. I know how being alone in a sea of peopleonot like me? very nearly destroyed me...Can we stand byand see that done to any other children, no matter whattheir race? The answer othey've done it to us for years? doesNOT make it right.PART I OF A TWO PART SERIES